Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Shuster.
Hi Stephanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As a lifelong Disney parks fan, my passion for theme parks started on family vacations at a young age – I was even more of a detailed planner than my parents, sometimes annoyingly so! As a teen i found a passion for writing and design, pursuing journalism as an extra curricular at school and eventually earning a BA in cultural studies. All of those interests combined led to my start in 2011 as a ghostwriter for the Dad’s Guide to WDW website (while helps families plan their perfect Disney World vacation!), then to being an editor/designer for WDW Magazine when it started up in 2013. I left my day job in marketing and events in 2015 to work on WDW Magazine and Dad’s Guide full time, as operations director. In 2021, I bought the company and continued to grow our offerings, expanding our brand to include Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and international Disney parks coverage. We now publish 2 magazines, with a third on the way – in addition to two robust websites full of online articles and tools (wdw-magazine.com and dadsguidetowdw.com) and a dozen social channels serving over 500,000 followers!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Most of our struggles have been in relation to finding the right balance of staffing numbers and talents to support our products and customers while growing sustainably. We had steadily grown our business for a decade and the pandemic actually contributed to a major growth spurt where we had to accomodate a lot of changes quickly – adjusting our customer care team, upgrading our e-commerce tech stack, and adjusting our editorial processes. It was a lot of extra work which we see paying off now. Our current challenge is in reaching new audiences – our products are better than ever but we have reached a sales plateau so we’re exploring new avenues to reach Disney fans far and wide!
As you know, we’re big fans of your business. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brands under your umbrella?
Our company is an umbrella for 4 distinct brands that support each other, but have their own focus within the Disney travel niche. Our core admin, editorial and creative teams serve all of the brands, but we have specialized writers, reporters, researchers, photographers, and content creators to give each brand a unique perspective and deliver expert advice and information tailored to audiences ranging from Disney parks superfans to newbies in search of trip planning help.
WDW Magazine is our flagship brand – we’ve been producing monthly issues for over 10 years and our 130th issue comes our in July! Our glossy overside print magazine is also available in digital format on the web and as an iOS app – we’re known for having stunning Walt Disney World photography that jumps off the page, and for articles that dive deep into topics ranging from the science and engineering that goes into ride development to the cultural and culinary traditions that influence menus to taking readers behind-the-scenes at Cast Member events.
DLR Magazine was launched 2 years ago as a quarterly print and digital publication dedicated to celebrating the original Disneyland Resort in California. We lean into the history of the company, the park, and Walt Disney himself, celebrate all the nostalgia of the park’s nearly 70 years and explore it’s exciting future as the Disneyland Forward project progresses – all with wrapped up with whimsical editorial layouts and gorgeous photography.
DCL Magazine is our newest project – we’ve launched Facebook and Instagram accounts @dclmagazine and online content at dcl-magazine.com to drive interest in a new magazine we hope to launch next year which will be dedicated to Disney Cruise Line. Disney has three new ships launching in the next year and a half and is expanding their ports of call into the Australian and Asian market – adding to their robust Caribbean, Alaskan, and European offerings. A new port in Singapore will open in 2025, and this month their second private island destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, will offer Disney supercruisers who come back again and again new adventures. For us, that means even more great content to cover online and to craft stories and photography around for our upcoming magazine. We have a waitlist setup at bit.ly/dclmagazine for fans to register to get periodic updates on the magazines progress and receive the best pricing when we go on sale!
Dad’s Guide to WDW is the brand that started it all for us! It’s grown from a resource aimed at fans who needed a father figure to help guide them in planning their Walt Disney World vacations, to a website dedicated to helping all kinds of families plan their Best! Vacation! Ever! whether that’s your nuclear or extended family, multigenerational families, first time visitors, or for seasoned parks fans visiting for the first time with their little ones! We have easy to follow guides, planning tools, and information geared towards helping you make the best decisions for your travel budget and park priorities.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I think Orlando is such a warm, welcoming place. Tourism is of course a key economic driver and with a huge part of the work force in hospitality, tourism or adjacent industries it would be easy to be jaded but locals make up a passionate portion of park-goers – I love seeing their fandom! Is it cliche to say the worst part is the traffic? If only Disney put in monorails everywhere…. (I can dream, right?).
Pricing:
- WDW Magazine – print subscriptions from $15.99/month
- WDW Magazine – digital subscriptions from $4.99/month
- DLR Magazine – print subscriptions from $49.99/year
- DLR Magazine – digital subscriptions from $15.99/year
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wdw-magazine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wdwmagazine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WDWMagazine/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/64847854
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WDWMagazine
- Other: https://www.dadsguidetowdw.com
