History of Walter Elias Disney

Why is Disney so magical?  What makes us feel like we are wrapped up in inviting arms when we travel to Disney destinations?  The only way to answer these questions is to take a look at the history of Walt Disney the man.

Walt Disney was born in 1901 in the Midwest and moved to Kansas City with his parents as a child.  In the early 1920’s he began his first cartoon drawings called Laugh-O-Grams and eventually moved to California where he started up the Disney Bros Studio with brother Roy and married wife, Lillian.  In 1927 Walt had developed a character called Oswald the Rabbit, whose rights were later stolen from him by Charlie Mintz of Universal Pictures.

On the train home from the meeting in which he lost his signature Oswald Rabbit, Lillian helped him come up with Mickey Mouse… and a star was born! Walt went on to build a successful studio with Mickey Mouse, silly symphony and feature movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

In the early 1940’s Walt would take his girls out to play every Sunday and wondered why no one had created a place that both parents and kids could go to have fun together.  Only July 20th, 1955 his dream finally became a reality when Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.  The opening day was featured on TV and brought quite a crowd.

Walt continued to make movies such as The Shaggy Dog, and in 1964 Mary Poppins.  He began to develop the well known Animatronics for The 1964 Worlds Fair also.  The prime attraction was The Carousel of Progress which documented American progress through the decades.  Today an updated version of the original is in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Florida.

During the 1960’s Walt also bought up lots of land all over the nation, but his most important project was known as The Florida Project.  Under several names he bought up parcels of land in swampy central Florida in order to build a new theme park.  He didn’t want to make the same mistake with Disneyland and allow the outside world to infringe on his magical world, and so bought up enough land to isolate the theme park.

While developing his new Magic Kingdom in Florida and his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, Walt fell ill with lung cancer and died on December 15, 1966.

The company Walt had founded with brother Roy picked itself back up and opened Walt Disney World in 1971 with The Magic Kingdom.  Later they opened Epcot, but not as Walt had envisioned (an actual community people would live and work in), but rather as a theme park that focused on the Future and a World’s Fair theme, two things Walt loved very much.

Walt was dedicated to entertainment and as a Dad wanted somewhere to take his kids that everyone would enjoy.  His movies, animated shorts and theme parks showed his joy for life.  That joy has entered  our hearts and gives us that tingly fuzzy magical feeling we come to expect at Disney destinations.  Walt is truly an inspiration to enjoy life and  have fun!

Michael's VIPs Tours

by Angie Kennard
1-800-709-4573
Angie@wdwtravels.com

Let me start by simple stating “AMAZING”!!!!!

I had a handful of Agents all down for a Earmark Conference in Disney World in November 09 and I couldn’t think of a better thing to do than a MICHAEL’S VIPs tour for my agents so they could experience firsthand EVERYTHING Michael’s VIPs tour does for our clients who chose to use them.

It started with an itinerary. We were all going to be at Magic Kingdom, and since we were all coming in at different times, we were not the common client that goes to the park all at the same time. Not a problem! Our tour guide Andrew even called me to see if we needed anything and even offered to have a different service to bring us from the Airport.

There were three of us (Laure, Stacy and I) that had arrived and checked in and were on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We got a call from our guide, Andrew, wanting to know if he could pick us up at the Resort and take us over to Magic Kingdom himself. It was the first of many things that impressed us with such a level of service that I can’t even explain. When Andrew pulled up he had bottled water for each of us for our afternoon. As we got into the Magic Kingdom he helped with taking our pictures on Main Street as almost every guest does. We headed to Small World and he started by taking our tickets and being the Fast Pass runner to Thunder Mountain. This is normally a job my husband does on our trips and I know my husband was wishing he was there so he could not be the runner…lol. We rode Small World and Andrew greeted us when we got off and noticed that I used the sanitizer when we got into the park that he stopped to get us all our own hand sanitizers, again a level of service that was BIG! We then rode ride after ride with the guided best times to ride them to less traffic ways to get to them. Everything was amazing that Andrew did. Andrew was soon a part of our WDWTravels family since he loved Disney just as we did. He told us useful facts about each ride that even some of us didn’t know which was surprising. We ate a late lunch at Plaza and were seated right away with no reservation. The food was great and a nice stop for all. After lunch we met up with our fourth agent, Samantha. We then rode more rides with little or no wait. If we ever needed a tissue, drink or a break Andrew was right there with whatever we needed. We got to ride everything we wanted to in the time frame that we scheduled. One of our last stops was Main Street Bakery before we headed over to Epcot to meet up with our fifth agent Patti who had just arrived. As we got to Epcot we met up with her and had a cheers drink at the UK and of course I had Patti’s favorite blueberry muffin from Main street waiting for her since she missed our tour at Magic Kingdom. We then went to Turtle Talk with Crush, which was amazing even without kids :). Then off to Soarin, which is one of my favorite rides. Andrew gave us his great knowledge of touring each park to get the most of our days. Michael's VIPs is the same "Mike" of Tour Guide Mike fame. Most of us at WDWTravels use Tour Guide Mike to help plan every one of our clients vacations so they may get the least busy days at each park. This is a great service we provide at no cost to our clients.

We then did some shopping before heading over to Mexico to see Illuminations on the lagoon. The seats were the best we all had ever had and we all have been to Disney MANY times. The park was closing after this and it was time to say goodbye to our new friend Andrew.

