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ligrumpygirl
01-25-2008, 07:52 PM
Care to share any tricks that you have learned over the years at Disney?

Somebody mentioned using post-its to cover the automatic flusher for kids. We have been using that for a few years now.

Any others out there??

Magical JenK
01-25-2008, 11:55 PM
Hmmm...this is a good one...I'll have to think about this....I don't know that I have tricks...hmmm....

zoodoyle
01-26-2008, 12:18 AM
Somebody mentioned using post-its to cover the automatic flusher for kids. We have been using that for a few years now.



Wow, what a great idea!! My five your old is terrified of those potties!! :eek: She's gonna' be soooo happy when I tell her your trick - thanks so much for mentioning it!! :sunshine:

lmroyea
01-26-2008, 01:08 AM
One of my favorites to do, just for DH and I, is Crystal Light packs, or something like it, to add to water that we refill at a bubbler. I also usually pack some Gatorade, bottled water, and cereal for us to have down there. It's cheaper to buy at a store around here and the bonus is once it's gone, we've got room for in the luggage for the souvies we're bringing home.

cglaura
01-26-2008, 03:29 AM
Well, it's more of a tip, but it does the trick! Ok, I'm tired :rotfl:

To keep drips from getting messy with a Mickey Bar or any kind of popcicle...keep some plastic drink lids handy. Insert the stick into where the straw would be...the lid will catch the drips!

Though getting messy is sometimes the fun part!

ligrumpygirl
01-26-2008, 11:11 AM
Another trick/tip I have is to pack lots of your things in plastic bags. Different sizes for different for different things. Then when you need a bag for something on the trip you have one! (ice pack? cold washcloth for the hot weather? dirty diaper?)

Magical JenK
01-26-2008, 11:43 AM
Well, it's more of a tip, but it does the trick! Ok, I'm tired :rotfl:

To keep drips from getting messy with a Mickey Bar or any kind of popcicle...keep some plastic drink lids handy. Insert the stick into where the straw would be...the lid will catch the drips!

Though getting messy is sometimes the fun part!

Oooh that's a good one!!


Another trick/tip I have is to pack lots of your things in plastic bags. Different sizes for different for different things. Then when you need a bag for something on the trip you have one! (ice pack? cold washcloth for the hot weather? dirty diaper?)

I totally do this too! I usually pack a few store plastic bags (Old Navy) for dirty clothes too...I just hate having my dirty undies floating around my luggage!! :0)

JOLAROCHE
01-26-2008, 01:26 PM
I bring several small plastic shoe bags with about 12 pockets in the and hang on a rack or on a hook of the back of a door. We put our toothpaste, brushes deoderant cream etc in them so the sink is not clutered even hair brushes. Each person can have a row or you can give one to several people and keep it in the closet until it is there turn for the bathroom and they can take it with them. We use this at disney and when we timeshare we find it helps you find things faster and helps with bathroom clutter. You can usuall buy these at the dollar store.

JillyFish
01-26-2008, 01:46 PM
Last week a Photpass CM suggested taking a photo of your Photopass card number on your own camera. That way, if you lose your card, you can still look up your pictures online. I had already written my number down, but this is a good tip I think.

disney_girl
01-26-2008, 01:49 PM
Some good tips already!!

A Ziploc type bag can come in handy to put your camera or other things in on the water rides or in the rain if needed! Also good for dirty clothes/ diapers etc.

We also fill our water bottles about half way full (or almost all the way in the summer) and freeze them overnight. Before you head out, fill the rest of the way with water. We are DVC members so always have at least a small fridge which helps.

disney_girl
01-26-2008, 01:50 PM
Last week a Photpass CM suggested taking a photo of your Photopass card number on your own camera. That way, if you lose your card, you can still look up your pictures online. I had already written my number down, but this is a good tip I think.

Ooohhh good tip! I'm always paranoid I'm going to lose it- not sure why I didn't think of this! But we do always have our laptop and internet so I look right away LOL.

bs4free
01-26-2008, 05:55 PM
one of my fav tips if you like to drink alot of water but do not like the $$$ at disney or the taste of tap at disney is to order bottled water online, I have used stapes (SR CREDIT) and they will deliver right to the resort no problem! no need to pack water or go on a shopping trip it just shows up at your room! Out last trip was 5 people for 14 nights 15 days and we used about 9.5 cases of bottled water! so this was a big help! and with the room set at about 55 degrees the water was cold for most of the morning and never did get HOT as the day went on!

cglaura
01-26-2008, 07:45 PM
Last week a Photpass CM suggested taking a photo of your Photopass card number on your own camera. That way, if you lose your card, you can still look up your pictures online. I had already written my number down, but this is a good tip I think.

