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Interview with The Dapper Danielle
858 Plays20 days ago
On This Episode
The guys interview Danielle Kelly, also known as the Dapper Danielle, to discuss her new book, I Love Disney's Magic Kingdom: 100+ Surprising Facts, Magical Quizzes, Fan Favorite Trivia, and More. Danielle shares insights from her ten years as a Disney cast member, working in various roles across all the parks and most resorts, and how those experiences helped her gather the unique facts found in her book. She also reveals that she's currently working on an Epcot-themed book, which will delve into the park's interesting history and corporate sponsorships. The interview also covers her personal connection to Disney, her "Dapper Danielle" brand, and some surprising Disney facts, including the origin of Figment's purple color.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, broadcasting on the DVC to all voice unknown. If you're within the sound of my voice, you're listening to Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:00:25
Speaker
Music Music Music
00:00:31
Speaker
Hello and welcome home.
Special Episode Featuring Danielle Kelly
00:00:32
Speaker
I'm Tom and thank you for joining us for a special episode of Welcome Home, a Disney Parks and Vacation Club podcast. Trevor and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Kelly, better known as the Dapper Danielle, about her new book, I Love Disney's Magic Kingdom.
00:00:46
Speaker
We had a lot of fun interviewing Danielle and we learned quite a few things that even we didn't know about Disney parks. You can find Danielle on social media as the Dapper Danielle and her book is available for purchase now. We hope you enjoy our interview with the Dapper Danielle.
00:00:59
Speaker
All right, we're joined ah today by ah Danielle Kelly, also known as the Dapper Danielle, which is a great Disney influencer name, by the way, Danielle. Thank you. Excellent name. i i you know i love the Dapper Dans, and one of my highlights of my recent Disney trip was the Dapper Dans going around on the ah um the trolley around the...
00:01:20
Speaker
Actually, it was happening, Trevor, right? As I saw you, right? Is when where the Dapper Dans were going by. So I love that you're the Dapper Danielle. But i we we were talking a little bit before we started this interview about how we we actually, i mentioned to our listeners that you were coming on the show and they were very excited. So was Trevor. i So was I. I'm just, but our listeners especially were like, oh, we love her. So i thank you, Danielle, for coming on the show. We're so excited to have you here and and to talk about your book.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to talk to me. And like, like you said, I i love that the fandom crosses to so many different platforms. Like some people follow me just on Facebook or Instagram or Tik TOK and to know that like, Oh yeah, we, we follow her and we'd listen to this podcast too. I think that's just great example of the Disney community and finding those interests in that little bit of Disney magic, even at home, I think is so awesome.
Danielle's Book on Disney's Magic Kingdom
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:13
Speaker
I totally agree. and And so we're here to talk about your new book, which is I heart or I love. Are we going I heart or I love? but it It really it just depends. Like the front cover has the heart icon, but then you type it out, it's love. So of either one.
00:02:28
Speaker
So it's I love Disney's Magic Kingdom. 100 plus surprising facts, magical quizzes, fan favorite trivia and more about Disney's Magical Kingdom. And again, this is ah by Danielle Kelly. So this is out now. You can go and buy this now, right?
00:02:42
Speaker
Yes, it is. and if you're tom and I have this ah We do. We both have it, yes. Oh, fabulous. But yes, if you're listening, I've already had my first two signing events. The very first one happened at Barnes & Noble over there off Sand Lake in between Disney World and Universal property here in Orlando.
00:02:59
Speaker
And there's still a couple signed copies over there if nobody has gotten it yet. But I know a lot of my followers have already pre-ordered through multiple different platforms. And I am just overwhelmed and very, very grateful.
00:03:11
Speaker
that's no That's amazing. And Trevor and I both read the book. It's it's great. I really love the... designs that are in there and i I'm a big fun fact guy. So all of the fun facts in there are, you know, and I actually pride myself on knowing a lot of fun facts and there are some in there that I did not know. So I was very impressed with your your research done for this book. so yeah Yeah, Tom and I like to nerd out about this stuff. And i think you caught us both with, you know, some very interesting, obscure stuff. And um I just want to put it out there, too, that so I was on a trip last week
00:03:45
Speaker
I got home and um i the next day I got up and I read your book front to back because it was waiting for me when I got home. And yeah like I actually wish, you know, for anybody listening to this, I actually wish that I got in your book before I left because there are so many things that I was thinking about as I was walking through the Magic Kingdom. I wish I could have gone and found these things you were pointing out. Me too. I was thinking the same thing. i was like, oh my gosh, I've never seen that before. I wish I were at, you know, over in Liberty Square and looking for these all these little details that I didn't know were there. So yeah, it's it's very cool for that kind of stuff.
00:04:23
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. ah so it was It was so much fun. And like the i and i appreciate that I was able to throw in some trivia questions that threw off even the biggest of Disney nerds. That was my real goal was to make it something that if you were a first time and watcher or you first time reader, never been to Walt Disney World before. You can still read through the book and be like, oh, I can probably picture this in my mind if I look it up on the My Disney Experience app. I kind of have an idea of where this would probably be.
Danielle's Career and Disney Roles
00:04:51
Speaker
and there Because there's a lot more trivia that was a little too in-depth and a little too niche, if that makes sense, that with my editorial team and Ian, my developmental editor and co-author, he was like, yeah, Danielle, we –
00:05:05
Speaker
that nobody's going to get that. We got to remove that one. That's a little too nerdy and a little too deep. Right. Exactly. Okay. Well, that's, i mean, that's, so I love that kind of stuff though. yeah You could write a whole book on just that and I'd be, I'd be happy camper. So i I do want to know, Danielle, what, what inspired you to specifically write a book on a Magic Kingdom? Is it, is it your favorite park? Is it, ah you know, is that, because I know you worked at Bippity Boppity Boutique, I think what I read in there. And I i mean, i'm I'm assuming, did you work at the other parks too or just Magic Kingdom? Uh-huh.
