Tag Archives: D23

A year of daydreams!

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During this week of celebration I wanted to look back at some of the posts which I have shared over the past 12 months.

I know that when I discover a new Disney blog I tend to read the first couple of posts and the ‘About Me’ page; unfortunately when the blog has been running for a while you don’t always have time to go back and read some of the older entries.

So here’s my selection of posts which have been the most fun to write and share with you all. I hope that they still give you that few minutes of Disney filled daydreaming!

 

Expo Exposure – discussing the fun from the D23 Expo in Disneyland.

Sharing My Celebration – my favourite place outside of Walt Disney World.

Let It Snow! – sometimes getting to WDW can be an adventure.

A Letter to Walt – discussing the events of 2011 with our dear Walt.

Home Sweet Home! – making the ‘resort’ decision.

Orange Tuesday – welcoming back the Orange Bird.

I’ve Got The Key! – going behind the scenes at WDW.

 

See you tomorrow for more Daydreaming Disney!!!!

 

:) :) :)

 

 

 

Orange Tuesday!

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Now I know that there will be many posts on many blogs in the next few days covering the Orange Bird’s return to the Sunshine Tree Terrace at Magic Kingdom but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take time out of my Walt Disney World planning schedule to write a few words of my own.

Firstly I cannot claim to have been a die-hard Orange Bird fan since the 70′s, I was not one of the many fans that longed to see him and his orange thought bubbles return to his home in Adventureland….in fact I wasn’t even aware of the Orange Bird until a couple of years ago when he started cropping up in conversations on Disney fan message boards.

But over the last couple of years….and this is why yesterday’s events had such a big impact on me…reading about other people’s love for that bird, hearing the history of his connection to Disney and seeing his lovely smiling face on websites, collectibles, t-shirts and even Imagineer doodles, gave me an affection for this cute little orange creature and made me wish A LOT that he was still bringing sunshine to Adventureland.

I commend Disney for yesterday’s event. They just sent a message out on Twitter that this little gathering was taking place for no apparent ‘special’ reason….but you can just tell when Disney have something up their sleeve. And this time it was something for the fans, they had listened and responded. Okay sure it’s about money-making; a stunt like this will bring those of us who are into Disney history and nostalgia flooding into the park to buy an oversized Orange Bird t-shirt or one of those wonderfully plastic Orange Bird sipper cups (please, please still be there for my next trip!) but I like to think that this decision was also a nod to those lifelong Disney fans like us who spend our days reading, writing and planning Disney :)

So, although I don’t remember the good old Orange Bird days I will remember the day that the Orange Bird returned to his perch at the Sunshine Tree and I’m proud to be a new fan of that lovely lil’ bird.

Here’s a link to Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio show from November 2011 reminiscing about the Orange Bird.

Here’s a link to the official coverage of the Orange Bird’s return on the Disney Parks Blog and here is the wonderful merchandise I hope to get my hands on!

So I’ll end this post with a singalong to the Sherman Brothers lyrics, make sure you check YouTube for the wonderful original tune….

“Little Orange Bird in the Sunshine Tree
Won’t you think of something sunny just for me?
Think funny thoughts or sunny words
That will make me happy, little Orange Bird…..”

 

 

Expo exposure

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Well unless you’ve been living in a cave these past few months (without your iPhone) then you’ll know that the second D23 Expo took place in the Disneyland Resort last weekend. Now to music fans, comic book geeks, film nerds etc etc, conventions aren’t a new concept. Disney fan conventions aren’t a new concept either but up until 2009 those conventions had always been organised by the fans for the fans. The birth of D23 changed all that and the rest as ‘they’ say is history!

This post isn’t about reporting all the goings on from this past weekend, but more of an opportunity for me to say thank you to the people who attended and shared as much as they could with my Disney friends and I who were unable to be there. And this is where living in the UK makes it even more frustrating for me. It would have taken a lot of planning for me to be at this event and it would have probably cost me the price of a ‘real’ holiday travelling from the UK to California. I would have had to sacrifice leave days and paid for various expenses. Fine if this is going to be your annual holiday, but a little too much of a stretch for a ‘fan event’. And because of this the internet became my Expo exposure.

As the days progressed last week I started to read more and more tweets from the ‘Disney’ people I follow, each finishing work, packing, travelling to airports, and eventually arriving in California. It felt like everyone was there apart from me. I expressed this on my Twitter feed and had other friends who could also not attend rally round and let me know I wasn’t alone. We all knew that from Friday until Sunday our Disney friends in Anaheim would bring us as much of the D23 Expo as they possibly could.

Using my world clock I found out that the UK is 8 hours ahead of Anaheim, therefore I knew that the Expo wouldn’t be kicking off until 4 or 5pm each day. This meant that I could lead a ‘normal’ life during the day and then be attached to the internet from 4pm onwards! And boy was I attached!

The ability to obtain news, photos, video, and blog posts covering the Expo events was immense. Lou Mongello was broadcasting live each day which meant we were there ‘in the box’. We could watch discussions while they were happening, wander the Collectors Forum, take a look at the Carousel of Projects, and interact with Lou’s interviews of various Disney dignitaries, including the Disney Geek Jeffrey Epstein.

In addition to the live feed, I was attached to Twitter and struggling to keep up with the tweets from attendees! Sometimes it even felt like I was getting more information about the various presentations than the people who were there in person…and I didn’t have to stand in any of those LONG queues!

I must confess that I didn’t sit up all night watching and reading the coverage like some people I know ;) but that may have mainly been because of technical issues rather than me being sensible! All I know is that because of the effort that everyone put into sharing their Expo experience those of us who were not able to attend didn’t feel like we missed out.

Of course I would have preferred to attend in person if I could have done. Of course I would have loved to hear Dick Van Dyke performing live with the Vantastix. Of course I would have loved to have shaken John Lasseter’s hand (if I hadn’t dissolved into a nervous geeky mess), of course I would have loved to have seen some of the awesome costumes that fans had taken the trouble to make, and of course I would have loved a bit (okay, a lot) of Disney shopping. But because of my Disney friends I had the next best thing, and I had a blast. THANK YOU for the Expo exposure :)