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View Full Version : Disneyland [Toy Story Mania] meetup



kellyca
05-25-2010, 10:21 AM
I don't know if anyone saw this but the Disney parks blog posted a meet up for thursday with imagineering to talk about Toy Story mania after the park closes. They also said "There will also be a few surprises you might not want to miss" Do we think this means world of color??:D

KarenW2
05-25-2010, 11:22 AM
I don't know if this means World of Color, but maybe they'll let us ride TSMM as long as we want after the talk!! :D

My hubby called this morning, to tell me he'd signed up for this, before they closed off the RSVPs. It sounds really fun, since TSMM is our favorite new ride, and we enjoy hearing Kevin Rafferty.

It says we're supposed to be receiving an email, to let us know if we're in, or we're out. I hope we get the IN email and not the OUT email!

kellyca
05-25-2010, 12:15 PM
Let me know when you get a response. I have heard nothing yet. SO anxious!!

kellyca
05-25-2010, 12:57 PM
I got in. :) So excited!

KarenW2
05-25-2010, 01:04 PM
I'm so excited! My hubby just called to tell me we got the email that says we're going to the TSMM Meet-Up!!

Tomorrow is our 31st Wedding Anniversary, so this will be a fun way to celebrate it!!

kellyca
05-25-2010, 01:09 PM
I'm so excited! My hubby just called to tell me we got the email that says we're going to the TSMM Meet-Up!!

Tomorrow is our 31st Wedding Anniversary, so this will be a fun way to celebrate it!!

congrats! Have a great time - Might see you there.

olegc
05-25-2010, 01:34 PM
interestingly I received one tweet from the blog which just said there was an after hours Q&A - but not at the parks. and that you had to rsvp. the other tweet mentioned a meet up in the evening on thursday. i ignored it since there is a D23 meetup that night at ESPN zone and I thought they were simply retweeting. I guess you can say it pays to check EVERYTHING out even if its a repeat.. I never replied so I did not get an entry. It's that darn "too many points of contact" problem all over again.

lovindisneyland
05-25-2010, 03:45 PM
hi new member just joined today! i am thrilled to have found a message board for all things disney! and i have a question...

ok this may sound stupid but how do i find the disney parks blog?

olegc
05-25-2010, 03:48 PM
hi new member just joined today! i am thrilled to have found a message board for all things disney! and i have a question...

ok this may sound stupid but how do i find the disney parks blog?

www.disneyparks.com/blog

lovindisneyland
05-25-2010, 03:51 PM
:D oh thank you olegc!! thank you soo much! ooh yeah!!:p now i am in the loop! sweet!

lowfidelity
05-25-2010, 09:13 PM
I got the bad email :(

Funny thing is I ignored the tweet when I got it and then checked it about 10 minutes later. I still thought I could make it in but alas, it was not meant to be.

Hope you all have fun!

KarenW2
05-27-2010, 11:53 PM
We went to the "Meet-Up" tonite and had a great time!!

We met the event staff at the email-announced meeting place (by the letter "C" in the CALIFORNIA letters outside DCA) and when we checked in, they checked our names off their list, gave us event logo name tag stickers with our names printed on them, a blue wristband for our left wrist, as well as a Disney goodie bag!

Inside the goodie bag were 2 event-exclusive sugar cookies with the event Toy Story 3 logo on them, wrapped in clear cello bags and tied with orange and yellow shiny ribbon. Also in the bag was an event-exclusive "Disney Parks Blog" cloisonne pin! The pin is gold tone, with a white background. The wording is in blue and gold and it has the castle logo with Mickey head balloons in 3 colors on the white background.

We were escorted into DCA, after it was closed to the public and they took us to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot "Drawn to Animation" stage area, so they could take a HUGE photo of all who came for the event, along with "Woody" and "Lotsa" Love Bear (the new furry walk-around character, who will be introduced in Toy Story 3), as well as some over-sized toy props. It took quite a while to get that all set-up and they said the photo should be on the blog next week sometime. They had a professional photographer, up on a ladder, taking the photo, so I'm curious to see how it turned out.

