Announcing: My New Referral Program!

Today I'm announcing my brand-new customer referral program and I of course wanted to share the details with all of you!

For those who might be new to the blog - - in addition to writing The Most Delightful Place, I am also a travel agent with Mouse World Travel, specializing in Disney Destinations.

I LOVE helping families plan their magical Disney vacations - - few things bring me more joy than knowing they've had a great time and created important memories they'll cherish for years to come. It's an honor for me to have been a part of that magic!

One of the greatest compliments I receive is when someone refers me to their family and friends; I'm so happy that they were pleased with the service I provided enough to pass along my contact information to their friends, co-workers, etc who are planning Disney vacations.

I have been brainstorming ways that I could say "thank you" to those who've introduced me and my planning services to their friends, and this is what I came up with!

* From November 1st, 2014 until February 1st, 2015, for every new client you refer to me (new meaning they've never used my travel planning services) who books a Disney World, Disneyland or Disney Cruise Line vacation of at least $1,500, I will send you a $20 Disney or Visa gift card upon completion of your referral's vacation!

It's super easy to be part of this referral program - simply send me an email to katie@mouseworldtravel.com, or get in touch with me via social media (links to my accounts are above) and let me know when you've passed my contact information along to your friend(s). I will let you know when they book a vacation, and when I will be sending out your gift card. You can choose either a Disney or Visa gift card, whatever works best for you!

This referral program is not limited to just those of you who've used my services before; even if we haven't planned your vacation yet, you can still refer friends to me and be part of the referral program! AND - if you've been thinking about going to Disney yourself and are looking for a no-obligation quote, please get in touch so we can get started planning YOUR Disney vacation! 2015 Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line packages are now available for booking!

Also - For a limited time (until February 1, 2015) any brand-new client who utilizes my vacation planning services for the first time will be entered into a mega-drawing for a $50 Disney or Visa gift card! Woo hoo!

(Those clients who have traveled with me or referred me to your friends in the last year - never fear - I will be reaching out to you re any applicable referral bonuses, and/or if you're entered in the mega-drawing, so you didn't miss out!)

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you again, and have a magical day!

Welcome, Disney Parks Podcast listeners!

Happy Friday, everyone! I wanted to send out a quick "Welcome!" to those of you who might be wandering over to this corner of the interwebs for the first time, after hearing my appearance on the Disney Parks Podcast. I had SUCH a great time chatting Disney with Tony and Krista and can't wait until I join them again to chat solo / single travel to Disney.

I'm glad you're here and I hope you like what you read! If you want to check out the "greatest hits" of the blog, scroll down to the bottom of this page where you can see the most popular posts. I'd also love if you'd follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest AND Twitter ~ the links to those pages are at the top of the page.

As I tell all my readers, this blog is Full Audience Participation so if you ever have questions, or comments, or have an idea for a blog post you want to see - please let me know! You can always reach me at katie@mouseworldtravel.com.

Welcome, and Have a Magical Day!

A Passport....Don't Cruise Without One!

As I was writing the Trip Insurance post, it occurred to me that I should write a similar post about passports. So, here we are! Let's chat passports, shall we?

On certain itineraries on Disney Cruise Line (and many other lines, I believe) if you are a US citizen you are able to cruise with an original birth certificate and are not required to have a passport.

I, however, would never do this, and I always strongly recommend that my clients get a passport any time they are going to be out of the United States.

The short answer as to why is because, without a passport, you will not be able to fly back into the United States quickly, without hankering with the consulate or customs, if you have to disembark in a foreign port.

I admit, I am a "worst case scenario" person and I like to be prepared for as many situations as I can.  As with the Trip Insurance issue, is it likely that something awful would happen during your trip and you would need to get home? Probably not, God willing everything is fine - - but what if it DOES?

One of the biggest reasons I hear for not getting passports is the cost; and yes, they are not cheap. I think they are around $100 for an adult and for a family, that can add up. However, think of the cost (in money and in time) if you don't have it, and need it?

