If you fly to Disney or any other vacation destination, don't forget to check with your airline carrier and refresh your memory on what can and cannot be taken on an airplane and what has to go where!
My daughter's friend flew last week and had to dispose of an expensive face wash product because she had it in her carry-on bag and it was more than 3 ounces.
My husband went online recently to check the size limitation for carry-on bags and that's when he noticed that extra batteries must be stored in your carry-on bag, not your suitcase. We already had them in the suitcase.
Also be aware of weight limitations on luggage. On our trip last December, my daughter's suitcase was a whopping 48 pounds, just 2 pounds away from the limit. If it would have went over, they would have charged her $25.
There's also always the confusion regarding the "one carry-on bag" you are permitted to take.
For this trip, we've been trying to figure out who will carry on the laptop. After visiting the website, we learned that each person is allowed one personal item and one carry-on. Since the girls and I will each have a purse plus a carry-on bag, my husband can bring the laptop as his personal item.
Then there's the issue of a one suitcase limit for each person. Many airlines limit you to one and charge you for any additional.
This shouldn't be too much of an issue since it's summer and we won't be taking sweatshirts, jeans and bulky clothing. However (and I keep reminding my children), there will be purchases there that have to be brought home. My plan is to take a fold-up type of bag in my suitcase. If we need an extra bag for the flight home, I don't mind paying $25 for an extra piece of luggage going one way.
Another option is to ship items back home from Disney. I know the service is available, but I've never had to use it.
We always pack on the light side and do a load or two of laundry midway through our trip. It allows more space in our suitcases for things that we buy while we're there.

Now that our trip is just 9 short days away, I'll pay much more attention to any tropical weather activity that may begin to form. While I hate to think about a hurricane interrupting our trip to Disney, it's the harsh reality of traveling there during hurricane season. This is one reason I booked a room-only reservation and added park tickets. That gives me 5 days before my trip to cancel in the event some emergency would arise. And even if I would have to cancel within those five days, I can always put the credit toward a future trip. I believe that trip insurance is necessary, but it's also a rip off.
I did purchase the trip insurance offered on my airline tickets for this trip. Airlines are much less flexible when it comes to canceling and rescheduling. They will charge $100 per ticket to make a change.
When Hurricane Charley hit Florida in August 2004 just days before our trip, the airline canceled our flight and said there were no flights out for days because of the backup of passengers. Turned out the airline terminal in Florida was damaged from the hurricane.
We got in our car and drove the 17 hours to Disney in order not to lose the trip (that was the no trip insurance trip!). The airline did refund our money from the canceled flight.
And because we had to drive at the last minute or lose the trip, that ended up being our most memorable trip.
The kids say they want to drive again sometime. This year it was cheaper to fly. But if the airlines keep tacking on additional charges, it may make it cheaper to drive next time.

Thanks to modern technology, I'll be able to blog live from Disney on my upcoming trip August 6-12th. Disney offers Internet connections for a small price at their resort hotels ($10.00 per day).
But even if I wasn't taking my laptop on the trip, I would be able to blog and post from my Blackberry. I might just try both! It will be fun to try blogging while waiting in line for Space Mountain or waiting for the Main Street parade to begin.
A couple years ago I received a great tip about taking a power strip to Disney. At first I thought it would be odd taking something that I use to plug in all my electronics at home. But I took it along and realized it was worth its weight in gold! With 4 people all having cell phones, they all need to be charged at night. Add to that the laptop and MP3 players! I recently received an IPod ITouch. I'm taking that to play a movie on the plane. And of course, maybe I'll listen to a few Disney podcasts too. But that too needs to be charged.
All these gadgets need to be charged every day. Finding enough outlets in a hotel room for these pieces of modern technology (that we can't seem to live without) is impossible.
So now, on the top of my packing list is the power strip - the lifeline to all our electronics!

