MaleficentMe
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2021
UPDATE 10/14 D23 Expo and Oogie Boogie Bash! It's Halloween-lo-ween everybody! It's Halloween! Give a Scream it's Halloween
- Thread starter OhioStateBuckeye
- Start date
ashley0139
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
I had never heard of Lorcana either. When I saw the hype around it my friend and I each grabbed one of the free Mickey cards when there was no line. They each just sold on Ebay for $250!! That paid for all the merch I bought at the Expo.
Micca
SAHG: Stay At Home Grandfather
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2000
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
After we got our sweet autographed sketches we immediately went next door to get into standby for Daniel Logan.
It was roughly a half hour wait and we were able to meet him at 2:50. He was incredibly fun and nice, I'm glad we met him. He was talking about his little son running around in an Ironman costume. I'm still not sure if he ended up talking at a panel or if he kind of just wanted to go and Disney asked if he would want to do a signing.
We had to wear our masks to chat and while in line but were able to take them off for a quick picture. My mask got caught on the bottom of my Loki horns, so Boba Fett helped me to de-mask. Bet most of you can't say that!
We saw two of our other friends (KC Disney friends shout out!). We hung out with them for a bit at the Marceline booth and signed a bench they had. If any of you haven't been to Marceline Missouri or know about the barn, they have a replica there of Walt's barn that has been signed by most people who travel to the small town. It's been signed by some famous Imagineers and Disney artists (myself included).
We hung out for a bit then said our goodbyes. We got back into a standby line for Andreas Deja. He started work with Disney in 1980 and was supervising animator on Gaston, Jafar, Scar, Hercules and Lilo.
While we were waiting, we realized we must be right next to the corner exit that had the VIP lounge. We saw Josh D'Amaro pop out for 5 minutes to do a couple quick photographs and singings, then he ran away.
A few minutes later we saw Kevin Feige walking very quickly toward the corner exit with his head down, probably trying to escape notice. He went by too quick to get a picture of him.
And we reach the bad moment of the day. Deja ended up arriving 20 minutes late and they cut his line with only 11 of us left. We had waited an hour and I was pretty bummed. Brian's sister had joined us when we got in line, so the 3 of us tried to figure out what to do with our sad selves. We wandered the floor a bit and I got Alligator Loki's picture with the Marvel booth.
Marvel had a ton of costumes on display and we took some close ups for future cosplays. I just love the Moon Knight costumes.
We were a bit tired at this point and wanted a break, so we found a random shaved ice cart outside one of the doors. That was the thing about this year's expo, there was food truck row at the main entrance but each side entrance/exit also had a couple trucks. I think the truck was called 'You had me at cool' and it was AMAZING. It was the good kind of shaved ice that didn't lose it's flavor after the first few bites. Stephanie and I got the bomb crave (raspberry cherry and something else), Brian had mango and we all sat under a covered table outside because it was raining a bit.
Yep, you read that right, raining in Anaheim. I think all of us Orlando people brought it with us.
We realized that Walt's Plane was a walkup and no VQ was required at the moment, so the 3 of us headed over there.
It was set up in a huge arena and was just very impressive looking. We waited in a short line to get our picture taken, which was taken with a cool overhead camera and them emailed to us after we swiped our convention badge.
They also had some small display cases set up. There was a line to view them and our feet were hurting a bit so we chose to move on. Overall though, very cool exhibit.
It was roughly a half hour wait and we were able to meet him at 2:50. He was incredibly fun and nice, I'm glad we met him. He was talking about his little son running around in an Ironman costume. I'm still not sure if he ended up talking at a panel or if he kind of just wanted to go and Disney asked if he would want to do a signing.
We had to wear our masks to chat and while in line but were able to take them off for a quick picture. My mask got caught on the bottom of my Loki horns, so Boba Fett helped me to de-mask. Bet most of you can't say that!
We saw two of our other friends (KC Disney friends shout out!). We hung out with them for a bit at the Marceline booth and signed a bench they had. If any of you haven't been to Marceline Missouri or know about the barn, they have a replica there of Walt's barn that has been signed by most people who travel to the small town. It's been signed by some famous Imagineers and Disney artists (myself included).
