Tag Archives: cast member

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. :)

 

 

It’s the small things….

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Sometimes you can spend so much time planning your Walt Disney World visit down to the finest of details; what parks, attractions, restaurants, resort….but sometimes it can be the small things that can make your vacation extra magical.

If you stay at a Disney resort you will have come across the housekeeping staff…or ‘Mousekeeping’ as they are affectionately called by us Disney fans. They do the thankless task of keeping our rooms tidy everyday…we’re on vacation so we don’t want to even think about housework!!

Many guests leave a daily tip for their Mousekeepers and I am no exception, but I like to do something a little extra if I can. During our visit in 2010 we left a UK picture postcard with our tip everyday and this year saw me leave a decorated Disney envelope which held a Disney trading card and the tip.

Now it’s likely that you will be aware of the small phenomena that are ‘towel animals’….animals made from towels left in your room by Mousekeeping. These days you usually get a Mickey face left on your bed for your check-in day and then you may get one or two extra during your stay. In 2010 we got a duck to hold our toothbrushes and a candle as it was Christmas.

During this most recent trip we got our Mickey and a duck in the first week but that was it; I must confess that I was a little disappointed that my Disney envelopes each day hadn’t resulted in a few more….but all of that changed in the second week!!

I don’t know if we had a different Mousekeeper in the second week or whether they just had more time but boy did they go to town with our animals!!! The first afternoon we came back and saw an elephant on the bed I squealed with delight, it was BRILLIANT!!! We left the elephant sitting on the spare bed and so it began…everyday we would return to the room to be greeted by something different…our Mousekeeper’s talent was amazing and each one made us smile and laugh out loud!

I hope you enjoy taking a look at our creations….and remember…it can be the small things that bring magic to your Disney vacation :)

 

 

 

Returning home….

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Don’t worry… I haven’t skipped all the posts about my recent trip and gone straight to the sad coming home part…. today I’m thinking about returning to my ‘Walt Disney World’ home…

In my series of posts covering planning for a trip to WDW I discussed how Wilderness Lodge had become my favourite Disney resort, after staying there in December 2010. As the October 2012 trip approached I began to wonder if I would feel the same affection for the Lodge, whether it would feel as magical as I had remembered it or whether I should have taken the risk and chosen to stay at a different resort for a different experience.

I need not have worried…..

As soon as our airport transfer car pulled up at the Wilderness Lodge main entrance a cast member came out to greet us and said ‘welcome home’….yep, the magic had begun. I explained that I had already completed the Disney Resort On-Line Check In, at which point we were shown to a CM on the front desk who was ready and waiting with our documents, it was that easy! The cast member at the desk was from the UK so we had a chat about the International programme, how long she was there for, what roles she had been working and how she hadn’t packed any jumpers for the ‘winter’ months!

After being given our check in documents the cast member said that she had some mail for me and handed me two envelopes. I couldn’t believe that I was getting mail, it really was like coming home!!! It turned out that two of my wonderful Disney friends had sent me letters in anticipation of my arrival, it was such a kind thing to do….and made me feel very important!!

Despite liking the location of our room in 2010 we had decided not to submit any specific room requests during on-line check in, we decided to let fate (or Disney) choose! Boy am I pleased that we did!!!

We had been allocated a room on the fifth floor, overlooking Bay Lake, with views of Discovery Island and even a glimpse of the Contemporary Resort! When we first got to our room I couldn’t stop looking at our view, I felt immersed in the Disney magic that I had spent so long daydreaming about.

Later that first evening we discovered that not only we could hear the music from the Electrical Water Pageant but see it from our balcony too!! It was great fun each night to be able to tell what time it was based on the pageant music starting up and the sound of the Wishes fireworks from Magic Kingdom.

And I’m so pleased to say that the rest of the resort lived up to the memories too. Obviously the Christmas tree was missing from the grand lobby during this visit but that just made the size of the lobby even more impressive. Roaring Forks (the quick service area) was as good as we had remembered and the outside pool and geyser area was as pretty and relaxing as before.

