Disney Theme Park

2003 Press Event - Day 1

Pictures | Day 2

Think of the coolest, hippest party you’ve ever been to. Then multiply it by 100, sprinkle on some pixie dust and you may come close to imagining the Disney press event that we just attended. Day 1 of the event saw Disney unveil it’s new Magical Gatherings promotion, the launch of their new epic 3D attraction Mickey's PhilharMagic and the release of the all new Wishes fireworks spectacular at the Magic Kingdom.

For WebmasterJohn, his day started at Epcot, to watch a taping of the Wayne Brady Show. Here is his report:

On this sunny fall day in September, The American Gardens Stage at Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort was miraculously transformed into a television talk show set, complete with flashing applause signs and a nice big desk for the host. That host was comedian and actor Wayne Brady and the stage was set to tape a week of shows for his daily talk show, The Wayne Brady Show.

As the audience entered the theater, high-energy music blasted throughout the sound system. A few minutes before 'show time' the warm-up guy, Bill, came out and explained that we would be part of a live taping of the Wayne Brady Show. He instructed the audience how to react and told us to keep smiling as we never would know if a camera would be pointed into the audience and we would find ourselves on TV. Bill warmed us up with some jokes, and got us all pumped up for the show. By the time Wayne Brady took to the stage the audience was excited and happy to be a part of this magical moment.

In the next hour Mr. Brady talked with guests like Serena Williams, the tennis star (who he challenged to a game of ping pong, and won) to soap opera heartthrob Cameron Matheson, who Wayne presented with a gift basket from Cameron's local fan club. Cameron was so touched that he went into the audience and hugged and kissed the ladies who brought the gift.

There were also several musical numbers and in one Wayne sang 'Under the Sea' as Ariel was carried onstage to meet him.

There was a segment on 'extreme makeovers' in which a women came on and showed 'before' pictures of her prior to major surgery. The graphic clips from the actual surgery made the audience squirm and squeal at points.

One of the highlights of the show, and a surprise to the audience as it wasn't announced, was the introduction of Astronaut Jim Lovell - from Apollo 13 fame. He and Wayne discussed the new Mission Space ride at Epcot and Mr. Lovell said that the ride was about as close as he felt anyone could get to reproducing the feeling of blasting off from Cape Canaveral and going into space.

During commercial breaks the band played as Mr. Brady and his guests were attended to by staff members. It was during one of these breaks that a very special moment occurred. Four young girls were brought out from the audience and in front of the stage. Apparently someone had told one of men working with the show that these young ladies had prepared a cheer for Wayne Brady. They performed a perfect little cheer, in unison, and had the audience on their feet cheering and applauding. Well, someone must have realized how special this was as they had the girls come back out just before coming back from commercial and filmed their cheer before Wayne continued with the show. I bet those little girls will remember this for the rest of their lives, and hopefully someone will tape it for them when they get home.

The show ended with a 'Brady reunion'. As a play on his last name being Brady, Wayne introduced the family he had always wanted to be a part of - the Brady Bunch family. On to the stage came Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick (Marsha), Christopher Knight (Peter), Susan Olsen (Cindy) and Barry Williams (Greg). After some playful banter Wayne asked them if they would perform Sunshine Day - the song the Brady kids performed on the show. They all sand together and 'Greg' seemed to really be into it - so much so that he sang right into, and through, much of the next commercial break.

Wayne ended the show with a beautiful rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star. He truly has a wonderful singing voice, as well as superb comic timing.

The show was a pleasure to watch from beginning to end. But that's not all - as we were leaving the theater every audience member received a free Pal Mickey!!!!

Watch for this episode of the Wayne Brady show to air this upcoming Friday, 10/10/2003, on your local ABC station.
Click here for Photos of The Wayne Brady Show

For us, the event began at a reception for the Travel Industry at the Contemporary Resort. The event was introduced by Randy Garfield (Executive Vice President of Sales and Travel Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and the President of Walt Disney Travel). Randy and his team are the ones responsible for the wildly successful Fairy Tale Package and Dream Maker Package, that pretty much saved Disney World this year (along with most travel agencies who specialize in Disney travel). While at the cocktail reception, I ran into Deb Wills (the Webmaster of the Walt Disney World Information Guide) and we had a chance to catch up. If you’ve met Deb, then you know what an absolute doll she is. It’s always great to see her.

After the reception, we joined several other groups (including the press), for the introduction of Magical Gatherings, Disney’s new product aimed at extended groups and family reunions. The presentation was made by Al Weiss (President of Walt Disney World) and Jay Rasullo (President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts). The event looked more like a rock concert than a sales pitch, but that’s Disney J As I watched the presentation for Magical Gatherings, I found myself smiling. They were touting Disney’s new chat rooms, itinerary planning services, and personal vacation planning consultants to help these extended groups plan their reunions. I kept thinking I’d seen that somewhere before (he says sarcastically).

From there, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Now, when Disney does one of these press events, you’d have to be dead to not be impressed. Tables set up all around the park offering free drinks (like Absolut Martinis). Being a recovering alcoholic, I felt like I’d died and gone to hell. Alas, the soft drinks were free as well. Along with the food…Filet Mignon, Beef Tenderloin, Meat Loaf (Meat Loaf?). Every where you turned there was free food and free drinks.

At about 8:45, The Brian Setzer Orchestra took to the Castle Forecourt stage. Now, for those of you who don’t know who Brian Setzer is, I’ll give you a hint…lead singer for the Stray Cats. I loved him 20 years ago, and he’s only gotten better with age. He sounded great (even did a couple of Stray Cat numbers), and had the crowd swinging.

I took off a bit early to get in good position to tape the much anticipated Wishes fireworks show. Now, being someone who LOVED Fantasy in the Sky, I was concerned that they were moving in a new direction. Well, they have outdone themselves. Wishes is spectacular, and at 12 minutes long absolutely engaging.

So, to say we had a good day was an understatement. It’s 1AM as I’m writing this, I’m preparing the video highlights to go along with it, and we have to be at Animal Kingdom at 8:00am for the start of Day 2! I don’t know how they can top today, but I’m really looking forward to giving them a chance to do it!!
Until tomorrow….



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