Category Archives: Parks

Was it worth it?

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Back in August I shared a post about Disney’s Photopass and Photopass+. Since returning home from my vacation I’ve had several people ask me what I thought of the new Photopass+ service and whether it was worth it.

Firstly the price….by pre-ordering the Photopass+ package before my vacation it cost $169.95, which I must confess is expensive for a bunch of holiday snaps on a cd. But I think it’s the extras that make it worth it for me.

Not only do you get the Photo Gallery cd with the Disney ‘stock’ photos on it but I love being able to use the Photopass website to edit my own photos before ordering them on the second disc. You can zoom in, crop, change the colour, add borders (including ones for special events) and dates….and there’s no limit to how many times you recreate a photo. I chose one of ours from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and reproduced it six times with different borders! And you can do all this with the attraction photos too…

Speaking of attraction photos…this is the main highlight of Photopass+ for me. We were riding attractions just so we could get another photo added to our card. It was great fun looking for our photo on the screen and knowing that whatever it was like we would be getting a copy. Also, digital copies of attraction photos are added to your Photopass account so that you can download those straightaway, without waiting for your cd to arrive in the mail.

Unfortunately we were only eating at one of the restaurants on the list where you would get a dining photo as part of the Photopass+ package. But I was pleasantly surprised when we turned up at Chef Mickey’s for breakfast and were told that not only did the arrival photo get added to our card but we also got a printed version in the Chef Mickey’s presentation folder at no extra cost!

I was a little disappointed with the ‘lanyard’ used to hold the Photopass+ card. I think at the price paid Disney could afford to provide a nicer piece of material; even if it had the Photopass logo on it, it would have looked more like a standard lanyard and we would have been more happy to show it off.

I had also hoped that the sight of a Photopass+ card would have encouraged more interaction from Photopass photographers. By having the card it indicates that you have already pre-purchased the cd and therefore must be keen to have photos taken in the parks and capture those special memories. Unfortunately we saw very little acknowledgement of the fact that we had already handed over $169 for the package and the majority of the enthusiasm for the photos came from us.

After queuing up to have our pictures taken with various characters, just because we could add them to our card, we even commented that wouldn’t it be nice if the Photopass+ package gave you some kind of ‘fastpass’ for the character meet and greets….it would certainly add to the list of reasons to pick it up.

 

So….was it worth it? To me….yes….but I do admit that it is an expensive treat. And one only worth getting if you are going to fill that disc with a LOT of pictures that will help you remember that magical vacation for years to come.

I’m now waiting for the finished disc to arrive in the mail and cannot wait to share some of those memories with you in the coming weeks. :)

 

 

Where dreams come true….

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Hello fellow Disney nerds and daydreamers…I have returned from the World!

It was a fun and exhausting two weeks spent at Walt Disney World; meeting up with old friends, having new experiences and creating Disney memories to cherish forever.

So I hope you’ll join me in the coming weeks as I share some of my stories….I’ll let you know my thoughts on the new Disney Photopass+, the Disney Dining Plan, eating at signature restaurants and of course…using Disney transportation. I’ll share how I felt about attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, the Food and Wine Festival and a fun Eat To The Beat event.

I’ll share the highs….and maybe even some lows of our trip (there were a couple)!

I look forward to daydreaming Disney with you…..so for your safety, please remain seated and keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle at all times……  :)

 

 

Say “cheese”!!

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I just love taking photos whilst on vacation. Since getting my first digital camera in 2010 I think I have become a ‘photographic’ nightmare!! It’s just so easy to take as many photos as you want…you can always delete the ones that you don’t want later, right??! Except that in my case I hate deleting them, even the blurry ones hold a little piece of a vacation memory!!

If you’re heading to Walt Disney World and want a few pics of you and the family during your vacation you can use the Disney Photopass service. I didn’t sign up to this concept until 2005 when I finally gave in, accepted a card from a Disney photographer and patiently posed for a few photos in front of the various park landmarks. When I returned home and accessed my Photopass account I think I had only taken about thirty photos and only two were worth ordering! But I do still love those two photos, here’s one of them:

 

When our 2010 WDW trip finally arrived I knew I was going to make the most of the Photopass service this time. In between these two trips Disney had introduced a pre-order package; whereby you could order a cd of all your photos before your trip at the reduced price of $99. A bargain….if you made sure that you made the most of that cd and filled it with lots of photos!!

