fbpx
Skip to content

Taking Part in the Disney Parks Blog Special Event: Monstrous Meet Up

by Alyssa Wiseman

1If you don’t follow the official Disney Parks Blog (DPB), you should.  Not only because they have breaking news and special announcements, but also because from time to time, they hold meet ups to celebrate special events.  These meet-ups allow normal fans to feel like VIPs and experience sneak peeks the Disney Way.  Here is just a quick recap of our recent experience with the DPB!

Brandon (my husband) follows the Disney Parks Blog much more closely than I do (let’s face it, trying to keep up with my WDW Radio Blog, my box friends, and other social media, I don’t have much time to get addicted to another blog!).  So, when he saw that the DPB announced that they were going to be holding a meet up during the 24 hour parks day, my husband knew we would be down there and also that he needed to respond quickly to try and get into the event.

The event was sold out in about 15 minutes and the description was simply that that we would be allowed over to the entrance of the park before the general crowd and that we would also be having a (very) early screening of the new Monsters University movie!! Well, as luck would have it, we were so very lucky to get it!2

Disney contacted us the next day to see where they should send a packet of information to, which we would need to be able to attend the meet.  We were staying off property, so we had the envelope delivered to our condo.  When we arrived and opened it, we could not believe what DPB had provided for us.  We received a parking pass to for the day of the event, two one-day park hopper tickets as we would need access to the park, and they also provided four fast passes that were good for any ride in the MK for 5 people!! We were amazed and immediately began talking about how to use these special items.

Our day began at check-in at 4:15am! I am not a morning person and knew I would need to be up by at least 3am to get ready and to the parks.  Now, I had to represent the WDW Radio family, so I was all decked out with my t-shirt!  We were literally the 10th vehicle in the parking lot and had never been able to park that close before. After check-in we waited until about [4:45] and then were taken on a private ferry over to the MK where we got to see Mickey and Minnie giving tv interviews about what a special day it was going to be!  4We were also given Mike Wazowski glasses and buttons!

As you all know Disney was hosting the Monstrous 24 hours in the Magic Kingdom and we were front and center for the opening ceremonies!  After we finally made it in the park Brandon and I rushed over to the Emporium to see what merchandise they offered, which included a t-shirt, the glasses we had already been given (which retailed for $17!), Mickey ears that had Sully fur on them (really cute), and embroidered classic black Mickey Ears.  We each settled for a t-shirt and they were gone in less than 10 minutes!

After that we went over to Pecos Bills for a “monstrous” (anyone getting the hint here??) donut bar for our breakfast.  It was amazingly good (I wish they sold the donuts we ate) and the entire breakfast was blue and 6green! During the breakfast we saw Sully come to hangout with us and take pictures and had the opportunity to get our Monsters University student IDs!

We had free time until around [9:45] and then were escorted backstage (feeling out the entire time) and were taken by buses to Downtown Disney to the AMC theatre.  We filled an entire theatre and before we were allowed in, we had to check everything that was electronic!  It took quite a while and can you imagine taking phones and Internet away from Disney nerds on one of the biggest days in the parks!  Now, we were told that we were the first group of people to see the completed film as they had just finished the final cut of it a few days prior.  We were also asked not to give away any details of the movie, but I will tell you that the movie was just as good as the first one and there is one part in it that you will be falling-out-of-your-seat laughing at (I will award a Mystery Ticket to the first person who correctly responds with what scene they thought I was talking about ONLY once the movie comes out!).  And my new favorite character is the scare pig and there is already 7plushes of him in the parks.

After the movie, we left the theatre and were given a Disney shopping bag filled with several Monster merchandise items.  They included a do not disturb tag for our bedroom doors, a small poster of doors themed to Magic Kingdom attractions, and a Sully Vinylmation Popcorn figure!

I have to say that the event was amazing and a huge thank you to the DPB for putting the event together.  We love that they allow their fans to take part in special events and allow us to see sneak peeks at some new movies.

Now, I mentioned before that we had received two one-day park hopper tickets and four 5-person fast passes.  Brandon and I are both annual pass holders, so we wanted to pass on some Disney magic to others.  We found a family in line at EPCOT the next day and asked if they would like them.  They couldn’t believe we would just give them away for free! As for the fast passes, we found people with younger kids to be the other 3 in our party and then gave two away to a family of 5 who were wearing “1st visit” buttons.  The best part was asking a dad and his two young sons if they wanted to skip the Peter Pan line and use our fast pass with 9us!  The kids were so excited and the dad said: “boys, we just got some Disney magic!”

We didn’t last the entire 24 hours, but we did add about 16 hours in the parks or attending the Monstrous DPB event!  And that was just enough for this Disney fan!

Alyssa Wiseman (also known as ajwiseman09 in the box) and her husband Brandon reside in central Indiana (too far from Disney) with their 4 year shih tzu London Bridget and brand new Bulldog, Maggie Mae.  Alyssa and Brandon enjoy traveling to Disney several times a year to see what is new and enjoy classic Disney.  While traveling, and at home, Alyssa is frequently shopping for Disney products and making a list of items to buy while in the parks.  Please follow Alyssa on twitter @ajwiseman09.

Comments

About Lou Mongello

Lou Mongello is a former attorney who left the practice to pursue his passion, and is now a recognized Disney expert, author, speaker, and host of WDW Radio. Learn more…

Related Posts