00:05:34
Speaker
I worked all over the Disney world and i was a cast member, frontline cast member for 10 years, ah working in anything from general recreation, children's activities, Bibbidi-Bobbidi boutique, merchandise, POS front of house system support, traditions of our town facilitator, you name it.
00:05:54
Speaker
And in all of my roles, I was very blessed in having the opportunity to pick up and work with All over property. I've worked at almost every single ah resort on property at least once.
00:06:06
Speaker
um Every park on property. the only You know what? Actually, now i think about it, the only one I never got a shift picked up at was Animal Kingdom Lodge. Nothing against it. I just never had the opportunity to. One of my favorites. That's my home resort for DVC. I love Animal Kingdom Lodge. i'm I'm offended now, Danielle. No, I'm just kidding. No, but I love visiting there. I just never got to work there. That was the only thing.
00:06:27
Speaker
ah what was your favorite role that you did? What was what was your favorite thing? Oh, gosh. i Honestly. Honestly, thing is I loved all the roles I i was in because it was perfect for the time of life I was in So yeah that that role fit that what that need at that time. And I learned something from every single one of them. And I'm very happy with the progression that I did in these roles.
00:06:50
Speaker
So to go from... ah from children's activities and wanting a more one-on-one creative storytelling role into being a fairy godmother at the Bibbidi-Wapidi boutiques.
00:07:02
Speaker
That really made me learn more about cultures and how all these different people from all over the world and their exor expectations on beauty and what being a princess is and just learning that hands-on was amazing.
00:07:16
Speaker
To then go into merchandise and instead of putting little crowns on little princesses, sell jewel ah jewelry and diamonds to the queens um was such a cool opportunity because I opened up the the you the fancier jewelry store at the time when it was around, RIP.
00:07:33
Speaker
And ah then to go into a tech role in POS, so the chip readers. I was in a trailer testing out the chip readers and finding the bugs and the errors in the system.
00:07:45
Speaker
oh no And I learned very quickly, I'm not a tech person. i i i love it. I understand it. But when it comes to me personally, I am a very social person. I have to be able to talk to people.
00:07:59
Speaker
I cannot. I am people. I am. I have to verbally get my words out. So I knew I had to go back and really focus on training. And then that kind of led into my content creation later on, too. That's really interesting. I actually just did Bippity Boppity Boutique for my daughter the first time on this um Disney cruise. I was on a couple weeks ago, and it was it was honestly a better experience than I could have ever imagined. So I'm sure that was really cool to get to do that.
00:08:23
Speaker
it was It was really good. Not not to brag, but was really good at You're here to brag. You're here to brag. Brag all you want. Brag as much as possible. You have a book out. You you you have a very successful you're killing social media. You're killing it. You can brag all you want.
00:08:38
Speaker
Thank you. know Well, yes. So like when I was a fairy godmother, I was very good at my job. So I was called in for some of the not so magical situations. ah So anything from make a wish kids to um everything in between. So just pouring my heart and soul into these kids, making it as magical as possible, and then going backstage and having a good cry and coming out and doing it all over again.
00:09:00
Speaker
um It was incredible. It's very, it was very emotionally rewarding. And I think people are like, Oh, well, why did you ever leave it? I'm like, for that reason, it became too emotionally draining. And I wanted to focus my energy on to training the next generation of cast members. And ah i had to get I wanted to go into more training roles.
00:09:19
Speaker
Is how you got all the fun facts for the book is from a training other cast members? Honestly, yeah lot yeah. A lot of it's from training. And because of all my roles, I learned very quickly at a young age ah when I so first started. I was like, you know, in all these roles I'm working in there's a lot of people that have been with the company like 30, 40 plus years.
00:09:40
Speaker
And i would go find these, the elder cast member, right? And I would go and find them. And I'd be like, hey, tell me your entire life story. And the amazing untold stories of like, hey, I was present in the park. I was here during these major world events.
00:09:58
Speaker
And this is how the park reacted because I was a frontline cast member at the time. Oh, my gosh. the Those kind of stories and tidbits I retained and I kept with me. And I would go back and I would double check facts after that. And I'd be like, oh, my gosh. And I just kept a lot of that information.
00:10:13
Speaker
Becoming a trainer and learning more of the Disney side of the storytelling, I kept with me. And bada bing, bada boom. There we go. go Yeah. Very cool. So, okay. I do have a so very specific question for you from the book.
00:10:27
Speaker
Um, so, okay. You, you talk about the ticket books, which I love. i love that you like went into the history. Like, you know, you know, a lot of people don't understand where like the e-ticket ride thing comes from. right And I love that you explained that, but I want to know, um if you were back in magic kingdom, when they had the ticket books, what five rides would you have chosen?
Historical Disney Attractions Discussion
00:10:48
Speaker
um And if if you want to, I've got the book in front of me. I can read them. and Honestly, if you want to read it just so in case people don't know, because there's a lot of attractions that are listed that are not there anymore.
00:11:00
Speaker
That's true. true and There are some that don't exist anymore. so i mean but you got ever i got I got it here. yeah Go ahead, Tom. The e-ticket attractions. So this is this is your top line attraction. That's why we call it e-ticket.
00:11:11
Speaker
ah It's a Small World, 20,000 Leagues, Mickey Mouse Review, Jungle Cruise, Tropical Serenade, or Haunted Mansion. It's tough. That's a tough one. Okay. Out of that collection, this my opinion keeps changing every single time I keep thinking about this.
00:11:27
Speaker
um Today, i would say i would probably pick – oh, goodness. I'm still leaning towards Tropical Serenade. think that's that's still the place to be. um'm I'm with you. I like that. Yeah.
