It's DisneySMMoms Day...Plus a Blog Hop!

I admit it...I have butterflies today.  Remember last year when I had the amazing chance to go to Disney World and call that work?  Well, moving into 2011, one of my goals is to expand my presence in the blogosphere. I'm still in the process of defining exactly what that means for this blog, and my new one, but I'm looking into many things...product reviews, vlogs, monetization, sponsorships, etc.  These are all things that I would benefit from attending a blog conference to learn more about. So, I had already added that to my personal bucket list for 2011.

And then, another of those surrendipitous moments came to pass...perhaps, another chance to attend a conference at Walt Dinsey World.  But, this is not just any conference. This is the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! Let's face it, every event Disney puts on is AMAZING, so I can't think of a better conference to start with.  I know that I'll learn so much more than I ever thought possible and meet other amazing women there too soak in the knowledge and experience, as well.

There's just one problem.  Last year, DisneySMMoms was a first-come/first-serve event.  And, astoundingly, tickets were on sale for a few days before they sold out.  This year, though, the word is out...everyone knows how awesome last year's conference was and wants in, too!  Understandably so!Disney is asking a bunch of marketing questions (pageviews, followers, etc) at the time of registration, which is calling into question whether or not DisneySMMoms will again be a first-come/fist-serve event.  I'm obviously biased, because I don't have the massive traffic of many other bloggers in the mom blog arena.  But, even they started somewhere.  In fact, I know that a few of the really well known bloggers of 2010 began their rise to "fame" after DisneySMMoms '10. 

Shouldn't we all have such a chance?  That's why I hope that Disney continues to make SMMoms an equal-opportunity affair....so that we all can have a chance to add a bit of Disney magic to our blog and lives.  We're not all so lucky to be able to go to Disney World every year (last year's conference was my first trip back since our honeymoon), but that doesn't mean we love it any less.  Likewise, pageviews and followers aren't always an accurate representation of passion or willingness to learn. 

So, we'll see how today goes.  Not getting in because I didn't register in time is one thing.  Not getting in because it has become an elitist affair is another entirely.  So, we'll see how this afternoon goes.  You know where I'll be at 1pm CST.

After that, I'll be visiting blogs on the Thursday Friends and Giveaways & Thirsty Thursday Blog Hop! Check them out!

Show & Tell: Disney Transport Ghost Town

It's Wednesday! That means three things...we're more than halfway to the weekend; it's Show & Tell time at Stirrup Queen's; and it's a walk down Disney memory lane here!

For my conference last month, I stayed at the Walt Disney World Dolphin. For those that don't know the ins and outs Disney resorts, the Dolphin is one of only a few non-Disney hotels within the park grounds. The Dolphin (and neighboring Swan) are actually managed by Starwood (of Sheraton and Westin fame), but guests are offered most of the benefits Disney provides to guest staying at "full" Disney resorts (like the All Stars or the Grand Floridian). One of those Disney included services for Dolphin guests is Disney Transport...that's a seat on one of the multitude of Disney buses that take you anywhere and everywhere you need to go!

The Dolphin shares buses with Swan, Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club. Since it is also an Epcot resort, it has back entrance access to Epcot via Friendship Boats and a walkway. I guess most people who stay at a one of these five resorts just takes the back entrance and walk or ride back to the resort after Illuminations. What fun is that?

On Tuesday night, after my whirwind tour of Epcot, I watched Illuminations from the China pavillion in World Showcase. This is pretty much my favorite place to watch Illuminations, because I firmly believe that the show is just not the same without the golf ball in the background. China is at the back of the park, and much nearer to the back entrance (at France) than the front. But, I wanted to enjoy every last minute I could at my favorite park. I fought the crowds who were walking in the opposite direction while I took the l-o-n-g way back around the Seven Seas Lagoon, all the way back to the golf ball.

