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

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We met up with some more friends for our food truck lunch. Found some couches in a deserted area on the third floor and we had a quiet lunch up there. After our delicious food truck lunch we had some time before the Art of Disney Storytelling panel.

The Disney archives exhibit was still on our must do list so we all went ahead and got in line.

I believe the line was only about 15 minutes, so that was nice.



I think I liked 2017's exhibit more, it was all about POTC, the movies and the park attractions. But this exhibit was still fantastic. There were 100s of costumes from Disney movies. I'll just post pics of a few of my favs.













Ah Once Upon a Time. You were oftentimes terrible, but I miss you.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The main exhibit was the gorgeous carriage from the live action Cinderella movie, alongside the Fairy Godmother's and Cinderella's costumes.





In the middle of the room were a couple rotating platforms with groups costumes.














I like how the Disney Archives runs their pavilion. They only allow so many people in at once. But the line is almost always moving and it's not that crowded inside even though so many people want to see it. Once you are in, there is no time limit. But the crowds seem to flow pretty naturally.

After this exhibit, it was time to line up for the gold member line for the Art of Disney Storytelling.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The panel was hosted by John Stamos. We had seen a panel in 2017 hosted by Stamos, and it was fantastic. He is a great host. Marty Sklar was in his panel in 2017 and in the beginning of this panel he did a very touching callback. Marty ended up passing away just a few weeks after D23 in 2017.





John Stamos' newish wife Caitlin McHugh co hosted. Stamos is a huge Disney fan and he always tells very funny stories about growing up and going to DL. Apparently he was not the looker he is now, and was always trying to go on dates in DL but it never quite worked out.

The other panel attendees were: Don Hahn (produce on Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Hunchback and Emperor's New Groove), Floyd Norman (animator on Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Sword in the Stone), Paul Briggs (head of story for Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia) and Tony Baxter (father of theme parks attractions Big Thunder RR, Star Tours, Splash, Indy, and Journey Into Imagination).






John Stamos and Tony Baxter rode Splash together and Stamos totally Mike Wazowski'ed Baxter in the ride photo.






They all talked about how the creative process worked. I love love love Stamos' panels. He really keeps the conversation flowing and he is such a big fan of the parks that everything is just great.

If you ever attend a future D23, Stamos' panels are a do not miss for sure.

We booked it out of that panel at the end and jumped in line for the Character Voices panel. There were a lot of cosplayers in the lobby posing for pictures and I grabbed some pics of my favorites.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Character Voices was by far the best panel. Save the best for last, I guess. There were so many voices in attendance: Mickey, Donald, Goofy. Jim Cummings who does about 40 voices.



At the start of the panel they did a very touching tribute to Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse who had passed away shortly before the expo. The host couldn't even talk without getting choked up. You could tell she was much loved throughout the studio.




So the big 3 opened the panel. I'm pretty upset that Donald is my favorite and is the only one of the above 3 that I've never met at a convention. I think he might be a pretty private man.

Then Jim Cummings joined the group (he voices Pete, Don Karnage, Monterey Jack, Ray the firefly from Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and so many more).



These guys had the first time slot and did all their voices and then some audience members got picked to come up and do voices and a couple scenes with them.

Then they had Miguel (Coco) came out to sing Remember Me with his younger brother.



That was really cool and a great performance.



Next up we had 4 amazing princesses:



They chatted for a while and then Paige O'Hara, who is a fantastic artist, brought out portraits for each one that she had painted.



BFFs



There were tears from all of them.

Then came the time when they just kept bringing more and more people out on stage.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Ginnifer Goodwin fangirled big time.



Auli'i was the baby of the group and they all welcomed her and she sang 'How Far I'll Go'.



Sooooo amazing. I love 'Remember Me' and 'How Far I'll Go' and I got to hear them both live!!

Finally they wrapped up and I was super sad. I could have listened to that panel for hours and hours more.

After we exited the expo was getting close to the end time.

We quickly walked by the Star Wars hotel model display:



We did a quick walk through of the vendor area. The vast majority of the items were funko pops and pins. I TRY not to collect either, so I didn't make any purchases. I got burned big time with my Disney vinyl colletion. I have so many of those things and when Disney pulled all the trading boxes from the parks it really killed it.

Everything else available was pretty expensive. So no merch from there.



After that, we realized that we had not signed up for the Disney+ expo exclusive deal: sign up for 3 years and get one free. So we ran over to the booth and did that. They had very convenient kiosks set up for sign ups. We ended up getting a lot of free little swag items that booths had left over because they were trying to get ride of it.