I fell in love with the calmness of the resort all over again during this trip.The flickering lights leading from the bus stops, welcoming you home after a long day in the parks, the distant sound of the Lodge music, the colour of the wood and trees…. it all felt as perfect as I had remembered.

We also had some new experiences of Wilderness Lodge during this visit. As we were using the Disney Dining Plan we treated ourselves to a meal at Artist Point, and as the weather was a LOT warmer during this trip we used the resort boats to get to Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary. And how can I ever forget the amazing collection of towel animals that we received from Mousekeeping? More on these experiences to follow!!

At some point during our trip I realised…. this resort truly is my Walt Disney World home! :)

 

 

 

 

 

That’s a first!

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As I put the final details in place for our forthcoming trip to the World I realise that this visit could yet again be full of magical first time Disney experiences.

It’s clear to see that by simply changing the time of year for our visit it has opened up a number of new experiences and events which I will see for the first time. By visiting Walt Disney World in October I will see Magic Kingdom decorated for Halloween and get to attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

This also means that I will be visiting Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival; I’m looking forward to not only sampling some of the dishes on offer but seeing how World Showcase looks with the addition of the international marketplace booths.

Due to a special promotion I was able to include the Disney Dining Plan for free on my vacation booking which means I’ll be experiencing Disney dining on a whole new level. I’ll be visiting Signature restaurants for the first time and some of our advanced dining reservations will take us into resorts that we’ve never really had the chance to explore before.

After attending the Key To The Kingdom tour on our last visit I knew that I wanted to book at least one tour or special experience on this trip….well, I decided to fit three in! We will FINALLY get to Dine With An Imagineer, we will be taking a unique look at Animal Kingdom on the Wild By Design tour and last but by no means least we will be taking in the detail of Magic Kingdom during a park tour with Lou Mongello.

Something else which will make this trip so unique is the number of friends that we hope to be meeting up with during our two week vacation. A few years ago, before I started blogging and talking to fellow Disney fans across the social networks, I had no idea that I would make friends with so many people who lived close to or worked at my favourite vacation destination.

And lastly…now this could well make or break a vacation….we have unplanned days on our WDW daily schedule!!!! That’s right, I threw out the original daily plan which I had spent so long researching and planning! So the new schedule includes the booked tours, ADR’s and a couple of planned meet ups but that’s it! We are going to decide that morning or the night before which park we feel like going to each day….if we wake up and feel like stuffing our faces at the Food and Wine Festival we’ll head on over to Epcot, if we feel like spending a morning people watching in a busy Magic Kingdom then we’ll head on over there!!! For a mega planner like me this is pretty scary stuff but there’s a first time for everything!! :)

So what about you? Do you like to visit at the same time of year or stay at the same resort because you like to know every detail of your vacation? Do you make sure that you experience at least one new thing during each trip or do you throw caution to the wind and never plan your trips, hoping that magic and surprises come along to make memories that you’ll cherish forever???

 

 

 

 

Dream Along With Emma!

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At the beginning of August I introduced ‘Dream Along With Emma’, a new series of posts featuring friends from my Disney community; highlighting how their hobbies, work and special interests influence their daydreaming Disney!

The series launched with an extra special audio interview featuring the great Lou Mongello from WDW Radio.

Today I want to introduce you to my good friend Tim and would like to share with you how his Disney Vacation Club membership and his love for the Disney Cruise Line affects his daydreaming and planning that next special vacation….

 

 

So before we talk Disney tell us a little about Tim – So I’m Tim, I’m 35, I live in Hessle (next to the Humber Bridge) in Yorkshire, England with my lovely wife Kerrie and our big softy Rottweiler Hercules.

To fund our Disney trips I am sales manager for a soft drinks company that supplies dispense soft drinks including Pepsi to independent bars and restaurants etc.

I’m lucky that myself and Kerrie have the same passion for Disney, all of our working weeks revolve around our next trip, we are told we are mad and should try other things and other places but Disney is where our hearts are so that is where we go. Basically I’m just another regular guy who loves going to Disney.

