Chat with the Chief Magic Official

[safetymom]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[TimothyTheLurker]

Hello! I promise to be back in soon with more pictures and a full update on all of the many incredible adventures from my most recent CMO journey. I couldn't resist the urge to post this picture right away, however. I friend of mine on facebook was in the Magic Kingdom on Friday and, so far, this is the only picture I've seen that caught the first moment I met Michael Phelps . . . (I'm in the blue shirt with my back to the camera)

You really are one lucky man. Thanks for the continued updates!

 

[BigTrain]

There are just a few more details to get to from the June Disneyland trip. Before I leave for today, however, here's another photo to share from the experience.


Late on Wednesday evening (after the most incredible fireworks viewing EVER - remind me to tell you about that sometime soon!) I had the chance to head to New Orleans Square again with one of the managers of the Dream Squad for Fantasmic! While there, we ran into (surprise, surprise!) someone from the DISboards! CalDisneyFamily (aka Wendy) and her son were in Disneyland that evening. I've known her as a part of several CMO related threads here and she is as passionate, knowledgeable, and delightful of a Disney fan as you'll ever meet.

SO, when searching for a special treat to end the evening, we were able to secure some pretty amazing spots for them (and us) to watch Fantasmic! We headed up toward the Dream Suite, hung a left, and emerged on a balcony immediately adjacent to the balcony of the Dream Suite. With thousands of people spread out on the streets of New Orleans Square and along the Rivers of America, we had a completely unobstructed (and pretty amazing!) view of the whole production.

I'm really glad I was able to share that with other Disney fans - - - especially from the DISboards! (just goes to show you never know when something magical may come your way!)

Here we are after Fantasmic!

Great job Justin. Enjoy reading your posts.

By the way, after seeing your blooper film and looking at the picture above, THIS is the guy you remind me of - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/hosts_celebrity_chefs/article/0,1974,FOOD_9889_1847176_,00.html

He (like you) is funny, very positive, and always has a smile on his face. Very good qualities! Keep up the good work.

 

[Wingedheart]

WOW! What a wonderful treat to meet Michael Phelps!!

We missed seeing him and you - Justin - by ONE DAY! We were at the MK on Thursday and at Epcot on Friday I was so bummed when I found out!

But we had an AWESOME parents-only trip. We didn't see the Dream Team once in our five days, but we made our own magic! We even witnessed a proposal literally right in front of us at the end of Wishes!

It sounds like you had a great time at the World too! Just sorry we missed seeing Mr. Swimming and you!

Take care,
Wings

 

[Justin M]

Great job Justin. Enjoy reading your posts.

By the way, after seeing your blooper film and looking at the picture above, THIS is the guy you remind me of - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/hosts_celebrity_chefs/article/0,1974,FOOD_9889_1847176_,00.html

He (like you) is funny, very positive, and always has a smile on his face. Very good qualities! Keep up the good work.

Wow! That is quite a compliment. Thanks!

 

[Justin M]

If you are a 'facebook' user, I have most of pictures uploaded into a couple of albums on my page there. I will work on getting them posted here with all of the details from my most recent adventure. Be sure to come back and check them out!

Also, if you are on 'facebook' - become a "fan" of Michael Phelps and check out his page. Just search for 'Michael Phelps' and his page should be the first one to pop up (yeah, the one with over 1.5 million fans!). He posted a few pictures from his time in Walt Disney World, and I even make an appearance in a couple of his!

See you all soon!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Wow! What a great job you have!!!! I have enjoyed reading about your many adventures! We are heading back to Disney in November and will keep our eyes open for you any chance you will be there then? What a dream come true this job must be soooooo much fun! By the way love the pics of you and your sisters!

 

[Marshay]

Hello! I promise to be back in soon with more pictures and a full update on all of the many incredible adventures from my most recent CMO journey. I couldn't resist the urge to post this picture right away, however. I friend of mine on facebook was in the Magic Kingdom on Friday and, so far, this is the only picture I've seen that caught the first moment I met Michael Phelps . . . (I'm in the blue shirt with my back to the camera)

So cool Justin!! I'm so happy to hear of your adventures and that you are doing the world proud (DIS, Disney and just those of us who love Disney)!

