Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[WDWJonasGirl]

Say hi to mvf-m11c and have a great time there too!

I will do my best to find him. And thank you.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I will do my best to find him. And thank you.

Same here.


I am updating on my PTR for the D23 Expo. Now that more and more events are now added to the D23 Expo. I am now updating my schedule for the August trip. On my last post that I was very interested in the Disney Legends Ceremony, WD Parks and Resorts at the Arena, Lion King 3D. Now they added the making of the LMAUA, Buena Vista Street, Radiator Springs Reality, the Making of Star Tours, and More of the Wonderful World of DL & WDW. I am glad that they announce showings of the new additions to DCA and vintage of DL & WDW at Stage 23 & 28. Some of the times I will get in the queue early so that the two of us will be able to get good seats for these screenings. The only problem I have is that with limit time in between each screening and have to get in the next line. The queues will be very long when we leave the room and to the next.

Later on those nights, I was thinking of going over to DL or DCA to watch some of the nighttime shows. Right now, I am planning on seeing Magical on Friday night and see WoC on Sunday night. The other nights will be determine how the two of us feel. Saturday night will be busy with all of those screenings. The other nights during the Expo are okay, but it will be nice to be at the parks at nighttime. I will later update again when more and more screenings are being posted on the website.

Not only that, I have pre-ordered the WoC picnic for Sunday since we are not planning to stay very late at the Anaheim Convention Center. My original plan was to go to DCA first thing in the morning, but I want to get most of my time at the ACC, it would be easy to get the WoC picnic FP instead of getting it that morning. My DA wants to try the picnic instead of eating at AG or WCT.

Here is my Pre-Schedule for the next month trip.

 

[skiingfast]

It looks good, but do you need all of that shopping time in the morning?

 

[mvf-m11c]

It looks good, but do you need all of that shopping time in the morning?

Since I went to the D23 Expo back in 2009, each day at the Dream Store they had some new items each day (that is mostly the LE D23 Expo pins). I waited at least an hour each of those mornings to get in line and when they let us in the ACC, we had to wait in another line for the Dream Store. I forgot how long, but it was around at least half an our wait until the CMs let us in the store. I would guess that is likely they will have LE Expo pins & maybe collectible items on certain days at the Expo. But if I get the shopping done early on those days, we can go to the pavilions around the resort.

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret, your schedule looks WONDERFUL! I would love to see the "Making of..." presentations (your green and red ones events). I am looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

Thanks for sharing all your plans!

Just started a new job today but also plan to start my Alaska trip report this week too.

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret, your schedule looks WONDERFUL! I would love to see the "Making of..." presentations (your green and red ones events). I am looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

Thanks for sharing all your plans!

Just started a new job today but also plan to start my Alaska trip report this week too.

TK

Thank you TK. I think that it will be tough to get in any of the screenings that have a time lapse of 30 to 45 minutes until it starts. It is a short window of each timing and the other people like me will try to get in the same queue for the next screening. I remember back in 2009 during the Expo that a lot people went back in the queue of the same room that they were just in and see the next screening. I am hoping that I can get in all of those screenings during my trip. I might be able to see the LMAUA, Legends of WD Imagineering, & maybe the Vintage of DL & WDW if my DA and I get out of the last show and head on over to the next one. Saturday & Sunday should be easy since they will be in the same room, I am hoping that I will be able to see all the screenings that I have planned.

Thank you for checking out my schedule TK. Since I could spend a lot of time at DL on Friday and Monday plus partially during the nighttime since there is nothing special at night. The only nighttime event at the D23 Expo I am thinking of seeing is the D23 Expo Live Auction at Stage 23 from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. But since I am going to see the Lion King 3D, I can't do that if I choose that instead. I was looking forward to the Lion King 3D movie before it is release later this year.

You can see from my schedule is that all the screenings involves the parks and resorts since I am only interested in those screenings. The one that I am looking forward too is the WD Parks and Resorts at the Arena. The one back in 2009 was really neat to hear about the announcement of ST2, the Fantasy Land Expansion at the MK, etc. I am hoping that this one will be good. I wish they will let us bring our electronics since they said on the website that there is no photography and video in the arena. I remember back in 2009 that they did allow cameras and videotaping during that screening then the other one. We'll just wait and see.

That is good to hear that you got to start your new job since there are a lot of people looking for a job today. I'm glad that you will be starting your TR during your Alaska Cruise. Can't wait to read it.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love your schedule!!! I can't wait!!

