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Jason Surrell

DIS Family Reunion to Benefit Give Kids the World Ticket Giveaway!

26 August 2021 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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Before we get to the DIS Family Reunion ticket Giveaway, lets talk about Give Kids the World. GKTW is such a special and amazing place, which we love to support here at Zannaland. If you’ve been following along from the start, you know we’ve donated, toured, run with, and explored Give Kids the World many times over the years. Most recently we attended the grand re-opening of Henri’s Starlight Scoops ice cream shop, where guests of GKTW can have ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also announced the return of last year’s incredible event, Night of a Million Lights, where proceeds benefit the Village directly.

Now, another event to benefit GKTW is happening and you can win tickets to attend! The “DIS Family Reunion” (unaffiliated with Disney) is a huge Expo-style event happening over two days, bringing together some of your favorites in the world of Disney parks, with some very special exclusive experiences too.

The event is taking place September 9 & 10, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. We’re holding a ticket GIVEAWAY to the DIS Family Reunion event! Take a look at the incredible schedule of sessions below:

Disney’s Contemporary Resort – Complimentary parking will be provided

Thursday, September 9  (For more details, visit www.gktw.org/disfam.)

Main Stage in Fantasia Ballroom

10:00 am             Event Kick-Off: WDW Resort President Jeff Vahle and Give Kids The World President

& CEO Pamela Landwirth

12:00 pm             Celebrity chef Art Smith

2:30 pm               Attractions Actor Panel with Ron Schneider, David Danipour, Kat Cressida and more

4:30 pm               Actress Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid

GKTW logo

The Lost Bros Stage

11:00 am             Stories from Disneyland’s Opening with Tom Nabbe, Bill Hoelscher and Bill Sullivan

1:00 pm               Actress Linda Larkin, the original voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin, and John Morris, the original voice of Andy from Pixar Animation Studios’ Toy Story

3:30 pm               Common Sense Leadership with Lee Cockerell and Dan Cockerell

5:30 pm               Performance by Palm Beach Society Orchestra (formerly the Grand Floridian Society)

 

Main Stage in Fantasia Ballroom

6:45 pm               Serveur Amusant

7:00 pm               Off Kilter

7:45 pm               Sergio

8:00 pm               Yehaa Bob

8:45 pm               Sergio

9:00 pm               American Martian (formerly known as Mulch, Sweat and Shears)

Friday, September 10 (For more details, visit www.gktw.org/disfam.)

Main Stage in Fantasia Ballroom

10:00 am             Wheel of Fortunate Wisdom with iconic host Pat Sajak

12:00 pm             Bear in the Big Blue House Reunion Panel

2:00 pm               Mickey Mouse Club Reunion Panel

4:30 pm               Tony Baxter discusses 50 years of theme park design with Walt Disney Imagineering

 

The Lost Bros Stage

11:00 am             Themed entertainment expert Jason Surrell, Universal Creative

1:00 pm               New York Times bestselling author Ridley Pearson (The Kingdom Keepers)

 

Main Stage in Fantasia Ballroom

8:00 pm               Mickey Mouse Club Reunion (until 10:00 pm)

 

Action-packed, right? Should be an exciting couple of days of Disney fun. I’ll be there and you can be too! I’m giving away 2 sets of two tickets for both days of events during the day and night on September 9th and 10th.

DIS Family Reunion Ticket Giveaway Details:

To enter the giveaway, head to my Zannaland instagram and Zannaland Facebook page to enter the DIS Family Reunion Giveaway. (See instructions at each location.) Two random winners will be drawn, one from Facebook entries, one from Instagram on Sunday, August 29. Winner will be announced at those places and updated here on this post.

For an extra DIS Family Reunion Giveaway entry, subscribe to our YouTube channel and comment here letting me know you did.

Good luck!

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Filed Under: Disney Special Events, Fundraising and Charities, Giveaways, Top Stories Tagged With: American Martian, DIS Family Reunion, DIS Family Reunion Giveaway, Give Kids the World, Give Kids the World benefit, Give Kids the World Village, Giveaway, GKTW, GKTW benefit, GKTW Village, Jason Surrell, Jim Doyle, Jodi Benson, Kat Cressida, Off Kilter, Ridley Pearson, The DIS, tony baxter, Yehaa Bob

Watch Ashley Eckstein’s Video Diary from Star Wars Celebration VI!

