Destination D23 2025 Aug 29-31, 2025 at Coronado Springs

[foodiddiedoo]

Great perspective. Example- I sat near folks who were on their phones the entire time during the Phineas and Ferb portion, clearly uninterested. I guess as “apex fans” we’re the group most likely to be into everything, but not always the case.

I thought the P&F panel was great, even though I don’t watch the show, but can see where the content to the day isn’t universally appealing.

Guy next to me was watching football on his phone all day starting at 10.

 

[soniam]

I left before the Emperor’s New Groove panel and walked right into the MOG pin RSP. No lines hardly anywhere. Should have waited and done that for the other pin RSP I got.

 

[vpusey]

If you attended the previous years you will understand why the Destination D23 was extremely disappointing.
Have to seriously think if I want to return again in 2 years .

 

[Primerz]

This was my first time, though went to D23 Expo last year. I felt there was a lot to like but not enough that made me excited for the next event. I wouldn’t characterize anything as bad- what I did see was interesting, and it was great to meet fellow fans- but not sure there was enough there to return.

But I didn’t have a benchmark like you. Curious to hear your thoughts (or any returning Destination goers) on this year versus previous events.

 

[AquaDame]

Curious to hear your thoughts (or any returning Destination goers) on this year versus previous events.

Also interested... I was thinking this might be more up my alley vs doing D23 again next year, but maybe not...

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Also interested... I was thinking this might be more up my alley vs doing D23 again next year, but maybe not...

If you have never been to one, it wasn’t disappointing at all. If this was the 2nd or 3rd one, the price increased but we were offered less. Previous years felt less like a sales pitch for Disney merch/Disney+/events and more of a con for people who love Disney history. I am still thinking I’ll go next time (my best friend has never been and she didn’t manage to get tickets this year), but I’m not sure if I’ll continue after that.

 

[HeadNerd]

This was my first Destination D23 and almost certainly my last. Now part of that is because Disneyland is my home resort and a trek to Florida is a bigger hassle for me - and when I do it it will certainly not be in the summer, because I am *not* built for doing the parks in 90-degree+ humid weather.

But honestly, the attempts to make "news" out of stuff like "conjured architecture" or "painting the castle back to white again" was just... sad. Just don't even try if you're not going to announce anything. I wasn't expecting some grand reveal of a new land or two like the Expo. But c'mon, they have at least two lands in Magic Kingdom under development, one in Animal Kingdom, and the whole mysterious Disneyland Forward (plus more I'm sure I'm missing). You're telling me there wasn't a single substantive sneak peek at a single new ride or anything else? I guarantee something exists, which means they explicitly decided not to show it off there.

On top of that, I'm much more interested in Archives material when I have some choice in what the panel is about. Three sessions on the 3 Caballeros? No thanks. I'll admit I was on my phone a lot of the time, I left early the first day, and I skipped the whole second half of day 2 and just went to a park instead. I would have much rather preferred a more traditional Keynote structured followed by at least a choice of four or five different panels or breakouts in smaller rooms. Nothing crazy Expo size or selection, but cmon...

Shopping was... okay. Decent selection of items esepcially for the event size. I arrived 30 minutes ahead of my shopping window (Noon) and after waiting that 30 minutes I was probably into my first store (MoG) within another 10 minutes. MUCH better than waiting in a basement for hours in the god-awful early morning.

And thank goodness for the pin RSPs. My haul sucked, but that's okay, it did at the D23 Expo as well. The difference is I didn't need to worry about it at the event. The lines for the RSP pickups were ridiculous. I skipped it Friday and Saturday and was easy to pick up Sunday. But like... cmon guys. Just ship us the pins. Having to actually go find the order one at a time was silly. If they just shipped the pins ahead of time, then people could bring them to trade or whatever if they wanted to, but it eliminates all the insanity. And hell maybe half the resellers would no-show and make the event roomier for the rest of us.

I do think if they do pin RSPs like that for Expo or something, they need to find some way to focus on people who really just want to buy a few pins for their personal collection. The way they do ranked-choice helps a bit, but the reality is the resellers are just going to put every pin in their list, get a bunch of them, and immediately sell them - removing all those pins from potential actual collector attendees. A 3rd preference on a list of 3 pins should get higher precedence than 2nd preference on a list of 25 pins..

Either that, or Disney should just say screw it, and start directly auctioning off their limited edition merchandise. Only way to solve for it really... let the market set the price directly and cut the resellers and their profits out of the equation. Imagine how peaceful one of these Expos could be if there was no profit to be made there.