Our credentials
The airport parking lot at Dulles International Airport (IAD). I can imagine how this person felt when they returned from their trip to find their car like this.
The DC Metro area covered in snow from above.
What a beautiful sight!
Heavenly!
On our way to the Polynesian Resort on the Magical Express bus.
I heard rave reviews about Boma's breakfast. It is located at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. We made reservations for our first day.
The food was delicious! Visit Boma to experience the flavors of Africa.
Fruit does a body good!
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
The Tree of Life - Do you see the carvings of animals?
M-I-C-K-E-Y... M-O-U-S-E!
Kilimanjaro Safaris - A "must ride" at Animal Kingdom! Experience an exciting expedition through an African style savannah with real animals that are roaming freely.
Caution.. I would have to agree!
Where the elephants roam!
Do you see the lion?
My "little" big boy was starting to get tired!
Guest credentials
What's New, What's Next Presentation with worldwide media coverage at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, Milk House.
Media and Social Media Moms
Meg Crofton, President of the Walt Disney World Resort
Disney World is launching Summer Nightastic this summer!
...which includes a reintroduction of the Main Street Electrical Parade.
Step aboard Disney Dream.
You have to see this for yourself. AquaDuck is a thrilling "water coaster" located aboard the Disney Dream Cruise Ship. The acrylic tube takes you up, down, around and OFF the side of the ship, yes OFF the ship and over the ocean! Click here take a virtual ride on the Aquaduck: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/dream/pools/aquaduck/ I am really excited about this roller coaster. You'll see why when you view the video!
Why pay more for a room with a window when you can stay in an inside stateroom with a virtual porthole. How cool is that? You will have real-time views of the sea and you never know which Disney character will peek their head in to say hello!
Meg Crofton, President of the Walt Disney World Resort Al Weiss, President, Worldwide Operations, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
The ESPN Worldwide of Sports Complex kept our families entertained while we attended the presentation.
This drank so much hot chocolate that night!
Tailgate Dinner Party at the ESPN Wide World of Sports - Dinner and desserts the sports way! We had great food and entertainment.
Mmhhh... ice cream and cotton candy!
All you the ice cream your little heart desires!
Goofy was dressed for the occasion!
The sports theme was carried throughout the entire building.
One of the hilarious entertainers that kept us laughing!
A live High School Musical performance after dinner.
These cool hats were handed out as we headed to our bus.
Thursday Morning - Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Breakfast with gues speaker Guy Kawasaki.
Guy Kawasaki is a founding partner of Garage Technology Ventures and co-founder of Alltop.com. He gave us great tips how to utilize Twitter as a marketing weapon.
Lori's specially prepared vegetarian breakfast!
Guy Kawasaki logs into TweetDeck and shows us around.
My breakfast buddies and their Twitter handles: Lisa @LisaAboutLife, Jackie @freeismylife, Amy @tjandjmom, Maria @chicagomommy, @LisseteD and myself @TheSavingQueen
Carter Oosterhouse of “Carter Can” on HGTV and "The Inside Job" on the DIY Network. Single Ladies, I hear that he is single himself!
Tom Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
The one and only, Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition!
Ty Pennington and his infamous bullhorn!
“Raise Those Balloons”
The balloons were raised, revealing the world’s largest structure of canned foods, made out of more than 115,000 assorted cans.
Here you have it, world’s largest structure of canned foods.
Up close with Mickey.
Disney World has set a world record for the largest structure of canned foods.
Kermit and Ty Pennington share a laugh!
The Saving Queen!
CAN DO! Volunteer Event - Epcot, World ShowPlace
Mapping out our next adventure!
My mom manages to find a cat everywhere she goes!
A "must ride" at Epcot! Test Track - Board a GM vehicle to experience rigorous testing procedures first hand, from testing your car's suspension to riding through environmental chambers. Fun, fun, fun!
The Test Dummy Family
This is an awesome ride!
My kids are playing doctors on this virtual 3-D game. They scored pretty high! Can I put this on their med school application? :-)
CAN DO! Volunteer Event - Volunteers from all over are lending a hand to support a large volunteer effort.
