Tips about Food & Beverage, My Disney Experience and Souvenirs

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.

Arrange for dinner at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for the evening of your arrival. You may not want to waste a day on your ticket by going into the parks for just a few hours, especially if you've been traveling all day, but the kids want to get started. With young ones they want to SEE MICKEY and at Chef Mickey's you can see all the main characters right at your table, and get those autographs and pictures. The kids feel like they are at Disney right away and you aren't having to wait in line at the parks to see the main characters. We even had our daughter bring a picture she drew of Mickey and Minnie and they autographed it for her at the table. Very special. With little ones who want to see the princesses instead, I'd try to arrange for a princess character meal so the whole trip isn't about chasing down the characters. - Jennifer B.

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

If you are looking to have one of the world famous Monte Cristo Sandwiches at Disneyland, you have two choices: The Blue Bayou Restaurant or the Cafe Orleans. Although the Blue Bayou has wonderful atmosphere, the cost of the sandwich is double what it is at Cafe Orleans. Cafe Orleans is more of a small bistro type of restaurant. So if you are on a budget, you can get the same thing for half the price if you are willing to forgo the ambience. Also note that the Monte Cristo sandwich is available for lunch and dinner at Cafe Orleans, but is only on the lunch menu at Blue Bayou. - Janet Sherby

We just returned from a Disney World vacation. We purchased packages of MagicBand "bits" for our children on our first day there. The second day both boys had lost some of their "bits" from their Magic Bands. We asked a cast member at the Emporium if we were doing something wrong. We were sure we had pushed them all the way in the holes. She got a manager who told us you need to be careful, as they easily catch on things when getting on and off rides. He replaced one son's by opening a new pack, but he did not have my other son's, so he brought out a box of open packs and let him pick the two he wanted. - Jolene

Even though the price of a single bottle of water is now $3.00, there are 1.1 liter (51 oz.) bottles of water in some of the shops that are $4.50. They are a much better value than the single bottles sold at stands in the parks. And if you have any type of discount available to you -- such as Annual Pass, DVC, etc., you can get the 1.1 liter bottle for $3.60. - Mary Waite

My tip is for fans of the trading pins. I have a lanyard and pins that I wear daily at school (I am a teacher). I had the problem of the pin backs coming off and losing my precious pins. I've solved the issue by using an eraser from a mechanical pencil. They can be purchased cheaply at local stores and I have yet to lose a pin that is backed by an eraser. - Angela

If you have planned multiple trips to Walt Disney World with tickets linked to your My Disney Experience account, be sure when you check in that the CORRECT ticket is linked to that stay. For example, I bought a 1-day ticket to use in November after a Disney cruise, but before that I had booked a 7-night package with tickets in June. Both were linked to my account. (It asks you who the ticket is for when you buy it online at disneyworld.com.) When I went in June, my 1-day ticket was used inadvertently, and then 6 days were used from my ticket that came with my package. I discovered this when I went to use that 1-day ticket in November. Of course, the 7th day from my package ticket had expired, since more than 14 days had passed, so I had to buy ANOTHER 1-day ticket to use for November. WDW told me to make sure when checking in to specify which ticket you want to use for your MagicBand. I guess it's not obvious you would want to use a 7-day ticket for a 7-day stay. If you make multiple trips to WDW a year like me, you may run into this trouble. - Jill Benicewicz

Like most of you reading this, I can't get enough of Walt Disney World and my family tries to make it there at least once a year. I am also an avid gardener who has brought home a couple of garden souvenirs from the Flower and Garden Festival, but those can be pricey. So I have started buying a couple of the antenna toppers for cars on each trip. I glue and insert a sturdy length of wire into each one and place them in some of my flower pots on the deck and throughout the yard. The toppers are really cute, inexpensive (by Disney standards!) and easily replaced as needed. My kids are grown, but it could also make for a fun backyard version of "find the hidden Mickeys!" - Sheril Maddox

If you want to purchase a limited edition or limited release MagicBand (e.g. Frozen-themed), please note that you must have the ticket or annual pass with you to link it. It cannot be linked at a later date. On a recent weekend trip, my husband and I tried to buy one for our son for Christmas and were told that they cannot link the limited editions/releases later, only solid colors can be linked at another time. I just wanted to let everyone know so they don't make any promises or special trips like we did. - Tami Nutt

We had a great time using the new Disney app on our phones and used it often to book last minute ADRs. Something we noticed halfway through the holiday is that the Disney app and the Disney website often offered different dining options and times to each other. For example we were able to make last-minute Chef Mickey ADRs on the app that were listed as being unavailable on the website. Other times we were offered more convenient times on the website that weren't listed on the app. So if you are after a particular time or a particular place, it's worth checking both the app and the actual Disney webpage to see if what you want is available. By doing this I was able to get all the times we wanted even at difficult places to book like 'Ohana and Tusker House, and even Be our Guest. It's worth not giving up looking for those important ADRs even once you are there. - Sophie Galloway

Pressed Penny update -- ELSA is at the shop OUTSIDE of the Epcot entrance near the International Gateway. (Kristin Ford notes that she just made the Olaf pressed penny at the store on the left along the entrance to World Showcase - by the Duffy meet and greet. A penny with both Elsa and Anna can be pressed inside the toy store at the Norway pavilion.) - Trisha Hwang

As a new Disney Vacation Club member, I decided to give the Tables in Wonderland card a try. We had a dinner reservation almost every night, so it paid for itself within the week. I can also use it when we return next year since it's good for about 13 months. You automatically get charged gratuity of 18 percent, which is about what I'd tip anyway. The 20 percent discount from the card basically covers that gratuity and then some. It was definitely worth the $100. - Jennifer

The gluten-free offerings [at 'Ohana] for my husband were excellent, and included lettuce wraps, chicken wings, all of the grilled meats and a special dessert. They did require my 10-year-old to be charged as an adult, which made the price tag high in my opinion, but the food was great. - A reader in the AllEars.Net Rate and Review section

Epcot - When my son and daughter-in-law were expecting our now 3-year-old grandson Kai, I visited each country in Epcot and asked a cast member to sign a little message to him in his/her native language. They translated it in English as well. When I approached each cast member, they were delighted to have a part in welcoming our grandson into the world! Upon returning home, I compiled the signatures, along with a picture of each country, put them in a small photo album, and gave it to my daughter-in-law at her baby shower. I have since done the same album of signatures with my subsequent grandson Caleb and most recently with Kai's baby sister Adalie. - Kim N.