Tips about FastPass+ and Resorts

FORT WILDERNESS RESORT - I enjoyed your review of the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. It brought back fond memories of our trip last December. Something I think worth mentioning for those going with kids are the pony rides. We traveled over a little early and enjoyed the ride. - Jim Morgenland EDITOR'S NOTE: The petting zoo is no longer operated at Fort Wilderness however, they do have pony rides for the younger children. Height and age restrictions are posted. Parents must walk the pony around a sandy path so be sure both parents and riders have closed toed shoes. Pony rides close at 5pm.

ALL RESORTS - Even if you have express checkout (where they hang your statement on your doorknob the morning of your departure saving you a trip to the front desk and a wait in line to check out) be sure to check your statement for errors! I always do this and have found errors such as overcharges, duplications, charges for things that were supposed to be free etc. A trip to the front desk, statement in hand, usually results in a quick fix. - Beth Eloheimo

ALL RESORTS - My wife and I just got back from Port Orleans Riverside and discovered a neat idea. All the TVs are in armoires. Tune into the daily happenings channel. They play just instrumental music in at least 60 minute groupings. Turn up the volume, close the cabinet door, and you have the Magic all evening long. On another channel they feature Disney Radio. Each evening from 7-10 they have audio stories. Again, just turn up the sound, close the door, and you've got more magic! - Jim Miller

ALL STAR RESORTS - When we stay at the All Star Resorts we like to make our room feel larger and also give our daughter more playing room. Simply push the two beds together against the wall and move the night stand and table between the beds and the door and these small All Star rooms become much more roomy. Just leave a note politely asking the housekeeping to leave the furniture the way you have arranged. - Amy Kearns

SHADES OF GREEN - With a military ID, you can purchase items at the Shades of Green Gift Shop that are VERY reasonably priced. For instance, we bought pins there for my son to trade in the parks: $3 for pins that are $6.50-$8.50 in WDW gift shops. - Joseph and Renee Witmer

SHADES OF GREEN - We stayed at the Shades of Green this past October during the National Car Rental Golf Tournament. The great perk of staying there was admission to the tournament was FREE! My husband got to see Tiger Woods in person for free. Needless to say we've made reservations for this year's tournament. - Connie Roberts

Pop Century - My wife and I just returned from a stay at the Pop Century Resort. We discovered that if we were trying to catch a bus from a park back to Pop Century and the lines were very, very long, we could sometimes hop on the Art of Animation Resort bus instead. (The stops are usually next to each other.) The walk from the Art of Animation, through the lobby, and across the short bridge to Pop Century took only a couple of minutes -- much quicker than the possible long wait we would have had for our own resort bus. - Rory Osborne

This is both a tip and Magical Moment. While waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade to begin the other night, I noticed I had lost my cell phone. While trying to decide what to do about it, I saw a cast member slowly walking by, scanning the crowd. We thought he was looking for folks who had sneaked in to the FastPass+ reserved section without FastPass+ (they ask these folks to leave). When he stopped in front of my son-in-law and two grandsons, no one was more surprised than we were to hear him say, "Did you lose a cell phone?" He said they had found it at the Fast Pass+ entrance for the parade and since my screensaver was a photo of my son-in-law and grandsons he was looking for us before turning it in to lost and found. He figured we were somewhere in the crowd. This is why we love Disney! So my tip is: Keep a photo of your family as your screensaver! - Sherri Prykryl