D23 Member Preview: Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume Exhibit at South Carolina State Museum

Date of Visit: April 30, 2025

I am always checking the D23 events, but it rarely works out to be something we can go to since they are not anywhere near us. Thus, I was pretty excited to see an event that not only worked out at a time we had no other plans, but was also only three hours away.

We “checked in” (post about that adventure to come later…) at our hotel across the street and walked over to the museum getting there around 3:45pm. While the D23 Member Preview of the “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” exhibit at the South Carolina State Museum event started at 4pm, they were already allowing people to check in and handing out the credentials, so we could go in and enjoy the museum before the after hours exhibit preview.

We were able to explore most of the museum in the time we had before the preview at 5:30pm (another separate post to come for the museum), although we definitely did it quick and would have spent much longer reading more of the signs and such if it had been a normal museum visit.

The first part of the exhibit is focused on Cinderella costumes. The different Cinderella costumes included ones from the 2015 movie, Into the Woods, Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and the Once Upon a Time TV show. There is also a room off of this area showing a short film, which we skipped at first and stopped in to watch before exiting the exhibit.

After the Cinderella area, you enter the main part of the exhibit, which is broken into Heroes on one side and Villains on the other. It was a really nice layout with a pathway of figures on each side leading to the Space Between before breaking off with more Villains to one side and more Heroes to the other.

My favorite in the pathway area was Scott Calvin (Santa Claus from The Santa Clause 3).

Mik’s favorite was Nizam from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

He also really liked Jafar from Aladdin (2019).

At the end of the pathway, we when to the left to the Villains area. In this area, my favorite was the Sanderson Sisters costumes from Hocus Pocus 2.

The Into the Woods characters being posed as a scene was also interesting.

As we exited the Villains area and headed over to the Heroes, we checked out the costumes in the Space Between, which included characters that were sometimes villains and sometimes heroes. Mik’s favorite here was Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Over on the Heroes side was a somewhat interesting interactive Magic Mirror. For this, you stand on a spot and a costume appears “on” you in the mirror. It sort of worked, but was hard to really see yourself and more was just seeing the various costumes illuminated on the mirror. Certainly did not line up right for Mik sitting, but was not much better for those standing (or at least not if short like me).

My favorite on the Heroes side was Ben Gates from National Treasure. Mik wasn’t impressed as it was just plain street clothes. He would have preferred it to be the costume when Ben Gates was dressed up and stole the Declaration of Independence.

We both liked the scene pose for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice costumes scene.

Of course, I also liked the Mary Poppins Returns costumes.

The most impressive part of the whole is probably the Beast and Gaston.

The sketches on the wall showing the costume design from the original Mary Poppins (and some other movies) was also interesting.

After the exhibit, we had to wait for the presentation at 7pm in the theater. The presentation gave a good overview of the exhibit and the Walt Disney Achrives costume collection and preservation in general. It kind of would have been nice if this had been before the exhibit preview, though, as they talked about things to check out on the detail of some of the costumes that would have been nice to know before hand. We could have gone beak to the exhibit after the presentation if we had wanted, but instead we went down to the reception because we were were hungry and thirsty and Mik was done after having to wait so long between being done seeing the exhibit and the presentation already.

As we headed down to the reception, Mik loved that the elevator doors featured the exhibit poster, which we reminds me I keep saving elevator photos in a folder to do a series of posts on our favorite elevator finds. Maybe this year I'll actually start posting about the elevators.

Overall we enjoyed our visit to the South Carolina State Museum and the “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” exhibit. It was fun to see some favorite character costumes up close, learn more about the costume design, and see the details that you otherwise would not see.

Destination Info:

“Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” at South Carolina State Museum

301 Gervais Street

Columbia, SC 29201

Conway Riverwalk and Bonfire A Smokin' Taqueria

Date of Visit: January 3, 2025

We parked at the marina at the south end of the Conway Riverwalk to take a family walk. There are two handicap spots at the far end of the parking lot near the marina building.

The sidewalk at this end of the parking lot is a little uneven, but it is clearly a known issue as it was painted to highlight the trip hazards. The odd thing is that it there isn’t any handicap parking at the other end of the parking lot near the entrance to riverfront park, especially since the restrooms and even the playground there were at least partially accessible.

The Mayor Gregory K. Martin Riverfront Park has a short loop trail out along the Waccamaw River. The trail is mostly a very wide well paved sidewalk.

There is also a boardwalk part right along the river on one side. Mik found it to be a rather smooth boardwalk and not all that bumpy as boardwalks can sometimes be.

