Deb's Digest

Today, Wednesday October 14th, is the first full day of our Adventure.

Today's Theme: Lights, Camera, Adventure

We have a full day on tap:

Behind the Scenes at The El Capitan Theatre - Step into Hollywood's past with a backstage tour of the ornate El Capitan Theatre, lovingly restored as a venue for Disney films and live shows.

Backstage at Jimmy Kimmel Live - Visit the former Masonic temple where this hilarious and wildly popular late night talk show is taped. On a backstage tour, explore this historic theater and hear some entertaining inside stories about the day-to-day excitement involved in producing a nightly comedy-variety show packed with celebrity guests and top music acts.

The Jim Henson Company Studio Tour and Lunch - This historic studio was built in 1917 by Charlie Chaplin. Now home to The Jim Henson Company, it's not open to just anybody! Enjoy a privately guided VIP tour that includes a video history of the company and a behind-the-scenes look at Jim Henson's Creature Shop™. End the visit with a specially prepared lunch prepared in the studio's private café

The Stars of Hollywood - On the trip back to the hotel, cruise by some of Hollywood's most famous landmarks. After the brief privately guided tour, stroll on the Walk of the Stars and compare your own hands and feet to the hand and footprints of your favorite performers at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

On Your Own in Hollywood - In the evening, you are on your own to relax or enjoy the wide variety of restaurants and activities in this vibrant area.

Enjoy today's photos (Remember we are on West Coast Time):

Day 2 of our Adventure by Disney begins soon!

View from our hotel room AbD. Hollywood

AbD group photo at Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

Kodak Theatre

Michael Manager of @elcapitan

Breakfast! What a fun place!

So much fun at Disney's Soda Fountain shop

Backstage day 2. Breakfast at Disney's Soda Fountain.

Linda and Debra getting serious about pin trading early in the trip. Exclusives at the Disney Soda Fountain

Ready to tour Jim Henson Studios

Deb, Chris and Beci inside Jim Henson reception

Hollywood Walk of Fame esp for @dcdeb_allears

An Amazing time at the Jim Henson Studios

Abd group just arrived at Jim Henson Studios

Cathy holds a Jim Henson Emmy Statute

@beci_mousefan and Chris have a moment with Kermit

AbD group at Walt's Barn

Walt Disney Barn at Carolwood

Miniature steam train inside walt's barn.

Tonight's fun - Toy Story 3D double feature

Just steps from our hotel is this original theater....

Mickey's Star

3D glasses in place ready for ToyStory 3D

AbD arranged for reserved seat tickets for ToyStory

A musical number from @ElCapitan before the movie

Check it out! Snow White has a star on Hollywood blvd too!

HOW TO FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURE!
Once the Adventure by Disney begins on October 13th, there are THREE ways you can follow us! With new social networking, we plan to do something a little different.

TWITTER
There is a program called "Twitpic" that allows one to send photos via a mobile phone directly to Twitter. Beci Mahnken and myself will be posting photos "live" via the Twitter network.

Deb Wills: http://twitter.com/AllEarsDeb
Beci Mahnken: http://twitter.com/beci_mousefan

FACEBOOK
We also have our twitter accounts transmitting automatically to our Facebook accounts. So those of you who are "friends" can follow our adventures that way!

BLOGS

At the same time, AllEars team members Jack Marshall and Debbie Koma will be back home copying our Twitter photos and combining them this daily blog. So, you can follow us either here, on Twitter or on Facebook.

I hope this provides some cool ways for you to follow us on the adventure of a lifetime, an Adventure by Disney Backstage Magic.

It's Tuesday, October 13th and our Backstage Magic Adventure by Disney begins today.

Today's Theme: "It all started with a mouse..."

Since Cathy and I have been staying at the Grand Californian resort, our journey begins here with an early afternoon pickup.

Today is arrival day for everyone. I'm looking forward to spending time with old friends and making new ones!

Our first two nights we stay at the The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and our Welcome Dinner is at the Trastevere Ristorante.

Enjoy today's photos (Remember we are on West Coast Time):

HOW TO FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURE!
Once the Adventure by Disney begins on October 13th, there are THREE ways you can follow us! With new social networking, we plan to do something a little different.

TWITTER
There is a program called "Twitpic" that allows one to send photos via a mobile phone directly to Twitter. Beci Mahnken and myself will be posting photos "live" via the Twitter network.

