Tips and Tricks for the Themeparks

• 1. A great idea for kids who are afraid of the auto-flush potties is to take a pack of stickers with you to the parks. Place a sticker over the sensor so it does not flush before their done. Trust me, I learned from experience (had to change my daughter into her swimsuit because when the potty flushed she jumped off mid-stream! LOL) (Jane)


• 2. Know how you like to eat. We found Disney World to be buffet city. We dislike buffets, and prefer to spend more to have really good food. After blowing two hundred dollars on two buffets, we picked our restaurants more carefully. (Jennifer)


• 3. Thanks to your website, we had a wonderful vacation at Disney World that just ended. We bought a brita sport bottle for a reasonable price at Walmart. It was the best thing! I just refilled it every time I saw a drinking fountain, and presto, cold clean water. We didn't buy one bottle of water in the park. The neat thing is, I am still using it at home. (Jennifer)


• 4. If you are staying at a Disney Resort you can have your packages delivered straight to your room. Although it does take 24 hours to get them you don't have to carry them around all day or make a return trip to pick them up before you leave. (Robfasto)


• 5. We always take the kids to Downtown Disney's "World of Disney" store as we are leaving Disney property. That way we don't have to worry about kid's playing/losing their stuff, packing. We just get in the car and go. (Robfasto)


• 6. Both my wife and I like to eat at WDW nicest restaurants. The way we cut the costs is by going at lunch time rather than dinner. This helps both cut the cost and work off the potential pounds during the course of the day. (Melissa&Keith)


• 7. WDW dinner resses via phone at parks To make dining reservations, all you needed to do is pick up any WDW pay phone and dial *88. You can make calls from virtually every park and usually can make dinner reservations in about two minutes. (Linda)


• 8. If you forget to buy something you really wanted. Just call Guest Merchandising at:407-363-6200 tell them what it is you want and where you found it. It can be shipped right to you! (Linda)


• 9. For the best deal on rootbeer floats, go to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. It'll cost you $3.75, but it comes in a 24 oz cup with 2-3 scoops of hand-dipped ice cream. (As compared to the $3.00 variety at Pecos Bill's, which is 1/2 to 2/3 the size and comes with a little spiral of soft-serve.) (SarahElizabethII)


• 10. To cut down on your standing-in-line time, don't eat fast food between noon and 2:00 if you can help it. It gets *really* crazy at that time. Also, each cash register should have a ine on the left AND right sides. The cashiers will alternate which line they take orders from, so if you see a register with only one line, don't be afraid to make a new one on the other side. (SarahElizabethII)


• 11. If you're willing to split a meal, try the Caesar or Greek salads at Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland. The Kit Carson Chicken Salad at Pecos Bill's in Frontierland is pretty generous too, as is their Chicken Wrap. There's also a chicken family meal available at Cosmic Ray's. For $16 you get a whole chicken (cut in quarters) 20 oz of REAL mashed potatoes, and 4 corn muffins. (SarahElizabethII)


• 12. Don't order items just because they are on the menu. Disney places easy sell items on their menus because most people just order that way. Notice that everything on the menu comes as a 'basket' and all burgers come with cheese. So for our family of 4 we order 2 Baskets, 2 Burgers, 4 waters and NO CHEESE (.35 per slice). Ordering this way you can save an easy $8.00 to $10.00 per meal. (Robfasto)


• 13. If you feel the need for a sugar rush, order a LARGE drink with NO ICE. The drinks come out of the tap cold and with out the ice you get 2.5 times more drink. Then 4 straws and you are ready to go (Robfasto)


• 14. I don't know about you, but when traveling with a family of 4 drinks get to be a BIG part of each meal. An savings of nearly $8.00 per meal adds up over a 5 or 6 day stay. So just ask for a cup of water (not a bottle) because even at Disney water is still free. (Robfasto)


• 15. If you are in EPCOT and you're feeling a bit thirsty, pop into Ice Station Cool (Future World) for some thirst-quenching beverages. And no matter how hard they try to convince you to sample it - leave the BEVERLY alone. Ick! Best part is the drinks are free. (TiggerH)


• 16. Arrive at the parks about 30-45 minutes before the stated opening times. The parks will usually open the turnstiles about 30 minutes early, although the rides and attractions won't open until the stated opening time, the shops will be open. You can rent a stroller, browse the shops and be ready at the entrance to each 'land' when the rope drops at opening time. (Linda)


• 17. Often Disney will run a special where you can purchase a second Water Park one day pass for 1/2 price with the purchase of the first one-day water park pass. If this is something you are interested in, be sure to ask when purchasing your tickets. Sometimes during the summer months or when the water parks are open late, they offer "twilight prices" for those arriving after about 3 pm. These discounts can be as high as 30 to 50% off the regular price. These specials are not announced, so be sure to ask. (Linda)


• 18. Healthier and cheaper foods are had at the Wonders of Life pavilion in Future World. Pure and Simple serves soups and vegetarian chili for just $2.80, fruit cups for $2.25 (plus 50 cents for frozen yogurt) and cereal with milk for $2. (Salads, though, cost an offensive $6.25.) Baked potatoes are on hand at Epcot, too: Head to The Land, where they cost $3.60 with broccoli and cheese. (Linda)


