What Disney Tip Are you really glad you listened to?

[tcat160]

Subbing! =}

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by GirlOutlaw

I stopped for a photo op at the umbrella twice (each time it was feb . 2010&2012) neither time did the rain feature work. They may shut it off during cold weather?.?

It's a possible they might. Since the water stays on the street, they may worry about it freezing over and creating ice. Don't want people to slip and fall.

Also, I thought I remember someone asking if there was a trick to getting it to work. There is. We just got back and I figured it out while I was there. You'll see a black square on the sidewalk. When you're ready to make it rain, make sure and put at least one foot on the square. This is the switch to turn it on. Once you lift your foot, it will turn off.

[nonzerosum]

We tried it last week and it was working. Must step on the black pad to activate it.

Originally Posted by Thumper_Man

It's a possible they might. Since the water stays on the street, they may worry about it freezing over and creating ice. Don't want people to slip and fall.

Also, I thought I remember someone asking if there was a trick to getting it to work. There is. We just got back and I figured it out while I was there. You'll see a black square on the sidewalk. When you're ready to make it rain, make sure and put at least one foot on the square. This is the switch to turn it on. Once you lift your foot, it will turn off.

[phoenixleigh]

Not sure if this was mentioned but If you ask for water they will charge you and give you a bottle. But if you ask for a "cup of water" its free

[red419]

Originally Posted by Belle4311

One of the best tips I got was that not all tips will apply to you, so don't get overwhelmed with thinking you need to follow all of them to have a great trip! Really think about your family and what your needs are.

For my DH and I, we found that for a young couple with no children, the following tips worked for us:

PACKING:
- We bring water bottles from home, fill with ice at the hotel, refill with ice at CS throughout the day. It's FREE! And believe me: drink, drink, drink. Even when it's cooler outside, you will get dehydrated. Drink water all day.

-I ship a box of mostly-used toiletries, first aid items, and our breakfast bars ahead of time. We do not check luggage....period. And bonus, because it was all mostly-used, we used them up on the trip and toss everything away, so almost nothing comes home with us!

-We bring a First Aid kit with: ibprofen, BlisterStick, moleskin, bandaids, Neosporin, sunscreen, feminine liners, antibac, and chapstick in a small ziploc bag in our backpack. It has saved us time and again. Moleskin and BlisterStick will save your feet. Seriously.

- I never do laundry. For many families with kids and a ton of stuff to pack, I can understand why this is valuable. But, for 2 people, I feel like it's a waste of my precious vacation time. I'd rather just bring what I need.

-I've been to Disney 7 times and I have yet to have the need for all those extra things people bring: over the door hangers, fans, misters, neck wraps, laungry baskets, etc. I'm not saying those things aren't useful for some people, but again...consider the needs of YOUR family.

PARK STUFF:
- I plan only my ADRs (maybe a few events like MVMCP or CP depending on the season) and let the rest be Disney magic. I don't plan ahead to get to the rope drop - we'll make that decision the night before. I make a list of the CS places we might be interested in eating lunch and decide when we're actually hungry. We plan on see everything we can, but at a more relaxed pace. We can't enjoy our vacation if we're racing through it. On that note, we RARELY make use of Fast Passes. We go during less crowded times and so it's never been an issue for us. We waited an hour for Soarin' once, but it had literally JUST opened. We find that racing around the parks to get FP and making an effort to get back to the ride at a specific time wastes just as much time as waiting in lines and is infinitely more stressful.

- Regarding DDP, on our last trip we found it was too much food for us. We're not snackers & we don't eat big meals. We ate breakfast in the room, used QS for lunch & TS for dinner. We ended up using snack credits on treats in DTD and we took them home. We never ate our lunch time desserts, either. We felt guilty for wasting food and DH wasn't happy that he couldn't get an app/salad instead of dessert. Also, we never tried any delicious snacks because we were so worried about being hungry for our CS/TS! We thought that we wouldn't get the plan again, but it was free our next time around and it is totally convenient, so we took it. But, this time around, we're going to only have our TS planned and otherwise, we'll eat snacks when we want or CS when we want. We're not going to worry about wasting anything or not getting our money's worth. It was free and we want to enjoy it. Bottom line, it's a great value and convenient, but if you're going to worry about getting every penny out of it or not enjoy the things you want to try, you're probably better off paying OOP.