Deb Wills: http://twitter.com/AllEarsDeb
Beci Mahnken: http://twitter.com/beci_mousefan

FACEBOOK
We also have our twitter accounts transmitting automatically to our Facebook accounts. So those of you who are "friends" can follow our adventures that way!

BLOGS

At the same time, AllEars team members Jack Marshall and Debbie Koma will be back home copying our Twitter photos and combining them this daily blog. So, you can follow us either here, on Twitter or on Facebook.

I hope this provides some cool ways for you to follow us on the adventure of a lifetime, an Adventure by Disney Backstage Magic.

These photos are from Tuesday October 13, 2009:

Entrance to Downtown Disney from Grand Californian

DL Downtown Disney esp for @SidCahuenga

DL Downtown Disney walking toward parks

Leaving DL DD approaching park security

DL Space Mtn Ghost Galaxy Not for Auld ladies Deb and Cathy ;)

Entrance to DCA esp for @littlegrammy

Mr. Toad - esp for Kevin

DL Amazing Disney Pumpkins

Mega WOW from 2 who have not seen movie!

DCA World of Color Work esp for @markhp @marcmantoo

More World of Color DCA work @Rayhp @mcbrisbin

And still more DCA World of Color construction

Adventure by Disney begins Lincoln Town Car service to hotel!

Adventure by Disney Backstage Magic Group

AbD Guides Michael and Daniel

AbD Dinner at Trastevere

Photographer Cathy Bock shares photos from the very first official AllEars Meet and Greet in Disneyland!

Thank you everyone for stopping by. We enjoyed meeting all of you!!!

AllEars® Team Members Deb Wills and Cathy Bock are visiting Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure prior to their Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic tour (which starts October 13th).

As Deb roams the Disneyland Resort, she's posting photos to Twitter. You can follow Deb on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/allearsdeb

This is a compilation of those photos.

These photos are from Monday, October 12, 2009:

Good morning from cloudy Disneyland

Security check entrance for DL DCA

DL entrance esp for Glo and Donald

Halloween decor at hub esp for @magicmeets

DL Castle art work

Pinocchio Entrance esp for @djdrew

Village Haus Counter Service @djdrew

DL Port Royal

Very cool Commemorative Pressed Pennies at DL

Chip n Dale in cool costumes

Characters Ride down Main Street

Mickey leads the band down Main Street

Lisa at the Toontown Camera shop

Roger Rabbit's ride in ToonTown

Cathy Lisa and Laura head to ToonTown

Goofy's House for Masayo

Its A Small World esp for @KimberlyMBlair. Michelle and Kara

DL Marching band

AllEars® Team Members Deb Wills and Cathy Bock are visiting Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure prior to their Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic tour (October 13th).

As Deb roams the Disneyland Resort, she's posting photos to Twitter. You can follow Deb on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/allearsdeb

This is a compilation of those photos.

These photos are from Sunday, October 11, 2009:

Mattehorn on cloudy day esp for Mikki

Line to GET Fastpass for DL Space Mtn Ghost Galaxy

Ran into AllEars Team Members Laura and Lee w/ Cathy in DD

Checking mail while viewing California Adventure

Monsters Inc enjoy especially @jjzmgailey @david4242

AllEars DL Meet and Greet #1

AllEars DL Meet and Greet #2

AllEars DL Meet and Greet #3

Main Street DL esp for Jackie

DL Main Street all ready for Halloween

Great Pumpkin Mickey Photo Op at DL

Time to take flight at DCA

Beautiful evening at DL

What??!! I have to wait 2 hours for Fantasmic?!

DL Fantasmic Dessert Party

DL Fantasmic Pirate Ship - Awesome!!

Fantasmic Character ship w/ 30-40 Characters

AllEars® Team Members Deb Wills and Cathy Bock are visiting Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure prior to their Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic tour (October 13th).

As Deb roams the Disneyland Resort, she's posting photos to Twitter. You can follow Deb on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/allearsdeb

This is a compilation of those photos.

These photos are from Saturday, October 10, 2009:

View from the room at Grand Californian:

Farmer Mickey is hard at work!

Lunch at one of my favorite places .. Do you know where?

Parks are very crowded!

Wow! It's time to hit the road again. This time, I am headed back to Disneyland and then off to the Advenures by Disney Backstage Magic tour!

