DisneyElite4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
Oh wow! Aulani pictures are gorgeous! Can't wait to hear about both trips. Safe travels home.
We're Following the Leader… to the Disney Institute! (A business/family trip to WDW)
- Thread starter MarbleBob
- Start date
Karin1984
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
Thank you so much for posting about the Disney Institute. I have many of Lee Cockerell's books and would love to get a course there. Unfortunately... no funds at my company (or my own wallet) for this 
But now I at least have an idea what's going on (and realize, I really really really want to got there!)
What is the most important thing you have learned?
But now I at least have an idea what's going on (and realize, I really really really want to got there!)
What is the most important thing you have learned?
kelmac284
Lover of all things Disney since 1975
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
Wow thanks for sharing some Aulani pics. Looks like an amazing trip. SO jealous as that is def on my bucket list and we actually put in our timeshare 3 years in advance to hopefully go this past year. By the middle of 14 we realized that it was never going to happen (we tried to exchange into it from RCI). I still want to see it and don't know if we will ever actually get to stay there but I am hoping maybe someday we can go and at least visit it.
And more exciting news on our front, we are now going to dW over xmas. Crazy I know and I still can't believe it but as soon as we got back from the South my mom was convinced she wanted to do a trip over xmas break. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea since we still don't know if we can make Europe next Summer and if we DO that is going to be EXPENSIVE but mom actually was thinking about going to Dollywood over xmas and doing that other trip that we talked about. But I reminded her that we had our timeshare that we already paid for in Orlando for this past June. We had to pay 100 bucks but were able to extend it to next May of 17. We knew we wouldn't use it then cuz we have other plans so we discussed and it and decided if we could get into a timeshare on this short of notice we would do it. Well we called RCI and we were able to find one eventhough it wasn't that great. We paid for a 2 bedroom and we are getting a 1 bedroom. And normally I would NEVER go at xmas but is what it is. We had to jump on it cuz the 6 month date came up just a week after we got back. Since we are staying offsite I had to get up everyday at 3 to do our ADRS and that just ended yesterday.
I am still a bit apprehensive with how horrible the crowds will be esp since we haven't been in 6 years and there is so much new we haven't seen, also I kind of wanted to wait till more stuff was done but at this point I am sure we will have to go back in a few years once all this latest round of stuff is done. But anyway we are leaving ON xmas day and staying through the 4th of Jan. We are spending 6 days at DW and 2 days at Universal. No water parks and one day in between to transfer from DW to Universal where we will go to DTD.
It will def be interesting flying on xmas day and we will be there for NYE and chose to do HS as I am hoping it will be the least crowded. That day is also my daughter's 17th bday so hoping it goes well.
But anyway just wanted to share and can't wait to hear more about this report as well as Aulani!!
And more exciting news on our front, we are now going to dW over xmas. Crazy I know and I still can't believe it but as soon as we got back from the South my mom was convinced she wanted to do a trip over xmas break. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea since we still don't know if we can make Europe next Summer and if we DO that is going to be EXPENSIVE but mom actually was thinking about going to Dollywood over xmas and doing that other trip that we talked about. But I reminded her that we had our timeshare that we already paid for in Orlando for this past June. We had to pay 100 bucks but were able to extend it to next May of 17. We knew we wouldn't use it then cuz we have other plans so we discussed and it and decided if we could get into a timeshare on this short of notice we would do it. Well we called RCI and we were able to find one eventhough it wasn't that great. We paid for a 2 bedroom and we are getting a 1 bedroom. And normally I would NEVER go at xmas but is what it is. We had to jump on it cuz the 6 month date came up just a week after we got back. Since we are staying offsite I had to get up everyday at 3 to do our ADRS and that just ended yesterday.
I am still a bit apprehensive with how horrible the crowds will be esp since we haven't been in 6 years and there is so much new we haven't seen, also I kind of wanted to wait till more stuff was done but at this point I am sure we will have to go back in a few years once all this latest round of stuff is done. But anyway we are leaving ON xmas day and staying through the 4th of Jan. We are spending 6 days at DW and 2 days at Universal. No water parks and one day in between to transfer from DW to Universal where we will go to DTD.
It will def be interesting flying on xmas day and we will be there for NYE and chose to do HS as I am hoping it will be the least crowded. That day is also my daughter's 17th bday so hoping it goes well.
But anyway just wanted to share and can't wait to hear more about this report as well as Aulani!!
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Hello again everyone! We arrived back home on Monday and are still getting settled in. Boy, we must have had a lot of heat and rain here in St. Louis, because in 16 days, my garden has become majorly overridden with weeds. I plan to spend the next couple evenings getting it back under control, and then I'll respond to everyone's comments and start making progress on this TR again this weekend. In the meantime, I look forward to interacting with you all more regularly soon. Cheers!!!
TheMaxRebo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
I love the idea of the little prizes - would definitely motivate this fellow introvert!
The Boardwalk area is really nice and one of those areas I always wish we had more time to spend at
The convention center at the Contemporary is huge! We had to go to the business center there once as we had a package delivered when we were staying there and that is where it went
Sounds like such a fun activity and congratulations on winning! We did something similar one offsite but was making pizzas - and they did a think were towards the end they asked what ingredients did other teams use and when we couldn't name that many it was a lesson on that you always need to be aware of what the rest of your team is doing in case you need to step in and support, etc.
So glad you enjoyed your trip to Hawaii and Aulaini! It looks really neat - though I would not look forward to the travel to get there!
The Boardwalk area is really nice and one of those areas I always wish we had more time to spend at
The convention center at the Contemporary is huge! We had to go to the business center there once as we had a package delivered when we were staying there and that is where it went
Sounds like such a fun activity and congratulations on winning! We did something similar one offsite but was making pizzas - and they did a think were towards the end they asked what ingredients did other teams use and when we couldn't name that many it was a lesson on that you always need to be aware of what the rest of your team is doing in case you need to step in and support, etc.
