Going to Walt Disney World is always
a lot of fun!
Especially true for our family as my
girls, both the little and the older one, really are irreducible Disney
fanatics. I know…I have only one child…but Disney’s magic strongly operates on
my wife as she kind of reverts to childhood around Disney characters.
For me, being exposed to Disney’s
culture is also very inspiring from both a personal and business standpoint.
Disney people or cast members should I say, are always positive and happy. They
also encourage you to cultivate and follow your dreams.
Disney
World in the Summer
Before the actual trip, we
apprehended the type of weather we were going to get, as Florida
I have two suggestions if you go to
Disney in the summer.
The first one may seem obvious but
try to avoid mid-afternoon exposure to the sun.
You have a lot of options to
accomplish this objective. For instance, you could organize activities in the
morning or later at night and take an afternoon break. You could also choose
rides with a shaded or air conditioned waiting line like Space Mountain (Magic
Kingdom Magic Kingdom
My second suggestion is to make your
plans more flexible.
Our schedule was tight when we visited
Disney’s during winter time as we often went there for only 5 to 7 days. We
always had to plan carefully to maximize our stay.
This time around, affordable summer
specials allowed us to enjoy Disney’s spectacular venues for 2 full weeks.
Being there longer, we could afford
to adjust our plans along the way. Some special events like dinner reservations
with your favorite Disney’s characters sometimes cannot be moved. But most of
the time, we tried to keep our plans as flexible as possible.
For example, we chose sunny humid
days to go to Water Parks. They are a
lot of fun by the way!
For the first time, we also visited Deluxe Resort hotels. These beautiful
hotels are accessible even for Value
or Moderate Resort guess. You just
can’t sleep there.
Many restaurants in these hotels
offer better food and special settings. Most of them don’t cost more if you
enrolled in Disney’s Dining Plan and they probably offer the best value.
Ironically, you can often book a last-minute reservation at one of these
restaurants as most people think they are too expensive. They make a practical
plan B if you had to cancel elsewhere.
Dining at a Deluxe Resort restaurant
can also provide a great excuse to ride the Monorail or one of Disney’s enchanted
boats. If you happen to be there in the evening, they often provide a fantastic
view of Disney’s magical fireworks.
Quality
That Translates into Value
One of Disney’s best business
practices is to offer quality that can be translated into great value.
Customers will always be willing to pay more if they can get value. With
Disney, buyers feel they can get their money’s worth.
Many of Disney’s products can be
more expensive but they almost always feel better and last longer. Our Disney coffee
mugs from our first trip way back are still in great shape and we still use
them.
If that sense, Disney people never
do things half way. They do everything in their power to ease your stay. For
instance, Disney cast members always point you in the right direction with a
smile and make sure you get answers to all your questions.
As with any vacation, we endured
minor hiccups that were swiftly fixed by Disney’s effective customer service. The
only real problem happened on the way back, outside of Disney’s influence…as my
wife lost her luggage in the airport system. But that’s another story by itself.
We experienced two great examples of
Disney’s top notch service.
First, Lady D slipped while boarding
the Monorail and cut her leg pretty bad. We were promptly directed to a First Aid
Center. After a quick signature, a nurse looked at her leg and quickly treated
it. She also gave her something for the pain and we were immediately assigned a
room where we could rest for a while. After a brief nap, Lady D was good to get
back to our activities for the rest of the day. So we were satisfied and out of
there probably in less time than it takes only to fill out forms in our local
hospital emergency system.
Of couple of days later, I forgot my
credit card in a restaurant located in another Disney Resort. Even before we
noticed it, we got a call to inform us of my oversight. My card was expedited
to our hotel and we just had to pick it up at the front desk later that
night.
Constant
Evolution to Create Magical Moments
The Disney Universe is continually
improving as Disney people always strive to create even more magical moments
for everyone. Every time we visit Walt Disney World we notice something new.
Exciting new rides like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train this year. By
the way, this one is a blast! But we suggest you to use a FastPass on it to
avoid waiting all day.
We were also intrigued by imposing renovations
at Animal Kingdom. Looks like an amazing new area coming soon: Pandora-The
World of Avatar, expected to open in
2017.
We are also thrilled about rumors of
a Star Wars Land in and around
Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
It’s amazing how Disney people are
able to constantly reproduce Disney’s distinctive touch. It’s probably due in
part to their exceptional attention to detail.
A couple of years ago, Disney
introduced Magic Bands. Along with all developments around My Disney Experience applications, all this new technology really
enhances you stay in incredible Disney’s Resorts and Parks.
Apart from being very convenient,
Disney’s Magic Bands are cool and comfortable to wear. Everyone likes to use
them. Disney has also created a whole new market around them as Magic Bands are
now entirely customizable with pins and stickers.
Another example of Disney’s constant
evolution is how things run during lunch time at their Be Our Guest Restaurant. At this venue, you can pre-order your meal
using the Internet or make your choices at the front door. After that, you can
sit wherever you like in one of the three large castle-style rooms without
telling anyone where you’re going.
Then, the coolest thing happens: your
location is detected by your Magic Bands (or pucks if you don’t have bands) and
waiters bring your ordered food to your table.
Wow! What new amazing thing will
they think of next?
Different
Possibilities to Organize Your Venture
Disney’s Resorts and Parks offer a
multitude of options to entertain and brighten your stay. They propose a wide
range of activities as well as a great selection of hotels and restaurants.
You could easily visit Disney and
improvise along the way and surely have a wonderful time.
Personally, as you might suspect, I
prefer to plan ahead and maximize exciting possibilities offered by this kind
of trip.
If you are like me, you will take
time to analyze and look for opportunities to get better organized.
You could plan you visit the
conventional way with Disney’s brochures, their vacation planning DVD or their
full of information website.
You can also find plenty of useful
ideas on a vast number of web sites or blogs dedicated to Disney.
We will recommend this one: http://www.easywdw.com/
That’s the site we mostly use to
plan our last summer trip. Along with many other suggestions
and tips, it proposes cheat sheets with touring plans and strategies for every Disney Park
I hope you have the chance to visit
Disney soon!
Please take a moment to tell us
about your next or last trip there.
Do not hesitate to ask questions on
any specifics. We will be happy to give our opinion about it.
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