The 7 Styles of Disney Park Walking

 

 

By Lisa Green 

 

 

Everyone has a style.  I’d be willing to be that in this particular category of Walt Disney World guest, you have a style from which you rarely deviate!  I’m talking movement – how you travel within a Disney park on foot.  I’ve had the opportunity to observe Disney park visitors over the past couple of dozen years and I’ve identified what I like to refer to as….

The 7 Styles of Disney Park Walking

1. Walk OR Talk – If this is you, a multi-tasker you are not.  This type of traveler cannot walk and talk (or eat) and must stop and start repeatedly.  Walk….stop and turn to a particular traveling companion, speak…..resume walking.  No brake lights makes this type of fellow park guest one we shouldn’t follow too closely or a collision will most definitely occur!

2. Diagonal Walker – At first these cross-movement specialists seem as if they might be trying to traverse the crowd to reach a specific destination, but no…the diagonal path leads to the very edge of the walkway and then, like a pinball, this vacationer bounces back into the crowd in a new direction back across the path of every other visitor.  This is one of Disney vacationing’s greatest mysteries to me – If you’re a diagonal traveler, please enlighten me – Why must you walk that way?

3. Weavers – These fans of the random zig-zag seem virtually incapable of walking in a straight line from points A to B.  Not to be confused with the Diagonal Walkers, the zig-zag pattern is very narrow and repeats often – most commonly in the very center of paths and sidewalks.  It seems to me that Weavers are more likely to be pushing a stroller which makes me wonder if a faulty stroller wheel may contribute to this phenomenon.

4. Red Rovers – Remember the semi-violent playground game “Red Rover”?  The premise was to physically band together in an impenetrable straight line – the goal being to remain attached firmly enough to repel attempts by opposing team members to break the line.  The Red Rover style of park crossing involves the same principle:  Walk side by side with friends or family across as much of the walkway as possible, allowing no one to pass between you from either direction.  Oncoming or overtaking foot traffic must not be allowed to pass!  Personally, I find this to be the #1 most annoying type of group walking behavior in Disney parks.  Please don’t tell me if you are a member of this category.

5. The Classic Mosey-ers – I admire them as much as I dislike this type of Disney guest.  They care not one whit about getting anywhere in a hurry.  The masters of the mosey walk in a straight line while their heads slowly swivel from side to side, soaking up the atmosphere, taking in all the sights and sounds, living the dream, baby!  My problem is that I always seem to be stuck behind them with a FastPass that’s about to expire.

6. Rear Viewers – This style is so difficult to execute successfully, it may be impossible – but that doesn’t keep plenty of brave souls from trying.  This method of reaching a final destination involves walking backwards to converse with other travel party members, check on offspring, or gesture in the direction from which they are moving away.  Rear viewers have absolutely no idea what they may be walking into!  Probably the most entertaining walkers to watch, these Disney tourists are missing some pretty awesome stuff in front of them – mainly the comical flight of the folks they’re about to run down!

 

7. Roundabouts (a.k.a. Dodgers or Gappers) – This is the category I call home!  We are the fast paced travelers who swiftly negotiate the other 6 types of walkers by taking advantage of gaps and openings wherever we find them.  Our ninja-like stealth allows us to flow through all the other park guests unnoticed with barely a ripple.  We are always moving forward briskly and with purpose.  Oh, okay, I’ll admit it – I just want all the non-like-minded people to get out of the way so I can be in front!  Since that rarely happens, I’ve developed what I like to believe are some well-honed skills that make me and my family members amazing crowd negotiators.

Yes, I really want to know!  Which type of Disney park walker are YOU?

This article was originally posted on Lisa's Living a Disney Life Blog.
She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at @life_of_green

Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast!

Wordless Wednesday : Star Wars Lightsabers, the Light Side

Where in Walt Disney World : Sphinx Statue

By Nick

Where in Walt Disney World would you find this Sphinx Statue? Answer below, no peeking!

ɯopbuıʞ ɔıbɐɯ ǝɥʇ uı uǝǝʇuɐɔ ɹǝddıʞs ˙pʇן ˙oɔ uoıʇɐbıʌɐu ǝןbunظ

Episode 73 The Disney Exchange - Four Parks One Day

By Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me, Nick

This week's show topic was suggested by listener Amber. Thank you Amber!