So glad you enjoyed your trip to Hawaii and Aulaini! It looks really neat - though I would not look forward to the travel to get there!
melk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
So glad to hear your vacation went well, the pictures were great! I'm currently posting from the tail end of our California Adventure. Visited many places you had mentioned in your trip report. Tomorrow we're heading to Santa Cruz for lunch with my husband's cousin 
Day 5 - Wednesday, May 25 - Part 2: First Timers at Blizzard Beach
What have you never done before at Walt Disney World? One of the things that I had never done until this trip was go to a water park. There are several reasons for this: we haven't often traveled to WDW during the summer and the kids were not strong swimmers until they were relatively older. Since our tickets that we got through the conference included a water park day, I definitely knew we were going to take advantage!
The question in planning was TL or BB. I spent a lot of time comparing and contrasting, trying to figure out which to pick. In the end, I doubt it mattered that much. I'm sure they would both be great. However, I chose BB, because of the older children's area (Ski Patrol Training Camp) for Pickle, the gentler wave pool (also for Pickle,) and the imaginative theming. Lots of people prefer TL's theming, but since I knew we were headed to Aulani in a month, the tropical feel wasn't a high priority.
As usual, I got the troop up bright and early. We caught the bus to BB, arriving about 30 minutes prior to park opening at 10:00. I packed up our last picnic of the trip since you can bring a soft-sided cooler into BB. While I planned to do this for economy reasons, it was also extremely convenient to have cold drinks, healthy snacks, and lunches right when we wanted without having to fight crowds in long lines. There wasn't a typical bag check like at the theme parks, but the lady in front did ask to see inside our cooler to check that we didn't have glass.
The park wasn't very crowded at the start of the day. A few die-hards like us were there at rope drop.
I was concerned about finding a nice shady spot, but we found one without any trouble. I imagine the crowd levels get much higher later in the summer.
Once we got settled in, Princess and I went to get a small locker for the day to hold our phones and cash. This, too, was a first, as I had never rented a locker at DW before. We found the lockers to be very convenient and it was great to have the peace of mind knowing that our phones and money were safe and sound, but yet accessible, too. We also found a life vest for Pickle.
So, what would you do first at a water park with lots of cool slides? I can tell you what we did--we headed to the lazy river! After a lap or two, Buddy and Princess headed off to do some slides, and Pickle and I headed into the wave pool. We spent the whole morning there, and ran into Princess and Buddy when they ventured over after their rides. I loved it! The lazy river and wave pool were just my speed.
And then we ate our picnic lunch.
After lunch, I retrieved my phone and wandered around to take some pictures. First, the wave pool.
The lazy river.
I love the theming of this park!
The lazy river takes you through a cool (pun intended) tunnel with melting snow.
I forced Pickle to be my model. She wasn't too happy with this at first, but warmed up to it when she saw how cute the snowman family was.
The afternoon was spent lounging away in the lazy river. Eventually the kids got hungry, and since we picnicked for lunch, they were very appreciative about getting "real" snacks. Ice cream for the kids: plain vanilla sundae for Buddy, chocolate in waffle cone for Princess, and orange float for Pickle. I got a citrus swirl. Yum! And hooray for being able to get citrus swirl and dole whip at BB!
Buddy and Princess were getting tired of the water park, so they headed back to the Boardwalk early. BB closed at 5:00 that day, and I imagine they left about quarter 'til 4. I really wish we had made time to do the water park two years ago when we came with family and Princess and Buddy would have had cousins to hang out with all day. They enjoyed Blizzard Beach well enough, but I think they would have had a super time with good friends/cousins to share it with.
Pickle was another story. Once she discovered the Ski Patrol Training Camp, she did not want to leave! We spent the remainder of the afternoon here. I found a somewhat shady spot to sit on a bench to keep an eye on her, while she made several friends and swam and played. I retrieved my phone again to keep myself entertained, which seemed to be what most of the parents in the area were doing.
Ski Patrol Training Camp--perfect for in-between kids who are too big for the little kids' area, but aren't ready for the bigger thrills.
Pickle stayed in until the final moment. This picture was taken right as the signal was given that the park was closing. No doubt that she was having a blast!
All in all, I really loved our day at BB. It was fun to go somewhere new, soak up some sun, and enjoy the water. And, yes, I went to BB, which is well known for amazing slides, and all I did was float in the lazy river and the wave pool. But yet I still had an amazing time.
What have you never done before at Walt Disney World? One of the things that I had never done until this trip was go to a water park. There are several reasons for this: we haven't often traveled to WDW during the summer and the kids were not strong swimmers until they were relatively older. Since our tickets that we got through the conference included a water park day, I definitely knew we were going to take advantage!
The question in planning was TL or BB. I spent a lot of time comparing and contrasting, trying to figure out which to pick. In the end, I doubt it mattered that much. I'm sure they would both be great. However, I chose BB, because of the older children's area (Ski Patrol Training Camp) for Pickle, the gentler wave pool (also for Pickle,) and the imaginative theming. Lots of people prefer TL's theming, but since I knew we were headed to Aulani in a month, the tropical feel wasn't a high priority.
As usual, I got the troop up bright and early. We caught the bus to BB, arriving about 30 minutes prior to park opening at 10:00. I packed up our last picnic of the trip since you can bring a soft-sided cooler into BB. While I planned to do this for economy reasons, it was also extremely convenient to have cold drinks, healthy snacks, and lunches right when we wanted without having to fight crowds in long lines. There wasn't a typical bag check like at the theme parks, but the lady in front did ask to see inside our cooler to check that we didn't have glass.
The park wasn't very crowded at the start of the day. A few die-hards like us were there at rope drop.
I was concerned about finding a nice shady spot, but we found one without any trouble. I imagine the crowd levels get much higher later in the summer.
