More "Presents" from Disney

December has been a slow month for wedding and honeymoon planning, as faithful readers can almost certainly tell. Combining the fact that we have few decisions to make and that the holiday season is always packed-to-the-brim full of holiday parties, gift-buying, visiting friends and family, and scrambling like a madman to get all of my work done before vacation begins, I haven't had much time (or need) to update the blog. Fortunately, Disney sent us some more goodies in the mail for me to blog about, and since it's Christmas day and we are killing a little time, I might as well write a little Christmas blog about a present from Disney. So sit back and enjoy another Lazy Man's Blog: The Unboxing.

One cold and rainy day in December, the mailman delivered a box with the face of none other than Mr. Incredible (star of Pixar's best film, The Incredibles, a fact that is beyond argument for all rational minds) adorning its outside. I'd heard rumors that Disney was sending little packages out to many people that had a Disney vacation coming up, but it doesn't seem to be something that everyone is getting so I wasn't expecting this one. The image of Mr. Incredible, however, is merely a paper wrapper, and inside is...yet another box. The box inside that is actually pretty cool and sturdy, and I can see myself repurposing it for some of my gaming supplies. The top of the box is embossed with a Mickey Mouse head, as you can see in the photos below.

"Anyone who disagrees that mine is the best Pixar movie is getting a fist in the kisser!" says Mr. Incredible.

Boxes within boxes: the new Disney way.

Opening the inner box reveals a few more layers of goodies, including a helpful piece of cardboard telling you what's in the box, so that you don't miss anything as you dig down through the layers of the box like an archaeologist hunting for dinosaurs. There's also a loose piece of paper that reveals the true purpose of this package: to orient you with MyMagic+, Disney's new all-in-one trip management system tied tot he MagicBand technology that is rolling out in tests right now, and possibly in actual blanket use in the new year. Apparently, Disney really wants to make sure that everyone is aware of MyMagic+ and all of the upcoming changes, which is understandable for anyone who hasn't done any of their trip planning over the Internet. For Girl Scout Fiancée and I, though, this was all old news; we've been using the website for months, as evidenced by all of the previous posts I've made about dining reservations and trip planning. I guess whoever is in charge of sending out these kits has no way of knowing if I'm fully aware of the MyDisneyExperience website or not, so everyone gets one!

Like a terrible-tasting layer cake.

Thank goodness this was on top; the anticipation of waiting several seconds to see what lay within was killing me!

It was upon reading this that I began to suspect this was a package for the non-obsessed trip planner.

Below all of that is a manual that is your standard vacation-planning flyer, and it includes suggestions on rides, shows, and other things-to-do while on your Disney vacation. This was something I wasn't surprised by, as it's a pretty standard method for keeping you excited even though your vacation is still several months away. Honestly, I love getting mail from Disney, even if it's information that's readily available on the Internet, because it does succeed in keeping my excitement up. Moreover, the entire insert is filled with Incredibles images, hitting both my love of Disney and my love of superheroes over and over again.

Dash looks like he's ready to get away from his family...

The booklet is customized for our trip, including my last name on the front, information about our specific hotel throughout, and so forth.

The last page actually contains a refrigerator magnet.

At the bottom of the box was the real treasure: a Disney flash drive! When I saw this, I nearly cackled with delight. What could be on it? What is so important that Disney felt the need to send me physical media, something that is no small fee to manufacture, something that needed to be delivered by such a secure method that it couldn't be sent via e-mail. I feel like Ralphie when he gets his decoder ring, and just like Ralphie the answer to all of my questions is nothing but ultimate disappointment. After popping the flash drive into my computer, the autorun system brings up a web page, and then plays a pair of videos teaching you how to use MyDisneyExperience. That's it. The videos aren't even loaded onto the flash drive; it literally just connects to the Internet through your browser. There is no reason why this couldn't have been sent in an e-mail link and been just as effectively done.

Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine.

At least it looks cool.

And it glows bright green when you insert it into your computer!

Combining two more of my loves: Disney and Tron.

In the end, this package is nice but ultimately unnecessary. We're young, hip, Internet-savvy individuals, I'm plugged into the online Disney community, and even Girl Scout Fiancée has been hitting up message boards and MyDisneyExperience for months, so this didn't really tell us anything that we didn't already know. On the one hand, it's nice that Disney is reaching out to guests, whether they need it or not, to smooth the transition to the new system. And I'm ultimately very optimistic about our digital vacation planning future. On the other hand, part of me can't help but wonder how many other families are going to receive a package like this and feel exactly the same way. In the end, I basically got a free, awesome flash drive with a glow-in-the-dark Mickey head on it, so I'm going to view this as a nice souvenir that came packaged with a bunch of information I already had, and say I came out ahead. Thanks, Disney!