Disney tricks and tips..would love some

We are planning a surprise trip to Disney World May 26th-May 31st.
Molly is 5. Jason is 3.
I want a pretty easy going trip, which for me means have some plans but not every last minute planned.
Our "schedule" is the following:
Arrival on Tuesday in late afternoon- use the pool, bed early for the kids.

Wed- Magic Kingdom
Dinner at the Castle 5:40.

Thurs- Animal Kingdom
Depending on the lines and what time we finish we may visit another park in the late afternoon/early evening

Friday- Breakfast with Mickey @ the Contempary 9:30

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appt for Molly to have her hair, makeup and nails done 1:00 @ downtown disney.

Go to Magic Kingdom again

Saturday- Epcot
Princess Dinner in Epcot at 5:05

Would love any and all tips, tricks.
I got a few so far like buying my own light up necklaces at the $1 store. We will bring tons of snacks and drinks ourselves. No straws are allowed in Animal Kingdom so I will bring the kids strawless water bottles.

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

see you there

We are going from the 23-30th

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Your schedule looks great!

I brought cereal cups and cereal bars. I bought milk from the shop at the resort each night and DS ate cereal each morning and DD and I ate cereal bars. It cut down the time it takes to actually sit and eat, they ate while I got ready.

I made our own autograph books. Cuter I think, and less expensive than buying 2 there. I used foam books from Michaels and we decorated the covers with foam stickers and added their names.

I did a Photopass share on disboards.com so I wasn't spending $100+ on the CD of the pics they take when they all weren't that great.
You can hand your photopass card to anyone with a camera! The path between the castle and Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom has a great photo opp.

I made t-shirts, a hoodie and bag that had little stick people with Mickey ears on. DD's said first trip on it. Someone on disboards.com designed it for me and I printed on transfer paper and ironed onto the shirts. Super cute!


Have a fun trip!

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Can you explain the photo thing to me?

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Can I come?!

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

We would just order our photo book ourselves.
A photo CD on Shutterfly is not very expensive at all.
I like Mypublisher for photobooks though.

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

did you buy your tickets yet?

i got 2 day, 2 park adult tickets for 65.00 EACH...

There were 4 of us so it cut the price tremendously. We attended a time share presentation by the marriott early one morning which only lasted an hour...

it was perfect.

Message edited 3/16/2009 12:24:12 PM.

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Research which rides you want to go on that have the Fastpass option. Head to that ride first and get the fastpass for later in the day to avoid long lines.

Your schedule sounds great! Have a great time!

We did the Princess Dinner and we loved it!

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Fm Michele if you want more tips I am happy to help!

So far people have given good ones -

Are you staying on or off property? Are you planning to go back to the resort each day for a nap/swim/rest? If you are staying at the resort do you plan to do Extra magic hours?

If you can get to MK and AK before scheduled opening (like 20-30 mins early for AK) they let you thru the turnstiles early and a few minutes before official opening (they DON"T do it when there is EMH in the morning so check ahead) they have a welcome ceremony with Mickey and characters. At MK they pick a family (so if you want to do that go VERY early) otherwise just get there early - and I think about 6 mins before official opening the train rolls into the station with the family and a bunch of characters and they sing and dance to welcome everyone - and then the rope drops. At AK in front of the tree of Life they have a double decker bus come in or something similar and Mickey and friends come out and dance and sing - that one is harder to see so get there early or hold up the kids - most parents had the kids on their shoulders.

You already know the light stick trick.

If you are bringing a stroller - DECORATE it - I got bright colored curling ribbon and curled it around the handles of the stroller. You will appreciate this when you try to find your stroller again at the stroller parking with 100 other ones that look just like yours. I was able to find my stroller in about 10 seconds each time when others were saying there were walking around for several minutes. Also don't panic if you don't see your stroller right away - Cast members move them around and sometimes to OTHER locations - so if you don't see yours ask a cast member where they moved strollers to and they will point you to the location.

Go onto ebay or walmart and buy cheap rain ponchos - they run something like $8-15 dollars at the parks. You can buy cheap ones at home and throw them in your bag or under your stroller - if you get a sudden storm and you will that time of the year you will appreciate having them. Also pick up one if you are bringing a stroller - nothing like ending up in a bad shower (even if they are quick) and then having a wet stroller for the day - they are easy to pull out and throw over your stroller - quicker than the rain covers (and cheaper if someone takes your rain cover).

We didn't share a photopass - but if you go to disboards.com - (posting board like this one but for disney with great tips) there are links to preordering them. I paid I think $90 - and you can put up to something like 300 or 400 photos on them. Basically - when you go to the parks you will see people all over with cameras - in front of the castle, at character meet and greets etc. You get your picture taken and then they give you a card - you can then use the same card or get new ones it doesn't matter. TAKE a PHOTO or write down your photo pass card numbers so you don't lose photos if you lose your cards. Then we let them take all the photos they want - and they will mail you a CD at the end when you go home and enter your photos numbers - we got something like 150 photos. It is great b.c you can get all family photos without missing a family member to take the pictures and they get good ones with the characters that you might miss. Then once you get the CD the photos are YOURS - and you can print them wherever or do whatever you want with them. Disney I believe charges like $12 PER photo if you want them to print one or you want to buy one - so this way you get a ton of photos without worrying about your camera.

Check out allearsnet.com they have a listing of all rides that will be rehabbed during your trip. Also they have a great menu section where you can check out every menu for counter service and table service so you can figure out where you want to eat and budget.

If you have anyone with food allergies there is a person you can email before you go with where you will be eating and then they take good care of you while you are there. The chef will come to your table and tell you what is okay and what isn't and they can make something special of none of that works they take it all very seriously. Just remind your waiter when you sit down and you will be well taken care of - they can handle everything from food allergies - to things like gluten issues etc.

If you DD likes to dress up - let her - there are tons of little girls esp at the MK and the character meals dressed as princesses. So when you eat at the castle if she wants to wear her dress she will be one of a lot of other little girls.

If you are celebrating anything special tell them - tell everyone - when you make ADRs etc have them note it. They have pins for things like 1st trip, birthday, anniversary etc. If they wear the pins they will get some extra attention and maybe some extra magic.

I'm sure you have already done it - but if you haven't booked all your table service meals do it now - b.c walk ups don't really work there - the way the system works is that they reserve all tables for ADRs so the only availability is if someone cancels and if you get in it might only be at 9pm or a time you don't want. You can always cancel an ADR if you don't think you will make it that day.

If you want to see the MK fireworks but don't want to go to the park - you can watch them from the beach at the polynesian hotel where they pipe in the narration and music that goes with them. There is also an electrical water parade before the fireworks that is nice that you can see from the beach. You don't have to stay at the poly to watch from the beach - only to use the pool.

Spray fans and hand held ones there are expensive. You can buy them cheaply at home - on ebay, amazon or other place and bring them alone to save money - it can get hot on line.

Check out the unofficial guide to walt disney word. It is a great book - and not written by disney so it is pretty non biased. It has some great tips and best it also gives you listings like local medical clinics and visiting doctor services in case for some horrible reason someone gets sick. They also give info on places outside of WDW.

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

I book-marked this thread a long time ago in anticipation of a future Disney trip...hope it helps and have fun

Disney tips

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

lots of great tips!!!

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Get the Unofficial Guide to Disney World. They have a kids edition. The itineraries are priceless. We were not on a crazy pace, and w/ the fast track thingy, we were done w/ everything we wanted to see including lunch by 4pm each day. That left plenty of time for shopping, dinner, shows and the parade.

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Re: Disney tricks and tips..would love some

Thanks, that makes sense.

Never would have thought of that.