Once we got settled in, Princess and I went to get a small locker for the day to hold our phones and cash. This, too, was a first, as I had never rented a locker at DW before. We found the lockers to be very convenient and it was great to have the peace of mind knowing that our phones and money were safe and sound, but yet accessible, too. We also found a life vest for Pickle.
So, what would you do first at a water park with lots of cool slides? I can tell you what we did--we headed to the lazy river! After a lap or two, Buddy and Princess headed off to do some slides, and Pickle and I headed into the wave pool. We spent the whole morning there, and ran into Princess and Buddy when they ventured over after their rides. I loved it! The lazy river and wave pool were just my speed.
And then we ate our picnic lunch.
After lunch, I retrieved my phone and wandered around to take some pictures. First, the wave pool.
The lazy river.
I love the theming of this park!
The lazy river takes you through a cool (pun intended) tunnel with melting snow.
I forced Pickle to be my model. She wasn't too happy with this at first, but warmed up to it when she saw how cute the snowman family was.
The afternoon was spent lounging away in the lazy river. Eventually the kids got hungry, and since we picnicked for lunch, they were very appreciative about getting "real" snacks. Ice cream for the kids: plain vanilla sundae for Buddy, chocolate in waffle cone for Princess, and orange float for Pickle. I got a citrus swirl. Yum! And hooray for being able to get citrus swirl and dole whip at BB!
Buddy and Princess were getting tired of the water park, so they headed back to the Boardwalk early. BB closed at 5:00 that day, and I imagine they left about quarter 'til 4. I really wish we had made time to do the water park two years ago when we came with family and Princess and Buddy would have had cousins to hang out with all day. They enjoyed Blizzard Beach well enough, but I think they would have had a super time with good friends/cousins to share it with.
Pickle was another story. Once she discovered the Ski Patrol Training Camp, she did not want to leave! We spent the remainder of the afternoon here. I found a somewhat shady spot to sit on a bench to keep an eye on her, while she made several friends and swam and played. I retrieved my phone again to keep myself entertained, which seemed to be what most of the parents in the area were doing.
Ski Patrol Training Camp--perfect for in-between kids who are too big for the little kids' area, but aren't ready for the bigger thrills.
Pickle stayed in until the final moment. This picture was taken right as the signal was given that the park was closing. No doubt that she was having a blast!
All in all, I really loved our day at BB. It was fun to go somewhere new, soak up some sun, and enjoy the water. And, yes, I went to BB, which is well known for amazing slides, and all I did was float in the lazy river and the wave pool. But yet I still had an amazing time.
kelmac284
Lover of all things Disney since 1975
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
Was checking my phone and saw you had posted this update. FUN! We haven't been to DW since 10 and the only time/water park we ever went to was then and BB. It is funny because I know I had a smart phone then but I think I had an old Droid that I got the end of 09. I did take a few pics but not many and they were with my phone so not very good. You got some great shots! That is the one place I wish I had a better phone/camera to get some shots. My girls were 9 and 10 when we went and they both did Summitt Plummet. VERY brave. There is no way I would have done that. In fact my youngest did it twice as well as the one next to it that had the bumps in it. (forgot the name). Mom and I did the lazy river, wave pool and we did a big family size one that was really fun that you could have probably done. It was a 4 person raft that you had to ride the chair lift up but it was very easy and no falling out or anything and it was really fun. We really enjoyed it and had planned to do a day at TL this past trip. Unfortunately we won't have time to go to one in Dec but I am hoping to go to one again someday.
Thanks for the update and hope you had fun at Aulani!!
Thanks for the update and hope you had fun at Aulani!!
Terra Nova guy
DIS Dad #811 Newfoundland, Canada
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2014
I really enjoyed BB but haven't been there since 2010. The Ski Patrol Training Camp looks great. My oldest DD didn't want to go to it because she isn't a strong swimmer and my youngest was too small for it. But she's exactly Pickles age now, so it might be time to try it again!
I've never been to BB, but have been to TL quite a few years ago. At the time, my youngest was only five and couldn't do much, so I understand spending the bulk of your time in the Lazy River. My husband took our two older ones down the slides and in the wave pool, but I still had fun. The theming of those water parks is very cool.
I wish we had more time to go back to a water park, but it seems like there's never enough time to do everything you want in Disney. I guess that's why most of us go so often!
I wish we had more time to go back to a water park, but it seems like there's never enough time to do everything you want in Disney. I guess that's why most of us go so often!
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Thanks to Stephanie for bring us up to speed on her day with the kids at Blizzard Beach. I have to say that I'm a bit jealous!
Also, thanks to everyone for the comments and feedback. I apologize for not responding sooner. I'll try to respond to the various comments, and then up next, I'll share our experiences with leaving the kids alone at the Boardwalk Inn and then having a date night with Stephanie at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. (It was amazing!)
Thanks a bunch! Hopefully the wait is over, as I plan to get moving on this TR again over the next couple of days. (I've been spending too much time playing Pokemon Go with Princess the last several days. Haha!) I have most of the photos uploaded, just a matter of writing the everything up
Thanks! Salsa challenge for the win
Yes!!!
Stephanie is afraid of clowns too. She was exposed to Poltergeist (by her older siblings) at too young of an age and I think she was scarred for life by it. Evil clowns!!!
Very cool!!! Lee is so down to earth and practical, which is why I think I relate to him so much more than other leadership speakers/books.
Yes, truly enjoyed the experience. I have two tasks now. Sharing the info with my colleagues and putting the insights into practice at work, and then figuring out how I can justify another DI course next year
Haha! Thanks!!!
Glad you had an amazing time on your trip!!! I have no idea who Doug Kershaw is, but super cool that you got to hear his stories related to Nashville and country music. I still have Dollywood on my bucket list too. Glad that you thought it was super fun. Ooh! We've been close to visiting the Coke Musuem in Atlanta several times, but never fully committed. We almost did it on our May trip, but opted for Rock City isntead. I love New Orleans, glad you enjoyed it too, despite the humidity.
