There are millions of tips and tricks on how to have a good time on a Walt Disney World visit. But what about the things you shouldn't do? I've compiled a list of 6 ways to ruin your Walt Disney World experience: Don’t plan anything at all I used to work at the front entrance of Disney's Animal Kingdom, and the amount of times a whole family would saunter off the bus and ask a coworker or I “So…what’s there to do here?” was astronomical.  There are A LOT of things to do at Walt Disney World. Take one look at the list of attractions or the sheer size of the parks and it's enough to overwhelm anyone. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around shelling out so much money for travel, hotel, and tickets just to not know anything about the place you’re traveling to.  Some people don’t even know there’s more than one park in Walt Disney World before they go! Of course, asking the Cast Members for advice or suggestions isn’t a bad idea. But having a Cast Member plan out your whole...

3. I'll Make A Man Out of You This is possibly the coolest Disney song ever. Everyone rocks out to "Mysterious as the dark side of the mooooooon". I put on this song anytime I need a little motivation to make it through. I played this song on repeat before some finals in college, and I'm convinced this song is the reason I passed.  2. A Whole New World No Disney love song can quite capture the wonder and excitement of falling in love like A Whole New World. Alan Menken's intricate composing and Lea Solonga's emotional voice really take this song to the next level.  1. Circle of Life This is my favorite Disney song of all time because I can't get sick of it. And I've tested this out. When I was working at DAK, Circle of Life was played on their background music loop. Each loop lasted about a half hour. So I listed to this song about 12 times a day, every day, for 7 months straight. And it still gives me chills. 

Mulan is easily the Disney Princess deemed the most feminist. After all, she did fight in a fucking war and became the hero of all of China.  The only criticism I have ever heard of Mulan not being feminist is that she had to become a man in order to save China. But that's blatantly false. Mulan had to dress and act like a man in order to join the army in her father's place. But during the final battle scene at the palace, she is out of her military uniform. She faces Shan Yu as Mulan, not as Ping. Additionally, all the other men in the troop are dressed up as women to sneak into the palace. They climb, kick, and punch in dresses and makeup, just like how Mulan had to bind her che st and talk in a low voice while fighting earlier battles. Also, Mulan defeats Shan Yu with her fan. Fans are a symbol of femininity, while swords are a symbol of masculinity. Mulan literally defeats the bad guy with femininity. She doesn't have to abandon her womanhood to win.  However, I don...

Ask anyone their Disney parks pet peeves and stroller users will come up every time. From space-hogging to bus-stalling to ambience-ruining, strollers seem to annoy everybody that doesn’t use them. They can even trigger a “This Is What’s Wrong With America Nowadays” rant from the angriest of us in the anti-stroller brigade. And I get it – if you’re a parent of small children, a stroller can really come in handy during long days walking back and forth across massive parks. But just like anything else in life, there are respectful ways and disrespectful ways to use a stroller.   First, there’s those who use strollers to hog up walking space. Or those that use a stroller is a traffic-battery-ramer and not something holding a small child. I once had the pleasure of seeing a mommy slam her stroller into someone who was walking on the complete opposite side of the pathway as her and then start screaming at her victim for endangering her child. Those are the kind of stroller users ev...

When people think of the Walt  Disney company, they probably think of Michael Eisner, the Nine Old Men, or Walt and Roy themselves. These men may be the most famous in Disney history, but a lot of women have also helped paved the path towards  success for the company. Here are some Disney women that deserve to be recognized:  Unnamed Ink and Painters Due to stereotypes about women, originally they could only be found in secretarial roles or in the ink and paint department at the Walt Disney Studios. Women were believed to be detail-oriented (but not smart or creative enough for animating jobs) which is why they seemed like a perfect fit for ink and paint. Animators would draw the characters, but the ink and paint girls will fill in the colors. It was a very methodical job. The company even hired other employees to stand over the shoulders of the painters and time them to keep track of their progress. Even though the ink and paint ladies were often overlooked, th...