18 September 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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When I attended Star Wars Celebration VI last month, the highlight was seeing Ashley Eckstein in all of her Her Universe glory. She was doing a photo shoot for fangirls to model their Her Universe shirts, and if they didn’t own one, she would provide one for the shoot – so nice! After checking out the Her Universe booth and speaking to Ashley’s wonderful husband, 2-time World Series winner and MVP David Eckstein, he let us know Ashley was upstairs at the photo shoot and we headed up to see the fans in action. It was great to see Ashley interacting with her loyal fans and see how she’s inspired them not only with her fashion designs, but to make their own skirts and dresses and hair accessories as well! I was lucky enough to be persuaded to pose for a photo in my own Her Universe shirt, and have Ashley join me as well.

Suzannah at Her Universe
My first “modeling” stint. 😛
Suzannah and Ashley Eckstein
Me with Ashley, she’s always so gracious!

While we were there, Imagineer Jason Surrell was on hand directing and recording Ashley’s video diaries for the weekend’s events. It was cool to see some Disney/Star Wars/Ashley cross-over since she’s always such a great part of the Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here are what Ashley and Jason had to say in today’s press release:

Ashley Eckstein at Celebration VI
Ashley Eckstein at her Star Wars Celebration VI booth

“I’ve never been good at keeping a written diary and I wanted to capture the events and memories of Celebration VI for myself and the fans in a different way,” said Eckstein. “With social media being the way it is today, a video diary seemed like the best way to cover CVI.”

The video diary, directed by Jason Surrell, a screenwriter and Senior Show Writer for Walt Disney Imagineering and edited by Studio Say So, an Orlando-based video production company, is a collaborative effort with Eckstein. “I was absolutely thrilled when Ashley asked me to direct her video diary at Star Wars Celebration VI,” said Surrell.  “After directing Ashley and her fellow Clone Wars cast members in Behind the Force at Disney’s Star Wars Weekends for so many years, I knew that there’s a whole other world out there that people typically don’t get to see.  So I’m hoping that our series of video diaries will truly give Star Wars fans a peek behind the curtain at all the fascinating and truly funny things that happen when these people get together. I’ve never been happier to be a fly on the wall.  We’re going to take you onstage, backstage and everywhere in between.”

The complete video diary is now available at StarWars.com, where you can watch all the galactic fun for yourself. It was a fun weekend for any level of Star Wars fan!

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Filed Under: Central Florida Family Entertainment, Disney Movie News & Reviews Tagged With: Ashley Eckstein, Clone Wars, david eckstein, fangirls, fashion designs, Her Universe, Jason Surrell, photo shoot, Star Wars, star wars celebration, Star Wars fangirls, Star Wars Weekends, video diaries, video diary, walt disney imagineering

Disney Parks Blog Trick-or-Meet Up a Spooky Success!

30 September 2011 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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You’re probably used to coming here and reading about how great Disney is in some way or another. Well, after a special event last night, be prepared for me to gush about Disney. I’m speaking of the Disney Parks Blog “Trick-or-Meet Up” which took place last night in the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square after park closing. This was the Disney Parks Blog team’s second-ever tweet-up, the first being the after-hours Star Tours grand re-opening event. I have been lucky enough to attend both and while I had a wonderful time at the Star Tours tweet-up, I have to say, the team really outdid themselves for this Treat-Up.

Guests were encouraged to dress in costume for the event, and many obliged the request. Lots of fun costumes from both attendees and cast members. It was so fun to see creativity in full-force. We all checked in at Blizzard Beach and awaited the all-clear so we could head over in luxury – Disney Cruise Line buses – for the Treat-Up to begin. We were shuttled backstage and entered by the Splash Mountain Frontierland parade gate. Even as a former cast member, these special chances to get behind the magic are always exciting. Of course no photos of this out of respect for the show.

Tom Nicole and Marissa
Thomas Smith from the Disney Parks Blog, Nicole Siscaretti with her prize-winning Stretching Room ballerina girl costume and Marissa May also from the Disney team

We were ushered over to the Hall of Presidents, where those in costume could pose for formal photos before taking a seat. This was a perfectly organized event and I loved the way it was presented. Getting to hear Director of Social Media, Leanne Jakubowski, speak and introduce members of the Disney Parks Blog team in attendance was wonderful. Gary Buchannan, ever the jokester, was dressed as a giant Disney turkey leg, complete with nametag. Also present were Thomas Smith (aka Indiana Jones), Laura Spencer, Marissa May (as Boo!) and Jennifer Fickley-Baker as well as Steven Miller who escaped the Grid for the night in his TRON: Legacy costume. I sometimes take for granted the names and faces I know through my experiences with the Walt Disney World Moms Panel and this blog, but it was so nice to see the team interacting with guests.