Awesome!! Thanks for reading along, I hope you have a chance to look at the book
Thanks!! Aulani was pretty awesome. I look forward to sharing our overall experience there. I'm 100% glad that we went, but to be honest, I was slightly disappointed in some ways. (When compared to WDW, DL, and DCL experiences.)
Very cool! You know, it's really hard to narrow it down to just one thing. And like Lee's books, much of it is common sense, but not always obvious. The thing that I'm focusing on now, is the importance of values in an organization. The idea is that values drive decisions. Not a great example, but if the environment is important for a company, then they must consider sustainability (when sourcing natural materials) more than than a company that doesn't care about it. If a company's core values are clearly defined and communicated, then it's easier for people to align their business decisions with what's most important for the company. And taking that further, we all have personal values that influence our own decisions. And our departments and/or divisions within our company may have slightly different values that are more specific to their business area. Things work well when there is good overlap between personal values, company values, and organizational values. And usually if someone is frustrated or not performing, their personal values aren't lining up with the company/division values. That's SUPER simplified and there is much more to it, but we are working through this with our executive team here at work now and I'm happy with how things are going.
Thanks! Might be a couple more weeks, but I plan to share as much as reasonable about Hawaii. (Probably won't do a play by play for the entire trip. But certainly everything related to Aulani and things that people might visit on Oahu while staying at Aulani.)
CONGRATS on locking in your WDW trip over Christmas!!! Yeah, crowds will be heavy and you'll have to get there for rope drops every morning and be smart about your FP+'s, but I'd certainly rather go during Christmas than not at all!!!!!!!
Prizes for Introverts!! (Could be a band name or something)
No doubt about the size of the convention center. I had no idea it was so big!
Interesting thoughts about the pizza ingredients on the other teams. Especially, if using the analogy, that might some day need to support the other teams baking efforts. (I would have thought, "these are my competitors". It's not like Pizza Hut is going to step in and support Dominoes if they needed extra support. Hahaha!)
Sounds awesome. I'm sure you back home and settled in by now. We sure loved our California Adventure last summer and I can't wait to do it again some day. Would love to hear about your trip
Also, thanks to everyone for the comments and feedback. I apologize for not responding sooner. I'll try to respond to the various comments, and then up next, I'll share our experiences with leaving the kids alone at the Boardwalk Inn and then having a date night with Stephanie at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. (It was amazing!)
Thanks a bunch! Hopefully the wait is over, as I plan to get moving on this TR again over the next couple of days. (I've been spending too much time playing Pokemon Go with Princess the last several days. Haha!) I have most of the photos uploaded, just a matter of writing the everything up
Glad your team won the salsa challenge!
Great pictures of the Boardwalk!
Hope you guys have a wonderful time in Hawaii!
Thanks! Salsa challenge for the win
Yes!!!
Thanks! And happy to report that insurance is taking care of hail damage to both the car and the roof. Which is great because the roof was at the end of it's lifespan and I'm happy to pay the cost of the deductible vs. the cost of a new roof!!
Stephanie is afraid of clowns too. She was exposed to Poltergeist (by her older siblings) at too young of an age and I think she was scarred for life by it. Evil clowns!!!
Very cool!!! Lee is so down to earth and practical, which is why I think I relate to him so much more than other leadership speakers/books.
Yes, truly enjoyed the experience. I have two tasks now. Sharing the info with my colleagues and putting the insights into practice at work, and then figuring out how I can justify another DI course next year
Haha! Thanks!!!
Ah I just got back from being gone for 2 weeks and now you all are going LOL. Glad to see I didn't miss too much. Seems like just one day of the trip so that is good. Loved the meet and greets that Stephanie and the kids did at Epcot. That is one of the biggest dissapointments I have in not going is I LOVE Baymax and have several Baymax items and I wanted to meet him so badly. I fear that by the time we finally go he will no longer be there. Joy and Sadness was cute too and would have loved to have met them as well. That is a bummer that so many rides were down but it sounds like you all made the best of it and had fun.
The training classes sound very interesting and fun. Looking forward to the next updates. We have only done one water park and that was Blizzard beach. We were going to go to Typhoon Lagoon this time but alas another thing that didn't happen and we like to go in the fall and I think it is usually on rehab at that time. But who knows. You never know what can happen.
I will admit that I am really missing DW and while I don't want to go again till all of the new things are built, with no real plans for a trip anytime soon it is tough. I have no idea HOW long it will be before we make it back and I feel like I am not even going to know what's going on anymore LOL.
As for our trip we had an AMAZING time. On the flight to Nashville we stopped in Denver and picked up a man who sat right in front of us. It turns out the CMT awards were when we were there and we had no idea. So the man in front of us was Doug Kershaw. He was a singer from the 60's I believe and it was fun listening to him talk and there were also some other people going to perform etc. We really loved Nashville and since we only had 1 day we did the Country Music Hall of Fame and just visited some other fun spots like the American Picker store and Centennial Park. The girls were able to find a spot on the red carpet and were able to see Luke Brian, Jason Aldean, Nicole Kidman, Vince Vaughn and some others. They were super excited and we loved the city. Our first night we also went to Opryland and had dinner and we loved it as well. We realized there is SO much more to see and we are already talking about a return trip. I am hoping if it works out to maybe see Rock City.
We also went to Dollywood which was super fun and very pretty and explored Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which are your typical tourist type places like San Francisco etc. We also visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC and that was really interesting. We spent a day in Atlanta and went to World of Coke which was super fun and also the Atlanta History Center but I am a HUGE Walking Dead fan and we didn't have time to do a tour but that is another on my list when we go back as well as some other items we missed. We then headed to Alabama and Mississippi and really enjoyed the Gulf Coast and our last city was New Orleans. We spent the most time there and really loved it although the heat and humdity was brutal. It was so cool seeing so much of the city that looked like New Orleans Square.
