Best tip to beat the Florida heat - always carry a small towel / flannel.  these can easily fit in a pocket or loop through a belt so are easily carried.  They are great for mopping your brow (and elsewhere) and if tucked up the back of a cap they shade your neck.  It's Florida and it's humid - we get it - everyone sweats.  Having a personal towel is a great idea - you can rinse it in cold water and make a soothing compress, wrap ice in it for an emergency heat stroke remedy or just use it to wipe down those seats after one of our famous downpours!

If you have small children and plan on visiting the parks then yes.  Even if your children are big enough to walk and at home don't use a stroller (and maybe haven't for many years) consider using one.

Florida in the summer is super hot and humid and you shouldn't underestimate how much small amounts of exercise will take out of you.  For little ones a half mile walk from the parking lots of Disney to the entrance will seem like a marathon - and that's before you start your day!  Once in the parks if you decide to bite the bullet and rent a stroller then dig deep because they are not cheap.

Our advice is (if you can) grab a cheap collapsable stroller from Walmart on your first days shopping.  Even if you drop $50 on one it will work out ten times cheaper than renting one from Disney every day!  Plus you can use it to put any bags in when the children aren't using it, they are great for hanging those souvenir mugs from and the parks have plenty of space for you to 'park' them when it's time to go on a ride.

On your return home simply leave it in your villa or your room - most villas have strollers in them left behind by previous guests so you might be lucky!

Before you go to the parks or out for the day freeze some water and put it in a cooler.  Leave it in the car and when you return at the end of the day you'll have a cold drink waiting for you.

Especially useful for restaurants - sign up for reward programs before you travel but not too soon!  Some will give you a sign up free item BUT it may be timed so don't sign up so early that you can't claim any freebie!  Also maybe tell a white lie about your date of birth and make it for when your trip is - some vendors give out free stuff for birthdays 😉

Even if you don't have a car its a good idea to download a map of Florida.  There are offline map tools for most platforms these days that allow you to download just certain states (so you don't use up all your memory).  These kind of maps don't require a connection to use so you can keep your data turned off.

Be aware of your salt intake.  Most Europeans complain about the levels of salt in US food but in Florida it isn't a bad thing.  The extreme heat causes heatstroke in thousands of tourists every year and one way to combat this is keeping your salt levels up.  This doesn't mean going over the top but being mindful that your body is losing salt when you sweat so you need to replenish it.  When your sweat stops tasing salty you could be heading for trouble and you need to hydrate and eat something like potato chips or salted nuts etc to prevent the effects of heatstroke.

Depends on what you are looking for and how far you are prepared (or can) travel.  Some specific stores are only available at certain outlets so it's a bit limiting but general rule of thumb is - the further from the tourist areas you go the cheaper it is.  Outlets away from the high tourist turnover areas have to do a little extra to coax the dollar out of the locals pocket so they tend to have slightly better deals.

Florida weather isn't usually what tourists expect.  The assumption is it's 100 degrees and scorching sunshine all the time - well it isn't!  Florida is a sub tropical climate and during the summer months we get torrential rains and storms.  If you are in the parks chances are they will close things down until they pass - they can be that bad.  Our advice - get yourself to Dollar Tree and stock up on ponchos and some large ziplock bags.  If every member of your party has these they can be extremely useful.  You can put phones and electronics in the zip lock to save them from getting wet and you can put used wet ponchos in them as well after the rain has passed.  Don't get caught paying $10 for a poncho in Disney!

If you have an extended group that might split up and you don't want to use your cell providers data plan then consider getting some prepay phones.  Walmart sell prepay phones for as little as $30* with 30 days credit included so these are a great way to keep in touch.

*Correct at time of publishing

You would think weather forecasts (either on the news or on apps) would be relatively straight forward to interpret but the US does have a slight quirk when it comes to rain chances.

In Europe when they say chances of rain are 10% we consider this as an approximation as to our chances of getting rain sometime during that forecasting period.  However in the US it means the % area that can expect rain.  So depending on how local the weather report is your chances of rain can be different.  If Disney said there was a 50% chance of rain then they mean it's likely 50% of Disney property will be getting wet - but they don't say how wet!  So 100% chance of rain might sound terrible but it could just mean everyone will get a 2 minute light shower nothing more. Not confusing at all!

If you plan on hydrating with electrolyte drinks then it could get expensive!  Gatorade sell large containers of powdered drink mix that works out cheaper.
You can mix your own strength drinks and it's easy to add it to bottled water when you are out.  Just keep a tub in the car or the cooler.

Sounds simple enough but honestly we have lost count of the number of times we have received calls from folks who can't find their vehicle in Disney!  Take a picture of the nearest marker when you park so you know for sure where you are returning to.

It doesn't matter if you are 30 or 40 chances are you will get 'carded' if you ask for any alcohol so carry ID.  Florida is extremely strict on ID checks for alcohol sales and there is no talking your way out of it.  Also be aware of buying alcohol for others - if a store clerk even suspects you are buying for a group and they don't have ID they will not sell to you (even if you have your ID).  Entrapment is also a 'thing' - NEVER buy any age restricted products for anyone you don't know. Police have been known to be undercover and ask people to buy items for them.

If you plan on shopping a LOT then pack a suitcase inside of another suitcase on your way out.  That way you wont need to buy another bag when you are out here - after all you don't need much other than a few pairs of shorts and a couple of tops to get you through the first week! DO tell whoever is returning you to the airport if you will have additional bags (especially if it's us)!  If you are a party of four we aren't expecting you to have twelve cases plus carry on for the return journey - yes this did happen!