Thanks for Everything this Year…

By Dave Shute

So this is the time of year when I thank you guys—the readers.

Once again you came by in droves—a new record of well over two million of you—and I can tell by your comments that I helped several.

We have a deal. I write stuff, hoping to be useful or interesting, and you read it, hoping to be helped or intrigued.

And while we each end a little disappointed in me, even so you come back, you tell your friends, you like the site on Facebook, you pin it on Pinterest… so thanks!!!

But there are other people who help too, and this year I thought I’d spend a little time thanking them as well.

There’s a lot of writers of Disney World sites out there—all you need these days is blogging software, and a copy of The Unofficial Guide—but some are good, expert, helpful and supportive.

That’s who I want to celebrate—and thank—today.

Then I get a little sidetracked at the end…

THANKS TO THE DISNEY FAN WRITING COMMUNITY

Steve Bell of Military Disney Tips became the site’s official moderator of military family questions and comments in January. Steve had been playing this role unofficially for years, and is my best friend in the Disney blogger community, so I was thrilled!

Chip Confer’s Chip and Company posted a review of the site in April, and it does a much better job of explaining it than my “about” page!

Steve Seifert of TikimanPages.com (a site devoted to Disney’s Polynesian Resort) and I have had a loose collaboration over the years; we had a near miss at the Poly in May, but did work together to (perhaps temporarily) agree on the square footage of the Poly rooms!

In June, Len Testa of the Unofficial Guide, TouringPlans, etc., etc,. brought me on to the WDW Today podcast where we talked about Disney World for first time visitors who may never return.

Also in June, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix of MousePlanet.com and I sort of agreed that I’d become the “first timer questions” columnist for MousePlanet—Adrienne wrote that this was a “fantastic column idea.” Nothing ever came of this (I’m guessing that the stark specificity of my advice put her team off, but honestly I dunno), but it was fun to think about while it lasted!

In July Joe Black of Disney by Joe and I collaborated on a disboards thread (well, it was mostly Joe) that, after some drama, won “Thread of the Month.”

In August, Carl Trent of Dad’s Guide to WDW reached out to see if I’d be the first-time visitor writer for his brand new WDW Magazine. Carl and I have collaborated over the years—he’s been a big help to the site—and he owes me breakfast. So I was delighted to pitch in and help!

Steve Bell and I had a little overlap in our November visits, so we took advantage of that to jointly do each of our first-ever fan meet-ups. (Doing it jointly meant that each of us would have at least one fan!)

It went astonishingly well—thanks to all who showed up, and the team from Destinations in Florida who helped out, especially Leah!

On that same trip, I spent a lot of time with Josh of easyWDW.com. I’ve owed him lunch for years (he took me to Liberty Tree Tavern a few years ago) so I took him to San Angel Inn, showed him my Grand Floridian villa, and chatted.

Both of us agree that the right way to do a Disney World site is to present original content arising out of direct experiences, personal original research or distinctive sources, and we vented our frustration to each other about sites that prep their WDW material by reading other people’s work and basically rewriting—that is, copying–it. Oh, well.

Josh and Lisa also showed up at the meet-up, which sent Twitter aloft…Steve, Josh, Lisa, Leah and I then wandered the Magic Kingdom together.

I was back at Disney World in December for the third FastPass+ test. This was so far as I can recall my seventh Disney World visit of 2013.

While there, Jodi of Magical Mouse Schoolhouse and I did another joint meet-up! This could get to be a habit…

I first met Jodi through the Magical Blogorail gang—a group of Disney bloggers who collaborate to post on similar topics each month.

I’ve been part of the Blogorail for years now, and the people in it have been a great source of help and silliness. Because of some changes to the Blogorail for the new year, I’ll be leaving it, but with fond memories and gratitude!

On that same visit, I got to meet in person the great Disney World pinner Linda Stevens-Jones.

She and I had collaborated already both on Facebook and over the phone (and she pins a ton from here, thanks Linda!!), but it was great to connect with her and Dan in person!

So thanks, everybody!

AND I MISS YOU

And on a different, sadder, and even more grateful note…thanks, Mom and Annie…

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