Hi, Becky. Welcome to What your Next podcast.

Hi. Thank you.

So happy to have you here, Cheryl. Listeners. Becky is one of my favorite Disney influencers. She actually shares some tips and tricks and data of how to maximize your Disney visit, and she has done some epic content, which is the uni Universal Studio site. Right now we do not recommend going to Epic because it's been rainy. So, but if you want some, if you're planning to go to Disney or if you wanted to actually understand and be live by courageously through the Disney experience, follow Becky's account. We're gonna talk about her book, which is The Unofficial Guide to Disney World, and it has all the different tricks and we'll talk some Disney content. So this is perfect for not just Disney's grave, not just for. If you have little kids or bigger kids, you can also go as an adult. I've been solo, traveled to Disney. I've done it a couple times. It is awesome. It's also to go with friends, but also just go by yourself and then you do the rides, eat the food, drink the drinks, and do your Mer way. And you can always do a staycation in one of the hotels and have great pools and great food and all the different things. So we're gonna talk about things to Disney, so yeah, so. Becky, take it away. Tell us about your, how did you get into the Disney World?

Oh wow. Well, I've been going to Disney since I was about 18 months old. We live in St. Louis. I grew up in St. Louis, so it's not like Disney is in our backyard.

Yeah.

went about every three years as I was growing up, and I just loved it as a place to vacation. Then I grew up. as an adult, I met my husband. He had never been to Disney World since he was five. and his ma like his only memory of that trip when he went to Disney World when he was five was that he was not tall enough to ride Space Mountain. And so I was like, we have to remedy this situation. I planned to take him for our first, we. Did not have a big budget for that trip, so I was like, I need to be smart about how I do this. My boss at the time was like, you would really love this website called Touring Plans, and they use data to make Disney trips.

Yes.

Better and help you to spend less money and to avoid all the weights. 'cause my full-time job is data. I do data analytics. I'm an architect. Love the data. So I was like, I will follow this website and use their things. And so I did. I just used touring plans for that trip. And then from that point on, I sort of. Lived vicariously through the Disney data when I couldn't actually go to the theme parks. I started blogging for touring plans and being able to do that on the side as just a way to stay involved in the Disney, even when I wasn't visiting. And then two years ago, Lynn Testa, who owns touring plans and who was the author of the Unofficial Guide. From 2002 to 2024 asked if I would take over writing the unofficial guide for him. And so now I get to go to Disney like once a month to do research and that is a fun and interesting combo of getting to go and be in my Happy Pie place very frequently and getting to try all these new things as I try to experience as much of what Disney has to offer so that then I can write about it. And help other people. So lifelong Disney fan and lifelong math nerd. And so then these two things sort of converged into what I get to do today.

Yeah, I love your content. Because I'm a data person I did not realize that I was not a math person and I stumbled upon data using 'cause I actually investigate fraud. And so a lot of the fraud investigations is data. It's just numbers. It's just. Look for patterns and everything, and a lot of it's just patterns and like what behaviors looking. And so I love your content because it takes the data part, data analytics, and actually understand and make it understandable to a hobby essentially. So it's kinda like how do you take your data and put it in? And so it just gives you like a sense of it's. There's a math, there's a magic about going to Disney. It is not just simple. There's people who are really good planners and they have planned everything, but there are other people who are like, when's it call? And we're like, okay, what are the vibes? And it gives you a little bit of taster of what to expect. I love your content. On the Saturdays, there's what is actually happening or what's the strategy with this new ride? I think I know Disney is, has some issues with the restoration issues right now and. You give us like the inside knowledge of here's what the issue, here's what's working. Also the price line that hotel resorts, like the resorts, like tips and tricks. It's like how to maximize your budget, without,

Right? Like we all want to go to Disney. Well, okay, not everyone, but a lot of people want to go to Disney. It is a very fun place, but it is a very expensive place and it is a very overwhelming

yeah.

And when most people think of their dream vacation, it is not expensive or overwhelming. And so what I try to do through my online content, through the book is cut through all of the options, all of the noise, all of the realities of rides breaking down and things that happen so that you have that chance to give yourself the best opportunity to not regret your budget, to not regret the time you spend in lines, and to actually have that fun vacation with your family instead of showing up and being overwhelmed.

