My Trip to the 2013 D23 Expo - That's a Wrap!

OK, so I didn't notice this until after I posted this picture, but right smack in the middle of the picture you see a Mickey ears with a "50" in the middle. This was outside the Tiki Room for the DL 50th Anniversary. We own that now. For those following my Dream Home thread, Fran wants to put that on the Tiki Bar, not sure if she wants it just for posterity or decorations for my 50th B'day party! :lmao:




And after shopping at MoG, "h3ll awaits you!". :rotfl:

I love the Fantasmic! Mickeys....glad that you and Fran managed to get one of them.

As I said that wasn't my picture, we didn't leave the convention center until the end of the day, but someone posted that on FB, and I had to share...why the heck were they at a DISNEY convention?????

That whole booth was called "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Everything they had was Sorcerer Mickeys.

Is there an icon for a mark of respect lol.. I like her style! I will warn my Jo that when we come for the EXPO she better have hit her sales target at work....:-)

There is so much to be had that it is mind boggling. You need to have cash and a good shipping company! :rotfl2:

Yes I liked them too! Can't be long now PIO and Alison n Fran! I'm Leaving on a jet plane...( John Denver ) . Now I have to use google. An American friend was laughing at a group of people he referred to as neocons.....I have never heard that term before...must be an American group of folk.

Perhaps your friend means newbies to Comicons. neo = new con=comicons, my only guess. :confused3

I totally got sidetracked by the cute cupcakes. Aww!

They were really cute, and they kept coming back every day....

Looks like you had another successful shopping day. The cupcakes are so cute.

Corinna

Every day was a successful shopping day. :rolleyes1

More shopping is always a good thing. Especially when it's for Disney items :thumbsup2

Omgosh, is that Frank the tractor chasing after Mater and Lightening? Brilliant!

Where did you see the Fran chasing Mater and Lightening? I looked through all my pictures and didn't see it anywhere, can you quote it?

No wonder Fran went bonkers in there, there is just so much stuff to buy. :faint: I can't even imagine. And is some of that people's private collections?

I think the cupcakes and cake are cute too.

4,000 people. :crazy2:

Most of them were dealers. I don't think there were any private collectors selling their stuff, at least what I saw.

All the Arena presentations were that crazy.

I have been way behind on your trip report during the D23 Expo last month.

Now you are making me want to get the Sorcerers tickets a lot for the D23 Expo in 2015 with all of your wonderful pictures.

I remember really well when everyone was coming out of the D23 Arena during the "Art and Imagination: Animation at The Walt Disney Studios" screening where it went longer then expected. I was in the D23 Arena queue for the "Planes" movie. Awesome details during the screening where my DA and I were shopping at the Dream Store and seeing the screening of "Undiscovered Disneyland" at Stage 23. My DA really wanted to go to the screening at the Arena but she was glad that we got to buy some merchandise at the Dream Store and seeing the screening of Undiscovered Disneyland.

It was no joke that going into the Mickey's of Glendale Store was really difficult from the morning all the way to the time when the Expo was over during all three days where the queue was at least an hour to get into the store. It would be nice if the MoG store expands so there won't be a long line.

I could have found something at the Collector's forum during the Expo. It was neat to see all the different stands at the Collector's forum but it almost seems to me when we were walking around the area that half of the vendors were selling Marvel merchandise.

It was really nice to see you at the D23 Expo. We had a great conversation during the Expo where you and Fran got to see the Art and Animation screening at the D23 Arena while we got to see Undiscovered Disneyland. The person that told Tony Baxter that he was getting a window at Disneyland was Tom Staggs. You were correct that Tom Staggs announced to the crowds that three random people in the stands are invited to Tony Baxter window ceremony at Disneyland.

Very nice update. I really need to work on my trip report.

It was nice to see you too! The Sorcerers tickets were so worth it! Take your time on the TR, I'm having trouble keeping up with everyone's TRs!

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into writing about the Animation presentation. I'm definitely looking forward to "Frozen" too! Do you have any idea how long it would have taken to check your cameras and go back to pick them up if you weren't Sorcerers? Considering 4,000 people, at least one camera/phone/whatever per person, yikes!

I certainly could have done some "damage" at the Collector's Forum too. I see that Polynesian Great Ceremonial House sign staring at me in one of your pictures. I remember the Disneyana Conventions doing something similar years ago. It was fun because you never really knew what you'd find.

Robert

It turns out that at this Expo, they weren't "checking" the cameras, they were giving people little bags that were self sealing. I'm not sure that it was much more than the honor system. The past two Expos they actually checked them and it took an incredible amount of time to get them and return them.

I love your updates, they always make me feel like I am right there with you, minus seeing everything and hearing everything and eating everything....


Anyway, thank you so much for sharing it all with us.

You're welcome! :goodvibes

The funny part is that they (obviously) wouldn't let the the few of us that left back in, so we were hanging out by the exit waiting for the presentation to end. We could hear John Lasseter talking...and talking...and talking...from the speakers in the over-flow room. He's so passionate! :thumbsup2

He did go on for quite a while, but being inside the presentation, we really didn't mind. We were hanging on his every word!
 
