Tips about Kids and Magic Kingdom

Alea Laughery shares some of her favorite "kids" tips:

-- In a zipper-type bag, we pack an easy to rinse bib and kid-sized plastic "silverware" and take them to the parks each day for our little guy. You can also pack a plastic table cover. Forks at Disney restaurants can be huge!

-- I bring special glow stuff (necklaces, bracelets, etc.) for every night we are going to be at the parks after dark. It's so much cheaper, and the kids love it just as much. Often people will ask us where we found it.

-- Find something fun to take pictures of in each country at Epcot. For example, I took a picture of my 3-year-old in a different hat that reflected the type they would wear in that country. We looked for hats in each gift shop as a family challenge.

-- Bring a small bag of toys for the kids so that they can play in their downtime at the resort. Kids need time to just play! Toys that can be played with in the tub are great because you can kill two birds with one stone! You can bring matchbox-sized cars to the park in your bag for the kids to drive around while waiting for shows, parades or in lines. Small posable plastic figures work well, too. Four crayons and a tiny dollar store sticker/coloring book are also great for a long wait.

-- At 10, my daughter feels too big to dress like a princess, but I found a cool tiara headband that she agreed to wear and she loved being recognized as a princess. For our breakfast with the Princesses, she wore an outfit we put together that I called a modern-day Belle. She wore a blue, ruffled skirt, and a white ruffled shirt, and completed the look with her hair in a ponytail of curled ringlets off to the side, a blue bow in her hair and a French-inspired necklace. I let her wear makeup and sprayed her hair and outfit with glitter spray found in the party section at a discount store.

MAGIC KINGDOM - The girls and I bought some glow in the dark nail polish and painted our nails and a glow stick and painted our faces. It was fun to glow in Haunted Mansion and on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. - Beth Ratliff

ALL PARKS - My husband and I pass the time waiting in lines by playing handheld Yahtzee. We take turns setting a score for one another to beat and keep track of who is ahead in wins. When one of us is 10 games ahead, the other person owes the winner a favor. We've been doing this for several vacations and it still helps to pass the time. Next time we plan to get a similar game for our kids. - Pam Lau

ALL PARKS - We all LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing the kids in costume (Belle, Cinderella, etc.). We try to make a big deal about it when we see them dressed up and, truthfully, it is fun seeing them think they have fooled the adults into believing they really *are* the characters they are portraying. If your child is a sticker collector, bring a special book for all the awesome stickers they can get at each of the parks and hotels. Most places have their own special stickers that they give the kids. In the Magic Kingdom there are at least 6 different ones the kids can get (and there are probably many more. The kids all love getting stickers, but by the end of the night most stickers have gotten wet or wrinkled up. Ask the Cast Member for an extra one for the child's book. Chances are they will be *more* than happy to give an extra one, just for the sticker book or for your scrapbook! - Tip from a Magical Magic Kingdom Cast Member

ALL PARKS - For those who have little ones who don't like the "line ride" at the beginning of most attractions or for those who hate waiting in queues themselves, spotting Hidden Mickey's is a wonderful diversion. We made small index card booklets listing all "confirmed" Hidden Mickey's in each park, organized by lands and attractions. They fit easily in a pocket or daypack and can be decorated with character stickers. We took the one for the park(s) we were in each day and looked for HM's in line or checked to see where we could find them once on the ride. An added benefit was getting to meet the numerous other guests who asked what we were reading and pointing at. This decreased the frustration of line-waiting even more. I think we made many other HM fans and also took the opportunity to mention ALL EARS® to them. Hopefully we helped (in a small way) your goal of making the 25,000 subscriber mark! - Gavin Adams

EDITOR'S NOTE:: To learn more about Hidden Mickey's, go to: http://allears.net/btp/hiddenm.htm

I read the information about birthday buttons that one of your readers sent in. I thought of that tip when we went to Target last month to get items for our daughter's gift bags. This is where we found a ribbon that says "Birthday Girl" on it. It looks like a first place ribbon and can be found in the party supply aisle. She wore it to school and on her birthday. We are saving it for our trip to WDW next year. Thanks to your reader's tip, even if we don't make it to City Hall in Magic Kingdom to get our daughter a Birthday Button, at least she'll have something to wear for the four days we will be staying at WDW. Thanks for all the great tips, readers. I've been saving a lot of newsletters to refresh my memory for next year. - The Schroeder Family

We just returned from a GREAT week at WDW. My family and my sister's family took the trip together. We purchased glow sticks from an online auction and carried them with us for night visits to the parks. It was a great way to keep up with five kids, four parents and two grandmothers. We saved money this way because the park glow sticks are very expensive -- especially when everyone wants one for their arms, legs, ears, neck, etc. These were a life saver! - Kelli Brown

We have a 3-1/2 year-old daughter who is at that toddler stage of learning how to do things for herself. We thought for every time she helps us out by cleaning her room, helping me make her bed, putting on her clothes, (fill your own chore in ), we would give her spare change. She gets to put it in her specially marked coffee can, then when a bit of that change accumulates, we make a trip to our local Disney Store and redeem it for Disney Girt Cards. She is a lot more helpful around the house now! - Stacey Hoover