The holiday River Lights decor were still up in the Riverfront Park. Throughout the park are deer statues (some with Santa hats). There is also a Christmas tree you can walk through or around.

From the Riverfront Park we followed the Conway Riverwalk towards the main entrance by the train tracks. We planned to continue to the north end, but did not get much further before we found it closed off.

Where it was closed off was right by Bonfire A Smokin’ Taqueria. As Mik only came along because Dad said we would be getting food and it looked intriguing, we ended up going up bumping the wheelchair up the stairs from the Riverwalk to have an early dinner at Bonfire. The restaurant itself does have ramp access to the back and front entrance.

Mik was excited to find the tables very easy to roll up to, which has been a big issue for him at the last couple restaurants he has tried in the Myrtle Beach area. We all enjoyed the generous portions at Bonfire and had leftovers we took home including a to go s’mores pie Mik got to eat later. For appetizers, we got fried pickles and potato skins. Mik had the Smokehouse Burrito with tater tots and onion rings as his sides. I had the Veggie Quesadilla with tater tots. Mom had a Street Corn Taco. Dad had the Nacho Pie appetizer with grilled portobello and zucchini as his meal.

After eating, we went out the front door and through the parking lot to get back on the riverwalk without going down the stairs to the boardwalk. On the way back to the car, Mik was up for taking some photos, which he did not want to do before eating.

Before heading back to the car, we walk the Riverfront Park to the Christmas tree again to take some photos as it was starting to get dark enough to at least somewhat enjoy the River Lights.

Overall the Conway Riverwalk was an enjoyable family outing. I can see us going again sometime and even just to go eat at Bonfire. Seeing the River Lights after dark would also be nice, but Mik says not if it was too cold like it would have been once the sun went down today.

Destination Info:

Conway Riverwalk

Conway, SC

Bonfire A Smokin' Taqueria

951 2nd Ave.

Conway, SC29526

Brookgreen Gardens: Lowcountry Zoo

Date of Visit: March 18, 2024

Brookgreen Gardens is a place I have been wanting to take Mik to since we moved to Myrtle Beach almost 4 years ago. When my godmother came to visit us, we made it one of our top priorities of things to do during her visit.

We decided to do the Lowcountry Zoo area first. There are different parking areas and you can park near the farm/zoo area, but we parked in the main parking by the museum shop and walked/rolled over to the animal exhibits. This allowed us to at least see some statues and the garden areas along the way.

We ended up at the farm area as they were getting ready to go through the zoo area and feed the animals. We did not specifically go on the tour as Mik wanted to go at our own pace, which was faster or slower than the tour depending on the animal area.

Mik was glad he did not use his powerchair when we got to the aviaries. It was a tight squeeze to go in with only one door open, but we had plenty of hands and could have easily opened both if needed. His powerchair would have been totally fine for this outing, but I only convinced him to go if we took the manual and he could have his hands free to take photos.

We enjoyed being in the Cypress Swamp Aviary when they fed the birds.

Mik did not so much enjoy getting pooped on by a bird, but at least it mainly ended up on his wheelchair frame by his brakes and casters and not him. Mik pretty much always has wipes in his bag, so we easily cleaned it up after we exited the aviary.

We then took some time watching the otters while the feeding tour moved on. We then ended up ahead of the tour when Mik wanted to quickly go by the stinky foxes. Also, the way the barriers were for the foxes and some of the rest of the enclosures made it hard for Mik to see over/through to see anything, which kind of annoyed him.

While in the Birds of Prey area, we again joined the tour and learned about how the eagles were rescues. The tour ended after this area. It includes the alligators seasonally, but it was still too early in the year for them to be fed, which was actually interesting to learn about their torpor state (later learned the guide used wrong word for the winter dormancy and it’s actually called brumation) more than watching them fed.

By this point Mik was ready to go because he was cold (hands instead of his usual feet and it was my fault for leaving home his gloves that he recently bought to stay in his backpack). Since we were mostly through the zoo, we continued on the trail and went through the Waterfowl Aviary and past the Red Wolf Ridge (none were out easy to spot here) as we headed back to the truck.

The Waterfowl Aviary was our favorite. In particular, Nora and I enjoyed identifying the different ducks and adding some new lifers to our bird lists. I especially had been wanting to see a Ruddy Duck.

