Mousefest 2004A Newbie's Eye ViewThursday, December 23, 2004
by Mark Goldhaber, staff writerWow! I'm writing this a week after Mousefest, and
I'm still amazed by everything. What am I amazed by? Let's run them down:
- Deb Wills, Jennifer and Dave Marx, and Deb Koma did an amazing job
organizing this event.
- All of the other web and guidebook folks are such genuinely nice people.
- It's astounding that so many people would take time out of their busy
Walt Disney World vacations—or, indeed, make a special trip—just
to meet us silly folks that write about Disney on the Internet and in
guidebooks.
- Mike Scopa knows everybody.
While Mike was MousePlanet's sole representative at Mousefest last year,
we descended in force this year. Seven MousePlanet representatives, along
with spouses, friends and children arrived at Walt Disney World to fly
the flag and meet the rest of the Disney community. And what a community
it was. 
The MousePlanet team poses in front of our table at the Mega Mouse Meet
(from left): Mike Scopa, Brian Bennett, Sheila Hagen, Lani Teshima (and
Stitch), Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, Mark Goldhaber. Photo by Carol Scopa.
The MousePlanet contingent included Brian Bennett and his wife, Barbara;
Sheila Hagen and her friend, Deb; Mike Scopa and his wife, Carol and daughter,
Holly; Lani Teshima; Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix; myself and my friend Mark. Representing the Disney Internet community at large were:
- AllEarsNet.com and ALL EARS Newsletter – Deb Wills, Debra Martin
Koma, Andrea "Anita Answer" McKenna, Dotti Saroufim, Cathy Bock and
Glo from Miami
- MagicalMountain.net – Nathan Rose
- Tagrel.com – Dave Card
- DisneyCentral.com – Scott Liljenquist
- TheMouseForLess.com (formerly DisneyDollarless) – Binnie Betten,
Pam Forrester and Linda Stockwell
- Mousesavers.com – Mary Waring
- JimHillMedia.com – Jim Hill
The Web site contingent. Front row (L-R): Nathan Rose, Mary Waring, Binnie
Betten, Pam Forrester, Deb Wills. Back row: Dave Card, Lani Teshima (and
Stitch), Mark Goldhaber, Sheila Hagen, Len Testa, Jim Hill, Mike Scopa.
Photo by Mark Leventhal.
The Disney guidebook community was no less represented, including:
- PassPorter WDW and PassPorter's Field Guide to the Disney
Cruise Line – Jennifer and Dave Marx and Allison Cerel Marx
(and baby Alexander, who is an absolute cutie)
- The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World – Bob Sehlinger
and Len Testa
- The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation and Hidden Mickeys:
A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets – Steven
M. Barrett, M.D.
- The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World – Cara Goldsbury
- The Walt Disney World Trivia Book – Louis Mongello
- The Other Orlando and Universal Orlando – Kelly
Monaghan
- Making Memories on Your Walt Disney World Vacation 2004 –
Josh Fippen and Dann Hazel
The guidebook authors. Front row (L-R): Cara Goldsbury, Lou Mongello,
Steven Barrett, Jennifer Marx, Allison Cerel Marx. Back row: Kelly Monaghan,
Josh Fippen, Dann Hazel, Bob Sehlinger, Dave Marx, Len Testa. Photo by
Mark Goldhaber.
And do you want to know something? They're all wonderful people to talk
to. Unfortunately, there was not nearly enough time to talk to everybody.
I'm hoping that we can schedule a lengthier Web/guidebook gathering next
year. But then, I'm getting ahead of myself. Since this was our first year doing Mousefest in force, we weren't really
certain what to expect, and so we did not set up any official events outside
of the big Mega Mouse Meet on Saturday. Instead, since we're so widely
dispersed geographically (from New Hampshire and New York to Florida to
Northern and Southern California) the MousePlanet gang started with a
Friday night gathering for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in order
to spend some time together getting better acquainted and reacquainted.
