Februrary 2014 Characters

Take a look at all the characters I met in February.

January 2014 Characters

See all the characters that I met in January.

The end of the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade

The Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade at Magic Kingdom ended yesterday after nearly a five year run. It debuted on January 23, 2009 and I was there for the first one too. There will be no afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom until the spring when the new Festival Of Fantasy Parade debuts. Yesterday, the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade ran twice; at 12:30 and 3:30. I watched both of them. I watched the 12:30 one outside The Hall of Presidents. I started to get emotional when I saw Bert and he thanked me for coming. He then got Mary's attention, they posed for me, and Mary made the hand gesture for "I love you." It was so sweet. Then Drizella spotted me and waved. She came over to me, gave me a big hug, and told me that "This is it" since her family wasn't invited to be in the new parade. I will miss Drizella so much. She was always so much fun to photograph. She was full of life and her expressions were the greatest.

I thought about watching the second parade near the end of the route but it was over an hour until the parade started and the area was pretty full. I then decided to watch the last parade in my usual spot in Town Square across from the Confectionery. A few little touches were added to the last parade. The ribbon dancer was back in the beginning of the parade and I was very surprised to see her. Also, Jiminy Cricket had an umbrella, the Queen of Hearts had a flamingo, and Jafar had his staff.

I got emotional during the last parade too. It again started when I saw Bert. He and Mary waved and posed for me again. Mary also made the "I love you" hand gesture to me. They are two incredibly sweet people and I really appreciated it. Drizella came through and waved to me a bunch of times. Ariel was sweet, as always, and waved to me.

While I am very happy to see a new parade, it was sad to see this one go. It wasn't an amazing parade but for me, it was about who was in the parade. I have seen some of them for years and I am going to miss seeing their faces so much. I can only hope that many of them will be in the new parade.

Christmas Day Parade Taping

The Christmas Day Parade was taped at Magic Kingdom on Saturday. I got to Magic Kingdom around 8:00 am and went to find a spot on Main Street to watch the taping. I was able to find a spot behind people. I stood there for over two hours and never saw a thing. The sun came out, it was hot, and I had to move. I decided to go to Town Square and just get pictures as the characters came out. I'm glad that I decided to move because it took five hours to tape the opening performance.

After they were done filming the opening performance, the parade floats came out. I watched in Town Square as they came around to go in. The biggest surprise was seeing Huey, Dewey, and Louie for the first time. I had my head down when their float first came into view and I looked up, saw them, and just stood there in shock. It took me a minute to actually pick my camera up to get pictures of them.

Doc McStuffins was also out. I saw her as she was going in and only got a picture of the side of her. I was hoping that she'd be in the parade but she wasn't.

Cinderella's Holiday Wish

During the Christmas season, Cinderella's Holiday Wish is performed nightly at 6:15. It's about a ten minute show in which the castle is transformed into a shimmering ice castle. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy come out on stage and shortly after, the Fairy Godmother joins them from a balcony on the castle. They discuss how they should transform the castle but then decide that Cinderella should get to choose how her castle is decorated. She decides that she wants it to sparkle like her glass slippers. After a little bibbidi bobbidi boo, the castle begins to light up.

October Characters

Take a look at all the characters that I met in October.

April Character Round-Up

Take a look at all the characters I met in April.