And when was your first visit to Walt Disney World? My first trip to Walt Disney World wasn’t until 2003, as a child there was no way my parents could afford a trip to Florida so my childhood vacations were to places like Butlins or camping, the furthest we ever went was to the Isle of Wight so a trip to Disney was out of the question until I was old enough to fund it myself, so I’m doing my best to make up for lost time.

2003 was also extra special as myself and Kerrie made a last minute decision to get married whilst we were in Florida, we only decided a few weeks before the trip and although not the ideal Disney wedding we wish we could have had we got married in Kissimmee making our first trip together extra meaningful.

Describe your first memory from the parks – Looking back I think my first memories from the parks were how clean, friendly and organised they were and the magnitude of the entertainment that was on offer was staggering, having only had a few trips to some U.K. amusement parks the scale and quality of the Disney parks was mind-blowing.

Firstly let’s talk Disney Vacation Club; just what is DVC? Basically Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is where you buy a set number of points directly from Disney or on the re-sale market, you receive that same allocation of points every year on the same month for the remainder of your contract which is around 29 years for the older resorts or 48 years for the newer ones.

The accommodations in the DVC resorts all carry a per night ‘points cost’ to stay at, the amount of points to stay per night varies from resort to resort, the type of accommodation and the time of year.

You simply spend the points you own on the accommodation you want to stay at. If you’re not visiting one year you can bank that years allocation of points (or any you have left over) into the next year and have more points to spend that year (although you must use them the year after banking) alternatively if you need more points one year you can borrow up to a full years worth of points from the following year.

You buy points at a specific resort which becomes your home resort, the only real difference being that you get home resort booking priority. This means at 11 months out you can make your reservations at your home resort, to book at other DVC resorts your reservations can be made at 7 months out. Most people make a reservation at their home resort at the 11 month mark so they know they have a room guaranteed for their trip but if they want to try a different resort then look at making an alternative reservation at the 7 month window.

So having a home resort that you really like should be a priority just in case you can’t switch to where you’d like to stay at the 7 month window as this can be difficult during the holidays or say the Boardwalk and Beach Club during the Food & Wine festival.

Although not generally the most ‘cost effective’ way to use points if you have bought from Disney direct you can use your points for Disney cruise line, Adventures by Disney as well as exchanging through RCI to vacation pretty much anywhere in the world. Points bought through resale can now only be used at DVC resorts although resale is a much cheaper way to buy into DVC.

After your initial purchase of points your only other cost is the yearly annual dues which are to pay for the upkeep of your home resort and it’s grounds as well as it’s associated taxes etc. The annual dues vary from resort to resort currently the lowest being about $4.22 for Bay Lake Tower and the highest being $7.12 per point for Vero Beach. I kind of see the annual dues as the real cost of DVC as your initial purchase of points could easily be covered by the equivalent of maybe 5 or 6 stays in a deluxe resort.

When did you first hear about DVC and decide that it was for you? I kind of heard about DVC on our first trip, but didn’t really know what it was, I noticed the kiosks around the parks and being typically British steered clear thinking they were just selling time share and back then after having a couple of holidays in Europe had it drummed into me ‘stay away from time shares, people selling time shares are evil’

It wasn’t until a few years later when more sites about Disney were appearing on the internet that I started looking at DVC properly but could never get the figures to add up.

At the time we were booking package holidays with the likes of Travel City Direct and Virgin, staying in the value resorts and getting a 2 week ultimate ticket but over the last 3-5 years with competition for the big operators disappearing and taxes to fly from the U.K. getting higher and higher those great value packages we used to book were getting more and more expensive.

