As we are first time event participants, we hope that you will understand that we have no yardstick by which to measure this event against others. In our opinion, the event was a lot of fun, quite well done, and certainly worth the money.

Our comments range from needs work (dessert, especially considering the wonders that can be had at the Fantasmic buffet) to thoughtful (the rain ponchos) to terrific (reception and dinner) to incredible (the Diva show).

As long time Disneyland patrons and parents of two little boys (1 and 5), lines don't mean much to us whether for dinner, show or the rides. We look at it as part of the overall experience. We met so many nice people while waiting in the lines. We learned a lot about Disney World, the other events, and met the 2001 Ambassador. She is one of the most genuine and friendly people we have ever met. When we consider the many exceptional cast members we have met on previous visits, this is saying a lot.

We looked forward to the dinner -- both of us love to try new foods, especially after reading about the food at some of the other events (maybe the Haunted Mansion Dinner some time -- like after the boys' college...) and hearing about it from others. The food was delicious and the servers were as charming as could be.

Calamari from the Divas show

Everything written about the Diva show is true, but just to reiterate -- it was incredible!

We liked the fact that we could order Logo merchandise in advance. This gave us a chance to think about how much money to spend (i.e., can we get a second on the house). We enjoyed the opportunity to view (and drool over) the limited edition merchandise, but it would have been easier on the eyes to have lights at the tables for up-close viewing.

Our only real complaint was the fact that we bought a leather jacket and found a small tear in the leather as we were packing it into our suitcase. The light in Rocket Rods had prevented us from seeing it. Unfortunately, the Manager on site the next morning was ill-equipped to remedy the situation as the senior merchandising staff had the day off since "they were up so late last night." His solution is to have our money refunded and the jacket (number 41 of 50) destroyed. So much for that lasting memory.... We're still waiting to hear back about the jacket and are hoping that it can be salvaged.

Thanks for the opportunity to let others know that we enjoyed the event and will definitely attend others. If any of you don't want to attend another event, we could always use a sitter...?
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Thank you for the kind note. One of the reasons we wanted to make sure we had a reader feedback section alongside this special Diva coverage was because we pretty much knew as the event was happening that people had some very different opinions about it.

In presenting all the differing viewpoints, we feel the readers can get a better perspective. We'll be adding more reader feedback as it comes in.
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I got in line to pre-register which opened late due to the last minute change in venue. But a cm was there to explain why there was a delay. There were plenty of registration tables and secondary tables to answer questions to answer questions after you go through the packet. This was handled very well IMHO. There was a CM at Rocket Rods to walk people over to the  back door by the Matterhorn (a nice example of foresight). The viewing was very efficient. SO efficient I'm not sure I understand how it works... but it did.

Our beverage reception was in Innoventions which was a blast. I don't like Innoventions but having the place to yourself and being able to get to know the CMs better was a fun experience. Cynthia and the 2001 Disneyland Resort Ambassador team showed up. I like these 3 individuals a lot. They appear to get it. Although this was a lot of time to spend in Innoventions being able to talk to other disneyphiles was a neat experience. There was also a huge line to get pressed pennies (those fools...they could have gotten them latter without waiting).

We then went to dinner at the Pizza Port. When it started to drizzle an amazing cm routed us through part of the space mountain queue to keep us all covered. We then had a scrumptious dinner which was appeared to be well organize for being the back up venue (although I learned latter some people had to wait quite a while to eat). They delayed the show half an hour because of the problems. But the cast at the Pizza Port was outstanding... they went far beyond the call of duty. So far that I'm going to tell City Hall.

The dinner set up at Pizza Port

As we walked along the its a small world promenade various Disney villains were there to greet us (in contrast to Sue's experience they did play villainous music when I experienced this). It was then time for the show.

The show could be characterized as a revue... and I felt that they put some energy in to it (although they did semi-recycle a bit from the mansion event which was cheap), but as I said I'm not really in to the Divas that much. At the finale Fauna, Flora, and Merriweather summon Cynthia [Harriss] and she sends us to Fantasyland with protective amulets to keep the villains from hurting us. At registration we got a punch card... the cast members punched the square that said amulet as we received one when we exited the theatre.

We then moved over to Fantasyland and got to experience the attractions. I don't feel as much thought was put in to this as there should have been. We each got a pin as we excited each attraction and they punched our cards. We also had a photo op where a cm would take a Polaroid of us with a villain. The desserts were hidden and that was unacceptable.

We were then ushered to the front of the castle we the divas put on another show (This was wonderful) I then went to Rocket Rods to pick up my stuff which I thought was going to be a nightmare but was once again handled very well. Then when we walked back to main street the double decker buses were waiting for us to take us back to town square... a nice other bit of foresight. We then received an Ursula pin and a beautiful Maleficent pin as they cut off our wristbands.

This is just my rambling. The one thing I want to get across was that all of the cast that I dealt with in regards to this event was absolutely wonderful. They went above the high standard that I expect from CMs...
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Thank you for the very detailed report. I think Sue did make some perceptive comments in her write up - especially in light of how much the event cost and how much everyone spent on merchandise - inclement weather not withstanding. In part two she'll focus a bit more on the rest of the things she felt that were done well - I'm sure you will appreciate her take on it.

It seems from what I can tell so far [I had to stay back here at MousePlanet to get this event all put up on site so quickly] that they could have done better - but it does appear the park has made significant progress since the Pirates disaster. Everyone like you, so far have felt the CMs did the best job they could under the circumstances.

While I think these kinds of things will probably always sell out, no matter now how folks feel about them [thanks to ebay I guess!] I got the real sense from all the e-mail I've been getting that Disneyland won't be seeing may of the people who went to the last two events return. They had a chance to hit a home run here - and well, it seems that they pretty much only got to first base, for lack of a better metaphor.

It isn't easy running a business like Disneyland - people do expect a lot. The hard part comes in always delivering the quality expected - which is even more difficult when you have folks at the very top who don't quite get it. Let's hope they are on the road back.