Also along those lines...make a photocopy of your park passes. I had to replace my neice's (twice no less!) this past trip. The cm actually told everyone in the office to give me a standing ovation b/c I pulled out the copy Laura: :giggle: ...how do you respond to that LOL. He pushed a few keys and I had a new card in seconds. The whole think took about 2 minutes tops! I don't know how this works w/ key to the world cards...I had separate park hoppers.

sammielynn
01-26-2008, 09:09 PM
Always carry a bandanna. You can use it for so many thing. Get to hot, wet it and tie it around you neck. Get a cut or scrape, use it to stop the bleeding. Get sticky, use it as a washcloth. Wet, use it to dry off. So much to be done with one small piece of material.

Hedy
01-26-2008, 09:27 PM
one of my fav tips if you like to drink alot of water but do not like the $$$ at disney or the taste of tap at disney is to order bottled water online, I have used stapes (SR CREDIT) and they will deliver right to the resort no problem! no need to pack water or go on a shopping trip it just shows up at your room! Out last trip was 5 people for 14 nights 15 days and we used about 9.5 cases of bottled water! so this was a big help! and with the room set at about 55 degrees the water was cold for most of the morning and never did get HOT as the day went on!

I second this advice.

zoodoyle
01-26-2008, 09:37 PM
one of my fav tips if you like to drink alot of water but do not like the $$$ at disney or the taste of tap at disney is to order bottled water online, I have used stapes (SR CREDIT) and they will deliver right to the resort no problem! no need to pack water or go on a shopping trip it just shows up at your room! Out last trip was 5 people for 14 nights 15 days and we used about 9.5 cases of bottled water! so this was a big help! and with the room set at about 55 degrees the water was cold for most of the morning and never did get HOT as the day went on!

We'll definitely have to look into this for our trip in August!! It'll be super hot I'm sure, and with 9 of us, we'll be going through a LOT of water!! Thanks for the suggestion!! :sunshine:

chipndale
01-27-2008, 12:33 AM
For families that have 2 younder children that are not big eaters. Order a double cheeseburger and ask for an extra bun. You will be charged .90 cents for the extra bun I believe and you can slip on cheeseburger on the extra bun - add some ketchup and they can each have a cheeseburger and share the rest.

askomsky
01-27-2008, 08:50 AM
one of my fav tips if you like to drink alot of water but do not like the $$$ at disney or the taste of tap at disney is to order bottled water online, I have used stapes (SR CREDIT) and they will deliver right to the resort no problem! no need to pack water or go on a shopping trip it just shows up at your room! Out last trip was 5 people for 14 nights 15 days and we used about 9.5 cases of bottled water! so this was a big help! and with the room set at about 55 degrees the water was cold for most of the morning and never did get HOT as the day went on!

Great idea!!! if we stay onsite next time I'll defintely do this. We're a family of 5 who drink nothing but water, we stayed off site when we went so I just went over to the grocery store and picked up 2 cases. We brought a bunch in our backpacks, and when we were down to 5 we would just re-fill at Disney (although I was the picky one, the other's didn't mind their water).

Kittykat
01-27-2008, 12:25 PM
We always pack two pop-up hampers for our dirty laundry. I never re-pack dirty laundry, I just load the full hampers in the car at then end of our stay and toss them into the laundry room once we get back home.

Of course, I don't think this would work as well if you were flying. :p

bartleby1
01-27-2008, 12:57 PM
LOVE all of the great ideas! Especially the drink lid under the mickey bar! We go in August so mickey bars melt really quick!

I pack all of my kids outfits in gallon size ziploc bags. Each bag has underwear, socks, shorts and shirt. This way there is no searching for matches in the morning and I can just throw a bag at each kid to get dressed. It also makes it easy to tell when we need to do laundry because I know right away how many outfits each kid has left.

We also bring breakfast foods to eat in the room. We found that eating at the resort/park takes too much time in the morning, plus it is expensive.

PSL1013
01-27-2008, 02:52 PM
We always pack two pop-up hampers for our dirty laundry. I never re-pack dirty laundry, I just load the full hampers in the car at then end of our stay and toss them into the laundry room once we get back home.

Of course, I don't think this would work as well if you were flying. :p

We fly and we do something similar....I have a big laundry bag, the kind with a drawstring at the top. We keep this in the closet and all dirty clothes get put into this....at the end of the trip, I close the bag and pop the whole thing into one of our empty suitcases, the other suitcase gets whatever clean clothes we have left and all the rest of the stuff we brought or bought! Works great for us!

