Let's make a "Firsts-Timers" Master Tip Sheet!

[1sttimewdwfamily5]

Does anyone have a 14 yr old boy who says he only wants to wear jean pants to the world now in may when we go for our 1st time. I have been telling him how hot he will be. Any suggestions to convince him to wear shorts on vacation. He doesn't wear shorts normally anymore, so sad, he is such a teenage boy. [/B]

Me DH DS DS DD

 

[Aliceacc]

What does he wear for gym class? Bring whatever it is along, and give him the option. If he insists on denim, let him do what he wants. Worst case scenario, he decides when he gets there and buys a pair of shorts in the park.

 

[Omma]

Does anyone have a 14 yr old boy who says he only wants to wear jean pants to the world now in may when we go for our 1st time. I have been telling him how hot he will be. Any suggestions to convince him to wear shorts on vacation. He doesn't wear shorts normally anymore, so sad, he is such a teenage boy. [/B]

Me DH DS DS DD

Jean shorts?? My dh is insisting he will be fine in his hiking boots. Yeah, um, hiding a pair of Crocs in my suitcase for the poor misguided soul.

 

[Liljam]

As someone who prefers jeans and dresses to capris or shorts, I can say that even i n warm 90 degree weather I am comfy in jeans and a tank top. Your son may be accustomed to how he feels in jeans and the heat won't bother him. I wore shorts a few times last year and when I looked back at the photos, I opted to go with jeans and dresses again this year for my WDW attire. But I'm also comfy walking in my Roxy flip flops ALL day and night!

Rule of thumb for us is to dress however we dress for the same weather in our home town!

 

[sajilunni]

Awesome thread! And thank you to Alice who gave up all of her tips too on a separate thread!

I haven't been to WDW yet, but we take a few vacations every year and I've found that the best tip is to keep a packing list on your computer permanently. It has the essentials for every tip and I just modify it for the specific type of vacation we're taking each time. Whenever I remember something else I need to bring, I just go to my computer and add it (I email it to myself as an attachment so I can see it on other computers as well). I print it up the night before and start crossing off things that we definitely packed. I get a huge sense of satisfaction when every single thing is crossed off.

I always pack a lightweight nylon laundry bag as well. It's great to separate our clean from our dirty clothes in the suitcase when we're going back home.

We always had trouble with the logistics of packing our toiletries bag and taking showers before we leave and needing things from the toiletry bag. I finally bit the bullet and bought doubles of everything. I keep them permanently in our toiletry bag, so we don't even need to pack stuff from our bathroom.

I've always had print outs for all the confirmation numbers associated with our trips that I hand to the clerk, but someone here suggested downloading it on to a PDA. I'm not sure if my husband will be bringing his, but I'm at least going to put them on colored index cards to make it less bulky.

That's all I can think of right now.
Jil

 

[SGMCO]

Does anyone have a 14 yr old boy who says he only wants to wear jean pants to the world now in may when we go for our 1st time. I have been telling him how hot he will be. Any suggestions to convince him to wear shorts on vacation. He doesn't wear shorts normally anymore, so sad, he is such a teenage boy. [/B]

Me DH DS DS DD

I have a 12 year old and I buy the Sport Styled DUO DRY Water wicking
shorts. He doesn't mind wearing these, they are very cool --in both ways!!
I buy them at Target--they are putting them out now--bring him with you and see if he would pick out a few that he likes.
I would pack some extra shorts in another bag and allow him
to go to the park one day with the Jeans and he will be more than willing
to wear the shorts. I also bring Gold Bond powder for underwear and shoes
to help with heat rash. There are also gels that turn into powder for
chaffing. We always go in Sept when the Humidity and Heat are at there best.
We've never had a problem when ever we use the powder and wear
the wicking fabric.

 

[PADISFAM]

Whenever I remember something else I need to bring, I just go to my computer and add it (I email it to myself as an attachment so I can see it on other computers as well).

here is a 'cool' site jott.com & you can 'text' yourself (or others on your list).......the 'cool' part is you speak & it ends up either a text to yourself or the person you 'jotted' & an email to yourself.........very cool....

I've always had print outs for all the confirmation numbers associated with our trips that I hand to the clerk, but someone here suggested downloading it on to a PDA. I'm not sure if my husband will be bringing his, but I'm at least going to put them on colored index cards to make it less bulky.
Jil

we saved our confirmation #s to our cell phones

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

How about purchasing a pair of zip-off cargo pants? You know, the kind with a zipper around the knee, and when it gets too hot you can zip them off into shorts. You can find them about anywhere: Target, Old Navy, Kohl's, JC Penney's, etc. Otherwise, pack him shorts anyway, and if he doesn't use them, at least you didn't shell out $50 at Disney for shorts he'll never wear!

 

[thomasclan85]

here is a 'cool' site jott.com & you can 'text' yourself (or others on your list).......the 'cool' part is you speak & it ends up either a text to yourself or the person you 'jotted' & an email to yourself.........very cool....


we saved our confirmation #s to our cell phones

Is there a charge for this?

 

[wendithepooh]

I have never been to WDW with my kids,but we went to Disneyland 4 times last year.My favorite tip is from my mom.You can adapt it to whatever you want to use it for.I use it for food money.We put our alloted money for each day in an envelope.(10 days =10 envelopes)At the end of the day,the unused money,gets put in the next days envelope.For example-You have $100 a day for food,you use $80 for lunch,diner,and snacks the first day.That means you have $20 left over.You put that in the next days and now you have $120 for the next day.Sometimes you use all your money but more times than not you have extra.We paid for a Character Breakfast and the blue bayou last trip this way.And it didn't even hurt doing it.You can use it for your kids or your spending money.I also think last trip we came home with $20 and didn't feel like we went without.

