Canadian Disney Meet and Greet!!

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend I got to realize a dream.  One that I have had for awhile now.  No, the powers that be did not call me up and say a mistake had been made and I actually was, finally, on the Disney Moms Panel. 🙂  Although something eerily similar to that happened a couple of years ago, but that is for another time…  That dream lives on, hopefully to be fulfilled in 2014 or 2015 or 2016…  However, the dream I realized last weekend was equally important to me and *surprise* it had to do with Disney, LOL!  As anyone who knows me can attest, Disney is never far from my thoughts. °O°

 

 

 

 

Last weekend the first official Canadian Disney Meet and Greet occurred!  It has no official title, but we could have also called it the first official Canadian Mickey Moms Club Meet and Greet because we are all members of that very special club.  This club, MMC, has been around for several years now, since the inception of the Disney Moms Panel actually.  Individuals who were not chosen for the panel were invited to be a part of this club and it showed a lot of promise in the beginning.  Sadly, not much has happened on the MMC site itself lately, but all is not lost! Facebook is a great way to communicate with people all over the world and that is just what the members of the Mickey Moms Club Super Group use it for.  There are over 500 of us now, from all over the world!  Fans who love Disney just as much as the next guy or gal.

 

 

 

 

 

So, with all of these on line friends, we decided to meet!  Being from Canada many of us do not get to travel to Florida to the special meets that happen there from time to time, so we decided it was high time we made our own official Canadian meet!  Our numbers are a lot smaller than you might think, but once the word went out many of the MMCSG members expressed an interest and we got lots of support from our friends to the south. 🙂  A date was chosen to get the ball rolling, Saturday, November 17th 2012 and the time was 11am.  The location?  Naturally it was a Disney Store and this one is in the Square One Mall in Mississauga, Ontario.  Fortunately for me that mall is not far from home and I am very familiar with it.  Such was not the case for a few of our members and they had to travel a lot farther.  It speaks volumes to me just how far people are willing to travel for their passion and to meet other like minded friends.  Makes me all warm and fuzzy. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although we had a dozen or so members express interest in attending ( even a couple from just over the border!!), in the end there was to be seven moms and six of their kids.  These awesome ladies are; Lisa and her daughter Victoria, Corinne and her daughter Chloe, Michelle and daughter Sarah, MaryBeth and daughter Katie, Kirsten and her daughter Maddie, Jackie and myself Suzanne and my daughter Emily.  Unfortunately MaryBeth became ill and could not join us, so we were eleven in total that beautiful Saturday. 🙂  We missed MaryBeth and Katie and hope to meet up in the new year.  In the meantime our group met out front of the Disney Store and gabbed for about an hour.  We took photos and there was even some hugging going on. 🙂 It was very special. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

We took our little show to a local restaurant where I had made a reservation for lunch.  Appropriately the restaurant was called Earl’s.  I know some of you know the significance of that, LOL.  The next THREE hours flew by as we compared stories, shared memories and laughs, ate and even got a little treat!  It was wonderful!  One of our esteemed moms is Kirsten and she is on the Disney Moms Panel.  Kirsten gave us all her awesome business card and patiently answered all of our questions.  She was a true gem and her love and passion for Disney were so evident.  It was wonderful to meet Kirsten and her daughter Maddie.  As many of us can attest, you feel like you know each other already, especially because we have shared the heartbreaking journey of applying for the panel together, but to sit and talk face to face, well, it was like a reunion of sorts. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learned so much about each of these wonderful ladies that day.  I got to see firsthand the lovely children they are raising.  I got to see Lisa’s amazing tattoos, lovingly done by her hubby!  I got to hear about Michelle’s soon to be Mickey’s Garden Villa.  Corinne and I learned how much we have in common in our careers and it was sweet how well her daughter Chloe and my Emily got along. 🙂  I was over the moon to meet Jackie!  We have been on line friends for awhile now and have a special connection.  Thrilled does not describe how great it was to finally hug Jackie. 🙂  Our Canadian Mickey Moms Club Meet and Greet was a success!!  I can’t wait for the next one, when hopefully MaryBeth is able to make it ( she has a three hour drive!) and also our newest Canadian Moms Panelist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day was made extra special because of a little bit of pixie dust Emily and I were able to sprinkle.  Once we had a date confirmed for our meet I sent an email to none other than the Pink Princess herself, Ms. Laura Spencer!  Laura is the Social Media Manager for Disney Destinations and the chief cook and bottle washer with the Disney Moms Panel!  I have had the pleasure of chatting with Laura once before, a couple of years ago, but I was not sure what to expect when I emailed her.  You see I outright asked her if she had some MMC swag she would send to us for our Canadian meet.  As gracious as a princess she replied “sure!”  I was so excited!!  There was a bit of a mix up with the delivery, but in the end Laura came through and sent us a few things.  Emily and I were able to give each of the ladies and their girls a pink bag with the MMC logo on it, a MMC mini photo album, a MMC Super Grabber and a MMC car magnet!  We added a little baggie of treats that were reminiscent of our happy place ( Rice Krispie treats and Werthers candies, plus a few other goodies) and the “loot” bags were a hit!  A big shout out to Laura for helping Emily and I spread some pixie dust!  It was greatly appreciated. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all our day was fantastic!  I am so grateful to Lisa for setting a date.  If she hadn’t we might still be procrastinating, LOL.  Thank you to the Mickey Moms Club Super Group for your support of our meet, your care and concern.  I love you guys!  Thank you to Jackie, Kirsten, Lisa, Corinne and Michelle for meeting up that day.  It was truly a magical moment.°O°

FT&PD

Suz