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Disneyland Vacation Experience

3 Days & 2 Night Staycation

Recently, my family visited Disneyland California Resort and a nearby Fairfield Inn Marriott for a mini-staycation. There have been a number of changes since I last visited Disneyland.  Here are some things you can do to ride more rides, grab a bite to eat, and stay at a nearby Hotels.    

Day One

Mikey’s Tale Of Adventure Breakfast Buffet

Storyteller's Cafe at Disneyland

Storytellers Cafe

An all you can eat American style breakfast buffet is served.  The breakfast includes your choice of beverage of coffee, orange juice or water.  The dining is really casual as most families have breakfast and then walk over to Disneyland.  There are some healthier options such as yogurt, oatmeal and a build your own custom omelet.  The breakfast menu featured classics including:

  • Bacon
  • Sausage 
  • Potatoes 
  • Eggs 
  • Cereal
  • Assorted Pastries (croissants, muffins, and danishes) 
  • Sliced Fruit
  • Mikey’s Waffles

The real highlight of this breakfast is when Mikey and his friends walk by the table and wave while fun music plays in the background.  *Three-hour complimentary parking is available for all guests who are not staying at the hotel if you dine at Storytellers Cafe.  The price for one adult ticket cost $59.99 and one child ticket cost $39.99.

Also Read: Long Beach Aquarium Of The Pacific Experience

Fairfield Inn Marriott

For the convenience of being within walking distance of the park we choose to stay at Fairfield Inn Marriott.  The best part of the hotel is that there’s a Panera Bread at the front of the hotel and a McDonald’s right next door.  After walking around the park all day it’s really beneficial to have a place where you can grab a quick bite to eat as you go to your hotel room.

For more information on the Fairfield Inn Marriott visit their website here.

Day Two

Disneyland California Adventure Park

There are plenty of indoor attractions in the California Adventure Park.  It’s one of the reasons why I prefer visiting this park.  Some of the attractions that we rode during our first day in the park.   

Cars

Spinning Cars are fun for two or more people to sit in and enjoy.  You can control how fast the car spins by spinning the steering wheel.  

Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind

This ride is inspired by the film Inside Out.  The ride allows riders to sit inside a colorful balloon seat and spin around Riley’s emotions. 

The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

Listen to all of your favorite Little Mermaid songs as you float along a gentle yet dark room ride.  The ride retells the story of The Little Mermaid and lets you relive the magic of how she finds her prince charming.

Also Read: San Francisco Self-Guided Walking Tour

Day Three

Disneyland Park

This is the original Disneyland theme park and opened in 1955.  The park offers rides, dining, and character experiences for the whole family.

Dumbo The Flying Elephant

This ride is based on the 1941 classic film Dumbo.  Riders are able to sit in an elephant on this gentle carousel-style ride.  *The waiting line is decorated really festive and is a good place to take pictures.

Sleeping Beauty Castle

The Sleeping Beauty princess castle is one of the first attractions you can see as soon as you enter the park.  There is also a cute gift store where you can find cute memorabilia from the classic film.    

ToonTown

It’s A Small World 

This boat ride features children dolls from around the world dressed in their native clothing.  The famous song “It’s A Small World” continuously plays as you visit places in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Tickets

The price for one adult and or a children’s(3 – 9 years old) ticket cost $128/day.  There’s an additional $60 dollars if you want to purchase a Park Hopper Pass.  Additionally, there are other amenities that your family may want to enjoy including the Photo Pass, Fastpass (DisneyGenie), and mobile ordering. 

Disneyland App

Disneyland now has a mobile application called Disneyland that allows you to plan your experience in advance.  You’re able to check ride wait times, schedule your lunch/dinner, and have a GPS map of the park on your phone. It’s really convenient and saves a lot of time to avoid the long lines.   

What are some of the tips that you have for navigating the long lines at Disneyland or other theme parks? I would love to read your comments down below.

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Let’s Care Podcast Interview

One-on-One Talking with Matt Scott

A notice was sent out to the Seed Spot Entrepreneurs to discuss their entrepreneurial experience this year.  It was a call for individuals who often don’t feel heard or seen in the startup space.  I responded to the email because less than a week prior I had completely failed an investor workshop.  I had five minutes to pitch my business and let’s just say that it was the most painful five minutes I have felt in a long time and that’s in the year 2020. 