Overall it was an enjoyable morning visit. I would have liked if we could have had lunch and stayed longer, but Mik was done for the day because he hurt from sitting in his wheelchair, which we think is from the seatbelt not being able to be tight enough to keep him positioned well (really should have paid attention when Dad adjusted it for him this winter as it seems it needs to be adjusted seasonally). If we had bought tickets, we could have gone back again another day that week and definitely would have, but we had used guest passes which they take when you enter. Hopefully, another time we can go back and see more of the actual garden areas and the statues that are throughout. Definitely plenty more to see and good easy paths for the either the manual or power.

Destination Info:
Brookgreen Gardens

1931 Brookgreen Drive

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

Winter Wonderland at the Beach

Date of Visit: December 16, 2022

The last couple years I have made a list of Christmas things to check out in Myrtle Beach, but we never got around to doing any except only Mom, Dad, and I did the drive through lights a few years ago. This year with the timing of our annual DC trip being the week before Christmas, I did not think we'd do anything either, but Dad ended up coming down early enough when he came to drive us up to DC that we had time to check out Winter Wonderland at the Beach.

Mik enjoyed the boardwalk not just for the Christmas lights, but also because he had not really been down to the beach since we moved here almost three years ago.

Most of the lights are up on the boardwalk, but there is an arched pathway on the beach that while there are ramps down to the beach aren't really accessible due to the sand.

Our timing ended up perfect for an extra bonus of watching a Space X launch.

The gingerbread area was one of my favorites.

The marching band was also good or at least it was on our way back when it was all on as the first time past it was only half on as were several things as it seemed several parts did not initially come on with most of the display.

Overall it was a nice walk to see some Christmas lights. Mik found it a little too long, but only because it was one of the colder nights and his feet got cold, which we probably could've prevented if I hadn't already packed his boots for DC.

Destination Info:

Winter Wonderland at the Beach

Myrtle Beach Boardwalk

Myrtle Beach, SC

Tru by Hilton North Charleston Airport

Date of Visit: September 16-17, 2021

Normally I wouldn't do a post for a hotel when we did not have an accessible room, but we were supposed to. Not only did I make a reservation for an accessible room, but I actually made the reservation before I was able to buy tickets to the Blake Shelton concert because I wanted to ensure we had an accessible room if I could get accessible seats. We didn't get wheelchair accessible seats at the venue and that was our accessibility concern of the trip, but it turned out fine compared to the hotel, which has always been the least concern for us when traveling.

Around 11am on check in day, the Hilton app sent me a notification to check in, which I proceeded to do. At that time it not only showed me I had a reservation for an accessible room, but when I completed check in it had assigned me a room and sent me an email that my digital key was processing. I was actually initially impressed with the online check in because it has an option to tell them that there is a person in the room that may require assistance if there is an emergency evacuation of the hotel.

Around 1pm, I got an alert from the app that we had been assigned to another room and our digital key was ready. I assumed it was just a different accessible room that had become ready earlier even though I selected estimated arrival time of 5pm. However, I did start to be concerned because the app no longer showed anywhere that it was accessible, but I wasn't sure if it had after I completed the check in and was assigned the other room either.

When we finally got to the hotel at 6:15pm after unexpected traffic delays, we proceeded straight to the room to discover it was not accessible at all. My cousin went down to the desk to try to get us reassigned, but they had no available accessible rooms at this point, which is not surprising. We then had to waste more time trying to prove that I not only had reserved an accessible room, but had been assigned one. 

While the guy at the front desk was helpful and tried to figure out why some rooms were out of service, he also tried to convince us that our room was not guaranteed because we had not paid for the room until we checked in and we could not have checked in that early. While I understand that some room requests are not guaranteed until paid, I specifically had made a reservation for an accessible room and per my understanding of ADA law that room has to be set aside when I make the reservation and cannot be given away like it was. It is further annoying that it was given to someone else after the app assigned me the room and I had done everything I could to check in except actually access the room.

We requested a refund and he said he couldn't do that. All he could do was put a note in the system. We also requested to have the manager call us. We never received a refund nor further contact from Hilton. I also provided feedback in the Hilton app when it asked me and via the e-mail survey and never received a response there either despite asking to be contacted. I know we could have probably tried harder to contact them and complain, but they already almost ruined that night and wasted so much of our time. I decided to just report it to the DOJ in case there is a pattern to be investigated and be done with Hilton (except a few locations we have previously enjoyed).

I have long avoided Hilton just because there website has always annoyed me and I found I had to constantly go back and forth to find a hotel that actually had an accessible room to book despite filtering by accessible rooms when searching for reservations. In the last few years, the website has gotten better, but I'd rather go with Best Western that seems to not have online booking for ADA rooms at many locations like it should allow but at least they have never failed to provided it when we are able to book an ADA room online.

