So it's taken like two months, but here at last is my Magic Kingdom Hearts post
So back in October the middle elder sibling and I wandered southerly to attend the first ever Magic Kingdom Hearts gathering, a Kingdom Hearts cosplay meetup at the Magic Kingdom.
Here is the official cosplay music video, in which I barely appear, though looking derpy when I do. The sibling does not, because he is neither a cosplayer nor a KH fan, he just kind of went because it was fall break and why not.
Remember to hover over all of the pics, since there's alt text like so:
So we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort, which I'd never been to before, which was nice and as you may have expected, featured a horsey theme.
Note the pillows on the couch/pull-out bed.
On Thursday we went for morning eats at the Babycakes at Downtown Disney before haring it over to our favorite of the parks, Hollywood Studios. We did the usual there (Star Tours, Indiana Jones, and some of the others) although I didn't get fast passes and therefore missed out on going on the Tower of Terror or the Aerosmith coaster, much to my chagrin. (Sad adrenaline junkie is sad!)
We also missed out on meeting Ralph and Vanellope, but we at least got this pic:
Then we managed to make one of the artists-in-a-bubble grin when we recognized and quoted an obscure character from The Black Cauldron, even though we couldn't remember his name.
We did stick around for Fantasmic, although by the time we got into line we were stuck in the very back, at the "standing room only" section which nonetheless had benches in it.
Part of the reason we were delayed were these:
Yes, I know, bad vegan, but dammit one caramel apple a year barely even counts, plus it was delicious. The line was hideously slow-moving, alas, but sibling got caramel popcorn and I got my apple, so I was very content.
The next morning we slept in and derped around before I got dressed up and sibling got a crash-course in KH (he remembers nothing of it) and we headed out. The event was held in October because Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is the only time of the year when you're allowed to dress up at the parks.
We met up outside the park and then wandered in en masse, confusing a number of innocent passers-by. I know I wound up explaining the event to a number of mundanes, who all thought it was a pretty cool idea. There were a number of events set up, ranging from a trivia contest to a photoshoot to a photo scavenger hunt, but the sibling and I pretty much just wandered around instead. A lot of other people posted really amusing stories on the Facebook page, though.
And now, pictures of cosplayers who aren't me:
Kairi and Namine!
Almost the entire organization was there.
We wandered over to Gaston's Tavern for noms, as they ooc-ly have vegan food along with cinnamon rolls the size of your head, and promptly did this:
And this:
And it was at that moment that Gaston walked in. He was appalled that the sibling was sitting in his chair and daring to pose like that, with his puny lack of buffness and all.
And took his chair back.
And then we got him to do a video which for some reason won't embed, but the person it was recorded for has already seen it, which is the important thing.
It was great.
Then we wandered back to the castle for the photoshoot, and I wound up talking to a Lone Ranger who had modified her Oswald plushie in an awesome way:
Apparently a bunch of Hetalia cosplayers were going to meet up at the Epcot World Showcase the next day.
Here are some random photos from the shoot. It is important to know that the sun was at such an angle that you couldn't see a damn thing if you dared look to your right.
We kind of got stuck where we were because of a parade.
It was super disorganized, which was disappointing--probably the most awkward big KH photoshoot I've ever been involved in. It really should have been somewhere other than the iconic place where everybody takes pictures. Plus, getting trapped by that parade was awkward. I did miss getting pics of some awesome cosplayers, which was disappointing--there was a fantastic Zack and Aerith with an Irvine, and a Xion brought her kid, who she'd dressed up as a moogle--it was super adorable. All of the photos are up on the Facebook page, though.
And this is SuperrLynn (the Yuffie) and XxSnowfrostxx (the Halloween Town Roxas), who we hung out with a bit for a mini photoshoot.
This was good, since SuperrLynn actually knows how to take photos, which sibling and I, alas, do not.
You may have seen some of these if you saw that tumblr post.
I actually think this pic is kind of creepy. It's probably just 'cause she caught me mid-blink, but I am really kind of getting Sephiroth vibes here.
After that we just wandered (we're very good at that, being the postprandial peripatetic perambulators that we are). It started getting dark, which meant I started switching off the flash, which leads to really long exposure times and therefore blurred but pretty pictures.