So without further ado, here are the reasons why I will never cruise without a passport:

* Today you can - tomorrow (the day before your cruise??) you might not be able to.
We all know that rules can change at any point - this is especially true for US Customs and travel in and out of the United States. Let's say your cruise is in June and come May 30th, an announcement is made that starting immediately US Customs will no longer allow cruise travelers to use their birth certificates. And it's days before your cruise, so you'll either A) not be able to go, or B) have to pay out the nose in last-minute passport fees. I guarantee you this will cost WAY more than that $100/person passport charge.

* In an emergency, getting home should not be a worry.
Unfortunately emergencies do happen, and they can happen on vacation as easily as at home.  Say, for example, you are on a cruise and your spouse has a stroke. Your disembark in a foreign port of call in order to get medical treatment, but unless you have a passport, you cannot board a flight to get home once you're cleared to do so. Imagine not only dealing with your loved one being sick, but having to add to that the headache and hassle of trying to get back to the United States.

A few months ago, a fellow travel agent relayed an incident involving two of her clients. On a cruise, one of the travelers passed away in their sleep. The decedent and the surviving spouse disembarked the ship in a Caribbean country, in accordance with cruise line rules - and they were sailing without passports. Not only was the spouse dealing with the tragedy of losing their loved one, and the legal steps needed to get the deceased back to the US - she was told she would most likely be in that country for at least 2 weeks while everything was getting sorted out to allow her back into the United States.

In an emergency, the LAST thing you want to do is stress about getting you (and your loved ones) back to the United States in a timely matter.

* Passports are good for a number of years.
Currently, if you are over 18 your passport is good for ten years; those younger than 18 have their valid for five years. 

"Well, I'm not planning any other cruises / foreign trips in the next 5-10 years", you say. Are you sure? What if you son/daughter comes home from school and tells you about the class trip to Toronto? (Yes, Canada is a foreign country so you need a passport!) What if your best friend calls you, says she's getting married in Cabo in 3 months and wants you there as her maid of honor?

These might be extreme examples, but you just never know when an opportunity to use the passport will present itself and if you already have it - easy peasy!

* It's another great form of government issued photo ID.
You can use your passport for more than foreign travel; it's also a great (if not the best) form of government ID. Let's say you misplace your drivers license, and you have a flight tomorrow morning. No worries! Just bring your passport. (After someone drives you to the airport, of course!) If you didn't have it, you wouldn't be getting on that flight.

Please share in the comments and on Facebook - were you ever in a situation where having your passport made things MUCH easier? What would you say to someone who was on the fence about getting one?

Have a magical day!

Trip Insurance - You Don't Need It....Until You Do

Travel Insurance is an issue and question that's been coming up again and again amongst my travel agent friends and colleagues, so I thought it was time to devote a blog post to it.

Essentially, trip or travel insurance is coverage you purchase with your vacation that can be used to cover, for example, medical expenses while traveling or if you're unable to travel due to a medical emergency or another covered reason. Some policies have allowances that allow you to cancel or any reason, or cover you if the company you're traveling with goes under before your trip. Many travel destinations offer their own travel insurance plans; there are also numerous companies out there and you can comparison shop for the plan that works best for you.

Each trip insurance plan can have different specifics, what's covered and what's not, etc and that is too nitty-gritty to go into here. Also, I am not an insurance agent and so I cannot give advice regarding specific plans or nuances of what a plan might or might not cover.

However, I thought it was still important to discuss here because there have been a few instances recently among my friends and colleagues that just reiterated to me why I personally will be getting travel insurance on any vacation, from here on out.

As the title of this post says, you might not think you need trip insurance...until you do. It's the same thought process as having car, health and/or home insurance. Is it very likely that you'll get in a serious car accident, need lots of medical care, a new car, etc? No, hopefully you will not - but it's nice to know that in the event you do, you won't go into financial ruin because of it.

What if any of the below issues happened to you?