And of course that’s what I did!! Every time I saw a Photopass photographer I was there, waving my card in front of them, preparing to strike a pose! When I returned home I was able to add borders and logos, zoom in and crop as many photos as I liked, taking the photograph total to over a hundred.

And it wasn’t until I came home and really looked at all the photos did I realise that one photographer had captured a truly magical Disney moment for me. The moment that after posing with Lotso he started talking to us about my hair…we didn’t even notice that the photographer had kept snapping away and had taken some unique photos for us:

 

So fast forward to 2012…I’m in mega planning mode and in January I pre-ordered this year’s photo cd. And then a few week’s later I heard rumours that something about Photopass was changing. Well, what about the money I’ve already paid over for my cd?? What if my deal wasn’t any good anymore??

Disney announced that they were introducing Photopass+, a service that would now include photos from select attractions and dining locations, but it would only be available in the parks, costing $199 at WDW. I had always thought that the attraction photos should be included with Photopass so this sounded like a good…but expensive…addition to my vacation! Disney confirmed that if you had already pre-ordered the original Photopass cd then you could upgrade to Photopass+ once you arrived at WDW, so despite protesting at the cost I knew I would end up getting it!

And then over the summer Disney released a pre-order offer for Photopass+, reducing the  cost to $169. They would even send you the additional cd of over 400 stock Disney photos before your vacation. If you had already pre-ordered the original Photopass cd you could again upgrade prior to your vacation.

So with a couple of emails and another payment I’m now the proud owner of a Photopass+ voucher ready for my trip!! And believe me, I am going to be posing for a LOT of pictures to get my money’s worth this time!!!! And of course, I can’t wait to share them with you when I get home!!! Smile and say “cheese” :)

 

 

 

Facing my….Terror!

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We all have things around our homes which remind us of our Walt Disney World trips; little things that help us daydream of our favourite place.

I wanted to share one of those things with you today. It’s an attraction photo which was taken during my trip to Walt Disney World in 2000, when my brother and I decided to take a trip to the World.

 

 

I have this photo standing in its ‘official’ attraction frame and every day it makes me smile because instead of making me think happy thoughts the photo fills me with terror….yes, that’s right ‘terror’….as in The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!!!!

I love roller coasters, LOVE them! I’m the guest in the queue who will ask to wait for the back seat; the faster the better, the more loops the better. But ask me to go on an attraction with just a sudden drop? Well that’s a completely different story. My brain and my body do not like sudden drop rides!!

And so I am faced with my fear of all fears on Tower of Terror. I bought the attraction photo from that trip in 2000 because if you look closely you can actually see REAL fear on my face (in case you don’t recognise the ‘young’ me I’m on the left hand side as you look at the photo, middle row)…..I screamed so much that I could only talk in a whisper for the following three days.

 

 

Now when I first visited Walt Disney World with Mark in 2005 he thought I was exaggerating and insisted I ride ToT. So eventually I gave in; I do actually love to see the theme and design of the attraction. But apparently during the ride I went pale and Mark thought I was going to pass out….that will teach him to think I exaggerate!!!!!

I know many people who love this attraction and I know others who are happy to sit outside and listen to the screams from the brave guests inside. Mark and I have come to a somewhat reluctant agreement that I will ride it once on each trip…..I never look forward to facing the Tower of MY Terror!!!!! ;)

 

 

 

 

Three steps to WDW….

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Everyone has heard of the game ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ haven’t they?

The game is based on the belief that any individual involved in the movie industry can be linked to the actor Kevin Bacon within six steps…. Well I think that Walt Disney World fans have the same ability to link any everyday situation to Disney in a very small number of steps too!

And here is my example…. I visited the Warner Bros. Studio tour on Saturday to look at the Harry Potter exhibition, it reminded me of being at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando, being at Universal reminds me of being at Walt Disney World…

So there you have it; in three simple steps I have connected Harry Potter to WDW and have completely justified why this blog post is appearing on my Disney blog!!!!

