Even Someone Who Isn't a Disney Fan Can Have Fun at Walt Disney World!

by Josh Soifer

I would not consider myself a Disney fan.  I like some Disney movies and products but for the most part I am lukewarm to them.  I don’t run out and see everything in the theaters and usually wait for DVD/Netflix/Etc.  The Disney Brand experience is somewhat lost on me. A friend of mine who is a huge fan once told me, based on conversations we had about movies and such, that I would probably not enjoy it much.

So when my wife talked about going to WDW I was not very excited but willing. Even with a lack of enthusiasm the planning began.

For those of you who feel similarly I have a piece of advice.  Not the typical vacation advice of where to stay and what to do.  Not on how to save money and get the best bang for your buck.  This advice is on how to enjoy the Disney Brand experience your family is asking for. (Caveat** I do not have children so a vacation for me is all about what my wife and I want to do)

My Disney fanatic friend heard about us planning a trip and ½ jokingly turned to his wife and asked if they could swing adding another week at WDW.  Without hesitation we invited them to join us.  Details were worked out and they were in!

They helped us plan the best trip possible.  We chose a place to stay, planned a few events and scheduled some meals.  Their knowledge was useful, but their enthusiasm was infectious!  I could not help but feel the excitement and attraction of this magical place with them oozing their childlike wonder at every character sighting and ride.

It was so infectious, three years later, we are planning another trip with Nick and Barbie, and I couldn’t be more excited.
 

So my advice, invite a Disney Fanatic who has visited the parks a few times. Let yourself get caught up in their enthusiasm and you will have a blast.

 Barbie, Nick, Jill and Josh

Favorite Food Friday: Mickey's Premium Ice Cream Bar

by Nick

Mickey's Premium Ice Cream Bar, aka a Mickey Head or Mickey Bar. Like the popcorn, this frozen treat is somehow the tastiest ice cream bar ever! Sure, there are some that come close, in fact, I personally think that Dove's Dark Chocolate bar is very similar. But, well, the ambiance of the parks make the Mickey Bar the clear winner. They are available all over WDW and Disneyland, but for some reason, we often get one right after riding Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom in WDW. Maybe it's to calm our nerves?

The 'View' at Downtown Disney

by Gaylin

While I was on vacation in May, I spent some time at Downtown Disney. It appears I have bad luck when it comes to choosing a time to visit WDW, a lot of the construction walls that were up when I was there are now down, and the stores are open. But me, I got to see construction walls . . . starting with the new Starbucks on the Westside.

And by the Cirque du Soleil there will be a food truck park. This hasn't opened yet but it has quite a big area to park in.

Behind these walls is more of the Food Truck Park. 

The Co-op looks like a great store, I would have loved to have seen it . . .

I have no idea what they are building with this huge crane near Fulton's or if it is a staging area for construction supplies to be brought in from the water rather than through Downtown.

 

As you can see, in front of T-Rex, it does look like a staging ground for construction supplies. If anyone knows if this is a staging area or a new build - let me know!

Behind Planet Hollywood is where the new parking lot is going in and it is huge! Most of the west side parking lot is closed for construction vehicles so if you need to park at Downtown - good luck.

Downtown Disney is going to be renamed Disney Springs at some point and this is the construction drawing of what that new parking structure is going to look like.

Here you can see that it is quite close to the Westside, here by Splitsville is about the centre of the parking structure.

This is the front of the World of Disney, where the other Starbucks is. Again, not open when I was there, opened shortly after I got home. I was quite surprised to see it sitting front and centre of the store. It is a walk-up location, no seating available. I wonder if the Starbucks craze ever ends, this location was chosen to make it easy to switch out to a Disney branded coffee shop or other food service area.

And finally, some silliness. Me and Lego Princess Sofie in the Lego store. Yep, she stayed still for a selfie!!!

And Cinderella for another selfie, she is so pretty and loves getting her picture taken.

All By Myself

by Gaylin

When I went on the Disney Cruise last summer, I took my first selfie . . . wasn't too impressed with it, my camera was a bit old and slow and standing with a fake smile waiting for the camera to click felt silly.

Before I left for WDW in May, I bought a new camera. Still a point & shoot, nothing fancy but much faster than my old one. Traveling on my own again, I decided to take a few selfies – just for the heck of it.