* Two days before your once-in-a-lifetime European river cruise to celebrate your 25th anniversary, your husband falls at work and breaks his leg; you are unable to go on a trip that was booked and paid for years or months ago.

* You're at Disney World and your husband has a heart attack in the park. He not only needs medical transport to the local ER and emergency surgery, they also decide he needs to stay in the hospital for a week, perhaps longer.

In these instances, without any trip insurance coverage you would most likely be out of the money you'd paid for your trip, and could also have additional bills from needing medical care that your own health insurance might not cover. Most destinations will not refund your money, or reschedule your trip, simply because you had an incident and are unable to come. In most cases, without trip insurance, you are out of luck.

Again, this is a decision that everyone has to make for themselves but I'm a "better safe than sorry" person and so it's trip insurance for me, from here on out!

Have a magical day!

Be sure to carefully read and evaluate any trip insurance coverage to make sure it's best for you. As I am not an insurance agent, I am not able to provide you with specifics on any plan (nor is any other TA, unless they are also licensed in insurance) but encourage you to research and if necessary, contact your personal insurance agent with questions. My opinions expressed above are not an endorsement or recommendation of any specific trip insurance plan or company.

The Pros and Cons of the Disney Dining Plan

From August 31 - September 4, I was able to "test drive" the Disney Dining Plan for myself. I've already done Live blog posts where I gave the actual dollars and cents (you can check those out in the archives!) but today I wanted to give my opinions on the Pros and Cons of the Dining Plan.

Pros:

* Your meals are pre-paid. There is definitely something to be said for convenience, and it was great not having to feel like I was getting my wallet out (or scanning my Magic Band) every time I ate. Having already taken care of that expense BEFORE the vacation is very nice; to me, this is the biggest perk of the Dining Plan.

* If you like to order higher-dollar entrees, you will save money.  If you're someone who typically orders the steaks, seafood or other higher-dollar meals, you'll hit the $60 per person, per day adult charge for the regular Dining Plan pretty quickly. If you know you'll be ordering that pricey Filet meal at Le Cellier, for example, the Dining Plan is probably a good bet for you.

* Dessert (and appetizers, if you're on the Deluxe plan) are included with your meal.
With the Dining Plan, you get a dessert included as part of both your Quick and Table Service credits (if you use a Quick Service for breakfast, however, dessert is NOT included). It's nice knowing that you'll always have a sweet treat with your meal, or something you can take back to your room and enjoy later.

* Since you get a Table Service credit, it encourages you to take time and have at least one sit-down meal per day.
For some this could be a Con, but I love getting some time off my feet while at Disney. This is especially true in the center-of-the-sun heat and humidity of Orlando in September. Having that credit available to use makes you take a break in your day and have a more leisurely meal.

Cons:

* It's a LOT of food. To me, this was the biggest Con of the Dining Plan.  Of course, to someone else, this might be a Pro.  I don't have dessert with every meal when I'm at home and after about 2 days of having dessert with every meal, I was starting to get TOO full. Like a revolving, still full from the last meal, can't imagine eating again.

*If you won't eat $60 worth of food per day, it's probably not a good deal for you. The current Dining Plan price for an adult is $60.44 per day, and so if you can't see yourself eating that amount of food in a day, the Dining Plan might not be for you. Example - let's say you like to grab a muffin for breakfast, split a lunch entree with your traveling partner and graze with snacks at dinner. From a money standpoint, the Dining Plan will not be worth it for you.

* You are staying in a suite or Disney Vacation Club room with a kitchen (or at least a kitchenette) and you plan to have some meals in your room.
One of the benefits of the suites on property is that you have a kitchenette or full kitchen at your disposal. I have been on my vacations where we buy breakfast foods, snacks, etc to eat in the room and it not only saves time but money. If you know you're going to eat at least a meal in your room each day, the Dining Plan might not be for you.

As always, these are just my opinions and I would love to hear yours! Do you like / not like the Dining Plan? Why?

Have a magical day!

