The Whovians Have the Theme Park

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On Sunday March 8th, guests at Disneyland were greeted not only by their favorite Disney characters but also men and women in fezzes, long brown coats, and bow ties. It was Galliday 2.0 Jelly Baby Jamboree, the unofficial Doctor Who day at the Disneyland Resort. Fans of the Doctor Who universe were encourage to don their Gallifrey best and dress as their favorite characters from the series. Writer Megan Kennedy and I were fortunate enough to attend along with our friend Brittney, dressed as a trio of Dapper Daleks.

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Events and meet-ups were scheduled through out the day for participants to enjoy. Some of the largest events were the group photo in front of the castle, the carousel take over and the meet up in the esplanade between the parks. There was even an after party that included Whovian speed dating. I’m actually disappointed I had to leave before the speed dating because it sounded like a lot of fun. There was also a photo scavenger hunt and the winner gets to name the next Galliday event.

It was pretty amazing to walk up to Sleeping Beauty’s castle and see around 200 other Whovians. We took pictures of some of our favorites that you can see in the gallery. There were so many creative outfits such as different interpretations of the TARDIS, gender bends as well as meshing with other characters, think TARDIS Elsa. Right before the group picture one man was dressed up as the Tenth Doctor and proposed to his Rose. He even had a TARDIS box for the ring. After the group picture the next event we participated in was the carousel take over. The line of fans wrapped around the ride but it was great way to see everyone’s outfits as they went around. Later we met up at the esplanade and took pictures with other Daleks and got to see all of the character groups together.

The event was organized by Amy McCain who was nice enough to answer some questions for me.

FGN: What inspired you to create an event like Galliday and how did it all come together?

Amy: I love Doctor Who and have for many years. I also love Disneyland. Been going since I was itty bitty. I absolutely love going to the themed days like Bats Day and Dapper Day. I remember thinking, why isn’t there a Doctor Who Day? There should be one. . . Okay I’ll do it!

FGN: How has the event grown from the first time into the event that was held this past weekend. (personally this was my second time attending)

Amy: Well I did about 6 months of planning before deciding on January 19th for the first one. For the first time out I was expecting maybe about a hundred people or so. To my surprise we had about 450 people show up! I was so amazed! At that time I had only planned for Galliday to be once a year. But then everyone started sending me messages asking to do it twice a year. I was like whoa! Okay! So I announced it and started advertising any way I could with no budget. By the time Galliday 1.5 rolled around we doubled our numbers! Now there are contests and prizes and the community has gotten closer and friends are being made. Now there are request to do a Galliday in [Walt Disney World]!

FGN: I saw there was Whovian speed dating at the after party. What did that look like? I wasn’t able to stay late enough to attend that part.

Amy: Ah! Yes that would a new idea I had that was a wonderful success! We gathered the girls, we gathered the boys, and we gave them 4 minutes to talk to each other. Then the boys would rotate to the next girl and the next 4 minute dare started. They all wrote down who they were interested in. I compiled the data. If there was a match they were to exchange numbers. . . The next move is up to them! We had so much fun!

FGN: What has been your favorite thing memory from this event?

Amy: Favorite memory? I have so many but I can tell you one that I will love forever. We decided after Haunted Mansion to continue taking over rides. We went through Jingle Cruise, Tiki Room, and Pirates together. We broke for dinner and met back up at Star Tours at 8:30. I made a post so we got even more people to join us. While we were in line we do the sound off so we can see how many people we have. I’m in the front, our large group behind me. I hear the lady ask the people in front of me, ‘How many? 2? Okay, left side please.’ The next group. . . ‘How many? 3? Right side please.’ I get to the front of the line. ‘How many people?’ I look her straight in the eye, smile and tell her, ’31!’ She blink, paused a moment, and said. . . ‘Really?’ We got our own shuttle!

FGN: That must have been a lot of fun! When do you plan on holding the next event and what can attendees look forward to for it?

Amy: “Well, I have not yet picked a date for the next one, but it’ll be around 6 months or so from now. I always try to one up myself to make the next one better than the last. Haven’t yet had the epiphany yet. I’m still recovering!”

Look out for the next Galliday at Disneyland this fall! A special thanks to Amy for taking time out to talk to me.

 

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