We had a GREAT time and we loved NO and hope to go again someday but we are already talking about a trip flying into Atlanta and doing a few more things there and then driving to Memphis to see Graceland, back to nashville to do a few things we missed and possibly Dollywood if we go over the Holidays. We would love to see it at Christmas and we didn't get to see a lot going only one day. We then would most likely drive to Charleston as we want to go back there and either leave out of there or possibly back to Atlanta.
No real plans for WHEN that will happen esp since the plan for now is to try and go to Europe next summer but it is def something on our list.
Anyway have a GREAT time at Aulani and can't wait to hear more on this report and of course eventually on the Aulani which is another on my bucket list.
Glad you had an amazing time on your trip!!! I have no idea who Doug Kershaw is, but super cool that you got to hear his stories related to Nashville and country music. I still have Dollywood on my bucket list too. Glad that you thought it was super fun. Ooh! We've been close to visiting the Coke Musuem in Atlanta several times, but never fully committed. We almost did it on our May trip, but opted for Rock City isntead. I love New Orleans, glad you enjoyed it too, despite the humidity.
Awesome!! Thanks for reading along, I hope you have a chance to look at the book
Thanks!! Aulani was pretty awesome. I look forward to sharing our overall experience there. I'm 100% glad that we went, but to be honest, I was slightly disappointed in some ways. (When compared to WDW, DL, and DCL experiences.)
Thank you so much for posting about the Disney Institute. I have many of Lee Cockerell's books and would love to get a course there. Unfortunately... no funds at my company (or my own wallet) for this
But now I at least have an idea what's going on (and realize, I really really really want to got there!)
What is the most important thing you have learned?
Very cool! You know, it's really hard to narrow it down to just one thing. And like Lee's books, much of it is common sense, but not always obvious. The thing that I'm focusing on now, is the importance of values in an organization. The idea is that values drive decisions. Not a great example, but if the environment is important for a company, then they must consider sustainability (when sourcing natural materials) more than than a company that doesn't care about it. If a company's core values are clearly defined and communicated, then it's easier for people to align their business decisions with what's most important for the company. And taking that further, we all have personal values that influence our own decisions. And our departments and/or divisions within our company may have slightly different values that are more specific to their business area. Things work well when there is good overlap between personal values, company values, and organizational values. And usually if someone is frustrated or not performing, their personal values aren't lining up with the company/division values. That's SUPER simplified and there is much more to it, but we are working through this with our executive team here at work now and I'm happy with how things are going.
Thanks! Might be a couple more weeks, but I plan to share as much as reasonable about Hawaii. (Probably won't do a play by play for the entire trip. But certainly everything related to Aulani and things that people might visit on Oahu while staying at Aulani.)
CONGRATS on locking in your WDW trip over Christmas!!! Yeah, crowds will be heavy and you'll have to get there for rope drops every morning and be smart about your FP+'s, but I'd certainly rather go during Christmas than not at all!!!!!!!
Prizes for Introverts!! (Could be a band name or something
)No doubt about the size of the convention center. I had no idea it was so big!
Interesting thoughts about the pizza ingredients on the other teams. Especially, if using the analogy, that might some day need to support the other teams baking efforts. (I would have thought, "these are my competitors". It's not like Pizza Hut is going to step in and support Dominoes if they needed extra support. Hahaha!
)So glad to hear your vacation went well, the pictures were great! I'm currently posting from the tail end of our California Adventure. Visited many places you had mentioned in your trip report. Tomorrow we're heading to Santa Cruz for lunch with my husband's cousin
Sounds awesome. I'm sure you back home and settled in by now. We sure loved our California Adventure last summer and I can't wait to do it again some day. Would love to hear about your trip
TheMaxRebo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
We haven't gone with the kids yet but pre-kids we have been too both water parks and preferred Blizzard Beach - just like the fun the wing and thought there were more and more variety to the slides and things to do.
Glad you enjoyed it and seemed like everyone, especially Pickle, had a great time
Glad you enjoyed it and seemed like everyone, especially Pickle, had a great time
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
Catching back up. Your training looks amazing! I have to see if I can figure out how to get my company to pay for it. I was in a leadership class Wednesday and the instructor had worked for Disney for 12 years. She was really good...she told us about the difficulties she had adapting to the DL culture after being at WDW for 10 years.
Aulani looks amazing! The water park day looked like a lot of fun!
Jill in CO
I was in a leadership class Wednesday and the instructor had worked for Disney for 12 years. She was really good...she told us about the difficulties she had adapting to the DL culture after being at WDW for 10 years. Aulani looks amazing! The water park day looked like a lot of fun!
Jill in CO
katt789
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2010
I’m in and reading! I have to admit I kinda skimmed through the first info updates, but I love the collages of older pictures! Super cute!
That superman museum looks cute! A nice place to explore and stretch the legs!
That little park looks super cute and a great way to spend a day, especially to ease into a Disney vacation! Fun!
Love all the pictures so far, love that the kids are so into funny poses/faces too! I can’t for the LIFE of me remember WHICH of the outlets is right by Disney housing, but that one I spent a lot of time at, and was LOVING the stuff at the Disney outlet!! I just wish the Lulu was better! Lol. (update…from the pictures of the stores, I think it’s the vineland one..)Sounds like a great way to check into Orlando and have a relaxing day to kick things off! I do have to say, if I didn’t have to worry about transportation, I’d stay offsite a whole lot more!!
Sounds like an awesome meeting with Lee, I can’t say I’ve heard the name before but he sounds like an awesome guy! Oh WOW, this is the first TR I’ve read with pictures of Disney Springs since the new stuff opened, and it looks absolutely beautiful, and nothing like it did before! And YUM those cupcakes! Now I want one too! Lol. Always a good idea for second breakfast! LOVE the art store, I seriously don’t know how I’ve always come out empty handed (except for one time..)! I need everything!
