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| I love the little heart on his chest |
One of the first post-its Kiwi ever left me. It's been on my computer ever since!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Post-iTuesday
One of the first post-its Kiwi ever left me. It's been on my computer ever since!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Post-iTuesday (late)
Sorry! I thought there was another post-iTuesday on schedule for this week, but I was sadly mistaken. Here is a good one to make up for the late post!
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| Abandon ship! |
Friday, September 16, 2011
D23 Disney Expo: Day 2
Day 2 was a big, important day for me. Kiwi and I set our clock for 5am and groggily started the day. I passed the McDonalds next to our hotel and looked longingly at the McCafe mocha in the display. We each got a warm drink which was worth it while walking down Harbour Blvd under the overcast sky. We were already shivering from the cool wind by the time we got to the convention center. We could see a fairly long line winding through the palm trees closer to the door, so we thought we'd walk over and see which line we needed to get into this time. Confused staff directed us all the way back to the street where we first arrived. We tucked in line behind an auburn-haired girl, of whom I immediately hit it off with. Kiwi ventured off somewhere while I got to know the girl in front of me. I found out she was actually a Disney Staff member, better yet, she designed and made the character costumes at Disneyland!
We had a great time talking about the park, her costuming, the previous day at the expo, and everything under the moon. It turns out the same girl stopped us the day before to take a photo of Kiwi and I in costume! She and her friend, who arrived later, both complimented me on our costumes and I was a little more than flattered hearing that from a Disney costume designer!
At 6:15am we lined up and were one of the first 20 people in our line, but by 7:30 our stomachs were growling. Hearing rumours of a Starbucks, I decided to check out the hotel across from the convention center. I left Kiwi to entertain our new friends and wandered past the ever growing D23 members line. It was a little disconcerting to see the members line so large considering the event in the arena that morning was the only thing I really wanted to see. It was the entire reason I booked our trip and waited two years to attend.
Shaking the unsettling feeling from my stomach and turning it's attention to food, I found another growing queue in the lobby of the hotel. This time for Starbucks. Not wanting to wait for 20 pretentious latte orders that didn't have enough shots or were made with too much milk, on my way back I spied a small breakfast bar. There were a handful of people in line and after 5 minutes I strolled past all the coffee patrons with a banana, muffin, water and cheese & ham croissant all costing less than their low-fat, soy, triple shot, shaken, upside down, glow-in-the-dark lattes.
We waited a few more hours, entertained by a rogue opossum and a Daniel Radcliffe doppelganger, and were more than ready to go inside. By 8:50am we nervously awaited the doors opening for the D23 members. The girls in front of us had gone past the line more recently and said it had almost doubled in size.
And here is where the D23 Expo failed horribly and lost a great deal of respect and patron loyalty.
When the D23 members were let in first, our new friends found out through updates on Twitter and text messages from a vendor inside that not only did the doors to the convention open, but so did the queue for the Walt Disney Studios presentation. This presentation was the very reason I wanted to come to the expo. We watched, heart-brokenly, as members (who we learned had bought memberships the day previous just so they could get in early) strolled up at 9:45 to get into the convention and line up for a seat in the arena.
By 9:50 the entire arena was full and so was the standby lineup. We stared at each other wondering what went wrong here. How could they offer an event listed for everyone when members were allowed to take all the seats? They must have known this was going to happen. If this event was a member's only event, why didn't they just say so? Because that's what it turned into anyway. They should have let members in early but not let the queue for the Walt Disney Studios open until the doors opened to the general public. If we had known they'd let all the members line up first I would never have gone that early, or gone at all!
At 10am we were the first ones in line and the first ones to not get a seat in the arena. Kiwi and I looked at each other hopelessly, my heart dripping with disappointment. We decided that we wouldn't waste all the time we spent waiting, so we got in line (again) for a Q&A panel with the Pixar creative team. After another two hours, and many pins and needles later, we entered and got a great spot a few rows back from the front off to the far right. While we were in queue we saw another couple who had also dressed as Wall-E and Eve, but were happily surprised that it was nowhere near the quality ours was. That sounds a bit catty, but after 7 hours of waiting in line, I had every right to be. I had wanted to wear our costumes on Saturday as I knew most cosplayers would be wearing theirs, but I had anticipated getting a seat at the presentation and didn't want to wait for hours, outside, on the ground in a white dress. It was a shame, as the Pixar team could have easily seen us.
