Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread - Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout Review 5/30-6/2

Wow you have been busy Bret! What great pictures! And so interesting! The Avatar Land model was interesting. I'm glad to hear they are going to make a new Soarin' movie! 'Bout time!

Love the telephoto shots but, I bet that is a big heavy lens to carry around.

I can't wait to get there in September!!!!

PrincessInOz said:

Lovely pictures, Bret. You worked that 2.8 well!

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Thanks PiO. The 2.8 did really well during the dark ride for up close shots.

dhorner233 said:

Wow you have been busy Bret! What great pictures! And so interesting! The Avatar Land model was interesting. I'm glad to hear they are going to make a new Soarin' movie! 'Bout time!

Love the telephoto shots but, I bet that is a big heavy lens to carry around.

I can't wait to get there in September!!!!

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It wasn't that busy that Thursday at the parks where we just walked around. Maybe taking pictures with the 2.8 but didn't go on too many rides that day. Thank you Denise. There is so much to tell during the days during the D23 Expo which will come up later on.

The 2.8 is great but the only disadvantage about it is the weight which is twice the weight from the f/4 that I used.

It won't be to long until your trip next month. I am excited fro you.

DAF and I took a long break that afternoon where we left early that afternoon to get a nice rest for the 9pm World of Color – Celebrate. Even though I was not happy with getting the yellow section that night but it was also good to try out a different spot.

We didn’t go back until it was time to head on over to Disney California Adventure around 6pm since we want to get a railing spot that night. I know that any other family would use that time to do things like go on rides, shows, food, etc. but we were only thinking about seeing WoC – Celebrate that night which DAF hasn’t seen it yet.

We didn’t eat at that park that night which we mostly do all the time but this time, we decided to eat in our room that night. We ordered pizza from Marri’s Pizza & Pasta which is not that far from our hotel which is on Katella Ave close to Best Western Pavilions. It was way cheaper eating there than eating at the park where we had extra slices that day and it was a good thing that we brought in some food during our day at the Expo.

When it got closer to 6pm, we head on out of our hotel and back to the DLR. We didn’t plan on doing anything else except to get our spot for WoC that night.

It took the usual 10 to 12 minute walk from BW Stovall’s to the turnstiles at DCA. We head straight on over towards Paradise Pier which is where the viewing area is located for WoC – Celebrate.


When we got on over to PP, we had a lot of time until the CM’s set up the viewing area at PP. So DAF just sit on a park bench right by the viewing area while I was walking around taking pictures with the telephoto lens.




I even took some pictures of the flowers in the viewing area with the 2.8.








The CM’s finally arrived at the viewing area putting in thepoles and rope area. So we head on over towards the Yellow Waiting Area until we are let in the viewing area that night. It was almost like around 7:15pm that night where people were already waiting to get in.


We moved up a little closer since the CM’s were trying to get everyone in the waiting area.


More and more people started to arrive that night.


When it was almost time to enter the viewing area at 8pm, we had to wait a little longer since the CM’s were getting the handicapped people in before us. Sometimes it isn’t right to let the handicapped people in the viewing area that are showing up late or little wait time like the rest of us but I do understand why they do that since they could run into someone if they were in the regular line as well. Some of you would say but there is a handicapped area for the handicapped people. That is true on the backside but there is also a middle area for them as well.


When the CM’s let the guests in the viewing area, we head straight on over to the spot that @HydroGuy have pointed out on his spot for WoC viewing area in the yellow section. We didn’t get the spot since there were people there from the handicapped and the ones that were in front of us. Overall it was not that bad. I would say that this is not the best spot but we were able to see the fountains that night.

I also set up my camera on the tripod to get some long exposure shots that night.










When we got the second row that night, the spot was a wet zone. I did warm DAF that we might get and I got out my rain cover for my DSLR just in case if we do get wet. I should have planned better by getting the poncho and the rain cover but I didn’t think that it was necessary to bring one from the location we are that night. But the wind also had a hand it as well where we did get a little wet that night but it felt good after a hot day in Anaheim.

