The magic friends meet

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Thursday, July 18, 2007
Matt Hochberg

Not everything related to Walt Disney World happens in Walt Disney World and this past weekend I spent my weekend in Harrisburg, PA attending Magic Meets 2007 and had a fantastic time.  If you’re not familiar with what Magic Meets is, it’s a fan gathering in July, similar to the Mega Mouse Meet at Mousefest, but an all day affair with prizes, keynote speeches and guest interaction.  I attended the event as part of the WDW Today group and had the fastest weekend of my life.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Pepper

This year’s event ballooned from 350 attendees last year to over 500 this year and sold out in about a week earlier this year.  It’s something I had been looking forward to since the end of Mousefest in 2006 and in the last few weeks leading up to last weekend, it was marked on my calendar as the highlight of my summer and it did not disappoint.  As soon as you arrive, you’re at a hotel in the middle of Pennsylvania but it feels like you’re at a Disney resort because everyone there is wearing Walt Disney World shirts (plus it was hot out so people were in shorts, furthering the whole Florida feel) and very quickly, I met up with friends I hadn’t seen since the last fan gathering.

And that is what Magic Meets is all about; friends.  The prizes and tables and speeches are all fun, but for me, what brings me back to these events are the friends.  I get to see some close friends that I talk to quite often as well as other friends whom I don’t get to talk to that often but when I see them, it’s like we haven’t missed a beat since our last time seeing each other.  It’s the people that make this event so special and within about 10 minutes of arriving, I felt like I belonged there.

I don’t know everyone at the event, but I do know that everyone there is about as nice as you can ask for.  We’re all fans of Disney and this common bond really is more than just a conversation starter; it’s a way of life and so when I see someone in the hallway that I don’t know but see them wearing a DisneyWorldTrivia.com shirt or an All Ears lanyard, I don’t hesitate to smile and say hi and they’ll also return the favor.  That’s real Disney magic right there.

Quite a bit happened over the course of 48-60 hours or so of the weekend, but a real highlight was being surprised not once, but twice.  The first time I was in the middle of my broadcast during the Magic Meets event on Saturday when Deb Wills of All Ears was being interviewed by my colleague, Mike Scopa.  Suddenly Deb announces on the air that she has a surprise for me.  To be honest, I had no clue where this was going. I was like a deer in headlights and didn’t have enough time to really think before Deb unveiled a pre-opening publicity poster for the Disney-MGM Studios that she was giving me because she was clearing out her old stuff and thought instantly of me.  To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.  I was flattered, amazed and totally in shock.  This thoughtful gift giving invoked memories of the first time I had met Deb in person, which was at Mousefest 2005, when I was at Aloha Isle at the Magic Kingdom and introduced myself to Deb.  Expecting a handshake or something, I was greeted with a warm hug and a big smile.  That wasn’t what I expected at all but it was the perfect start of a friendship.  Now, back in 2007, I was once again being astonished by Deb, not so much because of her generosity, but because of the thoughtfulness of her gift.  It really was the highlight of my incredible weekend.

Of importance to this site and me, we formally announced the Fantasmic! Saturday Night at the Studios dessert party to all in attendance and to anyone listening online.  This event is open to everyone and will be occurring on December 8, 2007 and after being at Magic Meets, I’m even more excited for this event because it’s going to be a great opportunity to see a lot of friends and meet some new ones as well.  I get the feeling that it’s going to be one of those events that is truly unique and something I’m going to be telling stories about for quite a while so I hope you’ll join me there as well so you can be part of the fun, instead of just reading about it here.

This past weekend was full of other tremendous accomplishments and fun, such as an auction at the event raising $9,000 for a charity to send kids to Walt Disney World, or fabulous speeches by the speakers, or the fun broadcast I was able to take place in with the podcast.  But you know, even with all of that, what I’m going to remember the most about this past weekend was the friends I saw again and the new ones I made.  The event is wonderfully put together and I highly recommend it to anyone for next year, and if you do go next year, be sure to say hi because I can’t wait to make some more friends and share in some great memories.