The Descendants Cast: A Fan Celebration at Downtown Disney : Descendants 2 is on its way.

I was checking out the Disney Parks blog Saturday morning and I came across the news that the cast of the Disney Channel movie Descendants would be a Downtown Disney that day.  

My stepdaughter watches the Disney Channel non-stop -so I knew that a chance to see the actors from the film which are also stars of some of her favorite TV shows was an opportunity we couldn't pass up on. So off to Downtown Disney we went.

We got there about a 40 minutes early and of course it was already packed so our view would be difficult at best.  They should have had big screens showing what was on the stage like they have done for other events, but they didn't. 

We waited in the hot sun melting like a witch in OZ--wishing someone would throw a bucket of water on me.  The show started right on time with the director Kenny Ortega talking briefly about the film.  He has also directed the High School Musical movies, Hocus Pocus and Newsies.

Then they brought out the films stars which include: Cameron Boyce (Jessie, and Gamer's Guide) and Booboo Stewart (who played Jafar's son in the movie

 Then Dove Cameron (Liv and Maddie) and Sofia Carson joined them on  stage. 

I got some okay pictures over the tops of out raised arms and kids on shoulders.  If I had run the event I would have had an area for kids to sit up close to the stage and all the parents in fold out chairs behind a rope.   The first come first serve standing home only was an ineffective way for the true fans (kids to see everything).   My step daughter still had fun though.  All these pictures are zoomed in after the fact.

After a brief Q&A with the cast they posed for some pictures with a couple early arrivals that were dressed up like characters from the film.

This unzoomed shows what our actual view was like....How early did the people in front show up for this event?

Then they did a fun little sing- a -long featuring some of the hit songs from the movie

The Choreographers from the film came out on the stage and taught the audience the dance moves to "Set it Off" and then the cast danced with the audience to the song.  I caught that on my phone --but for some reason couldn't load it to my Disney Facebook page...only my regular one.

As we were leaving a line had grown where the cast was exiting and my step daughter lined up to watch them exit...

My thoughts on the event:   It was free!  Parking in Downtown Disney for this short event was also free.  My stepdaughter got to see some of her favorite stars from her favorite shows up close and personal.  The standing home only with adults in the mix and no big screens to see what was on stage could have been better...but it was a great event all in all.   And the big annoucement that a Descendants 2 is currently in the works was a special treat for the fans.  All in all it was a fun event.

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Descendants 2015 6 out of 10 (Disney Channel Movie #2)

Descendants 2015  6 out of 10

It was family movie night and my stepdaughter wanted to watch the direct to Disney channel movie Descendants.  It was a well done yet predictable direct to TV Disney movie.   The movie is a fun musical take on the famous Disney heroes and villains from the the animated movies.  It takes place in a world where The Beast from Beauty and the Beast has united all of the kingdoms and expelled the villains to live on a remote Isle of the Lost.   His son Ben will be taking over as king and as one of his first acts decides to grant the villains children a chance to attend school with the heroes kids. 

The Movie itself:

(Spoiler)    The movie is predictable in that the bad kids will of course end up good in the end  (you never really feel like they are actually bad).   The movie features the sons and daughters of the Evil Queen from Snow White, Cruella Devil, Jafar and Maleficent.  Even though it is clear where this movie is going from the beginning the fun in the film comes from Dove Cameron who plays the main character Mal (daughter of Maleficent).  Dove Cameron is a true talent and shines in this movie. 

 She has an IT quality like Lindsey Lohan did (before she went crazy party girl) Dove especially shines when opposite one of her idols Kristin Chenoweth who plays her evil mother. 

  

The music :

The music and dance numbers are good but not Disney animated great,  with the exception of the duet between Maleficent and her daughter Mal, which is top notch.   The dance numbers were great especially the opening number that introduces the characters and the finale.  As Disney channel movies go it was a fun watch with the kids . They enjoyed the film and I would recommend it for the family.  It was a fun an interesting world that I could see some interesting stories told in.    I personally would have liked it more if it hadn't been so predictable from the beginning.  It lacked tension that could have made it a better movie.

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