Tips about Epcot, Kids and My Disney Experience

A great way to tote around your umbrella strollers is to use a "camping" or "sport" chair bag from home. Put the stroller in the bag when you are about to board the bus and easily store the bag in/on your stroller throughout the parks. It will make holding your stroller so much easier while toting those little ones around, too. I would love to take credit, but this is a tip someone else shared with me that I know everyone could use. - Jessica Stahl

I have read several tips about using water mister fans in the parks, but my family has found a way to cool off that we think works just as well with the added benefits of being cheaper and more convenient. We use the small (about 4" tall) pump-type bottles one can usually find in the "travel and trial size" section at the grocery store or pharmacy. The bottles are inexpensive ($1-$2) so it is not a big deal if one is lost (as happened to me on Tom Sawyer Island) and require no batteries. They are very lightweight, just a couple of ounces even when filled with water, and small enough to fit into a pocket. One or two quick spritzes on the face, back of the neck, arms and legs is all it takes to make even the hottest day enjoyable. To make it even better, the bottles can be used for other things after vacation is over, which really can't be said about the mister fans. - K.

We always carry a cinch-sack to the parks. To help us get through the security bag check a little faster, my husband put all our items in two large zipper-top bags before we put them in the sack. Several security guards commented that it was a great idea. It made their job easier by being able to just look at the bags instead of digging through the cinch-sack. - Chris

We always carry a cinch-sack to the parks. To help us get through the security bag check a little faster, my husband put all our items in two large zipper-top bags before we put them in the sack. Several security guards commented that it was a great idea. It made their job easier by being able to just look at the bags instead of digging through the cinch-sack. - Chris

Just got back from our first trip to the Magic Kingdom with a toddler. He goes down for a nap each afternoon and after not getting him to nap while going around Fantasyland/Tomorrowland in a stroller (probably too much noise and visual stimulation), we were going to go back to the hotel. On our way back toward the exit we strolled through the Tomorrowland Terrace. Less noise, no visual stimulation and protected from the sun, it was the perfect place for our son to finally fall asleep! It was also a good place for an adult to rest. It probably saved us an hour round-trip to the hotel and back. - Doug Chen

We rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and realized later that our pictures did not appear on our Memory Maker/PhotoPass account. We had MagicBands so we visited the PhotoPass shop at the front of the park. They asked what date and approximately what time we rode the ride and proceeded to look for our pictures. They found them and were able to add them to our account. They told us that some of the older rides don't always automatically pick up on the magic bands for the pictures. The next time we rode, we tapped our MagicBands on the button below the picture to make sure that it was added... but beware, there are two buttons (one for the top picture and one for the bottom). If you tap the wrong button, you end up with someone else's picture (as we did the second time we rode it)! We ended up back in the PhotoPass line to get our picture added again. I recommend always tapping your magic band on the rides... better to have two copies than none and it can save you some time in having to look for your pictures later. - Melinda

A tip "for when you are almost on the ride and it gets stopped for bad weather": This happened on our last visit. We were just about to board Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the ride was stopped due to storms. Although the wait was around an hour, my wife and daughter got chatting to others in the queue, and soon one of the girls opened up a game app on her phone. It kept quite a few people busy and the wait just flew by. It's worth loading a couple of games onto your mobile device for delays like this, especially if you have young children, to keep them occupied. - Tony M.

One of the things we always bring is a folding stepstool for the room that fits nicely in our luggage. Great for the little guys to use the toilet, wash hands and brush teeth without Mom and Dad's help. Also serves as a time-out chair when necessary. Yes, the resort may have some available for guests, but I don't want to be the 100th person asking and find they are already all loaned out. - Melanie Drake

I read Barbara's dilemma about using MagicBands with less flexible wrists. Even though I have flexible wrists, I have found it much easier to fasten the band so that the Mickey head is on the inside of my wrist. This technique causes much less contortion than having to flip your wrist over for kiosks and other point of sale areas. - Michelle B. (and several others) reply with a tip in response to an item in last week's newsletter

To save battery life on your phone, take a screen shot of your My Disney Experience page that has your FastPass+ times on it and use it as your lock screen. This will help you save time and battery life, since you don't have to keep opening up the app to check your Fast Pass+ times. - Keith K.

I found out during our last trip to WDW that being older can be a disadvantage with the new wristbands. My wrist doesn't bend all that well and I had difficulty using the MagicBand to enter the parks or to open room doors. Each time, the cast member at the park entry would take my arm and force my wrist to bend to make the band work. They didn't want me to take off the wristband, which is what I had to do to open the hotel room door. My advice is be prepared if your joints aren't flexible. - Barbara

EDITOR'S NOTE: For those like Barbara with less flexible wrist joints, or for anyone who would prefer not to use a MagicBand: Disney will provide you with a plastic RF card for admission/room entry instead of a MagicBand. Simply request it at your Disney Resort hotel. Read more on our MagicBands page.

When our daughter, Megan, was small, she loved receiving Mickey Mouse stickers from cast members in the parks. When she was 5, we bought her some brightly colored sticker sheets of her own: love hearts, flowers and smiley faces. Every time she received a sticker, or any sort of attention from a cast member, she gave them a sticker in return. They loved it, and so did she! By the time our holiday was finished, she was giving out stickers to most of the cast members she met. It was so lovely, for us and for her, to see their faces light up, and she got lots of attention from cast members in return. - Alison

If you love to raise your hands during high-intensity rides (or any that take a photo during the ride) please consider sitting at the back of the ride vehicle. If you sit at the front or even in the middle you block out the faces of the people behind you, ruining their pictures. Keep in mind this may be the once-in-a-lifetime trip for those people and they may only have time to ride that once. - Nicole

In mid-April 2014, my wife and I bought annual passes for Walt Disney World. These were linked to our MagicBands. I had previously linked a 10-day non-expiring hopper pass to my band. We visited WDW several times after that. When trying to enter a park on our most recent trip, I was surprised to find that the nine days left on my park-hopper were gone. A cast member at Guest Relations assured me the hopper was used up, so I bought a one-day hopper. Later in the day it occurred to me that maybe my park-hopper pass had been used before the annual pass. A cast member was able to see every day we were in the parks for the past few years, and yes -- the system had mistakenly used up my hopper before using the annual pass. It took a while to work out a solution. Disney could not replace my nine days remaining on the non-expiring hopper as that option is discontinued. They gave me three, three-day expiring park hopper passes to be activated on future visits. My warning: Be sure to unlink your non-expiring hopper passes if you decide to purchase an annual pass. - Carl

Start saving all your and your kids' old clothes -- the ones that are stained or a little torn, clothes that you don't wear any more or don't let your kids wear to school. Rather than discarding them, keep these clothes. For your trip to The World, take these clothes -- especially for the children. No one cares or pays attention to what you wear in the parks, and that way you won't have to stress out when eating meals or snacks. Spill away! Stain away! No being careful! When you get back to the room, throw that tee shirt or pair of shorts away. When you get home: Hurray! No laundry to do! - Andrea Fisher