franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
Welcome to my D23 Expo Trip Report!
For those who dont know me, let me take a few moments to introduce myself. My name is Alison and Ive been a Disneyholic all my life!
I live local to Disneyland and try to get out there as often as I can. I also love WDW and try to get there as often as I can, but thats certainly not as often as DL! I went to the Expo in 2009 and am most definitely looking forward to this years Expo since I have an idea of what to expect and no idea what to expect!
Ive been a D23 Member for about a year now, not that I havent been participating in D23 as we purchased a family membership back in 2009. However as the tickets went on sale for the 2011 Expo, only actual D23 Members could buy the special tickets. Of course it was after hours and when we realized that I had to purchase my own membership to get the Premier tickets, the membership was not activated in real time. That was the longest 14 hours as we waited and waited, refreshing the screen every time I typed my membership number into the computer hoping this was the time that I was recognized as a member and could purchase my Premier ticket. Would they be sold out before I could even purchase it? Luckily everything worked out and I have been a proud Premier ticket holder for the last year.
So with less than a handful of days left until the Expo begins, I thought it was time to start the Trip Report, gain some followers and lay out my game plan. Here are few shots of me at the last Expo.
We learned a lot of things last time, but the number one lesson was even though we live close, its not close enough! This time we have booked a room at the Hilton. This hotel is only a few feet away from the entrance to the Convention Center so this way we wont have far to travel home at night. I thought that we might be able to sneak back to the room during the day and take a break, but every day is packed full with fun and exciting seminars, shopping experiences and interactive displays that Im sure I will be on sensory overload.
The official opening of the Expo is Friday morning but Premier and Sorcerer Members get early access to shopping and other experiences (Sorcerers only). We plan to arrive at around 2PM on Thursday to check into the Hilton, even if the room isnt ready yet, hopefully we can get our keys so that we dont have to take time out of our shopping to come back and do it. 3PM is when check in begins and at 3:30 we can start shopping in the Treasure Trove of the Walt Disney Archives Store. At 5:30PM we can get into the D23 Expo Dream Store.
Im hoping that we wrap up all our shopping by 7PM so that we can go have dinner. Since this will be my last night of civilized dinner for a few nights, I thought we would just make it easy on ourselves and stick with the Hilton restaurant. Of course its overpriced, but thats expected from any hotel restaurant. Ill just hang out downstairs after dinner in the lounge waiting for other DISers who may show up for the 8PM meet.
So I will not try to pull off this TR as a review of the D23 Expo, simply a documentation of my experiences. I hope to attend some of the most popular events in the Arena and some of the others as well. I will be avoiding the Disney Channel Presentations and the other kiddie attractions.
My interests are in the parks, the vacation destinations and some of the upcoming movie & television presentations. This is the dream schedule, but in all reality, unless the session is in the darker gray, we will probably have to skip them in order to see the show floor, shopping opportunities and keep our sanity!
Join me if you care to see a glimpse into my experience at the D23 Expo! I'll keep up as best I can during the Expo, but you can see the schedule is very full. I'll catch up what I don't cover once I return home to finish the TR!
Welcome aboard, it should be a fun and exciting journey!
For those who dont know me, let me take a few moments to introduce myself. My name is Alison and Ive been a Disneyholic all my life!
I live local to Disneyland and try to get out there as often as I can. I also love WDW and try to get there as often as I can, but thats certainly not as often as DL! I went to the Expo in 2009 and am most definitely looking forward to this years Expo since I have an idea of what to expect and no idea what to expect!Ive been a D23 Member for about a year now, not that I havent been participating in D23 as we purchased a family membership back in 2009. However as the tickets went on sale for the 2011 Expo, only actual D23 Members could buy the special tickets. Of course it was after hours and when we realized that I had to purchase my own membership to get the Premier tickets, the membership was not activated in real time. That was the longest 14 hours as we waited and waited, refreshing the screen every time I typed my membership number into the computer hoping this was the time that I was recognized as a member and could purchase my Premier ticket. Would they be sold out before I could even purchase it? Luckily everything worked out and I have been a proud Premier ticket holder for the last year.
So with less than a handful of days left until the Expo begins, I thought it was time to start the Trip Report, gain some followers and lay out my game plan. Here are few shots of me at the last Expo.
We learned a lot of things last time, but the number one lesson was even though we live close, its not close enough! This time we have booked a room at the Hilton. This hotel is only a few feet away from the entrance to the Convention Center so this way we wont have far to travel home at night. I thought that we might be able to sneak back to the room during the day and take a break, but every day is packed full with fun and exciting seminars, shopping experiences and interactive displays that Im sure I will be on sensory overload.
The official opening of the Expo is Friday morning but Premier and Sorcerer Members get early access to shopping and other experiences (Sorcerers only). We plan to arrive at around 2PM on Thursday to check into the Hilton, even if the room isnt ready yet, hopefully we can get our keys so that we dont have to take time out of our shopping to come back and do it. 3PM is when check in begins and at 3:30 we can start shopping in the Treasure Trove of the Walt Disney Archives Store. At 5:30PM we can get into the D23 Expo Dream Store.
Im hoping that we wrap up all our shopping by 7PM so that we can go have dinner. Since this will be my last night of civilized dinner for a few nights, I thought we would just make it easy on ourselves and stick with the Hilton restaurant. Of course its overpriced, but thats expected from any hotel restaurant. Ill just hang out downstairs after dinner in the lounge waiting for other DISers who may show up for the 8PM meet.
So I will not try to pull off this TR as a review of the D23 Expo, simply a documentation of my experiences. I hope to attend some of the most popular events in the Arena and some of the others as well. I will be avoiding the Disney Channel Presentations and the other kiddie attractions.
My interests are in the parks, the vacation destinations and some of the upcoming movie & television presentations. This is the dream schedule, but in all reality, unless the session is in the darker gray, we will probably have to skip them in order to see the show floor, shopping opportunities and keep our sanity!
Join me if you care to see a glimpse into my experience at the D23 Expo! I'll keep up as best I can during the Expo, but you can see the schedule is very full. I'll catch up what I don't cover once I return home to finish the TR!
Welcome aboard, it should be a fun and exciting journey!
See you Thursday!