Yes. And the book gets updated every year, I'm assuming. 'cause you get to visit and get to go to the parties and understand the food and the specifics. 'cause Disney has a lot of special events going on. A lot of.

it does. a lot of things change every year. And so yes, we release a new edition of the book every year. Now the basics of Disney are gonna stay the same resorts. Tend to not change that frequently. They did open a new tower here pretty recently. They have another one being built right now. So occasionally you do get things that change the parks themselves. They're not gonna open a new park anytime soon, and they haven't since 1998. So some of these things are stable, but some of them change pretty rapidly. And so it is good to know, even if you've been to Disney before, but haven't been in a few years, what has changed, what's new, what you need to know so you're not caught off guard.

Yeah, I was talking to my brother about this. He was in town. We were like talking about both our fr for the residents. So we get, we had to, I enjoyed the discount and we were like, we haven't been in a couple years since there's Tiana, there's the test track. There's the big Thunder mountain is opening up next year. There's like a whole thing. There's new lounges, there's new food situation. And so it does change like a little bit like. Some major things have changed and we got the rock and roll, the Muppets and their era and their space and stage log. But we now got the rock and roll machine and so there's always something new that's happening to keep the parks refreshed,

and especially these next couple of years, I think we're, I'm hopeful that we're in something of a renaissance for the Disney parks. The pandemic was rough. Disney did not invest in its theme parks. No one invested in anything, so we can't blame them. But they also didn't maintain their rides incredibly well during and after the pandemic. So there was a lot of breakdowns, not a lot of new and exciting things in the park. But now they're starting to invest in the parks again. And so we're getting refreshed rides like Test Track and Big Thunder Mountain, but we're getting whole new lands that are coming to Magic Kingdom and other places, animal Kingdoms getting a whole big new land. So I think the next few years are gonna be especially exciting and a good time to be a theme park fan.

All right, so you have some tips and tricks. How do you recommend visiting Disney? If you're thinking for an extended period of time or you're looking for a quick trip, what would be some of your strategies that you would suggest our listeners to pick up?

Yeah. I think when you talk about an extended period of time, that's really where you're gonna want to stretch your budget and make your money count.

yeah.

probably not going to want to stay at a Disney resort on site just because they're so wildly expensive, unless I'll talk about a couple of tips and tricks. For getting resorts cheaper. When my family and I go for an extended period of time. This summer, we were there for about two and a half weeks. We used BRBO or Airbnb to find a condo that's near the parks, but that's much cheaper and has much more space. So for instance, this summer we stayed at a resort called Oak Water Resort. It's about six minutes south of Animal Kingdom. It's 12 minutes away from Magic Kingdom. It's close to everything. got a three bedroom condo, two stories. There was an office den where I could do my work because I was still working virtually from there. Whole full kitchen, laundry, the whole shebang. And it was a hundred dollars a night for two and a half weeks. We couldn't have stayed in the cheapest Disney resort for that price. So

Yeah.