To balance those figures that I could never get my head around I looked at the bigger picture other than what it costs to visit WDW now and thought more of what is it going to cost in say 25 years time. When the Contemporary resort first opened it cost around $30 per night to stay there, now 40 years later it can run you $500+ per night, you’d be lucky to get a value for much less than $90 a night.
So looking at us normally staying in a value is it inconceivable that in 25 years time a nights stay at say Pop Century is going to be $250 or more a night, it doesn’t take many trips at that sort of prices to balance the initial purchase cost of DVC, but (and I know this sounds like DVC guide spiel lol) that doesn’t matter as I’ve paid for deluxe accommodation for the next 48 years now at todays prices with my only yearly outlay being the annual dues which is why I see them as the true cost of DVC.
Obviously it might not look as attractive if you don’t plan on visiting WDW for the rest of your life, but we do and although DVC isn’t really an investment you can always sell your points in the future should you need to.

2009 was the year we finally took the plunge and bought our points whilst cruising on the Disney Magic with Bay Lake Tower as our home resort, after having stayed at the values and moderates and visiting the deluxe resorts we had always thought wow can you imagine if we could afford to stay at these resorts, buying DVC has finally allowed us to live that dream.
I have to admit I am in the majority of people who now say ‘I just wish we’d bought sooner’

Does being a DVC member mean that you have stayed in Disney resorts that you might not have stayed in otherwise? DVC has definitely meant that we have stayed in resorts we otherwise wouldn’t have, unless there was a dining offer available for the moderates we always chose to stay at the value resorts and still do if we make a cash booking as we enjoy the values in their own way as much as any other resort. We tended to book the value accommodation rather than the deluxe as the cheaper we could make the trip then the sooner we could re-book and return to the place we love. Now thanks to DVC we’ve stayed at Bay Lake Tower, Kidani village and Wilderness Lodge places we wouldn’t have paid cash for in fact looking at paying cash bookings for those resorts has already justified our initial DVC purchase cost.

Do you visit WDW more frequently because of DVC and do you plan your trips differently because of it? Since DVC we have managed to visit WDW more frequently, we used to as most people in the U.K. book a 2 week package with one of the major tour operators but now we book our flights separately and don’t mind flying in-direct, use DVC points for most of our accommodation, maybe take a Disney cruise and have a few nights at a value resort on a cash basis.

The DVC discounted annual pass is fantastic, we get the basic pass which is little more than a 2 week ultimate ticket that is available in the U.K, this also brings with it other benefits like room discounts for cash bookings and 10% off merchandise in WDW.
At the moment we are lucky enough to spend around 4 weeks a year at WDW with DVC points being used for some of our accommodation and cash bookings at value resorts for the remainder, we also now use Suzy at Mousefan travel for any cash bookings or cruises as the service offered is far superior to that offered by any U.K company.

I have to give a shout out to John at Owners Locker too, the service John provides is outstanding and not having to carry  things like toiletries, hair straighteners, some clothes and other bits has enabled us to make trips with just hand luggage which makes flying seem so much less stressful.

Does living in the UK make the DVC experience different from a US WDW visitor? I don’t think there is much difference between a U.K and a U.S DVC owner visiting WDW, a U.K visitor may typically have a bit longer stay, the only real differences I can think of are U.S members will receive their Disney Files magazine a lot quicker than I do lol and U.S members from most states are eligible for some quite nice rewards for introducing new members.

So, as well as being a DVC member I know you enjoy a Disney cruise; when was your first trip with DCL?  We love Disney Cruise Line and have now been lucky enough to travel on all 4 Disney ships the last being the Maiden voyage of the amazing Disney Fantasy. Our first cruise was in 2008 on the Disney Wonder, we were blown away by the service, the food, the entertainment, the amenities, the whole experience was amazing and had us hooked.

Disney Cruise Line has given us the chance to see and meet some amazing people including John Lasseter, Jodi Benson, Lea Salonga, Bob Iger, Tom Staggs, Karl Holz, Don Williams, Steven Schwartz, Larry the cable guy as well as getting to see presentations by Imagineers and getting to meet some amazing people from around the world who are part of the crew.

Our next cruise is the WDW Radio cruise this November and we’re looking forward to seeing Lou again and obviously meeting Richard Sherman.

Do you combine your cruises with a visit to Walt Disney World? As a rule yes, we like to visit WDW and take a Disney cruise as they are the perfect complement to each other, the only time we just did a cruise was in 2010 when we crossed the Atlantic on the Disney Magic, we had to fly home the day we docked so only had time for a couple of hours at Downtown Disney.

Have you been on non-Disney Cruise Line trips and if so how do they differ? We haven’t cruised with anyone else and to be honest I can’t see us doing so either, Mickey isn’t going to be on any other ships! :)

Would you recommend a DCL vacation to both families and couples?  I think a Disney Cruise is perfect for families and couples and all ages, the ships cater so perfectly for every category that everyone can have a great time, there are areas for the adults, areas for the kids, areas for the teens and areas where everyone can be together, Disney really does cater to everyone so well.

Finally; whether it’s DVC, DCL or just a general Disney experience, do you have any Disney daydreams as yet unfulfilled? Loads lol, We want to visit Disneyland (which we are doing in May 2013).  I want to get to the point when I can look back and say I’ve spent 365 days at Disney and know that I’ve spent a year of my life enjoying myself in a place I love.

Next year we get to have that Disney wedding we wanted back in 2003 when we renew our vows on the Disney Fantasy, and long-term when we are mortgage free we’d love to get a small place in Celebration.

Then there are all the other little things, resorts and restaurants to try, new things to see and experience, that’s the great thing whatever I am lucky enough to do and see there will always be something new to daydream about.

And to finish, here’s the quickfire round…

Favourite WDW park – My favorite park is the Magic Kingdom, even without riding a single attraction I can’t think of a nicer place just to be.

Favourite WDW resort – Although I tend to change my mind (just like with restaurants and attractions) at the moment it’s probably Bay Lake Tower, I love being able to walk to the Magic Kingdom, to watch Wishes from the Top of the World lounge and hear the sounds of the Magic Kingdom from my balcony.

Favourite WDW souvenir / collectible – I’m going to answer this in 3 parts lol, firstly my actual WDW collectible is an Olszewski Cinderella castle, which was a nightmare to get home, no it won’t fit in hand luggage as Kerrie likes to remind me, it won’t fit in the plane overhead lockers and I was very lucky that the attendant on American Airlines took pity on me and put it in his own private locker for the flight home. Secondly is a lithograph by Don Ducky Williams that we were given on the 2010 Westbound Transatlantic cruise on the Disney Magic, I was lucky enough to have it signed by Don, Captain Thord and Jodi Benson, and lastly the most invaluable thing is the friendships I have made. It’s hard to believe how many people I have met through a mutual love of Disney and how many people I can now class as friends.

Your top tip for WDW visitors - A top tip is difficult as everyone likes different things but from personal experience I would say enjoy every minute and treat every trip like it’s your last as you never know what the future brings.

 

:) :) :)

I want to give Tim a huge THANKS for taking part in this Dream Along With Emma interview and sharing his daydreams with us all, thanks Tim!!

 

 

 

A year of daydreams!

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During this week of celebration I wanted to look back at some of the posts which I have shared over the past 12 months.

I know that when I discover a new Disney blog I tend to read the first couple of posts and the ‘About Me’ page; unfortunately when the blog has been running for a while you don’t always have time to go back and read some of the older entries.

So here’s my selection of posts which have been the most fun to write and share with you all. I hope that they still give you that few minutes of Disney filled daydreaming!

 

Expo Exposure – discussing the fun from the D23 Expo in Disneyland.

Sharing My Celebration – my favourite place outside of Walt Disney World.

Let It Snow! – sometimes getting to WDW can be an adventure.

A Letter to Walt – discussing the events of 2011 with our dear Walt.

Home Sweet Home! – making the ‘resort’ decision.

Orange Tuesday – welcoming back the Orange Bird.

I’ve Got The Key! – going behind the scenes at WDW.

 

See you tomorrow for more Daydreaming Disney!!!!

 

:) :) :)

 

 

 

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 ;)

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 :)

A very special Disney day!

