You asked what it’s like to attend a Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, so I’m walking you through our entire trip to Disney World, one day at a time! Be sure to check out Day #1 of my Disney Diary first, before continuing on to day two!
Friday, May 6th – Conference Day
Day number two started before the sun came up! Early before the park was even open, the attendees took a bus ride to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for breakfast with Michael Roddy. He is responsible for developing show concepts and directing scripts for Disney, including the new “Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away,” a new live show that brings iconic Star Wars moments to life.
While you may think Disney’s Hollywood Studios is already full of Star Wars attractions, entertainment and shopping, you’ll be excited to know new additions are coming in the months and years ahead.
After breakfast, we headed over to the Stars Wars Launch Bay where we got to check out movie props and greet Star Wars heroes and villains.
The newly updated Star Wars experiences bring you closer to the epic saga than ever before. And soon, the Star Wars experience at Walt Disney World will be adding a Star Wars-themed land!
Meanwhile….
My husband took the girls to Disney’s BoardWalk, with the other influencer families, for breakfast at the Atlantic Dance Hall, and to meet characters, Joy and Sadness, from the popular movie, Inside Out!
Afterwards, while I was still attending the conference, my family spent the day exploring Epcot and swimming in the incredible sand-bottom pools at Disney’s Yacht Club!
General Conference Session
By 9 AM, all the attendees were transported back to Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club for the main part of our conference.
It immediately started with exciting entertainment and top-notch speakers. The President of Walt Disney World Resorts, George A. Kalogridis, talked about the ambitious plans to bring Star Wars to life, creating Disney’s largest single-themed land expansions ever at 14-acres. The massive new Star Wars-themed Land will transport you to a never-before-seen planet where Star Wars characters and stories come to life.
We also got a sneak peek of the new Rivers of Light show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom by Mark Renfrow, the creative director. And an exclusive peek at the new shows coming to Disney Junior by Nancy Kanter – including “Elena of Avalor,” a new animated series debuting this Summer! The series was created by Craig Gerber, who also did Sofia the First.
My favorite speakers had to be Suzanne Todd, producer of Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Lindsey Collins, producer for Finding Dory. It was amazing seeing how much work goes into making a movie. We were able to see how the movie transforms from a simple camera shot, into a full-blown digitally animated movie!
This rough draft of Dory is actually the very first sketch that brought Dory to life all those years ago! I was really excited that Andrew Stanton decided to go back and complete Dory’s story. We even got to watch the first 33 minutes of the new Finding Dory movie. No spoilers here, I’m sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you it’s going to be a big hit!
Across the hall, Hanes had an amazing lunch prepared for us, complete with a Hanes shopping spree – bras, undies, and socks all up for grabs!
I tried new foods I had never eaten before, including powered bacon. Yes, potato textures topped with bacon powder. I also had my very first macaroon! It did not disappoint!
Right after lunch, the wickedly awesome Sanderson Sisters cast a spell on us. We got a peek at the exclusive show that is only available on select nights at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party coming this Fall.
There were fun gifts raffled off such as luggage, vip tours, and one lucky winner even got to stay in The Cinderella Castle Suite for one night! I didn’t win any raffles, but my local friend, Meghan, won some beautiful Star Wars bracelets!
We had lots of breaks throughout the day and tons of delicious snacks to try! The attention to detail on everything was astounding! These Olaf Cupcakes were one of my favorites. The strawberry smoothies were unbelievably tasty too!
The Dream Big, Princess initiative focuses on girls going after their dreams! They are strong, confident and able. For every girl who dreams big, there is a princess to show her it’s possible. Dream Big, Princess.
Three impressive young ladies were presented a Disney Dream Big Princess award. 10-year-old Jordan was presented an award for Innovation, 10-year-old Hailey earned one for Community, and 11-year-old Olivia earned one for Empowerment!
The conference was unlike any other. It was magically stunning and empowering. We laughed together, we cried together. There was even a surprise engagement, she said “Yes!”
Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
After the conference ended, I had some free time to explore Hollywood Studios with my family before we headed to Typhoon Lagoon for the “Donald’s Beach Bash” family dinner.
There was, of course, a ton of different types of amazing food. I got to eat like eight times on this day, for real.
When we arrived, there was a beach party going on hosted by GoGo squeeZ. They had fun gift bags for the kids and lots of fun signing and dancing before our private fireworks show at the water park after hours. They gave us all 3D glasses that turn each and every firework spark into a Mickey Mouse – another unbelievable magical surprise!
Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
After dinner, we had the option to head back towards the Yacht Club or head back to Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks show that doesn’t officially open until June!
Who sleeps at Disney anyhow, right?! Of course, we chose the fireworks show! The new show uses bigger fireworks that are even closer to the audience, and they have stretched the show to last even longer – almost 15 minutes!
As you can tell, it was a long day! The girls were falling asleep on the boat ride back to the hotel. Only two more days of our trip left!
As part of this event, I received complimentary items, discounted rates, special behind-the-scenes access, and other exciting benefits, such as food and entertainment.
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This has got to be the most amazing thing ever! I can’t believe how far Disney has come in the past 60 years.
This was such an amazing event. I went with my sister and we had a wonderful time.It looks like you also had a blast.
I absolutely love Disney, and Hollywood Studios is my favorite. It is so full of all kinds of amazingly cool things to see and do.
That was a long day! I also nearly lost my mind when the Sanderson Sisters showed up. It was so awesome and made me smile for the rest of the afternoon!
It is hard to believe I was at the same conference as you, this write up covered it all! Great job, I also had a fun day, mostly seeing bloggers I know only from here!
Mitch
I love Hollywood Studios and am excited to be going back in August. I heard there are some exciting changes there.
Sounds like an awesome conference! I love macarons, and the one you got to try looks delicious..
I would love to go to the Stars Wars Launch Bay. We are huge Star Wars fans. I am hoping to get to Disney in the next year.
You’ve got some cool pictures there! I didn’t mind Star Wars being Disney’s property in the first place, glad that they’re just being the way they are even now.
Looks like a blast! The weather looks amazing too, something I wish I could experience right now. looks like a lot of fun!
My family would freak out over the Star Wars Launch Bay! I loved looking at all your beautiful photos and hearing about all the fun you had!
What a great adventure for all of you. So much to do and enjoy.
My timeline was flooded with pictures from SMMC. Thanks for the behind the scenes look at this massive event! It’s huge! So much to take in.
Love the Mickey manicure, by the way!
The conference really looks like a dream come true. My daughter is looking forward to going back to Disney because of all the Star Wars additions. Her boyfriend has never been and is a huge Star Wars fan. I am thinking we might surprise them with a trip to Disney World for their graduation next year.
What an awesome time. It sounds like they had some great speakers. I really have to check out that Star Wars area at some point.
First of all great capture of your Disney experiences it looks magical!!! I love your Disney nails too by the way great touch!
Wow, it looks like you had an amazing time. I hope to find pixie dust some day in my mailbox to get a behind the scenes look like you did!