The image on Big Thunder Mountain changed from a spider to a skull. I rode it shortly after this picture was taken and stayed in character the whole time, which alas nobody was there to see.
I kind of feel like we should have gone on this ride, given the holiday. Apparently one of the attendants recognized the other KH folks who did go on it, and had a lot of fun yelling at the Org members that they shouldn't be there 'cause they didn't have souls. XD
After that we wandered some more, including into some of the shops.
There are reasons why, despite my shortness, I am a Riku through and through. (In case you can't quite tell, that second pic is a Darth Vader Mickey hat.) Use the power of darkness to save your friends, everybody!
You may have noticed that sibling and I have a thing for Disney ducks. You may also have noticed that sibling is wearing an Unseen University t-shirt.
At that point, some of the other cosplayers wandered in.
Quoth the Namine: "Got my man!" XD
This was rendered slightly awkward by the fact that she was like 12. That's probably an exaggeration but sibling and I were clearly the oldest people there (thankfully not by much in my case--there were definitely a good number of twentysomethings) and it was a little awkward at times! Some kids were young enough that their parents came along.
Then we ran into this tiny Riku, who was adorable and wasn't a part of the cosplay meetup, she was just there with her parents. She seemed a little overwhelmed and a little thrilled when we did a collective "...SO CUTE!" and insisted on pictures.
Then we wandered back to Gaston's Tavern for snacks and so I could do this.
Quoth the sibling: "No, you need to smile more maniacally!"
After that we wandered back to the castle for the fireworks show, and these pictures occurred, which should tell you the difference between the flash being on and off with my camera.
Flash on: Regular Riku, just chillaxing at the castle
Flash off: DREAM DROP DISTANCE MOTHERFUCKER
The fireworks show was very awesome, as you'd expect, so then we parked our butts and hung around for the Disney Villains Mix and Mingle show. This is how we passed the time: taking pictures of random things, like this family of mushrooms:
They were wearing glowing mushroom hats and it was super-cute.
Looking at Tomorrowland always weirds me out because the entrance to it gives me really hard flashbacks to one spot in the first Epic Mickey where I kept dying all the time. Which, I mean, well done game designers, but it's still disconcerting. (RM, I bet you know exactly where I mean--the place with the electric tracks and all those beetleworks.)
While we were waiting, there was the Boo-to-You parade, which was great. Galloping headless horseman! Some of the dancers recognized the cosplayers in the crowd, particularly the Tron Sora and Riku, who by that time were all glowy. And apparently all of the Jack Sparrows and Jack Skellington, along with one of the Donalds, recognized and in-character chatted/interacted with the other KH cosplayers.
After that was the Disney Villains Mix and Mingle, which was fantastic. Cruella da Ville is one hell of a Diva and the Queen of Hearts was hilarious. I got to shake Dr. Facilier's hand and waited a significant amount of time in line in order to do this:
I bowed and called her "milady" and she quite liked that.
By then it was midnight, and everyone started to trickle out. Also, these wreaths and all sorts of Halloween decorations were everywhere, and they were all super-cute.
On our way out, we stopped for ice cream even though it had gotten cold. They only had two flavors of tofutti, and only one of rice dream, but that was okay, because how often do you get to have a vegan sundae anywhere outside your own home? I will give you a hint: this was my first time.
The next day we decided to just kick around Downtown Disney, take a wander through the shops, design ourselves a t-shirt (this one we actually got approved and now own!), and go see Cirque du Soleil in the evening.
Donald will fucking murder you for your pins.
Cirque du Soleil was amazing, btw. I suspect that they are in fact all airbenders.
So that was our trip! It was lots of fun, but it would have been more fun with friends, and we really should have visited more characters and gotten photos--if anyone's up for doing this next year, just let me know, I've got the room and admission covered.
A good number of people, guests and park workers alike, recognized and talked to us (I made a Rapunzel giggle-squeak the two times we passed by her) which was great, since part of the point of doing this is to encourage further representation of the series in the park, since there's basically nothing and yet the franchise is HUGE--you can't walk into a Hot Topic, for example, without stumbling over a massive amount of KH stuff.