We each share our strategies to tour all 4 of Walt Disney World's Theme parks in one day, with each of us hosts taking a different approach.

I take "classic attractions," though my interpretation of what classifies as classic is certainly debatable.

Dave takes a day at the parks avoiding rides altogether.

Lisa is all about the thrills!

Wheel of Distiny topic - Favorite Steak Restaurant at Walt Disney World. This is, again, very debatable.

Thanks for listening to The Disney Exchange Podcast.

You can find us all over the interwebs, and we'd really appreciate your feedback and show or wheel suggestions!

TheDisneyExchange.com
twitter.com/disneyexchange
facebook.com/thedisneyexchange
info@thedisneyexchange 

Bay Lake Tower Resort

 

 

By Lisa Green 

 

We have always loved Disney’s Contemporary Resort.  More than the design and theme, which we like well enough (especially the Mary Blair mural in the Grand Canyon Concourse).  We are crazy in love with the location – to us, the ability to walk to the Magic Kingdom just can’t be beat.  And the restaurants – we love those too.  And the monorail whooshing right on into the building.  Well, you get the idea.  We always knew if a DVC resort became available by the Contemporary, we’d be all in.  That’s why Bay Lake Tower is our home away from home.

One of the most important aspects of the Disney Vacation Club for our family, is the ability to use your points how, when and where you like (based on availability).  When we needed a place to sleep six, Bay Lake Tower’s two bedroom lock-off option was perfect for us – master bedroom (king bed) and bath, full kitchen with living room (pull-out queen sofa and chair-and-a-half) and a connecting studio (two double beds).  When Raymond and I travel alone, we just need a studio.  Able to book at our home resort 11 months in advance, we were, for our most recent visit, able to book a lake view studio (339 square feet) which was perfect in every way!



Arriving from the airport via Disney’s Magical Express, check-in is in the Contemporary lobby (we opted not to check-in online to see how the in-person version works).  Greeted immediately upon stepping down from the bus by a very friendly and efficient Cast Member, we were promptly escorted into the lobby and handed off to the helpful young man at the check-in counter.  The process was quick and easy and we were told our room was ready. We got our room number and informational materials and headed off for the short walk to Bay Lake Tower.  There is now a new check-in counter in the Bay Lake Tower lobby, but it is not for guests arriving via Magical Express.



We were a tiny bit disappointed to find out our room was on the 3rd floor.  The 5th floor is super convenient to the walkway between Bay Lake Tower and the Contemporary.  The higher floors seem to have the best views.  We were surprisingly happy exactly where we were!  Our balcony overlooked Bay Lake and the grounds of the Contemporary and – as a bonus – was a perfect viewing area for the Electrical Walter Pageant on the evenings we found ourselves back in our room in time to enjoy it.



Our room had a queen bed, sofa, table and chairs, television, dresser, kitchenette, and bathroom.  The tiny kitchenette makes amazing use of a small space!  In the far left corner of the kitchen area is a little extra vanity with shelves, mirror and outlets.

I was able to shower first then move into the kitchenette to apply makeup, style my hair, etc.  The kitchen also boasts an incredible amount of storage – including a very cool pull-out shelving unit.  We utilized the coffee maker for brewing the delicious Joffrey’s Coffee we picked up in the Animal Kingdom Lodge gift shop on our first day of vacation.

 

Location, view, comfort, amenities – our Bay Lake Tower studio did not disappoint.
Are you a DVC member?  What’s your home resort and what do you love most about it?  If you have questions about our experiences with the Disney Vacation Club, ask away!

This article was originally posted on Lisa's Living a Disney Life Blog.
She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at @life_of_green

Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast!

Harambe Market at Disney's Animal Kingdom

By Nick

I'd heard about a new dining area to be located in Disney's Animal Kingdom's Africa section, and was excited to visit it when I was there with 2 friends last May. I was disappointed when I discovered when it was due to open just a few days after our visit, so it became one of my must dos for my trip in January.

And it didn't disappoint! Well, for the most part.

The themeing and details are amazing, and the food was pretty good. More on that shortly.

What was a bit of a downer was the disorganization of the lines, of which are very long indeed. Also, as I learned from a fellow guest, you can order whatever you want at any window, despite the themeing of each section not informing you of this fact.

I waited about 30 minutes in line, but once my order was placed, the food was served quickly.

