|
|
Disneyana Convention: 2000!
(Convention Theme this year: It's a Small World!)
Can you believe it has taken this many
Disneyana conventions until "It's a Small World"
was the theme? Regardless, the ride that encompasses all the worlds in one
attraction was perfect for the first convention of "Y2K." The
convention was all the more complete with a guest appearance by songwriter Richard
Sherman. A convention based on a classic Disney ride was a great idea, and worth the wait. In many ways, this
might have been one of the best Disney conventions of all time.
First, we have registration. How cool is it
when even the bag that your registration package comes in is reusable? I'm
not kidding; they gave convention guests, for free, this reusable carry bag, with the Disneyana 2000 Convention Logo covering one
side. Allow me to edit this review to add that my own mother, who attended
this convention, still used this bag on all her Disney World trips many
years later. That's how well made this bag was...and it was simply the
container for the registration package! While earlier conventions had a
free Christmas ornament (this year had none), the free statuette this year
would be unique in that it was not a clock; instead it was of goofy
holding a music box that played the Small World theme. The bad news: the
box was made of cardboard, so this statuette was very fragile. But
hey...how about that cool carry bag?
 As for the
convention theme itself...well...let me be fair. This year had to follow
two totally cool convention years, each with a very imaginative story. Disney Villains year (1997) had Mickey disappear
while we all looked for clues to find him, in a scavenger hunt. The
following year had convention guests try to sing classic Disney songs, and
act out classic cartoon moments. Then last year you had that cool Pluto
"idol" like a Disney style Indiana Jones style Mickey Safari. That said...well...you can see
where I'm going with this...and it can be summarized by two character
names: Captain Galleon and his first mate, "Dingy." How do I try
to be a Disney fan and talk about these two? Hmm...
 Maybe
I should just shoot it straight, as it were. There are many ways to salute
Small World in a convention, and many more ways to make the ride into a
simple "story." It's pretty disappointing that all
Disney's "Imagineers" could come up with was Captain Galleon and
Dingy. Yes, "dingy" Dingy desperately
wants to sing the "Small World" song. Yes, Captain
Galleon won't let him, until the end of the convention. Given
the fantastic stage productions in earlier years, this
was disappointing. Mind you; they already had the fantastic subject matter
of Small World Ride, and it isn't like every convention needs a
"story." People go to conventions for the limited edition items,
and the fun. So let's just move along now...
The reason the lack of a "story"
this year doesn't lower
this year's convention rating one bit, is because everything else was dead
solid perfect. This includes theme night, where all of Fantasyland was
open to convention guests for one night, exclusively. One stroke of pure genius: the food menu, activity schedule,
and map of all rides/attractions, was put on a cloth "treasure
map" which conventioneers could keep. 
Even better: characters were out in full force, with each
character out in front of "their" ride, including Peter Pan and Wendy (shown here).
Did I mention that all fantasyland rides were open, and you could
go on each, as many times as you wished, all night long? Free food was
offered as well, although the menu was slightly changed. I guess I was too
busy riding all the rides for free to care if the food was mostly chicken
wings, ribs, and bratwurst. Whatever! The final moment of theme night was
worth the whole evening, with the Electrical Parade held exclusively
for the convention guests. Neat.
Theme night even had a few surprises! At a
particular moment, the back of the castle trumpeted
the arrival of Cinderella and her Prince. First, the royal court
dancers paraded around, in perfectly choreographed style. Then came the humorous arrival of The evil Stepmother and Stepsisters.
Then Cinderella arrives in her four-horse Royal Coach, complete
with her Fairy Godmother and even her female mice friends  (sorry, trivia
buffs; I forget their names). The Godmother character had handfuls of glitter that she threw
on the Prince and Cinderella, and once they went up the stairs
to the castle balcony, a bunch of birds were released,
along with tons of streamers and confetti. Then the court dancers
danced with any of the Convention guests who wanted to join in. Yeah, I
know; so what if they replaced shish-ke-bobs with bratwurst this year?
