When we left new Fantasyland we headed over to Storybook Circus to look at the new Dumbo ride and the refurbished Barnstormer and Fantasyland Train Station. This area has been open to the public for about a month and our family had visited it the day before so again, nothing new here. The mood in the van on the way back to the Yacht Club wasn’t nearly as upbeat as on our ride over. Honestly, this was the one time all weekend we were a bit disappointed…and I bought new shoes!

Once we returned to the Yacht Club we hurried to the ballroom where the conference would take place all day. I had a great seat in the front of the room with some great friends. The tables were decorated with wreaths surrounding a circle of electrical plugs sponsored by Rayovac so everyone could plug in their laptop or tablet during the conference. Mary  Ellen Hooper, comedienne, served as host and MC for the day and she kept us laughing all day long!

Meg Crofton, President Walt Disney World

We were greeted by Meg Crofton who thanked us for our love and loyalty of the Disney brand. She let us know how important we are as brand ambassadors for Disney and even though she was speaking to all 200 of us in the room, I truly felt appreciated by one of my favorite brands. Next up was Amy Jo Martin of Digital Royalty. Amy Jo spoke about the power of our brand and my favorite quote from her is, “Where skill, passion and purpose collide-that is where bliss is found.”

Next up was the powerhouse speaker of the day Ramon DeLeon. Ramon owns 6 Domino’s Pizza franchises in Chicago.

@Ramone_DeLeon

Ramon is the king of using social media for customer service. Just go to Twitter and search the hashtag #RamonWOW and read the stories. He told us that if we give people “WOW!” to share they will. He challenged us to create our own “WOW!” and see what happens.

Wacky Gary aka Gary Buchanan from Disney’s Social Media Department shared with us about all of the excitement that happens during Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He was even joined on stage by Darth Vader himself! Then Amy Foster, Director of Consumer Insights for Disney Destinations talked to us about the value of a family vacation. She used the concept that we have but 18 summers with our kids, and that hit home to a lot of fellow bloggers. It didn’t hit me the same way though, I’m in my 19th summer and I envision us taking vacations with our kid’s families in the future just as we do now with my parents and my husband’s parents. I mentioned this concept to my kids later that night and they had the same mindset I did-we will ALWAYS have family Disney vacations for generations to come, and that made this mom very happy

Peter Shankman was the speaker I was most interested in hearing from. I have followed him for years on Twitter and Facebook and he has inspired me through those outlets so i couldn’t wait to hear him in person. Peter encouraged us to be weeds! Why weeds? Weeds are different. Weeds stick around and have the ability to survive no matter what happens around them. My favorite quote from his session was, “Nothing exciting ever happens in your comfort zone.”

Lisa Druxman of StrollerStrides.com encouraged us to get out of our own way. Take that first step towards something we want to accomplish and give ourselves rewards for reaching each small goal. The last speaker of the day was Chris Brogan. The main thing I learned from Chris this year was to get my mobile site in gear…and that is what I am working on.

Throughout the day there was plenty of pixie dust sprinkled in the form of giveaways including a night in Cinderella Castle, a yacht cruise, boxed sets of books by Ridley Pearson and more. I am happy for my friends who won the extra magic…really, I am

As it is at any conference some speakers speak to you more than others and I am always thankful for the great mix of speakers at Disney Social Media Moms, there is truly something for everyone.

Disclosure: I paid to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for my registration fee, I received deeply discounted rates on hotel, park tickets, free events, meals, and swag. I am not required nor was I asked to write about the events by Disney or any other brands, celebrities, or speakers affiliated with the event. All opinions are my own.

The post Disney Social Media Moms Day 2 Part 1 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Day 2 of Disney Social media Moms was such a whirlwind I know I’m not going to be able to do it justice in tis post. The day started off with a delicious breakfast at Citricos, where I had the pleasure of dining with Jackie Gailey and 2 of the most handsome men at the conference…Chris Brogan and Lou Mongello.

After a delicious breakfast and great conversation we headed to the Grand Floridian Conference Center, where we would spend most of the day. I was blessed to find a seat front and center with my friends Molly Gold, Amy Lupold Bair, Shannan Powell, Fiona Bryan and Shellie Ross. The conference enter was beautifully decorated and the attention to detail really helped build the excitement for what lay ahead.

First up was Meg Crofton, President of Walt Disney World. She welcomed us to the conference and shared some fun facts about what it takes to run Walt Disney World. Did you know that, resort laundry processes 300,000 pounds of linens and towels daily?  It would take you 27 years and 2 loads every day at home to finish what they do in one day!

Next, Matt Jacobsen, Head of Market Development for Facebook shared some different ways for us to utilize Facebook to get our message out. We need to look at Facebook as one way to distribute our message. There was a very insightful question  and answer time after his talk and Matt seemed very interested in the concerns we, mom bloggers, have about how to separate our personal and professional pages as well as security.

The highlight of the day for me was our next speaker, Rene Syler aka Good Enough Mother. Rene was my favorite because she is “every woman”. Rene was real, honest and transparent. Rene had us crying and laughing during her talk about authenticity and re-inventing yourself. Rene has been through a lot since her days anchoring the Early Show on CBS, but she hasn’t let her problems get her down, she has powered through and she is coming back on top. Though most of us in that room haven’t been fired from a high profile job or had breast cancer we could all relate to Rene on one level or another to her heartfelt message. I’ll admit it…I have a bit of a girl crush on Rene (grin). We have actually conversed a lot lately on Twitter partly because of our campaign to get her on Dancing with the Stars. If you haven’t signed our linky/petition please take a second to do that now.

Lunch was back at Citricos and again it was delicious! Then we had a little break before our afternoon session which kicked off with a visit from Duffy Bear! Then Chris Brogan spoke about developing a community and working together instead of tearing each other down. Then 2 ladies I had honestly never hear of took the stage, Georgia Stitt on piano and Susan Egan on vocals. I may not have recognized their names but as soon as Susan began singing I recognized her voice. I am a huge fan of Disney music and Susan was both the voice of Megera in Disney’s Hercules and she was Belle in the original Broadway cast of Beauty and the Beast. The Disney fan in me loved the Disney songs they performed but the musician in me loved the original pieces, most written by Georgia, that were true slice of life songs that touched my heart.

I headed back to the room to meet up with my family. They had spent the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and their goal for the day was to break their record of riding Rock ‘n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. Their record, set in December 2010 was 10 times. I am proud to say that on March 18, 2011 they both rode it 12 times in one day! Congratulations boys!

Hidden Mickey in the Motorcycle Shop window

After freshening up, we boarded buses to take us back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for our dinner and Disney Junior Dance Party on the set of Lights, Motor, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. It was very exciting to be down on the set and get to see the buildings. My friend Steve Barrett aka Hidden Mickey Guy was giddy being on the set because it meant he was close to a hidden Mickey he had never really seen well before. What was even cooler is, he couldn’t wait to show it to my kids! I hope you enjoy my video of the fun we had at the party.

 

The post Disney Social Media Moms Day 2 Recap appeared first on The Mom Maven.