24 Hours of Rock Your Disneyside at the Disneyland Resort
Maybe it makes me a bad Disney fan, but I actually avoided the past two 24-hour parties Disney has hosted. I always assumed that the extra hours you got to spend in the park would be negated by the crowds you would have to endure during those hours, despite the appealing novelty of being able to watch the sun rise on Main Street. On top of that, I had heard from friends who had attended during the wee hours of the morning that the event had a certain “Grad Night” feel which they found to be unmagical.
Videos Click the Playlist button to see the list
- Kick-off with Josh Gadd
- Interview with Josh Gad
- Big Thunder Railroad Interview and Ride Through
- Interview with Noah
- Summer Cooking
- Summer Classic Attractions
With all of this in mind, I attended the “Rock Your Disney Side” event expecting a mob scene. However, when I arrived a little after five in the morning, the esplanade was busy, but not as jammed as I might have anticipated. Following a short fireworks display to countdown until opening, the crowds from the esplanade soon disappeared into Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
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For the next 12 hours as I made my way around the resort, I was more than pleasantly surprised with what I found. In fact, the time I spent in the Disneyland Resort on Friday refreshed in my memory just how big an impact Disney has had on my life, and how I was certainly not alone in this.
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My first magical experience that morning was seeing all of the cosplayers. Before noon, I’d say there were just as many people in costume as there were in street clothes. Throw in families and groups in matching t-shirts, and they had a definite majority throughout the day. While some opted for lowkey “Disney bounding” — where one might wear colors and patterns resembling a character’s outfit without detailed garments — others went all out to capture themselves as their favorite Disney characters. While (as you could probably guess) there were plenty of Annas and Elsas to be seen, some of my less conventional favorites included Kuzco and a Pizza Planet employee.
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The excitement from them and the rest of the attendees created a fantastic atmosphere throughout both parks. This leads to another one of my favorite events from the 24-hour party — the sing along screening of Frozen in the Muppet*Vision Theatre. Packed with fans of all ages, the show started off with a warm up from a Cast Member who shared trivia for the film and made sure we were all ready to sing loud and proud. Not only did the children near us know every lyric to the film’s songs, but they were also able to recite every line of dialogue. While the pun has been done to death and is unintended, I have to say that this film screening was truly heart warming.
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Disney had other special experiences like this in store for attendees in both parks, including a Marvel movie marathon in the Magic Eye Theatre, various dance parties and character meet and greets. Additionally, nearly every quick service location in the resort offered a special menu item. Upon viewing the list of these items, the one that jumped out to me was the mac and cheese flatbread being served at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta. While this meal was both delicious and filling, I only wish I had left enough room to sample to dumplings at Lucky Fortune Cookery or the chicken and waffle combination at the Plaza Inn. While Disney is under no obligation to add such touches for it’s guests, it’s always impressive that they do and do so successfully. [gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="19297,19298,19299,19300,19301,19302,19303,19304,19305"]
Around 6 p.m. with the event at it’s halfway point, it was time for me to bid adieu to Disneyland, as my Disney Side was being infringed upon by my waking-up-early-to-make-money-
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With that in mind, I think this event was brilliant. What makes it even better is that — with this being the third such event is recent years — Disney and guests now know what to expect. Thus, instead of frustrations, there is a sense of camaraderie throughout the parks as those in attendance share such an experience together.
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I woke up just a few minutes before the parks closed on Saturday morning, and saw tweets and Instagrams of the sun shining on smiling faces (complete with tired eyes) as guests shared their goodbyes and thank yous to Disneyland. It would appear that the event was a success — if only that it put any talk of price increases to rest for while. Yes, Disney is a corporation (and a huge one at that), but it’s also a lifestyle and this event captured that. I think Fanboy put it best when he said: “Rock your Disney side? Is there any other side?” Not for me, there’s not.