What Disney Tip Are you really glad you listened to?

[txnana]

I got rid of my Baggallini sling bag after a trip to Disney because the buckle kept sliding down and I couldn't keep it tight to my body. But the bag itself was great for storing everything without being bulky. I loved the way it just slid to the front if you needed something. Well, after searching for the perfect bag for my upcoming trip to Universal I ended up buying....guess what? Another Bagallini sling. I'm giving it another chance because it just works so darn well.

I had the same problem so I bought some cute diaper pins and "locked" the buckle in place to keep it from sliding any further. Worked like a charm.

 

[MagicDan]

Best tip I had wasn't for Disney, it was for Islands of Adventure. hold off on WWOHP until 6pm. We didn't have to wait in any lines to go into the section of the park, and it freed up our whole morning to get on Spiderman, Hulk, Dudley-Do-Right, and Popeye with minimal waits.

 

[Leslieloody]

Hi,
"... it is easy to get confused about which area the car is parked. We discovered that almost all cell phones have some sort of voice or memo recorder built in. We simply turn the recorder on and say the name and row number we parked in. As we leave, we erase the memo.

We have also texted another person in our party the location of parking spots, meeting spots, and "if we get lost spots".

 

[Leslieloody]

Each day that we know there will be a need for a cardboard tube, those being drawing at HS or silhouettes, Ii have one cut to size and pack it with me. Once I ended up buying a poster JUST for the tube. If you end up buying a poster, the CM will let you roll up your own art and place inside. Then, since you purchased something, you can have your purchase and your own art delivered to your resort. No worries! 110 days till AoA!!!

 

[Nana2Callie]

Learned so many things from this board and just wanted to contribute something since we just returned - 2 adults and 1 child.

Pack everything on your list - but divide it into two suit cases so you can manage the bulk much easier - then most import - LEAVE one suitcase at home.

I was shocked at the mount of stuff we carried with us and carried home - untouched! And I even tried to pack with the idea of not taking the kitchen sink.

So, as we begin our 2013 planning - I'm making a list of all those things NOT to take!

 

[Kallyg]

I went to Petco and made a "dog" tag for my son that I attached to his belt loop on his shorts each day. It had my name and cell phone number if we were ever separated. It has a skull and crossbones design which was perfect for our MNSSHP!

 

[etoiles]

We refilled our water bottles each day and took the little individual packets of Crystal Light to add some flavor to it so it felt like we were getting a 'nice' drink instead of just water the whole day. (DH is not a water fan.)

Getting to the park at opening time definitely gave us an advantage on rides as well as following the touringplans.com plans.

My tip would be for someone that is not used to hot weather, start at a smaller park so they will easier be able to get used to the heat before going to a larger park. DH almost killed me the first day when we went to Animal Kingdom. This year we are starting at the smaller Hollywood STudios!

 

[starlionblue]

We refilled our water bottles each day and took the little individual packets of Crystal Light to add some flavor to it so it felt like we were getting a 'nice' drink instead of just water the whole day. (DH is not a water fan.)

I do that all the time. Another tip to add: for some weird reason, lemonade CL is the only flavor that seems to quench thirst on a hot day. I've tried four other flavors and they make me thirstier. I don't know why.

 

[starlionblue]

Hi,
"... it is easy to get confused about which area the car is parked. We discovered that almost all cell phones have some sort of voice or memo recorder built in. We simply turn the recorder on and say the name and row number we parked in. As we leave, we erase the memo.

We have also texted another person in our party the location of parking spots, meeting spots, and "if we get lost spots".

Do you own an Iphone or Android phone? Download this from the apps market: it's called Carrr Matey! (I'm serious about the name). It's hilarious how it works but it can be a lifesaver. You can even use a built-in notepad type feature to say for example: Spot 25, Level 3 if in a multi-story garage. Enable your GPS antenna on the phone settings menu. Then, tap the button that says "drop anchor"! Cute and hilarious. It'll guide you back to your car! Once you find it, tap "raise anchor." There's also a timer that tells you when the meter is about to expire. Genius!

One other thing: most cell phones will have cameras. Do NOT shoot a picture immediately. Walk about 10-20 steps away from your car and put it in the lower center of the picture. Get the SURROUNDING area in the frame as much as possible and then shoot the picture. Why? I learned the hard way that sometimes, there are massive vans blocking the view of my car and I wander around like a fool for 10 minutes. Once, I even passed my own car because a huge SUV was blocking it. Okay, I drive a MINI, laugh all you like.

 

[KarmaLady]

Thanks for the Carrr Matey tip! Just downloaded it and DS6 can't wait to try it out! Looks great and it was free at the iTunes store!

