Category — zzz. Stuff No One Cares About but Me

Josh, co-author of The easy Guide, will be on the WDW News Today Radio show tonight about 9p–when you really should be outside chasing fireflies or illegal fireworks.

Besides answering questions (mostly about me I expect) he’ll have also some great giveaways–check out his post here for more on both the giveaways and how to listen to the show!

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With the 50th anniversary of it’s a small world today, the Orlando affiliate of National Public Radio, 90.7 WMFE, reached out for an interview.

A couple of parts of the interview are being broadcast in Orlando this morning, and you can also listen to one from the “Play Audio” link here.

(As unlikely as it seems, this is not an April Fool’s joke. My April Fool’s post for this year is here.)

I had fun chatting with reporter and host Amy Kiley about the ride, and even more fun preparing for the interview.  It’s an easy ride to take for granted–it’s been at WDW more or less unchanged since its 1971 opening, and at least for adults doesn’t have a high re-ride factor.

But on this site, I try to look at things from the perspective of first time visits by families, and small world really is a good ride for kids.  

• First it’s about the only Disney ride I can think of that is about its audience.  Other rides are about fictional characters or settings.  The basic gaze of it’s a small world is kids looking at kids.
• Second, it’s got most of the elements kids enjoy–miniatures, music, movement, color, toys, etc.
• Third, there’s the song.  It is clearly a children’s song–a round–and the familiarity of the genre broadens its appeal to kids. Plus, as any parent knows, little kids in particular like repetition.

The appeal of the ride is thinner for adults–but they can be impressed by how well it achieves what it sets out to do. In the olden days, critics used to talk about “unity”–about how the chosen and crafted parts of an aesthetic object created and contributed to its whole effect. By this standard, it’s a small world is remarkable. I could go on and on about this–I did work on a PhD in English literature, you know, before I came to my senses and got an MBA–but just a quick point:

The narrative of it’s a small world comes from setting expectations and then fulfilling them in delightful and surprising ways.  At first, the visuals and song carry their plain meaning, but with repetition, and the song appearing in many languages, the deeper points of the ride–celebration of both similarity and difference, and finally celebration of similarity because of similar differences–emerge.

On the first ride, adults can simply enjoy the show; on their second ride, they can marvel at how well it is crafted. Some of the best ever worked on it–Walt Disney himself, Mary Blair, Rolly Crump, Alice Davis, Marc Davis, Blaine Gibson–and you can tell.

And then there’s that song–I did admit to NPR that it was “catchy.”

More than any other attraction I can think of, the song makes the whole thing work, both carrying and reinforcing the meaning.  Literally unforgettable, the only way I’ve been able to make its presence absent when it enters my head is to transform it–singing the lyrics of small world to a different melody, the bass line of “Love Shack.” (You’ll need to add some “Baby” and “Baby Baby”s to make it scan.) Try it yourself!

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Last week, this site had its sixth birthday. Thanks to all of you for coming by, getting help, asking questions (more than 3,500 questions in the last 12 months—several of which I answered correctly…) and telling your friends about it!

And thanks also for patronizing the sponsors of the site and finding some of the ads interesting enough to click on. You guys do enough of that that in turn I can spend the revenue you create improving the material here!

Your support pays for the hosting fees, for graphics that I turn to others for help with because they are beyond me (like the new floor plans I’ve been rolling out the last 12 months), for some research and other support that I get—and above all for visits to the Disney World hotels.

It’s harder to get reliable advice on the hotels than on any other Disney World topic–and that’s for a good reason: essentially, the people who write about them have not stayed in them. There’s too many, it takes too much time, and it’s too expensive. So instead of writing about their own experiences they write about the experiences–or the words–of other people, many of whom themselves did not stay in them…and so on.

But in the last six years, thanks to your support I’ve stayed in them all—and in every major room variant within them—twice…

In early 2012, I finished the first round of visits for reviews, and completed publishing the first-ever set of reviews of the Disney World resort hotels from one person who had stayed in them all—and in all their major room variants.

Then, with the opening of Art of Animation and major refurbs to a number of the moderates, it was time to start over! So I began revisits to the moderates and values to re-test their rankings and refresh their reviews. 2012 visits to the moderates included Pirate and standard rooms at Caribbean Beach, and the new Royal and refurbed Alligator Bayou 5-person rooms at Port Orleans Riverside.

At the values I stayed in the new Art of Animation standard Little Mermaid rooms and family suites at Art of Animation and All-Star Music.

We also squeezed in a family visit to a two-bedroom villa at Old Key West. (I stay in two-bedrooms at the DVCs when I can as doing so lets me cover studios and one-bedrooms too, without having to change rooms so often. A studio plus a one bedroom add up to a two-bedroom, so if that’s all I can reserve I’ll do that too. )

Early in 2013 I completed the re-visits to the values and moderates, with stays in standard rooms at values All-Star Sports, Movies and Music, Pop Century, the two types of family suites at Art of Animation I hadn’t already seen (Lion King and Cars) and in standard rooms at moderates Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, Port Orleans Riverside, and the Cabins at Fort Wilderness.

