What Disney Tip Are you really glad you listened to?

[dth318]

eat breakfast in the room, we buy cereal, pop tarts, milk, etc
if staying at the pool all day buy lunch food, hot dogs, etc.
eat out for dinner saved us lots of money

we also learned not to eat at Disney places just because we were in Disney. We now eat some dinners off property, we know we like the food and it is more affordable. We found most buffets serve most of the same foods. It wasn't like that 12 years ago when we first purchased DVC. Used to be every place was specail in it's own way. We liked it much better. Salad dressing at Boatwrights, Meaican at Juan and Only's, etc.......

 

[Diznejen1]

A tip once told to me was upon check-in ask the front desk if there is somewhere in the resort where park fireworks can be seen. This works best for Disney hotels, of course. You can't see everything, or hear any music but it's a hint of the beautiful shows you will see in the parks. When we visit we take walks at night and try and time them around the fireworks. Maybe try to be on the upper floor balcony.

 

[maraca]

I'm fairly certain this hasn't been posted yet as most people think I'm crazy when I tell them to do this.

If your water is room temperature (or hotter thanks to the Florida summer sun) chew some mint gum or mints (like Altoids) while drinking. It gives off the feeling that the water is cold. (So buy some on sale at the Publix as they don't sell it at the airport or in the parks.)

 

[WDWBarb]

1. Crocs and Glide! Just don't put Glide on the bottom of your foot or you'll be sliding around all day It will also make your feet very dirty by the end of the day (if you, like me, do Crocs without socks). I also followed the advice of someone on the boards and brought some worn-out tennis shoes and alternated between them. That was a good idea - the only issue I had with my feet was fatigue!

2. Those Band-Aid blister things. DH was so shocked when I pulled one out of my bag (see favorite tip #3!) just when he needed it. Worked like a charm!

3. Overland Donner Bag. It did get a bit heavy and the strap would rub my neck a bit but otherwise it was perfect. New tip - buy it in black so DH won't mind carrying it around

4. Bringing our own water. Carried two bottles in the bag and refilled them at water fountains. I'm sure that saved us some dough!

5. Ziploc bags - all sizes!

6. Travel-sized Tide from Target. It was great to not have to pack so much and just do laundry at the resort.

I'm sure there are more but that's all that I can think of right now!

 

[goofymomof3]

I didn't take the time to read every single post here but all seem to be very good. The best tip I ever recieved was the laminated index card of info. tied onto my daughters who were then 5 with all our infor. on it. I did it just in case. One of my girls got seperated from us and I almost died. She was too upset to talk and just lifted her foot into the air. Just to reassure you, if your child is lost and a CM finds them they have the best practice to get them back to you. IT works like a charm. I knew my girls knew our phone number and stuff but I also knew they would be too upset to tell someone they didn't know. Point out the CM's to your children in case they get seperated, they know who to go to for help. That was the very best advice I got years ago.

 

[disneymom8589]

I had been trying to decide what bag to bring to WDW. Something not too big, but not too small, either. In researching this forum, lots of people recommended the Overland Donner bag, so I ended up ordering one. It just came a couple of days ago (very fast shipping!), and even though our trip is not until next month, it seems like a perfect sized bag to take. So "thank you" for leading me to this find!!

 

[mom2aredhead]

Point out the CM's to your children in case they get seperated, they know who to go to for help. That was the very best advice I got years ago.

I took a Home Depot LGMHPC wrote his first name and "If Lost Call cell number" on it, laminated and tied to him every day, BUT...
Along with telling him about the CM's (Mickey's friends) I told him that if he couldn't find his own Mommy to look for another Mommy pushing a stroller and show her his name tag. I know this is optimistic, but I my theory was that another Mom would assist a lost little one, (I know I would) at the very least getting him to a CM, and a stoller was a little easier to spot than the CM name tag for a 3.5 year old.
Luckily I didn't have to test my theory.

 

[Pointdisney]

Ditto on the Town Car service. DH and I took the Mears shuttle on our honeymoon and it was a really long trip to the resort! So we have done a town car service ever since. We really like Sunray. The owner has picked us up every time we have used them and he's great! The other tip we use every trip is using spray deoderant (we normally use Suave baby powder scent b/c it works and it's cheap ) on our feet before we put on socks and sneakers or whatever shoes we're wearing around the parks. It really helps with blisters and "hot spots"...we never get them anymore, because our feet don't sweat! We also bring moleskin by Dr. Scholls in case there is an area of our feet that needs some coverage. Haven't had to use it in a very long time, but we have it just in case. Just know that if you need to use moleskin b/c of a "hot spot" you have to apply it before the deoderant or the moleskin won't stick!

Kathleen

 

[ZoZo]

Subscribing! Thanks for the tips.

 

[ThisMomLuvsDisney]

All of these tips are great!

I have used many of them on our recent WDW trips, and all are very helpful. Isn't the DIS Great!!!!!

My best tip is that as we enter a Park, we immediately pick a "just in case" meeting spot. That way if anyone becomes separated or "lost" we know exactly where to find them. We keep the same chosen "spots" for our entire trip so that there's no confusion. This works great for our family

I know that this will work better for those with appropriate aged children and adults, and that there are other great posts here in this thread for those with very young children.

Happy Vacations to All!!!!

 

[LVSWL]

Haven't read all of the tips, but we are at the parks now and have a pack of "Pooh" playing cards in the backpack and have pulled them out on the bus and while waiting for Philharmagic, in restaurants, and just about everywhere. Most of the time we just play crazy eights, but when we have the space we kick it up a bit and play rummy. When we are on the bus and it is after dark, and we are playing crazy eights, we just call out what we are laying down so that the next person knows what to play. The trick then is to see our cards We have had so much fun with this on this trip!

 

[planetcaravan19f]

bumpity bump bump
bumpity bump bump
look at mickey go!!!
Happy Holidays!!!

 

[PEANUT1]

When we went last month my hubby bought dog tags for our girls. He bought them at Walmart and you can engrave them. We put their names and our cell phone numbers on them. You can either wear it around their neck or we tied it to their sneakers. They were cute hearts and my 3 1/2 year old loved it.

 

[NashvilleTrio]

Peanut1, that's a great tip! I may have to use that one...

Keep 'em coming!

 

[DLR29]

Best tip that I'm so glad we followed on our 1st trip in July was to get to the parks before opening, take a midday break, and come back for the evening. The crowds were minimal in the morning and we could nap and relax in AC during the heat of the day. Then we were energized for evening entertainment and the crowds were low in the evenings too (especially AK)

 

[ppan77]

Best tip was take your own stroller and get to parks early and get to fantasyland with your ds2!

 

[Hedy]

Shipping water to the resort!

 

[caitty13]

getting a dolewhip was the best advice. Yummy!!!

 

[Mickeyorbust]

If you're staying on site, you're concierge is your best friend. The concierge POFQ gave us so much information. We would stop in and see him/her each evening and discuss the next days plans. He told us the best place to sit and watch the PPP parade in MK and what time to claim our seats which really saved us time. We didn't have to claim a spot an hour in advance, we got there 10 min before the PPP parade started and had the best view. They also told us which parts of each park to go to and when, to avoid the crowds and what times of day to avoid certain rides. They are full of invaluable information. And that information definitley improved our park experience.

 

[pfalcioni]

"Sign up for Tour Guide Mike" Worked for us so well that my crowd-o-phobe hubby made SURE we're going back again soon