 

[degansha]

Many great tips that we have used often are highlighted through these 96 pages. I'd highly recommend reading all the pages as there are some hidden gems in there.

Here are a few that I don't think I've seen posted that we always use:

1. If you have a child between 4 & 12 years old that loves Star Wars, I would highly recommend the Jedi Training Academy at DHS. Here your child gets invited on stage for a chance to learn to be a jedi and concludes with a fight against Darth Vader. My 7 year old talks about it all the time still to this day. One of his all time favorites. But, this is a sign up attraction with limited time slots per day. You really need to be at the park at least 30 to 45 minutes early for rope drop at DHS, also referred to as Running Of The Bulls . All the spots for the day will be gone within the first 1/2 hour or so. Remember that your child has to be there with you to sign up.

2. Take a close up photo of your favorite attractions signs. We like to make a digital photo book of our trips when we return and these can add that extra flare to your pages.

3. When you go to a character dinner, have your child wear a T-shirt of one of the characters. The characters will sometimes make quite the fuss over it. For example, my son wore a Pluto T-shirt to Chef Mickey's. Pluto was so happy, kept pointing to it and giving him tons of hugs, jumped up and down and kept pointing at the shirt. When Donald came over, he pointed at the shirt, shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, pouted, pointed at the shirt again and stomped off. My son loved it.

4. Buy glow bracelets and necklaces from the Dollar Store. When you go touring in the parks after dark, put a bracelet and necklace on all the kids and adults. It makes it easy to find each other and not get separated from one another. We find this invaluable with young kids. Especially in those huge crowds before and after Wishes.

 

[RunRosemary]

We bought Disney story books for a couple of bucks at Target before our last trip with my nephews. At Chef Mickey's, we had the characters sign the books. Months later, they love reading the books, seeing the autographs and reliving the experience.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[massmickeypal]

We also bought less expensive souvenirs as other have suggested. We stayed on site and let the kids know that they could get something at the park or a "Mickey Surprise" when we retured at the end of the day. Either we or our maid would leave an item on their bed! They selected a Mickey Surprise almost every day. Since we had already packed these for the trip down there was no challenge getting them back home. The kids, even on long days looked forward to getting back to our room to see what was left for them and we saved a lot of money.

 

[raraavis]

whew! just finished reading all 96 pages! but it was so worth it! now i have my list of tips. i still have tons of threads to read on the DISboard. thanks everyone!

 

[jcchicago]

Subscribing.

 

[BrownFam]

Mio Liquid is good for adding flavor to Water.

Working up to your vacation by walking a bit each day is very much advised, during our July 2012 trip, DW and I were logging 24000+ steps each.

I would have to state that the outlet strip remains my top tip. I read it before my first trip and we have used one every time since, not just to DW but to other vacations as well.

 

[Mumra17]

Take a picture of your camera, so that when you lose it, you'll at least have a picture of it!


Anyway, in more seriousness, regarding pressed pennies, how many are we talking about here? Got my M&M container/film container/RX container all ready to go w/ quarters & pennies, but not sure if I have enough!

Do I need 10? 25? 100? more? Just how widespread are these things? Are they everywhere? (Haven't been to WDW before, just DL).

 

[DCTooTall]

Take a picture of your camera, so that when you lose it, you'll at least have a picture of it!


Anyway, in more seriousness, regarding pressed pennies, how many are we talking about here? Got my M&M container/film container/RX container all ready to go w/ quarters & pennies, but not sure if I have enough!

Do I need 10? 25? 100? more? Just how widespread are these things? Are they everywhere? (Haven't been to WDW before, just DL).

There are a LOT of them scattered across all 4 parks. Each machine then usually has 4 different designs.... So as for how many coins you'll need, it kinda depends on if you are just wanting to do 1 per machine you find, or multiples from each machine.

Worst case scenario..... if you run out of coins, You can always unload your pressed pennies back at your room and then hit a gift shop or store and see if they will give you some change to get pressed in the parks.

 

[Marblies]

There are a LOT of them scattered across all 4 parks. Each machine then usually has 4 different designs.... So as for how many coins you'll need, it kinda depends on if you are just wanting to do 1 per machine you find, or multiples from each machine.

Worst case scenario..... if you run out of coins, You can always unload your pressed pennies back at your room and then hit a gift shop or store and see if they will give you some change to get pressed in the parks.

For anyone planning on resort hopping, I just read that there are at least 2 penny pressing machines at the new AoA resort.

 

[Mkebound]

My family likes to press pennies.

Last trip I went through $20 in quarters for 40 pennies, and we did skip a few designs.