Since we're sharing expo stories, here's mine! I'm a solo traveler (though my friends are joining me for the latter part of the trip this year), and don't have any other large con experience to draw from. I attended in 2013 and 2015, and 2015 was a far better experience (though it involved what seemed like days of waiting in the depths of the convention center for overnights).
I made the mistake of trusting the guidelines in 2013, thinking that no one would line up before the time stated in the rules. When I got to the ACC at 5 AM for the Expo Floor line, I found the entire courtyard filled with a snaking queue of people, and ended up somewhere in the middle of the pen. After that, I waited 3 hours to get into the
Disney Store (really wanted the designer couple dolls, which in hindsight were pretty easy to get during wide release), and shuffled around the Expo Floor, trying to get some energy back. After getting my second wind, I sprinted to the holding area queue for the Alan Menken/Richard Sherman concert on Saturday night, and ended up in the first section of people. It was well worth the wait and a great cap to the first day. Ended up crashing and burning the next day, and licking my wounds in
Disneyland for the rest of the weekend. That said, it was my first
D23, first convention ever, and first time at DL, so there were a lot of contributing factors to my exhaustion. I also cosplayed as peasant Belle and didn't factor in waiting outside in the heat, so I was swimming in sweat for most of the day. And despite what it sounds like, I had an epic time that I wouldn't trade for anything.
In 2015, I stayed at the onsite Marriott and watched the lines form from my hotel room early Thursday. I got in line at 7 PM on Thursday night, was in the second row in the basement for Expo Floor entry, and was able to hit both the Expo Dream Store and MOG within 25 minutes of being let in. I wasn't super interested in anything the Disney Store had that year, so I avoided that crazy line and enjoyed the rest of the floor with little to no waits for anything (since other folks were at the Animation Panel or shopping so early). I got to chat with Joe Rohde since I was the only one in the ACE/Pandora Exhibit, and get my Expo Floor shopping/exploring out of the way for the rest of the day. I didn't think I'd make another overnight/early day for Live Action, so I got some much-needed sleep and lined up for Parks and Resorts at 10AM the next day. Wasn't sure how crazy it would be, and I didn't want to miss it. I'm hoping it'll be better this year since last year the big announcement was made during the Live Action panel.
This year I'm going to follow a similar schedule - line up early for the Expo Floor on Thursday night, pack a more comfortable pillow in my backpack, and throw 5 - 6 books on my ipad. I'll do early bed on Friday night for a few hours and get in line for Live Action around 1 -2 in the AM. I found it tough to sleep on the overnight lines since it's bright/there's a lot of people, but hopefully this year I'll read myself into a coma for at least an hour or two. If I'm not dead, I'll do the sprint runaround for Parks & Resorts afterwards.
For anyone who's worried about traveling solo, I was able to make friends in both overnight and panel lines (and I can be shy sometimes with folks I don't know). Bathroom buddies, food seekers, you name it - some of us still chat regularly on twitter and hope to meet up again this year.