Now it was time for the 9pm World of Color – Celebrate from the yellow section that night. I didn’t use the telephoto lens since it was too close from that spot so I used the Tamron lens.

Back to more pictures from World of Color – Celebrate that Thursday night in the yellow section for the 9pm show.




























DAF was impressed with the new World of Color – Celebrate. But she did agree that it isn’t for everyone like the original WoC. It is a very nice tribute to Walt Disney and all of his best work. It did include scenes from Disney movies and park attractions including vintage video of Disneyland.

After watching WoC – Celebrate, Disneyland Forever fireworks was going on at Disneyland. We didn’t stay to watch it since we had to leave.

When I packed all my stuff, we head straight on back to BW Stovall’s that night so we can got to bed since we have to get up early for the first day of the D23 Expo. In the past, we always come on Thursday and watch the fireworks but this time we watched WoC since we came on Wednesday. It was a good thing that we came a day early even though we are going to bed very late that Thursday night.

We got back around 10pm and went to bed around 11pm to midnight. We plan on getting up around 4am and leave to the Anaheim Convention Center around 5am so we can get in the line for the D23 Expo. I plan on going to the Show floor to do shopping while DAF went to see the Disney Legends Ceremony. It did made it hard for us to be separated but she wanted to do something more important over shopping so she went with that and I went with my thing.

That concludes Thursday at the DLR and the next one will be about the D23 Expo. So stay tune for the first update from the D23 Expo even though I have already posted some of it during the trip.

That yellow zone spot isn't too bad.

Nice to see the Star Wars inclusion.

Love the rose!

I'm going to have to look into one of those neutral density filters for better fireworks shots! I'll be posting my WoC pics soon and I couldn't get any nearly as good. My camera wouldn't even let me shoot on manual mode no matter where I set the settings.

PrincessInOz said:

That yellow zone spot isn't too bad.

Nice to see the Star Wars inclusion.

Love the rose!

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The yellow spot is not that bad where watching it is not a super great spot but it was okay but I don't think it was worth staking just that spot. Maybe for some other families that has never seen WoC but just not me.

Can't wait to see Star Wars later this year.

franandaj said:

I'm going to have to look into one of those neutral density filters for better fireworks shots! I'll be posting my WoC pics soon and I couldn't get any nearly as good. My camera wouldn't even let me shoot on manual mode no matter where I set the settings.

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Talk to PiO about that since she is one of the people that got me into the ND filters. I have also read Tom Bricker site as well with the use of filters that will change your shots big time. I will look forward to seeing your pictures of WoC - Celebrate. Have you ever taken your camera for service which you should consider.

Now it was the first day of the D23 Expo on Friday the 14th. After the first two days of the trip which we were at the Disneyland Resort to see the new nighttime shows, it was now time for the highlight of the trip which was the fourth annual D23 Expo.

I have attended all four Expo’s in the past, and this was DAF third time. From our past experiences at the D23 Expo’s, it is important to come first thing in the morning to do the seminars, shopping, etc.

My goal was to get in the queue for the Dream Store and get the StorePass for the Mickey’s of Glendale or Disney Store that morning. DAF goal was to see the 10:30pm Disney Legends Ceremony and see the 3pm Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming Films, Hosted by John Lasseter which was one of the popular seminars during the D23 Expo. So we plan on being on our own during the D23 Expo. It made sense since she wanted to do her own things while I am planning on doing things on my own as well. But it was very hard to be by myself since I needed her to help me buy some of the stuff that morning. But it was fine since she wanted to see at the Expo.

We got up around 4am that morning where we didn’t get a lot of sleep that night since we were at DCA that night watching World of Color – Celebrate. We were so tired from that night which we got up a little late but we still got up early to get in the queue for the D23 Expo.

We left around 4:45am and head on over to the Anaheim Convention Center where the D23 Expo is held again.


