Day in the life of a theme park reporter (working remotely from home)
Come along with me for my work day as a theme park reporter/managing editor of AttractionsMagazine.com working from home.
6:45 a.m. I wake up with an immediate task: open the My Disney Experience app. No, not to reserve Lightning Lanes; last night, Disney officially closed Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom after more than 50 years of operations. Since these attractions took up such a hefty bulk of the park’s real estate, their removal is likely noticeable with the Disney World app’s interface.
Turns out, the area was indeed removed from the Magic Kingdom’s map within the app overnight. This is newsworthy and timely, so even though it’s first thing in the morning, it’s time for work. I post before-and-after screenshots on our Attractions Magazine social platforms with a link to our previously published tribute to these now-closed attractions.
7:15 a.m. With that first bit of work taken care of, I can properly begin my morning routine: take a walk while listening to a podcast (this morning, it’s “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend“) and eat breakfast (peanut butter/banana/almond milk protein smoothie with English muffins and veggie sausage) while watching TV (usually sketch comedy or a sitcom; this morning, it’s “The Simpsons”).
8:30 a.m. My supervisor (and Attractions Magazine’s founder), Matt, begins sending text updates from Magic Kingdom, where he’s checking in on any overnight changes in person to the Tom Sawyer Island area.
We are a small business, so our teams often communicate via text message or Facebook Messenger rather than usual corporate communication platforms. That being said, as a workplace boundary, we have a rule to not text before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. unless it’s an emergency or we’re actively covering a media event.
Around this time, I begin my daily tasks as a theme park reporter by checking emails. Since it’s the Monday after a holiday weekend, my inbox is particularly full, mostly with press releases and industry news updates.
9:30 a.m. As Matt wraps up sending Tom Sawyer Island coverage, we conclude there’s not much to see, but the closure of such a longstanding attraction and some construction walls now in place still warrant a construction update. I get started on that using photos Matt sends to our shared iCloud album.
10:39 a.m. I complete and publish the Magic Kingdom construction update. Afterward, I’m able to take a breather and write down my tasks for the day in my (Yoshi!) planner. This is strictly a to-do list of my theme park reporter duties, not a schedule (any important dates, meetings, or media events are in iCal). I’ve found I’m more productive when I write out my tasks by hand rather than if I type them in the Notes app.
Right now, the week is a blank canvas …
… but by the end of the week, this is what these pages will look like.
11:15 a.m. For a change of scenery, I migrate my remote work day to my local library, where I also return a book I just finished (“The Work of Art” by Adam Moss) and pick up two more on hold waiting for me (“Cultish” by Amanda Montell and “Art Firsts” by Nick Trend).
Meanwhile at Magic Kingdom, Matt takes a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad. Today is the first day of its modified route to accommodate Frontierland construction. He’s surprised to discover all-new narration from Stitch onboard the train. This is big news, especially since Disney didn’t announce this prior.
Matt captures video of the newly modified train ride. Our video manager, Mikey, uploads it to the Attractions Magazine YouTube channel and I use the video to update our website’s story about the train’s changes. By 1:40 p.m., all of our coverage from Stitch on the train is published.
2 p.m. I head back home from the library, listening to the first half-hour of this morning’s “Today Show” broadcast in podcast form to catch up on world news as I drive home, eat a snack, and get ready for the rest of the work day.
2:30 p.m. As our managing editor, I oversee a team of talented writers, and the rest of my day is spent setting them up for success (hopefully). Our reporter Jeff submitted a write-up of his experience attending DC Heroes and Villains Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which I look through and publish.
Around this time, we learn Tiny Chef raised enough money to produce more content, so our reporter Samantha updates her previous story about the character’s possible cancellation from Nickelodeon.
Checking my email again, I select a few newsworthy subjects to add to our virtual bulletin board of available stories for our writers to pick up if they’d like.
4 p.m. At this point in the day, I have a good idea of which items from my to-do list are going to be completed and which ones I’ll need to begin my Tuesday with. Since the Magic Kingdom updates took up most of my morning, I didn’t have time to work on a long-term project we’re excited about (you may be able to get a hint from my Yoshi notes above).
I spend the rest of the work day as a theme park reporter scheduling social media posts related to the stories we published today. (We post links to the stories immediately once they’re published, but we also follow up with other posts in case our readers weren’t online at that time.) This week on our social channels, we’re also boosting our Epic Universe souvenir guide since there’s a sale (20% off with code 20JULY2025 now through July 11!).
4:40 p.m. With some time left in the day, I write a story reporting on recent news of Chuck E. Cheese for adults opening nationwide.
5:30 p.m. I finish up the day with checking my email one final time, as well as glancing at the day’s website traffic and social media engagement (looks like our X followers have lots to say about Stitch on the train!).
I hope you enjoyed coming along with me for a day in the life of a theme park reporter. Most days, I work remotely, but on rare occasions I get the chance to report from the field. Check back soon on AttractionsMagazine.com for another “day in the life,” but this time during a Disney media event.
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Paper maps are back! I have a bunch of old ones framed and would love to get these! Do you know if you can send away for them or if they’re available anywhere besides in the parks? Thanks!