I headed up to the reception where there were several Imagineers present and lot of Disney big wigs. The reception had already been going on for about an hour.





There were free flowing cocktails.



They had some munchies available.





And Butler passed Hors d’ouvres. Although these first three, I actually nicked the last one from each plate so I didn’t take a picture of the plate. This was some sort of Avocado chilled soup.



This was an egg roll, obviously



Now some full plates started to come by. CA Rolls.



Pork Sliders



This was some kind of cream cheese crostini. I only had one of these, I don’t like olives.



I was able to make a meal out of the stuff here. I think I grabbed a couple of the sliders for Fran since she showed up late. Once the Disney suits left, the butler passed Hors d’ouvres did too. But the Imagineers hung around to take pictures. I’ve always liked Joe Rohde since watching the programs on his creating Expedition Everest. I didn’t realize that he did the Adventurer’s Club, and I know that Aulani is pretty much all his doing.



After the reception was over everyone headed up to the Broadway and Beyond show. This was a really professionally produced show. They also did not allow any photography or recording. I was too tired to take notes on everything that they sang. They had four singers from various Broadway productions who would take turns singing selections from the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and a few others. For the last number of the show all four took the stage and sang a medley of tunes together. It was a very enjoyable program.

We went back to the room starving again. I learned something on this trip. There are tons of places near Disneyland that will deliver all kinds of food to your hotel room from Chinese, to Italian to Ribs, and probably you name it. We had picked up one of those tourist magazines in the lobby and found a nice Italian place to bring us some food. I think Fran got some sort of sandwich and I got some Canneloni. No pictures, sorry, but this trip isn’t about the food!

Then Fran got to work on her purchases from Mickey’s of Glendale, sorting her pin collection and deciding what LE sets she was going to put up on eBay.





I went to bed. It was a long and exhausting day!
 
You met Joe Rhode? I'm sooooooooo jealous! I'm exhausting just reading about your day!

Jill in CO
 
You met Joe Rhode? I'm sooooooooo jealous! I'm exhausting just reading about your day!

Jill in CO

That was one of the highlights of the trip. He is such a cool guy. I saw him at a presentation later that I will get to in detail.

If you're exhausted now, just wait until we get further along.
 


Amazing update. From Joe Rohde to the pins on the bed. That's some serious stash.
 
Wow wow wow,,, the met with Joe Rohde is so cool and then the collection of items on the bed, would have made me tired....
 


Oh my Joe and pins! Brilliant! My eyes nearly popped out my head looking at those pins. I love pins treasure my collection. Such a lovely hobby. Great photos you both look lovely. Great finding out about food delivery! Ideal at the end of a productive but tiring day :-)
 
Wow, I see what you mean about the booths! Lots of treasures to sift through. I'm a bit slow on the uptake, these are done every two years not every year? I'll have to think about this when planning my next trip to CA.

So cool about meeting Joe Rhode.
 
Amazing update. From Joe Rohde to the pins on the bed. That's some serious stash.

Yup, why do you think we need a bigger house? :rotfl2:

Wow on getting to meet Joe Rohde and I love the look of all those pins.

Corinna

It was great to meet him, I'm getting tired of stumbling over bags of pins! :rotfl:

Wow wow wow,,, the met with Joe Rohde is so cool and then the collection of items on the bed, would have made me tired....

That's why I'm tired every day, between figures, pins, and what not it can get exhausting! No wonder Fran needs her rest!

Oh my Joe and pins! Brilliant! My eyes nearly popped out my head looking at those pins. I love pins treasure my collection. Such a lovely hobby. Great photos you both look lovely. Great finding out about food delivery! Ideal at the end of a productive but tiring day :-)

Great TR - what's your eBay store link please?

Thanks! We don't have an actual store....

Wow, the pin pictures? I bow to Fran's shopping and eBaying abilities!

You ain't seen nothing! :sad2: :rotfl:

Wow, I see what you mean about the booths! Lots of treasures to sift through. I'm a bit slow on the uptake, these are done every two years not every year? I'll have to think about this when planning my next trip to CA.

So cool about meeting Joe Rhode.

Heck! One could have spent the whole Expo shopping in these booths! It's every other year. They'll announce the dates within the next six months. They literally signed the contract for the next Expo on the day that I just finished reporting on. That way in the day I'm about to start they could say "We will be back in two years".
 
Expo Day 2, August 10, 2013



Saturday morning came very early. We got dressed and headed down to the line with our yogurt, V8, salad and sandwiches. You can see that the line ends across the way and then is restarted to the left. This was the Sorcerer line, the main guest line wrapped all the way around the convention center, I think.



These are the Sorcerers waiting behind us.



Here is the wafflenator, folks would help Agent P by shooting waffles at the targets.



