Chat with the Chief Magic Official

[rebecca06261]

That's great! What did the army men play??? That would be awesome watching little green army men parachuting into the lake

 

[labdogs42]

I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if this has come up, but I just heard that Justin will be at Magic Meets! I can't wait to see you there! I'll be there with my DH and DS (see picture below). I can't wait to meet the CMO!!

 

[Trentmom]

Hi there

I heard you just went to Disneyland and had to come and see all of your pictures and all of your reviews

I am really enjoying it so far

Disneyland looks so amazing as does California Adventure

Just looking at your pictures, is really making me want to get there.

Since It would be a 5 hr plane ride and I have a 4 yr old(who always seems to have ants in his pants ), it will probably have to wait a few years.

But still, I am really getting excited


So tell me, did you have time to prep for your interviews? That would make me so nervous


How awesome you got to meet John Lasseter? He is amazing, as you know!!!


I love the Pixar Parade pictures!!!! Looks so awesome.


Can you tell me how space mountain is different from the one In MK?

I think that is it



for now

 

[Trentmom]

That was awesome about green army men parachuting in!!!!


Looks like are having a blast!!!


After your first night there on your own, did you get to go on a lot of rides while working?

 

[Justin M]

Cool pictures Justin. I hope by including the nasa.gov link that folks will have their kids check out Buzz in space, and then our real space team.



DisGal

Thanks DisGal. I hope so too. Col. Kelly was a fascinating man and if it was possible he managed to increase my respect and admiration for our astronauts. NASA has some big plans for the short and long term future including a return to the moon. Check out www.nasa.gov for details on all of that and on Buzz's adventures to infinity and beyond!

 

[Justin M]

That's great! What did the army men play??? That would be awesome watching little green army men parachuting into the lake

They played and sang a military sounding roll call of sorts, but it was very entertaining!

I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if this has come up, but I just heard that Justin will be at Magic Meets! I can't wait to see you there! I'll be there with my DH and DS (see picture below). I can't wait to meet the CMO!!

Thanks! I can't wait to meet you and your family. Yes, it is true that I'll be at Magic Meets in Central PA in just a few weeks. Please don't be a stranger!

 

[rebecca06261]

Forgive me, what are Magic Meets??

 

[Justin M]

Hi there

I heard you just went to Disneyland and had to come and see all of your pictures and all of your reviews

I am really enjoying it so far

Disneyland looks so amazing as does California Adventure

Just looking at your pictures, is really making me want to get there.

Since It would be a 5 hr plane ride and I have a 4 yr old(who always seems to have ants in his pants ), it will probably have to wait a few years.

But still, I am really getting excited


So tell me, did you have time to prep for your interviews? That would make me so nervous


How awesome you got to meet John Lasseter? He is amazing, as you know!!!


I love the Pixar Parade pictures!!!! Looks so awesome.


Can you tell me how space mountain is different from the one In MK?

I think that is it



for now

Thanks for checking in! I'm glad you are enjoying the updates. The plane ride may be tough for your 4 year old, but I do hope you get the chance to get out to Disneyland at some point. I had a wonderful time and I know that the plans in store for Disney's California Adventure over the next 4 or 5 years are only going to make the entire resort more incredible.

As for the interviews . . . I have been trained in media relations by Disney (we did that on my first trip back in May) and I get briefings before each trip so that I can familiarize myself with the big events for the week. The Disney team that I work with is incredible and they always make sure I am well prepared. Fortunately, one of the most common questions I get is "So, what's a CMO?" and that allows me to tell my story and talk about the Year of a Million Dreams - both of which I could talk about for hours!

I'm going to need to ride Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom on my next visit in order to tell you all the similarities and differences. The primary difference is that there is only one track in Disneyland, not two. The ride (since it's been updated recently) was darker, had a better (more audible) soundtrack, and seemed to be just a tad longer. It was a lot of fun. I still love the one in WDW, but I really did enjoy the Disneyland version as well!

 

[Justin M]

That was awesome about green army men parachuting in!!!!


Looks like are having a blast!!!


After your first night there on your own, did you get to go on a lot of rides while working?

I don't often have the chance to ride the rides while working. I did manage to get onto Indiana Jones before my trip was over, but when I'm working it is my goal to make sure everyone else is having a great time!

 

[Justin M]

Forgive me, what are Magic Meets??

This might be a question that someone else (who has been there before) can answer a little more clearly. You can check out www.magicmeets.com for more information. The short version is that it is a conference - a meet and greet if you will - for two or three days at a hotel conference center near Harrisburg, PA that will have 600 or so Disney fans and several speakers sharing their stories, checking out memorabilia, and raising money for a great charity.

 

[Justin M]

Back to the photos for a bit . . .

