What an Average Workweek Looks Like for an AllEars Reporter

There’s one burning question everyone always asks me when they learn I’m an AllEars reporter, and it’s usually some version of “what’s it like?”

Yes, I’m living the dream getting to walk the Orlando theme parks of Disney World and Universal almost every single day, try out all the latest eats (along with a few old favorites from time to time), and getting to write about my experiences doing it all. So while my team and I might make it look super easy on the surface, there’s a lot that goes into our workweek that people are shocked to learn.

It might be easy to assume that working around the theme parks in Orlando is easy, and if that’s what we’ve lead you to believe, then we’re doing our job right! It’s not hard to think when you see some pretty pictures of food and drinks, some quick shots of rides, or selfies of us inside the parks sporting a smile that we’re living the life. (We are, there’s no deception there!)

But, not every day is as easy as a “walk in the park” even though that’s quite literally part of the job. No, if you thought our workweek mimicked more of a never-ending vacation, you may be shocked to learn more about EVERYTHING we do to ensure we’re getting you the most accurate information for when you’re ready to plan your next trip. Here’s what my typical workweek tends to look like.

Monday

Ah Monday, we meet again. While you might be stuck at your 9-5 behind a desk or in an office dreaming about Disney World or Universal I’m on the flip side of that dream lacing up the new tennis shoes I’m about to try out for the first time around the parks. (Yes, we even go out of our way to intentionally make mistakes we warn you about to see if we’re still accurate with those recommendations, too.) If you happened to spot me in the park wearing these babies instead of my usual footwear, don’t worry — it’s back to normal for me right after reviewing these!

By the time I’ve headed out to the parks, I’ve probably got another new item or two in tow for the day so I can test out the newest merch we’ve snagged online. So what are we looking for out of these items, you ask? Well, it’s simple. Are these things that would enhance your day at the park and potentially make your vacation time better or easier, or is it something that’s not worth the investment and ends up a total bust? What you don’t see is that while I’m out testing its durability and use in the park, I’m also grabbing pictures and videos of me in real time using or wearing these very items so you can get a good read on my review of them.

Then, it’s time to ride a few of the rides and attractions around the park to track the wait time accuracy, grab updated pictures of the ride, and of course it’s a theme park so we’re entitled to a little bit of fun, right?

Afterwards, I head out for a lunchtime or dinner review at one of our favorite places around the parks or hotels and obviously document the whole meal from start to finish. While you might be focused on the food or drinks that we’re reviewing (which IS a big part of the meal), I’m also focused on the atmosphere of the restaurant, the service, how convenient it will be for you to get here from further away, and the best parts of the entire experience to highlight.

As I’m wrapping up my review, I’m taking meticulous notes on my thoughts about the meal to come back home and write about it all while it’s still fresh in my mind. If you’re already exhausted, remember, we’re just getting started for the week!

Tuesday

Just like how you might need a day of rest during your week long vacation at Disney World or Universal, we reporters need a down day, too. Luckily for me, I’m also a writer for our team, which means I do get a day outside of the parks to showcase my voice in a different medium.

Much as what you’re reading here, we write about it all when it comes to theme parks and travel. We’re constantly searching out the latest travel trends, news and updates, taking notes from our current reporter boots on the ground in the parks that day, and turning it all out for you to read on our blog.

It’s not a physically challenging day per se, but we definitely need to be sharp, ready at the keyboard, and anticipating big news to drop any moment because you never know when something interesting might be what you need to know about next!

We do take breaks throughout the day to strategize, talk over updates, and make small talk in our inter-office conversation threads and video calls. It helps keep us connected as a team while also allowing the balance we need individually to focus on our work remotely. The best part about work days like this is there’s no limits to where I can write from as long as I’m staying connected.

So there’s a good chance while I’m not reporting that day, you may just find me sitting around the park with my laptop and a coffee.

Wednesday

Who says Wednesday has to be a mid-week slump? Not me! Now that I’ve spent a day out of the parks, it’s about this time that withdrawal sets in and I feel the need to get back to them! So, typically, I’m off for another day in the parks, and for the sake of this scenario we’ll continue to reference my last week. This was an extra exciting day because we had a LOT of new things to cover and only so many hours in the day to do it. First thing in the morning I’m headed out to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to rope drop the park and while I’m there, grab a few breakfast items we needed updated reviews of (which includes plenty of pictures and videos to show you).