The ABC pavilion was next door and had some TV show displays set up:



We tried to get in line for the Voluntears booth. They told us they were done accepting people and then rudely said they had run out of freebies anyway. Ok...I wasn't even aware there were freebies, we were just trying to help. So thanks for that.

I grabbed some pictures of booths on the way out.





The finished mural that an artist had spent the entire expo crafting:



I believe that was all spray paint.

And that was pretty much it. The expo closed and we slowly headed out to our hotel. The rest of the night would be spent packing, ordering a pizza, and getting a very early bedtime.

We had one more day in the parks before our flights left in the early evening.

I'll check in next with the day 3 summary and a brief summary of the entire expo.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Wrap Up Day 3 D23 Expo

Wanted to do:

Panels
Disney Parks
Art of Disney Storytelling
Character Voices

Autographs
Ashley Eckstein

Got to do:

Panels
Disney Parks
Art of Disney Storytelling
Character Voices

Autographs
No one

Pavilions
Disney Archives: Costumes. Really great exhibit. Didn't spend too much time in there but everything was really neat to see and beautiful

Swag:
Disney Parks Panel: Target pin, Target $10 gift card, Marvel pin

Purchases
Mandalorian t-shirt. One of our friends went into the Disney Store today and picked one up for me.


Today was one of the better days. Even with the Parks panel disappointment in the morning, the last two panels we saw were excellent.

 

[soniam]

That last panels was amazing!!! It was the best panel of the Expo. I think this panel, Simpsons, and Disney+ made the whole event worthwhile for me.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Swag pics:

I don't think I posted this one, these came with our Disney Music Emporium purchases:



The Great Moments is a CD.

This pin was forced on us by some booth as we walked past in the last hour of the expo:



Same with this:



These came from the Broadway booth:



This is a swag picture from the whole trip:



Doesn't seem to include the tshirts we bought from the expo. The droid was from Galaxy's Edge, along with the Oga's coasters. I included the Haunted Mansion Club 33 tiki mugs, and I also got a gold piranha mug from Trader Sam's.

Here is the Mandalorian t shirt from the D23 Disney Store, I am too lazy to pull it out of my closet and I took a pic from someone selling one on ebay.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

That last panels was amazing!!! It was the best panel of the Expo. I think this panel, Simpsons, and Disney+ made the whole event worthwhile for me.

Yes, those panels were amazing. I also really enjoyed the Art of Storytelling one.

I've been randomly discussing this trip report with Brian as I write it up. And tonight...he just said 'you know, I think we're far away from the 2019 expo that I now want to go again'.

 

[soniam]

Yes, those panels were amazing. I also really enjoyed the Art of Storytelling one.

I've been randomly discussing this trip report with Brian as I write it up. And tonight...he just said 'you know, I think we're far away from the 2019 expo that I know want to go again'.

I suspect they will change up the process of getting panels, and everything else. It might end up being worse, the same, or better. I think they were on the right track, but somehow got distracted along the path. Keep reminding him of the good things, and I bet he'll give in next time.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I suspect they will change up the process of getting panels, and everything else. It might end up being worse, the same, or better. I think they were on the right track, but somehow got distracted along the path. Keep reminding him of the good things, and I bet he'll give in next time.

Were you still thinking of going again?

I hope you had an ok time rooming with us.

Sometimes I can be grumpy hahahahaha.

Other times I'm just a bit quiet (need some time to recharge).

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Ah Once Upon a Time. You were oftentimes terrible, but I miss you.

It started out so strong and then quickly turned...not so strong hahaha

The other panel attendees were: Don Hahn (produce on Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Hunchback and Emperor's New Groove), Floyd Norman (animator on Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Sword in the Stone), Paul Briggs (head of story for Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia) and Tony Baxter (father of theme parks attractions Big Thunder RR, Star Tours, Splash, Indy, and Journey Into Imagination).

That sounds like a really well-rounded group of people to talk about all the different ways Disney tells stories.

and I grabbed some pics of my favorites.

Is that the Genie Mrs Doubtfire??

Okay both of those last panels looked amazing! I'm glad it ended on a high note after so many rough times.

 

[soniam]

Were you still thinking of going again?

I hope you had an ok time rooming with us.

Sometimes I can be grumpy hahahahaha.

Other times I'm just a bit quiet (need some time to recharge).

I am absolutely thinking of going next time. If my family won't be with me and you guys are going, I would totally room with you again. I could tell when you needed shut down and pull out your solar panels to recharge

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

It started out so strong and then quickly turned...not so strong hahaha


That sounds like a really well-rounded group of people to talk about all the different ways Disney tells stories.


Is that the Genie Mrs Doubtfire??