 

[Justin M]

Justin any chance you will be going to WDW in January for the opening of American Idol Attraction?? Our next trip will be the end of January.

My trips for that time fram are still up in the air, but I'm really hoping to be able to do something associate with the American Idol Experience early in 2009. I'll let you know as soon as I know for sure, but as of now I don't think I'll be in Walt Disney World in January . . .

Justin - thanks for keeping us up"dis"nated on your travels. are you heading back to WDW for MNSSHP???

Thanks for checking in! I'm glad you are following along. I tentatively have another trip scheduled for later in September and I'm optimistic that I'll have a chance to finally see (and maybe be a part of) Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. I can't wait!

Too cool! It sounds like you had a lot of great experiences! I can't wait to hear all the details!

Thanks Kimberly! As always, my trip to Walt Disney World was amazing. Then again, I've never had a bad trip to a Disney Park! This one was particularly incredible, though! Pictures and stories coming very soon!

 

[Justin M]

Oooh, I can't wait to hear about your adventures. I'm heading down to Walt Disney World Sept 23-28 for a conference, and my wife is going to join me for an adults only weekend. We plan on eating at the food and wine festival, and I'm going to run in the Expedition Everest Challenge. If you happen to be there during that time, I'll be sure to be on the lookout for you.

Wonderful! I'm sure you and your wife will have an amazing time! Congrats on running in the Expedition Everest Challenge - - that's great! I'll have to keep you posted, but a late September trip is certainly a possibility at this point!

My daughter and I got to meet Justin today at MK. She saw him and yelled his name. He was there for the Michael Phelps parade. My daughter was thrilled she got to meet Justin. If you scroll to the bottom you can see the pictures of Justin. He is very very nice in person.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2008/08/29/michael-phelps-disney-world-parade/#more-445

Thank you so much for posting the pictures and for your kind words. It was wonderful meeting you and your daughter! Hopefully we'll have that chance again soon!

How cool you two got to meet Justin! Nice pics!! And wow, that parade for Michael Phelps looks like it was awesome, such great pics!!!!!!!

Thanks for always checking in here . . . it's great to hear from you! The parade with Michael Phelps was pretty amazing! I'll be posting some of my pictures from the event here eventually, so you'll have to come back and check them out too!

You can see a few shots of Justin at 6:19 in this video from Ricky Brigante (Inside the Magic podcast)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Kt16iEJH8&fmt=18

You can also see Duncan Wardle (Sr. VP of Global PR for Disney Parks) walking with Michael at 6:02 - 6:13. If you love Disney books, you might recall a story about Duncan in Charles Ridgeway's "Spinning Disney's World".

Thanks for linking to that video . . . that was the first I'd seen it! (Nice catch on Duncan as well!)

 

[Justin M]

Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome!

You really are one lucky man. Thanks for the continued updates!

No problem, Timothy! Thanks for stopping by! You know you have always been a big part of this experience for me!

Great job Justin. Enjoy reading your posts.

By the way, after seeing your blooper film and looking at the picture above, THIS is the guy you remind me of - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/hosts_celebrity_chefs/article/0,1974,FOOD_9889_1847176_,00.html

He (like you) is funny, very positive, and always has a smile on his face. Very good qualities! Keep up the good work.

Thanks again for that comparison! That really is quite the compliment. I'll have to check out his show sometime! (the other comparison I've gotten is to Jared the Subway spokesperson who lost all of that weight. Not that he isn't a wonderful guy and all, but I much prefer who you thought of!)

WOW! What a wonderful treat to meet Michael Phelps!!

We missed seeing him and you - Justin - by ONE DAY! We were at the MK on Thursday and at Epcot on Friday I was so bummed when I found out!

But we had an AWESOME parents-only trip. We didn't see the Dream Team once in our five days, but we made our own magic! We even witnessed a proposal literally right in front of us at the end of Wishes!

It sounds like you had a great time at the World too! Just sorry we missed seeing Mr. Swimming and you!

