2013 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Recap – Inspiration, Information and Fun

My daughter and I just got back from Walt Disney Resort and the 4th Annual Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Disney Social Media Moms Celebration is part press event, part blog conference and family vacation with a whole lot of Disney magic.

 

This is the second year I have been invited  to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and both times, I have been shocked and thrilled to be one of the lucky attendees. For this year’s conference, attendees stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Hotel, just a few minutes walking distance from the Magic Kingdom and is the only Disney Resort in which the monorail goes through the hotel so guests can take it to other parks.

2013 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was a whirlwind  of special events, awesome speakers and family dinner functions,  all taking place over the course of few days.

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2013 General Session Recap

This year’s conference was hosted by Renee Syler @goodenufmother, who was funny, delightful and certainly comfortable on stage as one would imagine, a former CBS Early Show host would be. Look for Renee’s next gig as the Exhale talk show host, a new nighttime show featuring five women of color launching in June.

 

The General Session was filled with a multitude of fantastic speakers including:

• George Kalogridis — President of Walt Disney World Resorts gave us an update on upcoming new guest features ranging from technological enhancements like the Magic Band to make guests stay even more magical to enhanced magical experiences like a new Festival of Fantasyland parade and of course all the Monster University’s themed Summer events.

• An in-depth look  at Disney Infinity video game that will encompass numerous Disney-Pixar characters that is set to launch this Fall and the Disney Story app, an easy to use way to pull your memories together using your iPhone pictures.

•  Gary Buchanan, Disney Parks Social Managing Editor and Thomas Smith,  Disney Parks Social Media Director  gave the crowd some creative looks at how their team showcases the parks.

• Shannon Miller, a seven time Olympic gymnast and former WWF Marc Mero wrestler  provided inspiration and motivation on coming back from bouts of adversity

• Jackie Huba enlightened us with 7 Lessons from her book Monster Loyalty, Creating Customer Evangelists and Citizen Marketers on how Lady Gaga has in just a few short years become such an entertainment dynamo. Huba is right on with her observations and whether you are a blogger, small business or Fortune 100 dynamo, there is much to learn from Lady Gaga on garnering such a loyal following.

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2013 Sponsors

During the sessions and throughout the conference, I was able to check out several of the event sponsors featured products: Hanes (X-Temp socks that speeds and slows cooling);  Rayovac (2 –Hour Power that gives your device an extra 2 hours of power without having to be near an outlet); H20 (Oil Free Marine Hydration line that deeply hydrates and revitalizes your skin), Disney Consumer Products including Winnie the Pooh and Merida’s Royal Celebration, Guerlain, Givenchy, and  American Tourister Colora.

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2013 Events

Every day was filled with an array of surprises aimed to delight  the attendees and their families.

• Chris Powell from Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition surprised attendees and encouraged us to stay motivated in our attempts to get healthy and be active. Later, our families joined us for dinner (sponsored by the TRY It  part of Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living)  where my daughter and I ate enjoyed eating healthy and delicious dinner before having our  photos taken with a whole host of characters from Wreck-It Ralph , Vanellope von Schweetz and The Incredibles.  As if that wasn’t enough,  we had a birds-eye view of the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show at Epcot.

• Saturday was filled with some pretty once in a lifetime adventures from watching Merida being coronated as the 11th Disney Princess along with host  Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas appearance along with the other 10 Disney Princesses. After the ceremony, we  enjoyed a few rides before heading off to a screening of Monsters University set to open in a few weeks.  The evening was spent dancing to Radio Disney and mini-golf.

• On our last day, the conference organizers held a delightful Mother’s Day  breakfast and our surprise guest was Punky Brewster herself, Soleil Moon Frye.Talk about an action packed few days for my daughter and me.

As someone who has been to many business conferences and planned a few, I know the work that goes on behind the scenes and certainly one of this magnitude in having to organize. So Kudos to Leanne, Gary and their teams for all the planning, organizing to make this a successful conference for everyone. And making it truly The Happiest Place on Earth.

 

Disclosure: The conference fee and airfare to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was paid by NYC Single Mom. As an attendee of this invite-only event, I did receive various promotional items from the event’s sponsors.  Opinions are 100% my own and I have chosen to write about events and products that really peaked my interest and hope yours.