I took pictures and soaked in all that Disney magic that I love so much. Then, I headed out to the bus stops. I stopped a the bus information signs that tell you which stop to line up at for each resort. Oddly, I didn't see the Dolphin (or the Swan, Boardwalk, Beach Club or Yacht Club, for that matter). Seeing my confusion, a gentleman standing there (not appearing to wear a cast member uniform, but he didn't look like a par guest either) asked me where I was headed. When I said the Dolphin he said, "Oh, there's no bus for that. It's usually a taxi." Of course, I then realized that the helpful looking gentleman was actually a cab driver. Not so helpful.

No worries. I knew better than to take his advice anyway. And, I soon saw the sign that said, "Dolphin, Swan, Beach Club, Yacht Club and Boardwalk Guests please take the Hollywood Studios Bus and then transfer to the resort bus." Ok, I imagine this is because Epcot has the rear entrance to these resorts...they just don't offer dedicated buses to and from them from the Epcot front entrance. A trip to the Hollywood Studios parking lot would be no problem except that Hollywood Studios closed an hour earlier. Still unphased, I found the next uniformed Disney cast member and shared my plight. He told me to stand at the Hollywood Studios line and they'd take care of me.

That they did I stood there long enough to watch at least 4, maybe 5, All Star buses load to standing room only capacity. Another 3 Caribbean Beach Resort buses did the same. I was beginning to wonder if my bus was really coming when I was nearly the only person waiting for any Disney Transport bus on my side of the parking lot. Right about then, my very own Disney Transport bus arrived! I had it all to myself...and that was a sight I had never, ever seen at Disney...an empty bus. It was such an alien sight to me, that I had to snap a pic. My cast member driver, on his unscheduled trip to the Dolphin, must have thought I was crazy! But, here it is and I'm glad I captured the moment...

An empty bus actually happened to me twice on this trip! This time and then once on my last day, too (Sorry, no pics of that time! :-) The moral of this Disney story is twofold: 1) Don't listen to the guys that stand by the bus signs outside Epcot. Find a castmember. 2) The week before Epcot's Food & Wine Festival (so, depending on the timing of the Festival, the 2nd or 3rd week of September) is an awesome time to head to Disney! I rarely had to wait in a line at any park longer than 5 minutes...and had an empty bus TWICE! Can't beat that!

Check out what everyone else is sharing for Show & Tell over at Mel's Place! Hope to see you at the head of the class next week!

Show & Tell: Leave A Legacy

One Disney story a week for Show & Tell until I've used p all my pictures! That's how I finally decided to share my Disney pics from my conference trip a few weeks ago. This idea has two advantages: 1) I won't break up the TTC/IF thoughts with Disney stuff; and my Disney trip report won't get interrupted by TTC/IF thoughts! :-) 2) Disney stories make me smile. Might as well spread those smiles out as long as possible. One guaranteed smile per week for Show & Tell sounds pretty nice to me. (I apologize in advance if you're not a Disney person and/or Disney doesn't make you smile. Feel free to share your Disney-like place in the comments!)

So, without further ado...Disney story #1.

Epcot is by far my favorite park. If I could pick only one park to go to or stay at, it would be Epcot. It seems fitting then that a picture of DH and I forever sits just beneath the gleaming Epcot golf ball, otherwise known as Spaceship Earth.

That's right, a picture. In 2004, DH and I spent our honeymoon at Disney World. And, it just so happened that Disney was doing a special promotion at Epcot called "Leave a Legacy." You could have your picture taken and added to a tile that would be placed on giant granite slabs beneath the golf ball. I know that I'm a total Disney geek, but this sounded awesome to me: Commemorate our wedding day...and be able to bring our kids back on our many future family vacations to Disney to show them Mom & Dad gloriously happy on their honeymoon at the happiest place Earth.

The "Leave a Legacy" monument had really only just begun when we were there in 2004, so it was hard to imagine what it might look like 5 years later. It was also hard to tell how the little picture of a grinning newlywed DH and his Bride Minne-eared bride would look etched in steel and attached to those giant granite slabs. I knew that one day we'd be back (I even dared to dream with kids in tow) to see our honeymoon picture on the monument.