As we headed back to our resort we couldn’t help but talk about our day with Andrew and how amazing everything was and that we really need to let more of our clients know about their services. Our services are all the planning before you get there to make the best of everything Disney has to offer but MICHAEL’S VIPs are exclusive private tours by guides who do this every day for families of 4 to groups of 20!

Our tour guide Andrew with a group

Michael's VIPs invites you to be a kid again when exploring Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, or SeaWorld. Your VIP Private Guide greets you each day and guides everyone through the parks best attractions, shows and dining choices. Maximum fun, minimized waiting, minimized working and no hassles. Everything is top of the line with Michel's VIPs; from the contact of the initial request to following up after your tour. We highly suggest adding MICHAEL’S VIPs to at least one day of your vacation but be careful … you may get so spoiled that you hire them for another or even more!
MICHAEL's VIPs info:
407-445-7253
email: tours@michaelsvips.com

DAD, DAUGHTERS & DISNEY

After careful planning, the long awaited day had arrived. We were so ready for Disney World; me, my dad and my two sisters. My dad and sisters had never flown nor had they been to Disney World, so we had a good reason to go and celebrate. You don't really need a reason to go to Disney, just the word Disney is a reason to celebrate.

My most recent trip to Disney, I did celebrate it with my sisters and our dad in November 2009 and all the Christmas decorations were up and so pretty. That will certainly get you in the Christmas spirit. What a wonderful feeling it gave me to be able to share this experience with them. I have been to Disney several times in the last year, but this was my favorite. It was a chance for me to make a magical memory, they would never forget.


From the airport, we boarded the Magical Express and headed to the Pop Century Resort. They loved the idea of not having to deal with luggage. When we arrived, I had already checked in online, so there were no problems, everything went well. We found our rooms to be very nice and accommodating. It wasn't very long until our luggage was delivered to our room. There were towels on the beds in the shape of Mickeys and everyone thought that was cool. I had requested adjoining rooms so we could have more of a family feeling and it was granted. Disney has a way of making you feel very special and there are so many extras and different touches you can add to your vacation to make it extra special. The Pop Century has a very nice food court. There was a wide variety of foods to choose from, and something for everyone. Our package included the Quick-Service meal plan, but I decided to upgrade to the regular dining plan and was very glad with my decision. It gave us a chance to try many different restaurants, at all the parks. I made all the reservations prior to our trip and did not have any problems what so ever.


We planned to go to Epcot on our first day. It was very nice to have Disney transportation. It was so easy just to walk out and get on the bus and not have to drive yourself around in all the traffic and deal with parking. We got a chance to eat in Canada at the LeCellier Steakhouse and the food was just fabulous, such great service! We enjoyed all the sights and even Dad did the rides. He loved Soarin. There is something for everyone at Disney. We continued the day at Epcot and finished it off with the Illuminations. It was a wonderful experience, just gorgeous.


We managed to enjoy all the parks, fireworks, food, and all the dancing lights. My family also loved Downtown Disney. They liked the busy feel and also enjoyed eating at Captain Jack’s.


My family commented on how everything was so coordinated and well planned and thanked me for such wonderful memories. We are still talking about our trip and already planning to go again.


There are a lot of things in life to celebrate, just life itself, and what a way to spend it, I can’t think of any better way to spend it than with family, friends and loved ones at Disney World.

My Day As A Spy…

My Day As A Spy.......

While in Disney World August 3, 2009, my family had the opportunity to become “REAL” Secret Agents with Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure! Whether you are 5 or 105, this is an adventure you don’t want to miss.

Stationed around Epcot’s World Showcase are several Kim Possible Kiosks where families, like mine, begin their secret agent adventures.

We began in Future World at Innoventions. A Disney Cast Member showed us to a computer where we swiped our park ticket and entered the number of people working together on our secret agent adventure. We received a ticket that gave us a time and location to begin our first mission. We arrived at our KP Kiosk location and the family shared one “Kimmunicator” and worked together as a team.

The cast member that walked the family through use of the “Kimmunicator” was AMAZING! He informed us that there are spies around and we should be careful throughout our mission. He also gave the children a signal when to pass the “Kimmunicator” to the next person in our group… Every time you hear the Kim Possible music, pass it to the next person.

The “Kimmunicator”, a cell phone, is easy to use and has a “back” and “help” button should you need assistance.

It was now time to begin our first mission! We stepped away from the kiosk to receive our mission details… We were off to Mexico! It was so exciting to receive clues and find the locations. Each clue gave us a picture of our next location with directions. Once we arrived at our destination, we would send a “signal” with our “Kimmunicator” and something nearby would interact with us. Maps were revealed on walls, piñatas revealed clues and we disarmed a rocket that shot out of the volcano inside Mexico!

The children were THRILLED with each step of the mission and amazed at how display cases and sights we see everyday at Epcot interacted with our mission.

We were VERY careful to be stealth and not let spies around us know what we were doing! Upon completion of the mission, we were given the option to choose another mission in a different country or we could drop off the “Kimmunicator” in a secret drop box located near the country of our mission.

We completed three missions before we returned our “Kimmunicator” (about 1 ½ hours) and exited the World Showcase. We plan on spending more time on our next trip to Disney World at the World Showcase to allow more missions!

On your next Disney World vacation, plan on at least two missions with your family which take about 30 minutes to complete. Each adventure is unique and exciting. Don’t we all have the desire to be REAL Secret Agents? Don’t miss this family spy adventure!!!