Tips about ECVs, Kids, Mousecellaneous and Planning

When booking rooms at a WDW resort, be aware that adjoining rooms and connecting rooms are not the same thing. Adjoining rooms are next to each other. Connecting rooms share an interior door. Don't rely on the reservation employee to explain the differences in terminology to you. - Elizabeth

The best investment of my recent trip at Disney was two notebooks and a couple of pencils. They were real lifesavers to entertain the girls while we were waiting, or just when they were bored. They used them at restaurants, on the buses, in the stroller, in the lines, waiting at the shows... and they also used them as autograph books. They ended up being the most useful thing I brought with me! - Melanie

All Resorts - If you have toddlers and/or crawling babies, it is a good idea to check the floor, including under the beds, for medications dropped from the previous resort guests. We found an unknown pill picked up by our one year old as he was scouting out the place. It only takes a minute and is well worth the effort! - Timothy

Before our current trip to the World we were trying to come up with a way to tell each of our water bottles apart in the insulated bag that we carry to the parks. We decided to use six different color ponytail holders, which we placed around each bottle. No confusion as to whose bottle was whose! - Gerrie Springer

All Resorts - We just returned from a visit to the World. We have a 3-year-old, so upon check-in I asked if I could have a stepstool in the room so he would be able to easily use the sink to wash hands and brush teeth. I am happy to report they were able to accommodate my request! It was great! I thought other parents traveling with toddlers would find this helpful. - Amy Devoe

We recently went to Walt Disney World with a 7-year-old and 5-year-old. We rented a stroller with a glider board, which saved the day. Both kids were able to either sit in the stroller or stand on the board, and we never heard, "I'm too tired of walking." The stroller also came with a storage area underneath, a mini-cooler bag and a parent tray to hold a few bottles of water! - Scott Paul

I enjoyed reading the article on tips for taking children on an airplane (AllEars® Issue #661, May 22, 2012). It reminded me of the first time I took my four young children (age 6 months, 4, 8 and 10 years) on a plane. We were going to meet up with Dad who was doing work out of state, so I was on my own with them. To prepare for the flight we did "airplane practice" at home. I lined up chairs in our living room in rows like on a plane. We practiced how we would walk through the airport in a row like a mama duck and her ducklings. They carried their backpacks. We practiced talking to the flight attendants and having snacks. We practiced appropriate behavior on the plane and I told them they could only go to the airplane bathroom one time. (I knew my son would think it was cool and want to keep going in there.) That trip was many years ago, before the enhanced security requirements implemented by TSA, but we did practice walking through security as well. The funny thing is they still remember having airplane practice and they are 15, 19, 23 and 25. We were reminiscing a few weeks ago about that very thing. They were laughing so hard about airplane practice and walking like a row of ducklings. The practice really worked because I got several compliments on how well they behaved on that trip. - Jennie Blakeney

Girls who have long hair, when showering, need one towel for their body and one for their hair. To "go green" and save on hotel laundry, bring a turban made just for your wet hair. They can be bought in most big chain stores and online for a few dollars; they are small and dry in no time, cutting way down on the towels your family uses! - Patty

I always bring the small 3-ounce bathroom cups when I travel. They are great to use in the hotel when brushing your teeth. I have a 5-year-old son and sometimes the hotel provides glass drinking cups. Not a good thing for those little hands. The paper cups avoid any chance of him breaking the glass in the bathroom sinks. I also carry them around in the parks, too. They are great for handing out little snacks like gummy bears or goldfish crackers and make sharing a bottle of water easy as well. - hbryfogle

I always bring a cheap hand pump soap with me to use in my resort hotel. I hate using bar soap, especially since I share my hotel room, and it just never feels "clean" enough for me. I purchase a 99-cent hand pump soap before I go and put it in our resort bathroom upon arrival. I'll tell you, it beats using the slippery little Mickey soap bar the Disney resort hotels provide! - Kim

It has been many years since our first trip but I wanted to share a very valuable tip. Before you go, log onto Disney's website and order or print the park maps and study them extensively before your trip. I had read about the crowds and knew that if we didn't half way know where we were going, we would be lost. I studied the routes to the rides that we wanted to ride first, the restaurants we wanted to eat at and of course where the bathrooms were located. These parks are huge and knowing which way to start was super helpful. - Mindy

Buy a post card for each day of your Disney vacation on the first day. Each evening write down the day's highlights and mail the postcard to your home address from the hotel's front desk or postal box in the lobby. When you return home, you'll have a day by day 'mini journal' of what you did each day. So many of us plan to journal every day but after a day or two forget about it. Postcards are quick and easy! - Judith

Beach Club - We will be staying at the Beach Club in August. I recently called to add some room requests. When I requested a metal crib (the deluxe resorts used to have these, as opposed to the soft-sided Pack 'n' Plays), they informed me that they are no longer providing them. My son does not sleep well in Pack 'n' Plays. He is a tall 2-1/2-year-old. We requested a roll-away and will be transferring our son to a big boy bed this summer. The metal cribs were a nice feature that the deluxe resorts provided. - Sara

I was all set with extra batteries on our last trip, however finding a screwdriver was the problem. I will be packing one of the all-in-one screwdrivers I found at the dollar store next trip. - Jennifer C.

I found that there is a Disney Gift Card app for iPhones. This keeps track of what's left on your cards, and what the transactions are. I believe that it is only available for the iPhone. To get it, just go into the App Store on your iPhone and search for "Disney Gift Card app." It's a free app. I downloaded it and put in the info for our wrist cards, and it showed our balance. Real easy. I'm loving it already! One thing -- you have to pick a character for each card. I do not think that you can have the same image for two cards. - Dave Adams