Indy Dis Meet 2019

After a few days away in the Smoky Mountains with my family, I'm back and ready to get back to blogging. I have so much to tell you about our time in Tennessee but that will be in the distant future. 

For now let's get back to my September weekend in Indianapolis. 

Late on Saturday morning, as I drove away from the hotel,  I was ready to put the problems I had finding lodging for a night, behind me.  

 That would happen when I pulled into my parking spot at the Indy Dis Meet, the reason for being there in the first place.  

The event was held at the Hamilton County 4H Fairgrounds in Noblesville. 

There is so much happening during this event that it's not possible to mention it all in one blog post. So I'll just focus the things that were a part of my day. 

Once I checked in at the front door, I received one free raffle ticket, a schedule, a couple of special activity sheets and a canvas shopping bag. I went on to buy another $20 worth of raffle tickets to increase my chances of winning a prize. 

There were dozens and dozens of Disney related items including gift cards, Disney related books, collectibles and more.  

Every hour throughout the event, which started at noon and lasted until 6, a dozen or more tickets were pulled from the bin and the numbers posted on a dry erase board for everyone to see. You had an hour to spot your number and claim your prize. 

Throughout the entire day, I only found my number on the board only once. I won a Dis Meet Christmas ornament.  

I also bought a ticket for the chance to win a Disney vacation. It was basically the "grand prize" for the event. I didn't win but I was close. I'll explain what I mean by that at the end of this post. 

Now you might think that being by myself without friends or family at an event, like this, would make it a little difficult when it comes to social interaction. But with a little effort meeting and talking with people was pretty easy.  

Of course there was the common thread of Disney fandom. I mean that's the reason everyone was there. In addition, the organizers of the meet do their best to encourage guests to mingle. 

They give each person a sheet of paper with a Disney based scavenger hunt. Printed on it are various Disney experiences such as:"has attended the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival" or "been on a Disney Cruise" and you have to find someone who has done it and get them to initial the box on the sheet. 

If you got all your boxes initialed you dropped the sheet into an entry box. You then had a chance to win a $100 Disney Gift card. It's a very effective way to get to talk with people you don't know. 

There was also the same type of activity being sponsored by MEI Mouse Fan Travel. Their prize was a VIP tour at a WDW park. 

I completed both of them but didn't win either. But it gave me the chance to have some conversations with other people. 

Although the hall was basically set up the same as last year, I did notice several changes. 

The silent auction tables were at the front of the hall and not the back. The area with kid's activities was not there. Someone told me that they didn't have it because they needed the space for extra tables for everybody to sit and eat. 

Based on this picture giving you an overview of the entire seating area, they needed it. 

One of the things that keeps me coming back to the Dis Meet each year is the opportunity to meet some of my favorite Disney based podcasters. 

I met Jim Hill for the first time last year at the Dis Meet.I was looking forward to talking with him again. He's a nice guy and knows a lot of inside info and Disney history.

Over the last year, Jim has expanded his media presence from one podcast to half a dozen. I had a plethora of questions to ask him about them.

By looking at the list of event times, I was given with my welcome kit, I discovered that Jim was scheduled to give a talk in the "breakout room" in just a few minutes. 

Jim always has cool inside info and stories about all things Disney. I made my way there a bit early to get a front row seat. 

But when it came time for the session to start Mr. Hill was no where to be seen. Instead, two other guys, Terry Weaver and McNair Wilson, came in. 

They announced that they were in this session because Jim Hill could not make it to the meet due to illness. 

I knew Terry but had never met him in person before. He has been part of the WDW Today podcast, which I've listened to over the last 3 years. I have him as a Facebook friend and occasionally "likes" or comments on my posts. 

He's a motivational speaker and calls himself an "ideaprenaur". He has his own podcast called "Making Elephants Fly". It's inspired by Walt Disney's Dumbo. Terry's a good guy and all about encouraging people to take the steps to make their dreams, a reality. 

McNair is a former Disney Imagineer. He worked for Disney for 10 years. He was on the design team for 7 Disney theme parks. He is currently a consultant who works with groups and businesses to how utilize their creative abilities.  

They spoke for about 45 minutes. Each took turns talking about the subject of their most recent book. 
I already mentioned Terry's book. McNair's book is called "Hatch" and focuses on the way to effectively brainstorm. 

Later in the day I would visit them at their table to get a picture taken. 

I also bought both of their books. I'm hoping they can help me get motivated to take the next steps in what I want to do. 

I'll have more about them and their books future  posts.

A big part of the Dis Meet hall is devoted to what is called the "expo". It's a series of tables set up so you can walk around and visit a variety of vendors. Most of them are Disney based travel agents, but there are also some selling Disney inspired products and there are authors promoting their latest books.  

As a way of encouraging people to visit the expo you were given a "passport." As you stopped to visit with each vendor you got them to ink stamp your passport. If you got all your vendor spaces stamped you could return the passport for a chance to win yet another prize.  

I made my way around the expo. Some of the vendors I knew from the past few years. Others were new and very nice.   

When I came to the Jim Hill Media table, Jim's co-hosts on two of his podcasts, Aaron Adams and Dan Z, were there. I talked with Aaron for a while about the "Wilhelm Scream" a sound effect used in hundreds of movies over the years, and we exchanged stories about our time working in radio.