This stage production was totally cool. Bravo!
 Then there's the
limited edition roster this year. To be honest, this was some of the most
imaginative items they've offered in years, although with disappointingly
low edition numbers.
On the one hand, that Lilliput Lane miniature of Disneyland's Small World
ride was cool, and everyone
who wanted one got one (or so I heard from those I spoke to). 
However, few were able to buy Tinkerbell
on Captain Hook's hook, with a victorious expression on her face, complete
with the single line on the base of the statue: "Attitude." What
a great work of art...yet limited to only 50 ever made! Mind you, there were
still many excellent sericels and art posters,
including the fantastic artwork of "Cinderella's Dream"
by Randy Souders (who, last I checked, still has a personal web site,
here),
and a photomosaic of Walt Disney (his face is created via thumbnail
pics from his many animated films), and similar items.
 NOTE !
Not to pine on bad news on an otherwise
swell convention but: Disneyana's hosts and hostesses next year might want to make better
preparations for framing of limited edition artwork, during
the convention. Okay; so it takes time to professionally frame
artwork that can be bought unframed. That's still no excuse to not offer
pre-framed artwork that anyone would require to be framed. That was the
case with a particularly fragile piece of 3D art which consisted of
various glued pieces of paper to create a 3D image. The piece was very
stunning framed...until purchasers learned it was sold
"unframed." To add more complications to the purchaser: framing
of the item cost more money and could not be guaranteed to be done before
the end of the convention. I'm just suggesting, to all future Disneyana Convention Staff Members: PRE-frame all limited
edition items, that could not make it home safely any other way. I'm just
saying.
 The
auction this year was amusing for many reasons. Auction items included a giant Ariel (The Little Mermaid), that was
originally made
for the Disney Store at Disney World Marketplace. This
statue must have been around six feet tall! Other items included
a disco ball with --you guessed it-- reflective Mickey Ears! Several sericels and paintings were auctioned
as well. I can only imagine that Disney was very pleased with
eBay's performance at the auction, because the final bids on
several items were pretty high.
 The final banquet,
much like the Theme Party, made up for most of the earlier snafus.
Although there was the return of Galleon and Dingy,  you
didn't have to see them until after a fantastic
surf-and-turf dinner, and an equally fun stage show. Surprise
guest stars this year were Haley Mills, and one of the composers of the "It's a
Small World" song himself,
Richard Sherman. The stage show Sherman & Mills hosted consisted of
classic Disney songs divided in the categories of the Small World lyrics; a world of "hope" and
of "fears" and of "laughter" and of "tears." Considering how these stage
shows are meant as one-time-only affairs, this was one of
the better Disneyana stage events ever offered. Even simple moments, like
having Sherman and Mills
sing "Let's get Together" from her classic Disney film, The
Parent Trap, was worth the whole evening.
 After
the Banquet Dinner, the "final gift" was offered,
of Goofy and Mickey on the Small World Ride. In a fitting farewell, this small pewter statuette had around its
base all of the world's many words for "farewell," just like the
end of the ride itself! Such an additional free gift jacks up this convention's
value to a strong thumbs-up. In closing, regardless of Galleon and Dingy,
there was little this year that could've been any better. Will next year's
convention, held at Disneyland, be as good? Only time will tell...though
Disneyland has a tough act to follow.
|
All text, Title graphics,
and pix not of the reviewed item(s), are created by Techtite,
copyright 2000; all rights reserved. Pictures within review are
most often scanned from actual promotional material and vacation
video pertaining to this attraction. They are discrete thumbnails,
used only for the purpose of review, and by no means represent
any affiliation with Techtite and the distributors of that attraction.
For further "legalese" & disclaimers, click
here... |
|
Burnout
Near
Miss
Small
Crater
Large
Crater
Deep
Impact
