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Moving to Main Street, U.S.A.: How We Left Our Home, Took the Kids, and Moved to the Doorstep of Walt Disney World
Fess up. If you could quit your job, pull your kids out of school, sell your house, and say goodbye to your friends, you'd move to the doorstep of Walt Disney World, in a heartbeat. But who can do that? Scott and Michele Atwood did. And in doing so they built a Disney business. Here's how! From cold, snowy Michigan, Michele Atwood tried to run her popular Disney site, The Main Street Mouse. It wasn't easy. All the action was many hundreds of miles away, in Orlando. Her dream—her Disney dream—was to earn enough money from The Main Street Mouse to support her family. But from Michigan? No way. So she shut down the site and got a real job. Except ... she didn't! If Disney couldn't come to her, she'd go to it. She persuaded her husband, Scott, that it made perfect sense to pull up stakes and rent a house near Disney World, a house they'd never seen, and count on the website to pay the bills. After some difficult times, Florida began to feel like home, and The Main Street Mouse became one of the biggest, most successful Disney fan sites in the world. And they blogged happily ever after! The Atwoods' story is a real Disney dream come true.
- GenresNonfiction
152 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2017
19 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 4, 2022
Much of the book reads like daily life without the banal parts taken out. Michele had to discard precious belongings. She visited the Magic Kingdom during a special holiday event on invitation. She enjoyed showing the park to visiting friends and family.
As such, there isn't much of a central thesis. One holiday season feeds into another, without any sense of greater meaning or lesson.
The book lacks the detail to make it truly actionable and useful. For example, I would have liked to know how precisely the site supports her life, how she budgets her income vs. expenses, and what were her website's main revenue drivers. How does she determine what park events justify the time? How does she manage her time and calendar? How does vet and deal with advertisers? Who sends her those invitations -- introduce some other people! -- and what networking events enabled that interaction?
She writes often about the stress of online "bullying" but never specifies what that bullying is. Name-calling? Threats? Intimidation? Comment trolling? She mentions the "tragedy at the Pulse nightclub" without ever detailing what that tragedy entails. She cries a lot in this book but, ironically, the more it's mentioned explicitly, the harder it is to commiserate and empathize. In brief, detailing the events that led to those emotions would have better allowed us to *feel* those emotions with her.
As such, there isn't much of a central thesis. One holiday season feeds into another, without any sense of greater meaning or lesson.
The book lacks the detail to make it truly actionable and useful. For example, I would have liked to know how precisely the site supports her life, how she budgets her income vs. expenses, and what were her website's main revenue drivers. How does she determine what park events justify the time? How does she manage her time and calendar? How does vet and deal with advertisers? Who sends her those invitations -- introduce some other people! -- and what networking events enabled that interaction?
She writes often about the stress of online "bullying" but never specifies what that bullying is. Name-calling? Threats? Intimidation? Comment trolling? She mentions the "tragedy at the Pulse nightclub" without ever detailing what that tragedy entails. She cries a lot in this book but, ironically, the more it's mentioned explicitly, the harder it is to commiserate and empathize. In brief, detailing the events that led to those emotions would have better allowed us to *feel* those emotions with her.
January 31, 2019
I’m not sure why I liked this book as much as I did. The writing is fine, not amazing. The author moved her family from Michigan to Orlando to live her dream of a Disney life. A lot of the book is about family and trips back and forth to Michigan. If it had been all about Disney, I might have given it five stars, but there was a little too much Michigan in it for me. Also, although she made lots of references to the nastiness and cutthroat competition of the professional Disney world, she never gave any of the juicy details I was hoping for. Darn it!
Still, the story of knowing what you want and going for it is one that never gets old to me. So many people just want something and never go for it, but she did go for it, and I admire and respect that. Also, while I’m not a super Disney fan like she is, I admit that I do really, really love Disney, and even more so since moving to Florida. Does an annual Disney pass seem more appealing after reading this book? Not going to lie — sort of!
Still, the story of knowing what you want and going for it is one that never gets old to me. So many people just want something and never go for it, but she did go for it, and I admire and respect that. Also, while I’m not a super Disney fan like she is, I admit that I do really, really love Disney, and even more so since moving to Florida. Does an annual Disney pass seem more appealing after reading this book? Not going to lie — sort of!
March 18, 2017
Very Inspiring
I have been following Michelle on her site The Main Street Mouse since before their move to Florida and loved reading her weekly blogs about their move and their Florida life. This book fills in more about their life, struggles, and the faith that it took to make her dream come true. I admire Michelle and her family for living their dream and making it work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope there will be more as time goes on.
I have been following Michelle on her site The Main Street Mouse since before their move to Florida and loved reading her weekly blogs about their move and their Florida life. This book fills in more about their life, struggles, and the faith that it took to make her dream come true. I admire Michelle and her family for living their dream and making it work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope there will be more as time goes on.
August 4, 2017
Actually embarrassed I read this one.
April 30, 2022
Easy read with a touch of Disney Magic.
August 31, 2020
Heartfelt and sweet
While personal stories of strangers can be weird, reading Michele's book was like reading a letter from a friend. She was personable and gave a lot of fun stories, though the chapters came off a little more like blog entries than full stories. It was a quick and fun read though, although if you're looking for info on the park it ,I got be better just to go to the main street mouse site
While personal stories of strangers can be weird, reading Michele's book was like reading a letter from a friend. She was personable and gave a lot of fun stories, though the chapters came off a little more like blog entries than full stories. It was a quick and fun read though, although if you're looking for info on the park it ,I got be better just to go to the main street mouse site
December 19, 2017
Very good book I was not expecting the end. :) Very interesting I loved it!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews