WDW Daily News

Check out the photo of the week by Stacy Degaro featuring a Mickey Head Pumpkin on Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom.

For those that have taken the Studio Back Lot tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I’m sure you remember the narration along the way describing what is referred to as Walt Disney’s personal plane, having the call letters of N234MM.

Yes, in fact this was Walt’s 1963 G-151 Grumman Gulfstream 1. It had 21 seats, 2 Rolls-Royce Dart 529 turbo prop engines and took about 7 hours to cross from Los Angeles to Orlando, which it did many times up until retiring in 1992.

The narration also mentions that this is THE plane that Walt used to scan the Florida landscape to locate the spot for his Florida Project. Well, this part is not necessarily true. Walt made his decision on the current Florida location on November 22, 1963, while on en route to New Orleans for a refueling stop. Walt was aboard his first aircraft, a Beechwood Queen Air, a smaller twin propeller aircraft that was put into service in 1963. The Gulfstream was not put into service until 1964. Walt also learned of the assignation of President John F. Kennedy this same day.

And what of those call letters and numbers? The tail number that is currently listed on the plane are not original. In the days when Walt was flying aboard, the call number was N732G. N234MM was originally on the Queen Air, then transferred to another plane owned by Disney, a King Air, then finally to the Gulfstream we see on display to this day.

Air traffic controllers would pronounce the name as N or November, two, three, four, metro-metro which is the phonetic FCC regulation pronunciation. Eventually they got familiar with the aircraft and it’s owner and began using the familiar N234 Mickey Mouse, or “The Mouse” for short. In the beginning, the plane’s name was…George!

The plane was landed for the last time along Florida Interstate 4 and transported by crane to its current home at The Disney Studios. It was gutted and sealed so there is no chance of it to fly again. It does make a great lawn ornament if you ask me!

I also learned that the original paint scheme for the plane was one orange stripe that crossed the window panels and a small Mickey Mouse emblem on the tail section. There was no other verbiage or company insignia to indicate it was a Disney Corporate Jet. Walt and his wife Lillian personally chose the interior design and color palette.

You can also find these call numbers on the license plate of a bright red MINI Cooper that also has a mouse ears hat in the back window. Yep, that’s me. Be sure to wave! 

I just returned from a brief Walt Disney World visit. It got me to thinking about the things that bug me while I am there. Granted, it is the most magical place on Earth, but sometimes you can tell your fellow Guests have had too much Disney for one day!!! Sometimes that Guest is me, so I am listing a few things that just push me over the edge.

1. Guests leaving a waterpark via bus transportation without a shirt on……especially when they have to stand right in front of me……Please put your shirt on!!

2. Guests who continually use their cell phone to share their magical vacation memories via text but do not silence the phone so it keeps dinging as everyone replies with envy.

3. Groups traveling together who insist on experiencing an attraction together even though one member of the party doesn’t want to, might even be scared, and is having a meltdown in line.

4. Guests who forget that they are not the only ones wanting to see the fireworks or parade, especially if they perch a smaller Guest on their shoulders. I want everyone to be able to see the magical, beautiful fireworks and floats but we all must remember that we are sharing the experiences with other Guests. Take a look around.

5. Guests who are rude!!! Not just to other Guests but to Cast Members. There is no place for rudeness anywhere and especially not on vacation. It is just another form of stress!

Everyone has their limitations and we all have to realize when we are reaching ours. It is a vacation after all and meant to be enjoyed. Sometimes we can overlook things sometimes we cannot! But if everyone remembers that the magic is for sharing with a little consideration we might all have a better time.

Now that I have been a cast member for about six months, I have helped lots of guests plan their vacation days. Since I have been working at the Frozen Sing Along, I have definitely noticed the lengths that people go to in order to plan every minute of the day. I have seen laminated plans and charts as well as graphs and binders with sheet protectors. Planning is really helpful, but when does the planning start to suck the fun and spontaneity out of the day? I think that too much over planning can lead to a lot of stress, and you will lose some of those magical moments that aren’t always planned.

Disney has really made a certain level of planning necessary by instituting the Fastpass+ system as well as dining that requires a reservation six months in advance. However, you can balance planning with spontaneous fun. You don’t have to hit every ride or every show in order to get your money’s worth on a Walt Disney World vacation. I know this does not sounds like great advice, but the time spent with your family as well as the quality of those precious moments should be your priority. Riding every ride is fun, but by the end of the day, you will all be miserable, hot, tired, and cranky with each other. Granted, I can go to the parks whenever I want, but I have seen so many families have breakdowns over trying to do every single attraction with every single millisecond planned. Constant bickering is just not a fun price to pay in order to ride every ride in every park! The families who have a more laid back approach on their trips tend to have more fun, and they get to enjoy the time that they spend together.

I always try to remind guests that they are supposed to be on vacation! It is supposed to be fun! If you take your time, you can explore some of the areas that make Walt Disney World such a unique place to visit. For example, you can ride some of the boats that are on Bay Lake or the Seven Seas. Lagoon. At Epcot, you can actually explore the countries as well as the exhibits that most people don’t even realize are there. The Animal Kingdom has so many hidden gems; the animal trails alone are so well themed and beautiful. Basically, WDW has too much to offer to catch everything on one vacation. So, try and decide what you really want to see and prioritize. Hopefully, when you go on your next Disney vacation, you will try to find a happy medium of planning and spontaneity. Until next time, have a magical day, and keep moving forward!