I had the great opportunity of attending the Disney FanDaze Inaugural Party at Disneyland Paris over the weekend and was honored when Mr. DAPS asked if I would write a report on the event as I’ve long been a fan. For those unfamiliar with Disney FanDaze, it is a new brand at Disneyland Paris for some exciting fan events! The Inaugural Party was the launch party and, boy, what a launch it was!
The night before the Inaugural Party, I was able to attend the Disney FanDaze Gala Dinner featuring several of the creative executives who worked on Disney FanDaze. Disneyland Paris President Catherine Powell graciously greeted every guest before introducing the program.
During the dinner, Senior Show Director Emmanuel Lenormand presented his team. Mirena Rada, the costume designer who designed costumes for Paint the Night and Mickey’s SoundSational Parade at Disneyland as well as the Mad T Party at Disney California Adventure, showed us her designs for “Oh, My Ortensia.” And Scott Erickson, who composed the music for FanDaze (along with many shows throughout Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris) talked about his thought process composing the new song for “Dance Your DuckTales Parade.” After the dinner, we had an opportunity to meet and get autographs from the creative executives.
The next night was the Inaugural Party, held at the Walt Disney Studios Park. The event boasted more than 50 Disney characters for fans to see and it didn’t disappoint. It was so difficult to come up with a game plan because there was so much to do from character meet-and-greets to some spectacular shows and a couple of parades.
The meet-and-greets reminded me of Long Lost Friends Weekends times ten! We are talking rare characters, many of whom have not been out to meet in years. And they had great backdrops throughout the park. I had to focus on characters I personally have never met before. But, as there were characters from Disney Afternoon, Inside Out, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bolt, Monsters, Inc., Three Caballeros, The Emperor’s New Groove, Big Hero 6, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet (among many others!).
One of the highlights for me was the show “Oh my, Ortensia” which debuted Oswald The Lucky Rabbit’s gal pal Ortensia to Disney Parks! It was a cute show held on Hollywood Boulevard in the park and it was amazing seeing her for the first time. I really hope she comes to Disney California Adventure. Frankly, I could very much see this show on Buena Vista Street!
The other show was “Max Live!” which was absolutely fantastic. If you are a fan of Goof Troop, then you would die seeing Max Goof perform as Powerline! And he invites several of his friends to the stage to perform various numbers from “Try Everything” with Judy Hopps and Nick Fox from Zootopia to a song battle between Kuzco and Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove. It was high energy with amazing outfits for the performers and characters. The lighting was hypnotic as it incorporated the Tower of Terror as well. The crowd went crazy for it!
The parade that ran throughout the night was the “Dance Your Ducktales Parade” which was great fun and a tribute to the original DuckTales show as the evening had several tributes to Disney Afternoon of the 1990s. It was a fun parade featuring Donald, Uncle Scrooge, Launchpad and Huey, Dewey and Louie dancing their duck tails off. Even the performers had adorable duck tails!
The evening ended with the Farewell Party which featured all the characters that appeared throughout the evening. So, if you didn’t get a chance to meet them, you could see them. And, if you were lucky enough, get them to stop for a photo! It was a great way to end the evening!
The evening ended with the Farewell Party which featured all the characters that appeared throughout the evening. So, if you didn’t get a chance to meet them, you could see them. And, if you were lucky enough, get them to stop for a photo! It was a great way to end the evening!
Loren is a friend of Mr. DAPs and has his own Disney blog: Castles, Capes & Clones. You can read more about this event here: http://www.castlescapesandclones.com/2018/06/trip-report-disney-fandaze-festival-of.html Thank you for sharing your trip and experiences with us Loren! – Mr. DAPs
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