We are preparing to plant trees that will serve green efforts in various Southern states
The kids are lending a hand.
One of our trees that we planted during the CAN DO Volunteer event.
The kids from Disney were among some of the volunteers that were participating in the CAN DO! Volunteer Event. They had autographed pictures for the kids at the event.
The canned food structure was dismantled, boxed up and loaded on the trucks to be distributed to food banks in central Florida, Atlanta, and Miami.
Autograph time!
Joe Jonas
Neil Bush (President George Bush's brother) was one of the many volunteers at the CAN DO! Volunteer Event.
Putting the last boxes of food in the trucks to prepare for delivery.
The trucks carrying the canned foods were preceded by a lively parade.
Miss Piggy and Kermit joined in for this exciting event.
A few of the volunteers.
We had an amazing time at Epcot, but it was not over. We headed back to our room to freshen up!
When we returned the tables were set and the spotlight was on the stage.
Surprise, surprise... Robert Irvine of Food Network’s Dinner: Impossible prepared our delectable dinner alongside the Disney chefs for an upcoming episode of Dinner: Impossible. Maine Lobster and Atlantic Seafood Fisherman's Pie
I don't know what was better, the presentation or the food! Both were amazing!
Left: Push-up Cheesecake... how did they think of that?!!! Right: A canoli that you dip into the filling. Scrumptious!
The opening band - Allstar Weekend
Allstar Weekend... good music!
Allstar Weekend
Chef Robert Irvine of Food Network’s Dinner: Impossible
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato alongside Disney Channel Stars
Disney Channel Stars
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato
This was an amazing and unforgettable night!
The night ended with the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth show over the water.
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth is a spectacular show.
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
High Five!
Friday, February 12th - We boarded the monorail from our resort and headed over to Disney's Contemporary Resort Conference Center for a Social Media Moms' Breakfast and Social Media Moms Sessions.
Special entertainment - The Twitter Sisters!
Leanne Jakubowski, Director of Social Media at Walt Disney World Resort
Lori and Maria - @MissLori and @TheSavingQueen on Twitter!
Preparing for our first speaker.
Having a magical time at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration!
The Twitter Sisters... "Tweet, Tweet"!
Maxine Clark - Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of Build-A-Bear Workshop as a child.
The importance of listening to your teachers.
On of Maxine Clark's favorite quotes.
If we all took this advice, imagine how much more enjoyable life could be.
Maxine Clark - Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of Build-A-Bear Workshop
One lucky winner at each table won the bear that was displayed on their table.
Maxine Clark was inspired by her 10-year-old friend Katie, who was frustrated because the store that they had visited was out Beanie Babies. Katie did not see what the big deal was, they could make a stuffed animal themselve and they did!
Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs and best-selling author of Trust Agents - @chrisbrogan on Twitter
Interesting facts about Maxine Clark: - She was once the president of Payless Shoe Stores. - She does not have children. - Her mother was a civil rights activist. - She started Build-A-Bear Workshop in 1997 and now has over 400 stores in 18 countries. - She responds to her tweets. Don't be surprised if you get one at 2am!
Each table had a different color scheme and were decorated with these vases and flowers that we were able to take home at the end of the day.
Marissa Jaret Winokur - Tony-award winning actress that played the leading lady Hairspray and you may also recognize her from Dancing with the Stars (she was a brunette!). You can follow her @MarissaJWinokur on Twitter.
Marissa utilized social media to gain exposure and advance through Dancing with Stars each week. She said yes to every interview opportunity that came her way, she communicated with viewers via her Facebook page and she blogged.
The Twitter Sisters drew names for door prizes throughout the day.
Prince Charming escorted Cinderella in for the top prize.
One Social Media Mom was chosen to spend the night in Cinderella's castle.
Congratulations!
Lunchtime with my lunch buddies!
Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder - This was delicious. Disney has the best chefs!
