Though growing up in Southern California (and frequently visiting Disneyland) comes with one or two celebrity sightings, there is nothing that compares to walking the red carpet at a Hollywood movie premiere — especially for the first time! On February 22nd, I was given the fantastic opportunity to represent Babes in Disneyland along the press line at the world premiere of Disney’s John Carter!  As you will soon read, my first red carpet experience was filled with quirks. 


Before diving into the details of being at the premiere, I think it’s important that I provide some background to the night’s events. Let me forewarn you, readers, this was not a glamourous “stars aligning” beginning of a night for me. As you probably recall, I have been writing for Babes for a short amount of time and have not had any press or media experience before the John Carter premiere. So, when Lisa called me the day before the event to let me know that she needed to stay home with her sick son and to ask if I would cover it without her, I was a bit on the terrified side. Determined to prove that a recent college grad with no prior experience could handle a red carpet premiere and to make sure that our readers would have the ability to experience it — and to impress Lisa — I swallowed my nerves and accepted!


On the morning of the event, I headed out with a huge mug of coffee and an excitement level of the same size.  It was fun preparing for what I knew would be a flawless Disney premiere. My sister even helped with my hair and make up! After spending the day with Lisa (who was able to take a few hours away) at a Disney Baby event, I felt less intimidated about going to the premiere alone. Getting rear ended right before my exit on the freeway for the premiere did bring that knot back to my stomach, though (both my and my car are fine). Once I finally got to the press check-in table, and then saw our name and met other bloggers along the red carpet, my excitement took over and knew that I was in for a memorable evening!

As the stars began to arrive, it was such a joy to see how many of them were eager to meet with us to talk about their excitement for John Carter — and with Disneyland! As each celebrity approached, they greeted us with smiles and the delight that movie premieres bring. Since the other bloggers and I were told that we didn’t have a prime spot on the carpet, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many stars stopped to share their favorite attractions at Disneyland! It was so fun to see both Disney Channel stars (such as Caroline Sunshine, Hal Sparks, and Corbin Bleu), the cast of John Carter (like Bryan Cranston), and others (like Sigourney Weaver and Dave Foley) so excited about the Magic Kingdom. One of my favorite interviews of the night was the one with Dave Foley (voice of Flik from A Bug’s Life) and his daughter, Alina as they playfully fought over her favorite attraction.   


Check out these interviews to see what attractions are musts for some of the stars!

The “real John Carters” pose with Taylor Kitsch, who plays the title character of John Carter. Anyone with the legal name John Carter was able to enter to win a chance  to walk the red carpet at the John Carter premiere.

Taylor Kitsch, John Carter himself, was of course there. It was fun to see him with the group of “real John Carters” who share a legal name with Taylor’s character and were invited guests to the premiere. Several other stars — including Frankie Muniz, Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren, Zendaya, Roshon Fegan (check him out on this season’s Dancing with the Stars!), and others — were also there to see the new film. 


Several D23 members were also along the red carpet, celebrating their love of Disney. For the premiere of John Carter, D23 members were able to get tickets to see the movie before everyone else and with the stars of the film — such a great opportunity (and one of the many perks of being a D23 member)! For more information about joining D23, or about the fan club itself, click here.


Want to see more of my pictures on the red carpet? Visit our Babes in Disneyland Flickr photostream and see which celebrities you can spot! 


Though the night had a few hiccups along the way, it was a great experience that I am happy to share! For more information and details about the movie, check out my review tomorrow. John Carter opens in theaters this Friday, March 9. 


This post was written as a personal opinion piece and without pay. Neither the text nor the pictures were provided as proprietary information and does not represent the views or opinions of The Walt Disney Company.