if you're looking to extend your stay or you want more space, that's the way to go. you do want to stay on site because you do get parks for staying at a Disney owned resort, like you get to get into the parks 30 minutes early, which means shorter lines on all the big rides. are ways to save money on that too. You should never, ever. be paying full price for a Disney resort? There are always deals to be had. Disney travel agents are free. Disney pays them like you can go find any Disney travel agent and they should be free. There are some that charge money 'cause they do extra things, but you can find free Disney travel agents who will help you find the best deals and even rebook your vacation on your behalf. To save you more money because that's their job. So you can get deals through Disney. They're running a lot of really good deals right now. 'cause the economy's not great, so people aren't taking vacations. But you can also do things. My two top tips for saving money on Disney Resorts, one is Priceline. You mentioned that Priceline doesn't always have great deals on Disney resorts, but occasionally they do. during the fall is a really great time to use Priceline. Priceline has what they call express deals. They're hidden resort deals, but you can figure out which resort it is pretty easily, and I've used Priceline to get things like the Graham Floridian for $300 a night, which is more than 50% off to get a family suite at Art of Animation for under $300 a night. That's more than 50% off. To get All Star Resorts, which are cheap resorts anyway, but to get them for like under $70, which is unheard of. So if you can find a Priceline deal, that's a great way to do it. then my last way to save money it's a, I wouldn't recommend it to novices if you've never been to Disney before, but Disney has a program called the Disney Vacation Club. DVC is what you'll hear it, and those people are buying into a timeshare. So they paid Disney a big chunk of money and annual dues, and in exchange they get points that they can redeem for nights at Disney resorts. But the vast majority of these DVC members. Don't use all their points every year 'cause they buy too many or they can't travel down to Orlando. Whatever the case, a bunch of reputable sites. DVC rental store is the one I personally use the most. There's also David's Vacation Club. These are very reputable, well-known sites that will facilitate. Renting someone's points to you so that you can stay at these fancy resorts at Disney for very cheap prices. So I've used this, I've rented points to stay at the Polynesian for $190 a night to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge for $90 a night. These are deluxe resorts. They're the fanciest ones Disney has to offer, and you can get them for really cheap rates if you search around and are going at the right times. So. Don't pay a lot of money for your resort, save that money for park tickets, which are a little bit harder to save money on or experiences in the parks. So that's my number one tip for, especially if you're doing an extended trip, if you're doing more of a quick trip, definitely stay on site so you have more time in the parks with that early entry. And then spend all of that time in the parks to be able to soak up as much as you can. Park Hopper Tickets are great. They let you visit more than one park a day, Can taste a little bit of everywhere you want go. But Disney, to your point, the way you entered this was just perfect. Thank, style of vacation can be great at Disney. Even if you don't wanna go into the parks, go hang out at a resort for a weekend and there's so much to do there. And you feel like you're in that magic bubble without

Yeah. Yeah. Like you can always go to Disney Springs, which is free, and it's just like they have restaurants. They got like a little bit of here and there. They got some entertainment.

Yeah.

And then you can always go to the different, you can hotel hop, you can go to different hotels and hop. You can do a monorail happy hour and go to the different hotels there and bring into different bars. There's different take. I know there's another take. I know Disney try to upsell their dining plan. I know this is like a very. Hot topic among the influencers because it's not a good bank for your money, even though they make it seem like it's a good bank for your money. 'Cause it's like it's prepaid and you're just like, you don't have to think about your food. It's not all inclusive and the way you wanna think. It's all inclusive. So talk to about need dining plan.

Yes. Disney Dining Plan is the bane of my existence and I like that you said and it's a hot topic with influencers 'cause I like to believe that started with me. I'm just gonna call out the Disney Dining Plan whenever I can. So Disney is a company. And companies have to make money. Disney is not going to offer a program that doesn't make them money out of the kindness of their heart. And so this is true with the Disney Dining Plan. What the Disney Dining Plan is when you book your resort and your park tickets, you get the option to add on a dining plan, which supposedly. Means your food is included with your vacation. In reality, you get a certain number of credits that then you can redeem for certain things throughout your stay. problem is when you do the math, because Disney trusts that no one will do the math 'cause it's painful to do all the math. But I did all the math. When you do all the math and pull every single menu item from every dining location across Disney, what you find is. There's something like a 3% chance that you're gonna make your money back for what you're paying for those credits. Now there are certain situations where you can save money with the Disney Dining Plan. It's possible, but you have to be a very heavy alcohol drinker and you have to love things like character meals or steak for every meal or fancy seat, right? Very constrained in what you can get that will actually put you ahead with the dining plan. It's not a look. You pay a small amount and you get to eat whatever you want. No, you pay a large amount and then you can almost eat whatever you want, but you're probably still not making your money back. So yeah, I always recommend. Even for convenience sake, don't get the Disney Dining Plan. It doesn't include tips. So you're not prepaying for everything. Even if you use the Disney Dining Plan, then you have to pay tips plus any extra food that you want. Do yourself a favor. Go buy Disney gift cards. If convenience is what you're looking for and prepaying for your food is what you're looking for. Buy Disney gift cards once a month. Once every two weeks before your trip, load it all up and then use that gift card to pay for your meals. You can eat whatever you want and you can use it for gratuities. And so it's, you've prepaid for your food and it's all included. That's my tip. Do that instead of the Disney Dining Plan.