I also agree with hand sanitizer.My last trip to DLR I came down with Fifth's disease.It started with a rash and ended with severe arthritis.I was 37 years old getting a kids disease(once you get it you can't get it again).The kids get a rash and a fever and thats about all.I have given birth without drugs twice,but I can tell you that this hurt worse then both put together.I could not even get in and out of Pirates because I hurt soooo bad.I ended up sitting on a bench a lot.My DH and DD11 had to help me get undressed every night.On my way home I stopped at an instacare place because I couldn't get out of the van and I had started to swell.It took the doctors about 4 months to figure it out.I had both my arms in braces,I looked sooo cool.It was awesome.I kept telling DH that I wanted to back to redeem DLR,but he made a rule that we had to go WDW before we could go back to DLR.So guess what I am doing.HA-Ha on him.(He has agreed to go)

 

[englishrose47]

I make up daily index cards with the park I'm going to that day and the rides I want to do and a loose schedule, I put showtimes parades and firework times on it along with ADR ressie # . Then I just take that card with me and I have my game plan for the day!I also take snax each day, good ones include fruit snax, goldfish. I found cookies tend to crumble and make a mess and choc. is OUT!! I too b=pack a change of clothes for my carryon and swimsuits . Also pack clothe sin different suitcases just to be safe. I ship snax to the hotel or pack a suitcase. Buy the rain ponchos at the Dollar Store 2/$1 beats $6 at the park for 1. I also have little camp towels that I bring to the parks for in case !! Also a small umbrella. This can be for rain or sun!!Moleskin is a must and one other thing I learned last time An ace bandage !!

 

[nooneshome]

If you have a fastpass for an attraction that is good from say 10:30 to 11:30, you can usually use it anytime after 10:30. The CMs usually check to see if you are there after 10:30.

ask to ride in the front car on the monorail
don't miss the candy lady in EPCOT
at some of the counter service restaurants you can order just a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger and fries - ask the CM.
buy the 2 for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and wear them on Kali River Rapids. after you are finished give them to another person.
believe in fastpass karma - give away unused fps.
talk to people - most people that go to World are very interesting people.
in DHS be sure to do the drawing part of Disney Animation
HATS & SUNSCREEN!!!!
get to the parks at rope drop and have a plan to ride your must-do big rides and load up on fastpasses.
bring gum and snack food to the parks.
don't forget to try Beverly at the coke place in EPCOT.

 

[englishrose47]

If you have a fastpass for an attraction that is good from say 10:30 to 11:30, you can usually use it anytime after 10:30. The CMs usually check to see if you are there after 10:30.

ask to ride in the front car on the monorail
don't miss the candy lady in EPCOT
at some of the counter service restaurants you can order just a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger and fries - ask the CM.
buy the 2 for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and wear them on Kali River Rapids. after you are finished give them to another person.
believe in fastpass karma - give away unused fps.
talk to people - most people that go to World are very interesting people.
in DHS be sure to do the drawing part of Disney Animation
HATS & SUNSCREEN!!!!
get to the parks at rope drop and have a plan to ride your must-do big rides and load up on fastpasses.
bring gum and snack food to the parks.
don't forget to try Beverly at the coke place in EPCOT.

That's just not right Beverley

 

[DzCrewOf5]

My tip would be if you are going during a month when the weather can turn cool during the day check the weather forecast for the day! On our last trip it turned cool and windy around 4pm while we were in Epcot. I wound up spending $160 on 4 sweatshirts to keep us warm for the remainder of the day. The thing that really hurt was I had bought ds and dd new Disney themed sweat jackets from Wallyworld for around $15 and they were back in the room.

 

[#17 Cherry Tree Lane]

Every time I go on any vacation I always make sure I have a zip lock bag for the remote control in the hotel room and a travel size of Chlorox (or a similar brand) disinfecting wipes. I don't trust house keepers with my health so I wipe everything I know I'll be touching and drop the remote in the bag. The remote still works through the bag and I feel safer disinfecting the room myself.

 

[daisy hughes]

I love the tips--I have been a few times and I need these too! One tip that I would love to share is not really a tip, but more of a suggestion. If you are lucky enough to live near other Disney lovers, a fun thing to do is have a Disney Planning Party and get together to share tips and ideas. At our church, we have about 30 couples that go to Disney every year, so we get together and share all of our planning strategies. We also make Disney dishes (we get the recipes from allearsnet) and sample the food from the World. We play games, have trivia questions, and play Disney music in the background. It is a lot of fun and it gets you super excited about your forthcoming trip.

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

Ooooohh, I LOVE the planning party idea!

Mousekeeping envelopes: it's easiest to bring pre-filled tip envelopes for the housekeeper, one for each day as your housekeeper can change daily. I believe you can even print out some cute ones on Mousesavers web site. They also have one for bell services too.

Flying and need some essentials once you get to Orlando? Try a grocery delivery service. We always have a case of water bottles, milk, cereal, fruit, and snacks delivered to our room when we arrive. There are various services, but we like Garden Grocer. I have even read that Staples will deliver water as well.

 

[Redbudlover]

One of my favorite tips was to get a pop up hamper to take with us to the resort. Keeps the mess down in the room and you are not ming sweaty smelly clothes with clean ones. When I brought my DS and DDIL and DGD with me I brought two - one for their clothes and one for mine so we didn't have to figure out whose dirty clothes were whose at the end.

 

[PADISFAM]

Is there a charge for this?

no charge for the jott- stand text message charges (if you have unlimited then no additional charge @ all)

 

[louey]

Don't forget to just sit on a bench for 5 minutes at Magic Kingdom and just soak it all in. Sometimes we try to rush around and when we go in June I am going to be sure that I just chill for a bit and enjoy everything Then continue to run around!