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olegc
01-22-2011, 08:00 AM
so I attended Friday for about an hour (went to get a bite and came back). The cloggers were fun to watch - three different groups of dancers of all ages. The crafts included quilting, wood carving, coloring for kids, one souvenir cart with woody/jessie toys, toy rifles, cowboy hats and 'coonskin caps. The food cart had turkey legs and corn, and I think there was an ice-cream drink cart.

THe Street Party had some CM dancers come out and do hoedown style dancing to a theme song for the weekend, then they invited the guests to come out and learn Boot Scoot Boogie with Mickey and Minnie. I did not get a chance to see the musical groups.

There seemed to be an OK flow of people to the back - but maybe it was because of the music which was loudly broadcast. I think the tall gates that tend to block views from the folks visiting the petting zoo and Barbeque meal limits the "weanie" effect of the event.

Characters in western costumes: Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, Woody, Jessie, Goofy, Pluto, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, And Donald and Daisy wearning Vaquero outfits (cross between cowboy and spanish attire).

The only signage was at the event itself, and at the entrance to Big Thunder Trail from either Frontierland or Fantasyland. There was a list of times for each of the performers and shows. Still nothing at the front gate. I would think at least they would have had something at the time-board on Main Street. Then again, with all of the walls (more went up by Friday) that it started to look like DCA!

Mistyj
01-22-2011, 04:17 PM
There was a sign at the entrance this morning (Saturday) just before going under the train tracks.

Drince88
01-22-2011, 07:24 PM
Was there info on the times guide? (Or whatever DL calls the dingle sheet of paper that they have with the maps.)

olegc
01-23-2011, 06:49 AM
Was there info on the times guide? (Or whatever DL calls the dingle sheet of paper that they have with the maps.)

No - since those are printed in advance (I think VERY far in advance) and set for a multiple day schedule I don't think they thought of adding it to the times guide. IN the old OLD days it used to be a typewritten, mimeographed sheet of paper. Then a daily schedule. I think some time in the 90s it went to a multi-day. and now that we have two parks and multiple departments and contacts doing multiple things - I doubt there is an ability for the Resort staff to turn the battleship in time of a quick adjustment. These weekends seemed to be something created to have locals spend more time since DCA and many parts of Disneyland are walled up or closed for refurb.

charpaul
01-23-2011, 07:35 AM
I went last Sunday for "Fiesta" weekend. Same story about getting the word out. There was NOTHING that I could find until I got back to Big Thunder Trail. I even asked a couple of cast members at the entry/ticket gate about it and they knew nothing.

CM's working at the Festival Arena told me that there were signs and information throughout the park (didn't see it) and announcements made on Main Street (I did not hear - or see anything about it there either).
If I had not known about it from on-line sources I would NOT have been able to find it easily or even know that it was going on.

I do not mind that it is not overflowing with people back there. It IS a limited space. Fairly EASILY got pictures last weekend with Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Mickey & Minnie in their "fiesta" costumes. Going back today and checking out the "Country" costumes and the characters. Hope I can get some of those rarer ones!!

olegc
01-23-2011, 08:49 AM
I just thought about this - with David Koenig's post on Friday that characters will now be corralled more in limited locations, and not roaming, I wonder if this was type of test run for part of that - create an event and put characters there. Same thing next weekend for CHaracter weekend. Place them in one spot only, not roaming.

Mind you - I like to have both because sometimes it's magic to watch a little kid in wonderment when Mickey rides the Rocket Jets or Mary Poppins on the carousel. If you really want a picture with one then the stationary known locations is good. The latter was well represented at these Family Fun Weekends so far.

cstephens
01-23-2011, 05:00 PM
We stopped by for a bit today. Here are some pictures that I took.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4747
Family Fun Weekends logo.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4748
The band playing on the stage.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4749
A nice quilting display.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4750
Donald and Daisy at a photo op.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4751
Chip and Dale ready to greet more guests.


http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/picture.php?albumid=578&pictureid=4752
Chip and Dale meet a little one.

charpaul
01-23-2011, 11:25 PM
Went to the Kickin' Country Weekend today (Sunday)
Was pleased to see it listed in the Park Guide this week!!!! It was not listed last weekend for the "fiesta" event.

I spent a little over an hour there and was able to see a bit all of the entertainment offerings, AND get photos with the 9 characters that I wanted (the only one I did not get was Clara Cluck - she was not out today according to the CM I spoke with.)