Listen to the podcast episode Reimagining Impact here.

I know I need to practice telling my story more so that I can get comfortable speaking in public.  Public speaking has always been my achilles heel ever since I took my first class in college.  Over time I have not gotten any better.  However, the need for more people to hear about food allergies issues and possible solutions outweighs my fear of public speaking. 

Business Chosen

A short while later to my surprise, I received an email from Matt Scott.  He’s the founder and host of the Lets Care Podcast.  A little bit about Matt: “Matt Scott, a social impact project manager and storyteller currently working as a global community manager and storyteller for NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge at Secondmuse, with NASA, Nike, USAID, the Obama White House, and more.” ~ Lets Care Website

Matt asked for information about my startup timeline and social media.  After that, I picked a date/time for the interview and it was all set.  I picked the last date and time slot available for an interview.  I wanted to give myself as much time to get mentally prepared or let’s be real to cancel as possible.

I did a little bit of social stalking by following Matt on the most popular social media sites.  Engaged in topics that I agreed with and was glad that he too found them of interest. I watched the inspirational speeches of other black entrepreneurs and their belief that we belong in the room and the room is better off with a diversity of people.     

24-Hours Notice

The days ticked by and with school, volunteering for a non-profit, and starting a new business I didn’t get a chance to focus on my fear.  Until the day prior when I received that reminder email.  This was my last chance to bail with at least 24 hours’ notice.  It was now or never.  I sucked it up and wrote my startup accomplishments on a piece of paper.  I felt better about how far I had come, a first-time entrepreneur, no funding, participating in a year-long business accelerator and I wanted to share my story.  If one person was able to get hope and inspiration then that was okay.    

D-Day

I set up the computer, adjusted my light source to the best of my ability ( I wished I paid more attention to production class), and waited for the meeting to begin.  The initial introduction was good and I was feeling anxious, but talking with Matt I was glad that he has completed over one-hundred interviews. 

Listen to our conversation here and judge for yourself. 

Overall, I was glad that my first podcast experience was with Let’s Care and Seed Spot.  I want to thank Matt for being such a gracious and patient host.  I look forward to reading about his future entrepreneurial endeavors.       

Information about Let’s Care Podcast:  “Let’s Care, initially founded as 180º of Impact, is a platform to pass the mic to those that often go unheard in the social change space. We interview unlikely and underrepresented changemakers.”  ~ Lets Care Website

For more information about the Let’s Care podcast and to subscribe to their email list, visit www.lets.care

Interested in joinging the Seed Spot Entrepreneur community check out their website for upcoming events, courses and ways to get invovled.

Little by little I will keep making strides in the right direction towards becoming an articulate speaker. Have you faced any of your fears during the pandemic? I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

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How To Create Products Customers Want

Customer Discovery Process

Before I spend money on developing my mobile application I’ve been advised to find out what customers want. Reading various business articles many advisors believe this is a crucial first step.  

Customer Development is defined by Steve Blank as: 

  1. In an existing market, Customer Development means not only understanding potential customers, but your competitors in detail – their product features, their sales channels, their demand creation strategy, their business model, etc. 
  2. In an existing market, Customer Development means understanding whether your hypothesis of why customers will buy match reality. 
  3. In an existing market directly compare your product against the incumbent and specifically describe the problems you solve and why Company x’s products do not.

Source: Steve Blank

I set out to find out if my experience of grocery shopping was similar to other experiences. What I discovered was both surprising and insightful.  

Here’s my initial experience with the customer discovery process. How I found customers to interview, and my process for sending a cold email requesting a brief informational chat.

Preplanning

Your first step is to connect with twenty to thirty (per social media platform) potential customers, influencers, and or related industry professionals.

Social Media

Connect with industry insiders as early as possible. Eventually, you will need to send a cold email request asking for a brief 10 – 15 minutes informational chat. I found that Linkedin, Facebook, and surprisingly Instagram were my best options. If you’ve downloaded the apps for the last two you can connect via social media, and also use their calling feature.   

Forums & Online Communities

This is an outreach I can’t recommend because I didn’t have a great experience connecting with insiders. I found that posting a topic asking for an interview for research studies didn’t generate any results. Instead, it seemed like it was a big waste of time; writing the discussion, daily checking the results followed by deleting/closing the discussion. 

