Disney Insights

We come to you live from Disneyland where we bring you insights on the issues and concerns with visiting the Disneyland Resort in this unique time. We look at opportunities in pricing and availability of airfares and hotels. WE offer lessons learned when it comes to transportation when visiting the greater Los Angeles area. All of this suggests where you may want to stay when you're visiting. With...

We've had a chance to review Remy's Ratatouille Experience last week. Since then we've visited the attraction another three times and have had a chance to really map out the entire extension of the park behind what has been traditionally considered the France pavilion. In size, the addition is the equivalent if not larger of a World Showcase land like the United Kingdom, or Italy. We canvas the en...

Long overdue, we visit Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World not just for an update at what's currently happening there, but as a chance to discuss various happenings occurring throughout all of Walt Disney World. We see preparations occurring throughout the park for Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary. We look at attractions that are re-opening such as Beauty & the Beast: Live on Stage...

The title may seem confusing, after all, there is barely a Disney fan that doesn't know that Walt Disney World opened its doors to its first paid guests on October 1st, 1971. And the official dedication weekend was October 23rd, 24th and 25th, with the last day being the moment Roy O. Disney would dedicate the park. But there's another park opening story, and it's about the first day that families...

With Ratatouille opening at Epcot, we had a sneak peak at this new attraction to Walt Disney World. Riding it three times in a row gave us some insights that we want to share with you. What's the attraction like, how does it compare, and how popular will it be? We'll discuss the new area that it sits in, the queue, and the ride itself. Are you going to want to ride this? You bet! Will you want to...

With a few surprises on several levels, the new annual pass program has been announced for the Walt Disney World Resort. Passes will again be sold to all starting September 8th. There are four tiers and we give you the run through of each, discussing not only what is included but what is not. We also look at water park and photo pass add ons, and what they mean. Is it a good value, and how does it...

Join us for this very action packed Magic Kingdom show where we take happenings from two visits to the park this last week and combine them into one big update. Among the many things happening we check out: Main Street Station Completed 50th Medallion on Cinderella Castle Scaffolding on the Be Our Guest Castle and Mountain New shops, eateries and services re-opened Major paint job on Storybook Cir...

The Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World has been a little slower completing its renovation than Disneyland, but what it offers is fun and so worth checking out. Not only have there been major changes made to the attraction, but there are changes to the queue as well. We'll discuss all of this and how it compares to the Disneyland version. We'll then share some other Jungle Cruise o...

Well...the genie is out of the bottle, and it offers phenomenal additional costs with itty bitty value. We look at this new Genie program, what is known as Genie+ as well as Lightning Lane, along with it's two options. We compare this to the previous Disney programs of FastPass, FastPASS+ and MaxPass. We talk about changes and additions to the apps, what's happening to virtual queues, and how Disa...

Drew Ostler and his family had an opportunity to visit the Disneyland Resort during a few weeks ago right before masks were again required indoors and on attractions. We hear from Drew and his experiences in the park. We offer all the highlights of Avengers Campus and compare it to Marvel Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure. We talk about the Coco addition to Mickey's PhilarMagic. We discuss...

After our previous podcast that studied the issues attending to signing up and embarking on the Disney Dream, we bring you an entire review of how that first voyage went. If you are at all thinking about going on a Disney cruise in the weeks and months ahead, this is the podcast for you. We are joined by Leah and David Zanolla of Out The Door Travel, who gives us their insights and perspectives of...

We join David and Leah Zanolla as they prepare and step aboard the Disney Dream for the first cruise since the pandemic began. We'll talk about all the new requirements made of both passengers that have and have not been vaccinated. David & Leah will step aboard to see how things have been modified as the ship takes off on embarkation day. They'll share their impressions not only of the ship and s...

Forget the 2.8 million you need to go into space with Jeff Bezos or even the 250K you need to board Virgin Galactic's space plane. More affordable pricing can be found on the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, even if technically you don't ever really go any higher than your second floor accommodation. Still, meals and more are included in this two night, but not quite two day voyage. We'll look at t...

Even though Walt Disney World reopened nearly a year before Disneyland came out of COVID, Disneyland's new annual pass program, Magic Key, has been announced. We look at what makes this different not just from the previous Disneyland passport programs, but how it differs from the current Walt Disney World annual passport program in place. Moreover, we look at what implications there may be when Wa...

Ratatouille opens soon on October 1st, but what queueing systems will be part of that attraction experience? There has been a lot of talk recently about the future of FastPass, whether it was coming back, or whether something instead would come in its place. Recently Disneyland Paris has opened up Disney Premier Access which invites guests to purchase a FastPass option to go on popular attractions...

Amid confusing notices, Disney has announced that beginning July 30, face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) while indoors and in Disney buses, monorail and Disney Skyliner, regardless of vaccination status. This includes upon entering and throughout all attractions. Face coverings remain optional for all Guests in outdoor common areas. All the while many former park offerings a...

In this Disney at Work post and podcast, I'm joined by my good friend and colleague Claudemir Oliveira, of the Seeds of Dreams Institute. Together we visit all six lands of the Magic Kingdom and in each land we share a story about best practices at Walt Disney World that you can apply back to your organization, whether you are in the public, private or non-profit sector. Claudemir and I were both...

Disney Cruise Line is hitting the high seas again as it begins Bahamian cruises from Port Canaveral in August. With this announcement comes a lot of details you will want to know not just before you go, but before you book. We will look at issues relative to your making a reservation, what is required before you leave home; what embarkation day will look like on the ship; where the ship will and w...

Tusker House in Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom has recently reopened, and we visit for breakfast. We talk about the unusual circumstances that brought us there, and how the experience of seeing Donald Duck was pivotal to my autistic son's enjoyment. We take a look at how they are currently serving the family-style meals inspired by the flavors of Africa, how that has re-shaped the dining experi...

The Little Mermaid : Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is a dark ride attraction based on the Note! Thanks for joining us. We've had technical difficulties the last couple of days getting a new podcast out to you, so we thought we'd see what happened when we sent a previous podcast. This is our first Dis Reviz! It's from early on, so many of you probably have not heard it before. 1989 Disney animated cla...

We're back at Disney's Hollywood Studios with a very busy update. We'll talk about all guests completely going through the FastPass line at Rise of the Resistance as well as a modified Rey briefing being provided to guests. There's a new menu at Docking Bay 7, and we'll look at that closely. Fairfax Fare also has a new menu. We'll check out the entirety of the park and see what's going on. The par...

There is much on Disney+ that not only teaches us about what matters most in life, but what works at work! This week Pixar released a new series of shorts that center around the work life of Monsters Inc. This humorous adventure shows how change occurs when the product being produced goes from scares to laughs. It's particularly impactful on a new employee who planned his whole life to work at Mon...

What would you think about doing a one night's stay at Disney's Art of Animation Resort to include a visit to see Epcot's fireworks return for the first time in 15 months! That was the goal of our short Walt Disney World staycation. From there, just about everything went south--more than you could expect to happen in less than 24 hours. Did we mention two adult autistic children and one brand new...

It's been busy here as we've been working to help organizations in their efforts to be world-class. But that gives us an opportunity to share a client experience I had while at Walt Disney World this last week. In this Disney at Work podcast, where we share lessons from the Happiest and most Magical Places on Earth, we talk about customer expectations, exceeding them, and building positive percept...

Big announcements came out today all tied to Walt Disney World's 50th Golden Celebration. Beyond announcing an opening date for HarmoniUS, Disney has announced a new nighttime show for the Magic Kingdom, as well as a new daytime show to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Additionally, new entertainment and offerings will complement the entire Walt Disney World celebration. And then there's new books being o...