MousePlanet staff writer Steve Russo responds to letters about his column on trip reports to kick off this week’s mailbag.
A guest writes:
I would only add a suggestion to your tips on writing and posting a trip report and that is to use lots of paragraph breaks. I’ve read many a report on this site where a single paragraph went on for pages—very difficult to read.
Arnold B. writes:
As usual, I enjoyed today’s column on trip report writing. Thanks, by the way, for the mention of the U.S. Virgin Islands, my home.
Like you, I very much prefer trip reports that are posted as one document after the end of the trip. It’s just more enjoyable and easier to read a trip report that’s posted in this way.
Unfortunately, many report writers prefer to serialize their reports over a period of weeks or months. One I saw was started in January 2008 and posts were still going in July. Like you, there’s really no way I’m going to search through hundreds of posts looking for the actual report updates.
I personally find it easier to remember details by writing detailed notes at the end of each trip day. However, I save these notes to a Word (actually, in my case WordPerfect) file. When I get home, I can finish off the narrative and then post the report as one complete document.
As for keeping tracking of what’s happening as each travel day unfolds, I rely heavily on my digital camera as a timekeeper. I’ll take a picture of the attraction sign as we get in line, then a quick shot of the loading area when we’re about to board. The time stamp on the photo files will give me the time queues I need for the trip report. I also make it a point to save each and every receipt. This gives me the info I need on when we ate, what we had, how much it cost, and the name of our server. Same thing with purchases… the receipt gives me all the info I need for the trip report.
As for photos in trip reports, I’m with you again. Embedding the photos within the trip reports can sometimes be a pain in the you-know-where. Many people, myself included, don’t have super-fast Internet connections, and waiting for embedded photos to load slows down the report reading process. However, I very much think that photos add to the enjoyment of trip reports. What I do is set up a photo gallery on my personal website. (I know everyone doesn’t have this option, but the commercial photo sites are a good substitute.) A link at the end of the trip report to the photo gallery is all you need. Some people link individual photos throughout the body of their trip reports and, although this is better than no pictures or embedded pictures, this is still a bit of a hassle because you have to switch back and forth between the browser window with the trip report and the windows with the individual pictures.
Incidentally, my wife (Helena) and I will be returning to Disney World in December after all. But this will be a very different kind of Disney World trip. We will not be visiting any of the theme parks, but instead, will be resort tour. It’s our hope to be able to visit all of the Disney World resorts during our week in Orlando. We also have dinner reservations at some of the more prominent ones. Look for our trip report in early January 2009.
As usual, you and I are on the same page on a great many things. I appreciate the suggestions—the digital camera is a particularly good tip for re-creating the chronology of a trip.
The resort tour in December is a wonderful idea. There’s so much to see but I would put in a plug for a few park days. The parks are all decorated beautifully for the holidays and there’s the Candlelight Processional. Have a great trip and I’ll look forward to that trip report.
Tami writes:
I really liked your article on trip reports; maybe more people will start writing them! I had one comment to add. Part of the reason that I write them is because my kids are now 4 and 6.
The 6-year-old has been to Disneyland 15 times, but I highly doubt that he will remember much of the trips. With the trip reports, my kids will be able to relive their childhood vacations that they cannot remember. I print the trip reports out and stick them in our photo album with the pictures from the trip! Thanks so much for keeping the Disney Magic alive!
That’s another great tip and a reason for writing reports. Thanks for sharing.
Steve continues answering letters, but shifts topics to discuss his analysis of the Disney Dining Plan.
Dennis F. writes:
I agree with all you said, and the way you said it. We eat like you do. It was important to note, as you did, that many people would not order dessert with a counter-service meal if they were not on the plan. The dessert would be just extra calories that are not justified by the taste experience. For our next trip we are not using any dining plan and expect to experience flexibility and a smaller waist line.
Good comments. I remember the original Dining Plan with each table service offering an appetizer, entree and dessert. Even with all the walking, I’d gain 10 pounds after a week of that.
Brian D. writes:
I read your review of the Quick Service Plan, and I want to say that you really hit the nail on the head. We go to Walt Disney World about three or four times per year. In May my wife and I tried the Disney Dining Plan with our four-year-old nephew. There were days where we couldn’t stick to a plan-of-action because of an accident (somebody got a little too scared on Haunted Mansion… and it wasn’t me!). So, our dinner reservations were cancelled and we were left to fend for counter service instead of use table service. We also found ourselves not wanting snacks from time-to-time.