It was less than a 5 minute walk from BW Stovall’s to the Anaheim Convention Center. This was also going to be interesting since the Arena is not going to be used this year where Hall D23 or Hall D at the Anaheim Convention Center will be where the big presentations will be located. At first, I thought that the only reason they moved it to in Hall area instead of the arena is to put more people in it. The arena could hold around 5,000 people while I read that Hall D23 could hold up to 7,500 people. That is a big increase from the previous years but I also had a hunch that it is all going to be one level. If you were in the back, you would not get a good spot to see the presentation live.

When we got to the ACC, there wasn’t anything outside by the arena so this time it was better planned than from previous years where we had to wait outside for the attendees that got there early.


There were a lot of banners on the poles directing the attendees where to go which is a good thing where in the past, they didn’t tell you where to go. Also there were no people on the side which is a first and good thing since in the past, it was so crowded just to walk through this alley.


When we got to the front entrance of the ACC, we were wondering where the queue was so we walked around and saw a giant Buzz Lightyear parade balloon. Around it was the D23 media making it a big media circus area.




After looking for a CM, we were told to go through the left hand side of the ACC to the queue where the show room floor and Hall D23 queue is located. So we walked around the giant Buzz Lightyear parade float and now know where to go.




The queue was inside the ACC and of the bottom level which is Hall E.




When we got in Hall E, we were give a free bag including the program which has some trading cards of Disney characters that was so popular during the D23 Expo.

There were two sides for those queues which was the Hall D23 and the show room floor. The Hall D23 was on the right hand side while the show floor was on the left hand side when you enter Hall E.


DAF went to the Hall D23 queue while I went on over to the show floor for the D23 Gold/Silver members. When I got in the queue, I was in the sixth line area which was quite long that morning around 5am. There were people that showed up at 10pm on Thursday night which is crazy but those are dedicated Disney fans that would want to be their first thing in the morning.


The line on the my left hand side was the non-Gold/Silver members which is a good thing or I would have waited a long time just to get in the Expo.


It was quite a long backside as well where there were people that have chairs, blankets, etc. while they were waiting that long night and morning.


Good thing for the both of us since this time we planned out way better from previous expos. Before the trip, I was searching for fold up chairs or stools to use while we were in the queues for a long time like waiting to get in the expo. I found a chair which was a GCI Outdoor PackSeat which was perfect since it can also fold up as well which has a bag where we attached it to our backpacks. This was a big difference to have since we were waiting in those lines for the seminars.

I was on my iPad and iPhone the whole time until it got closer when we are allowed in the show room floor while DAF was waiting to get into Hall D23.

I played with the telephoto lens as well and got pictures of the signs which can tell you where to line up. This time, D23 was well prepared for the long wait time so they had everything planned.




There was a seating chart for Hall D23 which was a big help since this tells you where the seats are located and which area to choose during the seminars. DAF was able to watch the Disney Legends Ceremony in the A area which was not that bad.


While I was waiting , there were other people that were attending the D23 Expo which was one of them was my neighbor niece which I gave her some info about my prior Expo’s that I have attended. They didn’t get to the ACC around 7am which was very late that morning. From what she has told me, there was a huge queue outside of the ACC for people to get in Hall E. From all the time until we were escorted to the show floor, the line was so long that it was still going on.

It was almost 9am and the line started to move. The people that showed up early were now moving to the show floor while I was waiting until my line started to move.


For all that time, we waited 4 hours to get in the show floor and Hall D23. My queue was going and we went underneath the walkway where the other attendees are going in Hall E. So the new way to get people in the show floor was well planned and organized really well that Friday. I was impressed with the way how this was set up then from the previous years.


I followed the people all the way to Hall C which is the entrance for the people that were in Hall E. the show floors were in Hall A, B & C for the show floor at the ACC while Hall D is for Hall D23 for the big seminars.


After I got in the show floor after 9am, I head straight on over to the Disney Dream Store which was on the other hand side of the show floor. The layout is completely different from previous years but there were a lot of things to do that morning but for me was the shopping.