The Boardwalk looks beautiful! It’s one of the very few hotels I have yet to stay at! We decided if we do another contract with WDW we’ll do CL there though! It must be nice to have Princess at that age where she can watch one or two of the kids while you guys split up! Seems pretty convienient so far! All the pictures around the BW area are gorgeous! Man do I miss it out there!! Bummer the fireworks didn’t work out too well,and UGH THAT CLOWN NEEDS TO NOT.
Awe man, that backstage epcot bus ride brings back the memories, bahaha. It can get exciting when you see characters walking to or from the trailers back there lol.I’m not big on Illuminations, but I am big on desserts, so I feel like I really wan to do the dessert party at Epcot!
The second day, esp wandering MK sounds a lot like the in park bit of Traditions! Though we didn’t get too much time in the parks and didn’t split off too much!
I still haven’t met joy & sadness! That needs to happen, they look super cute and your m&g looks awesome! LOVE the Japan pavilion! I could spend forever (and all of the money) in the gift shops there! I’ve only eaten at Liberty Inn like twice, and it’s been when I’m starving and we’re like, in between shows of Voice of Liberty & Music Machine and don’t have time lol. Glad ya’ll were able to meet up with old friends!! Oh goodness, I love all the flashback photos in front of the ball. Looks like an awesome day!
Training class looks great!!
WOW Hawaii looks amazing!! Aulani is on my list of places I NEED to go. We keep talking about the days when we’re rich, we’ll do a round the world trip of ALL the Disney parks, including it, and a cruise, lol, I mean, a girl can dream, right?!
Looks like you guys had a blast at BB, I’ve still never managed to get to a waterpark in Disney. I’m not big on waterparks in the first place so that’s probably why!
Whooo! Sorry this was a novel and a half! Excited to read more!!
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Catching back up. Your training looks amazing! I have to see if I can figure out how to get my company to pay for it.
Aulani looks amazing! The water park day looked like a lot of fun!
Jill in CO
That leadership class sounds pretty good too.
Wow, thanks for the thorough response! Yes, cupcakes for second breakfast. It might have to be a new tradition. Haha! And don't we all dream about being rich and visiting ALL the Disney parks?!?!? Tokyo Disneyland is my ultimate bucket list destination!!!
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Day 5 - Wednesday, May 25 - Part 3: Trader Sam's Grog Grotto
My Disney Institute training course finished up late afternoon, and a little while later Stephanie and Pickle returned from their day at Blizzard Beach... around 5:30 PM.
The goal for tonight was to set the kids up with some counter service food, and then let them chill in the room the rest of the evening while Stephanie and I had a date night. Princess is 16 and does a fine job babysitting at home. However, she is a bit funny about ordering food and talking with strangers, but they'd just be getting quick service and heading back to the room to watch TV and stuff for a couple hours. So not a big deal really… I mean come on, it's Disney!!! The cast members will make it easy for them, right!?!?
Anyway, we had been thinking that the "Boardwalk To Go" kiosk might be a good choice for them. After the training course finished, I walked over to the Boardwalk and took a couple photos of the booth and the menu to share with them so they knew where they should go...
Seemed like they'd be super happy with those choices… This should work well!
Anyway, when Stephanie and Pickle got back from Blizzard Beach, they took a few minutes to change and then we all walked down to the boardwalk. The kids took a right for the "To Go" kiosk and then Stephanie and I took a left to catch the boat to Hollywood Studios in order to catch a bus over to the Polynesian for Trader Sam's. (We thought this would be faster than taking a bus from the Boardwalk Inn over to Magic Kingdom and then the Monorail or a boat from MK to Poly. This may or may not have been the case, but we thought it would be fun to ride the boat over to HS regardless.) And it was a fun ride….
….until we were nearly at HS and I started getting texts from Princess seeking advice for their situation at the food window. They ordered two foot-long corn dog meals and one regular size corn dog meal, but the guy at the window gave them the two corn dogs and a hot dog. Pickle was pretty bummed out about getting a hot dog, so Princess went back up to the window to ask them to correct it. And…. The guy put up a fight. He insisted that Pickle ordered a hot dog and that was that. He actually argued with them about it. The kids all agreed that she did indeed order a corn dog. (Knowing my kids, I don't doubt this in the very least.) Anyway, Princess kept texting me that the guy was giving them trouble.
He eventually agreed to make the corn dog (as Pickle probably had shed some tears at this point), but he was snarky to them stating that it would take a while. Which it did. And in the meantime, Buddy picked up his corn dog to find the breading fall completely off. The three kids were pretty bummed out about their less than magical "dining experience". So their evening got off to a rocky start.
Which had me a little bummed out too. I already felt a bit guilty leaving them to eat corn dogs, knowing that Stephanie and I would be feasting on the good stuff over at Trader Sam's. And then I was concerned that the kids were feeding off of each other's negative energy -- ruminating over how they were mistreated. (Luckily, Princess was able to get over it and set a good example for the others.)
(You'll have to stay tuned about the final outcome of their experience... after seeing a few things in the training course the next morning (about how Disney handles issues), I was curious to see what would happen if I brought this up to the front desk.)
So yeah, other than hoping the kids weren't too bummed out about dinner, the ride and walk over to the HS bus stop was pleasant.
Before we hopped on the bus, I grabbed a selfie:
And a few minutes later, we arrived at the Poly.
This is one of my favorite resorts in all of Disney!!! The last time we visited, was to eat at Ohana's about two years ago. The lobby was still under construction, so we were excited to see all the renovations in their final form. Needless to say... it was pretty awesome walking inside!
Their new "boutiki" store is pretty awesome!