Jason Surrell
Jason Surrell entertains and educates in the Hall of Presidents

Jason Surrell, gifted Imagineer and Haunted Mansion fanboy all rolled into one, was our first ghost-host for the evening. Inside the Hall of Presidents, he recounted some of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion history and differences in the other Haunted Mansion attractions at Disney Parks world-wide. He let us know how important it was for current Imagineers to honor the work of the original designers of the Mansion, noting that Pete Carsillo, who apprenticed under Imagineer Blaine Gibson, took the designs to Mr. Gibson to get his blessing before proceeding. Jason then took questions from the audience which provided more laughs and entertainment for all.

After the presentation, we were each given a pre-filled trick-or-treat bag with a schedule of the evening’s events. We could then head over for drinks and a dessert buffet in the form of Mickey rice krispie treats, chocolate-covered brownie spiders and white chocolate cheesecake eyeballs. Ghoulish delights!

Pete Carsillo
Pete Carsillo explaining the details behind the Haunted Mansion queue (image courtesy of Nicole Siscaretti)

 

Small tours were given of the new interactive Haunted Mansion queue and by two of its designers, Pete Carsillo and Eric Goodman. So far this year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet five Imagineers. I’m not sure what I expected (other than me not being worthy?), but I am consistently shocked by how down to earth, welcoming and genuine they all have been. Pete and Eric are no exception. It was a treat to see how excited they both were by the details, homages and hidden connections within the queue. I can’t wait to go back in the daylight and see some of the details they described.

Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion lit up for the evening

 

Throughout the night various characters were roaming Liberty Square: costumed Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Minnie, Dr. Facilier, who is my new favorite face character at Magic Kingdom, a couple of Mansion ghost sisters, Dapper Dans in Ghoulish form, and extra spooky Haunted Mansion cast members. Trick-or-treat stations were also set up in the square giving us even more treats than we’d already received.

Mansion Ghost
A ghostly resident

 

Randomly selected guests were given blue wristbands at check-in which provided them with a Haunted Mansion hitchhiking ghost poster, signed by the artist, Tom May. I was one of those selected, as was my friend and cohort, Nicole! While picking up our posters, we got a chance to speak some more with Jason Surrell, whose parents and wife were there with him. Again proving how down to earth and real these amazing creative forces are. The fact that Disney has facilitated these experiences is just wonderful and truly how Walt would have wanted it, I feel. To see the number of young high school and college kids on twitter inspired by these Imagineers makes me excited and confident for the future of Walt Disney’s legacy.

Headless Horseman
The Headless Horseman bids us farewell

 

The evening ended with a private viewing of the Headless Horseman trotting through the square, which is always a thrilling sight. On our way back to the busses, we were each gifted with a hitchhiking ghost poster and a Nightmare Before Christmas Pumpkin King Vinylmation. I was blown away by the generosity of Disney at this free event. The personal level of interaction, the behind-the-scenes tours and feeling like the Disney Parks team was just as happy to be there as we were, made for an A+ event from start to finish. Thank you again, Disney Parks Blog team, Imagineers, and everyone that made last night a thrilling success. I know I’m not alone in hoping there will be a similar holiday tweet-up in the next few months!

Trick or Meet Up
The Disney Parks Blog was so generous!

 

The Disney Parks Blog recently launched their facebook page, with behind-the-scenes videos and tidbits. Be sure to “Like” the page and follow on twitter to get the latest news and updates.

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Filed Under: Disney Holidays, Disney News, Disney Special Events, Walt Disney World Tagged With: #WDWTreatUp, Disney Parks Blog, Eric Goldman, Gary Buchanan, Haunted Mansion, Haunted Mansion queue, Jason Surrell, Laura Spencer, Leanne Jakubowski, Marrissa May, Pete Carsillo, Steven Miller, Thomas Smith, Tom May, Trick-or-Meet Up

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