We've made "sticker charts" for our three children (ages 11, 8, and 5), and for each chore they do, they earn a sticker. Each sticker is worth a dime and once their charts are full, Mom will count the stickers and trade them in for Disney Dollars. We've posted the charts in the kitchen and they've made it into a competition to see who can earn the most stickers. So now instead of fighting over who HAS to walk the dog, they fight over who GETS to walk the dog and earn a sticker! - Bill and Tina Crane

We have two infants still in diapers, so when we go to the parks, we make "diaper packages" for each child. We take a gallon Ziploc bag and put in a diaper and a smaller bag Ziploc bag with a couple of wipes. Then we write the name of the child on the outside of each package, since they wear different sizes. When it is time to change one, we just grab a "diaper package" for the right child and head straight for the bathroom without having to search for everything. - Kate from Colorado

My wife and I have two very rambunctious children -- an 11-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. We'll be taking them on their first trip to WDW in November. As a "reward" system for good behavior, as well as some Disney fun, we have created a "Good Point" program. Every week, my wife and I reward the children with a "Good Point" if they behaved well during the week. A good point is nothing more than the WDW 100 Years Icon, printed about 1/4-page size on my color printer, then cut out into little points. At the end of each month, the child with the most Good Points is awarded a "WDW Ride Pick." This is another image (this time Mickey Mouse), which I cut and slip into a trading card holder. They keep these in their travel packs and can use them at the parks to choose the first attraction we go to. We've run this for three months now, with each "Ride Pick" numbered, so #1 can choose the first attraction the first day, #2 the second day, and so on. The kids absolutely love it, and their behavior has improved! We just have to say "Good Point" when they're being a bit wild, or resistant to homework, etc. -- and they suddenly become angelic. Give it a try! - Mark Wilkinson

For anyone with small children (we have a 5-year-old and a 4-month-old), please, please, please take advantage of the Baby Care Centers available at each park. They are convenient, have all that any parent would need (diapers, changing stations, nursing rooms, cold water), as well as AIR CONDITIONING. They were a great way for us to take mini-breaks, eat snacks or lunch, and chill out before going out again to the parks. - Cosmo and Lis Digneo

I wanted to share a tip that we stumbled onto during our first trip six years ago when the kids were 11, 11, 8, 8, and 2. It was the 11 day/10 night "Disney 'till you puke" tour. Or so I thought until I got the WDW bug!

Anyhow, about the second day the four older kids started WHINING. You know what I mean: "I don't like that ... Do we have to go there ....he didn't have to ...." You get the picture. Ohmigosh, we were at the funnest place on the planet and they actually found things to whine about! I was stunned. And not about to go through the rest of the vacation with THAT going on. So, with perhaps the only moment of true brilliance I have ever had, I had an idea and the Whine Fine program was born.

It's pretty simple: we gave each kid a little ticket every morning. The ticket said "1 Free Whine". When they whined it would cost them a ticket. If they'd already used their ticket, the whine cost them $1 (of their own hard-earned spending money). If they didn't use the ticket for the day, they would still get a ticket the next day and now would have two free whines coming. Oh yeah, if, at the end of the vacation any of them actually had any tickets left, we paid them $1 for each ticket.

Kids are soooo funny. It took another couple of days for them to really "get" the program, but they did. Although one never really would admit she ever whined and you'd have to pry the ticket out of her hand. Then there was the one who slapped down two tickets AND a dollar so she could blast us about something! And I do believe there was some sort of black market trading going on too. But the rest of our vacation was MUCH more peaceful and relaxing.

And now, just imagine, these same four are all TEENAGERS. What were we thinking??? - Linda Cobb

We have been to Disney World several times now and have found that a small hand-held, battery-operated game can keep the kids busy during the long wait in the lines for the attractions. These fit nicely into their fanny packs. Every time we were in line for any length of time, they would pull them out and play as the line moved. It keeps them from complaining about the wait and they don't even realize how long they have been standing there. - Rhonda Cotham

I loved the tip about bringing along small electronic games for kids to play, but would like to add a postscript: Please, parents, turn off the sound if the game offers that option! Otherwise, other kids in line will be jealous and make their parents feel guilty for not having thought ahead. There's also the fact that some of your fellow line-standers could be driven quite nuts by the constant beeping of the games. - Richard S. from NJ

My tip is a simple way of helping the children keep within their spending limits. My two daughters both save well for their WDW trips, but spending their money produces different hazards for each of them. The youngest (12) would spend her savings for the whole two weeks in the first shop she visited; the eldest (16) would still be deciding what to spend it on in the airport going home, worried that she was spending too much, too soon!

To overcome their separate *difficulties*, we came up with this plan, which helps them both: At the beginning of the trip, they each divide their savings by the number of days they will be on vacation - this gives them a guideline as to what would be a sensible amount to be spending each day. They know that if they spend more than that amount one day, it will leave them less for the remaining days, and vice versa. Every morning, we count up how much they have left and divide it by the number of days remaining, giving them a new guideline for the day.

They know that if they've seen something expensive they want to buy, it's sensible to have a couple of 'lean' days to make up for the big purchase they want. On the other hand, if they've been frugal for a while, a couple of days of overindulgence won't break the bank. Of course, I'm always willing to negotiate a loan if they just *have* to have that extra something they can't afford - oh, and it all helps with the math homework, too! - Wolfe