From today's Orlando Sentinal...
Finding Disney's milder side
The Magic Kingdom is testing a new map that helps guide parents of young children to age-appropriate attractions.
By Adrian G. Uribarri
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 5, 2005
The Magic Kingdom might seem like a maze for some parents, but with a new guide from Walt Disney World, navigating the park could become a little easier.
A new preschool guide, meant to complement the 107-acre park's primary map for visitors, highlights attractions appropriate for children younger than age 6.
"It's great," said Joe Mosier, visiting from Tennessee with 3-year-old twins. "It gives you an idea of what rides they can go on. We can map out what we want to do first."
The guide even tells parents when to eat.
"Earlier meals make it a lot easier on you and your kids," it states, advising parents to "take advantage of less traditional meal times."
The guide offers similar suggestions for Disney's Fastpass service, a parent-swap program for rides, and park etiquette.
But useful as they may be, the guides might be around only for the summer. They're part of an experiment that began in late May.
Lissette Campos, Disney's public affairs manager, said research teams will gather data and interview guests to determine whether to keep publishing the guides.
The teams could face at least one challenge in their research: Many parents interviewed recently in the Magic Kingdom said they couldn't find the guides.
"I didn't even know the map existed," said Linda Sharpe, a mother from Phoenix. After seeing a guide, Sharpe said it would have made her visit easier.
Another woman said she didn't know she had the map. Turning to her children, she asked, "Do you know how we got these?"
The mystery could be part of Disney's research plan. The trial evaluation, Campos said, includes how the guides are distributed.
Campos mentioned six places where the guides are available: the stroller-rental area, City Hall, the guest-relations window, the baby-care center, the Tip Board, and the vacation-planning office.
But Disney workers in the Magic Kingdom, when asked, pointed to only two: City Hall, at the front of the park, and the Tip Board, at the front-center.
If parents do get a preschool guide, Disney advises them to use it with the more detailed map and the times guide, which are handed out at the entrance and available throughout the park.
But some parents like the simplicity of the preschool map.
"The regular map is very difficult to follow," said William Querrie, from upstate New York. He was at the Magic Kingdom with his two children, a niece, a nephew and his mother, who has health problems.
He said the preschool map should highlight emergency stations, in case the kids get lost or Grandma gets hurt. Also, personnel uniforms should be clearly illustrated, so children know workers from strangers, he said.
Campos did not forecast an expansion of the preschool program to other languages or Disney parks; for now, Disney's efforts "are focused on this test."
Adrian G. Uribarri can be reachedat auribarri@orlandosentinel.comor 407-420-5240.
Finding Disney's milder side
The Magic Kingdom is testing a new map that helps guide parents of young children to age-appropriate attractions.
By Adrian G. Uribarri
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 5, 2005
The Magic Kingdom might seem like a maze for some parents, but with a new guide from Walt Disney World, navigating the park could become a little easier.
A new preschool guide, meant to complement the 107-acre park's primary map for visitors, highlights attractions appropriate for children younger than age 6.
"It's great," said Joe Mosier, visiting from Tennessee with 3-year-old twins. "It gives you an idea of what rides they can go on. We can map out what we want to do first."
The guide even tells parents when to eat.
"Earlier meals make it a lot easier on you and your kids," it states, advising parents to "take advantage of less traditional meal times."
The guide offers similar suggestions for Disney's Fastpass service, a parent-swap program for rides, and park etiquette.
But useful as they may be, the guides might be around only for the summer. They're part of an experiment that began in late May.
Lissette Campos, Disney's public affairs manager, said research teams will gather data and interview guests to determine whether to keep publishing the guides.
The teams could face at least one challenge in their research: Many parents interviewed recently in the Magic Kingdom said they couldn't find the guides.
"I didn't even know the map existed," said Linda Sharpe, a mother from Phoenix. After seeing a guide, Sharpe said it would have made her visit easier.
Another woman said she didn't know she had the map. Turning to her children, she asked, "Do you know how we got these?"
The mystery could be part of Disney's research plan. The trial evaluation, Campos said, includes how the guides are distributed.
Campos mentioned six places where the guides are available: the stroller-rental area, City Hall, the guest-relations window, the baby-care center, the Tip Board, and the vacation-planning office.
But Disney workers in the Magic Kingdom, when asked, pointed to only two: City Hall, at the front of the park, and the Tip Board, at the front-center.
If parents do get a preschool guide, Disney advises them to use it with the more detailed map and the times guide, which are handed out at the entrance and available throughout the park.
But some parents like the simplicity of the preschool map.
"The regular map is very difficult to follow," said William Querrie, from upstate New York. He was at the Magic Kingdom with his two children, a niece, a nephew and his mother, who has health problems.
He said the preschool map should highlight emergency stations, in case the kids get lost or Grandma gets hurt. Also, personnel uniforms should be clearly illustrated, so children know workers from strangers, he said.
Campos did not forecast an expansion of the preschool program to other languages or Disney parks; for now, Disney's efforts "are focused on this test."
Adrian G. Uribarri can be reachedat auribarri@orlandosentinel.comor 407-420-5240.