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

this d23 thing sounds exciting.

fyi- i read all your trip reports, & realized you was @ wdw the week
before we came . [we spent 2 weeks @ blt]. and your disneyland
report occurred while we on dcl in alaska, right before we came
to disneyland.

we too, purchase the harry potter 's scarfs. however, they
were very practical because it was freezing! [ gloves were very
useful]

someone mentioned d23 is focusing on wdw 4oth birthday. i don't know if
they are going to repeat what they did last year, but would venture "yes".
the good thing bout dvc, they give away alot disney stuff that we have
shared with our community projects. [ the kids get a big kick out of it] .

one reason we are doing this year member cruise is because it's on the
dream. i am hoping the ariel girl will be on , just to see our lil'ariel
reactions. [ know what they say..you got to have a dream before a
dream can come true.] as not in a million years, did we ever expected
a daughter, & especially one with red hair,~ my wife's hair is as black as
coal. she surprised us, 10 years after we decided "no more".

like the others, can't wait to read about your experiences & your
plans...very professional done. you should be a trip planner!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Love your schedule!!! I can't wait!!

Thank you Kaitlin. Just like you, I can't believe we are only a few weeks away till the D23 Expo. I just read that Stage 23 will be holding only 750 people and Stage 28 holding 500 people in each of those rooms. Now I might have to change some of my plans for that weekend with a small room. I knew that the 2009 screening rooms like Stage 23 didn't hold too many people and the CMs had to turn away people since it was all full. So this will affect some of the screenings that I want to see during the Expo. The ones that might get affected the most is the Making of the LMAUA & maybe Legends of WD Imagineering.

What about you? The D23 Expo website just have added more and more screenings and events that week. At least they are adding more and more things to the schedule, but I wish it was like a chart and see what the schedule is like.

this d23 thing sounds exciting.

fyi- i read all your trip reports, & realized you was @ wdw the week
before we came . [we spent 2 weeks @ blt]. and your disneyland
report occurred while we on dcl in alaska, right before we came
to disneyland.

we too, purchase the harry potter 's scarfs. however, they
were very practical because it was freezing! [ gloves were very
useful]

someone mentioned d23 is focusing on wdw 4oth birthday. i don't know if
they are going to repeat what they did last year, but would venture "yes".
the good thing bout dvc, they give away alot disney stuff that we have
shared with our community projects. [ the kids get a big kick out of it] .

one reason we are doing this year member cruise is because it's on the
dream. i am hoping the ariel girl will be on , just to see our lil'ariel
reactions. [ know what they say..you got to have a dream before a
dream can come true.] as not in a million years, did we ever expected
a daughter, & especially one with red hair,~ my wife's hair is as black as
coal. she surprised us, 10 years after we decided "no more".

like the others, can't wait to read about your experiences & your
plans...very professional done. you should be a trip planner!

Thank you Lil' Grumpy. I have been looking forward to this Expo since the 2009 and I can't believe it is only a few weeks until it happens for the 2nd time.

What a coincidence that I was at WDW a week before you. Are you talking about my last TR (June 20 - 21) to DL when you were on the DCL at Alaska?

The Wizardy World of Harry Potter was so great and lived to my expectations when I saw it in December. Almost everywhere when I was at IoA, we saw at least 1/3 of the people with Harry Potter Scarfs. I had to get some and now I wish I got more of them. I got a Gryffindor & Raven Claw scarf. My brother wanted the Slytherin scarf, but he was happy about it. He could get it while we go down their in December later this year. I remember the weather was really cold last year and had to wear the HP scarf & gloves at night. The later days of my trip turned out better than the early and middle part of the trip.

The current D23 magazine that had just been release (2011 Fall magazine) talks about the WDW Resort. I was so amazed about not knowing somethings about the WDW Resort. I should think about getting a DVC membership one day.

The Dream Cruise ship is really nice and hope that you and your family have a great time. It would be really special if Ariel will be on board and see your DD who just looks like Ariel.

Thank you for the comment. To tell you the truth I am very terrible at writing. But I will do my very best to give you and everyone that is following my trip in a few weeks a lot of pictures and details about the D23 Expo. Back when I did the 2009 D23 Expo TR, I didn't take a lot of pics and write too much about it since I was enjoying it. This time I hope to get as much as possible.

