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The Disney Blog 10th Anniversary kicks off a year of giving

10th

The Disney Blog came to life in June of 2004. I had been blogging off and on about personal things, the real estate market (while we attempted to sell our home), and career prospects since 1998. I had also been writing for the Disneyland travel planning website LaughingPlace.com since August of 1999. But when I looked around in 2004, there weren’t any blogs that focused on the entire Disney company, just a few talking about Walt Disney World and showing off photos of the parks and resorts. You’re supposed to write about your passion, and there are few things I’m more passionate about than the legacy of Walt Disney and all the magic he brought to the world.

Sadly, some of the original posts I wrote during that time were lost when moving from Typepad to self hosted WordPress. But thanks to Archive.org, we have a good luck at how simple the blog was at its beginning.

thedisneyblog-june2004

We’ve tried to keep as much of that simple look and feel as possible through the years. But it does look like technology has finally caught up with us. We’ll be exploring options for moving to a responsible design or a mobile template in the near future.

But enough about the blog, this is really about you. The readers. I would probably still be writing about Disney in one form or another, but I definitely wouldn’t be working this hard on The Disney Blog if it wasn’t for you. Thank you for all the emails, comments, social media likes and shares, and for telling your friends about the blog.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Disney Blog, we’re throwing a “Year of Giving.” Each week we’ll be giving away prizes. Some large, some small. But all with the goal of saying thank you for being part of The Disney Blog community!

mymagic-watch

Up first is a great prize The Disney Blog was given at the recent MyMagic+ event at Walt Disney World. There’s one MyMagic+ watch in a tin and a MyMagic+ Bag which will be randomly awarded to one winner of the following Rafflecopter contest:
mymagic-watch2

Thank you so much for entering. I look forward to taking The Disney Blog to new places in its 10th year.

47 thoughts on “The Disney Blog 10th Anniversary kicks off a year of giving”

  1. Kathleen Crawford

    The MyMagic+ and Fastpass+ website enhancements, app and fast passes are a huge improvement. I have more opportunities to get the rides and attractions we want when we want. We have found it a little difficult to coordinate groups traveling with us, but knowing Disney there will be further enhancements to the program.

  2. We just moved here and used the fast pass for the first time. I have mixed feelings. It was nice not having to run around the parks gathering FPs, but I don’t like the restrictions on the amount you can get. I think changes will probably come about soon.

  3. We haven’t used either, yet. Our next trip is being scheduled now and even for my husband – the ultimate vacation planner – this is a bit much. Trying to know what you’re going to want to do in such a small window of time is frustrating him, especially knowing that rides do occasionally stop for a variety of reasons (in the case of the Safari, sometimes for reasons they won’t disclose;). He was originally worried about security with using the bands to make purchases but once we found out it’s linked to our room and not our credit card that put his mind at ease a bit. I’m anxious to get there and try it all out, though!

  4. Love the blog! We used MyMagic+ for the first time two weeks ago. We really enjoyed not having to carry around our tickets and room keys, and being able to adjust fastpasses from our phones throughout the day. I thought it made the trip a lot easier!

  5. I really like some aspects of mymagic+ and fastpass+. I like planning ahead, and getting some hard to get fastpasses are nice. Disney is doing a good job listening to their fans in tweaking it.
    Congrats on 10 years! This is my favorite blog to read and I wish you many more magical blogging years to come.

  6. I’ve only had 1 chance to try out MyMagic+ so far, and I was pretty pleased with it even though I could only book 7 days out because of the tickets we were using.

    The only downside was we were cutting it close with our Peter Pan’s Flight Fastpass time & our Be Our Guest dining reservation. The Fastpass line at Peter Pan was so long there was no way we could have ridden it in the 30 minute gap we had available. Other than that, really enjoyed it.

  7. Congratulations to 10 years. They were just getting the original fact pass the last time I that I was in the world. Hope to see how this one works some time in the future.

  8. Used fastpass+ for the first time last week. Not impressed at all. With the old system it was much easier to get on all the rides you wanted. Being limited and having to decide so far in advance is frustrating and it makes it very difficult to change parks on the fly due to weather.

  9. We just missed the testing last summer during our stay at The Animal Kingdom Villas last year. I’m eager to try it out and think it will work well for my family. I’m not sure it will help the guests who were confused by or didn’t use fast pass classic in the first place which I think was the main point of the switch, but only time will tell.

  10. I’ve had no issues with MyMagic+. The MyDisneyExperience.com web site and app keep getting better.

  11. I used the MyMagic+ at the beginning of May. I went into it thinking that it was going to be too controlling and restrictive…but we all loved it. It was great not having a runner sprint around the whole park getting the paper fastpasses. Plus, it was nice to have a family discussion of what rides we all wanted to pick for fastpasses before going into the park. It was also convenient to have the app so we could change the fastpass times if we got held up or wanted to make a change. The only thing we couldn’t do with the app was add a forth (or fifth, or sixth, etc.) fastpass after we had completed our first three, so we had to find a kiosk to get those (maybe that has since changed). It did get confusing, however, when we had a fastpass for a ride that was down, but a cast member cleared it up for us and we were able to come back at any time when it was up and running again.