-Part of the fun of Disney is meeting characters. But, you simply don't have the time to meet them all AND do all the rides, etc. So, each time we go, we make a list of the few must-sees and would-like to sees. We plan around the must-sees and everything else is left to chance. I also keep my must-sees list short: Pooh, Belle, Rapunzel, and Duffy (me) and Donald (DH).

GENERAL ENJOYMENT:
- I'm a HUGE planner. I tend to plan everything to death. However, I make a rule for myself that I'm allowed to plan like crazy up until the day before the trip. Day 1 of the trip and I let it all go. I trust that my planning has helped all it can and that everything will work out. I am able to enjoy my vacation and just let the little things go.

Happy planning, everyone!!

Good advice! Too much planning makes it more stressful!

[FosterLovesMickey]

Originally Posted by chiburple

-
•HWS: You can get the fantasmic dinner package on the dinning plan – this gets you an appetizer with your dining plan along with guaranteed seats to the show.

Is this still accurate? I didn't notice, when I booked my package, any reference to getting an appetizer... Interesting.

[2012bella13]

I think the Deluxe plan is the only one with Appetizer, Entree' & dessert.

[FosterLovesMickey]

Originally Posted by 2012bella13

I think the Deluxe plan is the only one with Appetizer, Entree' & dessert.

Thanks - that is what I was thinking too. It kind of read like this was a feature of the fantasmic package. But, perhaps the OP was speaking in regard to the DxDP, specifically.

I also noticed in The Hidden Magic of WDW Planner that it indicates that the DDP consists of an app, entree, dessert and drink - but, I'm guessing that is out of date (it is a 2012 version that I'm looking at).

Thanks!!!!

[chiburple]

Originally Posted by FosterLovesMickey

Thanks - that is what I was thinking too. It kind of read like this was a feature of the fantasmic package. But, perhaps the OP was speaking in regard to the DxDP, specifically.

I also noticed in The Hidden Magic of WDW Planner that it indicates that the DDP consists of an app, entree, dessert and drink - but, I'm guessing that is out of date (it is a 2012 version that I'm looking at).

Thanks!!!!

Hey, sorry it took me a couple days to respond to this. Been Christmas busy. I used the regular dining plan to get the fantasmic package the past November (2012) and yes it does get you an appitizer with that meal at Mama Melrose (Holiwood and Vine is open buffet). I believe it works at Holiwood Brown Derbie as well but that one will cost you two table service meals. Hope this helps!

[FosterLovesMickey]

Originally Posted by chiburple

Hey, sorry it took me a couple days to respond to this. Been Christmas busy. I used the regular dining plan to get the fantasmic package the past November (2012) and yes it does get you an appitizer with that meal at Mama Melrose (Holiwood and Vine is open buffet). I believe it works at Holiwood Brown Derbie as well but that one will cost you two table service meals. Hope this helps!

Awesome - thanks for your response! This is something that I didn't see online, and hadn't heard anywhere!

[2012bella13]

I wished they would let you double up on your counter service to get some of the regular dining meals too.

I had thought about up grading but I know my family would not want to plan a meal for everyday.

[jlm]

Originally Posted by 2012bella13

I wished they would let you double up on your counter service to get some of the regular dining meals too.

I had thought about up grading but I know my family would not want to plan a meal for everyday.

You can just pay for that table service out of pocket. It really is worth not waiting in the super long, crowded line.

[Buzzfan1966]

We are leaving Tuesday 1/1/13 and staying through Sunday 1/6/13. We have always lived just a few hours away from WDW so we would just go down for a day here and there. This is the first extended trip we have taken since 2004. My boys are 10 and 12 and are so excited to be able to make it to all the parks in one trip.

I made my Dollar Tree trek today and got the over the door shoe holder, pop up bin, glow sticks, ponchos and snacks for the trip and they are packed and ready to go.

I have been so many times and have never thought of many of these things, but thank you for all of your input.

My one small tip: We go to Chef Mickey's every trip and buy the picture. We have 5 pictures so far at various stages of my children's lives. You are able to really see how they have grown!

I'm sure I'll think of some more tips and I'll add on when we return from this one.

[Buzzfan1966]

Originally Posted by lucifie

You can also get white noise apps. I have a nice one on my Kindle Fire and it was free.

I just downloaded it...............I can't wait to see how well it works. I'll report back when I get back.

[Buzzfan1966]

I just took pictures of the backs of all of my tickets. I can't imagine how they could see the numbers that are on the backs. Has anyone ever had an issue with them not being able to see the bar code or numbers??