Yeah, and you can check, you may check your local Sam's or your local Costco. They may have those discount. I was in Puerto Rico and I saw Sam's actually had 4 75 for. I don't know, 500, like they had discounts. So you can actually even get a discounted if you have like a warehouse membership car you might be able to get them too even cheaper and

and then you actually save money. Yes, we do that. We have a Target red card that saves us 5% on all of our target purchases, including Disney gift cards. And so then, yeah, I'm saving 5% on my

yeah,

and I can still eat whatever I want.

Yeah, so you're traveling to Disney. What are your, some expectations of your, what are some of the game plan for this trip? Because I know food and festival's starting, we got new SI don't know. Be doesn't open until next week or when is the new

Friday.

Oh, Friday. Okay.

I don't know when this podcast is gonna post, but we're recording this on a Tuesday night, and so Beacon Barrel, as we're recording this opens in three days, so that's very exciting. So yeah, I'm going down to Disney this Wednesday through Friday. Typically, when I do research trips, I have two kids at home. I have a lot of mom guilt about leaving

Yeah.

running away to Disney. So my typical research trips are one night, like I fly down at 5:00 AM to Orlando. I stay one night and I fly back that next morning, hoping to get back home before the bus picks them up for school, 24 hour just sprint

Yeah.

This is the one trip a year that I extend a little bit and it's my Treat Yourself trip because it is the opening of Food and Wine Festival at Epcot that's on Thursday. So this trip, what I'm doing is I'm flying down, I'm staying at the Grand Floridian for the first time with that price line deal. It's a nice resort. That's exciting. So I'm gonna enjoy that. Little bit. Then there's lots of new things at Disney. One of those new things is a steakhouse that's in the Swan Hotel, which is owned by Marriott, but is right by Epcot. That's another good deal. If you're a Marriott Rewards member, there are three Marriott hotels right by Epcot that you can use your points at. That's another great way to stay. But that steakhouse was just replaced. A new restaurant called Bourbon Steak by Michael Nina. So we are gonna go try that tomorrow night, Wednesday night and see what that's all about. If it's good. Then Thursday is all Day Food and Wine Festival. So if you've never been to Food and Wine Festival, there's something like 30 boos that pop up starting on Thursday and running through the end of November that have little snacks. Drinks that are special, that are exciting, that are generally pretty good. We'll see what the quality's like this year. But I go with my friends who run the Main Street Dish Podcast and we try every dish and every drink throughout the day. And thankfully, like when you split it among that many people. It's okay. It's doable in a day. And then we talk about them all and write them all and make recommendations to people. So that's all Day Thursday oh, Wednesday night. I'm gonna go see the new parade at Magic Kingdom. I haven't gotten to see that yet. There's a new nighttime parade for the first time in many years. At Magic Kingdom called Starlight. So we're gonna go see that. And then Friday morning is when the Beacon Barrel opens. So this is the first bar slash lounge at Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom was pretty infamous for not even serving alcohol for a very long time, and it started to serve alcohol in some of its restaurants and now there's a bar, so that's pretty exciting. It's at the exit to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's pirate themed. There are plenty of rum drinks, but it's also family friendly. You don't have to be 21 to go there. They have non-alcoholic beverages, they have food. So I got the very first reservation of the morning at Beacon Barrel. I will be there at 10:00 AM on Friday, and then I'm flying home at like noon, so I'm gonna have my m home and be back to my family. So it's a really busy trip of, with a lot of new things,

Yeah.

packed. There, but a lot of like cool, fun, exciting things too. It's not boring to research Disney ever.

I can't wait to see Bethany's Italy booth review, because it's an infamous, every year we're like, is Italy gonna win? And it's it's always fails without fail.