From there, they had us go into the Animation Building and then into the area where they do the Animation Academy show/class. It was a nice sized theatre to hold everyone and yet have it intimate enough to have a good discussion with Kevin Rafferty, the Imagineer. We were shown a special preview of the Toy Story 3 movie and then the speakers came onstage.

Kevin was introduced by Heather, who runs the Disney blog, and she shared that she received a good amount of response from those of us who read the blog and share our comments with them. She said many people were speculating on what the "few surprises" might be for the event and then asked if "KAREN" was here! That was me, so I raised my hand. I had commented that if we were going to guess what the surprises might be, in addition to possibly being able to ride TSMM, maybe it would be fun if they had some of the "voice talent" there in person that night! She said she was sorry to tell me, but no, Tom Hanks wasn't there and Kevin said he was sorry too. It was pretty funny and a cute way to start off the talk.

Kevin showed us concept art of different games that were considered, but not used for the attraction, other artwork and then we had a question and answer session with him. Cast members were given mics and when you raised your hand to ask a question, they came to you and gave you the mic to use, so everyone could hear.

After the discussion, they escorted us over to the attraction and we all had a fun time riding and playing Toy Story Midway Mania, with the new game that was added on 5-22, coincidentally, the same day we took my girlfriend and her hubby from Texas, who were out for a visit last weekend to DCA.

After once thru the attraction (unfortunately, tonite was also "Grad Nite" and the kids start the night off in DCA!), we had to leave as soon as we'd had our ride, so they could clear the park before the kids were let in.

We thanked Heather on our way out and asked if there would be more events in the future. She said yes, there would be, and to watch the blog and other forums to hear about them.

A side note to this: Before we were let into DCA, I needed to use the restroom, so my hubby wheeled me over to the bathroom and wheeled me back to the line when I was done. It wasn't until we got into the "Drawn to Animation" stage area, that he realized our camera bag was missing from the back of my wheelchair!! Apparently, he hadn't had it on there securely enough and it fell off, as I was trying to wheel myself back out to my hubby.

He talked to the CMs there, told them what happened and they went to check for us, but it wasn't found yet. It was like one of those terrible moments in life, when you feel sick to think you'd lost something! We prayed and as we were getting set-up for the big group photo, we were talking about the situation. Two women standing behind us overheard and asked if we'd lost something. We explained the camera bag was missing after I'd gone to the restroom and we'd talked to the CMs about it.

They asked us to describe it and the contents. Turns out they'd been in the bathroom just after I left apparently, and found the camera bag in the bathroom! They reported it to Lost & Found, left their phone number with the CM there, but had the bag with them! Talk about an answer to prayer!! We thanked them profusely and were so happy to have our camera back again.

I don't know if they frequent this board, but if they do, thank you sooo much again!!

KarenW2
05-28-2010, 10:54 AM
I forgot to add, when we were processing to and from TSM2, it was still light out, we passed by the area where World of Color will be and saw them testing the various water "exercises" (for lack of a better word). There was NO color in them, so the water was totally white, but it still looks like it's going to be a fun show.

Lots of people stopped on the way there or back, to snap some photos.

I'm anxious to see what it will look like when it's dark and they add the color!

Was anyone else from here there last night?

KarenW2
06-01-2010, 12:29 PM
Just wanted to let everyone know, the write-up and photo from this event is up on the Disney Blog site!! You can see it here:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/06/recap-of-our-first-meet-up-at-the-disneyland-resort/

My hubby and I are on the right side of the "A" block, the one just right of the center, that has a silver "jack" on it. I'm in a brown jacket with a black shirt under it and my hubby is next to me, wearing his light blue "Walt Disney Imagineers" aloha shirt.

It's a great photo to remember a fun event! I'm hoping they somehow make copies available to us.

CariBelle
06-01-2010, 04:06 PM
Thank you for the reviews Karen! Sounds like you had a blast!