Tips about Planning and Sun & Heat Tips

A great way to psych yourself up for an upcoming trip to the World is to save your AllEars® newsletters for later reading. I've spent the last few weeks "catching up" on the latest Disney news in preparation for our upcoming trip. They help keep the Magic alive in the meantime, and are invaluable in terms of tips and information before you go! I, for one, can never get enough Disney information, and being able to read my newsletters one after the other is a wonderful treat when it feels like the Disney countdown isn't moving fast enough! - Karen P. Jordan

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks, Karen, both for the positive feedback, and for giving us a chance to shamelessly promote AllEars®!

Here's a tip for UK guests -- If you need to phone Disney to make reservations (restaurants, dessert parties, etc.), try phoning the US telephone number direct using Skype, as this is much cheaper than landline or mobile calls to USA. - Nicky

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is actually a good tip for US vacationers, too. If you use Skype or some other VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service, you can avoid a lot of long-distance charges.

I LOVE your YouTube videos. I watch them a lot -- especially when I am missing Disney World, and want to go right now! I'm not sure how many of your readers know that you have this channel on youtube. But I think it'd be a great "tip" or comment to make! I love your website and appreciate all the work you put into it. We go to Disney every year, and this site is my first site for planning, and for just keeping in touch with my favorite place in the world! - Melissa

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for giving us a chance to plug our YouTube.com channel here, Melissa! You can see all of AllEars.Net's videos, covering a wide array of Disney subjects, at: http://www.youtube.com/allearsnet

After reading the tip in a recent newsletter about utilizing Google Docs for planning purposes, I thought that I'd share, too. I utilize Microsoft OneNote for Disney (and other) trip planning. OneNote is included in the Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition, as well as the higher-end Office editions. I have tabs for an overall trip calendar (generated from MS Outlook), travel itineraries for my husband and me, as well as our two adult children (traveling from different cities), Roman Catholic mass times, dining reservations, park operating hours, and that ever-useful Miscellaneous tab. I then set the Notebook to be shared via MS SkyDrive (Hotmail addresses and the like) and our kids can pull up whatever information I have culled for the trip, as well as dining reservations. OneNote has a newly released iPad specific app, as well as an iPhone App (alas, I have an Android phone. But the Android Disney Parks app is terrific!). All your information available to you at your fingertips! - Cel V.

I am currently planning a trip to WDW for a large group of 15. With crazy schedules and one family living in another state, it's hard for us to get together to plan. In order to include everyone in on the planning, I am using Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/). They are easy to set up, easy to share with others (via email) and allow everyone to edit/add to the document. I just ask everyone to use a different color font when using it. We have three docs going: one to plan where we need ADRs, one to discuss special events/activities that we may or may not want to do, and one that is a to-do list (dates to purchase tickets, reservations, make ADRs...). As we get closer to the trip, I'll probably add another doc for our itinerary (with reservations written in) to allow people to comment on it and make suggestions. - Cate

On a recent trip to WDW, we stayed at the brand new Wyndham Grand Orlando in Bonnet Creek... However, we found out that when some non-Disney hotels include "scheduled transportation" to the parks, it doesn't always mean that the buses run every 20 or 30 minutes as the Disney resorts and Disney Springs member hotel buses do. The shuttle from the Wyndham Grand only went to and from the parks two or three times PER DAY! Just beware that if you want the convenience of being able to head to the parks (or head back from the parks to your hotel) whenever you choose without renting a car, stay at at a Disney-owned hotel or one of the Disney Springs member hotels that run several shuttles per hour to and from the parks. Otherwise, if you intend to stay at a hotel with less convenient transportation options, consider renting a car so you can still come and go as you please. - Jeff Hogan

Buy a thin wallet that fits in your shorts pocket to hold your Disney cards, Fastpasses, and money, then buy an antibacterial lotion that clips to your belt. You can then go right through the no bags line at the park entrances. It saves you waiting in another line. - Michelle

We are planning a trip to WDW this December-January. I was surprised to find out that some tours do not take place the last two weeks in December. We were interested in Backstage Magic, which is one of the tours that does not go when the park is that crowded. Readers might want to check on available tours when planing their trips. - Sue Lykins

On a recent family trip to Disney I soon found out that a bottle of hand soap should have been on my list of things to bring. With five of us sharing a hotel room, the bar soap can be not so nice to share. - Susan Riedling