We hung out for a bit then said our goodbyes. We got back into a standby line for Andreas Deja. He started work with Disney in 1980 and was supervising animator on Gaston, Jafar, Scar, Hercules and Lilo.
While we were waiting, we realized we must be right next to the corner exit that had the VIP lounge. We saw Josh D'Amaro pop out for 5 minutes to do a couple quick photographs and singings, then he ran away.
A few minutes later we saw Kevin Feige walking very quickly toward the corner exit with his head down, probably trying to escape notice. He went by too quick to get a picture of him.
And we reach the bad moment of the day. Deja ended up arriving 20 minutes late and they cut his line with only 11 of us left. We had waited an hour and I was pretty bummed. Brian's sister had joined us when we got in line, so the 3 of us tried to figure out what to do with our sad selves. We wandered the floor a bit and I got Alligator Loki's picture with the Marvel booth.
Marvel had a ton of costumes on display and we took some close ups for future cosplays. I just love the Moon Knight costumes.
We were a bit tired at this point and wanted a break, so we found a random shaved ice cart outside one of the doors. That was the thing about this year's expo, there was food truck row at the main entrance but each side entrance/exit also had a couple trucks. I think the truck was called 'You had me at cool' and it was AMAZING. It was the good kind of shaved ice that didn't lose it's flavor after the first few bites. Stephanie and I got the bomb crave (raspberry cherry and something else), Brian had mango and we all sat under a covered table outside because it was raining a bit.
Yep, you read that right, raining in Anaheim. I think all of us Orlando people brought it with us.
We realized that Walt's Plane was a walkup and no VQ was required at the moment, so the 3 of us headed over there.
It was set up in a huge arena and was just very impressive looking. We waited in a short line to get our picture taken, which was taken with a cool overhead camera and them emailed to us after we swiped our convention badge.
They also had some small display cases set up. There was a line to view them and our feet were hurting a bit so we chose to move on. Overall though, very cool exhibit.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
It was 5 pm and we wandered the floor a bit more, taking pictures.
Sox was the absolute best and I was delighted to see this lego statue of him.
These were our: you killed us faces:
A nice Thor: Love and Thunder photo backdrop:
Around 5:30 we headed for the standby line for the Walt's Plane panel. We got seats about midway back no issue. I thought this panel was interesting but would have preferred to watch it on TV. Brian kept falling asleep, it had been a long day. I was getting a bit blinky myself. The son of Walt's pilot was there to share memories and talk about his dad's flight log. It was interesting but just had been a long day. Because I'm ridiculous, I kept joking that the plane was going to pop it's nose out of the giant curtain behind the panelists as a special guest star.
When the panel was over so was the expo for the day. We still had the Hulu After Party so we headed back to the hotel to get changed quickly. It was still steadily raining at this point but we were able to cut through the Hilton to get to our hotel with limited exposure to the rain.
Also, I forgot to include it above and reached my picture limit, but here is the nice picture Daniel Logan signed:
The Hulu party was at Splitsville at Disney Springs and started at 8:30-11pm. We walked in the drizzling rain and arrived a little bit before it opened. The line to get in was really long. Once we finally got in, we found that lines for food were not long, however, there were no tables/seats left. We ended up getting some pizza and sliders but had to eat standing against the wall. They also had sushi but we never made it to that section. They had the bars open but we didn't end up getting alcohol, we had a coke to split between me and Brian. We were tired and crabby that there were no seats and it was really loud because they had music playing and people bowling. If we had got a seat or maybe arrived a bit later we would have had more fun, as it was we were just over it and headed out. We did get handed a swag bag on our way out.
I do wonder if they oversold it. When it originally went on 'sale' it was booked almost immediately and we weren't able to get tickets. One of our friends was on the DVC Alaskan cruise the week before, and hadn't read her email when it first showed up but checked a few days later and it was open again. So we all got tickets then. I wonder if the re-opening had been a glitch and it was oversold.
Either way, going to the Hulu After Party was a mistake. We were wet and tired when we got back to the hotel around 12:20 am. Should have just gone to bed early to prepare for the chaos of Marvel/Lucasfilm panel day.
Originally, Brian and I had decided if we didn't win a lottery reservation for Star Wars/Lucasfilm we weren't going to go. It just wasn't worth the stress and the early morning. However, we let ourselves get worked up about it and we were now going to give it a shot and see if we could get in.