I've done the Disney Dining Plan twice, once for free and once where I paid $37.99 per day, per person. While I liked the opportunity to try many of Disney's fine restaurants, this trip we're dining on our own without the dining plan. There's two reasons for this. Disney changed the dining plan this year and gratuity is no longer included. That costs me more money, making the plan more expensive. Also, since many people use the dining plan, you almost have to make reservations for your table service restaurants. How can I be sure we'll all be hungry at a specified time? Or even in the park where the restaurant is located? We did 10 days of the dining plan in June 2007. While I feel I definitely got my money's worth, I didn't like having a reservation time and restaurant etched in stone. And now that gratuity is not included, I just keep thinking of the $40 tip I'd have to shell out if my family racked up another $200 dining tab at Spoodles on the boardwalk.
So this trip we're dining on our own. And just know that if you don't choose the dining plan, you don't have to eat hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries for a week!
Disney has a lot of options for counter-service and food court meals. Salads are available almost everywhere. Sandwiches are not your run-of-the-mill type (I definitely recommend the Cuban sandwich with plantation chips at the ABC Commissary in Disney Studios!).
You can get a good dinner meal such as spaghetti and meatballs or chicken with mashed potatoes, at the food court of the Disney resorts. Pizza is readily available at the resorts also. While I've never ordered pizza at a Disney resort, my 17-year-old daughter who stayed at All Star Movies with her school chorus last December, raved over the pizza they had delivered from the food court.
If you still want to do a restaurant meal or two and can't get a reservation for dinner at a time you want, try eating there at lunch. In some restaurants the menus are the same or similar.
But no matter where you eat, save room for a snack! Mickey pops, fresh popcorn and Dole Whips (only in the Magic Kingdom) are on my must-have list every trip.

The heat and humidity levels in Florida in the summer make wearing the same outfit all day almost impossible. Many of our trips occur over the summer so I believe we now have surviving the heat down to a science.
Start your day as early as you can. Even though you were up late watching fireworks and SpectroMagic, it's best to get your day started as early as you can.
Parks open at 9 a.m. and for Disney Resort guests, one park each day opens at 8 a.m. While I always try to make that 8 a.m. park, I never do. So I shoot for 9 a.m.
It's cooler in the morning. Not by much, but it is. We usually get in as much as we can before lunch and then after lunch, when the heat is the worst of the day, we head back to the pool.
Disney resort pools are as warm as a bath tub in the summer but at least it's wet! After an hour or two of chillin' by the pool, we get ready to head back to the parks. But that means wearing a different outfit from the morning due to heat and humidity. And no, I don't pack 14 outfits for my 7 day trip. Usually halfway through the trip, I do a load or two of laundry at the resort. I get it done during an afternoon pool break and that's the only "work" I do on vacation.
The coin-operated laundry facilities at each resort are clean and efficient. But they're pricey. However, I think they're comparable to local laundromat prices (learned that the other day when my dryer broke down!). It's a bit of a pain to do laundry on vacation but it makes packing easier, especially when you're telling teenage girls they can only have one suitcase! The $25 the airline charges for an additional suitcase, will go a lot further in the gift shops!

I always try to take an early morning flight when going to Disney World. Of course, when I arrive at the resort before noon, our room is not usually ready. But that's not a problem. Bell services at the resort is happy to take my luggage until my room is ready. The front desk prepares our park tickets which will later also serve as our room key, and we're on our way to enjoy the parks till our room is ready for check in.
We don't usually map out exactly what we're doing on certain days but the first day, somehow we've created this tradition.
It always begins in the Magic Kingdom. For some reason, to my kids, it's just not real until we see the Castle. Walking down Main Street with ear-to-ear smiles on their faces, they head right to Splash Mountain. Somehow, that has become our "first ride tradition." If that line is long, we get a fast-pass and head right to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The line usually moves fast and it's inside and air conditioned! By the time we get finished with that ride, it's time for our Splash Mountain fast-pass return. Then we ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, because it's right there.
And after that we move throughout the park with no particular plan in place.
Ironically, on our last day in the park before returning home, the tradition tends to repeat itself.

We always countdown days to our Disney vacation, usually starting at 99. We used to have a small dry erase board on the refrigerator and someone (usually my youngest daughter, Kristen) would change the number of days every day and sometimes she'd even add a little Disney art.
This year, we've all been so busy, we never officially started counting down. Though we don't have it written down, the countdown still goes on in every one's head.
Kristen recently said to me, "Mom, do you know we leave for Disney in 25 days?"
And Kelly, who recently graduated, is working, and preparing for her first year of college, also noticed how close it's getting.
"Mom, I'm so busy I've hardly had time to think about Disney and it's coming up fast."
These last few weeks is when we map out all the little details of our vacation. Although most things aren't written in stone, there are some things that have to be. The visit to the water parks can't be on the weekend because the locals are there then, adding to the crowds. Friday nights are a good time to take advantage of the Magic Kingdom because many people travel on the weekends and it's less crowded.
This trip we're plotting a horse-drawn carriage ride for our daughters from the Port Orleans Riverside resort. They don't know we've planned this so we have to figure out how we'll get them over there without raising suspicion. Those reservations are written in stone and can only be changed if there's inclement weather.
The clubs at Pleasure Island are closing in September and we've never made it to the club 8-Trax that we always said we wanted to go to. Now we have to figure out how to squeeze that in.
The girls want to ride Surrey Bikes at the resort while we're there. This is something we didn't get around to on the last two vacations to Disney so we figure we'd better make sure it happens this time. The last time we rode surrey bikes, the girls were 7 and 11 and could barely pedal the 4-person vehicle. My husband and I were in the front and did most of the pedaling! This time they're 17 and 15, and they want the front seats. Maybe now they can pedal us around!
It's said that planning a trip is half the fun. I agree. And when you're just weeks away and vacation seems within reach, it's fun to plan all the little details.