Take care,
Wings

Wow! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip! I'm glad to hear you "made your own magic"! That is always the best way to do it! The proposal must have been pretty magical as well (I'm assuming she said "yes"?)

Hopefully I'll catch you in the parks another time! Thanks for checking in!

Wow! What a great job you have!!!! I have enjoyed reading about your many adventures! We are heading back to Disney in November and will keep our eyes open for you any chance you will be there then? What a dream come true this job must be soooooo much fun! By the way love the pics of you and your sisters!

Thanks! You're right, my job is pretty incredible! Thank you so much for following along and reading about my crazy journeys as CMO. I'm not sure about the schedule for November yet, but I'll keep you posted! Check back here and at www.dreamCMO.com for more details about my schedule as they become available!

So cool Justin!! I'm so happy to hear of your adventures and that you are doing the world proud (DIS, Disney and just those of us who love Disney)!

MARSHAY!!! Thanks for popping in again! I always love hearing from people who have been a part of this from the very beginning! Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad that I am making you proud. I hope you enjoy reading about what I'm up to and checking out the pictures . . . everyone from my original DIS "family" holds such a special place in my heart!

 

[DSNY4ever]

Wow Justin that is so cool that you got to meet Michael Phelps. It looked like the little parade that they did for him was pretty neat! I am quite jealous, but glad to see that the CMO position has been such an amazing experience for you- pretty awesome!

 

[Justin M]

SO, before I can get to all the juicy details about this latest trip to Walt Disney World, I want to post a few pictures from another wonderful Disney adventure I had as CMO.


In the middle of July I was invited to attend a really magical conference for Disney fans of all ages located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania (just outside of the state capitol of Harrisburg) called MagicMeets. I had the chance to meet over 500 Disney fans, here some great speakers, share a lot of laughs and memories, lead a breakout session about my time as CMO, talk with the guys from the WDW Today podcast as well as Lou Mongello from the WDW Radio podcast, and meet a team of wonderful people who helped to raise $20,000 in just a few hours for the Make-a-Wish foundation!

It was a very inspirational day and even though it wasn't at one of the Disney Parks, it is still a highlight of my time thus far as Chief Magic Official.

 

[Justin M]

Here are just a few photos of the wonderful friends I met and the really neat experiences I had at "Magic Meets 2008"

 

[Justin M]

 

[MOM POPPINS]

NIce photos.. I really enjoy hearing about your adventures!

 

[Justin M]

This really was a neat, very unexpected, experience for me, so I hope you don't mind me sharing a few more photos. I can't tell you how wonderful everyone at Magic Meets was!

(The main ballroom . . . 550 Disney fans and the event sold out in just 38 hours!)

(my breakout session)

(Mid-interview with Lou Mongello of the WDW Radio Show podcast and author of the two volumes of the Walt Disney World trivia books. You can also find him at DisneyWorldTrivia.com. Great guy!)

(okay, I look a little scary here, but it was exciting! I was revealing to the entire audience of over 500 people the grand total from all the fund-raising efforts - - including an amazing auction - - of $20,000 raised that day for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Incredible!)

 

[Justin M]

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming . . .

From August 27th - 30th I was back in Walt Disney World for four days packed full with incredible experiences. I can't figure out how each trip seems to be more exciting than the last, other than to attribute it to that wonderful Disney magic! Every time I set foot in a Disney Park as CMO I am overwhelmed and humbled by both the excitement of being a part of the Cast and the responsibility I have to help make our guests visits even more magical. It truly is an honor and a joy!

For this trip, I was staying at the Boardwalk . . . yet another stunning Disney Resort! I can't speak highly enough about the accommodations here - everything was spectacular!

 

[Justin M]

Back with more photos and adventures in the morning . . . when hopefully my computer will decide to run a little faster!

 

[robinc71]

Wow have you ever been busy. It was so nice that you were able to go to the meet in Camp Hill. Do you know when yet you will be in WDW This month. We're heading out in 13 days and come home on the 28th. We really love hearing of your adventures. Thanks for always taking the time to respond to us. You truly seem to be fully enjoying your CMO experience. Hope to get to meet you later this month. Robin