EasyWDW / notfrosty Josh / obituary

[GADisneyDad14]

A very thoughtful post with many voices from the WDW blogging community on Josh. I thought it was a good read.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507703124605259785

 

[MegaraWink]

That was wonderful!!

 

[anricat]

That was a really really touching tribute. Definitely grab the tissues before going in. That review of the Italy pavilion...oof. It had me laughing, crying, and missing Josh with his honesty and wit. Gone far too soon.

 

[SkyGuy]

A very thoughtful post with many voices from the WDW blogging community on Josh. I thought it was a good read.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507703124605259785

Nothing like a a teary Saturday morning. That was lovely.

 

[mistysue]

This is my favorite blog post from Josh. It's an old April Fool's post on the best
quick service meals. I hope it's okay to post it in honor of how incredibly funny and talented he was. https://easywdwforums.com/threads/april-1st-blog-posts.18723/

Thank you for sharing this one, It is always one of the first posts that comes to mind when a new family asks me the most important things to know about Disney world. I was literally Reading through this thread right now planning to ask at the end if anyone knew where to find it.

 

[lotsohugginbear]

Thank you for sharing this one, It is always one of the first posts that comes to mind when a new family asks me the most important things to know about Disney world. I was literally Reading through this thread right now planning to ask at the end if anyone knew where to find it.

I read it every April fools day. Always makes me laugh. The bloggers community post was a great tribute....how fun it must have been to go to Food and Wine with Josh!

 

[mistysue]

I read it every April fools day. Always makes me laugh. The bloggers community post was a great tribute....how fun it must have been to go to Food and Wine with Josh!

I woke to my phone alerting me to the bloggers tribute this morning- I've been trying to take a break from all forms of social media the last six months or so to deal with my own general depression; while it was extremely jarring and upsetting to learn of his passing, I really appreciated every moment I was reading it. Here I was being frustrated in the lack of updates, not knowing he was struggling too and likely not understanding how much he mattered.

I met him briefly. Myself being gifted with sub-par social skills the 60 seconds was probably horrifying for both of us. If I had been in a better place for it he likely would have been an amazing person to attend a festival at Disney with.

I can't breathe when I read that April fool's day article.

 

[cassie58]

When we first found ourselves making repeat trips to WDW, you'd always find me with a folder full of Josh's calendar/park recommendation print outs.

I'm the planner in the house, and consequently the only one who reads Disney blogs or participates in forums like this. So, none of the physically-here people in my life get how sad this is for me, and I'm guessing many others of you feel the same. You read someone's words for so many years, and you just feel like part of a community and like you really know the group leader

Just saw the news on The Saturday Six tribute, and am so deeply saddened by the loss of someone so integral to the beginnings of my Disney experience back around 2008, when that "one-time trip" became an obsession, as many of you here share. I too, like GADisneyDad14 , always had printouts of Josh's calendars (along w/ having read the Unofficial Guide cover to cover, which was packed in my suitcase) and would direct friends and families to Josh's site as I became a planner to others.
.
And I totally echo cmph that no one else around me in my everyday life would get it like this community, and had to head here to the DIS, where I knew others would be feeling the same emotions, like we knew him even though most had never met him personally, through his always recognizable reviews that made you crack a smile, and stuck in your head for your next visit. He will be missed, and I hope his family and friends may see these tributes, and know how much he contributed to so many, with his immense talent and passion for his craft. Brought back memories of the dearly departed Cheshire Figment, who was another brimming with Disney knowledge, especially on all things tickets, which I utilized from my beginnings on the DIS, and was always willing to help with questions, as long-timers on here will probably recall, and it sounds like Josh was as well. Picturing them both up there talking Disney w/ Walt brings a smile through my tears!

 

[Gracedis1]

I was stunned to see Josh died. He was so young and had so much life in him. I loved his humor, sarcasm and love of Disney. No one else like him.

 

[Sydnerella]

A very thoughtful post with many voices from the WDW blogging community on Josh. I thought it was a good read.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507703124605259785

Indeed! It is a must read. I saw reference of it this morning on his forum and read through the beautiful tributes feeling just so very touched, sad and thankful that we have friends of his willing to share through their grief. It was so well done. Hats off and thank you to Derek Burgan at TP and all the writers.