It was a great panel, amazing to hear from everyone and their experiences at Pixar. Hearing Bob do his voices from the movies including: The Stingray from Nemo, Dug and Roz was just fantastic. During the Q&A at the end of the panel we heard from many well spoken (and some not so much) fans as they thanked the team for, ultimately, their childhoods. I thought about it for a moment and realised that Woody and Buzz were there for me growing up, too. I saw Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on my birthdays, I went and saw a Bug's Life with my dad (which was rare doing things just us two.) Listening to these fans share their memories brought back all of mine, and that's really what Pixar does. You always remember where you saw each Pixar movie and how it made you feel, which characters were your favourite, which songs you hum when you're in the kitchen... It was great to personally thank the Pixar team, even if it was just through applause in person.
After the panel we left on a starstruck high (also we didn't have much sleep and waited in line for more than 7 hours total) and went to the park for the rest of the night.
Overall I was extremely disappointed with this event day. They had sort of figured out the line system, after the fiasco the day before, which consisted of masking tape lines and arrows on the ground and volunteers with orange airport lights. The arena catastrophe, allowing D23 members to stroll in 10 minutes before the doors to general admission opened and still got a seat in the arena, was truly upsetting. I don't think there was one person who wasn't completely pissed off at the events that happened that morning, I guess except the members who bought memberships the day before.
We left early that day and decided to cheer ourselves up by having a nice time at Disneyland and treat ourselves to a restaurant dinner at The House of Blues. It was a nice evening, but it couldn't make up for the disappointment we felt that day.
-Strawberry
We had a great time talking about the park, her costuming, the previous day at the expo, and everything under the moon. It turns out the same girl stopped us the day before to take a photo of Kiwi and I in costume! She and her friend, who arrived later, both complimented me on our costumes and I was a little more than flattered hearing that from a Disney costume designer!
At 6:15am we lined up and were one of the first 20 people in our line, but by 7:30 our stomachs were growling. Hearing rumours of a Starbucks, I decided to check out the hotel across from the convention center. I left Kiwi to entertain our new friends and wandered past the ever growing D23 members line. It was a little disconcerting to see the members line so large considering the event in the arena that morning was the only thing I really wanted to see. It was the entire reason I booked our trip and waited two years to attend.
Shaking the unsettling feeling from my stomach and turning it's attention to food, I found another growing queue in the lobby of the hotel. This time for Starbucks. Not wanting to wait for 20 pretentious latte orders that didn't have enough shots or were made with too much milk, on my way back I spied a small breakfast bar. There were a handful of people in line and after 5 minutes I strolled past all the coffee patrons with a banana, muffin, water and cheese & ham croissant all costing less than their low-fat, soy, triple shot, shaken, upside down, glow-in-the-dark lattes.
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| Opossum checking us out from his little perch |
We waited a few more hours, entertained by a rogue opossum and a Daniel Radcliffe doppelganger, and were more than ready to go inside. By 8:50am we nervously awaited the doors opening for the D23 members. The girls in front of us had gone past the line more recently and said it had almost doubled in size.
And here is where the D23 Expo failed horribly and lost a great deal of respect and patron loyalty.
When the D23 members were let in first, our new friends found out through updates on Twitter and text messages from a vendor inside that not only did the doors to the convention open, but so did the queue for the Walt Disney Studios presentation. This presentation was the very reason I wanted to come to the expo. We watched, heart-brokenly, as members (who we learned had bought memberships the day previous just so they could get in early) strolled up at 9:45 to get into the convention and line up for a seat in the arena.
By 9:50 the entire arena was full and so was the standby lineup. We stared at each other wondering what went wrong here. How could they offer an event listed for everyone when members were allowed to take all the seats? They must have known this was going to happen. If this event was a member's only event, why didn't they just say so? Because that's what it turned into anyway. They should have let members in early but not let the queue for the Walt Disney Studios open until the doors opened to the general public. If we had known they'd let all the members line up first I would never have gone that early, or gone at all!
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| Kiwi and I showing our disappointment with the events that took place that morning |
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| Our small bit of space to sit and stand while waiting in yet another queue |
At 10am we were the first ones in line and the first ones to not get a seat in the arena. Kiwi and I looked at each other hopelessly, my heart dripping with disappointment. We decided that we wouldn't waste all the time we spent waiting, so we got in line (again) for a Q&A panel with the Pixar creative team. After another two hours, and many pins and needles later, we entered and got a great spot a few rows back from the front off to the far right. While we were in queue we saw another couple who had also dressed as Wall-E and Eve, but were happily surprised that it was nowhere near the quality ours was. That sounds a bit catty, but after 7 hours of waiting in line, I had every right to be. I had wanted to wear our costumes on Saturday as I knew most cosplayers would be wearing theirs, but I had anticipated getting a seat at the presentation and didn't want to wait for hours, outside, on the ground in a white dress. It was a shame, as the Pixar team could have easily seen us.