Trip Report - August 31, 2014 - Part One

Happy Saturday! And welcome to another installment of the Trip Report. This past weekend I was in the Chicago area, celebrating my niece's 3rd birthday, which was a blast. In fact, today is her actual birthday; so in light of that:

Happy Birthday Faith! Aunt Katie Loves You! :)

Thank you for indulging me that moment. Now onto the Trip Report!

Sunday, August 31st was the first full day at Disney World. I woke up, packed the few items I'd taken out of the suitcase and called Bell Services to transfer my luggage to Coronado Springs. I wasn't meeting my cousins at Splittsville (located at Downtown Disney) until 10:30, so it was a pretty leisurely morning.

Everything Pop, however, was a ZOO! It was pretty crazy in there. This was Sunday of Labor Day weekend and although the crowds were predicted to be light during the week, you could tell it was still holiday crowd time. I attempted a picture of the breakfast rush, just to give you an idea.

After grabbing a quick muffin and Diet Coke, I made my way to the bus stop to catch a Downtown Disney bus.

As I waited at the bus stop, I was reminded why I have not been to Disney World / Orlando in late August / September for quite some time.  It is HOT.  Not like your normal heat, or even summer-level heat at Disney.  It was center of the sun, we're hotter than Mars, HOT and HUMID which just made it worse. Luckily, the bus came in about 5 minutes and I entered into its air-conditioned goodness!

After a quick ride to Downtown Disney, we were dropped off at the Marketplace area, where the shops are located. Most of them open at 10:00AM on Sunday and it was about 9:45 at this point, so I had a little time to kill.

I then witnessed one of my favorite "Aww!" Disney moments. You know those, when you witness something super-cute and sweet between guests, cast members, etc? One of the best parts about Downtown Disney is that they pipe in Disney music, so as you're walking along you're really immersed in the magic. There was a family with two young boys, and as they were walking by, "Kiss The Girl" from Little Mermaid was playing. The husband remarked to his wife, "Well, the song DOES say to kiss the girl", and he leaned over to his wife and gave her a smooch. The looks on the boys faces were PRICELESS, a mixture of disgust and embarrassment. So cute!

I had about 20 minutes to kill before I had to make my way over to Splittsville, so I wandered in and out of the shops. I was on a mission to see TrenD and the newly redesigned Marketplace Co-op area.

WOW! It looks amazing. The Co-op is styled after a series of boutiques, and so you have one area for clothes, another for housewares, one for purses, etc. Very, Very well done.

I knew my big souvenir purchase this trip was going to be a Disney Dooney and Bourke purse. You can buy them online at the DisneyStore.com, but I wanted to see it in person, the placement of the characters on the bag, etc. A very nice cast member helped me look at the bags and inspect each one, and then I made my selection!

I was SO happy; I have been looking at this particular pattern for a few years, and was very happy with my choice.

Giant purse bag in hand, I made my way through the construction are, and to Splittsville. It was a gorgeous day and even though, as mentioned, it was hotter than you-know-where, the sky was very blue and pretty.

I saw my cousins, we greeted each other, and then made our way in for bowling and lunch!

Coming up next - my review of Splittsville, both our bowling and dining experiences.

Have a magical day!

Trip Report - Saturday, August 30th - Departure Day! Part Two

Happy Sunday!

Today is the next installment in the Trip Report, the second half of my first day at Walt Disney World!

As I mentioned, I had grand plans to go to Hollywood Studios that night, eat at Brown Derby and then watch Fantasmic. Yeah, that didn't happen. I had been up since about 4AM, didn't sleep on the plane and I hit a MAJOR wall.  I made the executive decision to stay at Pop Century for the night and rest. Another major plus of solo travel - - I was able to change a plan on the fly, and no one was upset or disappointed! For the win!

After taking a quick 10 minute dip in the pool (it was SO NICE), I decided to grab dinner at the Everything Pop food court. I wanted to try something I hadn't gotten before, and so ordered the fish and chips. I didn't take a picture (bad blogger!) but imagine the same standard fish and chips you've all seen before. It was OK; nothing to write home about, but not horrible either.