In addition to being excited about the Adventure, I am also very exciting to be going with AllEars team mate Cathy Bock for her first trip to California and Disneyland. You may not immediately recognize Cathy's name as a member of AllEars because she works mostly "backstage". Backstage is how we make the magic happen and how we keep things running smoothly. Cathy works very hard and puts in long hours as the primary moderator on the Rate and Review section, she puts together the monthly Wandering Around the World and Magical Moments as well as lots of other behind the scenes work to make AllEars spring to life! Cathy is valued member of the team and I can't wait to see her joy as she experiences Disneyland and our Adventure by Disney!!!!

We will get to see Disneyland all decked out for Halloween, and hopefully ride the Haunted Mansion Holiday as well as Space Mountain's Ghost Galaxy light show. We even have a reservation for the Fantasmic Dessert Party so we can see the new dragon!

We also have our very first official AllEars Meet in Disneyland! AllEars® Team members Deb Wills, Laura Gilbreath, Lisa Berton and Cathy Bock invite you to come by and say "Hello!" at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2009, at the Disneyland Plaza Garden Stage. Hope to see you there!

And all this is before we even begin our Adventure by Disney Backstage Magic on Tuesday October 13th.

I'll be posting photos and tweeting again so you can follow us around the parks and during the Adventure. This Saturday it'll be time to head to the airport and fly west to Disneyland!

Day 4, Sunday – Did I say it was Day FOUR?

Sunday morning when the alarm went off at 5:30am, I laid in bed for a few moments (after bounding out of bed the previous 3 mornings) and set the alarm for a 10 minute snooze. I was about out of steam after going full throttle the previous 3 days. My body wanted more sleep but my mind had started racing! Ok time to get up, big doings going on, as our friend Mickey likes to say.

I was inside the expo at 8am when it opened and got to watch the folks enter and disperse in a variety of directions. A crowd headed for the Arena Queue line where John Lassiter would speak at 11am.

Here's just a part of the queue area for the arena presentations:

Laura Gilbreath and I headed to the line for the Making of Toy Story Mania attraction. This presentation alone was well worth the flight to California.

Again, Laura did such a fantastic job reporting on this session, I'll just link to her blog entry.

Disney imagineers and Pixar animators entertained us with their energy and excitement as they went thru the various phases of developing the attraction (Music, vehicles…..).

I was thrilled when I had read that the Disney Archives would have an exihibit at the Expo. I must now admit, I was a bit disappointed in the scope of the exhibit. While I loved the vintage artifacts ( like the jewels from Sleeping Beauty and seeing Herbie the Love Bug), there seemed to be an over abundance of costumes especially from recent years. I am very grateful for what was on display, but I hope that at future expos the Archives exhibit will be expanded.

Next up, the Arena Presentation by John Lassiter, The Future of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation. Once again, all electronics had to be checked. Did I mention we also were “wanded” by secturity after handing in our electronics? On to the presentation! We got to see preview after preview of new Pixar films, shorts and feature length. It was great to see so many new and exciting films on the horizon!

After lunch, Imagineering Pixar for the Disney Parks was the hot “ticket”. A very informal setting with John Lasseter, Roger Gould, Liz Gazzano, Bruce Vaughn, Eric Jacobson, and others sharing their involvement with each of the Pixar park attractions.

But the key to the whole presentation, was Lasseter offering his very frank comments about Imagineering past and present. He talked about how, in the past, the budget really controlled the imagineering of an attraction. The budget is set, design a ride and then all kinds of things start to chip away at the budget. So then it’s one less audio anamatronic here and perhaps this one doesn't move and on and on so that the attraction gets compromised.

Lasseter explained, “I was in one meeting once… one of the finance guys said how something needed to be cut out and I said Ok are you going to be the one at the exit of the ride and explain to everyone getting off the ride why it’s successful because it’s on time and on budget when it’s a piece of crap?” At which point the entire audience burst into cheers and applause! He continued, “The simple goal is … once you’ve stood in line for a long time, you ride the ride and you want to get right back in line, that ride was so much fun!” HIs comments continued to energize me about the future of Disney parks.

A small press conference with some of the same imagineers where we were given glimpses into upcoming Pixar attractions. This was the perfect ending to my D23 Expo experience!

I had a red-eye flight home that night so rushed back to the hotel to pack and head to the airport. What an amazing time!

In Summary -- Overall the quality of the sessions were exceptional! In fact I only heard some mumbling about one session that folks were disappointed in. Mainly, folks were raving about the sessions. I thought the ones I attended were awesome!

