Monday, June 10, 2013

D23 Expo – To Go or Not To Go

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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