I also wanted to share this experience with you, and write about the amazing amount of magic and talent that I saw as I walked around the studios. It’s the same feeling that I get when Disney announces something new coming to the parks or when I read an interview with an Imagineer and yet again I am amazed by their achievements.

I will try to give you an outline of the exhibition without giving away too much detail, so that I do not spoil it for any readers who are lucky enough to be visiting themselves. If you are overseas and won’t have the opportunity to visit in person then search Google for more details, I’m sure you will not be shocked to see how many people have written and posted photos of this place.  The official website is a good place to start.

The Warner Bros. Studios are located in Leavesden, Watford (just outside London) and for over ten years these studios were used for the filming of the Harry Potter movies. In fact filming started here for the first film on 29th September 2000.

After the filming ended Warner Bros. invested over £100 million into the Leavesden Studios to create ‘Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden‘, a permanent UK film production base for the company. As part of the redevelopment the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London was set up, a permanent behind-the-scenes walking tour which currently holds props, costumes and sets from the Harry Potter collection.

The collection / tour opened to the public on 31 March 2012 and has been received with rave reviews. I had the opportunity to organise a group visit for the staff association at my workplace; the tickets were so difficult to come by that I bought them in November 2011 for a visit date that wasn’t until June 2012!

The tour is self guided and the official notes advise that it takes about three hours to get round everything. We were walking round for about three and a half hours but it felt a lot longer, and we certainly did not rush through anything!!

The first thing that made me think of WDW was the queue. Once you had entered the main building your ticket was scanned and you could join the queue for the next group of guests to be let into the exhibition space. The queue snaked backwards and forwards allowing a lot of guests to queue in quite a small area, just like queuing up for an attraction in the parks.

Groups of guests were then led into a room for a welcome video….again reminding me of a Disney attraction. After the introduction the tour leads into the first sound stage holding The Great Hall (this is the ACTUAL hall which features in the films and is AMAZING), costumes, sets (such as Dumbledore’s office and Hagrid’s Hut) and so many amazing props, designed and built by such talented people.

There are videos playing on screens and boards next to most exhibits, giving you as much information as you want to take in.

After the first sound stage the tour moves to an outside area. Here you find the larger items; such as the triple-decker Knight bus, the Chess Pieces and Number 4 Privet Drive.

This is also the stop for a glass of Butterbeer…something which I missed out on when visiting Universal Studios so couldn’t wait to try…personally, I LOVED it!!!!

The tour then moves into the second sound stage and features the creative department. Lots of masks and creepy crawlies in here! You get to walk along the wonderfully designed Diagon Alley; the detail on these buildings is superb. There is also a display of White-Card Models which were built by the Art Department to assist the director and production designer look at size and scale before the actual set construction began.

And then…..the Hogwarts Castle model. I had seen it in photos and on tv but nothing prepared me for the sight in real life. I just wanted to capture every angle with my own camera. The actual model was used for aerial photography in the films and digitally scanned for CGI scenes. I just can’t get over the skill of the people involved in making this model.

After passing through the ‘wand room’, a room containing labelled wand boxes for more than 4,000 people who worked on the Harry Potter films, you end the tour in the gift shop. Well, it wouldn’t be an attraction if it didn’t end there!! Oh and in true ‘theme park’ tradition there are two souvenir photo opportunities along the tour, for an additional price of course ;)

The exhibition doesn’t look anything fancy from the outside but when stepping through the doors of the Great Hall at the start of the tour you are immersed in magic and make-believe. It just gave me that same feeling which I get walking around the parks and it gave me the opportunity to daydream even though I was still in the ‘not so sunny’ UK!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and forgive me for a non-Disney post!!! For those of you in the UK I hope you also get to visit and see the amazing work that went into making these films. I’ve already bought tickets to go back in September….so I guess I’ll see you at Hogwarts ;)

 

 

 

Oh….THAT Phineas and Ferb!

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So in last week’s post I admitted to not really knowing a lot about Phineas and Ferb, and how I thought I had better change that before my next trip to Walt Disney World.

It was great to get so many comments from Phineas and Ferb fans…and yes, it’s clear that adults are the biggest fans out there!!

