Steve Bell – Author Page
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Hi, I’m Steve Bell, and welcome to That Disney Family!
I have had a long association with both the Disney Theme Parks and the U. S. Military.
My mission is to offer you the best advice that I can to plan for, save money on, and enjoy your Disney vacation!
I’ve been running the Military Disney Tips website, dedicated to assisting the U.S. Military Community with their Disney vacations, for over 17 years. As you can imagine, I have a huge amount of content on the site, some of which is military-specific, but a large portion is general Disney information.
I started Military Disney Tips in 2008 to share my Disney knowledge with my community, now I’m sharing it here as well.
What makes Military Disney Tips has been featured on many websites, podcasts, publications, and traditional media.
My fascination with Walt Disney World started at a young age. In grade school, my family started taking annual spring vacations to Florida to visit family. That first year (1971) we visited the Walt Disney World Welcome Center. WDW wouldn’t open until that fall, but they had lots of info about the soon-to-open theme park, plus lots of souvenirs. Each year afterward, until I graduated high school, we’d spend a day at WDW during our spring vacation.
After high school, I enlisted in the Air Force and spent four years on active duty. After four years stationed in Texas, I became a single parent. Having a one-year-old and being a Strategic Air Command, Aircraft Crew Chief pulling nuclear alert (living on base in the alert facility 24 hours a day for 2 or 3 days at a time (2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 3 off)) did not work well as you can imagine. So I chose to get out and relocate to Orlando, FL where my parents had moved. Not wanting to end my relationship with the Air Force I switched to the Air Force Reserve. I was a reservist for the remainder of my career in various capacities, some part-time (while I worked at WDW) but all the rest was in various full-time capacities.
During the three years I spent in Orlando (85-88) I actually worked full-time at Walt Disney World! I ordered food for one of the restaurants in the Magic Kingdom Theme Park (the Tomorrowland Terrace, now called Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe). That was a very interesting and fun time!
In 1989 I left Disney to pursue a great opportunity to fly with the Reserves, which eventually led to full time Reserve duty in Ohio. All through the nineties my family and I would visit our relatives in Florida and we’d always make time for a one-day visit to WDW. With the knowledge I had gained while working there, I was very good at making our visits fun, efficient, and memorable.
This was before the explosion of the internet (and Disney sites) and the only people who knew secrets and little-known facts were Disney cast members and their friends. These were our golden years of touring the parks!
In 2000 we decided that we’d never really had a true “family vacation.” We had always visited relatives on our vacations and squeezed in a 1-day WDW day trip. So we decided to live it up. A whole week at Disney World! I did a huge amount of research and the vacation was a great success. We had lots of special experiences on that trip! Since then we’ve been so lucky to have returned for many multi-day trips. We’ve stayed at all of the resorts (Disney and others) and tried very many of the wonderful restaurants on property.
After the 2000 vacation, people at the squadron and around the base started asking for my advice on their Disney vacations. I had become the local pro. I always enjoyed helping them plan their vacations.
In 2007 we transferred back to Florida (just five and a quarter hours from Disney) but I still had people in Ohio calling to ask for help with their vacations. I thought that if I’m still getting calls and e-mails for advice I must have found my calling.
I decided that it was time for me to start sharing my passion for Disney on the web with the community that I’ve been a part of for so long, the Military/DoD community.
I started this site in early 2008 and it has been a huge success. I work on it part-time and really enjoy doing so.
In 2012 I retired from military service having spent 31 years in uniform. I then continued to serve as an Air Force civil servant.
In 2016 we actually moved back to Ohio for a great civil service job and to be near our kids and now granddaughters. So now I get to commute to WDW via plane instead of car.
In 2021 I also retired from civil service and switched over to being a contractor for the Air Force.
As of early 2025, I’ve left my contractor job as well, and this side job is now my only full-time one!
My goal for this site is to help you!
I thoroughly enjoy creating all of the content on this site. And I hope that it helps you as you learn about and plan for your Disney vacation. You can always reach out with questions via the site contact form (in the menu)!
How You Can Help Me and the rest of That Disney Family:
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Contact Info & Press/Advertiser Info
Not Just Disney anymore!
In 2021 I branched out to Universal Orlando, which I’d covered only peripherally here:
You can find me online here
My Military Content:
- X
- Steve’s LinkedIn
- Military Disney Tips
- Universal Orlando for Military
- Universal Orlando Guide
There is some more info on my history on the About Page.
My Family’s That Disney Family Content @ThatDisFam
YouTube
TikTok Planning a Disney Trip? Want to find the best deal possible?
Feeling a little confused?
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