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We all spend time planning how our days at Walt Disney World will be filled. As the number of friends I have in the Disney community grows I know that my future visits will change and my trips will be a much more social affair.

After my last trip I decided to try to make contact with more Disney fans in the UK, many like me not able to get out to WDW as frequently as we would like, filling our time with daydreams of our favourite place and following Lou Mongello and his WDW Radio adventures.

So over the last six months it came about that I would organise a WDW Radio UK fan meet in London, for those followers of Lou Mongello who just couldn’t make it to each WDW Radio Meet of the Month.

So first, let me confess that I have NEVER attended a meet like this outside of WDW, let alone organised anything like this! And also, despite what I show on the outside, I am really shy and forever worrying about what others think of me. So the idea of being responsible for organising something that others would travel to attend and have expectations of the event, made me pretty scared!!

Seeing as I would be holding this meet as a ‘WDW Radio’ event I started off by asking Lou’s permission for it to go ahead. Once he had given me the okay I set about deciding on the location and date; starting a thread on the WDW Radio forums, posting details on Facebook and issuing regular Tweets to spread the word. I started to pick up little treats for goodie bags and a raffle, nothing fancy, just fun….well it was meant to be a small free event after all!!

As the day of the meet grew nearer I had made some good friends through the WDW Radio forum, started talking to others on Facebook and even made regular contact with a former work colleague. I knew of people’s travel arrangements for the day, an area in a restaurant had been reserved and The Disney Store had been contacted to arrange a guided tour of the reimagined store.

And my very own Disney day went a little something like this…..

5.30am – Alarm sounds waking me from a disturbed sleep…nerves or excitement, it’s difficult to tell.

7.40am – Arrive at the station ready to board our train to London. It feels like winter this morning, just look at that sun through the fog.

8am – And we’re on our way, travelling first class for the special occasion.

11am – Arrive in London and make our way to Carnaby Street. I need to check out the area and make sure I know where our meeting place is.

11.45am – Despite still feeling nervous and excited I know I need to grab some food. We find a funky themed diner down a street just off Carnaby Street…all day breakfast, American and Mexican food…just what the day needs!

12.45pm – Just about to make our way to the meeting point when I receive a couple of text messages. People have already arrived, there’s no going back now!

1pm – I meet the group and we get shown to our reserved area in the restaurant. I make a little welcome speech and then pray that everyone will mingle. I hand out goodie bags, I walk round chatting to people whose faces I recognise from little profile photos, I feel like I know these people so well and yet we’re all strangers!

1.30pm – It’s time to log into Skype and connect with Lou in Orlando. It’s great for us all to say hello and I can tell that he’s blown away by the whole concept of people living many miles away from WDW being brought together by his website and arranging to meet.

2pm – After saying goodbye to Lou, handing out the raffle prizes and finishing our cakes and coffee, it was time to make our way down the street to The Disney Store. It was a nice walk with one of the group taking the lead, by this time everyone was chatting, exchanging various stories of WDW trips and memories.

2.30pm – After being greeted by a store manager we all pose for a group photo by The Lion King display and then receive Mickey and Minnie ears to wear. Then we are shown around the largest Disney Store in Europe and get to see why it’s their flagship store.

3.30pm – After looking around the store and taking many photos we were shown to The Disney Store Theatre. We were in luck as the cast member was able to give us an animation class and we learnt how to draw Simba! It was fun to see members of the group joining in with the class that’s usually run for the children visiting the store!

4pm – Our time at the store was coming to an end. I really wished that I had another hour just to wander back around the store to look at all the merchandise. The tour with the group had been a wonderful experience but I had to do at least a little bit of shopping! I made sure to grab a couple of Vinylmations before we had to say goodbye to everyone and make our way back to the train station.

6pm – Exhausted and smiling, on my way home. What a day it had been. I had met strangers who became friends. I had made people smile and brought a little Disney magic to their weekend. I had stepped out of my comfort zone and had a wonderful experience. Could I organise another one? Would I organise another one? You betcha!!

….And that is how a non ‘WDW’ day became a very special ‘Disney’ day :)