She's really excited about the Italy menu this year, and I'm just skeptical. I'm just always

I, I,

because

It always sounds like a bad trade, Joe's meal, so,

Yes,

and there are some just basically, so,

I've just pulled out frozen noodles and like

yeah.

of sauce. That's typically what it seems like, but

Yeah.

we'll

Fingers crossed. Alright, so let's talk some dizzy. So you have some crossed. So let's talk book recommendations.

yeah. Oh man. I'm looking behind me

Yeah.

listening to the podcast. Because I have bookshelves behind me and I own a lot of Disney books. I read a lot like not Disney too. It's interest, like when you write a Disney book, yes, you need to read other Disney books but also. I have a very intense job. I mean, not a I'm not a doctor, I'm not saving lives, but I work in healthcare software and I'm doing a lot of really intense thinking all day. And then I write this book at night. So when I read fluff, like I just read Pure Fluff, Emily Henry, Allie, Hazel

You should definitely. So Becky, let's, you'll come back and talk about all your not like your fiction, because I read those books and that's like my,

Gladly.

so yeah.

I just need something I can mentally check out. But I do read a bunch of Disney books two, one that I have reread multiple times, and here's on my desk is Bob ER's book The Ride of a Lifetime. So it talks about his first tenure as the CEO of Disney. It was written after he had retired. Ha. Now he's back. So, but a lot of stories about his time as CEO, but then it also gives. Leadership advice and sort of how he approaches leading such a company, but with empathy and with a focus on characters and storytelling and Yes, magic. So I have reread that one multiple times and have actually given conference talks about the lessons I have learned from the right of a lifetime by Bob Iger. I also, I have. Two girls there are nine and almost seven. She'll remind you that she's almost seven and very intentional about giving them strong women role models. So we have a lot of books about women in general, women in technology, women in science, women in engineering. But we have. A lot of books about women in Disney too. So this one is women of Walt Disney World Imagineering, and it's 12 female imagineers. And like they wrote it about their time in imagineering and things that they contributed. So I really love that one too. And then my final recommendation. Anything written by Marty Sklar. Marty Sklar has done something like like probably 12 books, not actually 12 but DreamIt do it is one of his travels with Figment Anything by Marty Sklar. Marty Sklar started working for Disney as like a communications. Writing a newsletter when Disneyland opened, and he went from that to Running Imagineering. And he's responsible at the heart for many of the parks, whole parks that we all know and love, like Epcot and others. Marty SLA is a legend and anything that he writes is incredible. So I own all of Marty Slar.

Oh my gosh. These are great recommendations. I really love this. I also love, just candidly, hearing all the things about Disney as someone who is likes Disney but loves to consume the content from it. I think it's it's just, it feels like you're part of the parks, you're part of the space, and I think that's what social media has allowed us to do. It's experience, what the food is and to understand like the nuances. Like I now know that Italy doesn't have good food and so I can avoid it, but I go to kava for my tequila margaritas. Like I now know where I need to go. And I think that's, I'm grateful for influencers like yourself, like content creators who actually not influencer, content creators who are creating content that actually is valuable to not only enjoy the trip, but also savor the trip planning or savor the experience back so.

Yes. It's to cut through all of the options to really like, so that way you don't have to go into the parks and guess with your

Yeah.

And

Yeah.

Make the most of it.

Awesome. Becky, tell us where you can find out lying.

Sure. So my Instagram page is raising mini mes mini as in the mouse, not mini as in small raising mini mes. I post there four times a week with food information, with strategies for in the parks. Mostly very data driven. Although after a trip, I'll typically do some features about what life was like. The park, so you can find me there. I also blog for touring plans, touring plans.com. They have a blog, I blog once a week there. It's called the Disney Data Dump, and that is a weekly refresh in all the most up-to-date data, how crowded the parks were, what was breaking down the most, what actual wait times were like. All of the everything you could want for that most refreshed information to be able to figure out what your might be like in the next weeks. Those are the main two places you'll find me online.

Thank you, Becky, for being in the shower.

Yeah. Really happy to join you. Thank you.

Awesome. If you enjoyed the podcast, please consider rate where we subscribe. Thank you so much for listening. Bye.