I had the chance to meet many of the second grade students who were on hand for the ceremony and to meet Col. Kelly. Here's a picture of us having fun after they rode Toy Story Mania and before they had to head back to their bus . . .

And, just for the fun of it, here is a photo that Karen (my guest services guide) took for me at the stage where the Toy Story Mania event took place.

 

[Justin M]

After the big event, the Disney folks had one more suprise treat in store for me. I was able to attend a special luncheon at Napa Rose (the best restaurant at Disneyland!) where a very small number of us would have the chance to get to know Col. Kelly, Dr. Winterton, and the rest of the team from NASA that they brought along.


Here I am after eating a fantastic lunch with an astronaut!

And here is a picture of the group of us that had lunch together. It included 6 people from NASA and 6 other cast members. One of the many great things that I had the chance to learn about is that Disney currently has a program called "Magic Backstage" which is essentially the Year of a Million Dreams for their Cast Members. They go out of their way to try and take care of their cast and several departments were able to nominate someone to have the chance to meet Col. Kelly and take a couple of hours out of their day to join us for lunch. Truly a very cool thing!

 

[Trentmom]

Thanks for checking in! I'm glad you are enjoying the updates. The plane ride may be tough for your 4 year old, but I do hope you get the chance to get out to Disneyland at some point. I had a wonderful time and I know that the plans in store for Disney's California Adventure over the next 4 or 5 years are only going to make the entire resort more incredible.

As for the interviews . . . I have been trained in media relations by Disney (we did that on my first trip back in May) and I get briefings before each trip so that I can familiarize myself with the big events for the week. The Disney team that I work with is incredible and they always make sure I am well prepared. Fortunately, one of the most common questions I get is "So, what's a CMO?" and that allows me to tell my story and talk about the Year of a Million Dreams - both of which I could talk about for hours!

I'm going to need to ride Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom on my next visit in order to tell you all the similarities and differences. The primary difference is that there is only one track in Disneyland, not two. The ride (since it's been updated recently) was darker, had a better (more audible) soundtrack, and seemed to be just a tad longer. It was a lot of fun. I still love the one in WDW, but I really did enjoy the Disneyland version as well!

I can not wait to see what is coming next for DL

Just being darker and longer sounds good to me

That is great you are prepped ahead of time and trained in media relations

Looks like an exciting time you are having so far

I don't often have the chance to ride the rides while working. I did manage to get onto Indiana Jones before my trip was over, but when I'm working it is my goal to make sure everyone else is having a great time!

Great answer

The Indiana jones looks really cool there

Back to the photos for a bit . . .

I had the chance to meet many of the second grade students who were on hand for the ceremony and to meet Col. Kelly. Here's a picture of us having fun after they rode Toy Story Mania and before they had to head back to their bus . . .

And, just for the fun of it, here is a photo that Karen (my guest services guide) took for me at the stage where the Toy Story Mania event took place.

That last picture is a riot

Love how she made it look like you were wearing ears

 

[Justin M]

On Wednesday (day 3 of this trip) I had the chance to meet and spend some great time with the Dream Squad in Disneyland. This day - as usual - was packed full of fun and exciting adventures for me. Sadly I need to crash for the night and prepare for another long week at work, so I'll post this picture and then probably call it a night.

This is most of the members of the Dream Squad inside the Dream Suite in Disneyland. I'll tell you all about it and the rest of my day soon!

 

[DoOverDreams]

Justin, you just have the biggest smile on your face all the time! You must be having the time of your life. Thanks for posting these stories and pictures. I'm smiling just reading and seeing the pictures.

Darn, I didn't know about MagicMeets until your post. Since DH and I live in the Pittsburgh area we could have driven there. Bummer, registration is closed. So I'll wait to read all about it from your posts and live vicariously through you!

Hey, you're not going to be in WDW for July 4th by any chance, are you?

 

[DisGal520]

Justin -
I kept having the feeling you look like someone else. Then it hit me. Does anyone ever mention that you resemble Jared Fogle the Subway sandwich chain spokesman?



DisGal

 

[Married_Him_@_Disney]

Great thread Justin! Thanks for posting the pictures from your adventures!!

Waiting for more!

 

[aPiratesLife4Me]

Wow, such great photos!! I'm so enjoying all the details of your trip!! I have to ask, were you totally exhausted by the time you returned home? It looks like you did SO much!!!

 

[Justin M]

Thanks for the questions and the great feedback guys! I'll try to get back on later tonight (or early in the day tomorrow) to continue the updates and get to some of the questions!

Thanks for reading and following along. Happy Fourth of July!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I can't wait to read your stories, I'm from PA also, kind of inbetween Central and Eastern PA.