 |
| John Lasseter, a few meters away from us |
It was a great panel, amazing to hear from everyone and their experiences at Pixar. Hearing Bob do his voices from the movies including: The Stingray from Nemo, Dug and Roz was just fantastic. During the Q&A at the end of the panel we heard from many well spoken (and some not so much) fans as they thanked the team for, ultimately, their childhoods. I thought about it for a moment and realised that Woody and Buzz were there for me growing up, too. I saw Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on my birthdays, I went and saw a Bug's Life with my dad (which was rare doing things just us two.) Listening to these fans share their memories brought back all of mine, and that's really what Pixar does. You always remember where you saw each Pixar movie and how it made you feel, which characters were your favourite, which songs you hum when you're in the kitchen... It was great to personally thank the Pixar team, even if it was just through applause in person.
After the panel we left on a starstruck high (also we didn't have much sleep and waited in line for more than 7 hours total) and went to the park for the rest of the night.
Overall I was extremely disappointed with this event day. They had sort of figured out the line system, after the fiasco the day before, which consisted of masking tape lines and arrows on the ground and volunteers with orange airport lights. The arena catastrophe, allowing D23 members to stroll in 10 minutes before the doors to general admission opened and still got a seat in the arena, was truly upsetting. I don't think there was one person who wasn't completely pissed off at the events that happened that morning, I guess except the members who bought memberships the day before.
We left early that day and decided to cheer ourselves up by having a nice time at Disneyland and treat ourselves to a restaurant dinner at The House of Blues. It was a nice evening, but it couldn't make up for the disappointment we felt that day.
-Strawberry
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
D23 Disney Expo: Day 1
Arriving the day before the Expo, Kiwi and I walked from our hotel to the Anaheim convention center. The day before our trip, I wore a pair of gold ergonomic flip flops and earned blisters on my quest to break them in so I could wear them in California. Walking back with our expo tickets, the blisters were not soon forgotten and destroyed my feet on the short walk back to the hotel. I had those same awful blisters the entire week and Kiwi made numerous trips to the security office for band-aids (which he calls "plasters.")
That afternoon we headed to the park for our first time together in Disneyland. We approached the ticket booth to purchase the weeks worth of passes. I mentioned to the teller that I had spoken with a Disneyland rep on the phone and they said the ticket booth could honour the online ticket price for me as I had so much trouble trying to purchase them online. He took my Visa and my ID and stared at it for a moment. He told me he would be back in a second and took my ID into a back room with him. I was extremely confused, thinking maybe my face was printed on a poster labeled "do not allow in." He eventually brought the ID and handed over our passes.
We approached the gate, dodging strollers and scooters, and presented our tickets to enter. The gate troll looked at me and promptly asked me for ID. "What?" "Do you have your ID?" "Oh... I..." I fumbled about and pulled out my drivers license. A quick look and she gave it back to me with my pass, "Always show your ID when you enter the park for the first time," "Oh... I've never had to do that before..." And that was the beginning of the small, disturbing nuances at the park.
The convention center opened the next day at 10am for general admission. We woke up around 8 and laid out our costumes. I was overly excited, slipping on my stomach control underwear (not that it helped much) and shapely white dress. We walked out of our room, hand in hand, and started towards the convention center. We passed millions of confused park-goers and hotel patrons on the way, but nothing could dampen my spirits. Until we arrived.
A gigantic line snaked outside the convention center, winding through the garden, around fountains and palm trees. We strode through them, pretending to know where we were going. Ultimately we were trying to find the END of the line, but every time we thought we found it, we'd turn around and find it curve down a different way. This is partly due to the distractions.
Our costumes were a HUGE hit. Since everyone had lined up outside, guests kept stopping us to tell us how great our costumes were, or take a picture of us. At one point, when Kiwi and I stopped to discuss what we should do about the line with no end, a food vendor saw us and started one of those movie "slow claps." Guests in the line turned to look at us and most of them even joined in on the applause! I went beet red, did a little bow of thank you and laughed our way through one line and found the end of another.
