D23 2019 UPDATE 3/9 This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end.

[OhioStateBuckeye]

To all that come to this happy place...welcome!!



Originally, I was combining this pre-trip report with my 90s Nite report, but I decided to separate them so here we are!

This thread will be all about D23 2019. We attended in 2017 and had such a great time we needed to come again!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/c...d23-expo-update-10-16-final-thoughts.3620604/

That's the link to my 2017 D23 trip report, in case anyone wants to read. I kept very detailed notes about timing, everything we wanted to do and what we actually got done.

Introductions

This trip report will be focused on myself, Rachel, and my boyfriend of a lot of years...so many I don't think either of us even remembers how many...Brian.



We live in Kansas City. I work in an underground government cave doing contract work, and Brian just recently went back to grad school online for a masters in Welding Engineering. The ultimate goal is to find jobs in/near Orlando so we can try out being locals. But until then, we satisfy my addiction with frequent trips to WDW and DL. I say mine, because Brian really likes Disney and enjoys our trips, but he also has other interests and would probably rather be in a National Park or backpacking somewhere.

We share an apartment with our dog, Sirius:



He and I are both the king and queen of awkward pictures. You'll see plenty of me coming up, I'm sure.

So back to the trip.

Hotel

We're going to meet up with many friends during D23. But we decided to stay with a great friend of ours to we met through the DISboards: @soniam We were living in Austin, TX at the time and we met up in person and became great friends.

Sonia, feel free to use my report to do pre-trip report musings of your own. Unless you want to make your own, of course

We got a great hotel rate through my work's corporate discount at the Sheraton Park Hotel.



Fireworks not included.

This hotel has a great location in regards to the convention center.



Obviously the most desirable hotels are the Hilton Anaheim and the Anaheim Marriott, but those hotels had crazy prices for this year. D23 does give out some discounts, but those two hotels were still crazy expensive.

But we are still super close and convenient.

Dates

Originally, we were just going to go for a quick weekend trip. But things quickly got out of hand, as they do.

Once we found out so many of our friends were going we wanted to stay longer to hang out.

Then the unthinkable happened: I got an invite to Club 33 from some very nice people!!!! I've never been and I'm really looking forward to it. The only thing was, they wanted to do lunch on Wednesday. So the dates of the trip changed again, and we are going to arrive on Tuesday.

I finally got our flights finalized today. We'll be flying with Southwest (they are my favorite).

Our initial flight will be Tuesday 11:50 am-1:15 pm. There were two nonstop flights available, but if we took the earlier one we'd have to put Sirius at the boarder's Monday night. The later non-stop was more expensive so I chose this flight. It has a short layover in Phoenix, but at least this way we can let Sirius have one more night with us and drop him off when we leave for the airport.

As of right now, we are schedule to leave Sunday night. I got us a nonstop flight (I feel like I'd much rather have a nonstop at the end of the trip than the beginning). It's 7:55 pm-12:55 am on Monday. It's not the best flight, it means we will probably have to leave a bit before the convention actually ends. But the Monday morning flights were terrible. All expensive, and the earliest didn't arrive back in Kansas City until 2 pm. So I'd basically have to take a day off work in order to be on a plane. Bleh.

The good thing about Southwest is, I can keep checking back and if prices lower, I can re-book and get a future flight voucher for the price difference.

So we've got our hotel and flights ready to go.

Tickets

D23 just recently released their discounted tickets, so now we've started thinking about how many days we want to go to the parks.

They have twilight tickets for after the con, but we go pretty hard. We were way too tired last time to do anything besides fall into bed after a day at the con. So as of right now, we'll at least want to go to the parks part of Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday.

Now, this could all change. If D23 institutes a panel lottery system like Star Wars Celebration, maybe we would do the parks after the convention one or two nights. Especially if we're not waiting in an all night line for a panel.

So that's all for now!

If you're going to D23 too, say hello and let me know how your plans are coming along! I'd love to strategize with you! Disney planning is one of my favorite things.

Hope you come along for the ride!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in! As you know, we will be out there a few days before you, but it would be great if we can meet up at some point whether in the parks or at the convention. Your 2017 TR was invaluable to our planning this trip, so look forward to following along. This will be our fourth trip to Disneyland but our first D23 event!

 

[momtohms]

Following along! I’ll be there from the 18th through the 22nd I wish I could stay long enough to attend D23! It will be fun to hear all about how that goes.

 

[soniam]

I'm here too I can't wait to absorb your wisdom to survive my first real fan convention. I have been to Destination D, but it's pretty civilized and doesn't count. I have been completely unsuccessful at doing trip reports for a while now, so I will tag along on this one and provide back up. I will be coming alone. My son starts school the Tuesday before the Expo, so my wonderful husband will be handling that, while I am eating bad, drinking too much, and probably not sleeping I will be arriving LA at 7:45am on Wednesday and flying out 7pm Monday. I plan to hit the parks Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday. I am currently waiting to hear price and details on a private VIP tour that I have booked for Thursday, hoping to target SWGE. I know this trip will be here before I know it.