So yes, good vacation--and definitely needed, since the university where I work didn't have a fall break this year, just Thanksgiving break, and I needed the time to breathe.
Here is the official cosplay music video, in which I barely appear, though looking derpy when I do. The sibling does not, because he is neither a cosplayer nor a KH fan, he just kind of went because it was fall break and why not.
Remember to hover over all of the pics, since there's alt text like so:
So we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort, which I'd never been to before, which was nice and as you may have expected, featured a horsey theme.
Note the pillows on the couch/pull-out bed.
On Thursday we went for morning eats at the Babycakes at Downtown Disney before haring it over to our favorite of the parks, Hollywood Studios. We did the usual there (Star Tours, Indiana Jones, and some of the others) although I didn't get fast passes and therefore missed out on going on the Tower of Terror or the Aerosmith coaster, much to my chagrin. (Sad adrenaline junkie is sad!)
We also missed out on meeting Ralph and Vanellope, but we at least got this pic:
Then we managed to make one of the artists-in-a-bubble grin when we recognized and quoted an obscure character from The Black Cauldron, even though we couldn't remember his name.
We did stick around for Fantasmic, although by the time we got into line we were stuck in the very back, at the "standing room only" section which nonetheless had benches in it.
Part of the reason we were delayed were these:
Yes, I know, bad vegan, but dammit one caramel apple a year barely even counts, plus it was delicious. The line was hideously slow-moving, alas, but sibling got caramel popcorn and I got my apple, so I was very content.
The next morning we slept in and derped around before I got dressed up and sibling got a crash-course in KH (he remembers nothing of it) and we headed out. The event was held in October because Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is the only time of the year when you're allowed to dress up at the parks.
We met up outside the park and then wandered in en masse, confusing a number of innocent passers-by. I know I wound up explaining the event to a number of mundanes, who all thought it was a pretty cool idea. There were a number of events set up, ranging from a trivia contest to a photoshoot to a photo scavenger hunt, but the sibling and I pretty much just wandered around instead. A lot of other people posted really amusing stories on the Facebook page, though.
And now, pictures of cosplayers who aren't me:
Kairi and Namine!
Almost the entire organization was there.
We wandered over to Gaston's Tavern for noms, as they ooc-ly have vegan food along with cinnamon rolls the size of your head, and promptly did this:
And this:
And it was at that moment that Gaston walked in. He was appalled that the sibling was sitting in his chair and daring to pose like that, with his puny lack of buffness and all.
And took his chair back.
And then we got him to do a video which for some reason won't embed, but the person it was recorded for has already seen it, which is the important thing.
It was great.
Then we wandered back to the castle for the photoshoot, and I wound up talking to a Lone Ranger who had modified her Oswald plushie in an awesome way:
Apparently a bunch of Hetalia cosplayers were going to meet up at the Epcot World Showcase the next day.
Here are some random photos from the shoot. It is important to know that the sun was at such an angle that you couldn't see a damn thing if you dared look to your right.
We kind of got stuck where we were because of a parade.
It was super disorganized, which was disappointing--probably the most awkward big KH photoshoot I've ever been involved in. It really should have been somewhere other than the iconic place where everybody takes pictures. Plus, getting trapped by that parade was awkward. I did miss getting pics of some awesome cosplayers, which was disappointing--there was a fantastic Zack and Aerith with an Irvine, and a Xion brought her kid, who she'd dressed up as a moogle--it was super adorable. All of the photos are up on the Facebook page, though.
And this is SuperrLynn (the Yuffie) and XxSnowfrostxx (the Halloween Town Roxas), who we hung out with a bit for a mini photoshoot.
This was good, since SuperrLynn actually knows how to take photos, which sibling and I, alas, do not.
You may have seen some of these if you saw that tumblr post.
I actually think this pic is kind of creepy. It's probably just 'cause she caught me mid-blink, but I am really kind of getting Sephiroth vibes here.
After that we just wandered (we're very good at that, being the postprandial peripatetic perambulators that we are). It started getting dark, which meant I started switching off the flash, which leads to really long exposure times and therefore blurred but pretty pictures.
The image on Big Thunder Mountain changed from a spider to a skull. I rode it shortly after this picture was taken and stayed in character the whole time, which alas nobody was there to see.