To wrap up Expo Day 1, here is a picture of some of our swag. We got the D23 member print, that one is up top with Mickey (we picked that up when we were headed to Walt's Plane). We had our signed sketches from Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg. The signed Daniel Logan pic, Lorcana cards and a cool pack of retro post cards they were handing out at Walt's Plane.
Here was the Hulu party swag bag. We each got a tshirt and they were all XL, not sure what we'll do with ours as they are too big. Maybe sleep in them? Shoelaces, socks and a cookie that ended up tasting awful.
Our total step count for the day was 22,206 with 45 floors of stairs.
Up next is Expo Day 2.
Sox was the absolute best and I was delighted to see this lego statue of him.
These were our: you killed us faces:
A nice Thor: Love and Thunder photo backdrop:
Around 5:30 we headed for the standby line for the Walt's Plane panel. We got seats about midway back no issue. I thought this panel was interesting but would have preferred to watch it on TV. Brian kept falling asleep, it had been a long day. I was getting a bit blinky myself. The son of Walt's pilot was there to share memories and talk about his dad's flight log. It was interesting but just had been a long day. Because I'm ridiculous, I kept joking that the plane was going to pop it's nose out of the giant curtain behind the panelists as a special guest star.
When the panel was over so was the expo for the day. We still had the Hulu After Party so we headed back to the hotel to get changed quickly. It was still steadily raining at this point but we were able to cut through the Hilton to get to our hotel with limited exposure to the rain.
Also, I forgot to include it above and reached my picture limit, but here is the nice picture Daniel Logan signed:
The Hulu party was at Splitsville at Disney Springs and started at 8:30-11pm. We walked in the drizzling rain and arrived a little bit before it opened. The line to get in was really long. Once we finally got in, we found that lines for food were not long, however, there were no tables/seats left. We ended up getting some pizza and sliders but had to eat standing against the wall. They also had sushi but we never made it to that section. They had the bars open but we didn't end up getting alcohol, we had a coke to split between me and Brian. We were tired and crabby that there were no seats and it was really loud because they had music playing and people bowling. If we had got a seat or maybe arrived a bit later we would have had more fun, as it was we were just over it and headed out. We did get handed a swag bag on our way out.
I do wonder if they oversold it. When it originally went on 'sale' it was booked almost immediately and we weren't able to get tickets. One of our friends was on the DVC Alaskan cruise the week before, and hadn't read her email when it first showed up but checked a few days later and it was open again. So we all got tickets then. I wonder if the re-opening had been a glitch and it was oversold.
Either way, going to the Hulu After Party was a mistake. We were wet and tired when we got back to the hotel around 12:20 am. Should have just gone to bed early to prepare for the chaos of Marvel/Lucasfilm panel day.
Originally, Brian and I had decided if we didn't win a lottery reservation for Star Wars/Lucasfilm we weren't going to go. It just wasn't worth the stress and the early morning. However, we let ourselves get worked up about it and we were now going to give it a shot and see if we could get in.
To wrap up Expo Day 1, here is a picture of some of our swag. We got the D23 member print, that one is up top with Mickey (we picked that up when we were headed to Walt's Plane). We had our signed sketches from Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg. The signed Daniel Logan pic, Lorcana cards and a cool pack of retro post cards they were handing out at Walt's Plane.
Here was the Hulu party swag bag. We each got a tshirt and they were all XL, not sure what we'll do with ours as they are too big. Maybe sleep in them? Shoelaces, socks and a cookie that ended up tasting awful.
Our total step count for the day was 22,206 with 45 floors of stairs.
Up next is Expo Day 2.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Yeah I thought that could have been more interesting. I am really interested in the subject matter.
It is really cool to hear about everyone's experiences. Especially since there is no way anyone can do everything, there are so many different panels and pavilions and cosplays and things going on.
Lorcana is new. Disney is trying to start up a card game to compete with the likes of Magic the Gathering, though they've got a long way to go for that. Though obviously these cards seem very desirable judging by how much they're selling for on ebay.
Do you have pics of your watches to share? I'd like to see. Yeah the MOG selection helped me to save ALOT of money.
