Disney Social Media Moms Celebration: Take 3 (Day 1)

This post was written by the Experimental Mommy. While I did pay a fee to attend the conference, our stay was greatly reduced.

I will admit that the very first Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was truly a magical experience. Spending the night in Cinderella’s Castle is not something you easily forget. After all, I am totally a princess now and wear my glass slippers everywhere I go. The second #DSMMC sent us West to Disneyland and my family and I loved seeing a totally different Disney. But, third time’s a charm, right? I was over the moon excited to receive the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Land and Sea invitation!

After surprising my kids on Christmas with the news of visiting the Mouse, we had to wait 45 long agonizing days before boarding the plane. But the anticipation was well worth it when we pulled up to the Disney Port Orleans Riverside Resort! Being from New Orleans, we have never stayed at this resort because we thought it would be too much like home.  And it was….but in a really cool way. In typical Disney fashion, every detail was well planned and beautifully executed from the Plantation style exterior to the horse and carriage rides at night.

Our first conference day began by taking in the sights and smells of many different countries on the newly imaged Soarin’ ride in EPCOT which was truly breathtaking. After the excitement, we headed to a buffet breakfast and to hear about new initiatives from conference sponsors: Alamo, Hanes, and GoGo squeeZ (represented by Olympic Champion, Dominique Dawes) and perused the Expo where I got to taste the new limited edition Beauty and the Beast tea from Twinings, check out the Beauty and the Beast inspired items being sold on HSN, and even snap a photo with the infamous magical rose.

By the power of Pixie Dust, I was able to snag an ADR for the “Be Our Guest” lunch and my family and I continued the Beauty and the Beast themed day! What I loved about this restaurant is that you order at the counter but then are free to take a seat and relax while your food is brought to you by a Cast Member. Plus, the menu was much more robust that a typical counter service meal and really very tasty!

Using our Fast Pass+, we hit all of our favorite (and new) rides in the park. It was easy to come to a consensus and we all loved the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train the best which we rode three times consecutively. Thanks to Disney’s Express Transportation, we hopped over to Hollywood Studios to attend more Disney Social Media Moms Celebration magic.

Dinner was served (thanks, Alamo!) in the new PizzeRizzo (a New York Italian style restaurant) owned by the Muppet, Rizzo. This two story eatery even features an Italian wedding reception hall which already has a reception in progress you are free to crash! Following dinner, we were treated to special VIP seating for the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks show which was out of this world (pun intended). Even to this non Star Wars family, we were literally blown away by this show so I am going to save my story for a dedicated post on the topic in order to do it justice.

Energized but exhausted by the day’s activities, we headed back to the Port Orleans Riverside to get a good night’s sleep before boarding the Disney Cruise Line’s Wonder. Stay tuned for our adventures at sea!