  12. I like the ideas for these passes and the versions I have used have been just fine. There are rides that I normally would have skipped as the lines were to long and the fast passes gave me at least one shot at them!

  13. I love the Disney blog. Having two special needs kids we don’t get to Disneyland ad often as I would like. Thank you for keeping me in touch with my other “home”.

  14. The last I used MyMagic+ it was still in testing and we figured out all the loopholes before we got there… so it worked awesomely in our favor!! So we loved it! I also used it for one trip that I only stayed one night at the Sports Resort and it worked great to unlock my door though it seemed slightly excessive for a one night stay. I am curious to see how it works out when I go again in October… I’m not as optimistic as I think we won’t be able to get our tickets in advance so we are going to miss out on using FastPass+ which is disappointing.

  15. Have not yet been able to visit WDW yet since the rollout of MyMagic+ and Fastpass+(we visit Disneyland much more since we are in California), but I’m anticipating being a little bummed with the Fastpass+ limits. I’ve been a long time RideMax user, so I’ve learned to avoid the lines and maximize Fastpass use on my own. Seems harder to do this under the new system. And harder to adjust on the fly too.

  16. Great blog! Love how far you have come- keep it up. We are looking forward to using the new bands when we go in September! Keeping our fingers crossed for another magical trip.

  17. I used the bands this summer. I’m honestly not a fan. I was talking to some people that frequent the park more often that talk about a strategy to using them, but I guess I never really fully understood. Crossing my fingers for an updated version of MyMagic+ so we can fully utilize our day at the park like we used to. Congrats on 10 years! Keep going! <3

  18. Congratulations to 10 years! We visited WDW in April and I am a giant fan of the MyMagic+ and Fastpass+ – I wish I could use my bracelet in my everyday life.

  19. Congrats on 10 years! I’m happy to say that I have been following you for almost 5 of them :)

  20. We used FP+ last December and look forward to using it again in October. I’m curious if we will be able to get a 4th FP+ during the day after we use the first 3 FP+. I like the idea of being able to get more FP+ at a different park, but I’m not a fan that you need to go to a stand alone kiosk.

  21. The only issue I had was that we did not get a text message when our room was ready. I had to call to get our room number. Other than that, I love it.

  22. We love MyMagic+. Our recent family reunion trip was more enjoyable because of it. Loved being greeted by name when we walked into our resort lobby at arrival to check-in. She knew our name by us wearing our Magic bands.

  23. Well, congratulations on 10 wonderful years of helping, advising and commenting.
    It’s very difficult at times to decide what to do or where to go while you are visiting a disney park or hotel or a restaurant!! Having something like this to go to to help you decide it’s greatly appreciated. I love Disney, it brings out the best of me and gives a chance to be a child everytime I’m there. As a mom of 4 it’s pretty hectic and going to Disney it’s something I look forward to evey year.
    Keep writing!”

  24. I’ve used MyMagic+ several times now. The only problems we have had with our bands is at one resort we walked (a long way) to our rooms only to find our bands would not open them. A cast member came, let us in, and took our bands to the front desk for us so that we didn’t have to wait anymore while they were fixed. Another issue is the extra band for your pass if you are a passholder. I know I could have my pass loaded to my resort band, but I go so often that I figure I would forget or load to the wrong band by mistake. So, I have to wear two bands: One for resort/charging and one for park admission.

  25. We are enjoying Fastpass+ the only issue I have had is pass holders only being given one month for selections so high attendance rides or events get booked by resort guest before we are even given a chance book a pass.

  26. As a cast member my experiences with MyMagic+ and Fastpass+ are a little different than the normal guests. I still love using both of them, even if I do have to wait until the day of to pick my faspasses. I think Disney has really helped streamline a lot of their park perks, like fastpass, with MyMagic+ and Fastpass+.

  27. Our first opportunity to use both these services will be this November. I do like the sound of the new Memory Maker photo package. Seems to be a simpler option that the old photo pass stuff.

  28. The mymagic+ and fastpass+ keeps getting better and better … when it was being rolled out last year there were a LOT of kinks but Disney has always been great about listening and fixing to best meet the needs of their customers… love the app and all the cool features and being able to plan around special rides and dinner reservations and we do LOVE our magic bands and the fact they work on Disney Infinity is super cool too …

  29. Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary! Thanks Disney Blog for 10 years of great stories and fun meet-ups!

  30. Pingback: 10th Anniversary Year of Giving – Week 2 Contest | The Disney Blog

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