If you have been to the Disney parks more times than you can count, or are known as "that crazy Disney person" to friends and family --- helping plan vacations in the check-out line of the grocery store or telling people the best time to visit the Parks as you pick up your kids from school -- the Walt Disney World Moms Panel may fit you like snug mouse ears. The deadline is Friday or whenever they get 20,000 applications, so keep reading if this is up your enchanted alley. I am that crazy Disney person, and being that way actually landed me a spot on the panel last year.

The Walt Disney World Moms Panel was created as a place for visitors  to get "real-life" advice from moms (and dads) that have been there, done that and then some. The panelists are not employees of the Mouse and are given the power to answer vacation planning questions with their personal opinions and experiences. Visitors to the website can read existing questions and answers, review planning videos and tips from the Moms Panel experts. You can submit a question of your own and receive an answer directly from a panelist.

Since we were not employees (or "cast members" as they like to call it in Disney parlance), we are not required to answer a certain way or with a company line. If we tried a Disney restaurant and didn't care for it, we can say just that. If we prefer one resort over another, we let them know. Not a mom, or even a parent? That's not even a requirement to apply! Check out the rest of the official rules but bottom line, you must have visited the Walt Disney Resort within the last 12 months and be available to answer at least 25 questions a week online.

Personally, I applied twice before I was accepted on the panel, and I know many others that tried three times before making it last year. It really is a case of letting your passion and planning knowledge shine through. There are countless Disney fans with enough knowledge to plan a vacation. But to stand out, you must expose your unique abilities and niche that makes friends and family far and wide call on you for all their planning needs. Show Disney why they need you.

In the past they have rewarded panel members trips to Disney, park tickets and show tickets. It depends on whether you are a full-time panel member or a part-timer like me.

The process itself sounds easy enough, answer three questions in 100 words or less, about you and your experiences. It's actually a little harder once you realize how small a 100-word limit actually is. Make sure you check your grammar and spelling as this is a writing position after all, and proper form is a must. There are some more tips from Walt Disney Parks Social Media Manager Laura Spencer herself, on a recent post I wrote on my site about the 2011 Moms Panel search. If you make it to the next round, in the past it's been another set of essay questions, followed by a phone interview before the final selections are made.

The deadline is Septemer 17, 2010, or when 20,000 applications have been received, whichever comes first. Best of luck and hopefully I'll be meeting some of those reading this in December when training for the new 2011 panel takes place and they join the alumni panelists online.

~ Suzannah DiMarzio
2010 Walt Disney World Moms Panelist

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