Why Disney?

I often get asked, ‘Why Disney?  Why do you enjoy going back time and time again?  Wouldn’t you like to try someplace new?’
There are so many answers to this and it’s hard to capture even some of them but I’ll try.  The one answer I can say with confidence is, ‘We really enjoy going back over and over and no, we’re not looking into other vacation destinations at this time.’  Hmmm….unless you were to mention Disneyland and/or a Disney Cruise.  I’m hoping to take Hannah on our first cruise in 2014!
Some of the many reasons we love Disney…..
It’s great that our luggage is cared for from the moment we check into our departing airport until it’s in our room.  It’s just nice not to have to think about it. 
When we arrive in Orlando we walk to Disney’s Magical Express welcome kiosk, let them scan our tickets and board our bus right away.  There are 2 special moments for me on the Magical Express.  The first one is as we pull away from the Orlando airport and their Welcome video begins to play and the second is when we’re drive under the ‘Walt Disney World’ sign.  Wheee…we’re here!!!
Disney does a great job at entertaining kiddos.  (No surprise there.)  This year there was a cast member outside the resort with a bubble gun, hula hoops and sidewalk chalk when our Magical Express bus pulled up. 
Before I began the check-in process Hannah was given a colouring book and crayons.  Helpful when she’s super excited to be at Disney and Mommy needs a few minutes to get things organized.
I appreciate that there is no need for me to rent a car.  Nice!  Magical Express picks us up at the airport and takes us back there and while we’re at Disney we can use a variety of their transportation systems:  buses, boats, monorails and more.
Heh….this could be a long post if I keep going like this since so far we aren’t even in our room so I’ll skip to some of the other reasons I love Disney.
Disney is consciously making waiting in lines easier and easier.  The Dumbo ride was recently refurbished.  Not only did they add a second ride thus doubling the seating capacity of this fun ride, they also added a great, indoor interactive play area!
The best way to explain it is you enter the waiting area and are soon given one of those light-up, buzzy things like they use in restaurants.  At that point there is an indoor, air conditioned play area for the kids and seating for the parents.  Ah!  When it’s your turn to ride Dumbo your thingy lights up and buzzes, you gather your kiddos and get in line for the next ride.  That works!
Winnie-the-Pooh recently refurbished their ride too and it now has a whole area of fun activities for the kids to play with during the wait.

Even waiting to meet characters is more fun.  While waiting to meet Merida there was a colouring station and also a cast member helping the kids try out their archery skills!  All these things and more make line time much more fun.
Disney also has many rides and shows that feature a pre-show as preparation.  Not only does it help you prepare for what’s coming in a fun way but it’s entertaining too.  You can also see from the pic above that lines and queues are not just cement slabs with chains.  They’re full of things to look at, appreciate and explore.
Another fun thing to do during the wait is to look for ‘Hidden Mickey’s’.  That little mouse is everywhere and you can just look around and try to find him (such as in this fence below) or, by using the official ‘Hidden Mickeys’ book.
This visit we also found some new character spots for autographs.  At Disney’s Hollywood Studios while waiting to meet Buzz and Woody there were lots of great little places to take pictures.  This time Hannah and I both took pics of one another and she did a great job!

Even waiting for the evening parade was made more fun when cast members came out and created a hop scotch board on the ground using masking tape and the the kids had fun playing on it without even realizing we were passing the time.
Since our major trip each year takes place in August it’s hot, hot, hot at Disney!  I’m thankful for the splash pads that are in many of the parks and also for the complimentary glasses of ice water that are available at every counter restaurant and location that serves fountain pop. 
As the Mom of a 3yo this next ‘little’ thing is a wonderful help!  The majority of restrooms at Disney have a ‘teeny tiny sink’ for kids.  SO much easier then trying to lift them up to wash their hands each time they use the restroom.
This next ‘I love Disney because….’ moment was new to me this visit and I was so enthralled by these 2 great people that I barely watched the first 10 minutes of the musical as I just watched them.  I love that Disney does their best to include everyone!

This is just one of the ways that Disney strives to include all people.  There are many forms of assistance available which warms my heart.  There are interpretive headphones that are available free of charge that will translate many of the rides and shows into French, German and Spanish.
Another thing Disney is known for is their ability to assist people who live with food allergies.  On our recent trip we spent time with kiddos who have a nut allergy.  Every food cart and restaurant has a binder which lists every food they offer and all the ingredients in each item.  When we’d go someplace new to eat the binder was readily accessible and often it was the manager who came to the window and spoke with the parents.  When we went for dinner one of the chefs came right to our table, talked about every food on the buffet (and offered to walk us through the buffet area and let them know what foods may contain nuts or may have come in contact with nuts) and also offered to make all 3 of the kiddos a special dessert even though Hannah was fully able to eat from the buffet.  I know it was a big relief for my friends to travel without as many food concerns as they normally faced.
One more thing Hannah and I both enjoyed was going back to our room each night to see what Mousekeeping had done with her stuffed animals.  How much fun are these little displays!
 


There is SO MUCH that I love about Disney but this post has been about the more unusual things that we don’t always think about.
I love that every single cast member treats people like they matter and with great respect.    The motto at Disney is ‘Have a Magical Day’ and that’s exactly what each day at Disney is!
I’m guessing as soon as I hit ‘publish’ I’m going to remember some other reasons I love Disney.  What are some of your favourite unusual reasons?