However, every entrepreneur has different experiences so I want to include these communities as possible connections as well.  

Forum Tips: 

  1. Join the forum/community as soon as possible, so that you’re connected with groups before you ask for help. 
  2. Read forum rules and regulations so that you’re aware of posting dates, and information needed to share a topic.
  3. If possible use relevant #hashtags to reach as many people in the community as possible.

The next steps involve getting away from your computer and attending events where your community meets. I did a quick Google search for business and health events in my city and found several possibilities.    

Talking To Strangers

A step out of my comfort zone included speaking to random strangers while grocery shopping. I figured it was a great way to multitask while picking up a few items of groceries I could ask people if they suffered from food allergies. I found that people were more than willing to talk while they waited in line for their deli meat, buying prepared food or in the grocery line.  

Also, I would look for products in shoppers carts such as alternatives to milk, peanut butter, etc. which increased my chances of them having a food intolerance or allergy. I had to slightly overcome (I’m still a work in progress) the real embarrassment of starting up a conversation with a stranger. It’s one thing to randomly greet someone as you pass by it’s a whole other thing to ask someone about their health and food preferences. 

Trade Shows & Conferences

Meet industry retailers, safety inspectors, manufacturers, and more at various trade shows and conferences. It’s a great place to gain insights into what commercial corporations focus on their products and customer base. *Tip: Prepare your list of possible interviewees ahead by researching panel guest(s) and moderator host.

Family Network

During the early stages of my customer discovery process, this was by far the best resource. After sending text messages or calling I was surprised how I was able to schedule interviews with their help. I’m the first person in my family trying to start their own business so there hasn’t been a lot I could ask for help with, but when I did need help they were able to rise to the occasion.

Family Pre-planning Tips:

  1. Plan on briefly explaining why you want to connect.
  2. Create a brief one to two sentences of a description of who you want to connect with.
  3. Give multiple options of reaching out to you via phone, email, mobile apps, etc.

Interviews

Email Format

What I learned begins with a subject line that provides the reason, states you don’t want any money, and is for an unpublished research project.  

Within the body of the email, I found short and sweet provided the best results. I included no more than three paragraphs. In the first paragraph, I used a one-sentence intro, the reason for contacting and what I planned on doing with the information obtained. Next, I provided my contact information, and how long I needed to speak with the individual, and a link explaining more information about the grant. Lastly, I concluded the email with a friendly message regarding my request.  

This format provided the best results with a simple response, even if sometimes the response was no thank you.

Email Surprises:

  1. Consultants requested fees even for a 10-15 minute conversation.
  2. Many potential customers and professional resources said no, with a reference to their schedule, but did not’ give a better date for a follow-up. I learned it’s a polite way to say no thank you.  

Follow-up

The follow-up responding to an email was the biggest surprise for my initial customer outreach. I didn’t factor in the time it takes to communicate with someone let alone factor in the time zone differences. Add extra time to your schedule to set up the interview, and write down helpful insights after your call has concluded.   

Reminders/Thank You Email

I used this to not only thank the person for his/her time but also to make sure that I included that I would like to stay in contact to keep them updated on my mobile application progress.

Thank You Email Tips:

  1. Keep it short, three paragraphs.
  2. Use signature with blog link included is another way for the interviewee to keep in touch with your progress.

What I Learned

It does get easier. The first interview was the hardest I didn’t know if I was doing the interview correct and I was really worried about talking too much and not listening. By the time I had spoken to the 15th person I was much more relaxed and I didn’t need as much prep work before the interview. I can’t wait to look back at my progress after I’ve spoken to the 100th person.

I learned technical terms for mobile application features, but most people don’t know the correct word for their problem, but they can describe it to you, and if you listen you can understand where their issues lie. I still need to work on not being influenced by what I want to hear to validate my idea, but listening to what each person issues are with dealing with their allergies.  

Lastly, I am a work in progress for learning patience with starting a business and requesting people’s assistance. The back and forth messages, and last-minute scheduling conflicts are changes that I realized I need to work on accepting and become more like Gumby and roll with the punches.

Continue Reading:

Twelve Tips For E-commerce Startups

Digital Marketing: Small Business Strategy​

Starting A Business In Korea