What I learned today!

[semo233]

65 to go

On a lighter note. I have read in two different guide books now, had someone PM this and saw it on the sneakytips section of wdwinfo.com

Everyone says that if there are two lines to a ride and you can see the end of either line ALWAYS go to the left. Since most people are right handed their instinct automatically sends them down the right hand lane. So that line will be shorter.

I cannot confirm nor deny the practical application of this tip but I guess in the grand scheme of things it makes sense. Does anyone have real world experience using this. I guess you could easily test it out if you have a group. Split up and see what happens.

DOESN'T WORK ALL THE TIME!
Last April, we were entering Pirates of the Carribbean in MK and I automatically went in the line on the left. At some point, my DH could see that there was no line where the line on the right went, so we went back out and then down the line to the right. WE WALKED STRAIGHT ONTO THE RIDE!! I thought the line was closed because no one was down there!

 

[lorli]

66 to go. Making a B-Line for less than 2 months.

I was talking to a coworker and told her about my trip. She was excited for me but offered this caveat. "That sure is a lot of money to spend considering your kids won't even remember it."

My tip today is about what I think taking this trip means.

I cannot deny that my 3/4 year old will likely have no memory of this experience when they are adults. I can't say I remember anything about my preschool years. But I am not taking my kids to disney world so they will remember the experience forever. I am simply taking them so they can experience it. The memories are all mine!

Here are somethings that make me all misty eyed just thinking about it.
* Seeing their face when we take off in the airplane for the first time.
* Seeing Sophie in her princess dress when we meet Cinderella.
* Seeing Noahs Face when we ride up front on the monorail the first time.
* Having my shy little guy hide behind my legs when the first character tries to shake his hand. With that watching my shy little guy warm up as the week goes on and we meet more and more characters.
* Looking into their eyes and seeing the reflection of Cinderellas Castle with fireworks all around it.
* Hearing them laugh when the bears start singing and dancing at the Country Bear Jamboree.
* Singing it's a small world with them on the way back to the hotel much to the shagrin of every passenger on the bus that didn't ride the ride just so they didn't have that song in their head for the rest of the day.
* Experiencing deathly motion sickness because they wouldn't quit spinning those damn teacups.
* Watching Sophie when she sees tinkerbell fly down from the castle during Wishes

I could go on and on but finally, crying with them when it is time to go home!

Mommy and Daddy have spent roughly 100 hours a week combined at work every week of their life so far...I'm glad they are to young to remember things.

We started taking our dd at the age of 3 and this post is exactly why we took her at that age. It's the age of innocence, wonder, imagination, and believeability. I will forever cherish our memorie.

 

[jamieguffey]

I was on allears.net today and they have a ton of good ideas on making sure your pictures make it home with you.

*The first one is to make sure you have your name and cell number are on everything you have.
*Take a picture of your name and cell number on every memory card you have. Lock the picture on the memory card so if someone finds your card they might call you. You may even want to offer a reward of a free memory card if it is returned so even if the person is a scoundrel they will call you.
*Have Multiple memory cards as many as one for every day. To facilitate this financially, buy lower capacity ones. That way if something happens to your 8gb card you don't have all the photos on one card.
*Do not pack your memory cards in your check luggage as the airport scanner could possibly erase them. (Not sure if this one is true or not. I think this only applies to film as it gets exposed by the xray machine?)
*As has been stated several times take a picture of your photopass card id. Or text message it to your significant others phone so you will have it.
*If you use film have it developed while there if possible. That way you know if your pics came out.
*Always have a large ziplock bag to put your camera in when you are on water rides. (By the way if you practice it. A clear ziplock can serve as a way to waterproof your camera so you can use it on the water rides. I plan to try this on Splash Mountain. Even though it works I am not risking it on Kali River Rapids because they say you get DROWNDED on that.)

As always if anyone has any other tricks let us know!

 

[jamieguffey]

I bought silicone bracelets engraved with our cell phone numbers from shanrene.com. I think it was $7 for 2 of them, including shipping. I like them better than other options because you don't have to worry about them falling out of a pocket and they last forever. My daughter hasn't taken hers off since we got back 3 months ago.

AWESOME IDEA. Just ordered mine.

 

[Dremwvr]

*Do not pack your memory cards in your check luggage as the airport scanner could possibly erase them. (Not sure if this one is true or not. I think this only applies to film as it gets exposed by the xray machine?)

Being avid reader of this thread, Keep it up!

However, I am a TSA employee and this tip is false.

ANY and ALL memory cards are perfectly fine through ALL of our machines. The only thing you have to worry about is if your camera takes film (or you use disposable cameras) and if the speed of the film is 800 or higher.

So next time you buy film to travel with, just be aware of the speed.

All TSA employees have no problem checking your film also by hand. So if your not sure, best thing to do is ask.

 

[Sandy321]

We started taking our dd at the age of 3 and this post is exactly why we took her at that age. It's the age of innocence, wonder, imagination, and believeability. I will forever cherish our memorie.

for those taking the young children - do pick a spot to always take a picture each time you return to Disney!

(some take a picture in the chair in toontown at the Mouse House - some use the bench with Walt's statue with the Castle in the background! I just love going back and seeing the same background, with my dd growing up each year!!! )

 

[Tinkerbell3014]

for those taking the young children - do pick a spot to always take a picture each time you return to Disney!

(some take a picture in the chair in toontown at the Mouse House - some use the bench with Walt's statue with the Castle in the background! I just love going back and seeing the same background, with my dd growing up each year!!! )

This is a great idea. We did it with my son. It is amazing to see how much they change over the years.