 

[nguyeners]

Following along! We're a couple originally from Houston but will have moved to San Diego by the time this year's D23 occurs. We're newbies to D23 and look forward to meeting you or at least learning from a veteran!

 

[lurkergirl]

@soniam Ha, the Destination D events civilized cracked me up. The Expo is like this totally unique animal/experience.

@OhioStateBuckeye We'll be there, our 5th Expo. Adding the Galaxy's Edge drama to it has me quite anxious, I'm waiting to see what it does to the Resort.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Joining in! As you know, we will be out there a few days before you, but it would be great if we can meet up at some point whether in the parks or at the convention. Your 2017 TR was invaluable to our planning this trip, so look forward to following along. This will be our fourth trip to Disneyland but our first D23 event!

Welcome! Yes, I think we should find some time to meet up Did you decide what you were doing with park tickets? Since the convention rate starts a day too late for you? Honestly, I really enjoy the early morning hour, so if those aren't provided with the con tickets I might skip them.

Following along! I’ll be there from the 18th through the 22nd I wish I could stay long enough to attend D23! It will be fun to hear all about how that goes.

Oh the convention always has some interesting stories come out of it. I'm sure you'll be entertained.

I'm here too I can't wait to absorb your wisdom to survive my first real fan convention. I have been to Destination D, but it's pretty civilized and doesn't count. I have been completely unsuccessful at doing trip reports for a while now, so I will tag along on this one and provide back up. I will be coming alone. My son starts school the Tuesday before the Expo, so my wonderful husband will be handling that, while I am eating bad, drinking too much, and probably not sleeping I will be arriving LA at 7:45am on Wednesday and flying out 7pm Monday. I plan to hit the parks Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday. I am currently waiting to hear price and details on a private VIP tour that I have booked for Thursday, hoping to target SWGE. I know this trip will be here before I know it.

Oh gosh, I hope that VIP tour isn't super expensive. I mean, not any more super expensive than it already will be

Conventions are fun, you're going to have a great time.

Following along! We're a couple originally from Houston but will have moved to San Diego by the time this year's D23 occurs. We're newbies to D23 and look forward to meeting you or at least learning from a veteran!

Ah Brian used to live in San Diego for a year or two. I think he lived in most places in California...near San Diego, San Jose, and Morgan Hill.

@soniam Ha, the Destination D events civilized cracked me up. The Expo is like this totally unique animal/experience.

@OhioStateBuckeye We'll be there, our 5th Expo. Adding the Galaxy's Edge drama to it has me quite anxious, I'm waiting to see what it does to the Resort.

Honestly, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think the Galaxy's Edge fervor will have calmed down by Expo time. I guess we'll see if I'm right. Do you guys have your hotel and dates planned out already?

 

[soniam]

Welcome!
Oh gosh, I hope that VIP tour isn't super expensive. I mean, not any more super expensive than it already will be

I believe some people were quoted the maximum rate, $600/hour, early on in the summer just after the reservation window for SWGE at DLR closes. I would think it wouldn't be higher than that, since mine is a few months after it has opened. However, Disney is always full of surprises

 

[lurkergirl]

Honestly, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think the Galaxy's Edge fervor will have calmed down by Expo time. I guess we'll see if I'm right. Do you guys have your hotel and dates planned out already?

We do, we’re local but have a room at the Grand Californian. Going back and forth is too much! I’m working a half-day Wednesday and then we’ll be in Anaheim through Monday.

We also have a room for GE’s opening weekend, aka my birthday weekend. So no the looking forward to that. Ha!

 

[princess_jamie]

I'm headed there for the D23 Expo too! I went for the first time in 2017 with a friend who has been to all but one expo I believe. We are back for 2019 and I'm more excited than ever. I know some people found the live action panel to be just okay, but that was a highlight of the expo for me.. All those Marvel men in person was literally a dream come true and well worth the concrete nap I had. Our dates are still TBD, but we will arrive on the 22nd and then spend a few days post expo at the parks! I am getting SO excited to plan.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'm headed there for the D23 Expo too! I went for the first time in 2017 with a friend who has been to all but one expo I believe. We are back for 2019 and I'm more excited than ever. I know some people found the live action panel to be just okay, but that was a highlight of the expo for me.. All those Marvel men in person was literally a dream come true and well worth the concrete nap I had. Our dates are still TBD, but we will arrive on the 22nd and then spend a few days post expo at the parks! I am getting SO excited to plan.

Yeah I'm one of those who was a bit let down by live action. But it's ok, I can see why others and yourself would have had a great time.

I'm not really sure what soured me on it. We did have a dramatic time of getting into the panel, and I had myself convinced Lin Manuel Miranda would show up and sing for Mary Poppins.

I'm getting more excited as well.

We got our hours for the convention, at least.

9 am-7pm.

