I quite often get asked to give advice to folks considering a Florida trip. I’m sure this is the case for many of us that have been a few times. I do my best, but often find that a lot of what I offer is pretty much ignored. It’s fine…no honestly…IT’S FINE!!
Everyone is different, and even when you get to some level of expertise, everyone does it differently. Everyone else is wrong of course, but you knew that anyway. So that could well be the reason that my wise words are not followed to the letter. Either that, or it could be that those asking for advice are expecting a couple of sentences about how to book cheap flights, the best places to stay and the best time to go, but what they get is an indexed, fully formatted word document with a word count just a little lower than the Brit’s Guide To Orlando.
I like to be thorough, and there are angles that I cannot leave uncovered. That risks them doing Orlando wrong and I can’t be having that.
By the nature of the request most of these folks are first timers and at the risk of sounding really patronising over what in reality is “just a holiday” they have no concept of what they are asking. The sheer scale, complexity and endless nuances of a trip to WDW and beyond is (in my opinion) incomprehensible to people who haven’t been. There are a couple of chapters in my word document about acronyms, so they know to get a FP for BTMR before heading to Epcot for ROE.
The frame of reference for first timers is typically Alton Towers and when you drop the bombshell that WDW is the size of Greater Manchester you get a knowing smile and a look that tells you they think you are bullshitting.
It’s not their fault they haven’t been before, of course, and you often see questions on these Facebook groups like “Is Disney Springs easily walkable from (insert location)?”
The answer to that is of course that nowhere is walkable from anywhere. It’s a tough ask to walk to the car park of most things, never mind to a whole other location.
We’ve taken a few newbies in recent years and we have some more coming along this time. We’ve tried our best to explain what things are like and what to expect before we go. We’ve spent evenings sharing what we think are relevant vlogs and stuff, but in themselves, with no context, I guess it is hard to grasp what is going on.
So I think I spotted a gap in the vlogger market (Hey Guys!). This may well exist already, but the three minutes of extensive searching I had the patience for has surprisingly failed to find what I’m looking for. What is needed is some sort of beginner’s guide. An overview of the whole thing, outlining the scale etc, then a dive into each park and attraction and then maybe further down the line, some more advanced level stuff about the Magic Band, My Disney app, etc etc etc. This may be a whole series of vlogs due to the amount of stuff to cover. It could be a dream topic for a UK based vlogger as it doesn’t necessarily need them to be in WDW, but it does need a good knowledge of stuff.
So this is where I know get bombarded with such content with messages suggesting my searching skills are slightly worse than my patience levels with YouTube.
So come on, who has done a “So you’re thinking of going to Disney for the first time” vlog? If not you, have you seen one you thought did the trick? If not, why not make one purely for my benefit so I can share it with folks who ask me what it’s all about!
I know there are lots of vlogs based on lists such as the top ten things to do etc etc, the top ten things not to miss and all that. But I’m looking for a explainer video, which starts with a map view of the whole place, a little history, a bit of background on the climate through the year, a bit of on site vs offsite debate…you know, a short concise video that condenses decades of experience and expense into a digestible form. Can’t be too much to ask surely?
I wait your links and disdain for my lack of patience and poor searching skills.
Till the next time…..
Mkingdon's Blog 
I’ve had exactly this – this week. For years I have tried to persuade my friends to go – both are nervous flyers (as am I). But some of their friends are going in October and the thought of being on a flight with people they know – has started the ball rolling.
So then I step in and give advice on where they want to be – it’s for 8 days only – they both suggest I take this advisory role ‘out there’ to newbies as my love for all things Florida has them happily enthused. Already they are feeling the Florida ‘thing!’
I’ve loved giving them all kinds of different ways of doing 8 days in Orlando. So I think what you are on the cusp of doing – is a win win! I’d love to do it too!
Which is worse? The eye roll of a newbie when you attempt to give them advice or the eye rolls of the uninitiated when you tell them you’re heading back for another visit? 🤔 We completed our 18th visit in Dec (first visit 2002) and people look at us like we’re crazy when we say we’re going again 😃 I love it when we meet people who just “get it”!!!
Come on Craig, you could do that yourself. You have enough knowledge to be awarded a degree in Disneyology!
With over thirty visits under our belts I find it better not to give too much advice and let people see for themselves. No amount of information prepares first timers In my opinion and too much of it just goes over their heads. You have to be there in person and see it first hand to understand. I know people who have been as many times as us and I shake my head wondering why they do or don’t do certain things that we do, or how they haven’t figured things out in all those visits. There is so much to do, so much to take in, different tastes, priorities tc. I usually direct people to The Dibb and tell them to search YouTube like I did and still do. I am still learning new things even after 23 years of visiting so telling first timers what to expect is an almost impossible task – the advice/information is endless. If you don’t see it all first time round then there is always an excuse to go back.