Still a very light crowd - at least in my opinion. Not sure how much business the vendors there are actually getting, but they do add to the atmosphere.

Got to see the Cloggers, the Disney "Entertainment" part of the show, and stayed for most the musical group's set.

I think these are nicely run experiences, but they do not seem to be getting the crowds that would make Disney keep running them. I do not think they are making much profit on this.... IF this is a trial for "collaring" the characters more I am not sure how well it is working. I DID use the PhotoPass (which they WILL give you the first time you try to have a photo with a character), but I also had a CM use my camera. I am happy with my own photos at this time so I am not going to be buying any from PhotoPass...

Looking forward to next weekend - a Lead CM told me they will be having 18 "Fan Favorite Characters" - see the Disney site for the whole list - working the Festival Arena. They will have a couple more character areas and one LARGE area just for the 7 Dwarves. According to the CM I spoke with, the tentative plan is to have ALL 7 at one location for that large group shot. They also plan to have characters rotate in and out more. Clarabelle and Horace will share the same location, but switch places with only one of them out at a time.

I for one am having fun with these weekends. Getting different photos of the characters in their varied costumes has been great. Having a chance to meet some of the characters that I have only been able to see in the parades next weekend is even better.

Disneyvious
01-24-2011, 12:46 PM
I went to Kickin' Family Weekend on Friday. The event seemed busier than last weekend and it was great to a sign at the front tunnels. I definitely have enjoyed these weekends and recommend it to anyone.

Gone2Disneyland
01-24-2011, 02:43 PM
A friend and I stopped by after breakfast at Carnation Café to check it out, and we were glad we did. We had a great time, didn't really do much but sit in the audience watching the shows at the main stage. We like country music, and we thought Fort Worth West did a great job with their selection of covers of popular country songs. Then we saw the cloggers perform. The dancers had lots of big, broad smiles on their faces, from the youngest to the oldest, and that went a long way towards getting us in a great mood. Finally, we saw the Kickin' Country Street Party, the Disney CM portion of the show. One dance number to a new Disney song followed by getting volunteers from the audience to teach them how to line dance to "Boot Scoot Boogie". My friend and I got volunteered, and it was a fun time. We're not ones to collect photos of ourselves with the Disney characters so we ignored that part in the Arena. But for sitting on our duffs for about 90 minutes watching good, clean family entertainment, we more than got our money's worth. I'm hoping to find time to visit the park again and see how the other themes are like.

TowerofTerror
01-24-2011, 02:50 PM
checking it out this coming sunday

wendygirl
01-24-2011, 03:55 PM
I went last Saturday to Kickin Country and enjoyed it very much. I went to the area several times through out the day and was able to get most of the character's photos. I did not get Woody or Jesse as I have plenty of photos of them. I thought the event was very well done and liked seeing the characters dressed differently and also some of the more rare characters. Here are a few of my best shots.

Kevin Greg was the MC and did a wonderful job. He is usually with Laughing Stock but has also in the past MC'd other events at Disneyland such as the food demos for the Food and Wine Festival in DCA. I'll miss that this year.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/kevin.jpg

Mickey and Minnie join Kevin on stage to teach line dancing

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/mickmingreg.jpg

Donald (hard to get a good photo as lighting was poor in this area)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/donald.jpg

Daisy (I thought she was really cute in her pink outfit)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/daisy.jpg

Mickey

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/mickey.jpg

Minnie

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/diasy.jpg

Goofy (my best shot of the day. He left the stage and went to go off stage and I thought I'd have to get just a shot of him frpm the back. Just as I went to click, he whirled around and I got this!)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/goofy.jpg

Me with Chip n Dale

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/chipndale.jpg

Clarabelle Cow

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/clarabelle.jpg

And finally, me with Clara Cluck

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/wendy3girl/Kickin%20Country%20Weekend/claraandme.jpg

I'm looking forward to being in the Park next Sunday to see some of the "rare" characters out and about.

SigalTchelet
01-26-2011, 04:06 AM
Those are great pictures, WendyGirl! We are going next week during Lunar New Year celebration. It will be interesting to see how the characters are dressed! Looks like you had fun!

olegc
01-26-2011, 06:29 AM
according to the park schedule on disneyland.com this weekend is Character Fan Days - all 7 dwarfs in one shot!