My head is still spinning from the amazing honor of being invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration this year. I was asked to attend a few years ago and had to cancel at the last minute because I had to have an emergency c-section when Peanut was born. But I finally got a chance to go, and it is everything my blogger friends say it is, truly a unique and magical experience. For someone that is a Disney fan as much as I am, I was surrounded by other bloggers with the same passion as me. I even got to spend time with some of my blogging friends at the parks. There were amazing events and dinners planned for our families and us. Unfortunately, my family wasn’t able to attend with me, so I was solo for the trip, but doing Walt Disney World as an adult is something everyone needs to experience. We also got some sneak peeks into some new shows and movies coming out!
We got to see the first 30 minutes of Finding Dory, sorry no spoilers! We also get to see Alice’s Through the Looking Glass before anyone else (with the exception of staff and cast), you can read my review and download some great printables here.
There were multiple times during the conference that I turned to my friends and said, “Oh my god, if they bring out (The Sanderson Sister, anything Star Wars, or Finding Dory) I’m going to lose my mind!” Then they did all of the above, and I think my head exploded. When Disney Parks announced that The Sanderson Sisters (from Hocus Pocus) would be performing during the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, I started making plans on how I was going to see it. I wasn’t able to go last year, but I’ve already bought my special event ticket to see it this year! September and October is a special time when the park is transformed into a fall wonderland. The Haunted Mansion ride seems to spill out onto the streets and the character all dress up in costume. After experiencing Christmas at Walt Disney World last year, I cannot wait to experience Halloween in the most magical place on Earth. I’m a mega Star Wars fan. To the point that a lot of my friends know about my excitement. The conference was packed with a ton of Star Wars experiences like Captain Phasma and the Storm Troopers coming out the look for a rebel spy. We also got to check out the new Launch Bay and meet Kylo Ren and Chewbacca. (I’ll share all my character photos in another post.) They gave out lots of fun prizes during the day, and I was lucky enough to be one of the winners. But what made it so special was the fact that it was the one thing I wanted the most from all the prizes. A set an Alex and Ani Star Wars bracelets. I’ve wanted to get some for a long time, and these were the brand new ones that just released this year. Not only did I scream crazy loud, all of my friends did too because they knew how much I love Star Wars. Then Alamo gave us all a $50 gift card to spend in the parks, and I added Jack Skellington as well.
The Disney team introduced us to some of the new shows and activities that will be starting this summer as well including the Carnival inspired show called the Celebration of Nature at Animal Kingdom (costumes pictured below). The new Star Wars fireworks are getting a laser and projection show added in that you’ll be able to see on the Chinese Theatre. The Rivers of Light show created for the Animal Kingdom that will have water, lights, live action and music. We got another sneak peek into some new shows coming the Disney Junior and the Disney channel including Elena of Avalor, a Latina princess that will first be seen in an episode of Sofia the First. She is a strong female lead that is fighting to take back control of her city and people to protect them. It looks fantastic. There are going to be a handful of new shows fr preschoolers but I can’t tell you the names of those just yet. 😉
The sponsors of the event sent us home with lots of amazing things including Huggies Little Swimmers and Star Wars Kleenex. Hanes set up a shop and lets us pick out bras, socks, kids, and men’s products too after they fed us a yummy lunch. GoGo Squeez threw a beach party at Typhoon Lagoon. Before we even arrived, American Tourister sent us a Disney themed carry on to take down with us. Joffrey’s kept us caffeinated so we could be up early and stay out late to have fun in the parks. I’m so thankful for their generosity.
And that was just the conference day! There is tons of other stuff I can’t wait to share with you!
there’s so much to write about I can’t even start!!
I know I want to dish about EVERYTHING!