Disclosure: Disney sponsored my travel, accommodations, and activities during my stay in Los Angeles. Thoughts are my own. 

Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere El Capitan

After weeks of anticipation and planning, the night finally came. The red carpet. Iron Man 3. And I was there. I am still pinching myself.

Before the Premiere

It is not very often that I have the chance to dress up formally, so after getting gussied up, I snapped a quick selfie in my hotel room.

Amy Bellgardt Formal Dress

dress from Urban Outfitters (not sponsored)

I then headed downstairs to the hotel lobby to meet 24 excited bloggers, all beautifully dressed up for a special night. We were all so beautiful, in fact, that we had to take a slew of photos. Hey, the red carpet doesn’t come along very often!

Formal Wear Before the Red Carpet

photo by Ashley Sears of Crunchy Frugalista

Amy Bellgardt Crissy Page Vera Sweeney

photo by Crissy Page of Dear Crissy

After dozens of photos and chatter, we loaded into a couple of vans and headed to the red carpet premiere. We were dropped off near the El Capitan, where the premiere was taking place. (more on the El Capitan in a later post!)

We hung around the drop-off point, waiting for Robert Downey Jr. to appear on the red carpet (Marshall thinks of everything) before heading that way. While we waited, I took a few photos.

Vera Sweeney Before Red Carpet

Vera Sweeney from Lady and the BlogMarshall Weinbaum Working

Marshall, always working.

Amy and Crissy before red carpet

photo by Crissy Page of Dear Crissy

Before Marshall received word that Robert Downey Jr. was on the red carpet, we saw an entourage of police motorcyclists drive quickly by us, protecting a red convertible Audi with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IN IT! It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to snap a shot, but fortunately, Disney provided one for us.

Robert Downey Jr. in red Audi

photo property of Disney

What a way to make an entrance, right? It was our cue to start walking toward the red carpet, so off we went. As you can imagine, it was crowded with fans, journalists, and photographers.

Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere-2 copy

The Premiere

The walk down the red carpet happened so quickly, that it is a bit of a blur. Security was rushing us down towards the El Capitan, so taking photos proved to be a challenge. Please excuse the blurry shots!

Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere Robert Downey Jr

We walked right behind Robert! Can you spot him in this pic?

Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere Robert Downey Jr

What about this one?

Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere Don Cheadle

Can you spot Don Cheadle?

Amy Bellgardt Red Carpet Iron Man 3 Premiere

 Crissy from Dear Crissy was gracious enough to take a quick pic of me on the red carpet.

Bloggers on the Iron Man 3 Red Carpet Premiere

Proof that was I really there! Can you spot me and other bloggers? (see bottom left) Thank you, Yolanda, for sending us this screenshot!

Once we reached the end of the red carpet, we had to hand over our phones and cameras, so unfortunately I don’t have any shots from inside the El Capitan that night, but Disney did provide some photos of the cast before the movie started.

Marvel's Iron Man 3 Premiere

Iron Man 3 Cast

As expected, Iron Man 3 was amazing! I will be telling you all about it in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. A big THANK YOU to the folks at Disney for making this experience possible for me!

About Iron Man 3

Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? “Iron Man 3″ will be released in theaters on May 3, 2013.

Disclosure: Disney sponsored my travel, accommodations, and activities during my stay in Los Angeles. Thoughts are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.