D23 Expo 2011! Who's attending?

[BrotherBear]

My sister and I are going to D23 this August. We booked a VGC 2 bedroom (for the family) while we enjoy the event. We booked at the 7month window, and all studio and 1 bedrooms were already gone.

When will there be info about the shuttle service to/from VGC? When did it become available for D23 2009?
Thanks

 

[TLPL]

We are going too and we booked one of the studio @ VGC.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

We'll be there as well. I was hoping to use our DVC points, but from reading these boards I guess we're too late. I was able to book us at the Marriott for $139 AAA rate.

 

[nunzia]

..PS..Jolly Roger...$70 a night

 

[TLPL]

I booked my studio on the first day of the 11 month window. (actually I "walk" the reservation for a few days piror). I knew it is gonna be impossible to get if I didn't get it quick.

 

[pixie08]

We'll be there as well. I was hoping to use our DVC points, but from reading these boards I guess we're too late. I was able to book us at the Marriott for $139 AAA rate.

Wow that's a good rate. We tried to book Marriott last week but it was sold out! We booked a similar rate for the Hilton across from the Marriott. I like that location because we can roll out of bed and into the convention lol!

 

[mkymse9]

Anyone book at the Candy Cane Inn? I like the location, reviews, free parking, and free continental breakfast. I would appreciate any input from those who have been there. I will be attending the Expo and going to the parks.

Also, for those who were at the last expo, do any of the hotels offer discounts for those attending? This is the first expo for me and I've got loads of questions.

I am so excited to be going to DL again (I haven't been since the 50th Anniversary celebration).

I look forward to all your suggestions and info.

Thanks!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Wow that's a good rate. We tried to book Marriott last week but it was sold out! We booked a similar rate for the Hilton across from the Marriott. I like that location because we can roll out of bed and into the convention lol!

It was actually $109 until I realized that we would want to stay over on Sunday. Then it jumped to $139. I saw we could get it cheaper at other properties, but this way I add points to my Marriott account. They had $89 rates, but you had to pre-pay the nights and there's no cancellation. I'd keep checking the website, or call the hotel directly. Sometimes you can have better luck that way.

I just joined D23 today so I'm waiting to be able to buy my tickets. I have a question, I keep seeing mentions of Premium and Scorcer tickets, but no explanation of what that means. Can anyone explain?

 

[EverAngel]

Well now that I know about it. I definitely want to try to go. I can't believe with how addicted I am to Disneyland that I had never heard about the D23 Expo. I'm not 100% going but I definitely want to try and go. It's definitely worth it to experience being around my own kind of people that love disney as much as I do.

 

[franandaj]

It was actually $109 until I realized that we would want to stay over on Sunday. Then it jumped to $139. I saw we could get it cheaper at other properties, but this way I add points to my Marriott account. They had $89 rates, but you had to pre-pay the nights and there's no cancellation. I'd keep checking the website, or call the hotel directly. Sometimes you can have better luck that way.

I just joined D23 today so I'm waiting to be able to buy my tickets. I have a question, I keep seeing mentions of Premium and Scorcer tickets, but no explanation of what that means. Can anyone explain?

The Premier and Sorcerer Tickets are gone. There were 50 Sorcerer and I think 250 Premier Tickets available. They were high priced tickets with special privledges that came along with the tickets. For those of us who waited in long lines at the 2009 Expo, we jumped on the overpriced reserved tickets. General admission tickets are still available, it just means that you need to know that any event you want to attend, you need to be in line at LEAST 2 hours in advance, perhaps more if it is an arena show or something popular.

 

[nunzia]

The Premier and Sorcerer Tickets are gone. There were 50 Sorcerer and I think 250 Premier Tickets available. They were high priced tickets with special privledges that came along with the tickets. For those of us who waited in long lines at the 2009 Expo, we jumped on the overpriced reserved tickets. General admission tickets are still available, it just means that you need to know that any event you want to attend, you need to be in line at LEAST 2 hours in advance, perhaps more if it is an arena show or something popular.

Yes..I think we figured we spent about 26 hours in line the last time..BUT I bet they will have a different system in place this year to help with that...still....that Sorcerer ticket seemed like a good idea at the time and still does..Now..we shall see if they truly limit it to 50...as they firmly stated they would.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that might be the case. I just think its funny that the D23 site wasn't updated to remove that one line.

Hopefully they will announce how things will work when they finally release the schedule.

 

[MyMuse]

Yes..I think we figured we spent about 26 hours in line the last time..BUT I bet they will have a different system in place this year to help with that...still....that Sorcerer ticket seemed like a good idea at the time and still does..Now..we shall see if they truly limit it to 50...as they firmly stated they would.

I was at the D23 Member mixer in NYC yesterday and asked about the Sorcercer limit of 50. It looks like there will be 70 people in the group. However, the Sorcerer "will be well taken care of, will have handlers to help". We'll see.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Yes..I think we figured we spent about 26 hours in line the last time..BUT I bet they will have a different system in place this year to help with that...still....that Sorcerer ticket seemed like a good idea at the time and still does..Now..we shall see if they truly limit it to 50...as they firmly stated they would.

I know everyone's experience is different but just so others are not scared away from attending, I want to let people know that we spent far less time in line in 2009. We went to 4 presentations per day and spent about an hour in line for each, so about 16 hours. There were some with no lines, such a Don Hahn's talk about his book on Animation and the showing of the The Boys: The Sherman Brothers story. We did have a long wait for Princess and the Frog, as the start time was delayed by more than 2 hours hours.