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah. we we We do like a good Tiki room vibe for sure. do. oh Yeah, we do. um Do you want me to keep reading these, Trevor? I can take the D one. So you're the D attractions. um So your options are Walt Disney World Railroad, Skyway to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, Flight to the Moon, Country Bear Jamboree, the old Country Bear Jamboree, not the new one, ah Hall of Presidents, and the Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat.
00:12:03
Speaker
Oh, gosh. these are tough i i If you can't tell when you're reading this book, I'm a big Country Bear stan. The old version and the new version. So I'm going to have to choose the bears.
00:12:15
Speaker
did Did you like the new
00:12:18
Speaker
So I have a vinyl of the old Country Bears. I'm feeling you on that. Yeah. So Danielle, this past trip that I went on and for Trevor too was the first time we got to see the new version of Country Bear.
00:12:29
Speaker
And I was very surprised at how much I liked it because i I'm a big Country Bear fan too. And i i was I was surprised at how much I liked the new version. And I was wondering, I mean, did you like it, the new version as well?
00:12:41
Speaker
Oh, I loved it. So my very first time, I was there on the very last day of the Country Bears, and then I went to the very opening day. And to see the OGs that loved it, and then the people that had never seen the show before that were going in with fresh eyes with young kids, going into the brand new show, and seeing the...
00:13:01
Speaker
four-year-old and five-year-old in front of me jump up and start dancing around in their seat when certain songs came on, I said, this is the reason why this show changed. Because I want people to love the Bears as much as I do.
00:13:13
Speaker
and I want them to stick around a little bit longer. And they had to change and they had to adapt. And that was very affirming for me. I just love how they kept some of the little jokes in, though, too. Right. Even though they updated the songs, they kept some of the jokes in. And it was it was cool. home many And there's there's so many nods and like hidden references to even old Disney.
00:13:31
Speaker
And that's why I had to mention them into the book. And there's like i said, there's a lot like references to Wally Bogue, um the Mineral Kings and all that cool stuff. yep So yep um we probably should have prefaced this before we got into this is that we're very terrible at going down rabbit holes.
00:13:47
Speaker
and We're asking questions. Yeah, we're, we're, we're, yeah, we're very distracted. Yeah. yeah We're very easily distracted, but um we, we should continue on with what we originally asked. Oh, yeah. All right, got the sea attractions here. I got the sea attractions.
00:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, let's go Grand Prix Raceway, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Mad Tea Party, Davy Krakis Explorer Canoes.
00:14:11
Speaker
There's only like a couple things that are even still left on this site. Well, not a couple, I guess. Right. yeah Yeah. mean Half of these are still at Disneyland. True. Exactly. Or they were here, like even, gosh, at the time that this, that the e-tickets were around the, oh, what is it? Teacups. I probably wouldn't choose that because it wasn't covered yet. It was still open air. Yeah.
00:14:34
Speaker
That was actually one of the things i didn't know. that You got me on that one. I was like, oh, they weren't covered? I just assumed they were always covered. like No. It was because they these are all disney these are all California people. They didn't remember Florida rain.
00:14:46
Speaker
And then they had to adapt very quickly over the first like two, three years. yeah But if I had to choose one, i I am the biggest, biggest Davy Crockett fan. I love me some Fess Parker and Davy Crockett. So I would probably at the time be wanting to live my best Davy Crockett life and go around on those canoes.
00:15:04
Speaker
I am shocked by that answer. I thought you were going to go like Peter Pan or Snow White or Mr. Toad. Peter Pan also was not the greatest. If you look at old pictures, it was very, very minimalistic and very basic. The version that we have now is gorgeous.
00:15:19
Speaker
And yeah, I would it would have been cool for the technology of the time, but I would have been right up there with the Davy Crockett craze. I like that you're thinking about this with with what the attraction was at that time and not what it is now. i like that.
00:15:33
Speaker
that's the That's the question. so but That's what you have to do if you're going to ride these with the ticket books. great right here so So we got a couple more. So for B attractions, we have Main Street Cinema, Frontierland Shootin' Gallery, Mike Fink Keelboats, and Swiss Family Treehouse.
00:15:51
Speaker
Oh, it's definitely the Mike Fink keelboats. I think they were so cool. And I don't know if that actually made it into the book, but they were these little boats that were are also from Davy Crockett and everything like that.
00:16:05
Speaker
And at one point, they didn't have enough transportation in the opening days of Magic Kingdom to be able to get people across the water. So they took them out of the main river area and took them back and forth.
00:16:19
Speaker
overloading them safety did not begin with them in the day and uh took shuttled guests back and forth in the mike fink keelboats and i think that is i would have loved to been a part of that even if it was probably a safety hazard ah probably right probably a terrible safety hazard right that's how it was right so uh and then the a attractions which it's it's slim pickings here which is just the main street vehicles or the carousel Oh, Main Street vehicles, 100%. I still love my Main Street vehicles very much to this day.
00:16:49
Speaker
Nice. Nice. and which Thank you for doing that with us. That was that was fun. I appreciate that. you made You made totally different choices and than I would have thought that you would have made and that i would have made, but that's great. That's why I like it.
Personal Disney Memories and Experiences
00:16:59
Speaker
And when I, when people ask me, I'm just like, well, what year are you asking for this attraction? Like what timeframe are you asking my opinions? And if, if, when it comes to the ticket books, I do kind of base it off of what I think I probably would have loved in the seventies.
00:17:15
Speaker
Makes sense. Yeah. yeah So I did want to ask, uh, do you have a like a favorite anecdote or memory related to magic kingdom that didn't make it into the book that you'd want to share? Like, Oh my goodness. There, I mean, there's a lot. I have been very blessed to be a Disney kid growing up. So mom and dad honeymooned in Disney world.
00:17:35
Speaker
And so I, I was a Disney adult before that was even a thing. And, uh, this was kind of just, it was part of my family. It was part of something that we kept doing. We were here locally in Florida. we would drive up from West Palm, uh, stay the weekend at Fort Wilner's campground. And then we would head back afterwards.
