D23 Expo first timer questions

[Cowgirlroy]

Hey everyone,

This year will be my first time at the D23 Expo, in fact first time at a Expo period. So I am beginning to ask myself some questions and it seems everything is so hush hush about the events that you only get a little bit of news here and there. So if anyone who has been can help answer a few questions that would be great.

1) How do you find out all that is going on? ie. presentations, who is exhibiting, etc.

2) I am a D23 member and I got the tickets for me and a friend, can she come into the D23 lounge with me? Or do I have to leave her at the door?

3) I heard a package with details will be mailed to you 2 months before the event. I live in Canada so is that still sent to me? Does this give me my laynards and stuff? Or do you get them at the ticket booths there? So far all I have is my print out when I first got the tickets.

Any information on that or what I should have before I head to California would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[tinkcollector]

Hi Cowgirlroy.
1.) Go to the D23 webpage for convention information. The on-line page to purchase tickets has a link to the Expo page. D23 CM's have really just started to add the shedule. As of right now it is not complete. I would look for it to be completed within the next couple of weeks.
http://d23.disney.go.com/index.html?cmp=d23_OFC_D23_vanity_d23_Extl
2.) As far as I can tell the lounge is for Charter Members only, and the other lounge will be for the members that purchased the Sorcerer and Premiere packages.
3.) I expect to be contacted (sent my package) within the next couple of weeks as well. My opinion is, if I have not heard from D23 within 60 days of the Expo I will be contacting them (06/20/11).
I have been fortunate to attend many Disney Events. They for the most part have been handled very well and I expect no problems.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

[snip]
1) How do you find out all that is going on? ie. presentations, who is exhibiting, etc.

2) I am a D23 member and I got the tickets for me and a friend, can she come into the D23 lounge with me? Or do I have to leave her at the door?

3) I heard a package with details will be mailed to you 2 months before the event. I live in Canada so is that still sent to me? Does this give me my laynards and stuff? Or do you get them at the ticket booths there? So far all I have is my print out when I first got the tickets.

1 -- A full schedule of all the events will be available on line before the Expo and in a booklet at the Expo. In 2009, I don't think it was ready until less than 30 days prior. Everyone is hoping it wil be available sooner this year.

2 -- The Charter D23 member lounge is new this year. However, it is likely that anyone for whom you also bought tickets would be able to piggy-back on your membership. This is how it works for the early admission. [According to info ChasRN found, my remblings are wrong, so Never Mind]

Personally, I have fairly low expectations for the Charter member lounge. We never had a problem finding a place to veg when we needed. Of course, we also ended up eating lunch many days either very late or while waiting in line for another panel, or both!

3-- According to the e-mail I received: "Your credential(s) will be mailed to you 2 months prior to the Expo. International registrants will be provided instruction on how to pick up credentials onsite." Disney probably considers Canada to be international for these purposes, so I would expect you will receive instructions instead of actual "credentials." We booked the 2009 Expo 3 days before it started and were fine without having anything sent to us in advance. Picking up your credentials (which I seem to recall was a wristband) was very quick and easy.

Enjoy the Expo -- Suzanne

 

[PrncesKMW]

I just found a Disneyland-centric podcast, Mousetalgia, and two of their episodes are a review of the last Expo. In addition, the WDW Radio podcast has an extensive Expo review in a past episode. They have been very helpful for me as a newbie to set reasonable expectations and plan ahead.

 

[ChasRN]

2) I am a D23 member and I got the tickets for me and a friend, can she come into the D23 lounge with me? Or do I have to leave her at the door?

This is from the D23 FAQ, so it sounds like no to me:

Will the D23 Charter Member Lounge be for Charter Members only?
The D23 Charter Member Lounge will be exclusively available to D23 Charter Members. Please make sure you bring your current D23 Membership card which denotes your Charter Member status. If a Charter Member has a child with them 12 years old or under, the child may accompany the member into the lounge.

 

[TLPL]

If I am not a D23 member, and my friend is (but he is not going), can he buy me tickets with discount still?

 

[nunzia]

I have the Guidebook from the last Expo, so if anyone has quesions about types of presentations offered, schedules last time, etc., just ask.
The Convetion Center is HUGE, three stories, and the EXPO took up the whole thing last time. There is a large main floor that was split up into the EXPO store, pavillions, collectors selling area and at the other end the Arena which was where the big presentations like the Legends ceremony, Studios, Parks and Pixar presentations were. Then they had the smaller presentations rooms on the second floor and the Archives exhibit (this sounds MUCH bigger this year so will probably move I guess.) The ABC screening area was upstairs last year, but I think I saw on the D23 floor information that is is on the ground floor this year. These are smaller rooms..they were for things like Imagineers, Cruise line, panels, etc. The guide book had a big schedule with all presentations in a grid under the room they are in. They DID have multiple things going on at the same time so choosing is tough. (be interesed in seeing how this will work for Sorcerers since we have seats at everything but can't actually GO to everything..so they'll need a way to tell what we're doing to free up seats to those things we don't do..confusing at best)
Here is an example from Friday, Sept 11, of offerings fromo 3:30-6:30 pm:
WD Studios Theater:Tron Presentaion and Screening(4-6:30), Stage 23: Evolution of Mickey Mouse (3:30-4:30) and Disney Rarities (5:30-6:30), Storytellers Theater: We make the Music, Disney Theme Park Music (3:30 -5:00) and The Making of Toy Story the Musical (5:30-6:30), ABC Screening Room: Flashforward (4:00 -4:45).
So this was just a 3 hour block on one day and the EXPO was 4 days last time and only 3 this time. Add to that the huge lines and then that every presentation started late (because of the huge lines and trying to get everyone in and settled) and it was really a bit stressful to make choices ande then get to places to get in. I'm sure this will be much smoother this time.