Alan S. Dalinka

Alan S. Dalinka was born in Chicago. He lived in Chicagoland for nearly his life until the Summer of 2014, when he packed up, sold his townhouse, and used his Disney Vacation Club Membership to stay at Walt Disney World while house-hunting in Central Florida.

He traveled to Walt Disney World a number of times as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s; highlights include his first trip with his parents and brother in October 1972, and when he marched down Main Street U.S.A. with his high school band in April 1984. He first visited Disneyland as a kid with his family in November 1976, and has been back a number of times, including September 12 and 13, 2001, when all flights were grounded as a result of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 while Alan was attending business meetings in nearby Newport Beach, California. He covered Disneyland's celebration of its 62nd Anniversary in 2017 for MousePlanet, and got back to Disneyland in 2019 during "free time" around D23 2019 Expo.

Speaking of D23, he attended D23 Expo in Anaheim as a fan in 2009, and as a reporter for MousePlanet in 2017 and 2019. He has also covered D23's Destination D at Walt Disney World as a reporter for MousePlanet in 2016 and 2018.

Back to travels: he first visited Disneyland Paris on a day trip during a vacation in Paris, France, and stayed at Disney’s Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris for a few of nights in November 2009. He has not yet successfully scheduled visits to Tokyo, Hong Kong or Shanghai, but stay tuned.

Alan visited the original incarnation of The Disney Institute at Walt Disney World in November 1996, which eventually (nearly four years later) lead to his becoming a DVC Member (during a stay at Disney's Contemporary Resort with a Magic Kingdom balcony view). His DVC Membership ultimately lead to his vacationing at Walt Disney World every New Year's Eve from 2002 to 2012, and lots of other days of those years (and many days in 2013 and even 2014 before moving), and then moving within a couple of miles of Magic Kingdom. As a DVC Member, Alan has also stayed at Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawai'i (2017, 2018 & 2019), and thrice visited (and twice stayed at) Disney's Vero Beach Resort (stay 2002, visits 2017, 2018 & 2019).

Since joining MousePlanet as a contributor, Alan has toured all four Disney Cruise Line ships: Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, and Disney Fantasy. He sailed aboard Disney Dream in January 2018, on an invited-media Bahamian cruise, including a stop at Disney's Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas. In January 2019, he sailed aboard Disney Magic for an invited-media Marvel Day at Sea Cruise.

Alan is a longtime Disney stockholder, an Apple Computer user since 1983 (Mac since 1990, iPhone since 2007), and, as you may have guessed from his MousePlanet contributions, an avid photographer. Alan has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Eastern Canada, Western Europe and Israel. As a hobby, Alan has had his own website (remember geocities?) since 1995, where you can see even more of his Disney photos and videos, as well as photos from around Chicagoland and other places he has visited around the World. Visit http://asdhollywood.com. You can read his professional biography at http://alandalinka.com. Alan is on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and he can regularly be heard talking about his MousePlanet reporting on all things Disney with Radio Hall of Fame inductee Garry Meier on The Garry Meier Show podcast at Garry Meier.com.