I just spent three days at Walt Disney World.
Solo. With a tripod, an external microphone, a backpack, and a permission slip I gave to myself to look a little silly on camera in the name of doing the work.
Disney invited a small group of travel professionals, media, and content creators to the WDW Summer Fun Fest—their dedicated trade and media preview event built around the launch of Cool Kids' Summer, which opens to guests on May 26 and runs through September 8, 2026. The brief was clear. Come see what's coming. Capture what you see. Share it with your network.
The unspoken brief was the one I gave myself.
Demonstrate the behavior I want every travel advisor I work with to mimic for their own success.
So I did.
And I came back with a story I want every travel advisor reading this—whether you are a member of WorldVia Travel Network's Spark Society or anywhere across our industry—to hear.
The thing I keep coming back to is not the rides. Not even the food, though we will get there.
It is the parents.
I sat criss-cross applesauce on the floor before the brand-new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live preview—a stage production inspired by the Disney Junior show, headed to Hollywood Studios for Cool Kids' Summer. Adults around me were doing the same. Tall, capable, professional adults folding their legs underneath them on a carpet because that's what the moment asked for. And the kids? The kids didn't notice the adults at all. They were watching Mickey and his friends.
That's when something clicked for me.
The whole point of Cool Kids' Summer is to give families places to play together across all four Walt Disney World theme parks. It is GoofyCore at CommuniCore Hall in EPCOT, where Goofy leads dance parties and silly games like Loopy Limbo and Parachutes 'n' Pipsqueaks. It is Bluey and Bingo arriving at Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom, including a play space tied to the animals from Bluey's home country of Australia. It is Jessie's Roundup at the Diamond Horseshoe in Magic Kingdom, where Jessie, Woody, Bullseye, and friends pull families into a Toy Story hoedown.
It is also the rides Disney has thoughtfully refreshed alongside the season. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad now features a new track, new trains, an enhanced Rainbow Caverns scene, and effects fans will recognize from the ride's history. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin came back with new handheld blasters and reworked gameplay. And Soarin' has a brand-new overlay called Soarin' Across America—a celebration built for the country's 250th anniversary that I cannot wait to share with my family.
But none of that is the headline.
The headline is the parents.
I think a lot about what it means to be a travel advisor in 2026. The clients we serve do not need our help to book a trip. They need our help to understand what a trip will feel like before they are inside it.
That is what Cool Kids' Summer is asking every travel advisor to translate.
If you have a family with kids three to ten on your books—and most of you do—Cool Kids' Summer is the conversation. Not "there are roller coasters." Not "the food is good." But, "There are now whole zones in the park designed for your kids to be the main character, and you are going to find yourself sitting on the floor laughing harder than you have in years."
That is the talk track. That is the rebooking phone call.
I went to demonstrate the behavior I want every travel advisor to mimic for their own success—and it is not "post nice photos." It is "show up where your clients will go, feel what they will feel, and come back with a story that translates."
Walt Disney once said the parks were never finished. Disney is still proving him right.
I want to tell you a few of the un-glamorous moments—the moments I would want a travel advisor to tell me.
I walked into Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After by accident. I went to find one place, took the wrong path, and ended up watching Maleficent and the Evil Queen, along with their "friends?" and bubbles and music. I am now a fan. That is a real client tip—new experiences reveal themselves the second you stop checking the map or the itinerary.
I rode the reimagined Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and recorded my face as I experienced the ride. My hair was wild. My eyes were wider than they have been in years. The Muppets carried me through. Click here to watch it.
I picked up dinner at Docking Bay 7 in Galaxy's Edge and sat with my food on a bench while the Star Destroyer rumbled above me. The whole land was lit up around me. That is a real client tip—match the venue to the guest. Solo travelers, anniversary couples, and families with littles all need different rooms, even inside the same park, and Disney has all of them.
The cottage pie at Rose & Crown in the United Kingdom pavilion at EPCOT nearly took me out. The server walked me through the menu refresh—what used to be Shepherd's Pie is now a proper Cottage Pie with braised beef, root vegetables, peas, jus, mashed potato, and Irish cheddar—and I followed it with sticky toffee pudding because I am only one man.
I took a hotel break in the middle of the day at Port Orleans Riverside and came back fresher for an After Hours event that night. That is a real client tip too—pace the day. Disney rewards the guests who go back to the room and come back fresh.
These details are what set a brochure apart from a recommendation.
I have to give Port Orleans Riverside its own moment.
Horse-drawn carriages along the Sassagoula River. Cane pole fishing on Ol' Man Island. Campfire on de' Bayou with s'mores. Live music at the River Roost lounge. Movies under the stars. Glow-themed poolside evening parties. There is a whole evening rhythm at the resort that I almost missed because I was park-hopping.
And here is what is most relevant for your families—Port Orleans Riverside is one of four Disney resorts running expanded Cool Kids' Summer programming for the littles. That includes character visits with set appearance times so families can plan their day, as well as an expanded family activity itinerary built right into the stay. The other three are Pop Century, Art of Animation, and Caribbean Beach.
If you have families weighing where to stay during Cool Kids' Summer, those are the four to know.
Here is the cleanest summary I can hand you for your client emails this week.
Cool Kids' Summer runs May 26 to September 8, 2026 across all four Walt Disney World theme parks
It is included with regular park admission—no upcharge, no separate ticket
What guests will find: GoofyCore Hall at EPCOT, Bluey and Bingo at Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom, Jessie's Roundup at Magic Kingdom, the brand-new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live show at Hollywood Studios, refreshed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the new Soarin' Across America overlay for the country's 250th anniversary
Where to stay: Port Orleans Riverside, Pop Century, Art of Animation, and Caribbean Beach are running expanded Cool Kids' Summer programming, including character visits with set appearance times and an expanded family activity itinerary throughout the stay
Who it is for: Families with kids three to ten are the sweet spot, but the GoofyCore dance parties and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live show absolutely play to the kids-at-heart in your client base, too
If you have a client on the fence about a 2026 Disney trip, this is the season that tips them.
If you want to see more of what I captured during the three days—the criss-cross applesauce moments, the cottage pie, the castle, the Muppets-soundtracked Rock 'n' Roller Coaster face—come find me on Instagram at @joshuaharrell. I am posting more of the field report there all week.
I will tell you what I told myself when I packed.
I went because I want every travel advisor reading this to know that showing up matters. That bringing a tripod into a theme park as a grown human and shooting a piece-to-camera in front of Cinderella Castle is not silly. It is the work.
I collect Disney castles. I have eighty-seven of them now. They line the gallery leading to my office, and I walk past every single one of them on my way in every day. Each castle marks a season in which I was brave enough to chase something. Standing in front of the real castle this week—the one many of those figurines point back to—reminded me what we ask travel advisors to do every day. Bet on yourself. Show up where your clients will go. Come back with a story.
There is only one me in the galaxy. There is only one you.
If Cool Kids' Summer is the season Disney is rolling out for families, let it also be the season you roll out a more intentional, more visible, more present version of yourself for your clients. Show up. Sit on the floor. Eat the cottage pie. Ride the coaster. Tell the story.