Maria @TheSavingQueen and Marissa Jaret Winokur @MarissaJWinokur
Seasonal Greens and Vegetables with Ranch or Basamic Vinaigrette Dressing
Sea Salt and Olive Oil Vegetable Medley Oven Baked Ziti with Mozzarella in a Fire Roasted Tomoto Sauce
Chicken Parmesan with Basil Tomato Sauce
Cheesecake! This tasted as good as it looked!
Chris Brogan @chrisbrogan and Maria @TheSavingQueen
Maxine Clark @ChiefExecBear and Maria @TheSavingQueen
My lunch buddies! Twofer Mom @Twincident, Valerie @DisneyFamily, Debra @AFrugalFriend, Anne @mommyhastowork, Barb @ruralmoms and Akilah @Execumama (I am missing one person. Please comment and let me know who it is. Thanks!)
Scott Stratten @unmarketing and Maria @TheSavingQueen
Maria @TheSavingQueen and Susan @5minutesformom
Maria @TheSavingQueen with the extraordinary Director of Social Media at Walt Disney World Resort, Leanne Jakubowski.
I kept admiring Carolina Mama's lipstick. I had to get the color! @CarolinaMama on Twitter
Our next speaker was Kathy Ireland, former supermodel and current CEO of Kathy Ireland Worldwide. Follow @kathyireland on Twitter.
Kathy Ireland gave a quick tip that she learned while modeling... how to give the appearance of a waistline after a full meal!
Kathy Ireland Worldwide grosses over $1 Billion a year, producing everything from clothing to flooring. They started with selling socks in 1993.
Kathy Ireland made some excellent points during her speech: - The reality of social messaging is that you can build your business for free. - Teams do not need to cost money, just passion.
- Social messages reveal to the world, our character. - Cyber Footprints never go away. This is an important lesson that we need to teach our children.
- If someone says “No” you need to ask, “Why?”, if they say “Yes”, ask “How?”
- We can have it all, not just at once. - 90% of tomorrow's jobs have not been invented. - Make dates with your kids. - Include your kids in your business.
Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, author of best-selling book, Trust Agents. Follow @chrisbrogan on Twitter.
"The three big parts of social media are listening, connecting, and publishing."
- The right way to sell is through relationships. - The difference between audience and community is the way you face the chairs. - Don't go to the business table with 1/2 and idea. You need a begining, middle and end. - Relationships are gold.
Maryellen Hooper is a hilarious stand-up comedienne that had us laughing the entire time she was on the stage. Her outine was based on motherhood, something we could all relate too! Visit her website at: http://www.maryellenhooper.com/ and her blog at: http://stinkyflowers.wordpress.com/
Not only did she have the jokes, she had all of the moves to go with them! :-)
Follow @maryellenhooper on Twitter!
Maryellen Hooper, Maria and Chris Brogan
I was thrilled to meet Maria Bailey in person. I watch her show Maria Bailey Live on MomTV.com every week. She is such an inspirational person. Follow Maria @MomTalkRadio on Twitter.
We first met online when we were partnered up at the Logitech Mom Mixer. It was great to get a chance to meet Molly in person! Follow Molly @mygomom on Twitter.
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? The Strong family! We ate in the pineapple at Bongos while visiting Downtown Disney!
Step into Runtime at INNOVENTIONS and star in your own video game! Click here to watch me run and jump through each level: http://www.thinkingofyoupostcards.com/runtime/play?Guestcode=KQSQ6RV4FEAA3Q
After adding yourself to the video game, you can play it on the arcade machine and e-mail it to yourself.
While in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot, we stopped by Segway Central and learned how to operate a Segway.
I am so glad that I tried this out. I learned you operate Segways by shifting your body weight forward and backward. They are actually very fun to ride around on! I am going to look into going on a Segway tour of DC this spring.
I am waiting for Mickey Mouse to find his way out of there, so he can help me get started on the laundry!
Our "swag bag" included a watch imprinted with the Social Media Moms Celebration logo.
When returned to Maryland to find our driveway and trees covered in ice.