I'll have a separate story about the party next week, but it was great
meeting some folks again and meeting others for the first time. While watching the fireworks, we met up with Len Testa of the Unofficial
Guide (thanks to Mike, of course), and he accompanied us for a visit
to the Country Bears holiday show. When he left us, we met up with MousePlanet
readers Vicki and Steve, who accompanied us for the rest of the evening.
By the time we left well after midnight, most of us were bushed. Many
of us had just arrived that day, and it was starting to wear on us. 
Authors Steven Barrett and Lou Mongello confer over breakfast. Photo by
Mark Goldhaber.
We caught a short night's sleep and reconvened the next morning at the
webmaster/author breakfast at Tubbi's Buffeteria at the Dolphin by around
8:00. Everyone was excited with anticipation for the afternoon's meet.
I got to spend a good bit of time catching up with Brian Bennett. There
was a great deal of conversation, business card swapping, meeting and
greeting, and before we knew it, it was already 10:00 and time to go over
to the Swan to check out Ballroom 10 to start setting up for the big meet. 
Deb Wills and Dave Marx officially welcome the exhibitors. Photo by Mark
Goldhaber.
Once we arrived in the ballroom, Deb Wills (a very nice and energetic
person) gathered us for a chat. She thanked us all for coming and for
making the event such a success. She introduced Jennifer and Dave Marx
and Debra Martin Koma, the other major forces in bringing the event off.
We then took a big group photo before going to our respective tables to
set up. That task completed, everyone separated for various pursuits,
from small meets to eating lunch to catching short naps. Everybody returned to the ballroom by noon to get ready, and a crowd
was already starting to form outside. The greeters quickly met and prepared
to sign everybody in and get them into the ballroom while the rest of
us went in and prepared for the tide of people to roll in. I was impressed
to that so many people were there just waiting to get in to meet us. 
Nathan Rose, Lou Mongello, Steven Barrett, Binnie Betten and Kelly Monaghan
chat at the Intrepid Traveler Books table before the meet starts. Photo
by Mark Goldhaber.
A quick set of photos were taken of the Web folks and the guidebook folks
separately, and then the doors were opened and people began entering the
ballroom. And kept coming in. And kept coming in. I couldn't believe how
many people there were. Of course, I started getting a swelled head thinking that a lot of people
wanted to meet me. That got taken care of right off the bat. The
first person to come up to me asked, "Are you with MousePlanet?" When
I answered in the affirmative, his response was, "Where is Brian Bennett?
Is he here?" Yeah. Returned to my rightful place in the universe, I proceeded
to watch the people coming through and boggle at the crowds, chatting
with those that actually did want to talk to me. 
The first wave of guests begins to blanket the ballroom. Photo by Mark
Goldhaber.
All of the tables seemed to be busy, including the activity table for
children. Children were able to play with crayons, markers, Disney stickers,
bubbles and the like in a supervised environment while their parents were
off meeting and greeting everyone else. 
The children's activity table was a hit with the younger set. Photo by
Mark Goldhaber.
MousePlanet's table was located between those for PassPorter and the
Unofficial Guide. Combined with the small tables for people to
sit and chat that were located in the middle of the floor just in front
of our table, it made for a bit of a traffic jam that didn't let up for
the entire two hours of the Meet. 
The traffic jam in front of the MousePlanet table began early and did
not let up for the entire meet. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
Many people stopped by to try to win a limited-edition button for solving
our Mini-MouseAdventure, a tiny sample of MousePlanet's big semi-annual
event in California that's a combination of a puzzle contest, a scavenger
hunt and a trivia contest (link).
Others just collected the other three styles of buttons available. Without a doubt, Mike Scopa was the most familiar face of all MousePlanet
for the Mousefest returnees. People would come rushing over from another
part of the room to give him a hug. 