The Disneyland Archives queue which was a highlight of the D23 Expo which I was able to go in it during on the other days. But that will be on another update on my trip report.


I walked all the way on over to the Dream Store and was in the queue. I didn’t have to wait that long in the queue which was around 10 minutes. While I was waiting, I got the backside of the Disneyland Archives exhibit.






When I got in the queue for the Dream Store, this was a little easy with the system they did it for this year than from previous years which is get in the queue and run all the way to the destination you want to. The wait time for the Dream Store was not that long. There was also the Mickey’s of Glendale and Disney Store which are very popular as well. My guess that part of the attendees that went on over to the Disney Store & MoG over the Dream Store which the wait time was short.

I was in the queue for the Dream Store that morning where I spent 4 hours just to do shopping that morning. But there were other attendees that were there since 10pm on Thursday night so I was not that crazy to get there early.

I was in the queue for the Disney Dream Store waiting to get in and it started to get a little busy that morning. There wasn’t a lot of people in the queue for the Dream Store as I have expected which in previous years I had to wait about more than 30 minutes to get in the store.


While I was almost at the store, I got to see some of the samples at the store.












As you can tell this is a Disney shopper dream that has anything to do with the D23 Expo, Parks & Resorts merchandise that is a pre-release until the specific merchandise are released at the Disney parks, art work, CD’s, books, etc.

During my shopping, @franandaj asked me (during on my previous trip to Anaheim during the July trip when I worked at Anime Expo) to buy a Disneyland Dooney and Burke bag for @dgbg100106. I was able to buy the bag for @dgbg100106 during my shopping experience and was able to get everything I want at the Dream Store. I was very satisfy that everything that I wanted was available that morning.

Here are pictures from the Disney Dream Store.




























There was also a Haunted Mansion Figure from the graveyard scene which is an original mixed media from Javier Soto. The price is $17,000.00.




The pins


I had a full bag of goodies from the hand bag, shirts, lanyard, cups, etc. while I walked on over to the check-out area. The area was quite large from the previous years but it went by so quickly since I was there that early.


Including the bag and all my stuff, I spent a lot of money that morning where I had two bags and that was only the beginning where I do plan on purchasing more stuff that morning.

After shopping at the Disney Dream Store for the first half hour, I was about to do my next thing that morning. I was able to get all the things that I wanted that morning which I was happy and didn’t have to wait a long time in the store. I did took a while in the store to pick the stuff I wanted along with getting pictures.

My original plan was to go to the queue for the StorePass but when I looked at the StorePass queue, the line was already forming and I was told that it might take about 10 to 15 minutes just to get a StorePass. Plus the CM’s didn’t distribute any until around 10am which was late as well.

Also I am not guarantee to get the one that I wanted which was the Mickey’s of Glendale or Disney Store since there are a limited number of them which goes from 12pm to 5pm. Not a big gap and they sold out quickly. This is one of the big failures in my opinion during this year’s D23 Expo.

The StagePass was back again after debuting in 2013. But I didn’t have to get one since there wasn’t a seminar that I wanted to see that morning to afternoon since it was all about the shopping while DAF was in the queue for the Disney Legends Ceremony.


I decided it was important for me to just go on over to the MoG and wait in the standby queue instead of getting a StorePass which will take me a while to get one and I wasn’t guarantee to get the time I wanted. So I had to walk all the way from Hall A side to the backside of Hall C which was quite a long walk.


The show floor started to get a little busy but not that busy where all the different companies that Disney own or partners with are here from the movies, games, Parks and Resorts, clothing, shoes, etc. you know what I mean which were tempting to see. I didn’t have much time to get pictures since I was focusing on getting to the MoG store.


New Balance was there as well








When I got to the MoG area, I thought when I first saw the queue to get in which was quite shot.


But then I realized that there was a side queue on the other side of the MoG store and it looks like I will be doing the wait game again.


