::disney tips from this trip::

I am not kidding around about my love for Disney.  We drive lesser cars and make sacrafices so that we can pull off Disney vacations.  We are generally really cheap people.  But we make the exception when it comes to Disney World.  We eat well and we do all the fun stuff.  Every time we go I learn a few more things.  Here is what I picked up this year

Packing list and plan
I was in an all day terribly boring meeting, so I spent the day making a packing plan.  It was perfect.  I usually suck at packing but this time I did well because I made myself a check off sheet.  It was hand written so I am not going to post it, but it made it so I didn't forget silly things like sunscreen and have to pay 1 million dollars to replace it. 

The stroller rental plan
The cost for stroller rental went up like crazy this year.  We paid way too much, and the Disney strollers are cumbersome to deal with.  I noticed that many people were pushing around these great double strollers.  I looked them up on line.  They were almost half as expensive as the junk we were pushing around.  So next time I will get my Disney stroller from here.  

The Dinning Plan
We have done this before and we love it.  Do it.  Don't argue.  Don't try to get around it.  Just use the dining plan.  You will not regret it.  BUT make your dinner reservations early.

The seven day ticket
Once you past the three day ticket the cost of kicking it up to the seven day is not that significant.  Go big or go home.  Getting the big ticket makes it easy to repeat a park if you want.  Which we did on Epcot and Magic Kingdom.  Josh was the first one to point this out to me and he is totally right.  Don't tell him I said that.

Waterparks and more
Darn it - this is another Josh find.  Our tickets got a little bit screwed up this time.  We ended up with Water Parks and more option.  Go to the web site to see more details, but it related to us by letting us go to Disney Quest and to Typhoon Lagoon.  What fun.  I hope we get to do this option again.

The long trip
We went for 8 nights this time.  I know we can't afford to do this often enough, but we have got to make it happen again.  That long trip gave us a sense of leisure that we usually don't have.  LOVED IT!!!

Fast pass's - mastered
Here is the deal.  We have mastered the art of the fast pass /baby swap to make lines disappear.  It can not be done in a way the makes it so you get to ride every ride all day with no waits.  But it can be done so that you get to ride ride your favorite rides a few times and rock the house.  For example we go right to Soarin' in Epcot and get fast passes first thing.  Then we go ride the kiddie rides and play around.  When it is time to ride Soarin' we get our baby swap passes and then he big kids get to ride twice.  The cuteness is high and the happiness factor it too.  Link here to learn more about my strategies.