I jumped on the Foursquare Bandwagon about a year ago, after watching it take off in larger cities around the country. My friends in NY, Chicago, and even Raleigh had been checking in and racking up the points for a long time. In fact, Wayne Sutton created TriOut, a location based social network, specifically for the NC Triangle area (Raleigh Durham, Chapel-Hill).
Around these parts, if you ask someone if they do FourSquare, they’ll hand you a rubber ball and a stick of chalk. It’s a popular game for my husband’s middle school students, but that’s not exactly what I mean. In the tech trends department, the NC Mountains are usually about 1-2 years behind metropolitan areas.
So I tried Foursquare, despite being one of the very few people who “checked in” at places around here. I soon realized that I really didn’t want to be checking in at our regular spots, like dance class, sports practices, etc. Too easy for stalkers to learn our routine. I would never check in at our home or school, for safety reasons. Few local businesses were offering FourSquare deals for checking in, so I didn’t really see the point. I gradually stopped using it. I usually only chek in at the grocery store now to brag about share what a deal I got with coupons!
Now, flash forward to March of 2011, when I traveled to Walt Disney World for the Social Media Moms Celebration! “checking in” at Social Media gatherings is always a good idea, since there are so many other practitioners there, so I cracked open the FourSquare app on my Droid, and checked out the scene.
I was pleased to find all kinds of Disney tips and tricks at each attraction throughout Disney World, as well as the Parks themselves. Here’s a great way to use it.
- When you get to the park, log into Foursquare, then check out all the locations that come up.
- Scroll through the locations, and choose which attractions you’re most interested in.
- Look through the tips left by other vistors to get some inside information from those who have gone before.
- I especially liked when a Disney Cast Member (employee) would leave tips, because they know that park inside and out!
- Then, check in yourself! Push your notification to Facebook and Twitter, and you’ll get more tips and feedback from your friends there!
Here are some tips from Fourqsuare users at the attractions we visited.
Space Mountain - Nerissa L.Get there first thing the morning – get a fast pass, and then hop in line. You’ll be able to basically ride it twice in a row
Epcot – Allison J.
Stop by Club Cool in Future World and try Coke Products from around the world. It is kinda fun to taste sodas from Ireland, Costa Rica, and more. Plus, it is FREE!
Soarin’ ride at Epcot – Marques R.
In the scene when you fly over hills and on to the golf course, look immediately to your lower left and find a golf cart. The man on the other side of the golf cart is holding a Mickey Balloon.
There are tons more tips just like these wherever you go at Disney World! Yes, there are some useless tips, but you can usually find good information by skimming through!
Do you use Foursquare or another location based service? Have you used them at Disney, or another similar attraction? Have you ever left a tip?