Kittykat
01-27-2008, 03:05 PM
We fly and we do something similar....I have a big laundry bag, the kind with a drawstring at the top. We keep this in the closet and all dirty clothes get put into this....at the end of the trip, I close the bag and pop the whole thing into one of our empty suitcases, the other suitcase gets whatever clean clothes we have left and all the rest of the stuff we brought or bought! Works great for us!

Oh, good idea! I'll have to keep this in mind next time we fly somewhere on vacation. Nothing worse than re-packing your clean clothes with your dirty ones...ick!

mmm611
01-27-2008, 07:46 PM
You can get a free cup of ice water from any vendor who has a soft drink machine. Just go up and ask for a cup of ice tap water. There's supposedly a filter on the Coke machine for it too.

I did this many times last July and never spent a dime on water.

Kycha
01-27-2008, 08:22 PM
You can get a free cup of ice water from any vendor who has a soft drink machine. Just go up and ask for a cup of ice tap water. There's supposedly a filter on the Coke machine for it too.

I did this many times last July and never spent a dime on water.
That is a good tip. It also works outside the parks. When I lived in Cocoa, after a day at the beach, we would go to the nearest fast food drive thru and ask for cups of ice water(with no other purchase). They always obliged.

disney_girl
01-27-2008, 08:46 PM
There are often offers out there to receive free samples of detergent. Take those along if you plan on doing laundry while you are away- much easier to travel and cheaper than buying there.

cglaura
01-27-2008, 09:04 PM
You can get a free cup of ice water from any vendor who has a soft drink machine. Just go up and ask for a cup of ice tap water. There's supposedly a filter on the Coke machine for it too.

I did this many times last July and never spent a dime on water.

We did this last trip, it was great. I always asked, politely "If possible" for a large cup of ice water and always rec'd the tall cups. Sometimes we would put the Wyler's (same as Crystal Light...but 8/$1 at Dollar Tree :) ) packets in them.

You can also get cups of hot water to make your own tea or instant coffee. Taster's Choice (what most Disney has anyway) makes travel tubes now similar to the Wyler's. It tastes the exact same as their coffee (except those rare places that have good coffee...).

I love reading everyone's ideas!

Did anyone mention Blister Block yet? Never travel without it!

arob414
01-27-2008, 09:10 PM
I bring several small plastic shoe bags with about 12 pockets in the and hang on a rack or on a hook of the back of a door. We put our toothpaste, brushes deoderant cream etc in them so the sink is not clutered even hair brushes. Each person can have a row or you can give one to several people and keep it in the closet until it is there turn for the bathroom and they can take it with them. We use this at disney and when we timeshare we find it helps you find things faster and helps with bathroom clutter. You can usuall buy these at the dollar store.

Great tip!! I have started a planning notebook and I put shoe bag on my list of must haves.

I hit the dollar tree and pick up ponchos, I think you get 2 for $1. They are very small to pack in your backpack. If we use one, we just discard and get new ones for the next day.

I also buy the light up tubes at Dollar Tree to pull out when the girls want some. Much cheaper and they don't take alot of room. They can spend the money on something else.

ligrumpygirl
01-27-2008, 09:26 PM
Be careful...I bought these at the dollar store and they ripped even before I got them out of the bag! Just make sure you get a quality one.

arob414
01-27-2008, 09:31 PM
Be careful...I bought these at the dollar store and they ripped even before I got them out of the bag! Just make sure you get a quality one.

Oh, that is too bad. Especially when it is pouring. We have been using these for several years and haven't had any problems. I think I will carry extras, just in case.

ligrumpygirl
01-27-2008, 09:32 PM
Oh, that is too bad. Especially when it is pouring. We have been using these for several years and haven't had any problems. I think I will carry extras, just in case.

Whoops! I should have quoted in my last post. I meant the shoe holders ripped. My dollar store ponchos are FABULOUS!!!!!!!!! We buy a few and then throw them away also.

Sorry for the confusion!

arob414
01-27-2008, 09:52 PM
Whoops! I should have quoted in my last post. I meant the shoe holders ripped. My dollar store ponchos are FABULOUS!!!!!!!!! We buy a few and then throw them away also.

Sorry for the confusion!

Thanks. I guess I will try a little more expensive shoe holder. That would not be fun if it ripped and everything went kaboom.

DisneyMa
01-28-2008, 01:11 AM
I always pack clothespins. You would be amazed how many uses you can get out of something so simple.