Early on at the Expo Cast Members were asking guests to fill out cards for a post Expo Survey. I’m sure they will receive plenty of feedback. Here’s hoping that they pay attention and work on the big things!

I did as many things as I could during the 4 days but my energy level never made it to any of the evening activities. I returned to the hotel each evening totally exhausted but with a huge smile on my face. After it was all over, I felt like I had spent 4 days in Disney Fantasy Camp. Imagineers could easily be found in the Parks and Resorts area and also could be found walking the Expo floor. It was like being in a candy store as a kid. Of course, part of me was a kid walking around the Expo.

Sometimes I was torn with what to attend and do; the personal side of me wanted to get some autographs, attend different seminars, and spent more time seeing what cool merchandise I could add to my varied Disney collection. At least the lack of that time saved me money LOL.

Well, I could go on and on, but I hope between all the coverage of the AllEars Team and my personal thoughts you have a good idea what the Expo was all about. I want to once again thank everyone who worked for AllEars to bring you live coverage of the D23Expo, from the team members who attended, Debra, Laura, Lee; to our band of roving Twitters and the folks back home. Thank you one and all.

When the D23 Expo was first announced, it was stated that the first 4 years of the Expo would be in Anaheim. I had hoped that a date for the next expo would be announced prior to the official end of the inaugural one, but that didn’t happen.

Was it worth being a D23 member at the Expo? Oh Yes! The biggest reason was that members were able to enter the Expo one full hour before non-members. For some, this meant having the opportunity for first dibs on the Limited Edition merchandise sold in the Disney Dream Expo store. For others it meant getting in line early for particular sessions and for others, it meant being able to stroll through the Expo will smaller crowds.

But I can tell you this -- even with the long lines and long waits - I have every intention of attending the next D23 Expo and will savor every moment, every sound, every visual, every possible part of Disney, that I did from this first one. It was not to be missed and I am VERY glad I attended!!! See you next time?

Day 3, Saturday – lots of attendees today!

This was the day all Disney Park folks were most interested in, a talk by Jay Rasulo entitled Imagineering the Future of Disney Parks.

His presentation did not disappoint as major announcements and previews were shown including Star Tours 2 in 3D and doubling the size of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. Towards the end of the presentation Stormtroopers filled the stage and were soon joined by Darth Vader on the HUGE screen. At Rasulo announced that Star Tours in DL and WDW would receive a new 3D movie that would be ready in 2015, Vader boomed that “Mr. Chairman that is not acceptable”. At that point, Rasulo said the new Star Tours would debut in 2011! It was a very impressive show!

Each attendee received a limited edition Star Tours posting announcing the new attraction coming in 2011! One question left to be answered is when in 2011 will the new show be online and will this have any impact of the Star Wars Weekends traditionally held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in May and June.

Laura's blog has some great video (Thank you Lee) of the Parks announcements!

The giveaways on the Expo floor were not in great abundance, but were those that were handed out were quality. One of my favorites was from the "Mickey By" booth. Twice a day, contemporary artists that Disney has commissioned to create their impressions of the mouse were available for autographs. They each had a 5x7 glossy print of their creation to autograph. The artists changed at almost every session and one of my most treasured souveniers is a collection of these prints.

Another fantastic interactive area was the Alice in Wonderland Movie setup. The Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and Alice were on hand to share a tea party with you, and engage in great conversation. I stopped by to watch a couple times each day. They occasionally roamed the Expo floor too!

Photopass Photographers were at all the right locations throughout the Expo floor and there was also a 2nd Cast Member who would take photos with your camera as well! Very nice! Photopass photo ops included Lucky and Wall-E, Cinderella’s Carriage, a Turtle from the Electric Light Parade, characters like Mickey in his Band Uniform (I’ve never seen him in that costume before).

My last presentation of the day was called The Making of US Presidents which included the newly reopened Hall of Presidents in Walt Disney World and the currently rehabbed Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Again, there were long waits. My colleague Laura Gil breath did such a great job describing this session I’ll just link to her blog for the details. Once again, this was a first rate seminar and one full of information!

I had hoped to attend the “Refreshing it’s a small world attraction” as well as the “Prep and Landing” presentation but there wasn’t time. I did see a clip from Prep and Landing, a holiday special coming to ABC later this year and it looked very cute!

Day 3 was coming to an end. I had a wonderful dinner at Catal some friends. One day left.

Day 2, Friday – the crowds were picking up.

For Disney Cruise Line fans, Friday was the much anticipated announcement by Karl Holz!