My family has taken advantage of the Disney transportation system on every trip. From the Magical Express bus that picks us up at the airport and takes us to our resort, to the buses that provide transportation for Disney resort guests to and from the parks.
Depending on the time of year, resort, and even bus stop that you're waiting at, your wait time for a bus will vary. If you're at a resort with multiple bus stops and your stop is picked up last, you might see a bus or two drive right past you because it's full. That's frustrating when you're anxious to get where you're going. And if you're at a large resort such as Pop Century, where there's only one bus stop (but lots of people trying to catch a bus), you may also have to wait for a second bus because the first one fills up before your portion of the line gets there.
While some people complain about waiting on a bus, I use the opportunity to relax. I've never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus at any Disney resort but I've heard complaints from others who say they've waited longer. During busy seasons in Disney there's usually a Disney employee at the bus stop with a phone talking to someone at the dispatch station and making sure the buses needed at each resort arrive.
Make sure if you're heading to a dinner reservation to give yourself enough time to get there. Ask any cast member at your resort and they'll gladly suggest how early you should leave to make sure you arrive on time.
Everyone's idea of a long wait is different. I'm pretty patient and I like the Disney bus system enough to keep using it again and again. It sure beats driving!

Disney recently announced that it will close 6 clubs at Pleasure Island September 28th as a part of changes it will be making to the Downtown Disney area. The changes are being made in an effort to make the Downtown Disney area more family friendly, according to published reports. Disney plans to add more restaurants and stores to that area.
While I always liked the idea of the clubs such as 8-trax, the Adventurer's Club, Comedy Warehouse, Motion and Mannequins Dance Palace and Bet Sound Stage Club, I never managed to go to them in all my trips to Disney!
Why?
We always went to Downtown Disney but when you're vacationing with children the dance clubs aren't high on the priority list. And even on our Disneymoon, we never made it to the clubs. Probably because we were so tired from spending long days in the parks, there was no time or energy left for dance clubs.
I agree that there are more restaurants needed in Downtown Disney. Aside from Captain Jack's and Fulton's Crab House, there's not much else to choose from unless it's counter service you are looking for. Even though counter service in Disney is quite different from "fast food" we get here at home, sometimes you just want a sit down restaurant.
Adding more shops is probably a good idea too. The Disney Store in Downtown Disney is always very crowded. And who wouldn't like another specialty store or two?
Still, I feel compelled to make it to at least one or two Pleasure Island clubs on my trip next month just to check them out and see what I was or wasn't missing.

I've noticed that when I travel to places other than Disney, I compare the hotels to the Disney resorts. Now, my husband said it's not a fair comparison, but I'm only comparing the rooms, not amenities. On a recent trip to a well-known chain hotel, we got our room key and as soon as we walked into our room my first thought was: this room is smaller than any rooms I've stayed at in Disney (even at a value resort!). Then there was the issue of drawer space in the dresser (or lack of).
While the bed had lots of pillows, it would seem the mattress had seen firmer days. It also appeared that the air conditioning didn't work but after a visit to the front desk, I found out that we must insert our room key into this digital thermostat and then it would go on. That meant, when we weren't in the room, the air conditioning wasn't on. This resulted in returning to a very stuffy room. And even then, we never managed to get the room to a comfortable temperature.
On the morning of checkout, I reminded my family to check around the room again for anything they may have left behind. This isn't Disney, they're not going to ship home my forgotten items free of charge! Nor will they give me a courtesy call to let me know what I left behind and that it will arrive shortly in the mail.
It's difficult staying in other hotels because even though I shouldn't compare them, I do.