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The show opened with an original song and score by Bruce Healey, (Fantasmic, Light Magic, Eureka!, Believe, as well as the music for basically all park entertainment in the last decade or so), called "Making a Movie", setting the theme of the whole show. A live orchestra, also conducted by Bruce Healey, provided the soundtrack for a 20 minute montage of Disney movie highlights. Lesley Ann Warren, (The Happiest Millionaire), was introduced as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening, and spoke a bit about making movies. There was a short skit about sound effects in movies, and Paige O'Hara, (voice of Belle) and Robby Benson, (voice of Beast) were introduced. They performed a duet, and then each told stories and performed solos.

Jo Anne Worley, (The Shaggy DA; voice of the wardrobe in Beauty and the Beast) talked about costumes in movies and joked about her famous reputation for stealing them for her private collection. Perhaps it wasn't a joke-we heard rumors that show staffers were on notice to make sure no costumes left the theater after the show. The Disney Studio had provided original costumes from Disney movies like 101 Dalmatians and Hocus Pocus, as well as the Davy Crockett TV series, for a fashion show sequence, and they were serious about getting them back. Lesley Ann Warren reclaimed the stage in her "Biddle Bible" sweater from the Happiest Millionaire, and proudly announced that it "still fit".

Guests dined under strands of twinkling lights, and danced to live music.

Jodi Benson, (voice of Ariel), shared a story with the audience and performed a solo, leading into another montage and orchestral piece and then final dance number. The show closed with an array of thirty characters, including a walk-around Sebastian, waving good-bye. ConventionEars raved about the show the day after, making us wish we had tried to sneak into the theater after all. But the night still held more surprises for the guests.

The award for best supporting role in a dessert goes to...

Dinner was served in the Hollywood Pictures backlot, under the balmy Southern California sky. Strands of light stretched over the tables and dripped from the trees, making the whole area feel magical. Live musicians kept guests entertained, and provided music for dancing later that evening. Some convention vets said that the food was not as good as that served at prior conventions, but no one complained about dessert. For the choreographed "dessert moment", each guest was presented with a chocolate "Mousecar" statue, served amid a plate of fruit and cake. As guests went back to their rooms that night, the realization hit them - the convention was almost over.

Almost, for Saturday was Public Day, when the doors of the Disneyana Convention were thrown open to world. Guests paid $10 each for the chance to buy Public Day merchandise, and shop the picked- over remains of the Limited Edition sale, Logo Store and Walt's Garage. ConventionEars had the morning to themselves, though, and item limits were largely removed so they could buy whatever extra items they wanted.

The line of guests waiting for Public Day to officially begin.

Public Day guests began to line up at 10 am to trade their event tickets for the wristbands that would give them access to the different shopping venues. When the event officially opened at 1 pm, the crowd filled the center ballrooms. The line just to get a wristband wrapped out the door, out of the hotel, and around the corner of the building. At 1:30, the line to get a wristband was 90 minutes long - and that didn't count the lines you would face once you had the coveted piece of blue plastic. At 3 pm, ticket sales had been ended for the day, when the convention reached it's goal of 3,000 public day guests.

We joined the line at about 11 am, and found ourselves about 500 people from the front. Confusion reigned about how the shoppers were to be organized. As we understood it, there would be merchandise available in three different venues. Disneyana Convention merchandise was offered in the Logo Store, Limited Editions and Public Day items in the Limited Edition area, and Walt's Garage was waiting downstairs. Would all of the rooms open at the same time? Were there limits on any of the merchandise? What if I were the first person in line, and I wanted items from all three rooms - did I have to decide which room I wanted to visit first?

The line snaked around the back of the hotel convention center.

As it turned out, that was exactly what guests had to do. About 30 minutes before the venues opened, event staffers made an announcement about individual limits on the public day merchandise, and told the waiting crowd that they had their choice of three venues. Groups of 50 guests would be allowed to enter the convention area at a time, and they could proceed directly to whatever location they wanted to shop first. Once they finished there, they were welcome to go to the other two locations and keep shopping.

The first stop for most guests was the public day merchandise and the remaining limited edition items. A board was posted outside the LE room, to keep everyone informed as items sold out. Many guests were disappointed to find that the one or two items they had really wanted were already sold out, but there were plenty of treasures still to be had.

Guests who arrived too late were greeted with this sign

Walt's Garage was the next stop on our tour, and I was surprised to find that more items were added to the sale since the last time I had gone down there. Perhaps in honor of the closing of the Country Bear Jamboree, the remaining Country Bear plush had been piled on tables and was selling fast. The remaining Artist's Choice pins from the convention were offered, one per guest please, along with a sneak preview of coming Disneyland pin releases. Upstairs, guests could still buy some of the Disneyana Convention logo items. Cast Members were really pushing the leather jackets, but many items were only available in limited sizes.

Public Day guests were also allowed to visit the Company Showcase and the Antique and Collectibles Show, as well as the Artist's Showcase. In fact, the $10 admission price was gladly paid by some guests who had no intention of buying a thing. One guest I talked to said that her biggest thrill was meeting the woman, (Disney artist Terri Hardin), who designed her much-loved Maleficent sculpture from last year's Villains Enchanted Evening. Another said that all of the free pins he collected from the booths at the Company Showcase were well worth the price of admission. There you have it - something for everyone.