We had no problem getting into anything in the Arena if we were in line an hour in advance. Even half an hour probably would have been fine.

The only presentation we didn't get into was the one on the Muppets, which started just half an hour after another one ended in the Arena. Even that one, we just missed getting seats.

Of course, Disney is hoping that this year's event will be more crowded so our expereince from 2009 may mean nothing!

Don't worry about the crowds and prioritize the presentations you want to see and I expect you will have a fabulous time. -- Suzanne

 

[nunzia]

I was at the D23 Member mixer in NYC yesterday and asked about the Sorcercer limit of 50. It looks like there will be 70 people in the group. However, the Sorcerer "will be well taken care of, will have handlers to help". We'll see.

Hmm..well..I'm sorry but if that is the case there will be alot of angry attenders, I'm afraid..the verbage for those tickets said, and I quote "STRICT limit of 50", almost half again as many does not bode well....

 

[Flora Fan]

We'll be there as well. I was hoping to use our DVC points, but from reading these boards I guess we're too late. I was able to book us at the Marriott for $139 AAA rate.

When I called DVC they offered me the Disneyland hotel and Paradise Pier with my points. All is not lost yet if you want to try.

 

[DisneyGuys]

I was at the D23 Member mixer in NYC yesterday and asked about the Sorcerer limit of 50. It looks like there will be 70 people in the group. However, the Sorcerer "will be well taken care of, will have handlers to help". We'll see.

Gee, they could have had "handlers" for the 50 people and still made sure they were well taken care of. The disappointing part is this means a 40% increase in any exclusive or limited gifts which might be (expected to be) as a special "thanks" for dropping a thousand dollars just to attend the event. Yes, of course, there is benefit to be able to skip lines, etc., but there is also a cool benefit to say, "This gift from Disney was limited to only 50 people and is really rare." Now, it will be... less rare... less special... still cool... but really not as good a value for the $1000.

There is a FaceBook group for the Expo Sorcerer Package guests who will be discussing this change to the "strict limit of 50." You can follow the link to it here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=135001703209118

Daniel

 

[franandaj]

What is not perhaps worse but how they will let the Premier passes group expand. If they let the Sorcerer group go to 70, by the same math that means the Premier will possibly be 350 at least. Among the overlap of the two groups is the lounge that is supposed to have appetizers and snacks which will be potentially depleted with extra folks and the arena seating may become difficult at best. I'm pretty sure Premier passholders will NOT receive handlers.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

What is not perhaps worse but how they will let the Premier passes group expand. If they let the Sorcerer group go to 70, by the same math that means the Premier will possibly be 350 at least. Among the overlap of the two groups is the lounge that is supposed to have appetizers and snacks which will be potentially depleted with extra folks and the arena seating may become difficult at best. I'm pretty sure Premier passholders will NOT receive handlers.

I would not worry about seating in the Arena. I think the capacity is more than 7,000. Myunderstanding is that it never sold out at the 2009 Expo, although some were turned away from Igor's talk due to time constraints.

My guess, knowing D23, is that they had problems with the website, either those with new memberships that were supposedly activated but were not or just more reservations booked than were actually available. The former is likely since each person booking these special options needed to D23 members and many (most/) families did not have multiple membership, so spouse and kids woudl have had to join shortly before reservations opened. I have had this happen where I had a D23 membership number that was not reconginized by the reservations system.

For those is the "cattle class," the small changes in those with front of the line privileges are probably meaningless. For those with the special privileges, I am sure D23 would refund you money now if you are concerned the value has been significantly reduced. -- Suzanne

 

[DisneyGuys]

For those with the special privileges, I am sure D23 would refund you money now if you are concerned the value has been significantly reduced. -- Suzanne

You are right. I have absolutely no doubt that D23 would refund the money of any Sorcerer Package guest who wanted a refund. That is the same offer Disney made for the Walt Package guests at DLR 50th Event (five years ago) when the top package was supposed to be limited to 50 guests (50 for 50th paying $2000 each) but Disney sold 76 spots. If anyone were to accept a refund, it would help Disney get closer to where the number of attendees was supposed to be and it looks less bad on Disney’s part. For the 50th event, no one accepted a refund and I doubt anyone will want a refund for the D23 Expo Sorcerer Package. These are once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

While the value and exclusivity has been lessened, it is not like comparison shopping between Best Buy and Target. You can’t just go across the street and buy the same item for less money. You can’t buy what the Sorcerer Package offers anywhere else at a lower price. If you want to be in the Sorcerer Package for the D23 Expo, then you pay $1000 knowing there is a large asterisk with Disney events indicating that EVERYTHING is subject to change. That does not always means the change is something guests will likely be happy with. But there is no denying that it changes an event promoted as “strictly limited to 50 D23 members” to something… not as expected for the paying guests.

From D23’s view, this is certainly a happy accident. All Disney has to do is put out some more chairs, have the artist sign some more gift lithos, order some additional food for the lounge, and buy a few more hardhats for the tour. For that little effort and very little additional cost, Disney gets to make an additional $20,000 off the guests willing to pay for that package. Of course, Disney/D23 is all about exceeding guests’ expectations. There is a lot of room (and money) and still plenty of time available to add surprises and additional exclusives to increase the value for the guests so they are wow’d and not bothered about the 40% increase in the number of people they are sharing the “exclusive” experiences with.

Only time will tell,
Daniel