If you are planning a summer trip to Walt Disney World, it is pretty safe to assume that you will experience both very hot temperatures and rain. My tip is to buy inexpensive water shoes for the whole family at your local discount or dollar store prior to your trip. The pavement around the pools and in the water parks gets very hot. Areas with sand can become so hot that you can barely walk on them. I would recommend water shoes instead of flip-flops, because you will not be allowed to wear flip-flops on water slides. Water shoes can be purchased at WDW, but you will easily pay double for them. My second tip is to also purchase rain ponchos at the discount/dollar store. Ponchos take up much less space in luggage than rain coats. Buy one for each member of your party, and if you will be taking a stroller on your trip, buy an additional large poncho. Why? To cover your stroller while you are in an attraction. Nothing is worse than exiting an attraction only to find that a sudden rain shower has soaked your stroller, and everything in it. At WDW, strollers are almost never allowed inside of buildings or attractions. Instead, you will have to put your stroller in the "stroller parking" area. This area will be outdoors, and will rarely be under cover. Because the summer weather in Orlando can be unpredictable, I put our ponchos in a large zip top plastic bag, and keep them in the pocket of our stroller at all times. - Shannon Barrett

If you are planning a summer trip to Walt Disney World, it is pretty safe to assume that you will experience both very hot temperatures and rain. My tip is to buy inexpensive water shoes for the whole family at your local discount or dollar store prior to your trip. The pavement around the pools and in the water parks gets very hot. Areas with sand can become so hot that you can barely walk on them. I would recommend water shoes instead of flip-flops, because you will not be allowed to wear flip-flops on water slides. Water shoes can be purchased at WDW, but you will easily pay double for them. My second tip is to also purchase rain ponchos at the discount/dollar store. Ponchos take up much less space in luggage than rain coats. Buy one for each member of your party, and if you will be taking a stroller on your trip, buy an additional large poncho. Why? To cover your stroller while you are in an attraction. Nothing is worse than exiting an attraction only to find that a sudden rain shower has soaked your stroller, and everything in it. At WDW, strollers are almost never allowed inside of buildings or attractions. Instead, you will have to put your stroller in the "stroller parking" area. This area will be outdoors, and will rarely be under cover. Because the summer weather in Orlando can be unpredictable, I put our ponchos in a large zip top plastic bag, and keep them in the pocket of our stroller at all times. - Shannon Barrett

Remember, it is very important to balance water intake with the amount that you normally perspire! If you sweat profusely, and then drink very large quantities of water to compensate and 'feel' hydrated', what comes in quickly most often exits quickly -- through your pores, or through bathroom breaks. An imbalance can result if you are drinking large quantities of water in a very short amount of time. If you do this, you are just flushing your system, and your body will become electrolyte 'starved'. If you develop a headache, or don't feel 'right', or if you notice that you are making frequent bathroom breaks, don't instantly take pain reliever in hopes that your headache will go away. It is very possible that your body is telling you something is out of balance! Instead, take a break, grab a sports drink, sit in the shade and drink it a little at a time over 30 to 45 minutes or up to an hour. It is not good for your body if you drink 20+ ounces of fluid in just a few minutes trying to 'catch up' on your hydration. However, if you drink 20 ounces over an extended amount of time, it gives your body time to catch up and restore the balance. My suggestion is to pack the powdered REGULAR (not light or diet) version/flavor of your favorite sports drink and add a little to your water bottle at a time throughout the day. Or if you do not drink sports drinks regularly or have experienced digestive problems in the past from drinking them, buy a bottled sports drink and dilute it in a free cup of ice-water from any of the quick service dining locations. - Chris

On our last trip we brought a couple of the battery-operated tea candles. Used one in the bathroom as a night-light. - Brenda

Pick up some 3M Command hooks with the removable adhesive and put them, along with some extra adhesive, into your suitcase. We are a family of six, and I have the problem of too many wet things and not enough room, too, and this seems to solve the problem. They're easily removed when you leave and don't take paint off the walls. - Beth McMeekin

The last trip to Walt Disney World, I brought three plastic hangers with me -- handy for drying bathing suits or any hand wash things. They can be hung on the shower rod or in the closet. - Gaylin in Vancouver