The first Official OUAT Fan Podcast Meetup
September 15th and 16th at the Disneyland resort
This is for listeners of the Once Upon a Time Fan Podcast to meet at Disneyland, get to know each other and have a fun time.

The Official brochure link: HERE

CHANGE OF SCHEDULE Note: 9/16/12 We will not be meeting at the Buena Vista hub at 8:00AM. We will be meeting at 10:00AM at the entrance to Radiator Springs Racers.

CHANGE OF SCHEDULE Note: 9/14/12 Because of excessive heat, we will be having a Chill Break Saturday directly after Autopia until the Dinner at La Brea Bakery. No Star Tours ride will be on the schedule. We strongly advise that all attendees take a break from the heat and find a spot to enjoy the Air Conditioning (Innoventions, Animation building at DCA, lobby at a local hotel, etc) or if you are staying in a local hotel, take a dip in the pool, take a cold shower, etc.

Reminder: We have prepared Listener BigLove packs and lanyards for listeners that are attending, and that is why we asked many times for listeners to confirm they would be attending, so we could have enough.

Note: There will be some giveaways at the dinner on Saturday. You MUST be present to win.

Note: There may be changes to the schedule, so please follow us on Twitter: @OUATpodcast

Here is some info concerning folks with mobility challenges: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/plan/guest-services/mobility-disabilities/

Some of the attendees will be using the disability passes (Guest Assistance Cards), which allows (I believe) 5 others to join them and get in a shorter line to reduce the standing in line. On rides like Radiator Springs Racers for example, there is an entrance for those with disabilities to join there group with some stairs, as well as another entrance with no stairs at all to ride the ride.

We will discuss more at the meetup itself. If you are coming, see you there.

The Evolution of Mary Margaret
By Mandy

With the exception of Emma, Mary Margaret was the one person who mentally changed the most throughout the season. We see her transform from a timid innocent school teacher, to someone who was accused of and framed for murder; fell in love and had her heart broken; and ended up fighting for who she loved…Emma and ultimately herself.

When we first see her in the pilot, we already know that she is Snow White, this powerful independent person, and to see her telling her students about making a birdhouse, “not a cage”, for birds who are loyal and free to go where they please, we can feel that she is not the same person she was in Fairytale Land; she wants all of those things for herself. What she clings to is hope, one of the many things Emma, Henry, and herself all have in common and one of the many things that influences her actions through the whole season.

At first, when Mary Margaret and Emma become friends, the roles they have with each other aren’t what you’d expect, knowing they were mother and daughter in Fairytale Land. At first, Emma takes on the motherly role, offering advice to Mary Margaret on what she should do about David. As the episodes progress, we see those roles gradually start to reverse. Mary Margaret offers a pep talk to Emma before she gives her election speech.

Mary Margaret makes a huge shift in the way she acts around other people since Emma came to town. She respects herself and knows other people have her back and she has theirs. She has more confidence and is not afraid to speak her mind. In “An Apple Red as Blood”, she goes off on Emma for leaving and taking Henry. She unconsciously treats Emma as her daughter, a daughter that snuck out and didn’t tell her about it. If this was in the first few episodes, we would probably see Mary Margaret brush it off, trying to gain Emma’s trust. Now that they are basically best friends, she isn’t afraid to tell Emma what’s on her mind.

Mary Margaret’s transformation is one of the most profound we see in the first season. We even see some of her qualities she had when she was Snow White. Now that the curse has been lifted, we may see the two sides of her mix together and create an even stronger person than what we saw in both Storybrooke and Fairytale Land. I guess we will just have to wait for season two to find out.

Want more Once Upon a Time fun? Check out http://onceuponatimepodcast.com