On the surface level, Pocahontas already seems like a great role model for girls. She is independent, confident and curious about the world around her. She never stops exploring and learning.  Like many Disney Princesses, Pocahontas does not have a mother. But she seeks guidance from the elderly figure Grandmother Willow. Pocahontas goes to Grandmother Willow for advice because she knows Grandmother Willow is the wisest woman she knows, and Grandmother Willow encourages Pocahontas to listen to her heart.   Pocahontas has a bittersweet ending. Instead of choosing to explore the other side of the world with the man she loves, she stays with the people she loves. It’s heartbreaking that she has to say goodbye to the only man she ever loved, but it’s empowering that she chooses to fulfil her destiny as a leader. Unfortunately, The movie has gotten a bad reputation for being racist because it inaccurately paints colonizer John Smith in a heroic light.  In reality, he could be ...

The 2010s was an exciting time of growth for the Walt Disney World parks.  In 2012, Magic Kingdom expanded Fantasyland with two new themed areas – Storybook Circus and The Enchanted Forest. Along with theming came a new dark ride, a new rollercoaster, a table service restaurant and a meet and greet area for the ever popular Princesses.  In 2017, Animal Kingdom not only opened the innovative alien land of Pandora, but added nighttime entertainment such as the Tree of Life Awakens and the Sunset Safari.  A year later Toy Story Land, followed by Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge upped the desire to go to Hollywood Studios.  It seemed as if all the parks were getting makeovers – Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios – but one park. Epcot and its Future World were stuck in the 2000s, and it was time for the park to move forward. With just a few more months of the decade left, Epcot’s makeover was announced at the 2019 D23 Expo. And it was clear that the Imagineers had sa...

Taylor Swift's early music catalog was bought by Shamrock Holdings. For over a year, Taylor has  been trying to buy her master's, which include her first six recorded albums, music videos, and album artwork. She was denied the opportunity to buy them, only for them to be bought by Hollywood's most callous manager . Recently, the master's were sold again to Shamrock Holdings.  A quick internet search will tell you that Shamrock Holdings is owned by none other than the Disney Family. Roy O. Disney founded the investment company and his granddaughter Abigail Disney is currently the Vice Chairman. Abigail Disney constantly speaks out against the Disney company's unethically greed and how current CEOs are not upholding Disney's morals.  According to their website, "Shamrock's tenet's are straightforward - invest and act with integrity, responsibility, and transparency." I have to laugh at the "integrity" part. Stealing another artis...

Everybody has their own opinions on what would make the perfect park for them. In the Disney Parks community, there is constant discourse on everything from which attractions should come back and which ones should be replaced to what type of music should play in the background or what type of coffee should be sold. If I was magically CEO for a day, here are some of the changes I would make to Magic Kingdom park. 1. Scrap that disastrous paint job and restore the castle to its silver and sky blue glory. Add more (temporary) sparkles for the 50th anniversary. 2. Upgrade the monorails and monorail tracks. Before the park closures, it seemed like a high number of breakdowns were being reported. 3. Put in more seating options on the ferry. I know that having people stand makes it possible to cram more people onto the ferry, but it also makes riding it almost unbearable. And courtesy always comes before efficiency! 4. Change up the menu at Tony’s. I personally love it but it seems food criti...

Walt Disney World officially opened up again (with restrictions) this summer. And while many are enjoying being back, for many others visiting the parks will not be an option for months to come. In the meantime, I'd thought I'd share some of my favorite park memories. 1. Big Downpour Mountain        I was spending an afternoon at Magic Kingdom with one of my friends. One of our favorite rides is Big Thunder Mountain. As we were waiting in line, my friend noticed the clouds growing darker. I checked the weather app on my cell and assured her it was not supposed to rain for a few more hours, which gave us plenty of time to have fun before hunkering down in a gift shop or somewhere. So we stayed in line and continued down the stairs to the enclosed loading platform.       If you don't know, Big Thunder Mounta in starts indoors.  The  loading platform is all indoors, and the train enters a cave scene. ...