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Who says only Disney magic happens in the parks? This past weekend a little pixie dust was sprinkled over Pennsylvania. The Crown Plaza in Allentown, PA, played host to the 2006 DisMeet organized by Fred Block.

Approximately 350 Disney-holics, including myself found themselves among a Who´s Who of Disney personas. Among the featured presenters, vendors, and other Disney related communities we had our own Lou Mongello of DisneyWorldTrivia.com; Deb Wills from AllEarsNet.com; Mike Scopa from MousePlanet.com and WDWToday.com, as well as WDWToday.com´s live podcast crew; Steve Barrett of Hidden Mickeys fame; Chris Carlson from DisneyonaDime.com; Dave and Jennifer Marx from Passporter.com; John Rick from Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders, Sharla Whalen, WDW photography and scrapbooking expert, Amy Stoll, a Disney vacation planning expert, DVC by Resale, and Tim Devine of TheMagicinPixels.com. (Sorry if I´ve left anyone out!)

The event started with an enthusiastic registration process leading into the main ballroom where it was a sea of Disney balloons and yellow tees (free tees from DVC by Resale!) strategically hugging the chairs of attendees. There was definitely excitement in the air as Disney music rang out across the room full of mouse-eared and Disney clad people. The place was decked out! The tabletops were covered with scattered Mickey Mouse confetti, balloons, a "secret" bag of pixie dust, stickers, and a beautiful Mickey Mouse statue. All tables were named after attractions at WDW - I had the pleasure of sitting at the "Mission Space" table! Many of the sponsors/vendors had their tables set up and were distributing free gifts-much to the delights of attendees - everything from pins to pens to lanyards to books. In addition to this landscape, our own DisneyWorldTrivia.com had a corner set up devoted to the Dream Team Silent Auction with items such as gift baskets to pins to artwork, all being auctioned off to raise money for the Starlight Starbright Children´s Foundation.

The event started with Fred Block´s opening message where he got the crowd pumped up for the day and excited about the MANY MANY giveaways!!! The first speaker was Mike Scopa from MousePlanet.com and WDWToday podcast. He discussed "The Disney Zone" - that special place only Disney lovers "get," that feeling that makes us go back over and over again, that feeling we know others don´t have when they ask `You´re going again?!´ The three signs you are IN the zone when you are at WDW are 1) you smile, 2) you laugh or giggle, and 3) the tears come. Who hasn´t experienced all three when you first arrive, walk down Main Street and see the castle for the first time? Mike also showed two incredible new WDW commercials that haven´t aired yet in relation to Year of a Million Dreams campaign. One of the commercials really pulled on the heartstrings as it showed various Cast Members describing the Magic and bringing it to guests. Stay tuned for that!!

Following Mike Scopa´s presentation, the first round of break out sessions started. I chose to attend Deb Wills´, from AllEarsNet.com, presentation on Epcot´s Food and Wine Festival. Let´s just say, I left there starving!! Deb and her people from AllEarsNet offered their best tips to enjoy this popular event. One of those tips included the best time (during the day during the week) and the worst time (Friday and Saturday nights). She discussed how not only was the event great for adults but kids really seem to enjoy it as well. A new event coming possibly this year will be the Teen Cuisine Seminar. She also discussed in length the paid events such as Party for the Senses and Lunch & Learn. Her advice was to book early as these events, even the higher priced ones, sell out quickly.

Following the first sessions was a much needed lunch break (especially after hearing Deb talk about food!). Immediately following lunch was the second session. This time I chose Sharla Whalen´s photography and scrapbooking session. Sharla has an upcoming book about scrapping WDW coming out soon. How could you not love a session that begins with Sharla handing out little samples of DOLE WHIPS!!!! Let me tell you there was a lot of hooting and hollering going on there! Sharla focused mostly on photography and started the session by saying how easy WDW is to photograph because the Imagineers did the work for us! She showed some incredible shots of WDW and went on to explain how to best utilize some settings on your camera. She discussed the Boca setting for blurred backgrounds and foregrounds and displayed some amazing examples. She also recommended turning down the flash for night shots. Sharla mentioned using the landscape setting with the flash off for fireworks (someone correct me if I am wrong!) Best of all she ended the session by giving out some free mini cinnamon rolls! Yum again!

After session two it was back to the main conference room for Steve Barrett from Hidden Mickeys for his presentation. As attendees we were given the chance to vote on a few hidden Mickeys he was on the fence about. Steve stated that the Conversation Station at Animal Kingdom had a treasure of hidden Mickeys, the Oceaneer Club on the Disney Wonder had his favorite, and revealed the beautifully landscaped Mickey Mouse Watch garden seen from above the Contemporary Resort. He showed a very cool hidden Jafar in the form of a rock at AK and a picture of Steven Tyler´s shirt with Mickeys all over it from a mural at Rock `n´ Roller Coaster. He defined what he considered a classic Hidden Mickey: it must be purposeful, proportional, round or roundish circles, ears that don´t touch & are above head, head and ears touch, must be exceptional & unique, and hidden but not decorative.

After the Hidden Mickey discussion/presentation, the third and final breakout session took place. I headed over to Steve Marx´s "Disneyland: The Other White Meat." Steve, from the Passporter book fame, discussed in length the differences between DL and WDW and had a Q&A session. Steve stated that Disneyland used to be a one or two day trip but with the addition of Disney´s California Adventure and Downtown Disney, it´s turned into a week vacation. An interesting tidbit of information was that while Magic Kingdom was larger in size, Disneyland had roughly twice the amount of attractions packed in! Luckily we were able to snap up a Disneyland Passporter book Steve was giving out to attendees!

After the last breakout session we headed back to the main ballroom to finish off with several items on the agenda. Many more prizes were given out by the various sponsors/vendors, including about 20 pairs of Yankee tickets from WDW Today podcast (outstanding guys). DVC by Resale even gave out a week stay at one of their Orlando vacation homes to one lucky attendee. We were finally able to open the bag of pixie dust on our table and find out what that was all about. It contained numbers for each person at the table and the winning number was to receive the awesome Mickey Mouse statue centerpiece. The raffle number was chosen by a couple who each gave a number and the total was the winner for each table. It was definitely an incredible giveaway.

Disney World Trivia´s Silent Auction for the Dream Team fundraiser ended up with a very successful day. The tables where the prizes were displayed were jam packed all day as numerous attendees outbid each other for a good cause. When all was said and done, they raised close to $4000 !!

The day ended with a closing message from the organizer Fred Block. Overall it was an excellent event that I am sure will get even more attendees next year (including me again)! The speakers were intriguing, the atmosphere magical, the prizes awesome, and the free stuff, well, can you say anything bad about Disney freebies?!!! It was a great way to experience some Disney magic far from the parks!