A Unique Disney Trip

Yes, we have been to Disneyland, Disney World and on Disney cruises more times than we can count now, but our trip to Anaheim in August was unique and extra special. Our main plan was to visit the 2nd D23 Expo held at the Anaheim Convention Center from August 19-21. We were pretty hyped to be surrounded by Disney exhibits, celebrities, and being on the cutting edge of new Disney movies, parks, and resorts announcements. The Expo itself proved to be a bit of a disappointment as the theme seemed to be "lines" - a ginormous line to get into the convention center, followed by 1-3 hour line waits to get into the primo events - the Disney Legends ceremony (congrats Regis Philbin, Disney Princesses, etc!), parks and resorts announcements, and the Disney Studios presentation (packed with celebrity appearances). We really wanted to see Dick Van Dyke perform with his group the Vantastiks, but couldn't bear to wait in what was sure to be another mega line (confirmed by people that it was 2-3 hours and a 45 minute delay to the start of the concert - glad we chose to forgo it!) Inspite of the fact that the reason we went down was for the Expo, our true excitements had nothing to do with it. We have gone to the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet the 3 years it has existed. It is a mini expo held in Lynnwood created by a Disney fan named Don Morin. Each year he has gotten terrific guests to attend - Margaret Kerry (model for Tinker Bell), Jeff Kurtii (author), Jack Lindquist (1st Disneyland president), and Floyd Norman (1st black animator - worked with Walt Disney). Last year, Bob Gurr, Disney Imagineer and Legend, was a speaker. He designed basically anything that moves at Disneyland - monorail, Main Street vehicles, Matterhorn, Autopia cars...and the list goes on! Don Morin and his friend John Garcia hosted a tour of former attraction sites at Disneyland the day before the D23 Expo. Dave and I attended their tour and who should be there but Bob Gurr. Don had invited him and he joined our tour group! It was great hearing his input into what he was directly involved with. Dave asked him if he had a window on Main Street (people who have had significant influences to Disneyland are honored with a window with their name on it) and he said he did have one. He gladly took us to it and you could see the pride and joy in his eyes as we snapped pictures of him by his Main Street window! Later that night, Don was also able to secure a special VIP viewing of the World of Color at the California Adventure park. Guess who was there? Bob Gurr! Dave invited Don, his wife Michelle, John, and Bob Gurr to join us at the Napa Rose Lounge after the show and they all accepted. We had a wonderfully relaxing evening visiting and hearing Bob tell of his time working directly with Walt Disney, even mentioning that it was he who gave Walt Disney the idea of having fire trucks on Main Street! To hear him talk about working with Walt, John Hench, Ward Kimball, etc. was mindblowing for Disney nerds like us! Dave and my other unique adventure was the rare opportunity to dine at Club 33 - the private dining room in New Orleans Square in Disneyland. We had an invitation from some people from our local MountainEars Club and we pounced on this extremely rare chance to see this private club! It was everything we imagined and the food was delicious! So even though the D23 Expo didn't live up to our expectations, the chance to visit with Don, Michelle, John, and Bob, as well as eat at Club 33 more than made up for it!