Tips about Hollywood Studios and Planning

Scotchgard those canvas sneakers before you leave home for WDW! Apply several coats, and allow plenty of drying time between applications. Dry feet make those sudden Florida downpours a whole lot more bearable! - Mary Mitchell

I'm organizing a Disney World family reunion for 13 people, ranging in age from 5 up to 79. We all have various Disney experiences from total rookie to very experienced. Needless to say, it's been interesting. My tip is how to get everyone informed of important data needed every day of the stay. I used the template in Word for business cards and made up paper cards with the following information:

1. Their name (so they can easily identify their packet)
2. Everyone's cell phone numbers (we'll use these for communication since we'll be spliting up every day)
3. The resort phone number and a place to put the room number on it once we know it
4. For the five year old, I made a card that said "Hi, my name is Jane Doe and I'm traveling with my mother Mary Doe. I just turned five years old" - I did this on the advice from a Cast Member who said that lots of kids who get lost clam up and even forget their own name, let alone their parent's name. Also, all the reservations are in my name so even doing a search on the five year old's last name wouldn't turn up anything.
5. For the adults, everyone will have a card listing what the five year old is wearing that day - I did this on the advice of the same Cast Member who said that's the first thing they ask lost parents - what their child is wearing. Most can't remember.

I put all this information into inexpensive holders (the kind you use for sports cards works well and costs about 25 cents each). Everyone can easily slip their admission ticket, room key (the five year old will not have one), driver's license, and a credit card into the holder too. This way, all daily information and ID are in one handy packet. - Sheri Niklewski

ALL PARKS - I purchased "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" book before our trip. I tore out the pages in the back of the book (the ones that suggest which attractions to see and in which order -- a very valuable tool) and laminated them. I then punched a hole in a corner of each page. As we set off for a certain park for the day, I would attach that set of pages with a binder ring to my fanny pack. I then had a quick reference guide for all the attractions and restaurants in that park. It was outside my fanny pack so I could look at it quickly without having to open my fanny pack each time. It was laminated so if it rained, the pages were not ruined, and they could withstand a lot of abuse. I took along a Sharpie marker and marked off each attraction as we visited it so I could see at a glance where we'd been and where we were supposed to go next. It worked out very well for our trip. - Lisa Kent

If you plan on visiting WDW during the winter months, buy several pairs of those "magic" stretch gloves before you leave for your trip. If a cold front comes through during your visit and you need gloves, you'll be happy you bought them before you left home. The parks sells them for $6.00 a pair. Quite a difference in price than what your local Wal-Mart sells them for. - Noreen Rachuba

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - Can someone stay in line at Tower of Terror and then, at the last minute, get off? Yes! You will enter a "real" elevator and be let out at the end of the ride where the ride photos are. It is worth seeing the inside queue of this attraction. Chris

From time to time people want to know the location of the closest church to WDW. Now you can search: http://masstimes.org. You can search for services in any state and town. They even have city maps, too. I thought this might be helpful to anyone wanting to go to services while on vacation. Tina

ALL PARKS - On our last trip to Disney we brought our own 2 way radios. This came in extremely handy and we were able to separate and change plans as we needed. We had to share the frequency with quite a few other people, but if you don't mind waiting your turn, it really is a convenient way to communicate if you decide to split up. - Sharmon Simonetti

ALL PARKS - Assign a meeting place IN THE SHADE! Meeting by the fountain at Epcot is great except it can be brutal in the afternoon sun. Better to meet at one of the Innovations cafes where you can stay cool and relax if your party is late. - D. Hamilton

We have been going to WDW since our children were toddlers. Now they are all teenagers (and beyond), but this tip is still good. We have them bring plastic beverage holders that can clip onto a fanny belt. They start out with water, but if we ate a meal in the park, frequently there would still be some beverage left from the meal. The kids would fill the bottle with the leftover drink and take it with them. This has worked well over the years. - Anne Cioffi

We just returned from our trip to Disney World. The night we went to Fantasmic I knew we would be sitting for a while waiting for the show to begin. The best investment I made was buying one of those soft folding stadium seats. I carried it with me like a purse. Even used the side mesh pocket to carry drinks to our seats. We waited for over an hour and a half for the show to begin but I didn't mind - I was very comfortable with my seat padding and back support! - Marilyn Lewis

Be flexible with making your ADR dining arrangements. If the table you want is unavailable try different combinations -- 2 tables of 2 instead of one table of four; a 3-2 split rather than a table of 5, etc. Splitting up your group for just an hour or so may be the way to go, given that you're spending all day and all night together for several days on end. Splitting up may also allow you to gain more flexibility in changing ADR reservations without penalty if, after several days in the parks, someone in your party says "I don't need to see any more characters, I'll stay at the hotel, sleep late and meet you later, go and enjoy!" - Phylis

ALL PARKS - There is another show at WDW that most people miss; sit down and watch the other guests. You will never see so diverse an amount of tennis shoes, fashion statements or age groups. - CMarlan

ALL PARKS - What our tip is, is to tie a bright bandana on the luggage rack or one of the mirrors of your car/minivan/truck that face the tram pick up area. We tied a bright colorful bandana nearest the tram pick up side on our while rented minivan, each day of our 11 day trip to WDW. It didn't matter what park we were at or what row we parked at. All we had to remember was the section, (example, stage, donald, unicorn, etc) we always found our van many times from very far away. We also used the bandana's on our stroller and on our luggage. - Clemley

I just read your article about trip hassles (When Good Trips Go Bad, Revisited, Issue #233) and I can relate. Although we have had many experiences, both good and not so good in the course of our 30+ trips, one of the worst was when I thought we'd have to break in to our own home. That's right, I lost our house key. Of course, I didn't realize it until we were all packed and waiting for the bellman to come and check the bags. We tore the luggage apart and still couldn't find the key. We eventually called our house sitter (and kitty-sitter) who was able to unlock the back door a few hours before we were scheduled to land. All's well that ends well, but the tears and stress almost wiped out the magic of the trip. Now, I make sure that I carry a spare key in the pocket of my carry-on bag and check it before we leave the house. That way this will never happen again! - Vicki

ALL PARKS - We read complaints about some of the attractions being too loud so we carried a set of earplugs in our fanny packs and found that they helped tremendously! We could still hear well, but our ears were much more comfortable. The earplugs don't take up any room at all either! - Diane Taylor