00:17:53
Speaker
And, But I think one of the things i really loved was around the time I was 16 is when Princess and the Frog came out, right?
00:18:04
Speaker
And Princess and the Frog, I loved that movie. I loved the animation style. loved it. I loved all the the background stuff that went into it and this character development because I was that art kid, right? I was ah planning on going to art college and all that jazz. And then life takes a toll. And now I'm writing a book and I'm a Disney influencer. So crazy.
00:18:24
Speaker
And, uh, but on my 16th birthday, I got to go to Magic Kingdom. Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen were still meeting, uh, behind Yield Christmas Shop, uh, in the little gazebo right there.
00:18:38
Speaker
And I... Was wearing my little Mickey, my birthday button right there. And Naveen grabs my hand, twirls me around and starts singing the jazziest version of Happy Birthday to Me with Tiana.
00:18:51
Speaker
And I was like, oh my goodness, this is Disney magic. This is amazing. And ever since then, like I already love these characters. This endeared them even more to me at a young age.
00:19:02
Speaker
And... Then to like come back for my 18th birthday and 21st birthday, so on and so on, I kept trying to seek out Tiana and Naveen. And it's been great ever since then.
00:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's great. My daughter's favorite is actually Tiana as well. So we it's I totally get that. My daughter loves Tiana. Oh, my God. I will say, um, I, so we got to ride Tiana's by adventure when I was there last week. And yeah, you know, I watched princess and the frog years ago and it hasn't really been in my, my lexicon of Disney stuff, but the ride really like kind of sparked me to go back and look at it again as well, because, really yeah you know, they, they, I think, you know, I get what you mean about, you know, Disney kind of is great at like bringing that magic out.
00:19:49
Speaker
And yeah, I understand why you like princess and the frog for sure. It's, it's such a, yeah the animation, everything is, it was so good. It's one the last 2d animated. Yeah, I was going to say they they did hand drawn for that one, too. that's that was yeah That was one of the last ones, I feel like. Or they brought it back around that, I think.
00:20:05
Speaker
It was um the Winnie the Pooh movie came out afterwards, but it was the last princess movie that was too animated. That's right. Yeah, you're you're right. Yeah. And so also, you know, for the book, you you you talked about, you know, reaching out to your your Disney elders as, yeah you know, when you were doing training and stuff.
00:20:24
Speaker
In the process of writing this book, did you uncover any surprising or let alone facts um while you were doing your research, like like specifically while you were writing the book?
Research and Writing Process
00:20:35
Speaker
I mean, there was a couple of moments when I was looking at some of these facts. I was fact checking myself because there's always, you're talking to your Disney elders and your these Disney cast members and they're telling you some of this stuff and you're just like, that can't be real.
00:20:50
Speaker
No, that's not a thing. And i was like, okay, is this is this old dude just pulling my leg because I'm the young whippersnapper in the group? I don't know. And i would go I was going back through and checking some stuff, especially about Tomorrowland and the The storytelling of the updated version of Tomorrowland from the 90s.
00:21:09
Speaker
don't think I realized how much storytelling was in Tomorrowland that still exists there. It's just not ever referenced or not even acknowledged. And I wanted to try to acknowledge that the best I could in the book for the little remnants that are still there.
00:21:23
Speaker
You know, the the one thing you got me with, actually, with Tomorrowland was the trees, the the solar trees, and the the fact that there was coconuts missing from one of the trees because the original idea was that they were going to take the coconuts down to harvest the power that they got I did not know that. I always knew about the trees, but I didn't know about the coconut piece. And that that like was that was really cool. That was a cool fun fact. I liked that one.
00:21:43
Speaker
Fabulous. Yes. ah Yeah. that's that that's Again, and and you know for for anybody listening to this, like the whole book is... That kind of stuff. Like it's, it's, it's honestly wonderful. Like I said, you, I, we feel like you kind of wrote this book for like a super nerdy Disney people. Oh, totally. And even i actually, i didn't really even ask, answer your very first question of like, how did I write this book? Like was magic kingdom my favorite?
00:22:10
Speaker
Honestly, this was, i never planned on writing a book. I got sent an email from Adams Media, which is a arm of Simon & Schuster. And my mother, my momager, was helping me go through my emails because I was getting overwhelmed with all these different collaborators collaboration requests.
00:22:28
Speaker
And she's like, Danielle, you got this message here from and Adams media. They're a book publishing group. And she's like, I think, I think it's spam. I don't think it's real. And I'm like, no mom, I think this is real.
00:22:41
Speaker
And I looked up the person on LinkedIn to make sure that they actually worked for the company. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, they're real. And I sent the message back saying, Hey, what, what do you want? And they're like, Hey, would you want to write a book? we're We're starting this new series and you just have to make a writing sample and we'll see if we want to work with you. And I'm like,
00:22:59
Speaker
Okay. And they offered it to me and I did my writing sample. And ah the editorial team's like, okay, this is a little nerdier than we thought we were getting into this. And I was like, yeah, do you want it or not?
00:23:11
Speaker
and and um Did you want it to not be
Upcoming Book on Epcot
00:23:15
Speaker
nerdy? I mean, you know. Right, because it's originally they were just like, we just want a guidebook with a little little extra something. And I don't think they knew what that something was until I started writing some of my examples of like, these are some fun facts I would probably put into the book.
00:23:30
Speaker
And they're like, we've never heard of that fun fact before. Yeah, we'll work with this dapper Danielle chick. And ah so I think the series was originally meant that they could go out to multiple different authors and have a different author write each part like each park.
00:23:45
Speaker
um And i I can happily confirm that Adams Media wants to continue working with me. And I'm currently working on the Epcot book, which is amazing. Oh, wonderful. Okay, that answers actually...