I didn't think we'd actually make the cut, but there we are. I got brave, or possibly stupid, and read some of the first youtube comments. Most people were commenting on the Moon Knight cosplay, which was really sweet. I stopped reading after a few because I'd get my feelings hurt if people wrote bad things about ours.
Geez, wish we'd got one of the free cards as well. I think Brian's sister was probably only allowed to get one of those since she was by herself.
Great report and the pics are outstanding!
Isn't it difficult to breathe???
Oh your humor is a source of continual delight to me.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Also just a quick recap of expectations versus reality on Day 1.
Going in this was our loose plan:
Friday
9 am
Enter and try for shopping pass
9:50 am line up Explorers and Adventurers 10:30-11:30 RESERVATION
12-1 pm Main Street Windows
1:30 am line up
2-3 Mark Henn/Eric Goldberg signing RESERVATION
line up for Disney movies? 3:30-5:30
Disney Family Museum 3-4 pm Andreas Deja meet
Walt's Plane 6-7 pm
Reality:
-Failed on the shop pass, but walked into MOG/Music Emporium/Lorcana Cards (shopped vicariously through a friend at the main expo marketplace)
-Society of Explorers and Adventurers
-Featured in the Marvel YouTube video
-Mark Henn/Eric Goldberg signing
-Daniel Logan signing
-Didn't have a chance at the Movies, we just didn't have enough time to line up and get our autographs with our lottery reservation. Our friend ended up making it by lining up at 12:25 right before the line was capped and she was one of the last loaded at about 10 minutes after the panel had started.
-Missed out on Andreas Deja by a handful of people
-Walt's Plane exhibit
-Walt's Plane panel
-Hulu After Party
So all in all this was one of our better days at the expo. We had the Deja disappointment and Main Street Windows hadn't been a must do for us, so not really that many misses. We had always figured the Movies panel was a long shot.
Going in this was our loose plan:
Friday
9 am
9:50 am line up Explorers and Adventurers 10:30-11:30 RESERVATION
1:30 am line up
2-3 Mark Henn/Eric Goldberg signing RESERVATION
Disney Family Museum 3-4 pm Andreas Deja meet
Walt's Plane 6-7 pm
Reality:
-Failed on the shop pass, but walked into MOG/Music Emporium/Lorcana Cards (shopped vicariously through a friend at the main expo marketplace)
-Society of Explorers and Adventurers
-Featured in the Marvel YouTube video
-Mark Henn/Eric Goldberg signing
-Daniel Logan signing
-Didn't have a chance at the Movies, we just didn't have enough time to line up and get our autographs with our lottery reservation. Our friend ended up making it by lining up at 12:25 right before the line was capped and she was one of the last loaded at about 10 minutes after the panel had started.
-Missed out on Andreas Deja by a handful of people
-Walt's Plane exhibit
-Walt's Plane panel
-Hulu After Party
So all in all this was one of our better days at the expo. We had the Deja disappointment and Main Street Windows hadn't been a must do for us, so not really that many misses. We had always figured the Movies panel was a long shot.
ashley0139
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
Yeah we did it on a whim but I'm glad we grabbed them. They were scanning badges so she probably could not have gotten multiple.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Hurricane Ian is closing in. So looks like I have nothing else better to do than to update this trip report until I lose power or internet....So here we go with Day 2.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Saturday: Expo Day 2
Fitbit Sleep Timer: 4 hours
Saturday Reservations:
Brian and I both ended up getting the same reservation this day, which was pretty annoying, especially since it conflicted with the Muppets panel: Strange World Filmmaker signing at the Disney/Pixar animation booth at 1-2 pm.
Here was the panel schedule for the day:
As evidenced by the big orange line bisecting the schedule, we had the special D23 Oogie Boogie Bash tickets for that night and planned to be in the parks around 3. The party started at 6-11 pm but you can get into DCA as early as 3 with your party ticket.
