What Do You Like to See in a Trip Report?

Walt Disney World Trip Reports
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There have been so many great trip reports lately, it made me wonder … what do you like to see in a trip report, and what tips do you have for those writing one?

Here are a few I thought of:

  • Include lots of photos, especially photos of your family if you are comfortable doing so
  • Personalize with stories, humor, or other glimpses of your personality
  • If you must write a block of text, break it up with bullet points, paragraph breaks (a full line in between), bold text, headers, etc.
  • Start off with something engaging - especially photos or a quick story to draw people in
  • Several shorter posts are better than one long one
  • Engage on the forum beforehand - people like to read about friends more than strangers
  • If you have a cute kid, post pics of them and you can ignore all the other tips :joy:

Other ideas?

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2

I think those are all great tips. The last one is especially true. Pictures of your adorable kids elevated your trip report.

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3

I like it when it is more than a list. “First we went here, then we went there, then we went back over there” doesn’t tell me about your experience.

Tell me WHY it was a great meal. Tell me WHY it meant so much to get to have that experience. Tell me WHY it could have been better!

Tell me a STORY about your trip, or if not a story then what is making it tick along. That’s what makes it engaging for me.

And also, yes, it’s helpful if we know you a bit before you go, too.

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4

I also like it if the reporter can find a way to be a little innovative.

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5

You mean like badges? :wink:

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My fur kid has been added to my report! :slight_smile: She’s not coming, but her pic is there!

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7

100% counts! :blush:

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Like badges. Or choose my own adventure. Or top 10

Yes, just like that

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9

Wait.

I messed that up.

Lemme try again.

Ahem.

We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!

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10

Madre Sierra the of Treasure!

for the backwards bonus.

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11

Photos, lot of photos. And banter, I love the banter. The good hearted banter makes me feel like we are all friends here.

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12

And this topic is posted a day after I decide to try my first trip report…? Haha
I actually spent a lot of time thinking about what and how to do it.

Make no mistake, I love cute baby pictures. But I am also always looking for some useful tips in other people’s trip reports. I figured will be trying to do that, if anything as a way to give back.

The veterans here probably won’t find it all that interesting, but newbies looking for the most up to date info might :woman_shrugging:

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This is a great one! I am always looking for tips and making mental notes (or sometimes even bookmark or write it down).

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14

Anything out of the ordinary, include it in intimate detail. These are the nuggets that we really love here. Like “policy says X, but CM’s are actually doing Y” or “we tried this to avoid the rain or crowds and it worked great, or didn’t work, because…” or anything resembling pixie dust moments.

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15

Yep, that’s exactly what I think

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16

All trip reports are interesting.

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17

Did you just “Z1” all trip reports??

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18

Easier than clicking the heart 10 bazillion times.

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19

Sure. Why not?

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20

I think this is a great list.

We all love tactics and hearing about new things, but definitely like the personal details.
What cool / unexpected things happened? What would you do differently?

Also, paragraphs are good. As someone who can rip out the wordage when I get going, I am highly aware that loooong paragraphs become hard for the reader to process.

Also: Photos: yes please.

Just realized I don’t think I’ve written any detailed trip reports in awhile.

Was just looking back at my first one in 2014 for some info my wife and I were talking about and we were laughing at the Google location map that came out of our HS day.

Will have to see if I can get something going for our Coronado stay coming up.

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