Here is my experience with doing something for Disney and a national magazine. Hopefully, it will help others make their own decision as to whether or not to partake of something that will definitely take time away from their precious vacations (much easier said than done).
Several years ago, we had a phone message waiting for us one day in our resort room. The phone message stated that a national magazine was working on a Walt Disney World piece, and they were looking for a few kids to be a part of it. The message also stated that we needed to let Disney know ASAP whether or not our son could attend because the work on the magazine piece was beginning the next day.
The phone message was cryptic, to say the least, and my husband and I weren't sure if we wanted to take time out of our vacation to do something like that. You see, this was our first (and we were assuming our last) WDW vacation and we were traveling with friends. Both of our families were staying in the main building of the Grand Floridian Resort, and we were all on the Grand Plan vacation package. If we allowed our son to work with the magazine people, it would take precious time away from our vacation and our friends. My husband & I debated about it for a little bit, then decided that it wasn't every day that our son was asked to be a part of a magazine article. We called the phone number that had been left for us and told them yes.
The next day we went to the specified location inside the Magic Kingdom Theme Park. In the meeting room we found a small handful of children and their families. We also found several people from Disney and from the magazine. Once everyone had taken their seats, a Disney Cast Member introduced us to the magazine people and the rest of the Disney Cast Members.
Someone from the magazine stood before us and began explaining what was going to happen that day. He stated that the magazine was doing a piece on Walt Disney World, but this piece was specifically going to be a photo piece on the Magic Kingdom Theme Park that was taken from a childs perspective. Each child, we were told, was going to be given a Kodak disposable camera. The children were going to be broken up into smaller groups based upon age. Each group was then going to be taken out into the theme park with a Disney Cast Member or two and someone from the magazine. Parents were not allowed to tag along the magazine wanted it to be strictly only the children so that they would be free to photograph whatever struck their fancy.
As I listened to the presentation, I found that everything that day was going to be geared towards the children. I was impressed. And as the presentation continued, I could tell that my son was getting excited. I was awfully glad that my husband and I had decided that he should be a part of the day what a wonderful story he would have to share with his grandparents.
At the end of the presentation, the parents were told what time to come back to pick up their children (it was several hours later). We were also told that our children would be needed the next day, too. They told us their photographs were going to be developed overnight, and the magazine wanted to have a one-on-one interview with each child where they could ask them to explain why they took the particular photos that they took. The magazine was hoping to use one photo from each child in their magazine piece. With the presentation over with, the parents were bade farewell.
My husband and I decided that we were going to hang around outside for a little bit so that we could see with our own eyes what our son was going to experience. I cant remember how long it was before the children appeared outdoors (maybe 15 minutes). We eventually spied our son and watched him from afar (we didnt want to be too obvious). We tagged along in the distance, which was very easy to do considering the theme park was packed that day. We could tell that our son and the other children were having a ball. That made us happy, and so we headed off on our own since our son was obviously in good hands.
At one point in the day, we spotted all the children congregated together in a special area of the lawn overlooking Cinderellas Castle. Since this area was fenced off to the general public, we were curious as to why they were there. We decided to move in a little closer to see what was going on. It was at that point that the magazine people began posing the children together for a group photograph. And what a photograph it would be, too Cinderellas Castle was directly behind them. Simply stunning. I was mad at myself for not having my camera with me. It would have been fun to have taken a photo of the magazines photographer taking a photo of the children on the lawn. I decided right there that I would have to purchase the magazine once it came out. After watching for a few more minutes, my husband and I snuck away.
A few hours later, it was time to pick up our son. We showed up at the designated meeting place. We found our son and the other children waiting for us there. The children were quite animated as they explained what they had experienced that day. It made my heart happy to see that my son and the others had truly had a wonderful time. And listening to my son, I had one of those life just does not get any better than this moments.
As the parents gathered inside the meeting room, we were told to meet at a certain time at the Grand Floridian Resort the next day for Part Two of the magazine event. A breakfast reservation had been made for everyone at the Grand Floridians 1900 Park Fare restaurant, and it was there that we would congregate as we waited for each childs one-on-one time with the magazine people.
I cant remember the specifics of the next day, but I do know that when it was my sons time to meet with the magazine people, my husband and I were allowed to tag along. We were thankful for that.
A Cast Member took my son, my husband and myself outdoors to the small garden that sits outside of 1900 Park Fare. We found a few people from the magazine waiting there. They showed my son his printed photographs and wrote down his comments as he viewed them. The magazine people then selected a specific photograph and began questioning him about it: why did he take that particular photo; what did he see in it; what did he hope others saw in it when they viewed it; etc. At first my son was a little shy, but then he opened up. He gave typical kid responses; that is, I took it because it looked cool! And I liked the colors in it. And It reminded me of this other thing at another place inside the park. And so on. I got a kick out of listening to him. I know how I would have answered those questions if I had been asked, but I would have answered them with years of lifes experiences and not with the simplicity of a child. I took that photo because I thought it looked cool! What an appropriate response for a child. It looked cool and I wanted to photograph it. It just doesnt get any better than that.
I think we spent maybe 20 minutes with the magazine people, and then we were allowed to leave. They promised us that we would receive a copy of the magazine when the article made it into publication. I was pleased to hear that because I did not have a subscription to that particular magazine (but you know darn well that I subscribed to it once I got home).
That first Walt Disney World vacation was wonderful. We thought it would be our only one, naïve people that we were (weve been hooked ever since). We had many magical things happen to us on that vacation, but I think the magazine piece was definitely one of the highlights. If we had the chance to do it all over again, we would in a heartbeat.
