A bad photo of Josh taking a good photo of something he didn’t order at a place he didn’t want to be.
My friend and co-author Josh Humphrey (easyWDW) died March 10th. I’ve noted that only a few places on this site, partly because I will write the story of me and Josh one of these days. I did not know him as well as some, but I knew a part of him pretty deeply.
(Update: per Micah, his family made the difficult decision to shut down his site and forum in mid-July. Folks can talk about that in the comments on this page.)
Our book will be the centerpiece of that story when I tell it, but it’s kinda the McGuffin—that is, the unimportant thing that was the cause of our relationship, which was the important thing, and what I hope to capture.
However, a great and detailed tribute from/orchestrated by Derek Burgan came out this morning that I needed to share—it’s here.
While I’ll have much more to say later, for now–rest in peace, my beautiful friend. Even Dora misses you…
Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!
When COVID hit I stepped away from Disney for a while and just now looking back into going again. The first person I started looking for was Josh and this is how I found out about his passing. I’m truly devastated. I never personally knew Josh, but I felt like I did from reading his many reviews and touring plans. He made our Walt Disney trips the best. I’ll never forget how excited I was the first time I saw he answered one of my questions on his message board. My family and I always tried to look for Josh when we visited the parks hoping to meet him. For us, he was as much of a star as Mickey. I’m so sad today. He was truly the only Disney blogger I trusted because he kept it real and for the many trips we took, he was ALWAYS spot on! The world lost a great man. ??
Reply
Sorry to see that Easywdw.com is gone. Josh was truly the best and no Disney Site quite does what he did for me. I truly miss him.
Reply
So tragic to see easywdw gone. I hope it is temporary. Used the Wayback Machine but it is buggy for the forums.
Reply
So sad…
Reply
It looks like Easywdw is down. Definitively “off air” ?? !! :((((( so so sad
Reply
Thanks Dave. Yes, I remember it being a rainy and cold(ish) evening, and it maybe was indeed the first formal meet you guys did.
I also recall that my family and I had got held up at Soarin and ended up frantically running all the way from there around World Showcase in a panic that you, Josh and Jim (Korkis) might have left by the time we got there. Much to our delight you were still there. Although running in the rain had got to my wife’s hair to the extent that she didn’t want to be in the photos. Poor Josh, he ended up looking like he’d taken her place in the photos 🙂 🙂
Once again, thanks for your work with Josh on the books, your post above and the link to Derek’s page, it’s been so nice to read others’ fond memories of Josh.
Reply
Oh I remember that rainstorm! It was spectacular…
Reply
Another thank you here for the link to the excellent tribute from Derek Burgan & friends.
I’m one of the many people who was a huge fan of Josh’s website writings, tweets and your co-authored book with him. My family & I got to ‘know’ Josh through the things above, and we also had the pleasure of meeting you guys in Epcot back in April 2015.
In fact, remarkably, that’s me and my kids with Josh in the picture you’ve used above! I’m proud of the photo above not because my kids and I are in it, but because it’s an honour to be involved in some small way in Josh’s legacy… you can see how happy we were to meet him…
I think that happiness reflects what Josh did for so many families – by the amazing advice in his website/book he truly took many families’ WDW vacations from being just good times to truly unforgettable wonderful times – and in between those holidays he provided a lot of family laughter, discussion and bonding through his genius writings and tweets.
He’ll be sadly missed by so many fans, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends who were close to him such as yourself. Love from Scotland.
Reply
Colin, what a wonderful story, thank you for sharing it. That must have been one of the first meets Josh and I did!
Reply
Thanks Dave. Really appreciate it.
Reply
So sorry to hear about Josh. Thanks for sharing the great article.
Reply
Thanks Jimmy. PS I will get back to you about your book!
Reply
Thanks Jennifer, it’s a great tribute.
Reply
Ironically found out about Josh last week while spending Spring Break at Disney where, prior to hearing the news, my son and I had been bemoaning the fact we were having to navigate the F&G booths without Josh’s priceless snarky guidance. To say we were both brokenhearted would be an understatement. We shared some wonderful times in utter hysterics reading Josh’s reviews and posts, and we will truly miss him. Thank you for the link to Derek’s article; it was wonderful.
Reply