I had to wait about 45 minutes in the queue just to get inside the MoG store. This was way better than getting a StorePass and had to wait a while and then later go in when it is crowded.

I went in the MoG and was in another queue for the pins which was understandable since there were some interesting pins. But I was able to get shots while waiting in the queue.

There was some new stuff at the MoG while there were some stuff that I have seen in the previous Expos and from the actual MoG store at the Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale California.










The pins from the MoG which were mostly Imagineering pins along with Parks and Resorts as well.






WDI Pins from the new Shanghai Disneyland






After getting the pins, I went around looking at all the different apparel, bags, office supplies, etc. Most of the items I have seen from previous Expos and the one at Glendale which was a disappointment since I have most of that stuff. So I did walk around to see if there was anything that I want. I was able to buy some stuff from the MoG but not as much as I would have spent.










I spent a lot of time in the store than I have thought and it was a big mistake on my part during that morning where I could have done other things but I didn’t managed my time really well at the MoG store. It was completely disappointing to go in the MoG store that morning where it made more sense to go to the Disney Store which has some stuff that I wanted to get but I didn't go in the Disney Store during the three days since the wait time was at least over an hour and I was by myself with out DAF. If she was there, it would have made it easy but she wanted to do her own things like going to the seminars while I was shopping for most of the day.

I did bought some stuff at the MoG but for the time that I spent to buy it was not worth it since I would learn the hard way later on during the afternoon.

After I finished at the store, it was time to do other things at the D23 Expo. That will be it for this post and stay tune what I have done later that day at the D23 Expo on the first day.

That's a very early start to the day. But looking at the crowds, I guess it was worth it.
Shopping! What great merchandise!!
I was surprised to see the Oriental/Asian looking merchandise and then I remembered that it was probably for Shanghai! If I'd realised there would have been that kind of merch there, I may have asked you to get a couple of pins for me. Oh well.....maybe next time.

Looking forward to the next update.

Wow Bret! So many lines. So much waiting! But I do love the merchandise!! I collect pins too. I wish I had more room to display my Disney stuff! What do you do with all the stuff you buy?

Hi Bret. Thanks for mentioning me in one of your posts! I'm looking forward to your trip report so I can hear about the expo from your perspective.

I actually thought that 8/12 and 8/13 were really crowded at Disneyland. We stayed until 11:00 on Wednesday (we rode the Matterhorn around 10:59pm) and saw the second World of Color on Thursday night, then went back to Disneyland until 12am! I thought the three new nighttime shows were fantastic, and we got to see each of them at least twice during our trip!

We arrived at around 7am on 8/14, but it was not as organized outside as it was inside. It turned out that we were told my sister (not a D23 member) could not stay we me and had to go the general admission line (I'm pretty sure this isn't true, looking back). I went into Hall E for the Disney Legends (I was in the back of section B), but my sister (and the general admission line) didn't enter until 11:15. This caused her to miss The Muppets presentation. So, we weren't off to a very good start, but it got better.

By the way, I hope you had a chance to see the Design Challenge artwork - mine was there!

I'm looking forward to reading more!

Wow that's quite a wait, I'm glad you were prepared with your chair and ipad to pass the time. The shopping looked fun.

PrincessInOz said:

That's a very early start to the day. But looking at the crowds, I guess it was worth it.
Shopping! What great merchandise!!
I was surprised to see the Oriental/Asian looking merchandise and then I remembered that it was probably for Shanghai! If I'd realised there would have been that kind of merch there, I may have asked you to get a couple of pins for me. Oh well.....maybe next time.

Looking forward to the next update.

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It was early but not so super early like the people that stake out on Thursday night at 10pm all the way to 9am on Friday morning. There were people sleeping on the ground that morning at 5am when I got there and I could have done the same thing but I am not that crazy. The day was so crowded at the queue and inside the show floor as well after the shopping. It was well worth the first part where I did get all my goodies at the Dream Store and was disappointed at the MoG store.

