It was time to get to work! I awoke early to start my day fresh, putting on my CMO shirt and Disney nametag (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of doing that!). During an absolutely beautiful California morning in the lobby of the Disney’s Grand Californian® Hotel, I was met Karen, an absolutely wonderful Guest Services host given the task of escorting me around the Disneyland® Resort. Today’s adventures started in the Tomorrowland® Area where the press was gathered for the brand-new Innoventions Dream Home.
(Here I am with Karen at Disney’s California Adventure® Park in the early morning hours before the Tuesday press event!)
After checking in with members of the marketing and public relations teams at the massive TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) building, I visited the Media Center for the day’s event. Within this functional and efficient facility, located above Starcade (adjacent to the Space Mountain® Attraction) in the Tomorrowland® Area, the media could edit and transmit their creations back to their news facilities back home.
The Innoventions Dream Home, made possible thanks to partnerships with HP, Microsoft, Lifeware, and other high-tech companies, showcased technology that can make life more efficient, interactive, and entertaining. The 5,000 square foot attraction includes bedrooms, a living room, a game room, a kitchen, and more packed full of touch screen controls and personalized gadgets for each member of the home’s fictional ‘Elias’family.
The youngest Elias brother had my favorite room It was themed to Disney’s Peter Pan and was impressive in both detail, and technology. The coolest characteristic was how the movie and story of Peter Pan came to life all around you through top-of-the line tech: Clips from Disney’s Peter Pan were projected on the pirate ship bed’s mounted sail; fun lights, clocks, wind chimes and windows surrounded you; a digital cannon mounted at the foot of the bed protected you from pirates. That was just one of the rooms.
(If you look closely you can see Peter Pan on the sail above the bed. The cannon is in the lower right hand corner.)
The daughter’s room featured a mirror that doubled as a virtual closet; this was a media favorite. You could stand in front of the touch-screen mirror, see the daughter’s available wardrobe, and virtually try-on her clothes. Trust me; this endlessly entertaining bit of interactive technology stunned the room!
(As always, one of the highlights of any trip to a Disney Park is the Cast Members. Here I couldn’t help but spread some of the magic to the Cast Members as well. It’s always fun to share a laugh - especially with a member of the ‘Elias’ family who graciously allow us into their house as the hosts of the Innoventions Dream Home.)
Following my introduction to the Dream Home media interaction, it was time to work the press event! I partnered with many of my fellow Cast Members to help seat VIP’s from Disney’s corporate partners at the event’s opening ceremony. What followed was an exciting orientation to the wonders of the Dream Home, where we met the members of Elias family, learned about some of the brilliant technology from representatives from HP, Microsoft, and Lifeware, and enjoyed a special marching band performance. This was a celebration as only Disney can create - and I’m still humbled that I was able to play a part.
What the everyday guest at Disney doesn’t experience is the way that the Disney Parks media relations teams craft a press event for their visiting media. Every detail—I mean every detail!—is covered. The marketing and public relations teams carefully plan each detail of each day for our guests in the media. In many cases, media guests travel from quite a distance (across the country, across the world) in order to experience and report on the latest and greatest additions to the Disney parks.
The Public Relations team and I hosted media from Mexico at a delicious and delightful character breakfast at Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland® Hotel which gave me the chance to ask them a lot of questions (and answer a few of theirs!) and to dust off the few warm greetings and phrases I could recall from my 10th grade Spanish class. With the help of a cast member who served as a translator - and a lot of patience on the part of our friends from Mexico - I shared my CMO story and had a chance to hear how they were each as excited to be at the Disneyland® Resort as I was.
Here I am at a photo opportunity before breakfast at Goofy’s Kitchen in the Disneyland® Hotel.)
Everyone was very excited. The Disneyland® Resort was celebrating several new additions to their world class entertainment and attraction options, aside from the big headliners of the week (the Innoventions Dream Home and Toy Story Mania!). Playhouse Disney—Live on Stage!, the Pixar Play Parade, and the Indiana Jones™ Summer of Hidden Mysteries were just a few of the recently added events that we wanted to introduce to the world. As the day began to unfold we would offer everything new the Disneyland® Resort has to offer. Nothing beats a day of work where your constant goal is to show people around a Disney park and make sure they are having fun!
(Pictured above is a photo of Indiana Jones™ and the Secret of the Stone Tiger. This is one of the great new features in the Adventureland® Area this year that draws guests into the world of Indy. This was a favorite for the media I hosted.)
I felt both humbled and excited to host this experience. I realized I could make a difference, and that I became first-hand part of the Disney magic. With these feelings in mind, I continued to smile, greet every new face, and go above and beyond to positively impact the day of anyone I meet. The magic was infectious.
(Taking a quick break outside the Innoventions Dream Home to tell my CMO story as a part of the August Disneyland® Resort Podcast.)
After a day of spending time with the media (and Indiana Jones™!) in Adventureland, we moved towards evening and one of the newest events in Disney’s California Adventure® Park - the Pixar Play Parade.
I was looking forward to the opportunity to spend some more time getting to know many of my new media friends; I was really enjoying being a part of the world-famous Disney hospitality. After helping to secure my guests some ideal parade viewing and working to be a great Disney rep, I rejoined Karen - my Guest Services host - to take in the next big thing.
The Pixar Play Parade featured the Disney Parks representation of that amazing world of computer-generated characters. From Cars stars Lightning McQueen and Mater, through the title super-family from The Incredibles, from Remy and his pals from Ratatouille to the Toy Story gang, and from Mike and Sulley from Monster’s Inc. to the deep sea pals from Finding Nemo, everyone is out to play. Bring your camera!
I found myself caught up in the Parade’s excitement along with the rest of the crowd. I loved seeing the faces of the guests lining the streets watching their favorite characters fly, dance, float, and roll right before their eyes. I was reminded how special my trips to the Disney Parks were for me as a kid. The parade offered me a moment where the line between being a fan and Cast Member vanished.
(The Pixar Play Parade features an incredible array of characters from all of the beloved Disney•Pixar films. Here Squirt soars above the crowds during the Finding Nemo section of the parade.)
(The Toy Story part of the parade - which was great for whetting our appetites for the Toy Story Mania! opening tomorrow - was a highly entertaining, visually dazzling treat!)
("Tow" Mater - brought to life with all of his endearing personality - appropriately brings up the rear of the parade and is sure to leave guests with one last big smile!)
The parade probably sounds amazing, but wait until you hear what I left out! I couldn’t leave this review of the Pixar Play Parade without revealing the single biggest highlight of my time thus far as Chief Magic Official. I returned from checking in my media to find Karen looking for me. She let me know discretely that we would be watching the parade with a very special guest. Since Tuesday’s Grand Opening of Toy Story Mania! was such a big celebration, many important members of the Disney family were in attendance. One of them - someone who has a particularly keen interest in the Disney • Pixar characters - was going to experience this newest Disney parade right alongside Karen and myself.
I’m sure by now you’ve guessed (or scrolled down just a bit to see the picture!) that I’m talking about John Lasseter! I met, watched the parade with, compared photos with, and even posed for a picture with the John Lasseter. It was such a joy to see him watching these characters - characters he brought to life on screen! - entertain thousands of guests in an entertainment spectacle. This moment just goes to show that when you are in a Disney Park and when you’re willing to believe in the power of dreams, you just never know who might show up to share that dream with you!
(This picture is definitely one I’m going to hold on to! I still can hardly believe that I watched the Pixar Play Parade with John Lasseter!)
Thanks for checking out my latest adventures! Be sure to check back soon as I have more incredible experiences and memories from my first CMO visit to Disneyland to share! And send me a note to let me know what you think!
