How I Spent My Spring Break: D23, WDW, SWW, DL, and Various Other Acronyms (Part 4.)

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In case you missed the earlier blogs of How I Spent My Spring Break:

Part 3

Part 2

Part 1

So I flew back to Los Angeles, and almost the next day my Star Tours II Annual Passholder preview slot was scheduled.

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The process was pretty chaotic by the time I got there–apparently the lines had been pretty empty earlier, so they basically opened the preview up to anyone with an AP, with the result that the line was about an hour long. Subsequently, they locked it down to people with a reservation letter, and it went considerably faster.

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The inside is pretty identical to Star Tours in WDW, with the exception that the boarding area now seems tiny and cramped, with insufficient room for even the number of people in a row to stand in a line. The films are identical (my itinerary of choice: Vader/Hoth/Yoda/Naboo.)

Then, three days later, the new parade Soundsational previewed over at Disneyland.

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Colorful and high-energy, the floats based off of paper sculptures by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily are both detailed and inventive.

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If I had any complaint, it would be that for a parade celebrating the many varieties of Disney music, the audio seemed a little muddied to me, occasionally lacking a clear transition from one float’s music to the next.

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Hopefully the mechanics of that will get ironed out quickly, because the rest of the parade is excellent entertainment, and about 1000x times better than any of the somewhat bare-bones block party-esque parades they’ve had in recent years.

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Why, if you look hard enough, you might even spot Steven Davison, Vice President and Director of Parades and Spectaculars watching along.

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Meanwhile, over at the Disney Gallery, a similarly charming exhibit on Mary Blair opened up.

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If you are a fan of the art stylings of It’s A Small World, or the gigantic mural in the Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary Resort, you are certain to enjoy this exhibit of Blair’s art and concept sketches for a multitude of attractions and films.

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Of course, being Disney, there is no shortage of merchandise to take home as a memento–for a price.

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Next up: The Disneyland Hotel goes Tiki-happy, and we finally get a look Under the Sea…

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Jeanine resides in Southern California, pursuing the sort of lifestyle that makes her the envy of every 11-year-old she meets. She has been to every Disney theme park in the world and while she finds Tokyo DisneySea the Fairest Of Them All, Disneyland is her Home Park... and there is no place like home.

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3 Replies to “How I Spent My Spring Break: D23, WDW, SWW, DL, and Various Other Acronyms (Part 4.)”

  1. Do you know how long that Mary Blair exhibit will be there??

    Jeanine: On the Disney Parks Blog, Michelle Harker, Merchandise Marketing & Communications Project Manager of Disneyland Resort, wrote that she thought the next exhibit was scheduled to start in early October.

  2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that shirt in the last picture… I haven’t been able to find it for sell online… but tell me there’s a way I can get it without going to Disneyland during the Mary Blair exhibit! 🙂

    Jeanine: I checked around and I couldn’t find it online either. I went to the Disney Gallery today and asked there–they said it was exclusive to this exhibit, although they also said sometimes WDW gets some of their stuff as well.

    I asked if there was any other way someone could get it, and they said you could call Merchandise Guest Services at 877/560-6477 and they could have someone pull one and send it to you. She said they would probably charge a shipping/handling fee, but didn’t know what it would be.

    The price on the tag is $27.95. I don’t have any experience with this service, so if you do decide to get it, please let me know how it works!