00:23:58
Speaker
That's one of my wife's. My wife wanted to know that, actually. She she was like, yeah are you writing another book? And it should be about Epcot. so Yes! because i almost be like I almost feel like Epcot has a lot. i mean Not more than Magic Kingdom, but like the history of Epcot is really interesting.
00:24:16
Speaker
Oh my goodness, yes. And even trying to go through and explain to the editorial team, because 50% of the book has been submitted now, and I'm currently working on the World Showcase portion.
00:24:27
Speaker
And they're just like, hey, there's not like... are Do you have enough words? And I'm like, oh, you don't understand. I'm about to get into World Showcase. This is going to be a very thick book. I'm trying to downsize some of the history portions in the front.
00:24:42
Speaker
And i do think there's a lot of fun facts and fun history I did have to skip already in the beginning of Epcot because they they just don't make sense to the logical person. Already having to explain that – If you are a Magic Kingdom person or you're so familiar with Disneyland, you're familiar with the simple round spoke style of going from Adventureland to Frontierland and around around the way, right?
00:25:08
Speaker
And to then explain that no, Epcot has pavilions and within the pavilions is attractions and or restaurants. Think 1964 World's Fair because that's what it was inspired by.
00:25:22
Speaker
And having to tie in that history already, the editorial team's like, okay, Danielle, we're really trusting you on this.
00:25:31
Speaker
I've got such an interesting one. I'm glad you're reading that because so I'll be excited to read that. And maybe we can get you back on here to talk about that one too. So we would love to have you back on to talk about that. because I know Trevor and I are big Epcot fans.
00:25:42
Speaker
yeah Yeah, totally. Um, and so, yeah um, yeah. So we also wanted to ask you, so, um, you know, Dapper is a big or Dapper style is a big part of your brand.
Dapper Danielle Persona and Style
00:25:55
Speaker
Um, how does that aesthetic connect with the magic kingdom for you or how did, like, how did you kind of come into all that?
00:26:02
Speaker
Well, when I was thinking of usernames to and join the Tiki Talks back in 2020 when the world was shut down, and I was like, okay, what can I use to describe me? And I was like, okay, Dapper Dan's, that has kind of a fun ring to it.
00:26:19
Speaker
And I was like, what about the Dapper Danielle? And I really, I looked it up and I was on Webster's. I'm like, okay, what does the word dapper mean? Because I want to make sure this is true to myself.
00:26:29
Speaker
And according to Webster's, dapper means to be well-dressed and put together at all times. And I'm like, I think that is me naturally. I typically don't walk out in stretchy pants and a t-shirt.
00:26:44
Speaker
If it is a t-shirt, it's probably a spirit of jersey. And I'm usually dresses and big earrings, very big earrings. And I was like, okay, I think, I think this kind of fits my personality.
00:26:56
Speaker
And it went one thing into the other. i was already a big fan of like Dapper Days, which is ah not even associated, but very similar. And I, i I always go to the Dapper Days here on Walt Disney World. And it kind of has become my Super Bowl because it's the one time where my followers and my fans know I will be in the park.
00:27:17
Speaker
And they have a better chance of seeing me on that day than any other day. they can come and find you. and yeah Literally, yes. Oh, my gosh. ah that's That's interesting. what I do want to ask this because we we are big Fun Fact fans. what What was your favorite Fun Fact from the book?
00:27:33
Speaker
Or a fun fact that you didn't put in the book that's your favorite one overall. Ooh, let me think. would... I really loved highlighting um Clyde and Claude from the Enchanted Tiki Room, talking more about these two animatronic birds with very prominent voice actors and how Disney Imagineering, to appease the third-party relationship with the Florida Citrus Commission, said, you know what? We're going to come with ah up with our own tiki idol called Citra Kua.
00:28:08
Speaker
and it Doesn't appear in real Polynesian mythology. It literally is just the god of health because of citrus and ah vitamin C. And loved diving into that history a little bit more. I will say that section of the book was much bigger.
00:28:25
Speaker
And because I am just naturally a big fan of Orange Bird and ah like Florida history around that.
Influence of Corporate Sponsorships
00:28:31
Speaker
And my and that was one that the editorial team's like, OK, so we're going to cut like half this out. OK, fine.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yeah, I could see. it's It is funny when you and we talk about Disney history, especially with the parks, how much the corporate sponsor ends up subtly influencing a lot of the rides, you know, yeah and a lot of the choices that they make. it's I don't think a lot of people realize that.
00:28:55
Speaker
Right. And i and i really try to emphasize that even in the new book that I'm working on, because Epcot basically only got off off the ground because of the sponsorship. And i i had to explain that in the very beginning of the book. Like, let me let me explain the corporate sponsorships and why this is so important to the storyline.
00:29:13
Speaker
And ah yeah, so I find that interesting, the behind the scenes corporate world and what why Why certain things were made, like like even jumping ahead out of out of Magic Kingdom, away from Orange Bird into Figment, and how he was originally supposed to be green, but he was made purple because of Fujifilm.
00:29:35
Speaker
And the ride was sponsored by Kodak, and they didn't want anything resembling the Fujifilm's colors. That I find interesting. i you just You just threw out a fun fact I did not know. I love Figment. Figment's like my favorite Disney character. and I did not know that at all. Yes, and that's why he wears a red and yellow sweater because it's Kodak's film colors.
00:29:57
Speaker
I don't know how he didn't know that. I feel like I should have. No. That makes so much sense now that you say it. It's like, oh, yes, of course. Why did you think of that? Well, it's going to be in the next book anyway. So I did make sure that's in there.
00:30:09
Speaker
You gave us a preview. I appreciate it. We appreciate that. That is that it's so awesome. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. ah All right, Trevor, go ahead. um so um So you you kind of already touched on it, um but um what other aspects of Disney Parks and the company are you passionate about?