I had fully intended to take a few every day, turns out that once I am tired and worn out from the heat, I forgot to take them. Oops. Here are the ones I did take!

Me and a tiki, outside of the Jungle Cruise.

Ariel and I, she called this a 'shell-fie'. I call this a bad photo that gives me a big double chin . . .

Next up are Elsa and Anna from Frozen, turns out they are not supposed to take photos with only one sister at a time, guess I was charming and fast enough with the camera to get separate photos! They called them 'snow-fies'.

The lovely Aurora and I.

This is a very nice young lady, Alicia, at the Canada Pavilion, turns out she is from my hometown, that seemed to be a good reason to take a selfie as well.

Of course, there needs to be a photo wearing 'bug-eyes' at It's Tough to be a Bug.

I think this is the Lego version of Princess Sofia but not really sure, whoever she is, I only got half her head in the photo!

And finally that plastic Cinderella with the slightly creepy blank facial expression.

Selfies, when you are traveling alone, they are a great way to be in a photo. Not saying they will all be good photos – mostly good for a laugh.

Disney Cast Members: Tell Them "Thank You"

by Gaylin

I have met many a wonderful Cast Member (CM) in my travels to Walt Disney World, as well as Disneyland and one Disney cruise. While I have always thanked them in person, if I have received extra help or extraordinary service from a cast member, I like to send a thank you to them, through Disney itself.

I found out on the Backstage Tour a few years ago that if a CM gets a reprimand on their employment record, it is removed after 6 months with no further reprimands acquired. If a thank you or commendation is received, that stays on their record permanently! If you go to the Walt Disney World main webpage and scroll to the bottom, there is a contact us link. On that link it tells you how to contact them by phone, there is another link where you can go to an email page to contact them.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/help/email/

This is where I go when I want to send a thank you to a CM. The first time I did this, I received a phone call from a representative from Disney personnel, letting me know how much they appreciated my email and that they had contacted each of the CMs I had wanted to thank and commended them in person! I do keep a trip journal where I write their names down as well as take a photo where the interaction happened so I don't forget.

On my recent trip, I had more than a few nice transactions with CMs and wanted to send my appreciation out to 3 of them. When I got home, I sent the following email:

"This is not a question, this is a thank-you to Cast Members.

I was at WDW in May 2014 and on Sunday, May 11, I went to the Animal Kingdom. My mother had

passed away 5 weeks previously and I had forgotten entirely that it was Mother's Day. When I walked into AK and was given a carnation and told Happy Mother's Day, I was startled and sad. It was nice to think of my mom but it was a difficult, emotional day as well.

I stopped for lunch at Tamu Tamu, I was hot and tired and forgot to tell the CM that I had food allergies and could I please have potato chips instead of pita bread so I put the pita bread to the side. A custodial CM, Deborah (college program with UCLA), stopped to chat for a moment, she asked if I was a mother and when I told her about my mom, I nearly started crying. She spent some time with me, talked about mom's, Disney and life in general. It was the human contact I so badly needed that day. She noticed that I had put the pita bread aside and went out of her way to get some of the fresh made potato chips for me. Well, that nearly had me crying again. The time she spent with me changed the whole tone of the day for me, I know that CMs deal with and talk to a lot of people in a day and they need to know that their time and care is wonderful. Thanks so much to Deborah, wherever she is now. Also - thanks for the pin!

At the Magic Kingdom on May 7th, I had a lovely wee interaction with a CM named Sherley, I bought a Mickey Premium from her at the Popping Machine, near Gaston's Tavern. She was bright and cheerful, I sat at a table near the kiosk and watched her interact with guests, impressive. Again, since my mom's name was Shirley - meeting this lovely young lady who was so happy and vivacious, made my day. I asked for a photo and we had a good laugh taking a selfie together.

One last kudo - in the morning of May 7th, I went on the Jungle Cruise with Captain Lisa, she was so fun, it was one of the best cruises I have been on. At the end of the cruise I asked if I could take a selfie with her, it was the first time a guest had asked her to be in a photo and she was happy to do it.

Thanks to all the CMs that do their best to help guests have a magical vacation and if anyone asks if you can have fun at WDW while on a solo trip - the answer is a resounding yes!

