Mousekingdom Blog

One day in July 2005 we got a phone call directly from Disneyland Resort Paris. They asked us whether we would be interested to be a part of the German TV show “Disney Filmparade”, which airs each Sunday on Pro7 [basically some short reports from the world of Disney before and after a full length Disney feature]. Well, obviously we said yes - I was so happy. They would pay for everything, I would be interviewed by Steven Gätjen and be a part of the parade! Before we flew to Paris the producer called me and discussed what kind of story they could do. I told him that I love Fantasyland and especially it’s a small world. When asked which character was my favourite, I told him Minnie Mouse. Based on that he planed to prepare a story…

We finally flew to Paris for 3 days in September 2005, where the production crew took us to the Disneyland Hotel – they had booked us into the Tinkerbell Suite in the Castle Club! For the clip later to be aired on the tv-show we did go on a tour by bus to all the Disney hotels (each of them had put up a huge banner readingWELCOME) and we were wondering why the bus didn’t stop. Steven Gätjen asked me about my feelings for Disney, why I come so often to DLRP, what I like most in the theme park, which attraction etc. I told him that I love fairy tales and especially the Disney Princesses - so they allowed me to become a princess at the Disneyland Hotel with a wonderful pink dress and a golden crown in my hair. We also made another, short clip at night time when the Disneyland Park had already closed. We had Disneyland all for us alone and even go into it´s a small world. A few seconds of this shooting was actually on the TV show.

The next day it was the time for the highlight of the shooting: I was to be a part of the magic, a part of the Wonderful World of Disney Parade! Backstage castmembers of the resort helped me to become a clown with a costume and special make-up. It took a bit more than an hour but there I was – no longer Alexandra, but a real Disney Character! After a short tour of parade floats backstage I got an introduction what I would have to do in the Dumbo section. I really felt so happy and nervous at the same time, but all the other cast members were so friendly and did wish me good luck.

Then the great moment came: the signal to start the parade was given and the gates to Fantasyland opened … the music “Dancin’ a Catchy Rhythm” started and I felt the rhythm, too. It was great. All the happy, smiling faces of the children and adults along the parade route. WOW! It really mad me smile in return – still it was a hard job to keep smiling for the whole duration of the parade and keep jumping around the float all the time like a clown. The cast members performing this every day are really doing a great job. But it was my wish all the years since I first visited the resort in 1992 and now the Disneyland Resort Paris had made my dream come true. After the parade we got back to the backstage area and all the cast members and the tv crew told me that I made a great job.

At the end of the day I had a second (and final) interview with Steven Gätjen on the Main Street, U.S.A. We were joined by Minnie Mouse as another surprise for me, because Minnie is my favourite character. We spoke mostly about my feelings during the past 3 days, the parade, the surprise for us to stay in that wonderful suite. It was a great pleasure for me that Disneyland Resort Paris asked me / us to take part in this event.

The Story was on aired on Pro7 on Sunday October 30, 2005.

This story was provided by ALEXANDRA - devoted Disney and DLRP-Fan from Germany.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 27th, 2006 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Disney Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.