Reunion 2011

Reunion 2011 is set to kick off in just a few hours and already, there's a lot of excitement in the air with folks arriving today and others making their way tomorrow. Make sure you stay tuned to the @2011_reunion Twitter feed for updates throughout the event, starting today. We’ll be pushing out news and feedback from the events as well as whatever other interesting tidbits we come across as we monitor the conversation among the attendees. We will announce times and other details for any events that will be broadcast live, in addition to fun we'll be having.

In addition, you can include #Reunion2011 in your tweets for your messages to be easily accessible! Share your photos and memories as they happen.

Last night at the Reunion 2011 planning live show, we announced a BIG contest where you can win a free stay at Walt Disney World just by taking photos at Reunion!

Here are the contest basics!

•  The Contest will take place between Noon, Thursday, December 8th and Noon, Sunday, December 11th.
• Between those two times anyone who would like to enter this contest is invited to do the following:
  • Post on Twitter, using the #REUNION2011 in your tweets.
  • Each post must include a photo taken between the times listed above.
  • Each photo must contain the following:
    • Between two and six of the REUNION 2011 hosts (Beci, Annette, Len, Matt, Mike N. and Mike S)
    • At least one of the following…an MEI/Mouse Fan Travel Logo, a WDWTODAY logo, or a REUNION 2011 Logo.
    • A caption using the #REUNION2011.
  • Any photo that does not have at least two Reunion 2011 hosts AND at least one logo will be disregarded.
• All those participating in this contest are encouraged to include as many posts as possible with as many of the hosts and logos as possible. Competition will be close and the number of posts, number of hosts in the photos, and number of logos, as well as caption creativity will be part of the criteria used in judging this contest.

By now you've likely taken a look at the Reunion schedule of events and read them all over and decided which events sound the most interesting to you and we wanted to quickly go over how meets work so there is no confusion over it. The schedule is a listing of all the events that we are officially holding. These meets are designed for everyone who wants to be a part of, to be able to simply show up.

Let me be as clear as I can be about this, most meets do not require you to RSVP or sign up or pay for. You just make notes of when events are and show up for them a few minutes before the designated start time. Aside from the DE-sserts & DE-lights event, all the other meets are available to everyone (I'm reminded to mention that valid theme park admission is usually required for meets that occur inside the parks, but I don't think that's a problem if you're reading this).

The way a typical meet works is before the start time, people gather at the designated meeting spot. It's usually not hard to spot where the group is and you simply show up and say hello. I know for some people these meets can be a little intimidating as some of us aren't social butterflies (ahem, Newell) but it's perfectly okay to kind of stand on the side and enjoy the meet that way or if you like, jump in head first and start talking with people there. The reality is that after about 2 or 3 meets, you're going to know a lot of people you see at these meets and the people there wont be strangers for long.

Why we hold these meets (and this event in general) is for us to meet you and for you to meet us and for all of us to get to spend time together. After all, we all "get it" and I think you'll find at these meets that after a few short minutes, there's a lot of fun to be had. Hopefully this has given you a good idea of what our meets are and you don't need to have forms signed in triplicate in order to attend. Just show up and say hello!

Good morning (or afternoon, depending on when you read this) and we have some great news for everyone today. Tickets will be going on sale for a hard ticket event at Reunion 2011 that we think you are just going to love!

DE-serts and DE-lights (December 10), which is an event we've been busy planning for a while now will start off with a dessert party at Fantasmic! (yes, more food!). After the show, we will be escorted to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights privately! Yes, it will be just us on the Streets of America with no one else around! And since it is the holiday season, who knows what other magic might be thrown in for good measure too.

Here's a photo from the Osborne Lights portion of the event last year to give you an idea of how amazing an experience it is.

Tickets for those who booked the official reunion package with MEI-Mouse Fan Travel will go on sale at noon eastern on October 24. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the public at noon on October 25. Note, you need not be paid in full yet to be able to purchase a ticket to this event.

If you are booked in the official Reunion package with MEI-Mouse Fan Travel, you will receive further information on 10/24 via email on how to purchase tickets.

There is still time to book into the MEI-Mouse Fan Travel package and get yourself a room, along with the ability to purchase tickets to this limited-capacity event on October 24!

Please be aware that these tickets will likely sell out soon, so be sure to buy tickets if you have any interest in these events before it's too late!

Let's face it... your friends or family might not "get" the whole going to Walt Disney World a lot thing, and then when you try to talk them into a trip involving meeting people from the Internet, well, it's just not gonna fly with them. The good news is that you can still attend Reunion 2011 if you'd have to go solo and you can have a great time! In Episode 726 of WDW Today, Kim Knight was in the same exact situation some of you may find yourself in of wanting to attend Reunion 2011, but you'd have to come solo and that is a little intimidating for you. Take a listen to the episode for some tips by Kim and the others on the show.