I kind of feel like we should have gone on this ride, given the holiday. Apparently one of the attendants recognized the other KH folks who did go on it, and had a lot of fun yelling at the Org members that they shouldn't be there 'cause they didn't have souls. XD
After that we wandered some more, including into some of the shops.
There are reasons why, despite my shortness, I am a Riku through and through. (In case you can't quite tell, that second pic is a Darth Vader Mickey hat.) Use the power of darkness to save your friends, everybody!
You may have noticed that sibling and I have a thing for Disney ducks. You may also have noticed that sibling is wearing an Unseen University t-shirt.
At that point, some of the other cosplayers wandered in.
Quoth the Namine: "Got my man!" XD
This was rendered slightly awkward by the fact that she was like 12. That's probably an exaggeration but sibling and I were clearly the oldest people there (thankfully not by much in my case--there were definitely a good number of twentysomethings) and it was a little awkward at times! Some kids were young enough that their parents came along.
Then we ran into this tiny Riku, who was adorable and wasn't a part of the cosplay meetup, she was just there with her parents. She seemed a little overwhelmed and a little thrilled when we did a collective "...SO CUTE!" and insisted on pictures.
Then we wandered back to Gaston's Tavern for snacks and so I could do this.
Quoth the sibling: "No, you need to smile more maniacally!"
After that we wandered back to the castle for the fireworks show, and these pictures occurred, which should tell you the difference between the flash being on and off with my camera.
Flash on: Regular Riku, just chillaxing at the castle
Flash off: DREAM DROP DISTANCE MOTHERFUCKER
The fireworks show was very awesome, as you'd expect, so then we parked our butts and hung around for the Disney Villains Mix and Mingle show. This is how we passed the time: taking pictures of random things, like this family of mushrooms:
They were wearing glowing mushroom hats and it was super-cute.
Looking at Tomorrowland always weirds me out because the entrance to it gives me really hard flashbacks to one spot in the first Epic Mickey where I kept dying all the time. Which, I mean, well done game designers, but it's still disconcerting. (RM, I bet you know exactly where I mean--the place with the electric tracks and all those beetleworks.)
While we were waiting, there was the Boo-to-You parade, which was great. Galloping headless horseman! Some of the dancers recognized the cosplayers in the crowd, particularly the Tron Sora and Riku, who by that time were all glowy. And apparently all of the Jack Sparrows and Jack Skellington, along with one of the Donalds, recognized and in-character chatted/interacted with the other KH cosplayers.
After that was the Disney Villains Mix and Mingle, which was fantastic. Cruella da Ville is one hell of a Diva and the Queen of Hearts was hilarious. I got to shake Dr. Facilier's hand and waited a significant amount of time in line in order to do this:
I bowed and called her "milady" and she quite liked that.
By then it was midnight, and everyone started to trickle out. Also, these wreaths and all sorts of Halloween decorations were everywhere, and they were all super-cute.
On our way out, we stopped for ice cream even though it had gotten cold. They only had two flavors of tofutti, and only one of rice dream, but that was okay, because how often do you get to have a vegan sundae anywhere outside your own home? I will give you a hint: this was my first time.
The next day we decided to just kick around Downtown Disney, take a wander through the shops, design ourselves a t-shirt (this one we actually got approved and now own!), and go see Cirque du Soleil in the evening.
Donald will fucking murder you for your pins.
Cirque du Soleil was amazing, btw. I suspect that they are in fact all airbenders.
So that was our trip! It was lots of fun, but it would have been more fun with friends, and we really should have visited more characters and gotten photos--if anyone's up for doing this next year, just let me know, I've got the room and admission covered.
A good number of people, guests and park workers alike, recognized and talked to us (I made a Rapunzel giggle-squeak the two times we passed by her) which was great, since part of the point of doing this is to encourage further representation of the series in the park, since there's basically nothing and yet the franchise is HUGE--you can't walk into a Hot Topic, for example, without stumbling over a massive amount of KH stuff.
So yes, good vacation--and definitely needed, since the university where I work didn't have a fall break this year, just Thanksgiving break, and I needed the time to breathe.