D23 EXPO 2011

D23 EXPO 2011

I was blessed with a one day ticket to D23EXPO yesterday, (Thank you CityStrolerRentals.com). I found the EXPO to be totally commercial and campy BUT I’m so glad I went! Almost every booth and display (especially the Disney Company ones) were designed to get you to part with your money! (note to self, “Take only the cash you can afford to spend. Leave, credit cards and ATM cards at home.)”

In a large stage they had the induction ceremony for this year’s Disney Legends. Sad to say I was late and unable to get in. I had friends that were able to go in and said it was amazing.

The main exhibit arena was packed with various venders showing off all the Disney items they make/sell. The largest were for Disney Store (Had a huge line to get in! Who would have figured that? LOL!), Disney Parks (The largest and most interesting display), Disney Gaming, Disney Living. There were smaller venders there that made Disney approved art and sold classic Disney items such as movie cels and pins. Even some Disney Fan Sites had booths! (MouseMeets and WDWRadio were a couple I checked out.) They also had teasers to get you upstairs to look in exhibits. They had Walt Disney’s black Cadillac Limo, the blue DHARMA van from Lost and the miniature model of the Black Pearl in the main exhibit arena.

Upstairs there were several rooms filled with treasures from the Disney archives. The first thing you saw was the Mickey Mouse plush that road in the Disneyland Train with Walt on the parks opening day. Next were costumes from the original Mickey Mouse Club. Costumes and props from Zoro, Rocketeer, Who Framed Roger Rabbit to name a few. They had one smaller room dedicated to Pirates of the Caribbean and another small room for Tron. Another room had items from the live action 101 Dalmatians. The line was long but well worth the wait.

In the evening there was a very special program. This was in a small venue so we got in line at 5 for a show that started at8:15. Due to problems the show ended up starting at 9 pm. What was worth waiting that long? Dick VanDyke and the Vantastix! We had one hour of vocal quartet singing with Dick VanDyke and his group. You can check them out a Vantastix.com.

This is an enjoyable event. I would recommend it for any avid Disney Fan. I don’t know of many other events where you can be walking through a room and see, David Smith, John Lasseter, Margret Kerry, current and past Disney Imagineers and many Disney Legends just walking around. All of them were as excited to see the new things coming to Disney as the fans! All were willing to stop and at least say hi and many be have a quick picture taken. A true heaven for any Mousehead!