Country Bears plush were offered for sale again during the final weekend of the Disneyland show

As we left public day around 3:00, we passed a line of guests who were still waiting just to get in. But later that evening, as the crowds went home, we found that there were still some great buys to be had. I made another swing through Walt's Garage, and picked up some additional Disneyland hotel prints. At $5, who could blame me? Limits on the pins had been raised, so I took home two more of the "Happy Everything" preview pin. My friends made some additional selections, and we went back up to the Logo Store to see what was still available.

We were able to pick up additional pins, posters and bean bag plush just 30 minutes before the event closed. Instead of halting ticket sales, the event planners should have just encouraged those they turned away to come back at 6 pm. There was plenty left for everyone. That's my suggestion for future public days - come early, or come late. Because if you come at the advertised start time, you'll have to wait in lines like Sue did.

Sue shares her experience with Public Day below:

Adrienne gave you the real low-down on what public day at the Disneyana convention was like. She's the "real" shopper of the two of us (unless you're talking antiques). I'm here to give you the novice opinion of this portion of the event.

So, what does someone who, a) doesn't like, collect, or want pins, b) doesn't wear, want or need Disney-themed clothing (unless it's Nightmare before Christmas or the occasional Maleficent jacket), c) doesn't want snow globes, Disney artwork, figurines or plush, do at an event that is largely one big buy-me-now festival?

Disney Artist Stacia Martin awarded her sketches to guests who could answer her trivia questions

Well, Dear Readers, I wondered that too and I wasn't too keen on attending public day. I figured that rabid Disney fans (no letters please, I mean that kindly, as I can be as rabid as the next person when the subject matter is right) would line up at the crack of dawn just to be the first in the door. I'm not good at standing in line. I'm even worse at the early morning thing. Over the course of convention, the only thing I saw that I wanted to buy was one of Disneyland's old parking lot signs. I figured if I didn't join the crack-of-dawn crowd, my chances of buying a parking lot sign were slim to none. As I said, early morning, wait in line... no. And since I had spent most of the week at the convention, my thinking was that I had seen everything and didn't need to see anything more.

I was wrong.

I do have to admit my spirit of adventure was squashed when my two friends and I sauntered up to the entrance around 1 PM. Since the show was to open to the public at one, I reasoned that most of the early- birds would be inside and I wouldn't have to wait too long to get in. Wrong again. The line went to infinity (and beyond). "Well, that's it then," I thought, "we'll never get in and when we do, everything will be gone, so what's the point of standing in line?"

Piles of merchandise, waiting to be shipped home to happy shoppers.

I could go off in a long-winded tangent here and describe every little detail, but suffice it to say that I did get in. I whiled away the time with my friends sitting in what the Disneyland hotel passes off as a lobby. We enjoyed some riveting conversation and some fine people watching. Then we headed for the entrance of the sale and found the line to be... gone. The fine Disney folks were very organized and managed to speed the voluminous crowd through in record time. And since there were several venues to explore for Public Day, no one venue was so overwhelmed with lines to get in that it was unpleasant.

It was a nice surprise that we were able to get into every room to see what was offered, were able to buy everything we wanted (as long as the pocketbooks held out) and even got to talk to some of the Disney artists like Terri Hardin, Eric Robison, and Elisabete Gomes. We got our pictures taken with one of the skeleton reindeer that will be used to dress up the Haunted Mansion for the holidays and ran into an old friend. It was an entirely pleasant experience and cynical- shopper me would not hesitate to repeat it again, given the opportunity.

Did I get that parking lot sign? Well, let's just say that if you come to my house, you will be directed to park in Bambi.

Unfortunately, you may never get to attend another convention like this. At least not next year. ConventionEars learned Saturday morning that the next gathering would be a smaller, merchandise-based event to be held August 22 - 24th, 2002 in Epcot's transformed Millennium Village. What little information there is about this event, called the "2002 Official Disneyana Mystery", suggests that the two night, three day event will only have one party and no public day. The Disneyana Discoveries, seminars and special opportunities will be severely curtailed, and it was even suggested that the traditional auction will be scrapped.

ConventionEars posting to the Official Disneyana discussion boards said they were stunned by this announcement, and are protesting the change. Some say that the convention had to be moved because another group was booked into the Convention Center at the Contemporary Resort, where Disneyana is usually held. Others believe that the event was becoming too large for Disney, and did not generate enough profit. Concerns about the cost of the event for guests, especially in the face of a slowing economy, were also cited. But the majority of the guests who posted to the boards, and who have written to me, say that they don't want the convention to be reduced so dramatically.

The official Disney Host of the discussion boards told concerned guests to "stay tuned" for an announcement about the next convention. Guests are hoping that this statement means that planners are still open to suggestions, and that the event won't turn into the 3-day buying frenzy that seems likely.

For questions or more information about the 2002 Official Disneyana Mystery, please call Walt Disney Event Services at (407) 827-7600; fax (407) 566-1387; or e-mail WDW.Disneyana.Convention@Disney.com.

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Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix is the super-shopper behind MouseShoppe, your personal and unofficial shopping service for the Disneyland Resort, and the owner of CharmingShoppe, a Disney collectibles store located in Anaheim.

In addition to scouring the park to find you the latest and greatest merchandise, she keeps you updated on all of the merchandise events happening in the parks.

If you want to talk to her about this column, merchandise, or events, contact her here.

Visit our other shopping service, MouseMemories.com.

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