Which is basically like that old show, Whose Line is it Anyway. That 9 am opening is meaningless, doesn't mean anything. We'll all still be in line around 5 am or before.

 

[princess_jamie]

Yeah I'm one of those who was a bit let down by live action. But it's ok, I can see why others and yourself would have had a great time.

I'm not really sure what soured me on it. We did have a dramatic time of getting into the panel, and I had myself convinced Lin Manuel Miranda would show up and sing for Mary Poppins.

I'm getting more excited as well.

We got our hours for the convention, at least.

9 am-7pm.

Which is basically like that old show, Whose Line is it Anyway. That 9 am opening is meaningless, doesn't mean anything. We'll all still be in line around 5 am or before.

I would have LOVED to seen Lin! I was hoping to see him as well.

We also had a bit of a rough time getting into the live action panel. We were in the standby line and weren’t sure that we were going to get in. Since it was my first time and I didn’t really know what to expect, the Marvel stuff blew me away as a big Marvel fan, so that was an insane highlight for me.


Haha yeah 9am really means nothing... I am mentally preparing for limited sleep and concrete floor naps

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I would have LOVED to seen Lin! I was hoping to see him as well.

We also had a bit of a rough time getting into the live action panel. We were in the standby line and weren’t sure that we were going to get in. Since it was my first time and I didn’t really know what to expect, the Marvel stuff blew me away as a big Marvel fan, so that was an insane highlight for me.


Haha yeah 9am really means nothing... I am mentally preparing for limited sleep and concrete floor naps

We were in the last section that was supposed to be guaranteed. But they loaded our area super slowly and the panel was starting in ten minutes. There were the three sections and the other two were done and already letting in standby. My whole section was freaking out and it was bad.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Joining in!!! I wish I was attending D23 this year, but I sadly have to pass.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Joining in!!! I wish I was attending D23 this year, but I sadly have to pass.

I'm happy to have you along!

Also, let me know if you want any merch. I owe you a couple for my beloved orange bird and the tiki room Funko pops.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

And this is why I love Southwest. Our flight just dropped $40, so canceled it, re-booked immediately using the travel funds voucher and now have $40 each for a future trip.

 

[soniam]

And this is why I love Southwest. Our flight just dropped $40, so canceled it, re-booked immediately using the travel funds voucher and now have $40 each for a future trip.

I decided to do it on AA miles. We don't often get to use our AA miles, because they have terrible flights to Orlando. Cost-wise, SW to LA was cheaper by maybe $40. The schedules were almost exactly the same. I am doing HHN in Orlando on SW though. Unfortunately, my AA return flight has already moved to an hour an a half later. It does give me more time at DLR, but I will be getting home after midnight. I think I will be working from home on Tuesday

On another note, I got my inflatable pillow and used it on the flight to Indy. It was really comfortable and packs down tight. It's also very easy to inflate. I got a self-inflating sleep pad too that's not too big. I think I can fit the deflated pad and pillow, folded up chair and blanket, camera, and snacks in the backpack that I will bring. I need to get a small padded camera bag that will fit the camera and the main lens that I will use for the Expo. We have a camera bag, but it's pretty big. I want to be able to put the camera and lens into the backpack during panels.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I decided to do it on AA miles. We don't often get to use our AA miles, because they have terrible flights to Orlando. Cost-wise, SW to LA was cheaper by maybe $40. The schedules were almost exactly the same. I am doing HHN in Orlando on SW though. Unfortunately, my AA return flight has already moved to an hour an a half later. It does give me more time at DLR, but I will be getting home after midnight. I think I will be working from home on Tuesday

On another note, I got my inflatable pillow and used it on the flight to Indy. It was really comfortable and packs down tight. It's also very easy to inflate. I got a self-inflating sleep pad too that's not too big. I think I can fit the deflated pad and pillow, folded up chair and blanket, camera, and snacks in the backpack that I will bring. I need to get a small padded camera bag that will fit the camera and the main lens that I will use for the Expo. We have a camera bag, but it's pretty big. I want to be able to put the camera and lens into the backpack during panels.

I'm never sad when I leave vacation later in the day. Work is something we deal with when we have to. So don't give that a second thought until Tuesday morning heh.

We got our chairs from REI, they were having a sale and my company gives us a wellness bonus each year. Up to a certain amount, they'll pay for half our outdoors/fitness equipment. And the chairs fell into that category.

 

[skier_pete]

got our chairs from REI, they were having a sale and my company gives us a wellness bonus each year. Up to a certain amount, they'll pay for half our outdoors/fitness equipment. And the chairs fell into that category.

Chairs as fitness equipment? Sign me up to that gym!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Chairs as fitness equipment? Sign me up to that gym!

I think they just fell under 'camping equipment'. Which is odd, since Brian wanted to get a backpacking backpack, and they said no, they don't want to pay for anything considered a 'backpack. Which...yeah, stupid, since you don't really use a backpacking backpack for anything except backpacking, or traveling around Europe while you're finding yourself, I suppose.