The Mickey's of Glendale was all about the Shanghai Disney Resort with the Oriental/Asian looking merchandise and the decorations. I did posted pics on FB about the store and I would have bought more or asked DAF to find the pins for you since she went in on Sunday morning.

dhorner233 said:

Wow Bret! So many lines. So much waiting! But I do love the merchandise!! I collect pins too. I wish I had more room to display my Disney stuff! What do you do with all the stuff you buy?

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There were a lot of long lines at the D23 Expo from the wait time to get in, to the stores, StagePass, vendors, etc. All the stuff that I buy, I mostly keep for myself.

Wonder2008 said:

Hi Bret. Thanks for mentioning me in one of your posts! I'm looking forward to your trip report so I can hear about the expo from your perspective.

I actually thought that 8/12 and 8/13 were really crowded at Disneyland. We stayed until 11:00 on Wednesday (we rode the Matterhorn around 10:59pm) and saw the second World of Color on Thursday night, then went back to Disneyland until 12am! I thought the three new nighttime shows were fantastic, and we got to see each of them at least twice during our trip!

We arrived at around 7am on 8/14, but it was not as organized outside as it was inside. It turned out that we were told my sister (not a D23 member) could not stay we me and had to go the general admission line (I'm pretty sure this isn't true, looking back). I went into Hall E for the Disney Legends (I was in the back of section B), but my sister (and the general admission line) didn't enter until 11:15. This caused her to miss The Muppets presentation. So, we weren't off to a very good start, but it got better.

By the way, I hope you had a chance to see the Design Challenge artwork - mine was there!

I'm looking forward to reading more!

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Hi @Wonder2008, it was nice to meet you in person during the D23 Expo. It would have been better if we got to meet before the Expo but I know that you were enjoying your visit at the DLR.

The parks were not that crowded in my opinion where the queues for the rides are long but not like the heavy summer times or Christmas break. You stayed late that Wednesday night and were able to ride the updated Matterhorn. Glad you were able to see the three new nighttime shows and they are amazing.

You got there late that Friday morning at 7am. I heard from my friend that she got there late and it was a disorganized. I didn't see it that morning but from what she has told me, it was crazy with all those snake like lines outside of the ACC. It felt like the old times with all those snake lines outside the ACC. That was a little surprise to hear that your sister was not allowed to be in the D23 Gold/Silver queue that mornign where she had the regular admission ticket. That was good that you went to the Disney Legends Ceremony that morning just like my aunt. Sorry to hear about the bad start of your day and hope it got better.

I dd get to see the Design Challenge Artwork during the Expo and was impressed with those artwork.

ACDSNY said:

Wow that's quite a wait, I'm glad you were prepared with your chair and ipad to pass the time. The shopping looked fun.

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It was a long wait but after being used to the long wait for Paint the Night parade during my May trip, so this is not new to me. It was good that I had that folding stool along with my iPad and iPhone to pass the time. The shopping was fun at the Dream Store but not at the MoG.

After doing some shopping at the Mickey’s of Glendale, I exited the store and now was right next to the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit. I was not like inside the exhibit that talks about the park itself but shows some artwork from Disneytown Lakeshore which is like a DTD version at Shanghai Disneyland and merchandise.

That was smart of D23 to have it at the end of the MoG store to see some artwork of Shanghai Disney Resort.








I didn’t go inside the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit since there was already a long line just to enter the exhibit. But I was planning on getting a StagePass for the 5pm Imagineering 60 Years of Disneyland at Stage 23. This was the seminar that I wanted to see that day since I didn’t have time to see the Disney Legends Ceremony and Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming Films, Hosted by John Lasseter. I had to sacrifice seeing those seminars in order to do the other things that I wanted to do during the Expo since there were quite a lot of people that day.

So I head on over back to Hall A where the StagePass/StorePass is located right by the Dream Store. It is a long walk from one side to the other at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The queue for the MoG has gotten worse when I left which will be at least an hour wait time or more.