Hang up wet bathing suits in the shower
Close chips/snack bags
Keep the baby blanket on the stroller

We have packed 5 clothespins everytime we go on vacation and each time we use them.

I love hearing everyone's ideas

PSL1013
01-28-2008, 10:11 AM
We always have clothespins packed too, I have a baggie of them in my suitcase and just leave them in there, ready for the next trip....clothespins are great, also use them at home to close chips etc.

For the past couple of years I leave all my liquid stuff, medicines, all toiletries etc. hair brushes, makeup etc. everything except my clothes I keep packed and in the suitcase. I have bought duplicates of everything I use just for vacation purposes, it makes it so much easier to pack when you only have to think about packing your clothes. I refill things that need refilling when I return from the trip, repack and it is ready to go the next time. If something is close to expiration, I just replace it with a new one and use the other at home.

3dog2kidmom
01-28-2008, 10:48 AM
Great tips everyone! Here's one of mine... I had a sample of dishwashing liquid but you could take a small travel bottle with some in it. We used it to wash our refillable mugs. You can rinse them in the mug wash sink next to the soda machines, but I liked having them nice and clean with hot water and soap!!

One more thing to pick up at the Dollar store... I found small hard covered spiral bound notebooks with Pirates of the Caribbean pics on them and we used these for autograph books this time. Saved a bunch of money, since we already have 2 official WDW books.

disney_girl
01-28-2008, 10:52 AM
For the past couple of years I leave all my liquid stuff, medicines, all toiletries etc. hair brushes, makeup etc. everything except my clothes I keep packed and in the suitcase. I have bought duplicates of everything I use just for vacation purposes, it makes it so much easier to pack when you only have to think about packing your clothes. I refill things that need refilling when I return from the trip, repack and it is ready to go the next time. If something is close to expiration, I just replace it with a new one and use the other at home.

We do this too and it's a great time saver! All of our toiletries are pretty much ready to go well before the trip. I just refill/ replace everything when we return so it's ready to go.

MKCP84
01-28-2008, 11:00 AM
Always carry a bandanna. You can use it for so many thing. Get to hot, wet it and tie it around you neck. Get a cut or scrape, use it to stop the bleeding. Get sticky, use it as a washcloth. Wet, use it to dry off. So much to be done with one small piece of material.

When our girls were younger and we had a stroller I would tie the bandana to the handle of the stroller when parking it at a ride. Very easy to spot!

PSL1013
01-28-2008, 11:08 AM
We do this too and it's a great time saver! All of our toiletries are pretty much ready to go well before the trip. I just refill/ replace everything when we return so it's ready to go.

With us being DVC members and at least in my case, being lucky enough to go to Disney at least 2x a year makes it a must to simplify things....I would love to become an owner of those purple lockers that you put your stuff in (don't know if I'm allowed to mention them here) but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to spend $100 per year for the convenience, I keep thinking of all the kiosks that I can visit with all that money during F&W. :love:

disney_girl
01-28-2008, 11:14 AM
With us being DVC members and at least in my case, being lucky enough to go to Disney at least 2x a year makes it a must to simplify things....I would love to become an owner of those purple lockers that you put your stuff in (don't know if I'm allowed to mention them here) but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to spend $100 per year for the convenience, I keep thinking of all the kiosks that I can visit with all that money during F&W. :love:

Very true! We are DVC and go at least 2x a year as well! So, it makes it easy to just simplify these things up front! I briefly thought of the locker since these aren't things we need in our daily life, but I convinced myself I would rather use the money elsewhere at Disney for fun!

ligrumpygirl
01-28-2008, 04:13 PM
I have a purple locker and LOVE it! I think of it as not having to bring liquid on the plane...not having to remember to buy the same things every year and lose them by the next trip...and always having cute wine glasses to drink my wine out of on my patio at SSR!!

Magical JenK
01-28-2008, 09:14 PM
one of my fav tips if you like to drink alot of water but do not like the $$$ at disney or the taste of tap at disney is to order bottled water online, I have used stapes (SR CREDIT) and they will deliver right to the resort no problem! no need to pack water or go on a shopping trip it just shows up at your room! Out last trip was 5 people for 14 nights 15 days and we used about 9.5 cases of bottled water! so this was a big help! and with the room set at about 55 degrees the water was cold for most of the morning and never did get HOT as the day went on!

