What 365 Disney Posts Taught Me About Social Media

I wanted to see if I had been at Walt Disney World every day of the year - at some time in my life. I knew I would not be 100% since I avoid the major holidays like Christmas and New Year’s - but I would probably be close.

Over the last decade, I went all in with Disney vacations. I wasn’t even a fan and then a trip in 2014 hooked me. I always loved themed entertainment (restaurants, museums, etc…), so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. And with kids at the perfect age and a wife who would tolerate my obsession, I became a Disney adult before the term was coined. Well, I’m not a Disney adult in terms of waiting for hours to meet a character or buying all of the merch. I’m just a history nerd that loves immersive environments.

So we traveled to Central Florida every year. Soon it became twice a year. We then found ourselves going quarterly. I started making checklists for places we needed to eat, locations we needed to stay, and experiences we had to participate in. We would find the most affordable way to make this happen and we would bring along the family.

Years later, we have more trips and stays than I can keep track of. And we gained that reputation. Often we would have friends ask us when our next trip was - knowing it was booked.

Which led me to my latest Facebook troll job.

How I Use Social Media

I’m naturally a troll. Not in a bad way. Like I don’t harass people online. Instead, I’m just that ball-busting friend from high school. It’s all done with love, but I will troll my friends with stupid antics to see reactions. Let’s not forget I created an entire e-commerce website to sell shirts with my friend’s face on them. Social media and Facebook are just an extension of me trolling.

For years I would test things on social. Whether it be telling one-line jokes, posting obnoxious photos, or publicizing my every mundane action - I always had the intent to post and make myself laugh. If I found it funny, I would post. No one else really mattered.

And that’s when I started “Am I at Walt Disney World today?” posts.

365 Days at Walt Disney World

The premise was simple. I would grab a photo of me at Disney and post it each day on Facebook and Instagram. I would ask the same question. I would search through my Google Photos and mix and match some of my favorite photos.

I would test my consistency. Could I post every day for an entire year? Did I have enough quality photos (although I knew I did)? And how long would it take before I was ignored and removed from people’s feeds…

As much as Disney is loved by many, others find it obnoxious. Especially someone posting each day. With over one thousand “friends”, I was seriously curious how many actually saw my stuff. Again, this isn’t the first time I’ve trolled online, so I imagine I’ve been hidden by the vast majority over the year. But let’s check to see how the numbers looked after posting.

The Results

If you post a picture of yourself online, you will get more likes than normal. Post it at Disney, you tend to get a few more. People seem to be excited that you are taking a vacation. So my first photo did pretty well. Lots of interaction.

Second photo, same results. Third, fourth, fifth, etc. not as many, but still some reactions. By the 10th or 11th, people were asking how long my vacation was. I soon started throwing out photos that were obviously in the past. My daughter would go from a four-year-old princess to a 12-year-old preteen. People were catching on to the act.

By the end of month one, it was the same people liking every photo. It dropped significantly as expected. It actually came down to how cute the picture was for the additional likes. A picture of the castle - 10 likes. A picture of baby Miles dressed as Tigger - 40 likes. Not super surprising.

The Bigger Picture

Many people asked why I was doing it. Besides giving myself a new challenge each day, it was pretty simple. I wanted to see if increased visibility would increase sales.

That’s right. I wanted to see if I would sell more websites because I was top of mind.

Even though Walt Disney World has nothing to do with web design, just showing up in the feed would spark people to think of me and our services. It also helps that I am linking my personal brand with one of the most trusted companies in the world. Disney is known for details, customer service, and creativity. I will take that brand association.

And did it work?

Yeah. Although no one said, “Hey, I want you to help me with marketing because I saw your social content,” I did directly get inquiries online from Facebook. The same people that asked for help mentioned the Disney pictures in casual conversation. That’s a pretty good case for acquisition for me.

Showing Up Still Matters

I don’t think anyone hired us because they saw a picture of me standing in front of Spaceship Earth.

But I do think those pictures helped keep me visible.

That’s an important distinction.

Not every social media post needs to generate a lead. Not every photo needs to have a call to action. Sometimes the value is simply reminding people that you exist.

When someone eventually needs a website, marketing help, or advice, you want your name to be somewhere in their head. And sometimes the thing that keeps you there has absolutely nothing to do with the service you sell.

For me, apparently, it was Disney pictures.

The experiment also reminded me that consistency has a cost. People will stop reacting. Your likes will drop. Some people will probably mute you. That doesn’t necessarily mean the content stopped working.

The people who needed to see me were still seeing me.

So no, I probably won’t recommend that every business owner post 365 pictures from Walt Disney World.

But I will recommend finding something you actually enjoy talking about and giving people a reason to remember you.

Because sometimes being top of mind starts with simply showing up.