But… it was about 6:30 PM and we were worried that Trader Sam's would be packed, so we pretty much headed straight that way.
Terrible photo, but it's cool how you could totally miss this place if you didn't know it was there. All the way at the end of the hall (even past Captain Cook's.) Sort of felt like you are privy to a good secret.
When we arrived inside, it was full, but they weren't taking names or managing seating yet. They said that we should seat ourselves. There weren't really any seats open, so we sort of stood off to the side, but within two or three minutes, a small table opened up. So we pretty much just walked in and got the last available spot for a while. Score!!!!
We ended up spending a little over two hours in there when it was all said and done. I guess I'll share some general thoughts first, and then a few details...
We've visited the original Trader Sam's in Disneyland three times in the past. We fell absolutely in love with it, so we were beyond excited to hear that WDW was getting their own version. I had been waiting for this day to come for a LONG time!!!
The interesting thing… is that we actually liked the WDW version significantly better than the DL version. The main reason being that the staff was significantly better. Our server, Adam, was outstanding! He had the perfect blend of being attentive, but giving us our space. Being a bit playful without being annoying. Super friendly and helpful. Etc. Fantastic. The other servers and bar tenders seemed to act similarly. And they got out and interacted with the room a bit more than the ones in Disneyland do. And don't get me wrong, the people at Disneyland are amazing, it just seemed more inclusive here at WDW. More of a party atmosphere. That, and the people were a bit more jolly and interactive with each other. For example, the guys at the table next to us were super friendly and major tiki heads. We shared a few stories with them. And about an hour into our experience, we had a couple girls (who where returning to the college program for the summer) ask if they could sit with us. We had fun interacting with them too. Learned lots about their experiences.
OK. The drinks, food, and photos?
Funny, how our growing tiki mug collection dictated our drink choices on this trip. We wanted to get one of the pearl cups and WDW version of the mai tai mug. So Stephanie ordered up a Polynesian Pearl and I had the HippopotoMai-Tai.
Both were super tasty. I almost always get at least one mai tai whenever we visit a tiki bar. And this one was just as good as the Disneyland version. Stephanie's Pearl was amazing. I was wishing that I had one of those too. It's made with a Rumchata Cream liqueur, Grand Marnier, and cinnamon with tropical juices. Our server described it as Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk, with rum.
As far as food goes, we had the Kahlua Pork Tacos with cabbage and pickled vegetables, and the pan-fried dumplings.
The tacos were amazingly good. I mean, I wish I was eating a couple of those right now! The stuff daydreams are made of…
And the dumplings were good too, but nothing special. I love dumplings though. And I wish I was eating those right now as well, too.
After we ate and enjoyed our drinks for a while, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and order the Nautilus. At slightly over $50 for a drink, I knew that I was being a little excessive. But… would you look at that souvenir mug!!!! Just too cool!!! And… it does come with two servings inside.
It took a little while to come out, but they made a spectacle of it. Blowing bubbles and stuff as they made it "swim" across the room. How fun! (Noting that the volcano in the photo below would erupt or go all stormy when people order certain drinks.)
Here's a quick video of him delivering the pearl and a few interactions with the volcano.
After we finished it, we couldn’t stop smiling. Haha!
So it turns out that the girls who came and sat with us were friends with our waiter. (One of them came from the same town as him in Pennsylvania.) So then we got even more attention (and it was great to begin with!) So yeah, we chatted with the girls for a good while and had fun telling stories. They ordered pearls and our server brought theirs with glowing ice cubes. And he brought an extra one for Stephanie so that she wouldn’t feel left out. How cool is that!!!
So yeah, all in all, we had an amazing time!!! (Such a contrast to what the kids experienced back at the hotel.) We ended up leaving around 9:15 PM and decided to pretty much head back to our room. We took the boat from the Poly over to MK, and then the bus back from there.
Stephanie's Pearl glowed the whole way back. Cool!
We eventually made it back to the room and found the kids all in bed, watching TV, and happy to see us. Other than the food fiasco, they enjoyed having an evening to just watch TV and play with their devices.
Next update… we'll cover the last day of my time at the Disney Institute, what happened with the food situation, and another update from Stephanie about their day at the Animal Kingdom. Stay tuned!!!
My Disney Institute training course finished up late afternoon, and a little while later Stephanie and Pickle returned from their day at Blizzard Beach... around 5:30 PM.
The goal for tonight was to set the kids up with some counter service food, and then let them chill in the room the rest of the evening while Stephanie and I had a date night. Princess is 16 and does a fine job babysitting at home. However, she is a bit funny about ordering food and talking with strangers, but they'd just be getting quick service and heading back to the room to watch TV and stuff for a couple hours. So not a big deal really… I mean come on, it's Disney!!! The cast members will make it easy for them, right!?!?
Anyway, we had been thinking that the "Boardwalk To Go" kiosk might be a good choice for them. After the training course finished, I walked over to the Boardwalk and took a couple photos of the booth and the menu to share with them so they knew where they should go...
Seemed like they'd be super happy with those choices… This should work well!
Anyway, when Stephanie and Pickle got back from Blizzard Beach, they took a few minutes to change and then we all walked down to the boardwalk. The kids took a right for the "To Go" kiosk and then Stephanie and I took a left to catch the boat to Hollywood Studios in order to catch a bus over to the Polynesian for Trader Sam's. (We thought this would be faster than taking a bus from the Boardwalk Inn over to Magic Kingdom and then the Monorail or a boat from MK to Poly. This may or may not have been the case, but we thought it would be fun to ride the boat over to HS regardless.) And it was a fun ride….