And some views of the Convention Center





Just before 8:30AM, they let us inside the Convention Center and we waited in the foyer for the show floor to open. There wasn’t anything going in the Arena until 10:30AM today, so we decided that we would get in the Arena queue at 10AM, and we had another destination in mind today. I was sure glad to have these Sorcerer passes because Bret posted on his TR that his DA had gotten in line for the Arena queue at 7AM and was really far back.

Our destination.



Since there was no special Sorcerer admission to this pavilion we had to get here before the lines were too long. We were in the first group to enter. Inside there were various “booths” that featured different aspects of Imagineering and the projects that they might be working on.





We were taken into the room in the beginning where a pre-show wet our appetites for what was in store.







Fran went for a photo op, right off.





They had a layout of the new DTD area at WDW, I can’t remember what they are calling it, Disney Springs?







One of the greatest “rides that was never built”. Was the Western River Expedition. It was supposed to go into WDW where Pirates is located, but so many people who visited WDW before it was built kept wondering “where the Pirate ride was?” They had heard so much about the DL version, that the executives felt compelled to scrap the Western River Expedition in favor of Pirates.











After viewing these two models we went into a room where no pictures were allowed.


[Continued in Next Post]
 
[Continued from Previous Post]


They had on display in this little area, the original drawing by Herb Ryman. This is not the original Herb Ryman drawing, but a copy.



We also saw the the drawing of DL by Ellenshaw that when you put black light on it, you could see effervescence, or Disneyland at night. They didn’t allow any pictures in this area, so as not to degrade these pieces of art.

The first “booth” that we hit was one where the imagineers were showing off their skills at “decorating”. These examples were some of the small things, wall pieces, etc.



Here is an example of what the Imagineers do when creating an attraction. The one on the right is the starting project, the one on the left is the finished project. You really can’t see it here in the pictures, but the amount of detail in the piece that was finished, was just amazing. You all have seen it in the Disney parks. As we look at all these details, we never really realize that they began as a sterile “created” piece of something and the Imagineers turn them into a living breathing part of the parks.



This artist was demonstrating all the various textures that they create.



After that “booth” we moved on to the next one which was about Animatronics. Figment wasn’t animatronic, but they know how much we love him so they included him here.



Some other little eye candy.





Now this little pirate bird, was tied to an animatronic device from Walt’s era, you could squeeze the “joystick” and make him animate. Here is a shot of Fran working the pirate bird.





This ghost took some more sophisticated animation through the computer. One of the Imagineers would demonstrate to us how it worked.







Then we moved on to a game that Imagineers were luring people into where they were trying to get folks to take an adventure. We didn’t have a lot of time, and by getting drawn in here, we wasted a bit of time that we could have spent browsing other attractions.



[Continued in Next Post]
 
[Continued from Previous Post]

After escaping from the Adventure game, we admired this model.













Here are some shots of the area, you can sort of see each of the little ‘booths’ here.







Next we went into the model making booth. They were crafting the models out of clay here.





Fran enjoyed this guy’s bat hat.



These were probably replicas of the original Snow While figures.



They had a whole shelf full of past models.



The Hitchiking ghosts (who will live in full scale in our Haunted Mansion room that we hope to build).



Models for the Beast's Castle



Casey Jr.



And with that, we had to wrap up our trip to the Imagineering pavilion. We were only there less than an hour, but the 10:30 Live Action at the Disney Studios presentation was coming up, and we wanted to get decent seats for that. So off we headed to the Arena.
 
Wow, just wow. I would have loved to see this. I particularly loved the photos of the model for The Land pavilion. I would never have expected that Figment would make it to California.

Corinna
 
Oh wow, you two are such shoppers! I wish I could see a haul of everything (er..most everything) that you bought. Those Jack Skellington Christmas ornaments look neat, and I'm not even a big fan of him. :P
 
Wow, just wow. I would have loved to see this. I particularly loved the photos of the model for The Land pavilion. I would never have expected that Figment would make it to California.

Corinna

I just wish we had more time to spend in this pavilion, there was so much more to see! I think since people came from all over the world to this show, they knew that Figment would be appreciated.

Oh wow, you two are such shoppers! I wish I could see a haul of everything (er..most everything) that you bought. Those Jack Skellington Christmas ornaments look neat, and I'm not even a big fan of him. :P

I should have taken a picture of our car when we left on the last day! :rotfl2: I don't even know what all we bought at the Expo, I'm still finding stuff! :lmao:
 
Thanks so much for sharing all of this with us :goodvibes appreciate the time it takes for you to post it all I am caught up D23 Expo is definitely on the top of my list I WILL get there

I mentioned somewhere I would love to plan to go with you to Theme Park Connection, what an awesome place it is I am long overdue for another visit
 
Great pictures thank you! Love the R2D2 and HM ghosts :-) . The way the imagineers build those scenes wow. Clay making cool! I love making things from clay not on that level though lol...

It's so nice it's interactive letting guests operate equipment and computers. That parrot and ghost for example! Those models are awesome. I would love one of those! Like the ones they have at the DVC showroom preview for the new resorts I always admire the detail. I wonder what they do with them after do they auction them?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top