When I got on over to the StagePass area, it was past 12:30pm which was the time to get the 3pm or later seminars at Stage 23 or 28. When I looked at the queue, it was all the way back at the end of the queue and it was going all the way back to around the vendors. It was surprising to see that huge queue of people just to get the StagePass for the later seminars that afternoon.




I could have waited in that queue but it would at least take half an hour or even longer depends on how fast the line was moving. But I didn’t want to wait that long for that seminar so I just skipped it which I originally thought it was a mistake but when I heard about it afterwards, it didn’t feel like I missed anything. Maybe that was for the people that attended that seminar but it would have been different for me. But what can you do.

When I was about to leave and do something else that afternoon, I saw Alison and Fran @franandaj just finishing up buying at the Dream Store. It was nice to see them at the D23 Expo that afternoon.

We talked on the way over to back to Hall C where the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts area is located along with other vendors as well.


When we were walking in that direction, we saw the collection of John Lasseter Hawaiian shirts that features each different Pixar/Disney movie which was neat.


















Those were some very nice shirts that there were a few that I wanted but those Reyn Spooner shirts are quite expensive.

After looking at the John Lasseter Hawaiian shirts, we head on over to the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit. We only had to wait a few minutes to go through the queue and enter the exhibit.

I was amazed at looking at all the different artwork, videos, models, CM clothing, etc. that talks about the whole new park that will open sometime next year.


Map of Shanghai Disney Resort with the park and Disneytown


From what I have seen and heard at the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit, there will be two hotels (The Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Toy Story Hotel), Disneytown, and of course Shanghai Disneyland. The new park will have six theme lands which four will be new and two familiar one’s. The one’s that you see at any Disney Parks around the world are Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The new one’s are called Treasure Cove, Adventure Isle, Mickey Avenue and Gardens of Imagination. There will be new rides and some classic rides from other Disney Parks from around the world.







Here are my pictures when in the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit.

Some pictures from Mickey Avenue the new theme land












Next one was Adventure Isle








Camp Discovery which will be part of Adventure Isle






Treasure Cove land which is a new one which will be based on the movie Pirates of the Caribbean

The next theme land was Fantasyland. There were some rides that will be at Shanghai Disneyland which are from other Disney Parks from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pans Flight.


















A look at a model of Enchanted Storybook Castle


Tomorrowland which will be different from the previous Tomorrowlands at the Disney Parks which will be more of a Tron theme type.




This was neat that there will be a TRON light cycle rollercoaster vehicle just like in the movie.


Lastly was Gardens of Imagination




After we looked at the Shanghai Disney Resort exhibit, we just walked around the D23 Expo Emporium vendor stands to see what there is to offer.


One of the old PeopleMover cars.


During the shopping, I started to feel very hungry and my body got was hurting from carrying the backpack with the lenses and all my goodies that morning. It was very tough to walk around with all that stuff in the afternoon and since DAF was still in Hall D23 for the seminars. When we looked at the places to eat, most of the restaurants had long lines which felt like going in a queue for a seminar/store that afternoon. Even the food stands outside were busy as well.

I was planning on going back to the hotel room to drop off the stuff that I bought that afternoon since carrying it around just makes it hard for me to walk around and I might do more shopping later that day. But with the crowds at the Disney Store (which I was thinking later that day), it was very difficult.

When we got on over to Hall A side where the StagePass is located and it was around 2:30pm where all the Imaginnering 60 Years of Disneyland StagePass were all gone and I was not happy about it. I wanted to see that seminar that afternoon. It wasn’t on good planning on my part during this year’s D23 Expo where I had her with me.

Since I didn’t have any lunch that afternoon and been up since 4am, my body was tired and it was time that I took a break and take all the stuff back to my room at Best Western Stovall’s that night. The wait time and price of the food was not worth the time which I could save money by eating close to the hotel. We still had leftover pizza from Marri’s Pizza and Pasta on Thursday night.

