Protoscopic

Our Experiment in Internet Business has begun. We’ve officially launched Walt Disney World for Grown-ups at www.wdwforgrownups.com!

What it is:

The site is a combined content site/link directory/and discussion forum targeting adults who vacation in Walt Disney World without children.

Why we chose this set-up:

1. There are already hundreds of well-written and consistently updated sites about Walt Disney World vacation planning, so a link directory made sense. There’s no need to reinvent the content when all that’s needed is a little bit of organization. Our value as a link directory is the ability to group all of the information already on the web in a way that useful specifically for adults planning a Walt Disney World vacation.
2. We’re adding content where it’s absolutely necessary and will be writing articles about topics that haven’t already been explored elsewhere on the web and that are specific to our target market.
3. Discussion forums have been added (and expertly integrated into the link directory by Brad) because they’re a common community-building and communication format for Walt Disney World fan sites; many of our visitors will be familiar with them, and they will (we hope) inspire repeat visitors.

Why we chose this topic:

1. You’re thinking, “Walt Disney World? For Grown-ups?” In truth, Walt Disney World is one of the top honeymoon destinations worldwide and has quite a few die-hard empty nesters as fans. Top-selling Walt Disney World guidebook line The Unofficial Guides (their website will launch later in 2008) has developed and continues to publish updated versions of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World for Grownups and official Disney guidebook line Birnbaum’s publishes its Walt Disney World Without Kids every year. Clearly there’s a market, but in our research we weren’t able to find a good niche website dedicated to it.
2. Also, Brad and I happen to be part of this target market. I started visiting Walt Disney World with my parents in the 80’s and decided to try it again as a vacation spot in college. Sure enough, I loved it, became a fan, and began to drag Brad along almost immediately after we met.

   Being familiar with the Disney parks, procedures, restaurants, ticketing system, and attractions makes this website fun for us, but also ensures that the research required is at a minimum. We already know where to find all the best links and are able to quickly identify and organize them into the directory. We also know what articles will be useful to this market–whether they’re experts, new to Walt Disney World, seniors, or college-aged–and can scan the web for or write them as necessary. It’s a win-win.

We look forward to sharing our ups and downs with you. And we welcome your feedback all along the way. Help us to succeed–or at least learn a lot as we go!