The food court area was still bustling at this time of night, which I was kind of surprised about. It took me about 15 minutes to get my food (they were frying more fish) but the cast members were very friendly and it didn't bother me to wait.

After eating, I decided to wander around the Everything Pop store and see what treasures I couldn't live without. As I expected, they had quite a bit of the Halloween merchandise out, and as I admired everything a friendly cast member came up to me. He asked if I liked Halloween, talked about how excited he was for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP), etc. As always, the cast member interactions are one of the reasons to go to Disney - he was so nice to talk to.

Before I left home, I considered going to MNSSHP; Monday of my trip was the first night and so it would have worked out time-wise. I hadn't bought my ticket, yet, and so I continued to hem and haw about it. You'll have to stay tuned to see if I actually went. :)

After my window-shopping experience, I went back to my room and decided to call it a night. I got out my Magic Bands, chose the one I wanted for the next day (and accessorized it, of course!). I only remember watching about 10 minutes of Law & Order before I drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Sunday, would be my first full day of the trip and includes:

* Meeting up with family

* Bowling at Splittsville

* And making a purchase at Downtown Disney that I have been considering for a few years.

Thanks again for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment!

Have a magical day ~

The Last Sailing of Maelstrom - Yay or Nay?

This weekend was the last sailing of Maelstrom, the attraction in the Norwegian pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase. Maelstrom is closing to make way for a new Frozen-themed attraction, set to open sometime in 2016.

There has been much debate in the Disney fan community over the closing of this classic attraction and the inclusion of a Frozen ride. Virtually any time Disney closes a ride or attraction, there will be those who are against it, but this particular closing has seemed to generate a fair amount of controversy. Some have felt that having a Disney movie attraction in an Epcot/World Showcase country goes against the original purpose of that area, and does not promote Norwegian culture. There are also others who are "Frozened-out" and aren't excited about an attraction featuring Anna, Elsa and Olaf.

But some people are excited with the addition of an attraction to answer the world-wide phenomenon that is Frozen. If you have kids who sing "Let It Go" 100 times a day (and we know you hum along with it, too), you were probably excited about this addition.

I would say I am in the camp in the middle of the two opinions - how's that for taking a stand?  :) I am not a Maelstrom "fan" per se, although I always liked it; and I am not necessarily a "pro-Frozen" person, either. However, I am going to outline what I think are the reasons for ditching Maelstrom and adding Frozen to the mix. (I say I think, because as of this writing, Disney has not expressly asked me for my two cents and opinions. We can only hope that day will come!)

* The guest demand for Frozen is enormous.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock the last year, you know that Frozen is Disney's latest juggernaut, runaway hit, making over $1.2 billion dollars at the box office. It's been said that Disney did not anticipate that this film would get SO huge, and so was not prepared as they could have been with the theme parks and with merchandise. Just ask those who paid upwards of $300 on eBay for an Elsa dress. The Disney Parks need to answer this guest demand for Frozen experiences, characters, etc, and building this attraction is one way to do that.


* The country of Norway does not own or have a say in the running of that pavilion.

I heard over and over again statements to the effect of, "How can Disney do this? Doesn't Norway have to give their permission, as it's their pavilion?" There were quite a few news reports about how some in Norway were not in favor of this decision. So I looked into it. Come to find out, Norway no longer has a say in what is included in their area of the World Showcase. Back in the late 1980s, when the pavilion was first built, there was a group of Norwegian investors who raised the $30 million need to start the area; Disney ponied up the other 1/3rd. Then in 1992, the investors sold their stake back to Disney; and according to this Wikipedia article, since as many people visit Epcot as live in Norway, the Norwegian tourism office still felt that having a presence at Epcot was a good thing. The government of Norway continued to pay Disney $200,000 a year for the pavilion until 2002, when their government voted to discontinue those payments.

