I don't have much to add, just these:
Probably the biggest secret I have ever found:
Disney's Vaction Account I don't know about you, but I was really thrilled to find this!
- First thing we do upon arriving at the Resort is go to the store and buy a loaf of bread. I bring a jar of peanut butter in my suitcase, and now we can have a quick, easy snack, or a light meal in the room if we want. Great for those times when you just need a little something, and no one is in the mood to go get food!
- Our family tradition is to eat lunch at The Plaza at least once on every trip. On those days, we make our reservation for the first seating of the day @ 11:00 am. So we have a "snack" for breakfast (see the above peanut butter sandwich in the room), get to the park for rope drop, and by the time 11:00 am rolls around, we are ready to take a break and have a lovely meal. The restaurant is always empty! We will typically have the entire place to ourselves for at least the first 15 to 20 minutes - sometimes all the way through the meal. This works, BTW, at most any sit-down place at WDW. When we are done with lunch, everyone else is starting to look for food - and we go on to more fun!
- Take a good supply of quarters and pennies for the "smashed penny" machines. These are a great little souvenir, and our daughter has been collecting them since she was tiny. She has a huge collection, and we inevitably end up with duplicates. She loves to carry her extras to give out to little kids she meets in the parks.
- Same thing with any duplicate pins you may wind up with - we love to share the Magic by giving those to kids, and introducing them to pin trading. May not be as wildly popular as it once was, but we still enjoy it as a family!
- Finally, sign up for PhotoPass/MemoryMaker. Leave the photography to the pros, and spend your trip making lifetime memories with your family and loved ones. I have thousands of pictures from WDW (a few going all the way back to *my* first trip in 1972) but it's my memories that I cherish most.