The other table I was excited to visit was WDW Radio/MEI Travel. It's always nice to see the WDW Radio podcast host, Lou Mongello, he is an icon in the Disney fan community. But this was the first time I got the chance to meet his partner and frequent podcast co-host, Becky Menken. 

Becky is the owner of MEI Mouse Fan Travel. A service that I've used to plan one of our trips to Walt Disney World. 

I was lucky enough to get to talk with both of them for a while and got a picture taken with them. 

At this point, I have to stop and mention one of the best things about the Dis Meet, the food. 

Everyone who comes to the event is asked to bring a side dish or dessert for a pot luck buffet. This year I took a large brownie tray from Sam's Club. In addition, local restaurants like KFC, Papa John's, and Subway there food as well. 

There is so much to choose from that if you go away hungry it's your own fault. Best of all, it's all free. 

Another important part of the Dis Meet is the walk around character appearances. Disney Princesses and Star Wars characters to be specific.  

The Star Wars characters were from both the original trilogy and the most recent films. There was Rey, Kylo Ren, Hans Solo and plenty of Storm Troopers. 

I got the princesses to make a video greeting to my granddaughter. 

I'm not really into Star Wars but I did have a couple of encounters involving Star Wars at the Dis Meet. 

The first one happened when I was sitting at a table enjoying what I had selected during one of several trips to the food line. 

As I sat eating, I saw the Han Solo character walking toward me on his way to the other end of the hall. 

I stopped him and said, "I know why you are walking all alone. Because you are SOLO!!!" He kind of smiled but then leaned over to me and responded, "You know why they don't send donkeys to college? Because nobody likes a smarta**."

At first I thought it was really out of character for him to say that. But then I realized it really wasn't. 

The other Star Wars thing had me returning to the breakout room. That's where, Dan Zehr (host of the Coffee With Kenobi podcast) and Aaron Adams along with Tom Gross (Dan's CWK podcast co-host) were recording an episode of the Jim Hill Media Network's "Looking At Lucas Film" podcast. 

I really didn't understand a lot of what they talked about during the recording. But I did manage to be part of it by asking a question on mic. If you should go back and listen to Looking At Lucas Film episode 25 you will hear my interaction starting around the 38:10 mark in the podcast. 

Earlier in the day, Dan and Tom were on the main stage in the center of the hall recording a live episode of their own podcast that I mentioned earlier. Their guest was Lou Mongello. 

They talked about their visits to the new Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at the Disney parks on both coasts. 

It was while I was sitting listening to them that I realized that I also knew Dan Z from his occasional guest appearances on one of my favorite podcasts to listen to called "The Geek Supreme." 

Later I would get to talk with Dan about being on that podcast and the co-hosts, Jeff McGee and Scott Murray. It was cool to know he had been a part of that program. I miss those guys. 

The main stage was the place where several sponsor podcasts recorded episodes. Also there were a couple of special entertainers to appear there. One of them did something special for me. 

Brian Hull, a Disney voice impressionist and You Tube star shared his talent with the Dis Meet crowd. He sang some of the songs he's made famous on his You Tube channel. You can check it out here: 
Brian Hull On You Tube . He also took impersonation requests from the crowd. He's very talented. 

Of course the impression that got my attention was his "Goofy". So after his performance, I stopped by his table at the expo and asked him to record a liner for my Rewind Soundtrack program. He was gracious enough to do so. Here's a video of the recording on my phone voice recorder. 

 The other Dis Meet performer I want to mention made his 2nd appearance on center stage this year.

Yeeha Ha Bob Jackson's 15 year tenure as an entertainer at the River Roost Lounge in Disney's Port Orleans Riverside resort has long been a "must do" for the Disney fan community. Getting to see him outside of Disney World is a rare treat.

Here is a link to just a short 1 minute clip of his performance and interaction with the crowd. It's on my You Tube page.
YeeHa Bob Jackson @ 2019 Indy Dis Meet

For the 2nd year in a row, I made it a point to seek out the person representing Give Kids The World at the event. I talked with Stephen Amos. He told me to contact him and he will supply materials that will help get sponsors for a fund raising event. I am determined to organize a GKTW fundraiser of my own in 2020. 

I had a great time at this year's event. It is one of the highlights of my year. The organizers do an amazing job. They expand the event every year and pretty much have it down. 

The only thing I would suggest to make it better is try and get some Marvel characters for meet and greets.   

Oh, by the way, earlier when I wrote that I didn't win the Disney vacation giveaway but was close. What I meant was this. At the end of the day, when the winner was announced she was sitting beside me at the very next table. So I was close to the winner. The nice thing about it was she was there on her 50th birthday.  

The real winner was the Give Kids The World Village. $55,000 was raised. That's an amazing amount for an event that's just 6 hours long. I am proud to have been a part of it.   

If you want to know more about the Indy Dis Meet here is the link to their Facebook Page. 
Indy Dis Meet FB Page

You can check out what Give Kids The World Village is all about here: GKTW.org

There you have a recap of my experience at the 2019 Indy Dis Meet. Hope you enjoyed reading all about it. If you are a Disney fan, want to have an day to remember, and live within driving distance, I highly recommending traveling to Noblesville,IN and attending. It will be well worth the trip. 

That's all for this post. Be sure to come back in a couple of days and read my next one. I will once again be focusing on the town where I live and a special day Paula and I spent close to home. See you then.