I told Alison that I am going back to the room to rest up and we parted ways that afternoon. It was very nice to meet up with Alison and Fran during the D23 Expo that Friday afternoon.

I left around 3pm and headed on back to BW Stovall’s to drop off the goodies that I bought from the Dream Store and MoG.

When I ate, my feet and legs started to hurt that afternoon which I was very tired that afternoon. This was another big mistake on my part as well since I didn’t get enough sleep on Thursday night when we got back from the Disneyland Resort. We only got four hours of sleep which isn’t a lot and I didn’t take a nap when in the queue since it was only me in the show floor queue while DAF was in the Hall D23 queue. So it was bad planning on the part of this trip.

The thing is that I didn’t go back to the D23 Expo that afternoon till closing since I took a nap and forgot the time. I couldn’t call DAF until after the 3pm Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming Films, Hosted by John Lasseter since all the attendees attending that seminar are told to bag up their electronics since it wasn’t allowed during that seminar. I tried to call her and tell her where I was but I didn’t reach her until around after 6pm.

When I told her that I was back at the room, she went back and met up with me. She was surprised that I was back at the hotel instead of at the D23 Expo but she could understand why I was back at the room after a long day from getting up early and carrying all that stuff along with no food.

This is where you need to have someone with you at the D23 Expo. For people that are thinking of going to the D23 Expo in the near future without anyone to be with, this can make a big difference (if you are in my shoes for shopping and getting the free stuff at the stands).

When she got back, she started to feel hungry that night. We talked about what should we eat that night and since it was already too late to go back to the D23 Expo, we went on over to the DLR that night to have dinner at our favorite restaurant when the two of us are here.

So we walked on out of our hotel and on over to the DLR.


We had dinner at our favorite place which is the ESPN Zone. We could have ate somewhere close that night but since we were planning on eating around the restaurants by our hotel, it made sense to eat that night at the DLR.


We had to wait a while to get inside the restaurant that night since it was so busy. We didn’t get in just before 8pm which was way late. But we got in that night.


For dinner, we both got the Fish & Chips which was on a special menu. It is not on the regular menu.


It was nice to have a good meal that night with DAF at the ESPN Zone that night. After finishing up dinner, we went back to the room.

We didn’t go in the park that night since we had to get up early the next day on Saturday since there was the Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at the Walt Disney Studios seminar at 10:30am to 12:30pm which this was another big one like the Pixar/WD Studios seminar that Friday afternoon. I know that there will be a lot of people staking out on Friday night to Saturday morning to see that seminar. DAF was planning on seeing that while I was planning on going to the stores on Saturday.

There were a lot of mistakes that I made that Friday during the Expo which I didn’t get something to eat and carried all that stuff with me around the Expo which took a lot of energy. I should have went back to the room after finishing my shopping at the Dream Store but I was stubborn of getting a StagePass where I didn’t get one that afternoon since the queue to get the StagePass was long. I wasn’t able to go in the Disney Store which I have heard had great things to get from the Reyn Spooner John Lasseter Hawaiian shirt that was exclusive at the Disney Store during the Expo, freebees from the different vendor and stands. It was just bad planning on my part and I still kick myself to that day for making those mistakes. But you take chances and they didn’t pan out.

The first day concludes at the D23 Expo and we still have two more days to do things and hope that it will be better.

Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle are the bits of Shanghai that I'm totally keen to check out. I saw some of the early 3D models of Treasure Cove and it looks absolutely amazing. I just wonder how the Chinese are going to behave in the park. It will be interesting to see if the Disney CM keep some degree of control and decorum with the Chinese people.
The CM in Hong Kong struggle with it.

Great pictures from the expo so far.

Again, wow Bret! Thanks for taking the time to post all these pictures! I love the Shanghai stuff but thought - they put Tomorrowland on the wrong side of the castle!!

Love the shirts!

I'm sorry it was so crowded and you didn't get to do everything you wanted to do. So many people! Such long lines for everything. Disney can take a lot of planning!