I watched a few episodes and I enjoyed how colourful and fast paced the stories are. There were a couple of times when I thought ‘huh, why did Agent P do that?’ but then I reminded myself that this is all about imagination…it’s okay to forget logic for fifteen minutes!!

And just like it was planned to link into my blog post, on May 16 the official Disney Parks Blog posted an update regarding the Phineas and Ferb experience coming to Epcot’s World Showcase this June. I am looking forward to seeing how this new game is introduced to World Showcase and whether a newcomer to the Phineas and Ferb storylines will be able to enjoy the experience as much as the ‘serious’ fan!

I feel that I should also add that because of this little ‘adventure’ for my blog I have also discovered another new cartoon character in the last week….and yes, I know it’s been around since 2010 but bear with me!!! Whilst checking the programme listings for the Disney XD channel the title of a cartoon caught my eye….Kick Buttowski…. With such a clever and cool name I knew I had to check this programme out…and now I am hooked!

I love the rockin’ theme tune and the fact that Kick keeps throwing the horns (non-rock fans may want to ask a teenager for reference)! Now…if this guy was appearing in the parks I would be super excited……anyone know of any hidden merch?!

And this is why I’m so passionate about Disney. We all get interested and hooked on different things. Why does one thing click with one person and not another? It might be a song, a character, a reference to something in your ‘non-Disney’ life which you can relate to…who knows? But with Disney in our lives we can discover new and simple things everyday…and yes, it also helps us to not take life too seriously ;)

 

 

Just who are Phibeas and Fern?!

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Okay…so I know that it’s really Phineas and Ferb….but who are they???

I spend so much of my time (yes, probably TOO much of my time) reading Disney related news and trying to retain as much knowledge as I can for my next trip to the World. I know which attractions have changed since my last visit, what time fireworks and parades will occur (and not just at 3 o’clock), which snacks are now on sale in the parks and all kinds of other useful information!

But just sometimes there will be changes made in the parks that leave you a little puzzled about your next visit….and this is where Phineas and Ferb come in!

Being a big kid myself means that I have a pretty good grasp on what’s cool (is it even okay to say ‘cool’ anymore?) and what’s not….I also now have an 18 month old nephew who I can rely on to educate me on the cartoons all the kids are watching. For example the other day he introduced me to Jake and the Neverland Pirates…well, he sat on my lap whilst I watched my first ever episode…Jake is one pretty cool pirate :)

During 2011 I had read about Phineas and Ferb ‘meet and greets’ being introduced to the Disney parks, nothing unusual there…we’re all used to seeing new characters being brought into WDW for the younger generations. But along with the abundance of Phineas and Ferb merchandise on sale in the parks, earlier this year Disney announced that Kim Possible would be leaving her World Showcase Adventure in Epcot  and Agent P would be taking her place.

The official Disney Parks Blog posted the following:

“Coming this summer, ‘Disney Phineas & Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure’ is based on the wily secret-agent alter-ego of Perry the Platypus – faithful pet to the title characters from Disney’s animated series ‘Phineas & Ferb’. Although just a simple pet to Phineas and Ferb, Perry turns into Agent P in each episode to help stop the misguided plans of his nemesis, Dr. Doofenshmirtz.”

So this is the point where I ask not only who are Phineas and Ferb, but should I know who Agent P is too?!

And so, in the interest of daydreamingdisney.com…and perhaps my sanity as a Disney expert….during the next seven days I will be watching several episodes of Phineas and Ferb.

Will I love it and want to buy all the merch I can find at WDW? Will I hate it and run screaming from the Phineas and Ferb characters in Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Watch this space and you’ll find out next week….. ;)

I’ve got the Key!

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What does a Disney fan do when they’ve exhausted all attractions, shows and eateries in every park but still craves something new? Well if they’re anything like me…obsessed with Disney history, the Disney Company and the behind the scenes organisation of the parks…they’ll book up one of the Walt Disney World tours!

During my last visit to the World I FINALLY got to attend the Keys To The Kingdom tour in Magic Kingdom. I’d spoken to friends and family who raved about it…I’d read reviews that were ‘so, so’ about it. Knowing that I have a craving for knowledge of what goes on behind the magic I knew that I had to experience it for myself in order to have my own opinion of the experience.

