D23 Expo – One Fan’s Perspective

Hi everyone. I am Mari May and I am writing my very first blog to tell you about my experience at D23. I live 25 minutes from Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure and I am a frequent flyer at both parks. D23 was a Dream. When I look throught my pictures, go through my swag or look throught the guide book, a bit of menalcholy sets in. I miss D23 already! Enjoy my thoughts and pictures of D23.

Oh, D23, what will you be like? For a few weeks my anticipation had grown until I was ready to explode. My excitement was difficult to contain.

Finally, Thursday, September 10 had arrived. After rising about 05:30am, I made my way to the Convention Center, parked and was in line by 06:45am. So were a ton of other people!

The doors opened a bit early and the process for receiving our wristbands was a snap. Then, guide book and pre-printed, well gone over schedule in hand, off to the main floor. First stop, the ever present Disney queue for the Dream Store. MUST get pins! This was one of the under-whelming parts. Lots of merchandise that can be purchased in the park, D23 items, beautiful artwork and items from Disney on Broadway. Then, behind curtain #1, another queue for the cash (or credit card) registers. All in all, not a terrible experience.

D23 Expo

The two main venues I wanted to see had lines so long that hope of getting in was quickly abandoned. So, I wandered around the convention floor looking at the different vendors’ wares.

D23 Expo

Everything was there from furniture to scrap booking to makeup, pins and artwork, and of course, travel agents and books. MouseFanTravel.com’s booth was my respite..friendly faces in a sea of humanity.

I was able to attend 2 seminars that afternoon – Beauty and the Beast panel and the ABC’s of Disney. On the last seminar they made us turn in our cell phones, cameras and Blackberrys. Both were fantastic seminars”¦Paige O’Hara is so sweet”¦definitely Belle! As for the ABC’s of Disney, the excitement was very palpable and the energy and excitement flooded the room! What a great feeling! Unfortunately I had to leave early, but I left feeling satisfied and excited and looking forward to Day 2!

Day 2, Sept 11.

After personally saying my own remembrance of that day 8 yrs ago, this seasoned explorer of Day 1 was off again to the Expo, food and water in my bag. The food prices are a bit expensive. Budgeting for ‘stuff’ not food! Oh yes, and comfortable, sensible shoes.

First stop was DCL seminar. Thankfully my friends found me or I never would have seen the presentation!

D23 Expo

What exciting news was revealed. Alaska 2011 complete with a nice, warm scarf for all who attended.

D23 Expo

Even tho I had my sessions pre-decided, those choices went out the window after walking around a bit and lots of walking was done. Disney Movie Magic was phenomenal. Again the confiscated all electronics. It was rather a zoo to retrieve them afterwards, but Disney did the best they could.

I must say one of my favorite sessions was the Evolution of Mickey with Dave Pacheco and Andreas Deja.

D23 Expo

After an interesting presentation on 1920’s Mickey to today’s’ Mouse. Dave donned a Mickey costume, complete with Ears, and break-away red shorts! He was the model for Andreas’ sketches.

D23 Expo

D23 Expo

Both of these men were very funny, comfortable and were so engaging. Dave was in many poses for Andreas and was moving constantly. Oh the laughter! It was just delightful. An early day for me again”¦.darn”¦family beckons. Next year, they are just going to be on their own!!!

Day 3, Sept 12.

Here early again today, I must see the Disneynature presentation. Oh my goodness. It was better than I ever imagined. How these cameramen (and women) capture the essence of these animals is spectacular. The future presentations of Disneynature are formidable and challenging and I am so looking forward to viewing them. Jaw-dropping, oohs and ahhhs..

D23 Expo

I then attended the Snow White panel and screening. Marge Champion, the model for Snow White, was among the panelists. What a great lady and very funny, too.

D23 Expo

D23 Expo

I spent time in the Walt Disney Archives seeing the costumes and accessories used in making the different Disney productions.

Then again, I wandered about the arena and somehow managed to see things I had missed, getting autographs of artists, it was so wonderful to meet these clever and creative people, and talking with so many people from around the world. What a nice time for me!

The Disney Corporate Responsibility Pavilion was great. We made blankets, planted seeds, painted pictures and bagged after school snacks for the kids. Very nice. There was also an area to drop off canned goods and the cast members were making a castle of the items. What a nice touch, to be able to do something for others while having so much fun.

Day 4, September 13.

I have many sessions again marked, but I just can’t do them all. Between the unending queues for some sessions and over-lapping times, it is just not possible to see all of my choices. So, new choices were made! After the long queues on Thursday I did bring a crossword puzzle book to the other 3 days. I must say, I finished quite a few pages in that book, especially waiting in line for Disney and Pixar presentation.

D23 Expo

Between this and the showing of the Tinker Bell movie, I wandered the floor of the arena, speaking with different vendors, which was fun, taking pictures, (I found my dream bedroom décor), making an autograph book at a scrap booking vendor’s booth, I checked out the new toys and decided just to sit and people watch for a while.

I wandered around ‘Celebration’, up and coming events and attractions at the parks, especially Disney Hong Kong. Photo ops abound not just with Disney characters, but with pieces of Disney history, Wall-E, the snail from Electrical parade, Lucky the dinosaur just to name a few. It was much too much fun! And the imagineers who come up with these concepts, brilliant.

When it came time for the Tinker Bell movie, I thought the line would be quite long. Not so. The Disney Theatre was not full, much to my surprise. The movie was fantastic, the animations was great, the colors were vivid and the message of the movie was timeless – take care with your friends, we all need them.

I did meet new friends, enjoyed my friends I knew and had a great time. I had very ambivalent feelings about the last day. I was glad it was over as I was very tired, but sorry it was over because it was so much fun.

Looking back on those four days, I ran the gamut of emotions – joy, excitement, wonder, disappointment, tears.

There were highs – seeing Johnny Depp, Miley Cyrus, Travoltas, Dave Pacheco, Disneynature, DCL and of course, TinkerBell.

And there were lows – some how I thought there might have been more vendors and oh those interminable lines. I think Disney was caught unaware of how popular some of the presentations would be. Larger rooms are needed for next year. And the schedules, great ideas, presentations, but some could be presented more than once (and some were). There were many disappointed and disgruntled people turned away from great sessions in much too small of rooms.

Am I sorry I went? Absolutely not! I am ready to do it all over again. Unfortunately I’ll need to wait for a year to do it again. But, I’ll return with knowledge and preparations I didn’t have this year and I’m certain I’ll enjoy it just as much if not more.

Now watch, since I feel I am so prepared, Disney will change everything and I’ll be back to square one!

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