Providing Good Answers

Asking Disney questions is what drives Ask About The Mouse, but it's the great responses provided by the community that really provide the value. Here are some tips to provide the best answers possible.

Give One Answer
Offer a single response to the question. A complete, but concise answer should be your goal in helping to answer a question. People needing help will be able to quickly identify their options by browsing the responses. When others agree with your response, they'll be able to easily vote up your answer (and reward you with some rep!!). Voting on multi-part answers is hard - especially if someone can agree with one part of the response, but not another. When you do have more than one answer to a question, simply submit each response as a separate answer. If both answers are voted up, you'll gain rep twice as fast!

Anticipate follow-up
One way to give a complete answer, is to put yourself in the asker's shoes. Remember what it was like planning your first few trips to a Disney park and all the questions you didn't know enough to ask. Try to anticipate what follow-up questions someone might ask. For instance, when answering a question on a great location to view the fireworks, offering a great location is fine, but also give some advice on the best time to get there. For instance, "The upper level of train station fills up quick, be sure to get there at least 45 minutes before the fireworks start".

Share Your Experiences
Personalize your response. Offer any details about your particular experiences that you think might help someone else. A quick story is a great way for people to connect with your answer and help drive your point home.

Link to Resources
When you can, link to other resources which can provide more detail and information. There's no shame in promoting your blog, business, or referring someone you've had a good experience with. Additional resources can only help to strengthen the information you're providing and will allow people to "dig deeper" if they'd like to.