Now I’m not going to go into the finer details of the tour as I don’t want to spoil it for any of my readers that have yet to take part but I will say that personally I thought this tour was AMAZING!!!

I understand from reading reviews that your tour guide can make or break the tour. Our guide was knowledgeable, with a fun but dry sense of humour and even strict in some places. By the way, their costumes are awesome! We had a great time with our guide and he even let us know that he used to be a ‘friend’ of Goofy’s!

We booked the first tour of the day which meant that we got into Magic Kingdom before the park opened…cue photos on an empty Main Street! As an extra bonus we were waiting outside City Hall for the tour to start when the performers turned up for the park opening ceremony and one of the male dancers stopped to make a fuss about my “awesome” hair!

You are given a ‘guest’ badge to wear on the tour and boy did I feel special walking around MK all morning showing off my ‘guest’ pass ;) Other guests look at the group; you can see them wondering who you are and why you are part of a group with a guide…it makes you feel like a VIP.

There were so many highlights of the tour for me. We got to ride Haunted Mansion, but jumped the queue by using a cast member entrance! We got to go backstage; seeing the back of Splash Mountain, some of the parade vehicles being worked on and we might have even seen one or two characters on their break!

And then…the moment I had been waiting for all my Disney fan life….we went into a shop on Main Street, passed through a ‘cast member only’ doorway, descended some steps…and entered the Utilidors…..

Yes, I know they are only corridors, there’s nothing magical about them….or is there? You see to me there is….I like stripping back the pixie dust and seeing what makes Walt Disney World operate. Down in those corridors it felt like any other workplace, in any other part of the world. There were notice boards with motivational messages, staff rooms, training rooms, lockers and tired looking staff. To me it’s important that we don’t forget the effort and energy these people put into making our special place so magical….and that’s why seeing the Utilidors was so important for me.

Were there any negatives of the tour for me? At a push I would say the lunch at Columbia Harbour House…the food was just okay…but then again, it was nice to eat somewhere I hadn’t been before.

And if that wasn’t enough magic for one morning something else happened that will always make me smile when I think about this tour. When you arrive at MK for the tour you report to a cast member in City Hall who is responsible for signing you in, giving you your badge and taking your lunch order. That same cast member is also around at lunch time to show you to your tables. Well, a few days later we were walking around Epcot and I saw that same cast member walking by talking to a couple of people in smart dress. The cast member interrupted his conversation with these important looking people and went out of his way to say hello to us and asked if we were enjoying our vacation. I felt so humbled that he had remembered us from the tour a few days before and that little gesture made me feel like a valued guest.

So would I recommend the Keys To The Kingdom tour? Yes…if you want a small glimpse of what goes on behind the magic…but don’t expect to learn every secret of Walt Disney World…. because some things do have to be left to your imagination ;)

Orange Tuesday!

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Now I know that there will be many posts on many blogs in the next few days covering the Orange Bird’s return to the Sunshine Tree Terrace at Magic Kingdom but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take time out of my Walt Disney World planning schedule to write a few words of my own.

Firstly I cannot claim to have been a die-hard Orange Bird fan since the 70′s, I was not one of the many fans that longed to see him and his orange thought bubbles return to his home in Adventureland….in fact I wasn’t even aware of the Orange Bird until a couple of years ago when he started cropping up in conversations on Disney fan message boards.

But over the last couple of years….and this is why yesterday’s events had such a big impact on me…reading about other people’s love for that bird, hearing the history of his connection to Disney and seeing his lovely smiling face on websites, collectibles, t-shirts and even Imagineer doodles, gave me an affection for this cute little orange creature and made me wish A LOT that he was still bringing sunshine to Adventureland.

I commend Disney for yesterday’s event. They just sent a message out on Twitter that this little gathering was taking place for no apparent ‘special’ reason….but you can just tell when Disney have something up their sleeve. And this time it was something for the fans, they had listened and responded. Okay sure it’s about money-making; a stunt like this will bring those of us who are into Disney history and nostalgia flooding into the park to buy an oversized Orange Bird t-shirt or one of those wonderfully plastic Orange Bird sipper cups (please, please still be there for my next trip!) but I like to think that this decision was also a nod to those lifelong Disney fans like us who spend our days reading, writing and planning Disney :)

So, although I don’t remember the good old Orange Bird days I will remember the day that the Orange Bird returned to his perch at the Sunshine Tree and I’m proud to be a new fan of that lovely lil’ bird.