Five years later, I got my wish (minus kids in tow, for now). Here's a view of the monument as a whole (sorry for the crappy angle, I can't find my better pic at the moment). The granite slabs line either side of the main entrance to Epcot, all the way back to Spaceship Earth.

What a joy it was to find our tile on my trip last month...to relive those memories of a somewhat more innocent, naive moment and to think of how far we've come. Though the memory of that innocence is alluring, I wouldn't trade one bit of it for the strength, love and stronger connection we have 5 years later. I didn't understand that saying "I hope today is the day you love each other the least" 5 years ago. I get it now.  And, I honestly like the people we've become better than the people that we were (nice when that happens! :-)!  Still, it's nice to know that that particularly beautiful moment has a special place at one of our favorite places. We'll always know exactly where to find and how to relive that wonderful moment in our lives!

So there, on the monument's west side, row 2, section B, panel 3, tile 10-20 reside the newlyweds frozen in time...

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to see what the rest of the class is sharing over at Mel's place!

Disney Did You Know...

I ended up at a work dinner last night and got home late...so know Disney photos uploaded yet. However, I'm just dying to talk Disney, so I thought it might be fun to share some interesting Disney "Did you knows." Specifically, these relate to now defunct or unfinished Walt Disney World hotels/attractions. Who knew that these things were hiding at WDW? You will after today! :-)

Disney's Pop Century Legendary Years

Many of you will probably already know about Disney's Pop Century Resort. The resort that many know and love also has a more specific name: Disney's Pop Century Classic Years.

Why the distinction, you ask? Well, because across Hourglass Lake and Generation Gap Bridge sits this unfinished phase 2 construction: Pop Century Legendary Years.

As you can see, The Classic Years cover the 1950s throguh 90s. The Legendary Years were meant to show the 10s through 40s. Construction was promptly halted following 9/11 and the ensuing drop off in tourism. For nearly 9 years now The Legendary Years have sat just across the lake unfinished.

The talk on Disney message boards and blogs is that Disney plans to finish The Legendary Years and turn them into family suites. Whether this is true remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it's always seemed weird to me that Disney lets them sit unfished and unthemed. Many guests of The Classic Years with views of Hourglass Lake can also see the unfished Legendary Years. Given Disney's usually zealous attempts to keep all on-property views tightly Disney themed, it just seems odd. Until, hopefully, Disney finishes The Legendary Years, they will continue to serve as a unique bit of Disney history and trivia.

Disney's River Country

Just off of Bay Lake (the lake the Contemporary Resort sits on) sits a now defunct water park. In fact, if you take the Disney transport boats from the Contemporary or Fort Wilderness and you look very closely, you'll actually be able to see yellow water slides jutting out of the woods!

Apparently, River Country, the world's first fully themed water park, was built six feet or so higher than Bay Lake so that runoff from the water park would flow into the Lake. Well, at some point water from Bay Lake contaminated the water park and the ensuing environmental nightmare would have cost too much to clean up vs. the amount of revenue the park brought in. That's all web speculation, though. Nonetheless, River Country sits eerily abandoned.

Disney's Discovery Island

Have you ever wondered where the animals for Animal Kingdom came from? Well, many of them came from AK's predecessor park: Discovery Island. DI served as a sort of walk-through zoo, tropical paradise themed. I was shocked to learn that DI was open when we went to WDW when I was a kid. I never remember hearing about it!

And, that is one of the major reasons it was closed! So, many of the animals were moved over to AK and DI now sits, abandoned, as a bird sanctuary.

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Do you have any "Disney Did You Know's" to share? Did any of you ever visit DI or River Country...or have you seen the Pop Century Legendary Years for yourself? Please share!

Still around...

Just CRAZY busy! We've had some good news since the last time I posted, too. Luckily, we got a new offer on the house...someone who's not concerned with the inspection issue that doomed the last offer.

And, I found out last week that I'm attending a conference for work at Disney World this week! WooHoo! Feeling like a lucky girl for the first time in quite awhile! :-)

So, I'll be scarce the next week, too. But, will come back soon with a trip report!

Oh...and on the TTC front...4DPO with nothing very exciting to report.