Here was our somewhat realistic/hopeful schedule:
Saturday
immediately line up for Star Wars/Marvel 10-12
if not, then 10-11 am Peek behind the curtain
12:20 pm line up for Muppets 1-2 pm
line up 12:30 pm for 1-2 Strange Worlds signing, give badges to Stephanie if we can
2 pm Deadpool creator Box Lunch signing Brian
3 pm Deadpool creator Box Lunch signing Rachel
show floor until leave for OBB around 2:30/3 pm
We were awake around 3 and tried to get ready quickly to get in line for Marvel/Lucasfilm. We headed out of our room, met up with Brian's sister and our other friend and got in the security line for the main entrance around 4:30. The line started moving a bit past 5 and to avoid a lot of unnecessary drama: a different security line opened before us. Turns out they only handed out a little over 200 standby wristbands and we never even had a chance.
As we trudged inside we passed a lot of people coming from inside who were just heading back to sleep since the standby was already capped. We figured we were awake and costumed up so we may as well get in the show floor line.
It was a pretty depressing wait, it's not great to get up that early in the morning and realize that so few standby passes had been handed out that you never had a realistic shot. Our original plan had been to not even try for any Hall D23 panels if we didn't win reservations. We should have stuck with that but got caught up in the excitement. In the past 2 expos we got into every Hall D23 panel that we wanted. Sometimes we woke up at 2 am or spent half the day waiting, but we always got in if we were willing to put in the time. So we were pretty disappointed that we didn't have a chance.
We all tried for shop passes, Stephanie ended up getting group 1 for the annex, but none of us really wanted anything from there anyway. Stephanie and our friend ended up peeking inside, realized nothing was even on display, it was just registers with lines of people who already knew what they wanted. So they turned around and left.
I didn't take many notes or pictures from this time, but we got moved upstairs to line up in front of the show room floor doors pretty early, maybe around 8 or 8:15. Brian and I got picked out of the crowd again by some D23 photographers to get filmed/photographed. We never did find those pictures so not sure if we made the cut or just couldn't find them. I was Scarlet Witch (along with a hundred other people) and Brian was Doctor Strange. We ran across a surprising amount of other Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange couples.
At almost exactly 9 they opened the doors and we all rushed the floor. We split up to go check out different booths. Our friend and I went to Target, since we knew they'd had a long line the day before. They were selling 3 exclusive plushes at the booth and they also handed out a coin to use at their gumball machines. Got a tiny pin, I guess there was a set and you could collect them but I was highly unimpressed and glad I hadn't waited to get into the booth. Already very grumbly that I was awake at 3 to have run to the Target booth for a tiny pin.
Next we went to Amazon which already had a short wait. Brian and Stephanie met back up with us here. We had about a twenty minute wait and took advantage of some of the photo opportunities inside. An employee saw my Scarlet Witch cosplay and handed me a FigPin set from WandaVision which was pretty nice.
Brian and I played the little memory card game and I won so I got a hat and he got a sticker. We waited in a short secondary line to spin the prize wheel. I was a little sad we didn't get to spin it ourselves.
3 of us ended up winning a Marvel funko pop game (I got the chaser edition) our friend got an artsy Donald funko, but she wanted the game so Brian traded her his game for the funko. I understood why the line for the Amazon booth was perpetually capped, they were giving out some legit good prizes.
After Amazon we split up and Brian and I went to check out the Parks booth.
We were able to walk right in. I like seeing all the miniatures of the attraction vehicles. I am really obsessed with a well done, unique attraction vehicle so these were great.
Fitbit Sleep Timer: 4 hours
Saturday Reservations:
Brian and I both ended up getting the same reservation this day, which was pretty annoying, especially since it conflicted with the Muppets panel: Strange World Filmmaker signing at the Disney/Pixar animation booth at 1-2 pm.
Here was the panel schedule for the day:
As evidenced by the big orange line bisecting the schedule, we had the special D23 Oogie Boogie Bash tickets for that night and planned to be in the parks around 3. The party started at 6-11 pm but you can get into DCA as early as 3 with your party ticket.
Here was our somewhat realistic/hopeful schedule:
Saturday
immediately line up for Star Wars/Marvel 10-12
if not, then 10-11 am Peek behind the curtain
12:20 pm line up for Muppets 1-2 pm
line up 12:30 pm for 1-2 Strange Worlds signing, give badges to Stephanie if we can
2 pm Deadpool creator Box Lunch signing Brian
3 pm Deadpool creator Box Lunch signing Rachel
show floor until leave for OBB around 2:30/3 pm
We were awake around 3 and tried to get ready quickly to get in line for Marvel/Lucasfilm. We headed out of our room, met up with Brian's sister and our other friend and got in the security line for the main entrance around 4:30. The line started moving a bit past 5 and to avoid a lot of unnecessary drama: a different security line opened before us. Turns out they only handed out a little over 200 standby wristbands and we never even had a chance.