 

[skiingfast]

Bret do you think the demand for the seats at Stage 23 and 28 are going to be really hard to get?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret do you think the demand for the seats at Stage 23 and 28 are going to be really hard to get?

It only depends on which presentation that the Disney fans want to see the most. But I think it might be the Legends of WD Imagineering with Marty Sklar. The making of the LMAUA is going to be a difficult one to get in since there is only a 30 minute window from the Disney Legends Ceremony at the Arena to Stage 28 on the 2nd floor of the ACC. I would assume that the D23 staff have learned a lot of lessons from the 2009 Expo and made much improvements. I'll just wait and see if it is easy to go to those stages and see all the presentations that I am looking forward too.

Back at the 2009 D23 Expo, I stayed in line for awhile to see the making of WoC at the Storytellers Theater. It was neat to see first sketches and previews of WoC with Steven Davison. Then when I left the room, the next screening was Disney Theme Park Music. I tried to get in the queue for that screening which was only 30 minutes apart from that event to the one I was in, but it was already full to capacity when I got closer to the room entrance.

Also the Sorcerers ticket holders are guaranteed seats for any of the presentations and panels during the Expo, that is about 50 seats reserved to those people. So there will only be about 450 and 700 seats available to see those presentations. I just hope with that limited time frame, I will be able to get in the rooms.

I was really considering getting the Premier package last year when the tickets were on sale since I knew getting reserved seating makes a big difference to see the presentations. But in the end, it was just too expensive for me and my DA.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Here's my schedule:

2011 Disney Legends Ceremony
D23 Expo kicks off the first day by honoring the latest recipients in Disney's 24-year tradition.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Glimpse into some of the exciting projects currently underway at Disney's parks and resorts.

Cast of So Random!
Meet Tiffany Thornton, Sterling Knight, Doug Brochu, Allisyn Ashley Arm, and more!

Phineas and Ferb
Character appearances by Phineas, Ferb, and Perry, too!

Cast and Crew of Phineas and Ferb
Meet Dan Povenmire, Swampy Marsh, Vincent Martella, Alyson Stoner, and Dee Bradley Baker.

Cast and Crew of Fish Hooks
Meet Noah Z. Jones, Chelsea Kane, and Kyle Massey.

Cast of A.N.T. Farm
Meet China Anne McClain, Jake Short, Sierra McCormick, Stefanie Scott, and Carlon Jeffery

Perry-oke
Head on over to the Platy-Bus for karaoke with the Disney Channel gang.

D23 Expo Live Auction
Bid on unique experiences, tours, artwork, props, and one-of-a-kind Disney treasures.

Shake It Up Cast Photos
Snap a photo of Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, and more!

Perry-oke
Head on over to the Platy-Bus for karaoke with the Disney Channel gang

Cast of Shake It Up
Meet Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, and more!

 

[kylie71]

It sounds like a lot of FUN! Where are you staying?

 

[mvf-m11c]

You have a good schedule of what you want to do at the Expo Kaitlin. I see that most of them are meeting the celebrities. That is good to do at the Expo and meet these casts of these great Disney shows.

I can't believe we are only less than two weeks away till the D23 Expo and it will be neat to meet some DISers at the Expo.

It sounds like a lot of FUN! Where are you staying?

This is a lot of planning just like going to the parks but maybe even more planning. Just hope that everything goes according to the schedule and get as much as I can do.

I will be staying at Best Western Stovall's Inn. It is across the street from the Anaheim Convention Center and DL on Katella Ave and Disneyland DR/West St. I have stayed at BW Stovalls a few times and the hotel room is very nice. The reason I chose that hotel is that the price was good and close to the ACC. I had enjoyed staying at the hotel during my previous trips and thats why I select it as my hotel during the D23 Expo. As you have read from my previous TR, I have stayed at BWPPI or BWAI since it is close to the gate to DL. But since I am going to the ACC more then DL, I choose BW Stovalls as the hotel. My original plan was to stay at the Marriott or Hilton right by the ACC, but the price was way too expensive and BW Stovalls had a great deal.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

You have a good schedule of what you want to do at the Expo Kaitlin. I see that most of them are meeting the celebrities. That is good to do at the Expo and meet these casts of these great Disney shows.

I can't believe we are only less than two weeks away till the D23 Expo and it will be neat to meet some DISers at the Expo.