For those who are considering a solo trip for Reunion or have already booked their solo trip, here are some more tips to help you ensure your solo trip is a big success.

• Check out who is following the Reunion Twitter account and start clicking names and seeing what people are writing. Follow a few that look to be of interest and start talking with folks. It doesn't matter that you don't know each other, everyone loves to talk on Twitter!
• If you're a member of another Disney site and there is a message board, look for others who you may know from there that are attending Reunion. As a note of courtesy, please do not spam other sites with Reunion stuff. Follow the rules of the site and try to be subtle as not to cause a ruckus.
• For the meets you'd like to attend, be sure to sign up for Plancast (it's free) and join the meets you're planning on attending. Plancast is a great way to let others know you'll be at a meet and for you to see who else will be there and start a conversation!
• Once you're at Walt Disney World for Reunion 2011, don't be shy! Feel free to walk right up to someone and introduce yourself. I think you'll find most people really accommodating and friendly and before long, you'll have your own "crew" of friends that you'll be hanging out with for the weekend

We've reached 200 people registered to be a part of Reunion 2011 and the list continues to grow! We planned Reunion to be the sort of event that everyone feels welcome at and we want as many people to be a part of Reunion this year to show that you're a Walt Disney World fan. Yes, this event is sponsored by a podcast and travel agency, but to be honest, we're about celebrating everything Walt Disney World and we think it's way more fun to share the fun and excitement that only Walt Disney World can offer with other Disney World fans who share our passion.

We're constantly working to make Reunion the best possible experience, so if you think there's room for improvement, please let us know. You can tweet us, send us an email or even post in our new Reunion forum. We love hearing feedback so please don't feel bashful (or goofy) if you have an idea.

We're now under two months until the start of Reunion and if you're reading this and not yet committed to coming (or committed in general), then please take this opportunity to say "What the heck!" and book your trip too!

One of the most common questions we get is "Why should I register myself?". It's a good question since it may not be clear what, if anything, registration gets you.

Registration is free and it's basically just a glorified RSVP. We're excited to be planning this Reunion event and we're curious who exactly is coming. The registration system isn't going to be an exact scientific instrument of giving us a head count, but it will give us a good idea of what to expect in terms of a ballpark figure of who is coming.

In addition, we made the registration system transparent, so everyone can see a list of folks from around the world that are coming for this event. If you take a look at the Who's Coming page, you'll not only see a list of those in attendance but a world map with pins for each person's location. Again, we thought it'd be fun for anyone to keep track of where folks are from and which resort they are staying at because the goal of the Reunion event is to bring all of us together for a week of fun at Disney World.

If you aren't keen on sharing your information with us or just don't want to register, that's okay too. Not registering doesn't preclude you from anything we're doing and we respect everyone's wishes for privacy. But if you don't mind, take a few seconds to register and let us all know that you are going to be a part of the Reunion 2011 event!

It's hard to believe but September is almost done and that means we're close to being two months away from the start of Reunion 2011!

Many of you have been asking about the special hard ticket event that we have planned for the evening of December 10 and we haven't forgotten about it. We're nailing down the final details with Disney and we expect to be able to put the tickets on sale in late October. We'll be sure to post all the pertinent information related to those ticket sales here when the details are finalized.

We've also adjusted the schedule of events earlier in the day on December 10. Basically, they've all been moved back a half hour and we moved up the Haunted Mansion meet to the afternoon. The Haunted Mansion meet had to be moved due to a scheduling conflict with the aforementioned hard ticket event. Please make a note of these new times so you don't miss out on the fun!

We also wanted to let everyone know there's very little group space left for booking a resort package with Mouse Fan Travel. Remember, by booking with Mouse Fan Travel you get 24 hours advanced access to the sale of hard ticket events as well as complimentary admission to their special dessert party on December 9! They've got same great rates too, so book now before you it's too late. If you want more information on the packages available, click here.

Lastly, we're still working on a few more surprises for Reunion 2011. We want to make this year's event the best yet so we're ironing out some final details but we hope to share them with you soon. Reunion is an event we want to be as much fun as possible and if you're still thinking about joining us, there's time to be a part of the excitement!

The other day we tweeted out a question, asking all of you about what event you think would be a fun Reunion meet. We got back lots of interesting and fun ideas and one stuck out so much that we decided to add it to the meet schedule. The guy who had the idea for the meet, @dd_indy, calls it "A toast to all Disney podcasts, but mostly WDW Today".

The idea for the meet is simple. Grab your favorite beverage from around World Showcase in Epcot and meet up at the American Adventure at 1pm to share a drink and hang out with your fellow Reunioners (Reunionites? Reunionfolk?). This ought to be a fun informal get-together and we'd like for you to be a part of it!

This new meet will take place on December 9 at 1pm in the courtyard area in front of the American Adventure.