Nolan, a friend of mine, was having a DC themed Disneybound group for his birthday. You probably might think that DC comics is not permissible for Disneybounding or why one would choose to pick DC to bound at the parks. Eh, it seemed like a good idea at the time. “Rulebreaking,” or non-Disney intellectual property, bounds are no stranger to the parks. The Disneybound fandom does intersect with areas of pop culture and mainstream nerdom. In this case, since Marvel was going to have a California Adventure takeover, why not represent rival company, DC? There were a handful of us regular bounders who had a few ideas – what we ended up with was a good mix of heroes, villains, and characters with complicated alignments from the DC Universe. This is also my first time bounding in a group within the parks. Would totally do this again!
The Rulebreaking Bound
I ended up choosing Zatanna. I’ve loved her ever since she showed up in Batman: The Animated Series. During the early to mid-90s, there was a huge interest in theatrical magic. There were a ton of TV specials that had magicians performing amazing feats. Because my family was very into this side of 90s pop culture, I immediately fell in love with Zatanna when she showed up in the Batman Animated Series. She did have a short lived stint on Smallville. However, once I started attending Wonder Con, I started to find and look for various Zatanna books. I later learned about Paul Dini’s run and fell in love with the mistress of magic again. I like her because she’s the little sister of the Justice League, strong familial connections, and is a magical girl (like me!). And I totally ship her with Constantine.
Because it was going to hot as Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, I ended up picking clothes that would work for the summer. Originally, I wanted to go with a dapper-style Marlene Dietrich kind of look, but I was much more motivated to do something cutesy along the lines of Love Live style magicians. I had the coat tails from an old cosplay project, a tank top from Rockin’ Bettie Las Vegas, a skirt from Forever 21, a hat from Party City, a red scarf to make up for the bow tie, and a pair of generic white shoes.
Everyone’s Bounds @ Hollywoodland
Lady Flash
Chill AF Riddler
Penguin
Batgirl
Zatanna
Harley Quinn
Poison Ivy
Batman
Gotham Rogue’s Gallery
Bat Family
Heroes and Heroines
Everyone’s Bounds @ Paradise Pier
Paradise Pier had some nice shots for fight scenes and individual shots. Just don’t make Det. Gordon ride California Screamin’.
Batman vs. Harley Quinn. There was circus music playing in the background which was rather fitting.
Harley Quinn
Penguin
Poison Ivy
Mickey’s Soundsational Parade
Ivy had a few friends in the parade. I honestly never seen the Soundsational parade in its entirety. Nolan and Edwin found a spot by the Wonderland bathrooms for shade and decent view of the parade floats. The parade started at 4:30, but because we were around the mid-point of the parade, it was plenty of time for Catwoman and I to grab drinks to quench our thirst. It was a warm day afterall. Soundsational parade covered various Disney animated classics starting with the Fab 5 leading the parade with the “Mickey Mouse March” and then having floats themed to princesses, The Little Mermaid, Princess and the Frog, Lion King, Mary Poppins, and others. It was a very colorful show of costumes and whimsy. I think this is the first time I saw a parade in its entirety since the original-original run of the Main Street Electrical Parade. It’s really hard for me to compare this to other parades, but this was fun to sit through just once and not just watching this from the Mattherhorn line.
Epic Group Shots of Epicness
Spideman and Captain America meet and greet.
Various Photos Through the Parks of Heroes and Villains from Marvel’s Rival
Gotham City Sirens take over Hollywoodland (aka soon to be Marvel Studios Backlot?)
Gotham City Sirens and Zatanna
Gotham City Sirens vs. Zatanna. It did happen in New 52 (also a great read by Paul Dini…only three or so volumes!)
Poison Ivy in her natural habitat
Riddler and Penguin found a lampost. 
Penguin was like, “GIRL FIGHT!!!”
It’s Batman Returns After All…(I dare you to drink the water, Bruce).
Meanwhile in Arkham…
Harley seeking shock treatment.
Catwoman just chillin’ in Toontown pending her next heist.
Zatanna at the Toontown Fountain. Harley was making the fountain do noises by stepping on various stones around the fountain. I’ve been around since Toontown’s opening and I wasn’t aware of this feature!
Miscellaneous
Sammy from Trader Sam’s decided to chill at our table.
The 1930s music still reminds me of Tower of Terror. I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets changed later in the week.
Where the Hollywood Tower of Terror once stood…
Summer of Heroes is already prepping in Hollywoodland. Methinks this is a test run for a potential “Marvel Studios Backlot” refurb of Hollywoodland. 
Gate will open this Friday, May 27.
Attraction Count
- Disney Animation
- Spiderman / Captain America meet and greet
- Soundsational Parade
- It’s a Small World
- Pirates of the Caribbean
Thank you again, Nolan, for organizing this event. It’s always a most excellent time bounding with nerds from the real OC. Let’s all do this again someday!
Written By Eri Kagami | IG: @EriKagamiSews