Thank you. I love most of the shows.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

very cool~ ,

yes, talking about both trips- when you was @ disneyland, we were
on the "wonder". and if i read it right, you was @ wdw last
dec. & so we're "we" dec. 18th-to the first of the year.


we are still figuring out the dvc thingy. we brought 3 contracts @
blt. the way we first got involve was during the 08 pc cruise.
our table mates were dvc members and told us about dvc. so this
trip was our first stay @ the gch. we were very impressed. the views,
the pool, & being so close to the parks especially the one right
by our "door". we sat on the bed watching world of color!

yes dvc cost some money, but the many happy returns will gain
special memories. way beyond any other investment/s that we ever
done.

fyi--i am not that big of a disney fan. in reality, when my wife
"forced" me to do the first wonder cruise , i complained about it
all year ,( before we went). we took our boys in the 80's-90's....
& i never liked the crowds. that all changed by that lil'girl who
"had to sit" beside my daughter. it was her look on her face
that made me realized what i had been missing. kind of
funny we're doing all these disney adventures,

ok? here's a inside tip...if you ever do a dcl cruise, many of the
"characters" do double duty...as escorts. "art"- the arts, have
always been held special in our family, & i believe it takes
hard work & an insightful mind to bring them to life. very
special persons, in~deeds. the young lady that was in "charge"
of ariel-went out of her way-even when she was "off duty." i had
a nice "talk" with the cruise director & expressed our gratitude/s
for several of the "stars". he then asked me to "record" my
expressions so he could "inspire their crew after we left."
it was the least i could do. so the real tip, would be to pay attention
to the crew as it might yield some amazing surprises.

your comment about not taking so many pictures reminded me
when we took our first trips. i used to think that using 2 rolls of film
was over doing it. ,

we have taken thousands of pictures in the last 12 years. but
every trip has it "precious moments". though my camera had
our address & names , it most likely gone forever. but the dvc
makes it easier for a redo. still i can't expressed how lucky we
were that someone is sharing the same time frame. i am also
surprise reading others & looking @ their pictures that
someone haven't used that store window. i just think it
something neat to take a picture of "something" that will changed
in time , as a "marker" while we were there. it kinda liked when
each of our kids were born, i went around & took pictures of
the "day" it was. you took many the same pictures so it was liked
following a hidden "trail" or a treasure map. very, very neat!

right now, i' m because i was able to find the same camera
as a replacement. also the same carrying case. ( the last one).
also any cruiser sent us a dvd of all their pictures. i think the
pictures i take as "reminders" of the time we spent chasing &
experiencing the meanings walt wanted for all of his creations.
so when i look @ others, i am trying to understand what they
were thinking. { someone posted a picture hugging the evil queen.
sure like to know what the queen was thinking- }


from those previous pictures, it dawn on me how much character
encounters can have. she made her own outfits & did all the work. she
knew all the words of "part of your world" song. so i took a video
of her singing it. she did all the hands/ fins movements. she has been
doing this ever since she could walk. when she was 6, doing an
irish dance show, the first 3 rows made comments that had
her dancing on "clouds". what was neat for all the kids, "the
lord of the dance" was in town, & some of the performers came by
to dance with them. it was a great show.

the d23 , i am not sure what it's about. but it sounds similar to
the member cruise. hope you get front row seats on all the events!

...can't wait to see what you'll discover!

 

[skiingfast]

I've heard some good rumors regarding D23 and the Fantasyland Expansion. That and Carsland will be nice to hear more about. Knowing about the building of LMAUA and ST will just be ok.

Can't wait to see some updates strait from DLR.

 

[mvf-m11c]

very cool~ ,

yes, talking about both trips- when you was @ disneyland, we were
on the "wonder". and if i read it right, you was @ wdw last
dec. & so we're "we" dec. 18th-to the first of the year.


we are still figuring out the dvc thingy. we brought 3 contracts @
blt. the way we first got involve was during the 08 pc cruise.
our table mates were dvc members and told us about dvc. so this
trip was our first stay @ the gch. we were very impressed. the views,
the pool, & being so close to the parks especially the one right
by our "door". we sat on the bed watching world of color!

yes dvc cost some money, but the many happy returns will gain
special memories. way beyond any other investment/s that we ever
done.

