Tips about PhotoPass and Planning

One way my mom and I got ready for our trip to Disney World was to make a list of every animated Disney movie (in order of when each came out) and watch a movie a day until the trip! It helps you remember the magic of the movies while you get ready to experience the magic of the parks! - Chelsea

I knew that we could view our PhotoPass pictures at home after our trip was over, but we discovered that you can purchase the copyright to the PhotoPass photos and they will send you EVERY picture that you had taken on a CD so that you can print as many as you want! The cost of this is only $99.95, and you can order the CDs from home. This program has its own special web address that can't be found on the regular PhotoPass website. - Jamie Chappell

EDITOR'S NOTE: As we have previously reported, you may also purchase the CD with all of your PhotoPass photos while you are still at Walt Disney World. Locations that offer this service are in Epcot's Camera Center, and the Grand Floridian's M. Mouse Mercantile.

This year I bought the travel BINGO cards at a store before we left for Disney World. I gave each of my children a card when we got in the car. The first round of BINGO was postage stamp, the next round was horizontal, etc. Each time one of the kids won, they would receive a Disney Dollar. The final round was a $10 Disney Dollar. Of course, no one wants to leave Disney World, so on the way home they played BINGO again. This time, while we were there, I had picked up a few pins, pens, an ornament, keychains, and a cup for the prizes. The grand prize was another $10 Disney Dollar to save for the next trip. - K. Watson

This year I bought the travel BINGO cards at a store before we left for Disney World. I gave each of my children a card when we got in the car. The first round of BINGO was postage stamp, the next round was horizontal, etc. Each time one of the kids won, they would receive a Disney Dollar. The final round was a $10 Disney Dollar. Of course, no one wants to leave Disney World, so on the way home they played BINGO again. This time, while we were there, I had picked up a few pins, pens, an ornament, keychains, and a cup for the prizes. The grand prize was another $10 Disney Dollar to save for the next trip. - K. Watson

A big part of our trip was the amazing pictures taken by the Disney PhotoPass photographers. I wanted to share with everyone something that Disney just started. As many of you may know, if you want to buy a 5x7 of one of the photos taken of you and your family by a Disney photographer, it will cost you about $20-$25 for ONE photo! Well, we bought one on our first day. By our fourth day, we had taken more than 50 photos with Disney photographers. Fortunately, that day we went to Epcot and stopped in the Camera Center to view our pictures... A very nice Cast Member named Joe advised us that for $99.95 we could purchase a CD with ALL of our Disney photos on it. They would also give us the license so that if we take the CD to a Walgreen's, Wal-Mart or anywhere else, they would know the pictures now belong to us and we can make as many prints in whatever size we want. By the time we left, we had close to 70 pictures, all beautiful, and all taken by Disney photographers. So, if you are picture junkies like we are and love the high quality photos Disney takes, it may well be worth your money to purchase the CD and have ALL the photos Disney took of you during your vacation, rather than spend $25 to get just one. It sure was worth it for us! - Jonathan Young

We just got back from two weeks at WDW. It was our first time to use the PhotoPass and it was great! By the end of our first day at the park, I had saved our photo card number on my cell phone, just in case the card got lost anytime during our vacation. That way, I could get a new card from the photographer for new photos but still be able to access my earlier photos with the card number I already stored. I also saved on my cell phone the confirmation numbers for all our character dining... very easily accessible. - Maxine B.

I learned this tip the hard way when I lost my Disney PhotoPass this past May. I have since returned this past October and what I did with my Disney PhotoPass was place a return address label on the front and hand write my email address in case I lost my card. My hope was that if it was lost, someone would email me or send it back to me via the mail. Many, many Disney photographers made comments to me on what a great idea I had! - Michelle

Flying the red-eye from Las Vegas to Orlando (three-hour time difference) on the first day of your vacation, after exhausting months of work earning this vacation, guarantees that when the excitement wears off you will hit the wall hard! I love the researching and planning and getting the most for my time and money, but stop! Think! After three eight-day vacations, I've learned that the best time I ever had was when I didn't hit the parks on the first day, but instead went to a water park for some exercise and sunshine (to reset my clock), then to World of Disney in Disney Srpings to get my pin collecting/souvenir shopping out of the way (check for discount deals from Disney Visa), then to an early seating at 'Ohana at the Polynesian. Trust me, a slow start will give you tons more energy over the next few days. - Leslie Seibert

If you are an American Automobile Association (AAA) member, be sure to tell Disney when booking reservations. We just saved $100 per night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! You must specifically ask the Disney employee on the phone though. They never volunteer money-saving opportunities like this one! - Amy

For those Disney visitors who live in Florida, unless you specifically ask for a Florida residency discount when making reservations, they don't offer it. Case in point: when calling to make my reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I told the Cast Member that I was a Florida resident, and she quoted me the same rate as it was online. Only when I asked about a discount for Florida residents did she quote a rate substantially lower. I asked her why she didn't quote the lowest rate from the start and she informed me that it's Disney policy not to "assume" that because you mention being a Florida resident that you are asking for a discount. - Bill

A really helpful site to visit when considering Priceline is biddingfortravel.com. Scroll down to Florida -- Orlando/Walt Disney World and see what bids others are winning. It's helpful to know prices that others got and on what dates, what hotels are in the different zones, and to read reviews from other travelers about the hotels that Priceline offers. - Christina

Regarding your tips on priceline.com, here is a tip for those who don't live in or fly out of major cities. (Example: my husband and I live 2 1/2 hours south of Chicago, but usually fly out of O'Hare going to Orlando.) We tend to take early flights before 10 a.m. Allowing for the two hours they recommend to be there before your flight plus driving time, it makes for an early morning departure. For a great way to save some morning hours, stay the night before near the airport. We have gotten rooms near O'Hare for as little as $40 a night (in a 3 star hotel) via Priceline, and it has saved us from being too tired the next day! - Sara

I have a file called WDW tips that I use to copy and paste any of the news bites and tips that I read on AllEars(R).Net or elsewhere. Now I won't forget anything when I plan my next trip to WDW. ALL EARS.net has the greatest tips and ideas. You don't want to forget any of them! - Diane Taylor

We have found it very difficult in the past to manage maps, stroller, our other child and all the gear that goes with them. To maximize space, we trimmed the park maps from the PassPorter Walt Disney World guidebook and had them laminated in an 8x10 sheet. We then placed velcro dots on the map and the canopy of the stroller. The night before, my husband and I would circle the attractions we really wanted to get to, including Fastpass information, and write our Priority Seating number and any other info we might need during the day. Our map was always available and in plain sight. We had many folks tell us what a great idea this was. A few Cast Members were even surprised to see how accurate and up-to-date the PassPorter's maps were. - Melissa Pagel

Similar to Lisa Dunn who wrote last week about staying at a Disney Springs resort on her first day in the World, we live in California and rarely arrive earlier than 9 or 10 p.m. on the first night. I realize rooms are pre-selected prior to arrival, but since we stay for nine or 10 nights, I've found when we check in early in the day, we sometimes have an opportunity to ask for a special location if our preference hasn't been already accommodated. That's less likely at 10 p.m. when most folks have already checked into the hotel. We have recently stayed at either the Hyatt in the Orlando airport or one of the other airport hotels. Because we are still running on west coast time, we're usually ready for dinner or a swim when we arrive and there are plenty of places to eat. I've found the room rates extremely reasonable at the near-airport locations -- often breakfast is included and the transportation from the airport to those hotels is free. - Lori Degliantoni