• 19. Akershus, in Norway, has smoked salmon and mackerel, mashed rutabaga, sour herring and marinated Edam cheese, plus stuff like mac and cheese for picky kids. At lunch (11:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), it's $12 for adults and $5.25 for kids. Make your dinner reservation at 4 p.m, and you'll pay the lunchtime price which is $6.50/$2.75 less. And you'll be on there just as the more expansive dinner menu is being brought to the buffet. (Linda)


• 20. I visited the world in June. In regard to the fastpass rides, avoid the very popular fastpass rides at night. What was happening on our visit, the fastpass times on the tickets were not being enforced. So anyone with a pass from anytime during the day was in the fastpass line at night resulting in two tremendously long lines. The other thing we found out is that the lines for the fastpass ride in the a.m. were very short. More people were standing in line to get their fastpass for Test Track at Epcot than were in the line for the ride. Unless Disney is enforcing the times on the fastpasses more rigorously, the system is a disaster for late night visitors on heavy crowd days. (Unibear)


• 21. Make sure you pick up a guide map. They have a lot of information about restaurants, shops, rides, shows, and parades. It is also a good Idea to get two of them so you can keep one and put it in a memory book. (919Florida)


• 22. Ask to sit in the front of the monorail. This is quite an experience. You also get a monorail license if you ask for one. (919Florida)


• 23. At Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom, there is a mural in the entrance of the building. In this mural, there are over 30 hidden Mickeys. Some are easy to find some are difficult. (919Florida)


• 24. Special Walt Disney World guides for guests speaking foreign languages or guides for guests who have disabilities are available at Guest Relations desks through the parks and at the resorts. (MobileBadBoy)


• 25. If you have big families (6 in ours), you should get a refrigerator in your room. However, about 1 and a half weeks before your arrival date, pack a box with snacks, like chips, some pop, candy, etc., and mail it to the resort, take the Polynesian, for example. On the top of the box, label it:
  
  Name of Resort,
  Address, Zip Code, etc.
  ATTN: Your Name--HOLD FOR [DATE] ARRIVAL. WILL PICK-UP AT CHECK-IN
  
  The Resort will hold the box for you, and when you arrive at the check-in desk, let them know you had a box sent to the hotel, and they will get it for you, and you can take it to the room with you. This saves on food costs int he parks, and it is a nice thing to have with you at night.


• 26. After the park closes but before all of the Main Street shops are closed, music suddenly starts, a narrator thanks you for coming to the park and tells you to drive safely, Mickey Mouse says good-bye, and all the while, a beautiful light show takes place on the castle walls. Take time to watch this show, it's well worth it. (The Disney Insider)


• 27. Make lunch your big meal for the day. The portions are not much smaller than dinner, but there is a very significant price difference. As I recall, lunch prices are in effect until 2:00 pm or so. Many adults need nothing more or just a light snack for the rest of the day, while the kids can hit the food court for what they need. My wife and I had very light breakfasts and evening snacks most days, saving the cost of 2 full dinners per day for 6 days! (Bob B.)


• 28. You can always buy it, but it can get expensive. Bring some of your own, cool it down in a bathroom sink with the available free ice, and take it out to the park with you. Sometimes you can find places to refill your bottle while in the theme parks too. (Bob B.)


• 29. My friend and I recently had a girls get-a-way weekend. We stayed at a resort and had regular tickets...well, fla resident...we realized that you can get a fast pass with your park ticket as well as your room key as long as they are seperate. It worked great...we almost rode every ride at all of the parks that weekend. We were tired but sooo happy.. (Misty Ben K)


• 30. Weather-- always bring umbrellas- collapsable,compact and durable raincoats, no matter what the weather man says or what the weather looks like in the morning. Weather changes alot in florida. (Gina)


• 31. CHECKING IN- Have dad wait in line for bag checks while your and kids scoot to the line with NO bags, this way you can get ahead to the stroller rentals and get in that line. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone. (Gina)


• 32. POTTY BREAKS- USE YOUR MARKER and MARK off all the potties in the park so you know right where you need to go instead of searching the fine print before Junior pees his pants. You can do this while waiting in line. (Gina)


• 33. We lost our 4-yr. old's disposable camera and if we had taken the time to put a return address sticker on it, chances are we would have received it in the mail from Guest Services when we got home and it would have saved us a lot of tears (and some great photos!!!) (Liz)


• 34. Read all of the trip reports that you can. I learned a ton from them and knew to dress my little girl in her princess dress for breakfast with Cinderella. Not only was that wonderful for her at the castle but as she walked through the park that day every cast member called out "Hello Princess". She loved it. (Jennifer)


• 35. If you have rented a car and are staying at one of the WDW Resorts without the monorail system, drive and park your car either at Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian. Hop on the monorail, less hassle and easy to leave at the end of the day, without having to go to WDTC. (Mouse)