….until we were nearly at HS and I started getting texts from Princess seeking advice for their situation at the food window. They ordered two foot-long corn dog meals and one regular size corn dog meal, but the guy at the window gave them the two corn dogs and a hot dog. Pickle was pretty bummed out about getting a hot dog, so Princess went back up to the window to ask them to correct it. And…. The guy put up a fight. He insisted that Pickle ordered a hot dog and that was that. He actually argued with them about it. The kids all agreed that she did indeed order a corn dog. (Knowing my kids, I don't doubt this in the very least.) Anyway, Princess kept texting me that the guy was giving them trouble.
He eventually agreed to make the corn dog (as Pickle probably had shed some tears at this point), but he was snarky to them stating that it would take a while. Which it did. And in the meantime, Buddy picked up his corn dog to find the breading fall completely off. The three kids were pretty bummed out about their less than magical "dining experience". So their evening got off to a rocky start.
Which had me a little bummed out too. I already felt a bit guilty leaving them to eat corn dogs, knowing that Stephanie and I would be feasting on the good stuff over at Trader Sam's. And then I was concerned that the kids were feeding off of each other's negative energy -- ruminating over how they were mistreated. (Luckily, Princess was able to get over it and set a good example for the others.)
(You'll have to stay tuned about the final outcome of their experience... after seeing a few things in the training course the next morning (about how Disney handles issues), I was curious to see what would happen if I brought this up to the front desk.)
So yeah, other than hoping the kids weren't too bummed out about dinner, the ride and walk over to the HS bus stop was pleasant.
Before we hopped on the bus, I grabbed a selfie:
And a few minutes later, we arrived at the Poly.
This is one of my favorite resorts in all of Disney!!! The last time we visited, was to eat at Ohana's about two years ago. The lobby was still under construction, so we were excited to see all the renovations in their final form. Needless to say... it was pretty awesome walking inside!
Their new "boutiki" store is pretty awesome!
But… it was about 6:30 PM and we were worried that Trader Sam's would be packed, so we pretty much headed straight that way.
Terrible photo, but it's cool how you could totally miss this place if you didn't know it was there. All the way at the end of the hall (even past Captain Cook's.) Sort of felt like you are privy to a good secret.
When we arrived inside, it was full, but they weren't taking names or managing seating yet. They said that we should seat ourselves. There weren't really any seats open, so we sort of stood off to the side, but within two or three minutes, a small table opened up. So we pretty much just walked in and got the last available spot for a while. Score!!!!
We ended up spending a little over two hours in there when it was all said and done. I guess I'll share some general thoughts first, and then a few details...
We've visited the original Trader Sam's in Disneyland three times in the past. We fell absolutely in love with it, so we were beyond excited to hear that WDW was getting their own version. I had been waiting for this day to come for a LONG time!!!
The interesting thing… is that we actually liked the WDW version significantly better than the DL version. The main reason being that the staff was significantly better. Our server, Adam, was outstanding! He had the perfect blend of being attentive, but giving us our space. Being a bit playful without being annoying. Super friendly and helpful. Etc. Fantastic. The other servers and bar tenders seemed to act similarly. And they got out and interacted with the room a bit more than the ones in Disneyland do. And don't get me wrong, the people at Disneyland are amazing, it just seemed more inclusive here at WDW. More of a party atmosphere. That, and the people were a bit more jolly and interactive with each other. For example, the guys at the table next to us were super friendly and major tiki heads. We shared a few stories with them. And about an hour into our experience, we had a couple girls (who where returning to the college program for the summer) ask if they could sit with us. We had fun interacting with them too. Learned lots about their experiences.
OK. The drinks, food, and photos?
Funny, how our growing tiki mug collection dictated our drink choices on this trip. We wanted to get one of the pearl cups and WDW version of the mai tai mug. So Stephanie ordered up a Polynesian Pearl and I had the HippopotoMai-Tai.
Both were super tasty. I almost always get at least one mai tai whenever we visit a tiki bar. And this one was just as good as the Disneyland version. Stephanie's Pearl was amazing. I was wishing that I had one of those too. It's made with a Rumchata Cream liqueur, Grand Marnier, and cinnamon with tropical juices. Our server described it as Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk, with rum.
As far as food goes, we had the Kahlua Pork Tacos with cabbage and pickled vegetables, and the pan-fried dumplings.
The tacos were amazingly good. I mean, I wish I was eating a couple of those right now! The stuff daydreams are made of…
And the dumplings were good too, but nothing special. I love dumplings though. And I wish I was eating those right now as well, too.
After we ate and enjoyed our drinks for a while, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and order the Nautilus. At slightly over $50 for a drink, I knew that I was being a little excessive. But… would you look at that souvenir mug!!!! Just too cool!!! And… it does come with two servings inside.
It took a little while to come out, but they made a spectacle of it. Blowing bubbles and stuff as they made it "swim" across the room. How fun! (Noting that the volcano in the photo below would erupt or go all stormy when people order certain drinks.)
Here's a quick video of him delivering the pearl and a few interactions with the volcano.
After we finished it, we couldn’t stop smiling. Haha!
So it turns out that the girls who came and sat with us were friends with our waiter. (One of them came from the same town as him in Pennsylvania.) So then we got even more attention (and it was great to begin with!) So yeah, we chatted with the girls for a good while and had fun telling stories. They ordered pearls and our server brought theirs with glowing ice cubes. And he brought an extra one for Stephanie so that she wouldn’t feel left out. How cool is that!!!
So yeah, all in all, we had an amazing time!!! (Such a contrast to what the kids experienced back at the hotel.) We ended up leaving around 9:15 PM and decided to pretty much head back to our room. We took the boat from the Poly over to MK, and then the bus back from there.
Stephanie's Pearl glowed the whole way back. Cool!
We eventually made it back to the room and found the kids all in bed, watching TV, and happy to see us. Other than the food fiasco, they enjoyed having an evening to just watch TV and play with their devices.
Next update… we'll cover the last day of my time at the Disney Institute, what happened with the food situation, and another update from Stephanie about their day at the Animal Kingdom. Stay tuned!!!
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