So, he/she who pays the bills makes the decisions. And since Norway is no longer paying Disney for the pavilion (although Disney has elected to keep it going, which I think is a good choice), Norway no longer has a say in what is built there.

* From time to time, attractions need to be changed.

This is sometimes sacrilege in the Disney fan community, as we definitely have a segment (albeit small) of our population that would prefer for everything at Disney to remain as it was when the parks were opened. Even classic rides get moved, changed or removed from the parks completely. Change is as inevitable as death and taxes, and that holds especially true for the Disney Parks.

I once took a park tour where our guide said that at any given day, about 1/2 of the visitors through the turnstiles have never been to any Disney park. It stands to reason, then, that the other 1/2 have been at some point and Disney needs to adjust the Parks experience to keep those return guests interested and to give them a reason to come back again. Walt Disney famously said that Disneyland would never be done, it would always be evolving and changing. The parks would be boring and static if if was the same experience every time you went.

I am all for nostalgia but sometimes it has to be out with the old, and in with the new.

(On that note - - who do we have to talk to to get Stitch's Great Escape out of Magic Kingdom?! I have yet to encounter one person who actually likes that attraction.)

*Frozen (and its popularity) is not a flash in the pan.

Some feel that Frozen is the latest thing and its popularity will not stand the test of time and is a trendy, flash-in-the-pan movie. I respectfully disagree. I feel that Frozen is this generation's Little Mermaid, or Lion King. Scores of kids will remember this as their first "Disney movie in a theater" experience. They'll still remember every word to "Let It Go", even when they're in their 30s, 40s and beyond. They'll tell stories at Thanksgiving about how their mom or dad went to every Disney Store within a 100-mile radius and cyber-stalked DisneyStore.com to find the dolls, toys, dresses, etc.

I know some of you are getting sick of Frozen. Honestly, some days I am there with you. But you have to remember the media culture we have now, that we didn't have when Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King came out. Media is such an ever-present area of our lives (heck, most of us carry video and music players in our pockets and purses) and it can be hard to escape what's new and hot, so people can get sick of it after a while. However, I don't think this means that Frozen is a trend that will die over time. The story is so good and the music so incredible.

So, in summation - although it does mark a shift in the pavilion content at the World Showcase, I ultimately think that the removal of Maelstrom and in the inclusion is a good thing for Walt Disney World.

What are your thoughts? Are you Yay or Nay on the closing of Maelstrom?

Unannounced Change at Disney World - This week's Toy Story Midway Mania Decision

If you're a regular reader of the blog, you'll know that I am a pretty positive person. (For those of you who aren't regular readers, you'll have to take my word for it.) In general, I try to see the glass as half-full and when Disney makes adjustments or changes, I try and see it from their point of view. Even if I disagree, even if they are unpopular changes, I tend to think there is a positive thought and intention behind it, and I typically cut Disney some slack.

However, when the story broke on Monday about no standby line at Toy Story Midway Mania this week, and that only FastPass+ (FP+) reservations were being honored, I wanted to weigh in with my 2 cents. Spoiler alert: Disney World dropped the ball.

If you haven't read the story, or heard about it, check out an article HERE from the Orlando Sentinel. The basic gist is - - this week, October 6-11, they are ONLY allowing FP+ holders to ride on Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). There is no standby line. According to the other Disney World fan sites, this could be a test to see whether only allowing FP+ on some of the more popular rides is feasible. Another idea floating around is that Disney is adding a 3rd track to TSMM and wants to measure traffic and guest use on a more popular ride. Disney has said they are issuing additional FP+ onto their My Disney Experience site to allow more guests to ride this week, but as of this writing I can't tell you how successful that has been, or if people are able to get FP+ at the eleventh hour.

I can understand Disney thinking that they don't want people waiting in 3+ hour lines at some of these popular attractions. That's bad for guests (who would rather be doing other things, than wasting their life in lines) AND bad for Disney (who wants guests out spending money on food, merchandise, etc.). And kudos to them for trying to come up with a solution to shorten wait times. I can also understand needing to measure guest traffic if they are thinking of adding a 3rd track to this attraction, thereby allowing more guests to go on at once.