And this one feature of the toiletries in the room was so not joy inducing... Also, darn hard to use for someone with grip strength issues, so wonder how well that works if those are in the ADA rooms, too, because even kids (and me) could barely use the soap.

Months later we did end up with a check for a full refund, but the customer service to even get that was barely worth the effort and not satisfactory considering this type of situation should be punitive compensation and not just a refund. However, I did accidentally find I filled out a survey about the situation for the other Hilton we had stayed at without Mik earlier in the week and I will say that manager actually responded and cared that his location may have done something wrong (made sure to respond and let him know it was my mistake on survey and told him that his location had actually been awesome for us that stay), so I guess I am willing to try some other locations, but Hilton as a brand remains a choice we  most likely will only consider when using Mom or Dad's points and only pay to stay at the few locations we have had good experiences at (DC Wharf has always been great customer service wise and a go to even with the crap toilet seats Mik is always knocking off).

Destination Info:

Tru by Hilton North Charleston Airport

3331 W Montague Avenue

North Charleston, SC 29418

North Charleston Coliseum: Blake Shelton Friends and Heroes 2021 Tour

Date of Visit: September 16, 2021

When the tour stops for the Blake Shelton Friends and Heroes 2021 were announced, I went back and forth on getting tickets for DC or the stop nearest where we now live. In the end, I'm glad we picked close to home as not only was the DC stop cancelled, but this gave us a good chance to try out the venue when it was an artist we knew Mik enjoyed.

Same as last time I attempted to get wheelchair tickets when presale started. Again, I didn't mind that they didn't go on sale (and was pleased that this venue does sell them online when they do release them). This time, though, I did find ADA semi-ambulatory seats I could buy during the presale. We decided to deal with transferring Mik instead of trying for wheelchair seats later and risk getting nothing. In particular, the venue is also old and the wheelchair sections are mostly like the view we didn't really like at Royal Farms Arena and the semi-ambulatory ones at least meant getting a closer to straight on view of the stage. Also, this time there were four of us and I didn't want to take that many spots in the wheelchair section if they even let me buy that tickets or end up having to split up, which we lucked out not having to do at Royal Farms when it was just three of us.

Our seats were in Section 116 Row K. This section and the one next to it have the top two rows designated as semi-ambulatory. The way it is shown on the seat layout map I wasn't sure which row would be the one with less steps for a transfer and kind of thought the row in front looked easiest. I ultimately ended up with K just because that was the last option to get the seat on the end of the row. Turned out to be the right choice as this row you can roll the chair right up to and was an easy transfer for us to do.

Main downside to the semi-ambulatory versus actual wheelchair seating is that you easily get your view blocked by the people standing up in front of you. Mik and I were lucky because the two people in front of us were unable to stand much and sat the whole show. The rest of the people in both rows on both sides, though, were standing like much of the rest of the arena for the whole show. When Blake came on and everyone stood up, Nora was sad because she no longer could see, but she ended up being able to stand on her seat with Kirsten putting her leg on it to make sure it stayed down.

Last year we were supposed to take Nora to her first concert (Rascal Flatts in DC area) and Kirsten had been playing her the music so she would know it. This time after so many things being cancelled over the past year and a half, we didn't tell her and she didn't even know who Blake was until Kirsten remembered she had seen The Voice and knew him as the guy that does the finger thing. Thus, I wasn't sure what she would think not knowing the music, but she was totally into it as soon as Lindsay Ell came out. However, she was like, "This isn't country." Then Blake come out and she said, "Now this is country." By the end, she was dancing and singing along as she quickly picked up the choruses. She was also making sure we all got our phones out with the lights on and sang when the artists would have the crowd sing the parts back to them.

Overall we really enjoyed the concert. Nora and I were most sad that we ended up having to leave just as they were getting ready to all come out and play, though, because Mik's butt hurt since traffic was bad and he didn't get a chance to have a break from sitting at the hotel before as we had expected. Also, we still had to try to further deal with the hotel having given away our accessible room reservation before the shift change at 11pm (going back to hating Hilton...). It was also much more pleasant to get out of there early and not wait for elevator or try to get Mik back in his chair as everyone exited, although it seemed the usher was ready to get it and block traffic from getting in our way of transferring him back in it.

Destination Info:

North Charleston Coliseum

5001 Coliseum Drive

North Charleston, SC 29418