After I’ve wrapped up at Disney World, it was time to see the grand opening of a new hotel in Orlando! The latest Universal hotel to open, Helios Grand Hotel moved up its highly anticipated opening so a few of my fellow reporters and I were teaming up to cover it all!

While there part of what I was responsible for was documenting the grand opening welcome, the check-in process, Aurora Market, the hotel’s restaurant Flora Taverna for both lunch and dinner, scoping out the merch you’ll find on site near the lobby at the Universal Store, and documenting all of the hotels amenities like the fitness center, pool, walkways, arcade, and more.

We also needed to try out everywhere you can pick up food and drinks so it was off to Bar Helios to review the drinks and food you can expect to find here (and take in that gorgeous view from the rooftop!).

Once our rooms were ready, it was time to check out the rooms, do a little Bed Science ™, in both a standard room AND the ultra plush How To Train Your Dragon Kids Suites…

…fight Quincy for which of us got to sleep in the coveted Toothless themed bed (I’ll leave you to guess who won that)…

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…and with a room overlooking the inside of Epic Universe, we couldn’t help but stay up to watch water fountains testing at night from the room!

Spoiler, the room view was so much better than the walk out balcony from the lobby!

Thursday

If you’ve ever had so much excitement pent up over your next day’s vacation plans that you were too antsy to sleep, we’re living proof that doesn’t go away even when its your job to go the theme parks everyday! So just like you, it was our job to rise and shine early!

We booked a very early breakfast to test out ALL of the meals the hotel has to offer at its resident full restaurant…

…and afterwards we needed to hop in line for the hotel guests looking to enter Epic Universe for the day. Since this was its first day opening, we knew we needed to get there early to document it all and fully anticipated waiting a while before the line would begin to move.

Eventually it did, and we started our day doing early park entry in a few of the worlds inside the park.

If you saw us briskly walking with phones and cameras at the ready in our hands what you didn’t see is we were carefully timing how long it took us to walk to the section of the park we were headed, how long we spent in line for that first attraction, and what we were able to get accomplished with the rest of our hour before the park opened to its regular day visitors.

We also divvied up what we planned to cover for the day including things like how to grab a virtual queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride…

…reviewing dozens of new restaurants, bars, and snack spots you’ll find in Universal’s newest park…

…and taking all the pictures and videos we could while asking Team Members we passed questions that would help us learn how to make your next visit here even better!

We stayed through the wee hours of the night, covering the changes you’ll find between day and night in the park and got our chance to watch the water fountain show that closed down the park for the night.

After having a good cry over having to leave the park after such an incredible day learning AND having fun, we have to admit the appeal of a clean, comfy hotel bed didn’t sound too bad right about then! So, it was off to sleep for another night to really be certain we were giving you the best review of the hotel rooms at Universal’s newest hotel!

Friday

TGIF, right?! Well, sometimes. This was a sadder day because it was check out do from our whirlwind experience checking out all the things in Universal, but that meant after check out it was right back into the parks for me!

Since we’d had such a long, full day the last few days covering every tiny detail, Friday was a much more relaxed reporting day for me at Disney World. Of course, we’re always keeping our head on a swivel for anything news worthy that you’ll want to know about but mostly I’m there to make sure there weren’t any overnight changes to the parks, big merchandise collections released, and (you guessed it) pick up a few more snacks and drinks to review and make sure our reviews of these are still as tasty as the first time we tried them (and of course tell you if our opinion of them has changed any).

Is every week like this? No, but that’s not to say there isn’t enough theme park news happening keeping us on our toes (or fingers furiously typing if that’s where we happened to be that day). But that’s one of the biggest reasons why I love reporting and being boots on the ground inside the parks for whenever the latest news is ready to be discovered. It truly is one of the greatest gifts to be able to be a small part of getting to bring you along for our journey discovering something new in the park each day (and hoping you Iearn a little more for your upcoming trip because of it along the way).

We’re constantly on the lookout for the news, changes, updates, and more you need to know about as you plan your next visit! Be sure to stay tuned with us for all the latest!

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What other questions do you have about our roles here at AllEars? Leave them for us in the comments below!

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