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Over my past 2.5 years as a Disney blogger I’ve frequently seen reference to the Disney Moms Panel. Each time I learned about it I was in the middle of researching for a different article, so even though I always meant to visit it someday it took me a long time to actually get around to it. But finally I’m here to answer: what is the Moms Panel?
Just going by name alone I imagine the Moms Panel as a group of Disney-loving mothers ready to answer questions, likely posed by other moms, or at least parents, about Walt Disney World (because the panel seems exclusive to the Orlando park). I’d guess that the questions usually relate to family issues at the park; what it’s like to get a bunch of children, or even just one kid, through a Disney vacation.
That’s close, but it’s not exact. The Disney Moms Panel is a group of experts ready to answer questions about Walt Disney World. They know all that there is to know about the park and they’ve got an online forum where any curious fan or vacation planner can post questions to adept answers. They’ve been officially chosen by park execs and thus have an inside line to the inner workings of the park; if you’ve got a question to which they don’t immediately know the answer they have more resources than most to find it.
The question immediately on my mind (and I imagine it’s on many of yours as well) is why is this called the Mom’s Panel? When describing the group the word “moms” is sometimes put into quotations: the members of the panel aren’t necessarily mothers and they’re not necessarily even women either.
It just seems like a really strange choice for a panel name if its purpose doesn’t specifically have anything to do with parenthood or even being a woman. What’s with the gender and parent specificity?
I couldn’t find any answer to this. Perhaps Disney just thought it was an approachable, friendly name. Personally I think it just raises questions (especially as to why it’s called “moms” if there might be some dads and or children-less adults on the panel) and confuses as to the purpose of the panel.
But putting aside quibbles about the name, the Disney Moms are a good resource for anyone looking to plan a trip to Disney World, or who just has any questions about it. Obviously they aren’t your only option for knowledge when planning a Disney vacation, but they’re an interesting one. They also seem to be branching out a little bit beyond Disney World; they had some representatives at the christening of the Disney Fantasy, for example.
The Disney Moms forum is, as I’ve come to expect from Disney websites, exceedingly well organized. A column on the left hand side of the screen has a drop-down menu with several sections about Disney World, such as: theme parks, runDisney, planning & budgeting, and resort hotels. Each of these has their own sub-sections. For example, the sub-headings under “resort hotels” are: hotels, transportation, amenities & pools, parking, and what’s included?
Users can browse each subsection for general advice or post their questions under the relevant headings. There’s even a search box where one can enter a keyword, such as “Flower and Garden Festival,” to quickly skip to relevant Q&A’s on the subject.
The Disney Moms panel might not be what one expects from their name, but it’s certainly a great source for anyone planning a Walt Disney World vacation.
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*(This image by hyku is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