Later in 2013 I realized just how lousy my photographs were, got a new camera, and added to my reasons for re-visits not just refreshed reviews but also better photographs. Having completed a full set of revisit to the values and moderates, I then launched a new set of revisits to the deluxes and Disney Vacation Club resorts. Among the deluxes, in 2013 I stayed in a Tower Room at the Contemporary, both smaller and larger newly-refurbed rooms at the Polynesian, and standard rooms at the Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges.

Among the DVC resorts, in 2013 I revisited two-bedroom villas at Kidani Village, Bay Lake Tower, and the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge, and stayed in a two bedroom villa in the new Villas at the Grand Floridian. At Saratoga Springs, I stayed in the Treehouses, a one-bedroom villa, and a studio. I also revisited Port Orleans Riverside for better Alligator Bayou photos, and for reasons I don’t even remember was in a one bedroom at Old Key West!

2014 continues revisits to the deluxes and DVCs, plus stays at values and moderates for better photos.

At the deluxes, so far I’ve re-visited the re-furbed Grand Floridian, BoardWalk Inn, Beach Club, bunk bed rooms at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the Garden Wing at the Contemporary.

Among the DVC resorts, I’ve stayed in 2014 at a two-bedroom villa at the Beach Clubs Villas, a one bedroom villa and a studio at the AKL Jambo Villas, and a one-bedroom at the Boardwalk Villas.

I’ve got visits booked in May for a studio at the BoardWalk Villas and a standard room at the Yacht Club. When those are done, I’ll have completed the re-visits to all the major room types at the values, moderates, deluxes, and DVC offerings…

Also in 2014 I’ve stayed at some more moderates and values to get better photos, including Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans French Quarter, a Little Mermaid rom at Art of Animation, and Pop Century.

Refurbs are expected in 2014 at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge, Caribbean Beach, and the Beach Club, so those will be on my list for later, as well as some more brief stays for better pictures.

As a result of our book, I am wildly behind in getting all the updates out from late 2013 and on.

But we may finish the copy as soon as this week, so I’ll have a lot more time to get everything updated for you!

And in the meantime, thanks again…

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I’ve been roped in volunteered to help with The Palooza 2014, a celebration at Disney World being inflicted on us organized by Carl Trent of Dad’s Guide to WDW and WDW Magazine.

The Palooza will go from December 14 through December 20, but the key event will be a fireworks party at Epcot on December 15.  See more on the Palooza and this party on Dad’s blog here.

I’m not entirely sure what my role will be–although I think we can rule out swimsuit model.

Moreover, it is with some relief that I note that the event is not on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom, nor at the Tri-Circle D Ranch at Fort Wilderness, which means none of the manure-handling tasks that I imagine Carl would like to send my way will actually transpire. Yay Epcot!

Anyway, as the Palooza unfolds I’ll keep you posted–but for now, save the date!

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Josh of easyWDW.com and I have begun working together on a big new secret joint project.

I can’t even hint at the details now, but if all goes as we hope–and if I don’t die of laughter in the meantime–we’ll be able to fill you in on the full scoop in six weeks or so.

In the meantime, this big new super secret thingy will absorb a lot of my spare time.

Thus I may end up posting new stuff here a little less often than usual–perhaps three to four times a week instead of five to seven times a week.

Or maybe it’ll take less time than I’m thinking, and all will be the same…

We’ll see–but for sure, I’ll still be here for you!

Now I have to go write Josh a memo, schedule a meeting with him…and otherwise get busy driving him crazy!

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YET ANOTHER JOINT FAN MEET UP WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 4TH

I had so much fun earlier this month meeting a bunch of you with Steve (see Steve’s post about it here) that, along with my bud Jodi from Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, there’ll be another joint fan meet up next week!

It will be 4.30-5.30p on December 4th in the northeast corner of the Magic Kingdom’s Town Square, interrupted by the 5p Flag Retreat.

Jodi of Magical Mouse Schoolhouse and I will be

• Meeting and greeting our fan(s)
• Giving away the new “Glow with the Show” mouse ear hats to the first five fans that show up (if we hit that many…), and
• Watching the Retreat together.

This time, I’ll be accompanied also by lovely wife Amy Girl—whom everyone likes so much more than they like me—and Jodi plans to bring her family too!

Look for us with goofy Glow with the Show hats between the candy (“Main Street Confectionery”) and hat (“The Chapeau”) shops!

We will tweet and update on Facebook where we are, and we’d love to meet you later in the evening as well, if you can’t make the 4.30-5.30 meet up.

We’ll be also be giving “Glow with the Show” ears away to randomly selected people who join the meet-up virtually by re-tweeting our tweets or commenting on our Facebook posts. (On Twitter, Jodi is @MagicalMouseSch  and Dave is @yourfirstvisit. On Facebook, Dave is here and Jodi here.)

Our travel partners are also helping out!  Thanks 3D Travel Agency and Destinations in Florida!

(By the way—Steve announced his Facebook and Twitter Glow with the Show hats winners from our November joint meet up on Saturday (here). My winners were: on Twitter, Kerri M; and on Facebook, Pam D.  I’ll message you two separately to get your mailing addresses so that we can send you the ears!)

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