fyi--i am not that big of a disney fan. in reality, when my wife
"forced" me to do the first wonder cruise , i complained about it
all year ,( before we went). we took our boys in the 80's-90's....
& i never liked the crowds. that all changed by that lil'girl who
"had to sit" beside my daughter. it was her look on her face
that made me realized what i had been missing. kind of
funny we're doing all these disney adventures,

ok? here's a inside tip...if you ever do a dcl cruise, many of the
"characters" do double duty...as escorts. "art"- the arts, have
always been held special in our family, & i believe it takes
hard work & an insightful mind to bring them to life. very
special persons, in~deeds. the young lady that was in "charge"
of ariel-went out of her way-even when she was "off duty." i had
a nice "talk" with the cruise director & expressed our gratitude/s
for several of the "stars". he then asked me to "record" my
expressions so he could "inspire their crew after we left."
it was the least i could do. so the real tip, would be to pay attention
to the crew as it might yield some amazing surprises.

your comment about not taking so many pictures reminded me
when we took our first trips. i used to think that using 2 rolls of film
was over doing it. ,

we have taken thousands of pictures in the last 12 years. but
every trip has it "precious moments". though my camera had
our address & names , it most likely gone forever. but the dvc
makes it easier for a redo. still i can't expressed how lucky we
were that someone is sharing the same time frame. i am also
surprise reading others & looking @ their pictures that
someone haven't used that store window. i just think it
something neat to take a picture of "something" that will changed
in time , as a "marker" while we were there. it kinda liked when
each of our kids were born, i went around & took pictures of
the "day" it was. you took many the same pictures so it was liked
following a hidden "trail" or a treasure map. very, very neat!

right now, i' m because i was able to find the same camera
as a replacement. also the same carrying case. ( the last one).
also any cruiser sent us a dvd of all their pictures. i think the
pictures i take as "reminders" of the time we spent chasing &
experiencing the meanings walt wanted for all of his creations.
so when i look @ others, i am trying to understand what they
were thinking. { someone posted a picture hugging the evil queen.
sure like to know what the queen was thinking- }


from those previous pictures, it dawn on me how much character
encounters can have. she made her own outfits & did all the work. she
knew all the words of "part of your world" song. so i took a video
of her singing it. she did all the hands/ fins movements. she has been
doing this ever since she could walk. when she was 6, doing an
irish dance show, the first 3 rows made comments that had
her dancing on "clouds". what was neat for all the kids, "the
lord of the dance" was in town, & some of the performers came by
to dance with them. it was a great show.

the d23 , i am not sure what it's about. but it sounds similar to
the member cruise. hope you get front row seats on all the events!

...can't wait to see what you'll discover!

I can't believe you were there at WDW the next day that my DA and I have left.

The GCH is a very nice hotel and that is good to hear that you and your family had a wonderful time.

I will definitely do that in the future if I go on a DCL. But that will be quite awhile since I am not a huge fan of going on cruise ships. It's not like I get seasick or something like that, I just like going to the parks instead of a nice relaxing time on a ship or beach.

I had to be very careful back in the old days with film rolls since there is a certain amount of pictures you can take with film rolls. Now today, its all about sd cards and the size of the card that gets you all those pictures on the computer.

The name D23 is the year of the Disney company that was founded in 1923 and the D is for Disney. D23 goals are to communicate with Disney fans and show placing them in the middle of the magic. Thank you and hope everything goes well during the trip.

I've heard some good rumors regarding D23 and the Fantasyland Expansion. That and Carsland will be nice to hear more about. Knowing about the building of LMAUA and ST will just be ok.

Can't wait to see some updates strait from DLR.

I would assume that the WD Parks and Resorts screening will be talking about the Fantasyland Expansion at the MK and maybe talks about the expansion in HKDL. I know that they did some presentations of those expansions at the 2009 Expo and I would guess that they will talk about it. I am definitely looking forward to the WD Parks and Resorts as well as Radiator Springs Reality which it said that John Lasseter will make an appearance and talk about Cars Land. The LMAUA and ST are not the top priorities, but if I can get lucky and get in, it will be nice to see those presentations.

Same here, I can't wait to hear about the new updates to the DLR.

 

[skiingfast]

HKDL could be interesting, they may have big plans over there, but that doesn't mean they will have information on it at this Expo. They have a whole pad for a 2nd gate ready.

 

[mvf-m11c]

HKDL could be interesting, they may have big plans over there, but that doesn't mean they will have information on it at this Expo. They have a whole pad for a 2nd gate ready.

Yes you are right about that Matt since the 2009 D23 Expo mostly explained the whole thing at HKDL. with Toy Story Land opening this year and the other two lands are expected to be open the next two years, I would guess that the CMs would talk about it at the Expo.