We Nerded Out AGAIN and I May Have Embarrassed Myself!

After our experience at FanX last year and then MegaCon earlier this year, we took the risk and got the VIP passes for this year’s FanX without knowing ANY of the guest announcements yet. As guests started to be announced in early summer, I started to get nervous because nobody was, in my opinion, worth the extra cost that I paid for VIP and I was really starting to regret my decision. Then about a month ago, a notification flashed on my phone that Patrick Warburton was heading to FanX.

The gasp I gusped! 😱

Who?

Be real. Any Disney fan knows who Patrick is and if you don’t then you have probably seen his face in some TV shows or heard his voice in some animated features. Some folks see him and go Oh yeah! That guy! Whatever. I was like Kevin’s mom in Home Alone – screwed up face and all – PATRICK!!! I immediately texted Michaela and just as I suspected her response was OMG. No Way! That’s my girl.

So we had reason to be excited for this year and enough time had passed from when I purchased those VIP passes for the “girl math” to kick in. We were getting front of the line access virtually for free. 😏 Not really. But I head to justify it some how.

There was a lot of back and forth over who else we’d splurge on meeting. We don’t have a ton of money. It’s not like we can just go lining up for all of them. Would I have liked to meet Mel Gibson? Well, yeah. Of course. But that would have been one heck of a short trip to FanX with all of our eggs in one basket. We had to be smart and deliberate. For the price of meeting just him, we could meet three others plus throw in some autographs too. Sorry, Mel. Maybe next time?

This list was cemented with:

Photo Op with Patrick (who keeps his prices modest in comparison. THANK YOU, Patrick! 🙏🏻)
Autograph from Patrick (signing our photo we took with him)
Selfie and autograph with John Rhys-Davies (he’s been on the list since last FanX and he was also at MegaCon)
Selfie with Andy Serkus (cuz duh! 13 Going on 30? I am so NOT kidding)
Photo Op with Jason Isaacs (notorious film villain and an absolute gentleman in real life – also funny as heck!)

And that’s it. Sure there were others but I do have a mortgage to pay and well, I am not too keen on living under an overpass. First up was John Rhys-Davies… known mostly for his work in Lord of the Rings (sorry, not a fan 😬), Indiana Jones (where I first saw him when I was about 9 years old and of which I AM a fan) and most notable to our household, he is Salah (his character from Indy) on the ride at Disneyland. I made Michaela watch the first three Indiana Jones movies prior to FanX mostly to repent for letting her going so long without having seen them. She had to know he had other bodies of work and of course she did, but I needed to make it official. “Salah” – like Patrick – has become a quasi-member of the family in the years I have been taking Michaela to Disneyland. We say hello to both of them whenever we visit and we say all their ride safety speeches word for word while we wait in line. It’s become one of our favorite things and a memory we cherish. John was super friendly, he signed the graphic I made of his appearance on the ride and asked if he could put his arms around us. Then he promptly poked us each in the ribs eliciting squeals and giggles and a series of pictures I am too embarrassed to post. But I thought it was hilarious. He was joyful and we loved our interaction.

Our photo op with Patrick was next. I was in my “Nice Work, Pal” shirt (found here in the Main Street Studios store). We said hello, Patrick! Nice to meet ya! And he responded with “Nice work, pal!” right on cue. I see whatcha, did there Patrick. Nice work pal, right back atcha! And that backwards baseball cap? You know what you’re doing…

The next morning we hightailed it to Andy Serkus’ line where our VIP passes would start to earn their worth. Everyone was Lord of the Rings this, Lord of the Rings that and we told Andy we were there to say hello, get a selfie or two and to tell him that we LOVED him in 13 Going on 30. I am sure he thought we may have been being facetious but seriously, we were NOT. So serious. He laughed and said that role was his little secret. Andy is delightful.

We bounded over to Patrick’s booth for an autograph next. Again with the backwards baseball cap.. hey, there Patrick. How YOU doin? Sorry.. I’ve been a widow nearly 17 years. It doesn’t take much, folks. Anyway, we stepped up. We introduced ourselves. And then I did it. I confessed to him how delighted I was that he was there. And how excited I became when they announced him. Michaela says, “yeah, she may have screamed a little” (thanks, kid). Patrick responded with “yeah, I see it in your eyes.” My 👀?? What was I doing with my 👀? Then without prompting OR the extra $10 he charges for quotes he scribbled on our photo “Nice work, pal” – my lips pierced back a scream and I thanked him with a blush on my cheeks. Oh, Patrick… Whatchu doing? LOL

Our final encounter was with Jason Isaacs – that baddie red coat from The Patriot and of course, Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies. Photo ops are quick – like 3 seconds, stand there, smile, get lost now quick. But Jason held out his hand to each person he met, said hello and thanked them for coming. Very gentile and it was appreciated. We later attended the Harry Potter panel with him and Bonnie Wright (Ginny) and that is where his personality shined. So funny – a dry wit – British sarcasm and we loved it. He is our kind of person.

BONUS ENCOUNTER!

We capped the night off at the Provost Park Pass panel. Chris Provost and his family are some of our favorite YouTubers and they were on hand to answer Disney Parks questions. Now, having been a patron of Disneyland since 1973 and a former Disney Store cast member, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about Disney, especially Disneyland park. I know that park pretty well. But Chris can usually tell a story or two that I don’t know. And I do rely on his expertise on the international Disney parks because I have yet to visit any of them and they are HIGH UP on the bucket list. What you see on YouTube is what you get with Chris – humble, kind and happy to meet you. His family is lovely. His son is going to be a heartbreaker – watch out Chris & Amanda! Miles stole the show several times. So adorable. Be sure to check out the Provost Park Pass channel here.