When I woke up on the morning of September 26th, I knew it was going to be a special day. Thanks to one of Disneyland Paris’ fan communities, InsidEars, I’d been fortunate enough to nab a spot at the “90 Years of Magic with Mickey” event. Here, we would attend several presentations, see a special show before it debuted to the public, have a magical breakfast, and maybe, just maybe get to see Mickey himself.
I arrived at Parc Disneyland before sunrise and met up with about 60 other Disney fans for the special program. We met outside of the Park by the fountains and then proceeded to the gates. We were given bright pink wristbands and released into the park. We took a casual stroll down a perfectly empty Main Street and headed toward the castle. All I knew is that when we got to the Castle we were going to take a group picture, but I didn’t know how amazing it was going to be.
Our very, very lucky group would be in a special picture with the Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald), and on top of that, we’d be making a giant number 90 to honor our favorite mouse. InsidEars had encouraged us to Disney Bound as Mickey and I didn’t have time to put together an appropriate outfit, so I opted for a hairstyle instead. We took several pictures, some posing, some clapping, some raising our hands in the air. It was so cold outside, but we were having a blast!
After our photo session, Mickey and the gang hung around and posed for us, and let us take so many selfies! It was such a rare opportunity and one that had me asking myself over and over again, “how did you get here?”
We then headed off for our first presentation and breakfast at The Lucky Nugget. Once inside, we were greeted with a generous continental breakfast buffet of mostly sweet items, including a whole slew of special Halloween treats. Coco cookies, Jack Skellington apples, and chocolate covered marshmallow ghost pops adorned the tables and I wanted to try everything! During breakfast, Cast Members shared some of the upcoming holiday events planned for the resort; new merchandise that will be available on shopDisney.fr; a new FastPass offering coming soon; and some other fun surprises for Mickey’s 90th-anniversary celebration.
After the announcements, the Fab Five joined us again and had fun goofing around and posing for pictures. We were already having such an amazing day and things had just gotten started. We headed to the Discoveryland Theatre where we had our next presentation. We also received park-hopper tickets and VIP FastPasses to use for the rest of the day. Then we had a two-hour break to play in the parks!
We returned to the Discoverland Theatre and met Disneyland Paris’ current Ambassador team, as well as the newly named Ambassadors for 2019-2020. They shared with us the process of becoming an Ambassador, their favorite memories as Cast Members, which characters they liked best, what roles they’ve held prior to their Ambassadorship, and more. I’ve always thought this role must be the best because it provides one with so many new, challenging, and exciting opportunities, all while representing Disney.
Don’t worry, we’re almost done! Our group had another hour of free time before our final events of the day, so I went and took pictures in Frontierland. Finally, it was time to head back to toward the Castle for the end of our program. We had reserved viewing for Disney Stars on Parade and the “pre-parade” before it. The “pre-parade” was Disneyland Paris’ new Ambassador team making their way along the parade route in one the Main Street vehicles. This was their first official appearance as Ambassadors. Then it was time for Disney Stars on Parade!
If you’ve read this far, thank you very much. Over the next few days, we’ll have a lot more on Mickey’s 90th birthday — so stay tuned!