It was clear that the D23 staff had no idea that there would be such a big turnout. And they certainly had no idea how to organize queues. With the master of queue lines built right across the street, you'd think they'd take a page (or staff member) out of Disneyland's book and create organized lines. Kiwi and I had managed to find the D23 member only line and weren't sure what to do about it. We decided to stick with the moving group and actually found ourselves inside within 5 minutes. All the wonderful guests that had stopped us to take pictures and other costumers (like the adorable Rapunzel and her pan) had been left in our dust unintentionally. We looked back to see them in the giant spiraling line, still waiting to enter. When we got to the front, we gingerly showed them our general admission passes and were let in with a smile. Even though we had dumb-lucked our way into the D23 members line, we were still admitted! It seemed like an extremely unfair procedure, considering all those other guests waiting in line could have been admitted with us as well. But that was not the only blunder of the Expo. I will elaborate on Day II.
We were quickly ushered to a pair of long tables where we were given a program book (very nice) and directed to a bucket of lanyards for our passes. I don't know who's idea that was, but almost every lanyard in the bucket was tangled into a ball of Griswald's Family Christmas Lights. I calmly moved a few strings and pulled one out for myself while the volunteer next to me struggled fiercely and gave one to Kiwi 30 seconds later.
The center was enormous. I had never been to an event so large. There were pavilions and booths everywhere and I immediately felt overwhelmed. We decided to head straight to the arena where the "Disney Legends" ceremony was supposed to be starting in an hour. Again, we were stopped numerous times for pictures and compliments. I was over the moon. I made our costumes in only a few hectic days, but they turned out better than I ever could have imagined. This makes me wonder what costuming adventures I could accomplish if I had more time.
I don't think too many patrons were allowed in behind us, because by the time we walked into the arena and sat down, the presentation had nearly started. We fumbled in the dark to fill in the seats tightly, but nobody came to sit beside us. Almost 50% of the top bowl wasn't filled, but nobody was coming in after us! There were enough people in line behind us to fill the rest of the empty seats three times over, but they weren't being let in! What was going on here?
The presentation started with a video of the new President of the Walt Disney company excusing himself from coming to the event because he was on vacation with his family. Let me just call bullsh*t right here.
I had no idea what to expect, but once it got started I was extremely impressed. The host of Dancing with the Stars and America's Funniest Home Videos came out on stage and got the ball rolling. We got to hear from some amazing Disney Princess voices, both singing and speaking, and even got to hear them perform a medley of songs from their movies. Paige O’Hara sang as Belle, Lea Salonga sang as Mulan, Anika Noni Rose sang as Tiana, and Jodi Benson sang as Ariel. It was pretty amazing to hear them speak and sing. If you closed your eyes, you could easily see their corresponding characters in your head. Thrilling!
The best part of the ceremony, day and the entire Expo (for me) came last.
Honouring Jim Henson.
After a sweet performance with two muppets by Jim Henson's son and wife, the room went black. The curtains onstage pulled apart and a platform with a piano rolled out on stage.
I knew who it was before the banjo even started. Kermit and Rowlf sang Rainbow Connection. Rowlf on the piano, and Kermit on his banjo. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing Kermit the Frog in person, playing his banjo. By the end of the song there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
I, and other women around me, wiped the mascara away while descending the stairs to explore the rest of the expo. Honestly, there wasn't much to look at. They had some exhibits that were interesting like the Pirates of the Caribbean props, Disney animator tables, and the Treasures of the Disney Archives, which I will elaborate on in the next few posts.
Other than showing off our costumes, we weren't interested in sticking around for any of the events. After seeing David Arquette walk right past us as we ate our lunch on the floor, we took our leave and decided to have some fun at the park.
- Strawberry
That afternoon we headed to the park for our first time together in Disneyland. We approached the ticket booth to purchase the weeks worth of passes. I mentioned to the teller that I had spoken with a Disneyland rep on the phone and they said the ticket booth could honour the online ticket price for me as I had so much trouble trying to purchase them online. He took my Visa and my ID and stared at it for a moment. He told me he would be back in a second and took my ID into a back room with him. I was extremely confused, thinking maybe my face was printed on a poster labeled "do not allow in." He eventually brought the ID and handed over our passes.
We approached the gate, dodging strollers and scooters, and presented our tickets to enter. The gate troll looked at me and promptly asked me for ID. "What?" "Do you have your ID?" "Oh... I..." I fumbled about and pulled out my drivers license. A quick look and she gave it back to me with my pass, "Always show your ID when you enter the park for the first time," "Oh... I've never had to do that before..." And that was the beginning of the small, disturbing nuances at the park.
The convention center opened the next day at 10am for general admission. We woke up around 8 and laid out our costumes. I was overly excited, slipping on my stomach control underwear (not that it helped much) and shapely white dress. We walked out of our room, hand in hand, and started towards the convention center. We passed millions of confused park-goers and hotel patrons on the way, but nothing could dampen my spirits. Until we arrived.