On the final day of a one-week trip, we had the following left over: eleven snack credits, two table service credits, and five counter service credits. I’m sure we were on the higher end of things. At least it was fun handing out Dole Whips to people in line with my 11 snack credits!
I’m one hundred percent sure we won’t be doing the Disney Dining Plan again. My wife and I feel that they serve too much food for just one person; we find ourselves splitting meals, and I’m a big eater. The portions are usually really big.
A friend of mine said that he had to get two rooms on his latest vacation (2 kids, 2 adults). He said they had a connecting room and put that room under his wife’s name. He then bought in to the Disney Dining Plan for just 1 room (1 adult, 1 child). He said it was perfect in every way and is doing it again.
I hope I get in line behind someone like you at Aloha Isle for a free Dole Whip. That should have been a Year of a Million Dreams prize! I also think the Disney Dining Plan on just one of two rooms is a great idea.
Anthony U. writes:
What a great article. I’m still laughing over the refillable mug price!
If you dig deeper into the plans I’d love to give you my thoughts as we have used one of the plans every visit since 2002. Twice we have used the Premium plan and with almost 100 hours of planning we “made” a lot of money on the deal. I look forward to the next article!
Erin writes:
You wrote, “As I’ve said many times, do any of us know where we’ll be, when we’ll be hungry, and what we’ll want to eat 180 days in advance?”
My answer is yes. It makes another great way to plan for the trip—we take a look at what we’re doing and then check where we’d like to eat, favorites or new. By doing that, we have a way to fill a Disney fix by getting excited planning another thing about our trip. If we feel like changing our plans we do, freeing up a spot for someone who didn’t plan ahead.
Also, we don’t always do 180 days ahead, so the sarcasm and looking down the nose at us for doing this is wasted in this way too. Sometimes, we go in that day and grab a restaurant in the morning at Guest Services, just like we used to do before the plan, back in the days of the reservation person being on the TV screen at CommuniCore. Plus, it has helped us afford restaurants that we’ve never enjoyed before, and we’ve always gotten what we wanted, even at a late date. Not all of the dining plan needs reservations, something also ignored in this article’s attitude.
So the dining plan gives us an action in anticipation of our trip, opened up places we couldn’t do before, and still allows flexibility. Nobody has to use it, but they also don’t need to give anyone a hard time if they CHOOSE to do so. Just as I have no children, but make allowances in lines, planning, and more. Unfortunately, like this article, people still will give someone a hard time, because even though such an attitude isn’t magical or Disney, it’s the sense of entitlement and tunnel vision that too many guests show anymore.
I will admit to sarcasm but… “Looking down the nose?” Not for a minute. Apparently, I didn’t do a good enough job in making my points.
The popularity of the Dining Plan has led to an increase in the number of Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) being made. I don’t think you’d dispute that. Where it used to be possible to get same day reservations, it’s now extremely difficult for any of the more popular places. Indeed, I’ve seen situations where someone couldn’t get into Le Cellier for lunch or dinner for the entire length of their stay. If you are having no problem getting dining reservations on the same day, I can only guess it’s for the less popular places. If not, please share your secret.
You indicate that the tone of my column was to “give someone a hard time.” If I conveyed that to you, I apologize. It was not my intent. I attempted an analysis of the Quick Service Dining Plan and concluded it could be a good deal financially for those who choose to use it. I did caution that, while it could save you money, it could also change the way you normally eat. I will admit that I do not think the Dining Plan is for me and I lament the loss of the easy reservations that were there before the Plan started. I did not, at any time, condone a “sense of entitlement” and apologize again if that was your sense of the column.
R.S. writes:
I just wanted to point out a minor detail you omitted from your latest column about the Dining Plan: The deluxe version of the Dining Plan includes the appetizer that had been taken away from the table-service meals under the regular plan.
Also, you mentioned not usually getting dessert with your counter service lunches; I’ve heard of people asking for a bottle of water in place of their counter service dessert.
Thanks for the updates. I had heard about folks substituting for the desserts but was reluctant to include that—lest Disney change the “policy.”
