D23 Expo –
To Go or Not To Go
Is it worth going
to the D23 Expo or not? I think that all depends on you! If you are a Disney
fan that loves to see “Disney Royalty”, things from the Disney Archives and be
one of the first to know about the new things coming up in Disney movies, at
Disney Parks and on the Disney Cruise, then yes is where you want to be. This
year’s D23 Expo will be held August 9th through the 11th
at the Anaheim Convention Center.
I’ve only been
able to make one day of one D23 Expo and I totally enjoyed myself! I ended up sitting
on the floor looking up at the mockup of the bow of the then the yet to be
completed Disney Fantasy and crying. It was so beautiful! They had a copy of
the Minnie Mouse statue that now graces the lobby of the Fantasy along with a
sped up version of a Virtual Portal.
I enjoyed seeing
some of the Cars Land characters such as Red the Fire Truck before Cars Land
was completed. It was fun to see the ride vehicles for the three new Cars Land
rides before completion.
The New
Fantasyland of WDW was also being talked about at D23. They had a miniature of
the new area along with some of the ride vehicles. Imagineers were also there
to talk to you about what was being created.
Besides seeing some
of the new things coming to Disney Parks and Cruise I also had the pleasure of
seeing Dick VanDyke and the VanTasticks perform! At 80 years old Mr. VanDyke
was still singing and dancing and having a lot of fun.
Many items from
the Disney Archives were available to look at. Costumes and props from many movies
along with concept art were on display. The “miniature” of the Black Pearl was
on display. Even Walt Disney’s personal limousine was on display.
Along with all the
items to see there are many vendors that you can buy things from. From the
Disney store displaying the new products, not yet released in stores to people
selling Disney memorabilia such as animation cells you can find it all.
Many of the larger
Disney fan groups also have tables at the event where you can talk to them
about joining the group. You can find out about their group events such as
cruises and gatherings at the parks. Some travel agencies that specialize in
Disney are also represented there.
So you’ve decided
to go. Do you go 1, 2 or the entire 3 days? That is a hard question! You cannot
see the whole vendor area in one day let alone the displays. Add to that that they have special events,
such as the induction of new Disney Legends and performances. At this year’s
event there will be one night of magical music with Richard Sherman and Alan
Menken playing together. This should be an extremely popular event that many
will wait the whole day to see. I know people that are going to pass up looking
at the vendors and doing other things to make sure they get a good seat for the
show. (I’m going to be one of them!)
D23 is held at the
Anaheim Convention Center down the street from Disneyland so it is easy to
combine a trip to the parks along with the D23 Expo. It is my suggestion that
you do not try to do both D23 and Disneyland on the same days.
There is still
time to join D23 and get a discount on your tickets to the Expo. If you join D23
and purchase your Expo tickets by June 16th you can save $15 per 3
day ticket.
Here is a link to
the official D23 Expo page:
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