I meandered around the queue line before we entered the theatre to see what folks thought would be announced. Most folks were hoping for news on the 2 new ships, the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, but others were hoping for new itinerary announcements and they seemed to be evenly divided between Hawaii and Alaksa.

Once inside, we didn’t wait long before the announcement was made that the Disney Wonder would undergo a rehab and head to Vancouver Canada for 7-night sailings to Alaska beginning May 3, 2011! The room cheered with excitement and thousands of paper snowflakes filled the air! In the "off season", the Wonder will have 7 night Mexican Riveria cruises.

There was one news item about the new Disney Dream - the atrium icon will be Admiral Donald Duck (the Disney Magic has Captain Mickey and the Disney Wonder has Ariel). A replica of the statue was unveiled for all to see.

For more information on the DCL Announcement here are two links:
Official Press Release and Video
All Ears Announcement Coverage

I spent the rest of the morning enjoying the expo floor.

The outside of the Disney Parks and Resorts area was a magnificant mural of Attraction Posters from vintage to new. As I walked along the wall I recalled many fond memories of the days gone by attractions.

Inside there was the AA from the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on display as well as the suit for President Obama in the Hall of Presidents.

I visited the Fan Art Gallery to see all the paintings that were finalists in Donald Duck 75th Anniversary Portrait contest.

While in the Collector’s Forum, I happened upon a booth that had Paige O’Hara (Belle) signing autographs. I didn’t have anything for her to sign, but I did get a photo with her. I only wish there had been better publicity of the Disney Celebrities in attendance in the Collector’s Forum. The NFFC had at least one signing opportunity each day, Tommy Kirk had his own table, and at one point I remember seeing a sign for Eddie Carroll, the voice of Jiminy Cricket since 1975! If these had been better publicized I would have loved to spend a few minutes with these folks and get their autographs.

Time passes way to quickly when you are having fun and I soon realized I better head upstairs to get in line for the Wonderful World of Color seminar with Steven Davison.

I arrived at the queue about 90 minutes early and the line had already made it’s way up and down both sides of the 2nd floor. After about 45 minutes, a Cast Member came by and said our section was considered the standby standby area and it was very doubtful we would get in, so figured why wait any longer!
Laura did get in so check out her blog for details!

Before I go on, I want to note that I only had a couple issues with the D23 Expo which says a lot especially considering it was the very first one. The biggest issue I had was the combined timeliness and logistics, or lack thereof. The Bob Iger kickoff began 30 minutes late, which made the Legends Ceremony late, which cascaded through the afternoon schedule. I’m sure the arena delay had to do with everyone checking all their electronics. Ok, I understood that; but what I didn’t get was how disorganized the lines were to check things. Also, there was no apparent line for those of us who did not need to check electronics; you know like the no bag lines at the parks? And worse, when the presentation was over, everyone just piled out into one huge mass of people trying to find the right color line to get in to claim their items. Again, there was no identifiable line/exit for those who did not check anything. I mentioned timeliness and there were several time that I was experienced a delayed start of at least 30 minutes and heard from others delays over 1 hour to start a presentation.

As I mentioned in my Day 1 blog, even on Thursday there were long lines by afternoon which translated into long waits for sessions which meant some folks were closed out. I will say that the D23 folks tried to make improvements on this. Sometime on Friday, the wait queue for the Storytellers Theatre was moved downstairs into a new area on the Expo floor. This actually worked pretty well, although it didn't change how long we waited. Also, they began handing out vouchers which were supposed to mean you would probably get in to the given session. That worked most but not all of the time. By Sunday D23 folks were getting a better handle on what talks would be more popular and were flip flopping locations. So at least they were making changes as they could.

The bottom line was that the D23Expo folks really underestimated how popular many of the sessions would be. I spent a LOT of time waiting on two different occasions and made it into one session and not the other. I felt if I didn't have to wait in such long lines, I could have attended more sessions.

Ok, enough of my vent about logistics.

The last thing on my agenda for the day was to go to the Making of Toy Story the Musical seminar. I really felt my energy level diminishing by this point so sat on the floor for a good long time waiting to get into this session.

Toy Story the Musical debuted on the Disney Wonder in 2008. Creative Director Matt Almos and composers Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn did a fantastic job retelling the creative process of bringing the Toy Story characters to life on the stage and all that went into developing the show. We even got to hear Vigoda and Milburn perform!

It was time for me to head back to the hotel for dinner and to get ready for Day 3.