A gigantic line snaked outside the convention center, winding through the garden, around fountains and palm trees. We strode through them, pretending to know where we were going. Ultimately we were trying to find the END of the line, but every time we thought we found it, we'd turn around and find it curve down a different way. This is partly due to the distractions.
Our costumes were a HUGE hit. Since everyone had lined up outside, guests kept stopping us to tell us how great our costumes were, or take a picture of us. At one point, when Kiwi and I stopped to discuss what we should do about the line with no end, a food vendor saw us and started one of those movie "slow claps." Guests in the line turned to look at us and most of them even joined in on the applause! I went beet red, did a little bow of thank you and laughed our way through one line and found the end of another.
 |
| Portraits we took of ourselves in costume |
It was clear that the D23 staff had no idea that there would be such a big turnout. And they certainly had no idea how to organize queues. With the master of queue lines built right across the street, you'd think they'd take a page (or staff member) out of Disneyland's book and create organized lines. Kiwi and I had managed to find the D23 member only line and weren't sure what to do about it. We decided to stick with the moving group and actually found ourselves inside within 5 minutes. All the wonderful guests that had stopped us to take pictures and other costumers (like the adorable Rapunzel and her pan) had been left in our dust unintentionally. We looked back to see them in the giant spiraling line, still waiting to enter. When we got to the front, we gingerly showed them our general admission passes and were let in with a smile. Even though we had dumb-lucked our way into the D23 members line, we were still admitted! It seemed like an extremely unfair procedure, considering all those other guests waiting in line could have been admitted with us as well. But that was not the only blunder of the Expo. I will elaborate on Day II.
We were quickly ushered to a pair of long tables where we were given a program book (very nice) and directed to a bucket of lanyards for our passes. I don't know who's idea that was, but almost every lanyard in the bucket was tangled into a ball of Griswald's Family Christmas Lights. I calmly moved a few strings and pulled one out for myself while the volunteer next to me struggled fiercely and gave one to Kiwi 30 seconds later.
The center was enormous. I had never been to an event so large. There were pavilions and booths everywhere and I immediately felt overwhelmed. We decided to head straight to the arena where the "Disney Legends" ceremony was supposed to be starting in an hour. Again, we were stopped numerous times for pictures and compliments. I was over the moon. I made our costumes in only a few hectic days, but they turned out better than I ever could have imagined. This makes me wonder what costuming adventures I could accomplish if I had more time.
I don't think too many patrons were allowed in behind us, because by the time we walked into the arena and sat down, the presentation had nearly started. We fumbled in the dark to fill in the seats tightly, but nobody came to sit beside us. Almost 50% of the top bowl wasn't filled, but nobody was coming in after us! There were enough people in line behind us to fill the rest of the empty seats three times over, but they weren't being let in! What was going on here?
The presentation started with a video of the new President of the Walt Disney company excusing himself from coming to the event because he was on vacation with his family. Let me just call bullsh*t right here.
I had no idea what to expect, but once it got started I was extremely impressed. The host of Dancing with the Stars and America's Funniest Home Videos came out on stage and got the ball rolling. We got to hear from some amazing Disney Princess voices, both singing and speaking, and even got to hear them perform a medley of songs from their movies. Paige O’Hara sang as Belle, Lea Salonga sang as Mulan, Anika Noni Rose sang as Tiana, and Jodi Benson sang as Ariel. It was pretty amazing to hear them speak and sing. If you closed your eyes, you could easily see their corresponding characters in your head. Thrilling!
The best part of the ceremony, day and the entire Expo (for me) came last.
Honouring Jim Henson.
After a sweet performance with two muppets by Jim Henson's son and wife, the room went black. The curtains onstage pulled apart and a platform with a piano rolled out on stage.
I knew who it was before the banjo even started. Kermit and Rowlf sang Rainbow Connection. Rowlf on the piano, and Kermit on his banjo. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing Kermit the Frog in person, playing his banjo. By the end of the song there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
I, and other women around me, wiped the mascara away while descending the stairs to explore the rest of the expo. Honestly, there wasn't much to look at. They had some exhibits that were interesting like the Pirates of the Caribbean props, Disney animator tables, and the Treasures of the Disney Archives, which I will elaborate on in the next few posts.
Other than showing off our costumes, we weren't interested in sticking around for any of the events. After seeing David Arquette walk right past us as we ate our lunch on the floor, we took our leave and decided to have some fun at the park.
- Strawberry
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Post-iTuesday
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| An assortment. |
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