Tips about My Disney Experience, Planning and Souvenirs

Did you know that you can use your MagicBand to pay at the Global Marketplaces during Epcot's Food and Wine Festival? If you are staying at a Disney resort hotel and have the Disney Dining Plan or have some sort of payment associated with your MagicBand, you can simply tap it for any eligible food or beverage item. There is a place to tap your MagicBand at each register. The payment will be processed as a room charge or as a dining plan snack credit. - Rick

With the MagicBands, you don't get a "key folio" anymore. I found that it was sometimes confusing to remember the room number -- especially for kids, or older folks. So, now I take a picture of the room number outside the room as soon as we get there. I repeat the process for everyone in our family who has a phone. This way, if you forget what room you were in, just look in the phone. - Carol Berube

In a recent newsletter a reader asked where to find Disney apparel in larger sizes. I have had REALLY good luck at the gift shop in the Beach Club Resort. It's worth a special trip or visit the shop while having a great meal at Cape May Cafe. - Debbie Wilk

The My Disney Experience app now can show you where the pressed penny machines are located. Launch the app, click on the magnifying glass at the top to search. Type in: coin press. The map will now show you all the coin press machines in Walt Disney World. - Jean

The My Disney Experience app now can show you where the pressed penny machines are located. Launch the app, click on the magnifying glass at the top to search. Type in: coin press. The map will now show you all the coin press machines in Walt Disney World. - Jean

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

I just wanted to share a tip for those who may be visiting Disney World as part of a graduation trip. If you want a really unique and affordable Disney keepsake, have Disney characters sign your graduation cap! Metallic silver and gold markers work really well for making their signatures stand out against a black cap. Also, make sure to bring more than one marker because they tend to dry out quickly. Many of the characters I met had a lot fun playing around with my cap during the meet and greet, especially the Mad Hatter! Based on my experience, I would suggest scheduling at least one character dining experience. This way, you don't have to carry around your cap all day. Even if you do decide to carry it with you, at least it is a very light item to keep in your travel bag. My college graduation was a very memorable experience, but now, each time I see my graduation cap, I feel that extra Disney magic that makes it even more special. - Chiara

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.

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

We aren't really big soda drinkers, so the refillable mugs aren't a good investment for us. However, we do like our morning coffee. I found disposable coffee cups with lids at the local dollar store. We make coffee in our room, take it with us on the way to the parks, then throw the cups away when we are finished. It's super-cheap and we aren't carrying around a cup all day! - Laura Briggs

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

A tip for UK visitors: In shops, kids struggle to work out the cost of something in British pounds, as they have to add the sales tax and then do the currency conversion. When ours were younger I made little conversion charts with the GBP equivalent (with sales tax added) of up to $20. As long as they can add up, they can then work out what things are going to cost from their spending allowance without having to ask Mum or Dad all the time. - Juli Williamson

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