Gaylin"

You can't send photos in your email to Disney but I can post them here! Here is the photo of Captain Lisa and me.

And later the same day, the lovely Sherley!

About a week after I sent my email to the help centre, I received this email reply:

"Dear Gaylin,

Thank you for writing to us about your visit to the Walt Disney World® Resort.

I am very glad you had such an enjoyable experience and truly appreciate the time you took to share your compliments for Deborah, Sherley and Lisa. Your email reinforces how our Cast Members can make a tremendous difference with each Guest. It is heartwarming to know that Cast Members such as Deborah, Sherley and Lisa exemplified Walt Disney's dream to create happy and memorable experiences for all of our Guests. Please be assured your comments will be shared with the appropriate leadership so they can be commended for the great service they provided you.

Thank you again for writing to us. We look forward to future opportunities to entertain you.

Best Regards,

Janet F.

Guest Experience Services

Walt Disney World Resort"

If you have a wonderful CM experience, remember you can share your thank-you's when you get home, send some magic back to Disney!

Smells Like Soarin' at Epcot

By Nick  

Earlier this week, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Geekin' On WDW, episode 13, and they were talking about the smells of Walt Disney World.

This was a funny coincidence, because I had just recently had a friend post an article about the smells of WDW to my Facebook wall.

During my lunch break, I happened to be by a local mall, so I stopped into the Disney Store.

It then occurred to me that a Bath and Body Works is in the same mall.

I did a Google search for Bath and Body scents that are similar to WDW smells, and found a very interesting one that claimed that Paris Daydream smells like Soarin', and more specifically, like a combination of all the smells.

I wound up finding the Paris Daydream candle on the 50% off table, and took a whiff. Hmmm. I was not convinced.

Then I noticed the plug ins. I love plug ins, and for $3.25, I figured, what the heck.

I took it home, and plugged it in, and, yes, I can say that it actually smells like entering Soarin', when the combined smells of the previous ride are still hanging in the air. Barbie agrees.

I went back the next day and bought the last 3 I could find, plus a candle.

I will be visiting a Yankee Candle in the near future, looking for more smells that remind me of WDW. 

Do you have any favorite WDW smells, and have you found a close scent for your home?

One Day in Disney

By: Barbie

Some of you may remember me asking you in a past post which WDW park you would go to if you only had a day. Well, we were on a family cruise and one of the excursions offered was a day at Disney. When I saw that, I told Nick that was the excursion that we were going to go on!

Our bus ride from Port Canaveral lasted about an hour. Our tour guide, Yasmin, was extremely knowledgeable and interesting to listen to about Cape Canaveral as well as Orlando. She really made the trip fly. So which park did we chose?

Epcot. We were so excited. We chose Epcot because it was so close to the Flower and Garden Show and we were hoping to get to see some of the amazing plantings and topiaries. Here is the view from the monorail.

My first stop was Guest Relations, to pick up my Birthday button!

Then, out of nowhere, we heard our names being called out. Our friend's sister and her family from home were down there at the same time and we didn't even know it! We chatted and then parted ways.

Our next stop was to check out pins at the Disney Vacation Club Stand, and to do the "Welcome Home" dance with the ladies there. I wish we had remembered to write their names down, they were so much fun!

After doing our dance, we were off to keep our lunch reservations at Le Cellier with friends, Laurie and Angelo.

 

Then we took a leisurely stroll around the park to see all the topiaries.

By the time we got all the way around, we were ready for something dessert, so we headed to the Refreshment Port and got a croissant doughnut. It was amazing. We had a hard time sharing the thing! Many crazy pictures ensued.

We stopped by the Land Pavilion to visit a Cast Member friend, Claire.

We had our photos taken with Minnie and Pluto.

Both were shocked when I pushed Nick out of the way so that I could get my picture alone with them! We had a great laugh over that one! Pluto almost pulled his ears out! Minnie blushed!

 

So here are the final photos of the park before we had to get the monorail back to the TTC. We had a great day, saw many people, ate lots of great food and made more great memories. I wish it would have been longer. We thought we were getting to the bus early, but we were the last ones on! With half an hour to go! Who knew we were the party couple?