Great unknown tips or secrets!

[RweTHEREyet]

Wow, I am so glad that I brought this thread back up, there have been so many really good ideas posted here. Thanks a bunch, and I hope they keep coming.

 

[Donnaksmj]

Rent the bikes on castaway cay....It was so beautiful, we had so much fun....and got some exercise too!!! It's super cheap and my son loved it!

 

[snelsonbrown]

I have added this thread to my post since there is so much that would help so many cruising - thanks to everyone for their imput

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520273

 

[MouseGrandma]

Check the Dollar Store. I got a few there, for home, work, etc... for the same reason, ORGANIZATION, not shoes!

Buy pirate night items at the Dollar Tree before your cruise to save money. Take a new pillowcase and permanent markers to Guest Services on the first day of your cruise - it will be delivered to your room on the last day autographed by the characters. It was my granddaughter's favorite souvenir. Take a pair of black dress slacks and several dressy blouses/tops for dinner to save packing space. Take fewer shoes! Take suction cup hooks for hanging bathing suits to dry in the bathroom. Do your tips the day before (you KNOW how great your servers will be after just one encounter! They only get better, so plan accordingly!) Book your next cruise early - the line is long on the last day. Take a styrofoam cup from the drink stand to the ice cream dispenser at Goofy's Galley. The cups there are WAY to small! And the styrofoam keeps the ice cream cold. Watch the shopping and disembarkation videos on your tv rather than tie up precious "cruisin' time" by going to the theatre. Don't miss Disney Dreams! Be sure to arrive early to Golden Mickeys and take the midship or aft elevators to it. If you take the forward elevators, you'll miss the "red carpet". Go to Shutters at an "off" time such as early morning. In the evening it is very crowded. The Dolphin Encounter in Nassau is a great deal of fun for all ages. ENJOY YOUR CRUISE!

 

[wifeofgrumpy]

Do you remember the name of the mail order company?

Thank you
Tammy

 

[bevtoy]

Thanks for the good ideas and tips.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Our tips:

• Bring a small but powerful fan. It can get hot in the staterooms and the ac is not always "super" cold
• Bring an extension cord for this fan and other items (like chargers for mp3's and cameras, cell phones, etc.)
• If you're doing a shore excursion, order sandwiches from room service the night before and bring a collapsable cooler (which your stateroom attendant will fill with ice) and bring the sandwiches, etc. with you
• Buy souveniors on the ship during the cruise because the stores are not allowed to be open when the ship is docked. We learned this the hard way and missed out buying a DCL pin for our collection (got one later though from a nice friend who cruised after us).

 

[smeecanada]

. Take a new pillowcase and permanent markers to Guest Services on the first day of your cruise - it will be delivered to your room on the last day autographed by the characters. It was my granddaughter's favorite souvenir. /QUOTE]

Cool souvenir. Which cruise is this available on? Is there a charge. I haven't read about this anywhere else. The kids would love it.

 

[OurMsBrooks]

. Take a new pillowcase and permanent markers to Guest Services on the first day of your cruise - it will be delivered to your room on the last day autographed by the characters. It was my granddaughter's favorite souvenir. /QUOTE]

Cool souvenir. Which cruise is this available on? Is there a charge. I haven't read about this anywhere else. The kids would love it.

As far as I know, this is available on all the cruises. We bought a picture frame that came with a white mat (or is it 'matte'?), and took just the mat with us on the cruise. Dropped it off at Guest Services, and it appeared in our stateroom the last night, signed by numerous characters. It's now hanging in my hallway, with a picture of the kids and Minnie on Castaway Cay. No charge for the service.

 

[smeecanada]

As far as I know, this is available on all the cruises. We bought a picture frame that came with a white mat (or is it 'matte'?), and took just the mat with us on the cruise. Dropped it off at Guest Services, and it appeared in our stateroom the last night, signed by numerous characters. It's now hanging in my hallway, with a picture of the kids and Minnie on Castaway Cay. No charge for the service.

Ohhhh. I like that idea even better than the pillow cases. That way everyone can see it. I'll check out Michael's (local craft store chain) to see what I can find tomorrow.

 

[disneyfanatic60]

To add a note to using a photo mat instead of a pillowcase---I read a good tip somewhere along the way. Put blue painter's tape around the edge where the frame would be. Therefore, you have no signatures along the edge and then hidden once the frame is attached. Hope this helps!

 

[bobbi565]

If you have Aaron Bros. where you live, they have a frame with an autograph mat that's really nice! There's an opening for a 4 x 6 photo and then a smaller rectangular opening beneath that can reveal a word or phrase and they include a printed sheet of these for many occasions (including "Bon Voyage"). Then there's plenty of room for autographs.

I bought one for my nephew's college graduation; thanks for the idea for our next cruise!

 

[smeecanada]

To add a note to using a photo mat instead of a pillowcase---I read a good tip somewhere along the way. Put blue painter's tape around the edge where the frame would be. Therefore, you have no signatures along the edge and then hidden once the frame is attached. Hope this helps!

Never would have thought of that part. Thanks. Hallmark had an autograph type frame in June for Graduations. I'll have a look an see what is available there. My kids are not big on getting autographs in the parks so this would be a really nice souvenir. Can you ask to make sure there is a specific character signature? My kids are nuts about Stitch and my DH about Goofy.

 

[cruiseman]

I have a secret not many know of.

When you go down the mid ship stairs to get to the "secret deck at level 7"
you keep going down the stairs and at the bottom, you turn left, go down those stairs and at the bottom, the double doors lead to the back of the Oceanears Club (smaller kids) Even though you arn't alowed in, you can still hear them in there.

 

[Jillpie]

To add a note to using a photo mat instead of a pillowcase---I read a good tip somewhere along the way. Put blue painter's tape around the edge where the frame would be. Therefore, you have no signatures along the edge and then hidden once the frame is attached. Hope this helps!

And I will add one more tip to the matte idea! Make sure you leave a note stating in which direction you would like the signatures, either vertical or horizontal. That takes some thinking on your part, you need to know what your shot will be. Sometimes I will ask the professional photographers to take two shots, one vertical and one horizontal, thinking of that special picture with the signatures.

 

[disgal1]

Thanks so much for this tip. Nothing can make me more miserable than being cold. I never even considered needing a sweater, but I will make sure to take one.

Absolutely!!! I didn't bring one last trip, I figured I'd just buy one onboard if I needed it...surely they would sell a simple white cardigan. Wrong! How Disney misses this selling oppurtunity I just don't know! I was so cold in the dining room, I would have paid just about anything for a nice simple cardigan(not a white sweatshirt).

Got one a Steinmart when we got home, strictly for cruises!

 

[redmomof4]

Don't know if this is on here or not but bring some snacks while waiting to board. We were just about to check in when the whole place was evacuated to the parking lot. Those that were on the ship were lucky they got to stay the rest of us and there were a lot of us waited in the parking lot for about 3 hours b/c one of the dogs smelled something. Heard it happens every now and then.

Disney came out with tons of bottled water but this kids were starving. Everyone was so sweet we were all sharing

Luckily I had some granola bars and cheese crackers!

This happened to us too 9/05, we went to Applebees for lunch. It was terrible though, I felt as if we lost a whole day of our three night cruise.

 

[ll_california]

Great tips!

 

[lillygator]

yes this is a great thread!!

 

[LisaLovesDisney]

AWESOME!!! Subscribing!