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix and Sheila Hagen practice their royal waves at
the MousePlanet table. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
At a couple of points during the afternoon, door prizes were drawn. The
first drawing just happened to be for a MousePlanet gift pack, and the
winner just happened to be a MousePlanet reader, Lisa, who is also a member
of our discussion forums. MousePlanet reader and discussion forum member
Teri also stopped by with her son, Mark, and it was a pleasure to chat
with them, as well. Mark was excited to see my name tag, and to note that
we had the same name. 
A great deal of quality merchandise was raffled off to the guests. Photo
by Mark Goldhaber.
All too soon, the crowd started dispersing, the tables were cleared,
and we were saying good-bye. I'm still awaiting a final count from Deb
Wills, but I think that it's safe to say that several hundred happy people
had made their way through the ballroom by the end of the day. 
Some of the hundreds of guests await a door prize drawing. Photo by Mark
Goldhaber.
The MousePlanet gang wasn't done for the day, though. After a wonderful
dinner at Boma, many of us reconvened at World Showcase Plaza at Epcot
to hang out and wait for Illuminations and the "new" holiday tag. Sitting
right up at the rail was nice, and Illuminations was great, as always.
Nothing could prepare us for the finale, however. The unbelievable barrage
of fireworks over the last minute left us with our mouths agape. Finally,
after the long day, exhaustion caught up with all of us, and it was time
to get some rest before resuming the next day. Mike went off to yet another
meet, to sing karaoke with some more people that he knows. 
Most of the MousePlanet contingent, after dinner at Boma. Front row (L-R):
Brian Bennett, Barbara Bennett, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, Sheila Hagen,
Lani Teshima (and Stitch), Mark Goldhaber, Mark Leventhal. Back row: Mike
Scopa, Jeff Moxley. Photo by Holly Scopa.
The next day, after spending the morning visiting attractions and wandering
around the Magic Kingdom with MousePlanet folks, I met Jim Hill for lunch
and decided to tag along on his Magic Kingdom tour. We ended up doing
a kind of Dueling Disney Dweebs show, going back and forth on Disney park
history. Then we were off for our next events, as I headed over to the Studios
to meet the remaining members of MousePlanet for a walk through the Osborne
Lights. While strolling back along the walkway from the Disney-MGM Studios
over to the BoardWalk, we ran into Jennifer and Dave Marx, who were out
for some quiet time together to view the lights. We had a pleasant conversation,
and then let the Marxes go as we headed to dinner at the Flying Fish Café.
After dinner, we watched Illuminations again from the bridge between the
BoardWalk and the Beach Club before returning to our vehicles and saying
good-bye. Next year's Mousefest is scheduled for December 2-8, 2005. The land portion
is scheduled for December 2-4, with a Disney Cruise December 4-8. The
MegaMouseMeet will be Saturday, December 3. It was wonderful to get to meet everyone and to finally be able to put
faces to names. I just wish that I was better prepared for everything
going on. Next year, I think that my personal schedule will change to
include more meets with other communities, and perhaps an extra MousePlanet
event or two. Yes, I have a feeling that MousePlanet will be arranging
additional meets outside of the big meet next year, though there's time
to work on that. For now, I'm just going to continue enjoying the buzz
that I got from this year's Mousefest. I hope to see everybody there next
year!
Thoughts, questions, or comments? Contact Mark here.
|
Mark is a veteran of many trips to Walt Disney World starting in 1972, with a few Disneyland trips also under his belt. He is also a Disney stockholder and a Disney Vacation Club member who collects Disney sericels, books, clothing, and just about any other thing with The Mouse on it that he can lay his hands on. Between visiting WDW, planning trips for himself and others, fantasizing about trips to WDW, and reading everything he can about Walt Disney and his legacy, there's not much time left for anything other than family time, but he's perfectly happy with that. Mark is a computer geek working for the State of New York. He lives in the suburbs outside Albany, New York, with his wife and son. Click here to contact Mark. 
|
