Tips about Photography, Planning, Resorts and Souvenirs

Before leaving home I taped a Barney and Wiggles video on a small cassette for my video camera so my 18-month-old could watch it on the plane (using the small screen on my video camera). When we got to the All Star Movies, I noticed that the Sony TV in the room had the jacks in the front to plug in video cameras. When my son was cranky in the room I used the video camera as a VCR and played the previously taped Barney video. It was great and we didn't have to pay extra to rent a VCR. We also watched the day's videos to remember what we did that day! - Laura Gallant of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

If you have a videocamera with both an LCD display screen and a viewfinder, turn the LCD screen toward the performers and floats. The Cast Members always enjoy this because they can see themselves in costume. This works best during nighttime parades: SpectroMagic, Tapestry of Nations, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade, etc. - Silipigni

When traveling to my favorite place on earth, it's inevitable that I will hear from my family and friends: "Be sure to send me a postcard." Of course, not wanting to miss a moment of the magic that Disney has to offer, writing out postcards can be a bit of a chore... but to make it easier, I always compile a list of names and addresses of people that I am going to send postcards to and then simply do up a sheet of labels on my computer before the trip. I then pre-buy the stamps and pack them away with the address labels in my backpack that I will be taking to the parks. The day that I arrive at my resort, I buy all the postcards I need. Then during my vacation while I'm waiting in an attraction line, or for a show to begin, or in a restaurant, or on the resort bus, I simply apply my label and stamp to a postcard and write a quick note about my trip so far, as well as what I am about to do (e.g., "As I write this, I'm standing in the line-up to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster... you can't believe how my heart is pounding!!!"). It sure makes postcard writing a lot easier and faster, and when you get back home and see the postcards that you wrote to a friend or family member, you instantly relive the moment of what ride or attraction you were waiting upon. What a way to transport yourself back to the magic! - Shelly Theriault

FORT WILDERNESS - If you're staying at Fort Wilderness or any of the resorts on Bay Lake and plan on staying to the Magic Kingdom until closing, take the ferry back to the buses, rather than trying to take the resort launches or monorail. We found this to be a much faster and less crowded method. - Jennifer Smith

We have been to Disney World several times and each time we go we always take a ton of pictures. I noticed I have quite a collection of the same shots -- the castle, Main Street, the "big ball," the "big hat"... For our last trip in February I decided that I would experiment with black and white photos to mix it up a little. The pictures turned out so beautiful! Especially nice were shots of anything with dark colors such as Tigger with his black stripes or a black horse leading the trolley down Main Street. I used Kodak black and white 35mm film bought at a grocery store. I did not do all my photos in black and white, but I am happy I experimented with a couple of rolls. The variety makes a great addition to the scrapbook! - Paulette Kusmierz

EDITOR'S NOTE:: Some digital cameras have a black and white photo setting you can experiment with, too.

If you are wanting to purchase fragile items like stemware or coffee mugs, consider ordering directly from The Disney Store online. They have many items that are available at the parks. This way they can ship it to you and it will be well-packaged with separate boxes for each item and bubble wrap. - Cindy Waters-Goodman

Before you go, program 407.WDW.INFO and 407.WDW.DINE into your cell phone(s). It's SO easy to call these from wherever you are -- hotel room, in the park, etc. -- and find instant answers to your questions. Shari

We are leaving on our 6th trip to WDW and are taking 13 others with us! Something new we are doing this year....we have made 1 reservation a day for everyone (Hoop De Doo, Crystal Palace, Fantasmic, Cinderella's Breakfast......) so to make it easy for everyone we made a spread sheet of sorts with the whole week (calendar look to it) and put all of our confirmation numbers for each day at each location with times included (hotels also). Then we reduced it to a credit card size (still readable) and laminated it. That way everyone in the party has a copy and it is easily accessible!!!! - Gaylia Laird

When planning my vacation, I got a calendar that you can write on, and put on the calendar when to call for dining reservations, reminders to buy things for vacations, phone numbers, anything related to the vacation. Anytime I thought of something related to the vacation I wrote it on. I even wrote confirmation numbers on it so they would all be in the same place. This is a great way to keep reminders for vacation planning. - Donna Rebholz

Print out adhesive address labels of everyone you will be sending postcards to on your trip. You will wind up carrying one sheet of paper with you instead of an address book, and won't forget anyone in your vacation frenzy! - Victoria L. Moynihan

My daughter loves to take pictures and inevitably we end up fighting because she's always trying to take the camera and take TONS of pictures (she's 8) so we buy disposable cameras at Sam's ($9.99 for two) all year long and give her a stack at the beginning of our vacation and tell her that when she takes all the pictures there will be no more picture taking for her and we all are happy. She feels in control of the situation and we don't have to deal with the whining. - Chrisie

I went on a Disney Trip with many people and I suggest this for anyone who is traveling in a larger group from one location. Each of us made a little gift for each person. We made notes, bags of candy, tapes with our favorite Disney songs, coloring pages, games, and pictures. Then before the flight each person put their gifts in everyone else's bags. It added a lot of excitement to have a plane packet. My gift was a little more complex, but it was great. It was a journal that had quotes, pictures, photos, maps, and brochure clippings pasted inside. Everyone on the trip wrote in them. Another tip is to have a pre-party a week or two before the trip. We did this before our cruise. We played games, had dinner, read through books and researched little things and just discussed everything. Then we had a post party to look at pictures and videos. - Lindsay

We love to visit WDW over the Christmas holidays. In fact, I've already booked our 2 week December Wilderness Lodge trip. As you know, the holiday season rates at the resorts are out of this world. A few years ago we just happened to stumble on the fact that the rate you receive for your entire stay is based upon what "season" it is when you check in. Thanks to this little known fact, we are checking in on December 20th (the last day of value season) and receiving the value season rate for our entire 13 night stay! By arriving on the 20th (instead of the 21st) we are saving hundreds of dollars. - DZNYNUT35

I was recently unable to book a room for the nights of 2/9 -2/10 to no avail. Then I started asking for the whole week and many things became available. When it became time to pay for the entire trip, I just had them cancel the other days and I kept the nights that I wanted. - Roxanne Stritt

I shopped for months before the trip and purchased little items that were from Disney. At tag sales I found little Disney items that were from Happy Meals. By saving Kodak UPC codes I got 4 puppets for the kids. I found Disney coloring books at a discount store. Before the trip, I wrapped up a package for the children to open each day. That way we did not have to buy gifts each day. We allowed them to buy one gift at the end of the trip. - Sally O'Brien