Tuesday's Tip ~ Disney Countdown

A fun way to get excited for an upcoming trip is to have a Disney Countdown.  We made ours out of a red poster board and got the colored Mickey heads from our local Home Depot store.  We put 30 heads with some Disney stickers on the board for a 30 day countdown.  Each day one of our kids would put a star on a head.  It was an easy and fun way to countdown for our Disney trip.

Pack your own snacks

Just a quick tip for today.  Something we have learned from living so close and being at Disney a lot is to bring your own snacks.   Disney does not have a problem with you bringing outside food into their parks. It will save you a little money and time.  Giving a snack out while you wait in line is a great way to make the time go (a little) faster.
Some great snacks are:
Granola Bars
Fruit Snacks
Chips/crackers
Fruit (if it isn't too hot)

Don't forget to drink lots of WATER, it's getting warmer here in Florida!

WATER!!!

Summer is almost here and that means it's going to be hot!  This will probably be the most important tip we can give you while visiting Walt Disney World.  Drink lots of water! You can get dehydrated very quickly here in sunny Florida, within a couple hours.  You will start to feel sick, can get dizzy or nauseous, even pass out.  Nothing can ruin a good day faster. If you do feel any of these symptoms please make your way to the first aid center.  After speaking to one of the nurses that are on site at the Magic Kingdom, she said that for an adult they should drink one water bottle every hour and kids 1/2 a water bottle every hour (sodas do not count as water).  That's a lot of water!  If you find yourself without a water bottle go to any counter service with a soda fountain and they will give you a cup of water at no charge and of course there are plenty of drinking fountains located all over Disney.   Even Disney knows how important this is.  Please drink water and don't forget the sunscreen!  You don't want to be dehydrated and sunburned.

Our kids drinking their water in a fun way at one of the many drinking fountains at Disney

Tom Sawyer's Island

Tom Sawyer's Island opens at 10am on most days - if you've never been, it's a great place to explore or take a leisurely stroll without the crowds.  Tom's Island offers mills to enter, caves to explore, forts and even a barrel bridge to navigate.  While providing lots of adventure, the island can also provide something unexpected - FAST PASSES - that's right, if you are among the first to make your way over to the island you might find one of the handful of paintbrushes hidden throughout the landscape.  Find one and bring it to the cast member at the boats and they will give you a free family fast pass for a ride (usually it is a choice of Splash or Thunder).

Now, when you are searching for these brushes, there are some simple rules you can count on - the brushes are always somewhere "on the path", meaning you will not need to go crawling though the undergrowth or stepping outside the boundaries to find them. They are not often hidden in plain site, but they could be - look in buckets and behind trash cans.  They are usually gone pretty quick - I'd say almost always by 11:00 or so at the latest.  Look everywhere - they have been known to hide in all areas of the island - from the Fort to the caves and even in the waiting area for the boat home.

Happy hunting - makes a great family competition..

G&J

Wanna See Some Unusual Characters?

OK - so you have waited in line to see Mickey already - and done the circuit throughout the Animal Kingdom - but you want a few more unusual characters to grace your autograph book and get your picture with - well how about these?

Sorcerer Mickey; Stitch, Queen of Hearts, Evil Queen, Governor Radcliff, Goofy and Max, Mary Poppins and her Penguin, Pocahontas and Meeko,  Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and Fro-Zone, Lotso the Bear, Jafar, Pinocchio, Geppetto, Aladdin, Genie, Chip and Dale, Donald and Daisy.

*Please understand there is no guarantee that these characters will be there.  It can vary day to day and time to time.  These are the characters our family has seen there and we typically will go around 4:30.

Tuesday Tips

Hello-It's been a few days since we have written. We have been thinking about the blog a lot and how we can use it in a fun and informative way. So we came up with an idea of themeing each day. So Tuesdays are going to be Tuesdays Tips. You will have to check back to see what each day is (Wednesdays are already themed).
Here is today's tip:
This is probably the most important tip we have to offer. DRINK WATER! It gets hot in Florida, especially in the summer. But even now it is important to stay hydrated. People often don't realize how quickly you can become dehydrated. You can get water from the numerous water fountains or by refilling a water bottle throughout the day. If you need you can get a cup of water (at no cost) any location that sells fountain beverages. even Disney knows how important drinking water is.

-Jenny