00:30:26
Speaker
and like You kind of talked about like the sponsorship. Is there any other areas beyond the parks that you're really like interested in? I'm really interested in the subtle stories that are exclusive just to cast members, right?
00:30:40
Speaker
So be coming from cast member world and knowing like even the most obscure, tiniest detail might mean everything to a team or a location. ah For when I was at Fairy Godmother the Bibbidi-Bobbidi boutiques, I was there during the time that the World of Disney location moved to the cottage in Disney Springs. And we got the brand new costumes, brand new hairstyles.
00:31:04
Speaker
And on those costumes are hidden references within the pattern that you can barely see unless you have a magnifying glass against somebody's costume, which if you do that, don't make it don't make it weird. It's a good way to get banned from the park. Exactly. Exactly.
00:31:21
Speaker
But there's like um little references to Rapunzel's sun logo. There's seashells. There's ah little little tiny details to the princesses that nobody really knows about.
00:31:31
Speaker
And there's so many of these details also hidden, not just on the cast member costumes, but within the locations that mean something special to the cast. Yeah. And I try to add in some of those.
00:31:41
Speaker
Some of them were a little too niche. I'm like, okay, no, maybe we'll save this for another book. Maybe we'll save this for another project or TikTok later. But I think I want to discover more of those conversations. And that's why when I go into the parks, even now,
00:31:55
Speaker
I'm barely riding rides. I'm going over to all the cast members. I'm just like, hey, what you doing? i don't want to distract you from your role, especially if you're in a safety critical position right now. But tell me a little bit about what's going on.
Unique Cast Member Traditions
00:32:07
Speaker
um Yeah, it's been it's been fun, especially as locations like Emporium right now is currently under construction is going through a refurb. And going up to them and being like, okay, what's the vibe? What do you think? What's going on?
00:32:20
Speaker
And they're telling me, no, this is great because this counter is now ADA compliant. And I'm like, oh, I would never have noticed that. But i'm that is something really important that is important to the cast.
00:32:31
Speaker
And like just acknowledging those changes and what's going on. Yeah, that's awesome. Sorry, I was just going to say, I love that because so i'm I'm not quite as overt as you as, you know, walking up to cast members because I'm just not that person. But I definitely am like I am always watching cast members and like paying attention to what matters to them.
00:32:55
Speaker
And, you know, knowing knowing that there are like little things that. you know you know Like you said, you know you know those important things to them, i'm I'm glad to know it's not just like ah like an incidental thing that there is a lot of meaning behind it, right? Oh, yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
That makes me really happy. And some of it's also depending on – because it changes also with the with the college program kid culture because they come in waves, right? And so each group – has usually if it's a really good group, they'll have something that you combines them in a location. Like what, what is your thing? What is the thing that you do?
00:33:29
Speaker
And one thing that I did, um that was very subtle, that was behind the scenes that didn't mean anything to the everyday guests, but it was something to my college program girls is I was, I would be closing coordinator at the boutique.
00:33:41
Speaker
The girls would finish cleaning up their stations. And when they came and told me that they were done, they would come up to me and they would say, um we've been turned into a cow. Can we go home?
00:33:52
Speaker
And then my response was, I had to respond as Yzma and say, you're excused. And then that that was their excuse to be able to go and clock out for the night. So like little, little tiny fun things like that. Like, is it a Disney reference? Is it, um is it like, do you like kind of like when you're exiting the locker room and you hit whatever, ah like the door frame or something like that, you cast members in their location? Charm kind of stuff. Yeah.
00:34:17
Speaker
Yeah. I love talking to cast members, Trevor. I talk to cast members all the time. was talking one the last... I'm just not that person in public. Really? I know you wouldn't believe that on this podcast, but I'm just not that person in public. It's okay.
00:34:33
Speaker
yeah I think it's also different because um i do know a lot of the leadership still that's in certain locations, or i worked with them, and they're now leaders over in Epcot, Magic Kingdom, wherever.
Behind-the-Scenes at Disney Parks
00:34:44
Speaker
You're like, hey, how's it going? Right. It's not weird because I actually do know them. And I don't, but if you're just like a random guest off the street and you're asking them some of those deep probing questions, they're going to no. yeah I don't want to be that person. Right. i found that I found that the cast members sometimes just offer stuff up to you, right? Like we were sitting on a boat on our way to Wildress Lodge and there was one of the college guys that was ah was working the boat and he just came up to us and started talking to us about stuff. And then next thing you know, he's telling us about how stitch you know the Stitch ride is now a break room. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. um You know, just stuff like that. You should be telling me that information. Right? Sure.
00:35:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, I was like, dude, you're like ruining the magic for me now. i'm just But I'm Danielle. I mean, i sorry. good that guy chair go I was say I had a cast member when I was getting on Space Mountain. I was wearing a San Francisco Institute of Technology shirt.
00:35:44
Speaker
And she was like, oh, yeah, I'm watching Big Hero six in the break room right now. So. but So, you know, they they sometimes say stuff like that. Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. well We'll talk about that, especially because like in most of the break rooms, like Freeform or whatever's on. So if it's a Disney movie, it's probably just playing in the break room right now.
00:36:01
Speaker
That makes sense. Yeah. I actually, there's one specific shirt I always wear to the parks that it's a, it's a, I call it the Muppets Haunted Mansion shirt because it's the, it's the Haunted Mansion stretch room paintings, but it's with Muppets instead of, you know, the, the actual people.
00:36:14
Speaker
And love that it's the only one that ever, the only people that ever commented it on it are the cast members, right? So every time we go, i count up how many times they say, Oh my God, I love your shirt. This past time it was 10 times. I had 10 cast members in one day at Magic Kingdom say how much they love the shirt. Yeah.
00:36:29
Speaker
So yeah, it's I just love that that kind of stuff. But I do want to give you two ah two questions that are are one one thing or the other.