I ordered 2 things:

The Grilled Chicken Skewer served with Green Papaya Slaw and Black-Eyed Pea, Corn and Tomato Salad and the Beef and Pork Sausage Fried in Curried Corn Batter. This also comes with the same side as the skewer, but I asked if I could get another item in it's place as I was already getting that and got a cookie. I also got a Reef Donkey APA Draft.

The batter on the sausage was pretty thick, and I wound up taking it off, and the sausage was very good. The skewer was excellent as was the slaw and salad. The beer was pretty good also.

I will absolutely go back and try other options, but suggest going at opening rather than during the lunch rush.

Disney Fire Fighters Lunchbox to Celebrate National Fire Fighters Day

Photos: Nick 

My 24 Hour Disney Trip 2016

By Jeff Stillwagon 

                           
My family recently did a 1 day, spur of the moment trip to Walt Disney World, with pretty much very little planning, and no budget planned.

It was Spring Break here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, so all 3 kids were out of school for the week.

One night, my wife Jasmine and I noticed we both had 1 day off from work coming up, so, while joking around, we both said "Wouldn't it be funny if we went to Disney on our day off?"

Disney is about an 8.5 hr drive for us. The joking around got the wheels turning in our heads, and the next thing I knew, we'd both agreed to do it!

                           
There was a very tight travel window for us, but we had to get our Disney fix. We also knew it was Spring Break in Disney so the crowd levels would be very high.

We made our FastPasses the day before for the rides we could book, and packed up the car the night before, because as soon as I left work the next day at 3pm EST, we would hit the road at 4pm so we could arrive in Orlando around 1am in the morning.

We really didn't have a budget for this trip, so we stayed off site at a Days Inn.

                          
We woke up the next day and drove over to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop. Crowds were super busy but that was okay because we knew this going into it.

We also knew that we wanted to park hop to Epcot to explore the Flower & Garden Festival later in the day.

Once we got into the Magic Kingdom we went straight to Frontierland to ride our favorites, Big Thunder & Splash Mountain.

We knew the crowds would be in the back of the park near the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which we agreed to skip, along with Peter Pan, because this time it wasn't about the rides, but taking it all in.

                          
After riding a couple rides and running around the Magic Kingdom we got hungry.

We had no ADRs plus a very small budget for food. We decided on Pinocchio Village Haus quick service, because we had never been there before. We found a great table on the balcony on the 2nd floor outside looking at the castle and the crowds below. With a family of 5 on a small budget, we all ordered kids meals because you got a meal with a drink with snacks which only cost us around $30.00 all together, which is amazing.

Once we were filled up, we rode a few more rides before heading off to Epcot.
The view of all the flowers from the monorail when you arrive at Epcot left us speechless.
It was just a perfect view of what Spring should look like and more.
We only rode 1 ride in Epcot that day, which was Nemo, but it was okay because we knew there would be time to do rides in the future, this visit was all about the Flower & Garden Festival and just being in moment.

We explored World Showcase looking at all the amazing flowers, grabbed a yummy Funnel Cake and a dish from Katsura Grill in the Japan Pavilion to share.

                          

We had to stop at Club Cool to drink the Beverly. I still get a kick out of watching peoples faces after they enjoy that drink plus I always have to try it once myself.

My family and I finally wrapped it up in Epcot, before heading back to the Magic Kingdom, which was opened until midnight that night.

At this point we running low on energy so we decided to take it easy, enjoying a relaxing Train ride around the park. No matter how many times I've been here, it never gets old.

Before, we left we grabbed a Dole Whip. My 4 year old daughter had one final request. She wanted to meet Ariel. We went over to Ariel's Grotto. My daughter was dressed up like Ariel, including the tail fin! Ariel was so sweet to my daughter, and even called her little sister or twinsies. She still talks about that experience all the time. Such a magical memory for all of us. 

                         
It was 11pm, so it was time to leave this magical place. It took over 1 hour to get back to the parking lot because the crowds, but it was okay. Once we got to our car we had a long drive back. I had to be back at work the next morning at 11am, so no time for a hotel.

After, being in the parks all day we all were super tired, so grabbed a quick 2 hour nap at the rest area, and 3 Redbulls later we arrived home with no time to sleep before heading to work.

It might been the most crazy thing I ever did in a short period of time, but it was all worth it.
Every single memory I will treasure all for a lifetime.

Now, would I do it again you may ask?

No, at least give me 2 days off in a row next time!