Tips for Disney Parks & Cruise Lines

After eating out at great Disney restaurants the week prior to actual thanksgiving Day, we found we were really no longer "up" for another huge meal. We cancelled the dinner reservations we had made and picked up the Beach Club Marketplace thanksgiving prepared individual meals. They were both delicious and affordable. AND we had our traditional thanksgiving turkey! - JoAnne Miller

Epcot - Just returned from our annual thanksgiving trip to WDW. At Epcot there is now the Character Connection (by Innoventions and Club Cool). This is replacing the Double Decker bus that used to travel through Epcot with multiple characters. At the Character Connection we found Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Chip & Dale. This is all inside and kids can get to see all of them and get autographs, too. While I loved the bus, the Cast Member said that they had a lot of complaints that the bus took off too quickly and kids did not get enough time to see their favorite characters, and also it is very hot outside in summer and the bus would not come out in the rain. This area was not very busy; my kids waited about two minutes to frolic with the characters. My tip would be go get a FastPass for Soarin' and go to the Character Connection! - Amy G.

Epcot - Just returned from our annual thanksgiving trip to WDW. At Epcot there is now the Character Connection (by Innoventions and Club Cool). This is replacing the Double Decker bus that used to travel through Epcot with multiple characters. At the Character Connection we found Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Chip & Dale. This is all inside and kids can get to see all of them and get autographs, too. While I loved the bus, the Cast Member said that they had a lot of complaints that the bus took off too quickly and kids did not get enough time to see their favorite characters, and also it is very hot outside in summer and the bus would not come out in the rain. This area was not very busy; my kids waited about two minutes to frolic with the characters. My tip would be go get a FastPass for Soarin' and go to the Character Connection! - Amy G.

Epcot - Just returned from our annual thanksgiving trip to WDW. At Epcot there is now the Character Connection (by Innoventions and Club Cool). This is replacing the Double Decker bus that used to travel through Epcot with multiple characters. At the Character Connection we found Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Chip & Dale. This is all inside and kids can get to see all of them and get autographs, too. While I loved the bus, the Cast Member said that they had a lot of complaints that the bus took off too quickly and kids did not get enough time to see their favorite characters, and also it is very hot outside in summer and the bus would not come out in the rain. This area was not very busy; my kids waited about two minutes to frolic with the characters. My tip would be go get a FastPass for Soarin' and go to the Character Connection! - Amy G.

Epcot - Just returned from our annual thanksgiving trip to WDW. At Epcot there is now the Character Connection (by Innoventions and Club Cool). This is replacing the Double Decker bus that used to travel through Epcot with multiple characters. At the Character Connection we found Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Chip & Dale. This is all inside and kids can get to see all of them and get autographs, too. While I loved the bus, the Cast Member said that they had a lot of complaints that the bus took off too quickly and kids did not get enough time to see their favorite characters, and also it is very hot outside in summer and the bus would not come out in the rain. This area was not very busy; my kids waited about two minutes to frolic with the characters. My tip would be go get a FastPass for Soarin' and go to the Character Connection! - Amy G.

All Resorts - In the room at the hotel, there typically isn't any place to store your bathroom stuff. Toothbrushes, makeup, medicines, shaving supplies, or whatever else ends up sitting on the counter where it either gets moved or is subject to cleaner overspray when the staff comes in to make up the room. My wife found this tip on a cruise ship website and it worked great for our Disney trip over thanksgiving. She found a clear plastic hanging shoe holder, the kind that has pockets for holding individual shoes. We hung this in the closet and put all our bathroom stuff in there. It was out of the way, but easy to see where individual items were. The holder went down to the floor, too, so we could put things our 5-year-old needed towards the bottom so she could get them herself. Everything had a place so the bathroom countertop was completely clear when we left for the parks each day. - Pete Johnson

When my family was planning to go to WDW last thanksgiving, my wife, Kathy, started a game we would play at the dinner table called "Who Am I?" The rules are simple. Describe yourself, either a character, ride, resort, restaurant, or anything that is found at WDW, with the fewest clues and have the others guess who or what you are. Some are simple like, "I'm small, green and fly from Cinderella Castle." Answer: Tinker Bell... It puts the family in a WDW frame of mind for the trip. We started playing it this past weekend, because my girls and I are trying to convince my wife to go during thanksgiving this year! - Mark Oldmixon

Know your "high" seasons intimately! I called recently to get a room for a business trip to Orlando from November 29 to December 4, and was told by WDW reservations there were no rooms available. Same story from Shades of Green (I work for the Navy).

When I called back later that day and asked for November *30* to December 4, there were all sorts of rooms available (including discounted ones), in both Disney hotels and SoG! Seems the thanksgiving crowd doesn't check out until Saturday. Bottom line: be flexible about your arrival and departure dates (stay in an off-site hotel the first or last night, if necessary), and don't be afraid to keep Disney personnel on the phone, asking about availability for this date or that date, as long it takes to get the answer you want!

Also: If you're active or retired U.S. military or a civilian working for the U.S. armed forces, and you don't already know about Shades of Green, you need to! All the details are at shadesofgreen.org. Right now SoG is being remodeled, but this actually represents an extraordinary opportunity! SoG is still taking reservations, they're just placing all guests in rooms apportioned to them from Disney hotels, at the normal SoG price (based on your rank or pay grade). A friend of mine got placed in Coronado Springs, but I scored what I consider the jackpot: the Contemporary Resort -- at $95/night! - Brent York

EDITOR'S NOTE: Additional information on Shades of Green can be found at:
http://allears.net/acc/faq_sog.htm