Here’s a link to Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio show from November 2011 reminiscing about the Orange Bird.

Here’s a link to the official coverage of the Orange Bird’s return on the Disney Parks Blog and here is the wonderful merchandise I hope to get my hands on!

So I’ll end this post with a singalong to the Sherman Brothers lyrics, make sure you check YouTube for the wonderful original tune….

“Little Orange Bird in the Sunshine Tree
Won’t you think of something sunny just for me?
Think funny thoughts or sunny words
That will make me happy, little Orange Bird…..”

 

 

Gettin’ around….

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As I have previously mentioned we don’t drive whilst at Walt Disney World. Letting someone else take the strain of getting us from A to B is part of the break for us.

I do however have a vivid memory of having a hire car in Orlando and I think I have just about recovered from the experience! It was during a family holiday back in the 90’s, in the days before everyone had GPS and sat navs. I will spare you all the gory details but I will say that we left Universal Studios in the dark, via the wrong exit, and spent hours trying to get back to our hotel….well, it felt like hours to the scared and embarrassed teenager that I was at the time!!!

Now that I’m all grown up and have the luxury of staying on property we make full use of the complimentary Disney Resort Transportation, or ‘Disney buses’ for short! We love the convenience of hopping on and off the buses, going from resort to park and back again.

Once you know your way around the transportation system you can work out how to get to just about anywhere on property. When we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside we started to notice that the buses going from the parks to Port Orleans French Quarter would often arrive more frequently and there would be less of a queue, so we soon started hopping on the French Quarter one and walking the short distance along the river back to Riverside.

During our last stay at Wilderness Lodge we noticed that the Magic Kingdom bus only took 5 to 10 minutes to get to the park so we started hopping on that one and then making our way elsewhere from MK. Whilst trying to get to Epcot from Ft Wilderness one night a Wilderness Lodge bus turned up so we jumped on that, knowing that we could start the journey again from our home resort!

Unfortunately in recent years the Disney Company has chosen to limit the bus drivers’ interaction with guests. I’m not sure of the official reason for this but I wonder if it had something to do with the negative ‘situations’ the bus drivers seemed to be experiencing with guests. I still get an excited feeling when I hear the recorded message announcing where the bus is heading to, for you to “have a nice day” or when the familiar music starts as you head towards your home resort, but it’s not quite the same as the crazy interactions we used to have with drivers in the past.

On our last trip we were on a bus around midday heading to Downtown Disney with only a few other guests on board. I assume the driver decided we looked like a friendly bunch as he switched off the pre-recorded announcements and decided to have a quiz with us! We had such fun answering his trivia questions about the number of fireworks let off in WDW during a year or how many cars are on Disney property on New Year’s Eve!! It felt even more fun as he sounded EXACTLY like John Candy!! The driver really made our day and we departed at DTD with huge grins on our faces; that was a magical Disney memory right there.

I know that some people have bad things to say about the Disney buses but I think they do a pretty impressive job of transporting thousands of guests around the WDW property each day. Yes, you can be stood at a bus stop for what feels like ages, seeing every bus go by except the one you want, but that’s no different from being in your home town or city…traffic is traffic no matter how much pixie dust there is to go around!

The only downside of Disney buses for me is unfortunately the other guests who use them. For some reason at certain resorts guests waiting for a bus choose not to queue, just stand in a crowd around several of the bus shelters, and then try to push their way to the front when a bus arrives. If you want to be first on a bus why not form an orderly queue? The other unfortunate habit is the people who think they can board first by using the side doors…you know….the doors that say ‘exit only’!!

So I’m prepared to put my hand up and announce that I love the Disney buses ;) I will continue to tolerate other people’s bad behaviour in order to use a transportation system that suits my needs whilst in the World.

And all I ask is the next time you use a Disney bus make sure you smile and thank that driver for his or her hard work, for they are responsible for getting us to the magic everyday :)