Tweet Disney Wisdom

IMG_5229“Do all you can to take in all the subtle details and anticipate unexpected surprises on your Walt Disney World trips.” –  Tweeted by Curtis Stone @GeekinOnWDW,  12/11/13

No truer words were ever tweeted!  Right after I re-tweeted and favorited Curtis’s sentiment, I thought about the number of times I have been awed, surprised, amazed, astounded (get the idea?) by the very special and sometimes extremely tiny (yet no less amazing) details that one can find literally everywhere at Disney World!

As an illustration, I’ll list just ten incredible Disney details here (in no particular order) – Go to Disney World and find some of your own! – there are thousands of breathtaking, magical pixie-dusted surprises waiting for you.

1.  Hidden Mickeys – you’ve heard me mention them before, but you will find them in the mostIMG_3022 unexpected places – woven into the design in carpets, on bedspreads, in bathrooms – seek and you shall find!

2.  Look at the windows on Main Street – look UP!  The names etched on those windows are tributes to some of the most amazing and creative people that have ever lived – imagineers responsible for all the amazing details Curtis was tweeting about.

3.  If I had a nickel for every special moment we’ve experienced with a Disney character, I could retire early!  Not just after waiting in line, either – my story about Donald is one example, IMG_4880but there have been so many times – even during parades when a character singles you out for one special moment of interaction – magical, surprising, SO precious – what Disney is all about!

4. The license plates on the limos in Rock’n’ Roller Coaster – a tiny detail we would never miss if those plates weren’t there, but WOW!  Cool, clever, and funny!  Check them out when you go.

5. Sound effects!  I’ll give one example – the outdoor sounds on the grounds at the Port Orleans Riverside resort.  You hear crickets and frogs while you walk among the landscaping between the resort’s buildings – those are sound effects!

6.  The smell on Main Street (baking cookies!) and other smells manufactured for your IMG_2069enjoyment – want to know more?  Go here.

7.  DON’T PULL THE ROPE!  Look for it near the Indiana Jones area in Disney’s Hollywood Studios – then PULL THE ROPE!  See what happens – fantastic!

8.  The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.  Just LOOK at it.  Artificial 145 foot-tall tree – looks amazingly real from a distance – then upon closer inspection, the details of every single artistic image depicted on the tree’s trunk and roots will amaze you.  I could look at its 325 carved figures all day.  Oh, and Disney’s ability to add magical touches to photographs is a nice bit of magic too.

9.  Look Down!  Details on the ground are everywhere.  One example is the imprints in the cement walkways in the Storybook Circus area of IMG_0874Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom (circus animal footprints and peanut shells) but there are lots of surprises like this all over Disney World – great fun for little ones to find!

10.  This one you might not be able to duplicate, but I experienced this bit of Disney magic once upon a time as I entered the queue for the Tower of Terror.  The solemn, gray-uniformed bellhop welcoming me, called me “Miss” and as if that wasn’t magical enough, I commented on how nobody had called me “miss” in many a year – he held out his hand to me and, on that oh-so-hot-and-humid summer day in Florida, when I placed my hand in his – his grip was ICE COLD!

What Disney details and surprises make your vacation magical?  

Follow Curtis on Twitter:  @GeekinOnWDW, follow his blog here.

You can find me on Twitter @life_of_green.

 

In the Disney Twitterverse

I’ve had a IMG_1915twitter account for years. Like any normal parent, I set it up to stalk lovingly monitor my darling children as they used social media. I didn’t begin tweeting or following others until I realized how many totally cool Disney fans (of varied Disney interests) there are out there in the twitter-verse.  Now I’m following a big bunch of interesting, funny, informative, creative, athletic, crafty (I could keep going, but you get the idea) people on twitter….best of all, they’re DISNEY people like me.  

So, what was everyone tweeting about last week?  Here are some of the hottest topics:

  • Frozen:  Merchandise is arriving in stores, characters are appearing at the Disney Parks, and people are getting stoked about this latest Disney animated movie’s opening on November 27th.  I am one of those people!
  • DSCN3118The Disney Magic:  Disney Cruise Line’s ship, the Magic, has just undergone a major refurbishment that included a bunch of fantastic changes.  We just sailed on her in August and got to take one last look around the original version – can’t wait to see the new adult entertainment areas, the new restaurant, Carioca’s (replacing Parrot Cay), and a new water slide – The Aquadunk! and much more.
  • The Jingle Cruise:  It seems the perennial favorite for fans of the horrible pun (…”I’d like to point out this sandstone rock formation…most people just take it for granite.”  bah-dum-bum) will get to experience Adventure Land’s Jungle Cruise in a whole new way as it is made over for the holidays – if anyone is going to be there, I’d LOVE to hear more about this.
  • Magic Bands – still in testing and still causing an uproar.  I’m looking forward to finding out, IMG_1062after the testing is over, if you really truly can only have 3 fast passes in one day thatmust all be at the same park.  Being a huge fan of hopping, I’m hoping to hear this is not true.
  • The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP):  Since I am planning to participate in both of these next year, I’ve been paying particularly close attention to all the tweets about the food booths, the beverages, the crowds, the entertainment and, of course, the touring strategies for enjoying the best the fall season has to offer at Disney World.

I can’t wait to see what’s hot with all the #Disneyfans on Twitter this week…I’ll be back next weekend to give you another update.