Inside John's Locker

Don Jones and Christopher Gannon have lived in Las Vegas, NV for six years. They’ve been owners at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas since 2003, and in 2005 added Old Key West to their contract. Both visit Central Florida several times each year.  They have been Owner's Locker Members since 2008.

 

I’m an information technology journalist, columnist, teacher, and speaker. I’ve been working as a freelancer for about 10 years, and have about 14 years in the industry total. We came to Las Vegas after living in an RV for two years, full-time, one winter of which was spent in Kissimmee right next to Walt Disney World. Before that, we were in Philadelphia. Our first visit to Walt Disney World together was in 2000; I had visited in 1994 with my parents, and on that trip I got to be an “extra” in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular!

§         DVC Owners since 2003

§         Favorite Characters: Figment, Stitch, and Tigger

§         Favorite Resorts: BoardWalk and Wilderness Lodge

§         Favorite Restaurant: Jiko

§         Favorite Theme Park: Epcot

§         Favorite Attractions: Soarin’, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Toy Story Mania

§         Most valued item in your purple locker: Sunblock

 

For me, it’s actually conferences. I’m an IT journalist (I blog at www.ConcentratedTech.com and am a columnist for www.TechNetMagazine.com, amongst others), and that often means speaking engagements at technology conferences. Orlando is home to about half of the US conferences – Las Vegas is home to the other half. I’m not a big humidity fan, so we chose to settle in Las Vegas and make Orlando a frequent destination. The other reason, of course, is this “Disney World” resort – maybe you’ve heard of it?

 

Even when it’s for work, Disney World has an ability to just make me let the real world go. I’m a huge Disney fan, although not one of the ones who likes to pick on everything the company does. So something in my brain is just hard wired, I guess, to relax and let go when I walk through the turnstiles of a park, or settle down in the lobby of one of the hotels, or enjoy a beverage at one of the bars or lounges. I can literally feel my shoulders relax, and my brain stops worrying about e-mails and conference calls. There’s not many other places where I get that sensation; most other places, I have to make an effort to relax. At Disney World, it just happens.

 

Absolutely! As DVC owners, we’re fortunate in that we get to the World often, so we don’t have to have the precision-planned, hectic vacations that some families do. We make a point of eating at Jiko, although Sanna is going to become a new favorite for us, I can tell you. We sit out the Hollywood Studios parade at the Tune-In Lounge. If it’s raining at Animal Kingdom, we’re in the outdoor bar near Tusker House. In fact, sitting at bars actually makes up a huge portion of our vacations – I know, we could do that in Las Vegas, right? But we love to try new cocktails (we used to be food writers), visit with the bartenders, exchange Cast Member gossip when possible (like new attractions that might be coming), and just relax in a themed, no-worries environment. In fact, we enjoy the on-property lounges so much, part of our new iPhone app (WDWPal) is a listing of every on-property lounge and its normal operating hours – so we’d always be able to figure out which one was closest and open!

 

Use your discounts. We have DVC, Annual Passholder, Disney Visa, Tables in Wonderland, and AAA (I told you we were big Disney fans). Sometimes it’s tough to figure out which discount is best – we’ll often just hold out all the cards to a server or cashier and make puppy dog eyes at them, hoping they’ll help. That’s the other big thing our WDWPal iPhone app does: It lists every merchandise and dining discount on property, so you can always get the best discount for whatever you’re buying at the moment. When we were testing the app on our last trip, we saved something like $75 additional dollars on discounts we’d forgotten about.

My other tip will have to be a plug for that WDWPal app: Check it out at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=319707817&mt=8 (iTunes Store link). It’s only $2, which you’ll easily save with just one remembered discount. It’s also got a Disney Dining Plan credit tracker, meaning you can easily track how many of each credit type everyone in your party has – individually! – and make sure you get the most out of your Plan. The app’s whole theme is about getting the most from your entitlements… and, of course, about finding the nearest bar!

 

With all the Web sites like AllEarsNet.com and MousePlanet.com, it’s hard to believe that anyone misses anything! I think for us, resort-hopping is the big secret. Disney’s upper-end resorts are just as themed as any of the parks, but they offer a bit more relaxed an environment – everyone’s not rushing to the next attraction. You can wander around and take in the sights, enjoy a beverage (we’re Dole Whip fans, and Captain Hook’s at the Polynesian has it on self-serve) or snack, and just relax. That’s what vacation is all about – not hitting every attraction possible. Make friends with Cast Members who are servers – they’ve got tips and advice most people never get to hear. And I guess for me personally, the Electric Water Pageant is an overlooked attractions. It sails along the Magic Kingdom resorts’ shorelines every evening. It’s kitchy (Christopher hates the “electrosynthomagnetic” musical sound), but I find it charming.

 

Well, we have two. The aptly-named “Clothes” locker has just that: Clothes. We get on the airplane with our Amazon Kindles, iPhones, and boarding passes. We keep Purex all-in-one washer/dryer sheets in the locker, so we just do laundry before we leave. No checked baggage, no waiting at the carousels – it’s a much better way to start and end the vacation. We can get our boarding passes at our resort when we leave, and head straight to security. The other locker, “Vacation Stuff,” has a wine opener (why are there no Mickey corkscrews?), slippers for in our room, swim suits, water shoes, all the other non-clothing stuff we miss when we’re away from home. Giant-sized toiletries, the usual stuff most folks keep in the locker, I expect. Nothing exotic – but it’s those little comforts of home that make our vacations so much more pleasant and relaxing, and it wouldn’t be possible to have them without the purple box.