However....why TSMM, which is arguably the most popular ride at Hollywood Studios? And, perhaps most importantly - WHY did they not announce this BEFORE today?

I feel bad for the guests, who have spent a good chunk of change to come to Disney World, and cannot ride one of the most popular attractions on property unless they got a FP+. A FP+ that, by the way, they had to get at 60 days out. (This bringing up another point of tension with guests - that increasingly, we are being asked to plan every nuance of our trip far in advance.)

I feel bad for the front-line cast members, who this week get to deal with really angry guests, many of whom undoubtedly will not have heard of this update unless they follow a Disney fan site or are as obsessed with Disney as some of us are. Imagine 200, 300 times a day, having to say to someone as they come strolling up to get in line, "Sorry, we're closed" and dealing with that backlash all day long.

Of course, any time that Disney makes changes some people will be upset.  That's the nature of the beast - they are never going to make a decision that will be popular with 100% of their visitors. But COME ON. Pick an attraction that is not *quite* so popular. Pick a time of year that is not crowd-heavy.

Or for the love of all that is good and holy - PLEASE give us a head's up.

It reminds me of something my parents used to say to me when I was younger. Before they would go to Back to School night, or conferences, they would ask us kids - before I go there and talk to your teachers, is there ANYTHING you want me to know now?  Because it's going to be a heck of a lot better for you if I know beforehand, vs getting blindsided by the fact that you're failing geometry or you've had detention the last four days.

Would people still be upset and annoyed? Sure. Would it be all sunshine and unicorns? No, but at least people would know before their vacations, vs the day of.  Better for Disney, better for the guests.

Unfortunately, Disney is notoriously bad at dispensing information, and giving people (including travel agent people) a heads-up as to changes and updates. Often we find out the information when you do; we all dream of a day when we get information at least a few hours or days before our clients. If it weren't for fan websites and blogs, quite often we would not know of changes or new information. So that begs the question - what if you're not someone like me, whose Facebook news feed is approximately 80% Disney information? What if you hadn't read the news being broke on Facebook today by fan sites, and NOT by Disney? I guarantee you there are droves of people walking up to TSMM yet this morning, ready to ride, and have no idea that it's not open this week.

If you're at Disney right now (or are arriving this week) and being affected by this, what can you do? First, please be kind to the cast members. They are not making the rules, they just get the unfortunate task of having to pass them along. Being rude or nasty to them does nothing, and makes you look like a lunatic to boot.

Second, write Disney an email, talk to Guest Relations at the park and/or ask to speak with a manager at your resort. They will pass along your comments and even though they will not be able to change it or fix it for you, making Disney aware of our dissatisfaction is VERY important.  If you happen to get an e-mail invitation to an online survey once you get home, be sure to fill it out and write about your experiences and how this affected your trip.

The only way that fiascos like this will get corrected and (hopefully) not happen in the future is if everyone makes their opinions known. I am hoping that Disney gets an avalanche of comments this week that will give them pause before doing this in the future.

What are your thoughts on unannounced closures like this? If you were in charge, how would you handle it?

On the blog - Coming Soon!

Good morning, everyone, and happy Monday! I wanted to check in and let you know about some items that will be coming up on the blog in the next month or so - as always, thanks for reading!

* My podcast recording was rescheduled for a few weeks from now, so on October 21st I will be taping! I will let you all know when it's available on their website and on iTunes. The podcast is the Disney Parks Podcast and Krista and Tony are AWESOME! I cannot wait to chat Disney with them.

* I will be posting more Trip Report updates from my last vacation to Walt Disney World and on Disney Cruise Line!

* Stay tuned for more videos on the Most Delightful Place YouTube channel! (Did you know there is a YouTube channel?! Now you do - go HERE!)

* It's almost time for another prize giveaway! I will be doing another fun giveaway in early November, so be sure and stay in touch for that.

As always, glad to have you along! Have a magical day!