the most insta-worthy pop-up there ever was

the kids and i were excited to secure tickets for another pop-up museum...but this one promised to be the best one yet.  because:

pop-up disney opened in downtown disney in what used to be the espn zone, which closed down in anticipation of a new luxury hotel that was supposed to be built but somehow got cancelled due to some screwup in negotiations between disney and the city of anaheim.  the city that would probably be barely known for anything if not for disney.  you'd think they'd be bending over kissing disney's ass for all the revenue it brings, but it seems that's not the case.  anyway, with espn zone not slated to return (as far as i know), they found a way to fill the space and still squeeze $30/per person for tickets.  including us, of course.  duh.

because it was also grad nite at the parks on the evening we had our tickets, it was really crowded at the resort.  despite the fact that we were supposed to have 5 hours of parking at downtown disney included in the price of our tickets, we weren't allowed to enter the parking lot because it was supposedly "full,: and so we ended up using our annual passes to get access to the regular parking structure instead.  after getting through security and finding a spot on the tram, we powerwalked our way through downtown disney and checked in at the front desk with about 2 minutes to spare.

after presenting our tickets, we were shown into the waiting area, where the bean made sure to use the restroom before we started our pop-up disney adventure.

the cast member who greeted us told us to make sure to look for all of the "hidden minnies" in every room.  also - if you're planning to go and don't want spoilers, maybe come back to this post after your visit because i took pictures of almost all of them.  the first one is somewhere in this picture...but don't look for minnie herself.  you'll find her name spelled out, kind of like a word search.

actually, now that i'm looking at the picture again, part of it got cut off a bit.  oops.

this is a map of the various rooms we'd be strolling through:

and then it was time to go upstairs and start our adventure.

first up - a room full of minnie's bows to pose with.

i found selfies like this one all throughout my camera roll later on:

awwwww, how sweet.

found:  our first couple of hidden minnies!

and more cutesy photo ops.

the next room was quite the contrast to the colorful one we'd just left.

 and another hidden minnie:

the next room brought out some other familiar faces.

and some fun mickey sculptures, too.

 hidden minnie alert!

we went through this tunnel to the next room:

and i was the only one who spotted the hidden minnie on the floor here.

the next room was a little harder to photograph, but it was fun to look at.

next was "mickey around the world."

 the hidden minnie is here - and as the cast member told us, once you find one you find them all.

i want one of these for the house.

 the next hidden minnie was easiest for the tallest member of our group to spot first.

 i'm not sure what we were doing here, but i went with it.

 and for some reason we were only allowed 30 seconds in this room.

the snack room was my favorite.  i totally want these walls in my house.  also, hidden minnie in this picture:

ever wanted to take a picture from inside a giant mickey-shaped balloon?  me either, but we did it anyway.

and more photo ops.  i always find cuter and better poses in these spots online after our turn is long gone.  oh well.

 one more hidden minnie:

and one more photo op:

and then one final mickey sculpture before we went down the stairs and made our way into the gift shop.

there was lots of super cute stuff in there:

and a display of ears from all of the disney parks around the world:

i was really surprised to escape that shop without whipping out the ol' card for a single thing.  and then we took one last photo for the old lady to showcase the jacket she'd brought out of retirement for the occasion:

and that was our pop-up disney experience.  lots of fun, tons of photos, and a whole lot of fun.  was it worth the ticket price?  well, if you love taking disney-themed photos, yes.  if you're expecting a lot more excitement and magic?  maybe not.  but we really enjoyed it and don't regret it one bit.  although the old lady did say that this is probably the last pop-up experience she's willing to do.  they all kind of tend to be the same after awhile, and the disney version was the best way to go out with a bang.