I tried looking for stapes, but I couldn't find it....????

wilsonfamily4
01-28-2008, 09:16 PM
pretty sure she meant staples as that is who we used. At that time for members you got free shipping but I have heard that is not the case anymore

I thought it was great. We had 2 cases for 7 days and did not quite use all of them. We brought koolaid packets for soem of the kids but really only used them twice. I loved havong a frozen water with me so later in the day it was COLD and we did not have to buy water.

missymouse
01-28-2008, 09:18 PM
I tried looking for stapes, but I couldn't find it....????

I am pretty sure he mistyped it and meant Staples.

Oops someone beat me. Oh well that is two votes for staples for the water

Magical JenK
01-28-2008, 09:33 PM
Well that's what I thought, but I guess I didn't think of Staples as anything but office supplies...interesting. Can I ask how you got it delivered there for your check in? How does that work?

Hedy
01-28-2008, 09:40 PM
Well that's what I thought, but I guess I didn't think of Staples as anything but office supplies...interesting. Can I ask how you got it delivered there for your check in? How does that work?

I sent mine to
Heather Last Name Guest
C/O POFQ front desk
Address

And then inn the notes section I put my ressie # and my dates.

It was waiting for me, and bell services delivered it to my room.

Magical JenK
01-28-2008, 09:43 PM
I sent mine to
Heather Last Name Guest
C/O POFQ front desk
Address

And then inn the notes section I put my ressie # and my dates.

It was waiting for me, and bell services delivered it to my room.

huh...interesting...thanks Heather! I've heard of people shipping items down to themselves before they get there, but I guess i never thought about water!! GREAT idea!!

Kycha
01-28-2008, 09:50 PM
We have ordered water from Staples as well. They also sell snacks and some breakfast items(granola bars, single serve oatmeal, etc). Last time we ordered 2 cases of spring water, a bucket of pretzels and some twizzlers. Anything that was leftover we gave to the housekeeper(except for the twizzlers, those came home with me.lol). It had been free shipping for staples rewards members, now it is a $50 minimum. Someone over on the Dis suggested, if you couldn't get the $50 minimum for the free shipping to order an ink cartridge for your printer. They are so small, they won't take much room in your luggage for your return home.

bs4free
01-28-2008, 10:06 PM
Another Trick to get your Staples order with Water and Food up to the $50 amount to get Free Shiping is to buy a SD memory card ( or what ever your camera takes) its small and who could not use the extra space to take more photos!!!!!!!

wilsonfamily4
01-28-2008, 10:24 PM
Another Trick to get your Staples order with Water and Food up to the $50 amount to get Free Shiping is to buy a SD memory card ( or what ever your camera takes) its small and who could not use the extra space to take more photos!!!!!!!

Now that is GOOD!

LCS3
02-13-2008, 10:57 AM
We always pack two pop-up hampers for our dirty laundry. I never re-pack dirty laundry, I just load the full hampers in the car at then end of our stay and toss them into the laundry room once we get back home.

Of course, I don't think this would work as well if you were flying. :p

Thanks! This is a GREAT tip! I HATE packing my dirty clothes back into the suitcase with clean clothes. I usually just wash everything when we get home, regardless of clean or dirty. I also dislike doing laundry, so the less laundry I have to do the better! :cooldance:

JOLAROCHE
02-13-2008, 05:18 PM
We travel buy plain so I cannot use the laundry bags but I do something similar. I take one of the largest suitcases that I bring and stand it up in the closet on its end. I open the zipper so that I can get my hand in. We put all our dirty laundry in this one suitcase and that suitcase when we get home goes straight to the laundry room.

kerry34
02-19-2008, 10:02 AM
Packing kids outfits in ziploc bags as someone else had mentioned is a great idea. I do this every trip for my younger kids. It keeps everything organized in their drawers and makes getting ready in the morning so much easier because i just take out a bag and the outfit is all ready, complete with socks and undies. Also they cant go through everything trying to decide what shirt they want to wear with what shorts and wrinkle everything up on me. The clothes stay wrinkle free in the bag.

I am not sure if this was mentioned here or not so I am going to just in case.... for those who have young kids and rent strollers at the parks, bring a very brightly colored bandana and tie it around the stroller handle so when you come off a ride you can find your stroller much easier in the masses of them in the stroller area. Much easier than looking at all the name tags...we learned this the hard way.

For those who drive like we do, if you have to stay in a hotel overnight during your trip, pack an extra suitcase with all your clothes for that night so you dont have to unpack everything. I use the space saver travel bags and pack one outfit and pajamas for all 7 of us in one medium sized suitcase. When we get to the hotel I just grab that, our toiletry bag and we dont have to touch the other bags. We learned this one the hard way too. Live and learn.