Two general styles of trip reports predominate:
- First, the play-by-play style tells exactly what happened
in chronological sequence throughout the trip. Play-by-play
reports tend to provide a "story" atmosphere to the
report, usually cover minute detail, and take a long time to
write (trust me, I know!).
- Second, the summary style covers highlights, hints
and tips, opinions, impressions, and so on in a list format.
Chose a style that suits you. For on thing, consider your own
personality...don't write a Play-by-play report if you tend to
be bored with details. Also, if you didn't take copious notes
during the trip and tend to be forgetful, writing a Play-by-play
report several days or weeks after the fact can be frustrating
(I know, I've tried). On the other hand, if you tend to be a detail
person...the Play-by-play style might be perfect for you.
As you write your report, include details that are appropriate.
It is fun to read about your first impressions of Main Street,
but you don't have to regale your readership with a sweeping description
of Main Street every time you go to the Magic Kingdom throughout
a two-week trip. You should especially include details that readers
seem to most appreciate:
- Travel hints and tips
- Resort information (including hints and tips about room locations,
restaurant and other amenities, transportation details, etc.)
- Overall WDW transportation lessons-learned
- Park touring tips (and experiences with crowds, etc.).
- Restaurant reviews (in the resorts, parks, and offsite) --
and especially character meals
- Non-Disney side trip information
Other suggestions about your writing are:
- Make it readable! Typographical errors, misspellings, incomplete
sentences, run-on sentences, excessive abbreviations, and other
grammatical errors make trip reports tedious and difficult to
read. Also avoid the tendency (especially in the play-by-play
style) of writing in lengthy paragraphs. Break up the text into
appropriate chunks.
- ACAtmPWNU (Avoid Cryptic Acronyms that many People Will Not
Understand). At the minimum, make sure you identify your acronyms
when you first use them (in the worst case, you can include
a glossary). Some of the ones I've had trouble with in the past
include: PoTC (Pirates of the Caribbean...and I don't know why
the O is not capitalized while the T is either.) HISTA (Honey
I Shrunk the Audience), IASW (It's a Small World), SM and SM
(Space Mountain or Splash Mountain...depends on the context...and
you have to figure it out as you go), GF, GRBR, YBCR or YCR
or BCR, Poly or PR or PBR, CR, WL, OKWR, BWVR or BWR or BVR
or BWI or BWIR, CBR, DL, PO, CSR, ASSR, ASMR, FWC. Just for
fun, see if you can figure these out (answers are below): SFRT,
WS, UoE, FW or FW, EEC, WSL, TZToT, GMR, TLS, LwtL, NLC.
Acronym Answers from Above (AAfA):
- SFRT -- Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
- WS - World Showcase
- UoE - Universe of Energy
- FW or FW- Future World, Fort Wilderness
- EEC - Ellen's Energy Crisis
- WSL - World Showcase Lagoon
- TZToT - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (ok, so this was an
easy one)
- GMR - (The) Great Movie Ride
- TLS - The Living Seas
- LwtL - Living with the Land
- NLC - Neverland Club (a childcare facility located at the
Polynesian Beach Resort)
Resort Acronyms:
- GF, GFBR- Grand Floridian, Grand Floridian Beach Resort
- YBCR or YCR or BCR - Yacht and Beach Club Resort, Yacht Club
Resort, Beach Club Resort
- Poly or PR or PBR - Polynesian Beach Resort, Polynesian Resort,
Polynesian Beach Resort
- CR - Contemporary Resort
- WL - Wilderness Lodge
- OKWR - Old Key West Resort
- BWVR or BWR or BVR or BWI or BWIR - Boardwalk Villas Resort,
Boardwalk Resort, Boardwalk Villas Resort, Boardwalk Inn, Boardwalk
Inn Resort
- CBR - Caribbean Beach Resort
- DL - Dixie Landings Resort
- PO - Port Orleans Resort
- CSR - Coronado Springs Resort
- ASSR - All Star Sports Resort
- ASMR - All Star Music Resort
- FWC - Fort Wilderness Campground
Comparisons are valuable. If you've had experiences at one WDW
resort in the past, compare it to the ones you had on this most
recent trip. If you liked Dixie Landings better than Port Orleans,
explain why! Someone else that had previously enjoyed Dixie Landings
might read your report and decide to try Port Orleans or not based
on your comments. Summary lists are valuable, too, but document
your reasons. If you list the "greatest hits" attractions
of everyone in the group, explain why Grandma LOVED "Alien
Encounter", why junior LOVED "Pirates of the Caribbean",
and why most everyone just hated "It's a Small World."
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