Comparing Disney Parks and Cultural Perceptions
00:36:38
Speaker
So let's say, and I know your home base is Disney World. I'm assuming you you also go to Disneyland.
00:36:43
Speaker
which Which do you prefer? um I would say i love living in Walt Disney World. i love vacationing in Disneyland. ah For me personally, because they you can't compare the two because the the attractions, though some are very identical and are very similar, the culture and the expectation from the guest is vastly different in both parks.
00:37:07
Speaker
And i I love witnessing that from like an outside point of view coming from a Southerner Floridian view into the California view and seeing what the Anaheim local, what they want in a park day, what are their expectations?
00:37:23
Speaker
And I, I love people watching in Disneyland. It is amazing. um But I do, i love the comfort of Disney world. And if I had to pick one, I am a swamp princess. I am the weird one of, I like the taste of Florida swamp water and i don't know what you do. Right? And i I don't know what to do without humidity, so I would have to choose Florida.
00:37:44
Speaker
I drink out of the water fountains all the time, and my wife's like, why are you drinking that? That's disgusting. And I'm like, no, it's fine. It's good. It's fine. You're getting all the chemicals in you. It's good. It's character buildinging and building and immunity building. You're fine. I need to hydration. I'll take your word for it, but I'm a weird Canadian, so... i Yeah, well, yeah, no.
00:38:04
Speaker
did The other one I have for you is, well, maybe this is an Epcot book preview, but Canada or Mexico, where which where do you start? Okay, if I had to pick, I would actually say France because I'm an international gateway girl. Oh, all right. You know what? I like that answer. I do. All right. right So that's where do I typically go into and it'll be like, okay, first, for if if it's depending on the time of day, we're going to the back of international gateway and we're going and getting breakfast from France over there in the little bakery section.
00:38:35
Speaker
ah But if I'm coming in in the middle of the day, i would actually probably say Canada because I'm heading towards the UK. ah to see um command performance.
00:38:46
Speaker
Nice. That's contrary, because everybody goes Mexico there. So I appreciate that you go the other way with that. Plus the International Gateway with the Skyliner. I mean, Skyliner is our favorite mode of transportation. I think Trevor is for you too. So we love the Skyliner. We need more Skyliners.
00:39:01
Speaker
More Skyliners, more monorails everywhere. can neither confirm nor deny that we may be getting some more Skyliners, but that that contract is currently being worked out. So I won't get into it too much.
00:39:12
Speaker
we pay had we we yeah We didn't say anything. Don't worry. no wait We won't tell anyone. You didn't hear anything. Danielle, no one listens to the show, so you're good. yeah um So I do have a couple of questions from my wife that I wanted to ask you, that's all right. so um So first of all, she says she loves the the fun fact about Orange Bird. like she she She learned a lot about Orange Bird from your book because she didn't really understand what the big to-do was about Orange Bird.
00:39:40
Speaker
But she actually wants to know, do you have any interesting facts about Duffy? Or might that be something for the Epcot book? that might be something for the Epcot book. I think that is a, usually it's the opposite way around, right? Of, uh, something that's created overseas and then finds popularity later on over here in America. That was an American made product taken overseas and was adopted and loved even more so by, um a foreign country than it was here in America. And I,
00:40:12
Speaker
I find that so interesting and how it just skyrocketed from there. Like we just had Duffy. Everybody's like, okay, he's cute. But, um ah well, i could I can get into this a little bit more. And the main reason why Duffy took off so much overseas and over in Japan is because the relationship with American animation with And Japan didn't start until post-World War II.
00:40:41
Speaker
So for Americans, we've known Mickey for a very, very long time, longer than the Japanese did. And so when this new random character was introduced as like duffy as Duffy, Mickey's best friend, Americans are like, okay, this is cute, but that's not true to our Mickey Mouse. Yeah.
00:40:58
Speaker
Well, when you go and look at ah the Japanese and the um the Chinese and all those other foreign countries and they're looking at this character being like, oh, my goodness, this I can totally see this being a really great friendship.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yes, Duffy is Mickey's best friend. This makes sense. They have a different relationship with that character than we do here. um And it's very fascinating to look back at all that. That is really interesting. Yeah, good.
00:41:25
Speaker
Very interesting. yeah Thank you for that. That's that is. I've always wondered why. Yeah, I've always wondered why Duffy's so big overseas and not here. You know, and there' are there's a there's a lot to it. But i i some of that I didn't really understand. And it didn't click with me until working in locations where you're having to learn about these different cultures and their expectations and their expectations.
00:41:46
Speaker
history with the Disney company and how vast and different it is. Like how over in Europe, they have a way deeper connection to Donald Duck than we do. um Like we love Donald. Don't get me wrong. But the Europeans, whoa, they will go to war over Donald.
00:42:02
Speaker
my gosh. Really? I didn't know that. And it's because of the comics. The comics did better over in Europe than um they did here in America in the 60s. and Yeah, I forgot about all the comics that like I saw some of those way back in the day. But yeah, I forgot that Donald had a whole bunch of comics.
00:42:19
Speaker
He still does. I mean, the Scrooge McDuck one was one of the longest running for years um since the 60s and stopped stopped running post ah COVID. So it it's still something that's still very mainstream or kind of mainstream me in a way.
00:42:35
Speaker
Right. but like Kind of like, I guess, like how Archie comics were just kind of a thing here for like ever. Right. Like even. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Okay. um All right. So I have one last ah question again from my wife here and and and I added a
Sign-off Phrase Origin and Popularity
00:42:50
Speaker
follow-up to it. So um she says, is is there a story or experience behind your sign off on your, on the Dapper Danielle, where you say, you know night, night, sleep tight, dream of churros tonight.