 

[poohbear8]

for those taking the young children - do pick a spot to always take a picture each time you return to Disney!

I did this with DD last year. I had a picture of her at age 4 at Minnie's house sitting on the fireplace with her brother and outside her house in the gazebo, resting in one of the heart sides. Though she said she felt silly, I made her pose for another picture. It's amazing how much she has grown since then. (she's 12 now)

 

[mrstomrice]

for those taking the young children - do pick a spot to always take a picture each time you return to Disney!

(some take a picture in the chair in toontown at the Mouse House - some use the bench with Walt's statue with the Castle in the background! I just love going back and seeing the same background, with my dd growing up each year!!! )

Our favorite spots are Minnie's sofa and the Mickey ears sculpture outside the back entrance of the Contemporary. We don't stay there, but we stop by for the photo.

 

[IndySam]

*If you use film have it developed while there if possible. That way you know if your pics came out.

I read somewhere recently that Disney no longer develops film in their camera shops.

 

[poohbear95]

Great thread!!!!

Love the tips and ideas from everyone.

 

[jamieguffey]

The tip today comes from the unofficial guide. I mentioned this once before but I never looked into it. I spent some time tonight on GARDENGROCER.COM

They are one of the grocery delivery places that will bring groceries to the resort.

They have everything. Go check it out. You could go so far as leaving ALL of your hygiene products at home. Deodorant, shampoo, toothpast, etc.

Our plan was to buy water and other snack stuff that we will keep in the room (juice treats, goldfish crackers, etc.) but after looking at the site I think the order may expand!

Of course convenience comes at a price. As best I can tell everything will cost more than Walmart but only slightly. And the delivery cost is 12.00 on orders under $200. Which is next to nothing if you think about not having to deal with it. (you have to spend $40.00)

You place your order several days before you leave and if you are going to be in your room you can have them delivered directly to your room otherwise they leave them at the desk.

It sounds to easy, what have your experiences been?

 

[mrstomrice]

We have used garden grocer on our last 2 visits. I suggest ordering more than a few days before you arrive. You can probably set up your delivery right now so that you have the day and time that you prefer to have. On both occasions, the food was at the hotel before we arrived, due to later arrivals, so whatever was cold was kept in the fridge by luggage. Our hotel delivered it to our room for us. Since ice water is free, we didn't use most of our water last time. We did order gallons of water to drink in the room, which were used. Other things we ordered were diapers, baby food (done with that) yogurt and other breakfast snacks, munchies (never tend to eat these though) juice pouches for the kids for the park, fresh fruit, and diet pepsi for dh since there are no pepsi products in Disney. We also paid a small tip on top of delivery. If we weren't driving this time, I would use them without hesitation. I believe you can also ask about beer delivery, even though it isn't shown.

 

[debf]

Great thread. I love reading all the tips.

 

[PAcpl]

The only service we have ever tried was WeGoShop. We used them on our last two trips and everything worked out great. Amy was even nice enough to help us find our room when we checked into SSR on our last trip. And Publix always has what we need.

Also keep in mind that you can shop on a website like drugstore.com and have everything you order shipped to the resort. You obviously wont get anything perishable, but it may cut costs on your shopping service bill.

On a side note there is another service called Owners Lockers. You rent a bin from them and store your items in it. When you check into your resort they deliver the bin to you and when you leave they pick it up. So if you visit Disney often its a well worth it.

Thanks for your tips and enjoy your trip!

 

[Cibahwewah]

Garden Grocer was great. I ordered months ahead without any problem. We ordered a case of bottled water (worth it on that alone), diet coke 12-packs, milk, cereal, yogurt, juice boxes, clorox wipes, purell. Luggage services kept it in the fridge, then a luggage services guy brought it all to the room for us. It was nice to have cold beverages for our afternoon breaks, and we saved a lot of time by having breakfast in the room most days. We plan on doing this again next time.

 

[csmom]

We just used Garden Grocer for our trip on June 12. Worked out great. Ordered bottled water, cereal, milk, pop, mini muffins, bagels, cream cheese, string cheese and a few snacks. Delivery driver called me while we were on DME bus and asked if he could deliver a little early as he had other deliveries at our resort. Told him that was fine, as I knew bell services would refrigerate cold items. We arrived at resort around 10:30 am, so room wasn't ready. When we returned to resort around 2:30 when room was ready, I just called bell services and they delivered all of the groceries to our room within 15 minutes. I would definitely do this again.

 

[taylor5]

Wow, all these tips are great! I have also found a ton of tips that are actually on the tips board!

A great tip I do for all these tips is to start a Word file & then minimize it on your computer while browsing, then when you see something you like just copy & paste to your file or click on your file & type the highlights. Don't forget to save it after each session though!!

 

[jamieguffey]

Found this one on allears.

Introduce your kids to the castmembers. By this I don't mean everyone you meet but introduce them to the idea that these people are mommy and daddy's friends.

Try to teach them exactly how to identify a castmember. Apparently, even though the costumes (uniforms) change from land to land the Nametag never does.

Castmembers are EVERY WHERE! If you have a shy child like I do. Having them know that these are nice people may not get them to warm up completely but it will make them more comfortable in and around them.

Entering the park
Getting on transportation
Mealtime
Height Check Time
Character Meet and Great
Ride Loading
Ride exit
The list is probably much more substantial. But having your kids be able to be comfortable in all these situations will make them have a much more pleasant vacation.

 

[jamieguffey]

Reminder the "tips" are not real tips they are simply a way to get the veterans to tell the rookies what we really need to know.