Okay both of those last panels looked amazing! I'm glad it ended on a high note after so many rough times.

That is def Genie Mrs. Doubtfire.

All the cool costumes would always hang around the entryway so people could admire their costumes and take pics.

I am absolutely thinking of going next time. If my family won't be with me and you guys are going, I would totally room with you again. I could tell when you needed shut down and pull out your solar panels to recharge

We'll just have to see how next year works out. I bet Alex and Paul would enjoy some of the things at D23.

Sounds like @dolewhipdreams might be thinking about going as well.

I assume Lori would go again, and I think Emily is already talking about it.

It's always nice to have a group, even if you don't do everything together.

Can still help out with getting into shops or saving spaces or providing company.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

@ashley0139 I think you had said a while ago that you were interested to hear my trip report on D23.

I'm just wrapping it up right now in case you were still interested (6 some months later).

 

[soniam]

We'll just have to see how next year works out. I bet Alex and Paul would enjoy some of the things at D23.

Paul would like it, but I don't see Alex enjoying it. We might do a family trip before hand, depending upon when it is. Since it seems to usually be after school starts, Alex wouldn't be able to come to the Expo and someone, Paul , would have to stay home with him.

 

[pepperandchips]

I’m glad you took the time to write all of this! D23 sounds like quite the experience (I wanted to write “ordeal” but I know you had an amazing time). I have been binging DL trip reports so I have really enjoyed reading about how your trip was a bit different. I look forward to reading about your last day and wrap up!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So it was our last morning at DL.

We managed to get decent sleep the night before, since we'd made it an early night and ate pizza and packed our bags.

We also managed to be awake and at DCA for park opening. It's the small victories, people.

Our first must do was a spin on Radiator Springs Racers. This morning it was myself, Brian and Sonia. Most of our other friends had either fled the state by this morning or were still sleeping.

We did the single rider line and had about a 5 minute wait. We didn't get Maxpass for this day because we had to leave around 4.





Guido is my love.





I believe this is the part where Lightning and Mator tell us that the point of the whole attraction is making friends.




Lightning out for a drive:



Next up was a walk on for Luigi's.



Hello new friend.



I have such a weird love for this attraction. I actually liked the Flying Tires ride, but this one just makes me so happy. I love the songs and how the cars dance. On a previous trip I forced Brian to ride this multiple times in a row and I started to notice that a certain portion of people would put their hands in the air at the end of each ride (no matter what song you get it seems the cars always do a prolonged spin at the end).

I have a theory that this might be a local thing to do. It's happened on almost every single one of my rides and it's always a little less than half of the people who put their hands up.

But whatever the reason people do it, I love to put my hands up at the end and spin around in my car.



We couldn't leave Carsland without visiting Mater's Junkyard.



Those little Chew-All cows are so cute.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I think I took an accidental phone picture on Mater's, but it seriously looks like my little force owl took a selfie:



Also not the best angle of my apparent three chins.

We were all a little hungry at this point so we stopped to get a churro. And I suffered an artistic Instagram picture fail:



We relaxed and ate our churros. The Cozy Cone front building is not open to guests to go inside, but the walls are glass and you can see lots of cool easter eggs inside.





I just love Carsland so much. We did a Route 66/Grand Canyon road trip once and I wrote an article for the DIS later on that detailed just how right Carsland got it.

It was time to head out of Carsland. One of our D23 friends had just entered the park and we were meeting up with her at...



Nope, not Frozen, that was just on the way. Old Bug's Land being closed off for the new Avengers Campus construction is super annoying. You really have to go the long way to get from Carsland to Guardians.





Hi Rocket!





Love this ride so much. Also love that other guests in the back also brought their 'sophisticated companions' to the park with them.

It was around 10:30. Lori took off for a different fastpass reservation which left the 3 of us again.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We had one more attraction we had to do before we left DCA. On the way we stopped in at my favorite DCA store.

We each separately found these special ears and all got super excited, thinking they were $8.





Nope, definitely $58. No thanks

If I love and appreciate the Carsland theme, I also love and appreciate the Grizzly Peak theme.



Brian and I are pretty big National Parks enthusiasts.

Love love this building and the outside.



So where were we headed? What did we absolutely have to do before we went back home??!



Soarin! Especially since it was the Soarin over California version. We had grabbed a FP for this when we entered the park earlier.

We were all a bit hungry so we did a mobile order at Award Weiners. Mobile ordering at this place is so much win. Look at that line in the brutal sun.



We all greatly enjoyed our lunches:







Delicious. And now I'm starving.

We said goodbye to DCA. And took the long, long walk to DL. <-------sarcasm.