00:43:00
Speaker
And my follow-up I, Are you telling people to dream of Disneyland or Disney World churros? Okay. disneyland homer He's a Disneyland homer. i started in Disneyland. my My first experience of her in Disneyland, but I definitely love both now. so Well, i I can explain that very easily. And the reasoning why was because when I first got started in my content, right?
00:43:23
Speaker
So the world shut down. I'm still a cast member. I'm furloughed. And at the time... I was in Disney Springs as one of only five full-time trainers.
00:43:35
Speaker
So when the world reopened, I was part of the first couple thousand cast members to return to Walt Disney World property and reopen the property. So I taught everyone how to wash their hands and how to wear a face mask.
00:43:46
Speaker
And going through all these protocol trainings. And so I got started by ah going to my car and talking about, hey, this is a magical moment I had for the day. Hey, this is a random question I had from a guest.
00:43:59
Speaker
Let me share you some is share some history about that thing with you. And it was a way for me to decompress after my really, really long shifts. Um, and then as my following is started with just a couple hundred views to a couple thousand to a couple hundred thousand.
00:44:14
Speaker
And as I'm looking at my analytics, I'm realizing i have more people following me from the state of California than I do Florida. And, ah right. And I was like, okay, this is interesting. And it's because California Disneyland had no signs of reopening anytime soon.
00:44:30
Speaker
So all of the sudden these Californians are like, oh, hey, there's a Disney park in Florida. Maybe we should investigate that and learn more about this. Oh, hey, there's this blonde chick that looks like Penelope Garcia. And she seems to be pretty knowledgeable about it. Let's let's listen to her.
00:44:44
Speaker
And so i I just one night... just kind of set it off to on a whim. And I was like, okay, it kind of rhymes. And I'm I did this specifically talking about to the Disneyland people to the California followers.
00:44:58
Speaker
And it kind of just stuck. And I had it somebody text me later saying, Hey, ah whatever you did, you need to keep that you need to try reusing it and keep reusing it. And so it was just repetition.
00:45:12
Speaker
And that was back in oh maybe the very beginning of 2021 fall of 2020. And that's kind of just why I became known for. And now I get messages all the time from moms and from families saying, Hey, I now say this with my kids because i ah one of, one of my followers, she's a believe she's a Patreon member of the podcast I'm on with Megan, the magical millennial.
00:45:37
Speaker
And she said, i started saying night, uh, Don't let the bed bugs bite. And it's freaked out my kids. and i Understandably. Right. And they were afraid to go to bed because these giant bugs are going to get them. So then she started saying, well, let's see what what Miss Danielle says.
00:45:56
Speaker
nine Night, night, sleep tight. Dream of churros tonight. And that's, and then the kids will respond back night, night, sleep tight, dream of churros tonight. And as soon as I heard that, like, I'm, I'm sticking with this forever. I am not changing this. This is my sign off forever.
00:46:10
Speaker
And it has been so cool. And now I have the collaboration with spirit Jersey, uh, and spirit Jersey on their official website, selling the official, the dapper Danielle night, night, sleep tight, dream of churros tonight with my churro art on it.
00:46:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I saw that. It's, that is awesome. And that, that is so amazing that like, it's one of those like lightning in a bottle kind of moments. Like I, I love that. That's how that came about for you.
00:46:35
Speaker
It's awesome. Right. and but It was, it was truly coming from a place of trying to connect with a group of people whose park had no sign of reopening anytime soon. And I wanted to give them a little, little bit of sugary hope and ah to tell them about Walt Disney world and We do have churros. It's actually the same brand. It's just how they're made at the cart. Yeah. Okay. they're they're Yeah. It's not that they're like wrong at Disney world. It's just, it's just the humidity. It's slightly different.
Fun Debate and Episode Conclusion
00:47:02
Speaker
destroys them too quickly.
00:47:03
Speaker
ah you You just think everything's better in Disneyland, Trevor. You have not been to the red cart. You don't know the corner. I'm just giving you a start. Anyway. On that note, Danielle, it's been a pleasure having you on the show. i It's been a lot of fun talking to you.
00:47:20
Speaker
ah The book, again, is called i Love Disney's Magic Kingdom. and where can tell it Tell everybody why they should buy the book, where they can buy it, and where they can find you on social media. ah You should buy the book because there's going to be more coming out in the series and you can collect them all eventually.
00:47:35
Speaker
And ah honestly, you can buy this book anywhere. It's on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Target, Walmart. Everybody has it now. Or you can even go to my LinkedIn or not LinkedIn, my Linktree, which is on all my socials at the Dapper Danielle everywhere. And it'll take you to the official Simon & Schuster's page and you can look at it to see where you want to purchase it from. Maybe you have a gift card somewhere you want to use it up at.
00:48:04
Speaker
i will gladly I will gladly accept you're using your gift card somewhere to be able to buy my book and I appreciate it very much. ah And I do have a couple more signings currently in the works. And so make sure you're paying attention to ah my website and or the socials.
00:48:18
Speaker
Great. Thanks again so much for joining us, Danielle. This is this was great. we We had a lot of fun. And, you know, hopefully we can have you back on ah again sometime, ah either before the new book comes out or or, you know, or after. Either way. Absolutely. Well, I mean, hopefully I i can get y'all another copy of the Epcot book when that's ready.
00:48:35
Speaker
And love then you can need learn even more about your favorite park. i was here Absolutely. Thanks, Danielle. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate it. Wait, should I sign off the the episode with my sign off? Oh, yeah, yeah, you could do that. Yeah, yeah. You could that. Yeah?
00:48:52
Speaker
Okay, we'll hear. So until next time, night, night, sleep tight, dream of churros tonight. This is Skipper Albert A. Wall, the voice of the jungle, signing off from Welcome Home Podcast on the DVC.
00:49:07
Speaker
When we hit a chair, how she can cuddle is known I looked around from pole to pole, found her in a sugar bowl.
00:49:19
Speaker
Look out, here comes my ball and change.