Disney Social Media Moms Conference 2012 @WaltDisneyWorld

When I received my invitation to the Disney Social Media Moms Conference being held at Walt Disney World, I was in shock. I remember the buzz last year in the blog world re how to get invited and certainly did not expect to be on this year’s A list. Well, I guess my hard work, persistence, and knowing the right people paid off. And they wanted to include some dads this year, so who better than your favorite gay dad, daddy Mitch!

I have a brief paragraph in another post about the Disney family trip that was canceled due to my son’s fear of flying, 1/12 ago. He has since gotten over that fear, but until he walked onto the plane for Orlando, Fl., I was nervous.

Well, onto the plane he went! We had an early flight, as we were getting park hopper passes that began the day we arrived. We left our bags at the Yacht Club property and proceeded to board a ferry to Hollywood Studios with our good friends: you may know Linda from the NYCSingleMom blog and her daughter. Her daughter and my son are in the same 3rd grade class here in Manhatan. Little did we know they were plotting this trip from the day they found out about it!

Day 1

We had several hours before our first dinner to enjoy Hollywood Studios. It was the first time any of us had been in this park.

We hit the Star Wars ride (Star Tours), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, and my absolute favorite, Toy Story Mania.

The kids ran around everywhere and were thrilled!

I was pretty much a first timer as an adult in Disney World and felt that I was able to get the lay of the land so to speak, I felt that the size of this park was manageable. As someone who had never spent any siginicant time in Disney World I had a fear of it’s largesse. I was happy to get over that fear.

We had dinner on the beach at our hotel, the Yacht Club. I love the location of the Yacht Club, Epcot is within walking distance and Hollywood Studios is a quick ferry away.

Dinner was an opportunity to start to meet my fellow bloggers from around the country, many of whom I only knew by twitter handle. Meeting these amazing folks was the personal highlight of my trip. making memories with all of them is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Day 2

My spouse took the kids to the Magic Kingdom while we all sat in conferences all day. Does that sound boring with Disney World all around and us indoors?  Not at all, the speakers at this conference were inspiring beyond words. I am already starting to put some of their advice into action, things you will be reading about in the coming months. For me, the message, “Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone” was very important to hear. Some new adventures have already presented themselves and “No” is no longer my response! Again, the speakers at this conference were inspiring and I am grateful to have been in attendance.

After the speakers we met our families at the pool for a few hours before we headed to Animal Kingdom for dinner. FYI, the pool complex at the Yacht Club is awesome: a slide from a pirate ship, a lazy river, and all the sand you could want in a pool!

Dinner was in DinoLand. Buffets greeted us everywhere, and all the rides were open for us to enjoy even though the park would normally be closed at this time. Wow. The kids ate a little before they realized they could go on rides continually with no waiting time. Even I road on the “Dinosaur!”

We also got to enjoy some carnival games, my son was thrilled when his new friends greeted him his first morning home after the trip:

Day 3

We had a conference breakfast the next morning and then a 1 hour seminar. We met old Mouseketeers and got to hear stories about Walt Disney himself. It was quite nostalgic, I am old enough to remember when all of this was on TV in the olden days.

Funnily enough I choose a seminar on food:

It was at this point that we hopped a cab to Jungle World where my spouse was with the kids. We did not want to waste another minute missing any excitement in the parks, and I was afraid my spouse would need some relief.

I love animals and was thrilled to ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari. It does keep moving so taking pictures was difficult, but I am already planning my trip back which will include the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail so I can see the animals at a more leisurely pace. We also took in the Festival of the Lion King show, I have yet to see the Lion King on Broadway, so I insisted that we go to this.

By the time we returned to our hotel we were too exhausted to go to the pool. We rested up before our trip to dinner at the new Animation property, written about separately.

Day 4

We left early to hit the rides in Epcot. Again the advantage to staying at both the Yacht Club and the Boardwalk properties is that you are a 10 minute walk from the rear entrance to Epcot, making it much easier to gain entrance when there are throngs of people at the front of the park.

Soarin. They suspended me in a hang glider like seat, 45 feet above the ground, in a giant Imax projection dome. I wanted to run out, but my son pleaded with me to stay. I am not a courageous person, I did not go on any of the roller coasters my son went on, but I could not leave him after his plea. One of my blogging mom friends said it was OK so I stupidly trusted her! This was way out of my comfort zone but an amazing and exhilarating experience. It’s all about facing fears!

I loved Future World! I can’t wait to return!

We had a 5 p.m. flight back to NY. I felt we made great use of our time but there is much more that I want to see. I came away feeling that as large as Walt Disney World is, it is not overwhelming, it is manageable. Of course I never made it to the Magic Kingdom, the largest park. But I am planning our next trip as I must go on It’s a Small World After All!

Wrap-Up

My son faced several fears this trip, going on Expedition Everest and Splash Mountain were his main accomplishments, and he rode them several times. It’s all he can talk about since we have come home. As a parent, to hear my child talk about his adventures in such glowing terms is what it is all about. He is so proud of himself. He has made such amazing memories. I don’t mean to be a walking ad for Walt Disney World, but it was truly a magical experience for all of us.

Disclosure: I attended the Disney Social Media Moms conference at a greatly reduced price. I was not wasked to write this post. All opinions are 100% honest and our own.

My favorite picture of the trip is this one of my spouse, dead center on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! Do not tell him that I printed this!