I am just a longtime Josh fan, not a friend. And I’m very sad. It’s incredible how one could not know someone personally yet be so impacted by their passing. And I feel sadness for this community’s loss, but that much more sadness for his many friends and his family as Josh was clearly a very unique and generous person.

Right after reading it this morning, I posted a comment to the tribute. Then I saw Josh’s mom had posted a comment right before me thanking people for the wonderful tribute to her son and how reading the remembrances will help them to cope with their tremendous loss.

It broke my heart.

 

[derekburgan]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my tribute article to Josh easyWDW. Josh belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of theme park bloggers, he was that important and influential to the community.

A poster in this thread wrote about feeling guilty from checking Josh's sites and getting frustrated over a lack of updates, only to find out the reason for the lack of updates later on. The same thing happened to me years ago with the DIS Unplugged podcast. I loved the podcast. Looked forward to it every week. The team members on the podcast felt like friends in real life despite the fact that I had never interacted with them in real life. All of a sudden the podcast just stopped. A week would go by. And then another one. Then another one. I started to feel "mad" for lack of a better word, because at the very least I'm getting upset about not receiving a podcast that was being given to me free in the first place, which was ridiculous in and of itself.

I finally decided to head to the DIS Boards, probably to make a post complaining about the lack of new pods, and it was then when I discovered that Bob Varley had passed away. It hit me like a brick. One, someone I really enjoyed was gone, forever. Two, I felt like the world's biggest ****** for being mad about a podcast not being updated and this was the reason why. I learned some true humility that day. But, it's human nature to have feelings like that and it's experience to grow on. I hope that it made me a better person, and maybe part of that led to being able to have the maturity to write the article about Josh which in turn would help his mother and family in their grieving process. You never know how life is going to work out, all you can do is try to improve yourself and make the lives of those around you and the ones you love better.

 

[mistysue]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my tribute article to Josh easyWDW. Josh belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of theme park bloggers, he was that important and influential to the community.

Thank you for making a tribute article. We all needed it.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Thinking of Josh lots today.

We miss you.

 

[Figment1990]

I want to say thank you for posting the news here. Like everyone here, I was a long time reader and huge fan of Josh’s and was sad to read his post last winter about his struggles and illness. I have missed and will miss him dearly. His humor was unmatched and his advice was always spot on. My family quoted his posts frequently and enjoyed the refreshingly fun attitude he brought to the whole stressful prospect of planning Disney. I’ll never “rope drop Starbucks” in the parks again without thinking of him, or take a tilted picture again without saying “it’s artsy.”

I hope somehow his blog posts live on because they were so incredibly entertaining He was so talented.

I hope he finds peace and I echo the sentiments - support your friends and family (and strangers) as much as you can - you never know what private battles anyone is dealing with.

 

[JLiebCamm]

I haven't been trip planning so I'm learning about this late. It's so incredibly sad. As many have said, he was unmatched. His reviews were incredibly entertaining. I used to read parts to my family and we would all laugh. His advice for touring the parks was spot on. I never found a blogger that I liked even a fraction as much as Josh. I imagine his website will disappear at some point. I hope there is a way to save his posts.

 

[disney_runner]

Hi all, if you're hoping to always be able to reference his witty posts, you're in luck. According to his forums, there is a site called the Wayback Machine that can be googled. ( I don't post here often enough to know the rules for posting links to such things, so you gotta do the work yourselves, lol ) From their main page, type in his website and then a listing/or choose calendar view / of all his posts are archived there. I spent way too much time last week reading some old old stuff and just laughing away. God I miss that man and his words.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Just saw the news. This is terrible and sad. I relied on Josh to plan many a Disney trip, and even when we weren't planning a trip I read his website at least weekly because he was such a great writer. RIP.

 

[goofy4prez]

So sad to hear the news of Josh's passing. When I first started going to WDW he was my main source of information and advice along with the DIS. I loved the humor, his knowledge, his blogs, but also the fact he was not a Disney apologist who could find no fault in Disney; He called it the way he saw it. RIP.

 

[anricat]

He called it the way he saw it.

This was key for me. I remember telling my husband on multiple occasions, "Well, Josh says that new dish is terrible so we should avoid it." He didn't sugarcoat. He put everything out there.

 

[DefnotDLav]

Josh was far and away my favorite Disney blogger.

His sense of humor was second to none. Also, his in depth analysis got me through so many trips.

I can't believe I just found out today.

I will miss him.