As we trudged inside we passed a lot of people coming from inside who were just heading back to sleep since the standby was already capped. We figured we were awake and costumed up so we may as well get in the show floor line.
It was a pretty depressing wait, it's not great to get up that early in the morning and realize that so few standby passes had been handed out that you never had a realistic shot. Our original plan had been to not even try for any Hall D23 panels if we didn't win reservations. We should have stuck with that but got caught up in the excitement. In the past 2 expos we got into every Hall D23 panel that we wanted. Sometimes we woke up at 2 am or spent half the day waiting, but we always got in if we were willing to put in the time. So we were pretty disappointed that we didn't have a chance.
We all tried for shop passes, Stephanie ended up getting group 1 for the annex, but none of us really wanted anything from there anyway. Stephanie and our friend ended up peeking inside, realized nothing was even on display, it was just registers with lines of people who already knew what they wanted. So they turned around and left.
I didn't take many notes or pictures from this time, but we got moved upstairs to line up in front of the show room floor doors pretty early, maybe around 8 or 8:15. Brian and I got picked out of the crowd again by some D23 photographers to get filmed/photographed. We never did find those pictures so not sure if we made the cut or just couldn't find them. I was Scarlet Witch (along with a hundred other people) and Brian was Doctor Strange. We ran across a surprising amount of other Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange couples.
At almost exactly 9 they opened the doors and we all rushed the floor. We split up to go check out different booths. Our friend and I went to Target, since we knew they'd had a long line the day before. They were selling 3 exclusive plushes at the booth and they also handed out a coin to use at their gumball machines. Got a tiny pin, I guess there was a set and you could collect them but I was highly unimpressed and glad I hadn't waited to get into the booth. Already very grumbly that I was awake at 3 to have run to the Target booth for a tiny pin.
Next we went to Amazon which already had a short wait. Brian and Stephanie met back up with us here. We had about a twenty minute wait and took advantage of some of the photo opportunities inside. An employee saw my Scarlet Witch cosplay and handed me a FigPin set from WandaVision which was pretty nice.
Brian and I played the little memory card game and I won so I got a hat and he got a sticker. We waited in a short secondary line to spin the prize wheel. I was a little sad we didn't get to spin it ourselves.
3 of us ended up winning a Marvel funko pop game (I got the chaser edition) our friend got an artsy Donald funko, but she wanted the game so Brian traded her his game for the funko. I understood why the line for the Amazon booth was perpetually capped, they were giving out some legit good prizes.
After Amazon we split up and Brian and I went to check out the Parks booth.
We were able to walk right in. I like seeing all the miniatures of the attraction vehicles. I am really obsessed with a well done, unique attraction vehicle so these were great.
Last edited:
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Continuing with attraction vehicles from the previous post:
Saw the tail end of a little Muppets/puppet show:
Next up was the big room with the giant model of Splash Mountain. Tiana also randomly showed up on the balcony overlooking the space and that was cool.
Besides the cool model there weren't too many details of the actual attraction refurbishment.
Another model of DL's new ToonTown:
Chatted with an Imagineer for a few minutes about their exo skeleton type suit. This is the the tech they are using for the new Hulk meet and greet at DL.
At the very end was a display for the Wish. I love cross sectional diagrams like this. If my memory serves me right the art director for the Wish was just casually hanging out there. I think this booth had a lot of high up imagineers just hanging out all weekend.
Next up we discovered what I think was a hidden gem of the expo. The Marvel booth had several small talks each day. You didn't need a reservation, just walked up and everyone sat down on the carpet in the booth and listened. This one featured costume designers from Ms Marvel and She Hulk and I enjoyed the panel a lot.
At this point Brian ducked out and went back to the room to change, his Doctor Strange costume was bothering him a lot. It was 11:30 when the little panel was over, Brian was on his way back and we quickly grabbed some hot dogs from the same truck as yesterday and then at noon we met up with some very nice people from the DIS. I won't name them here in case they want to remain as our mysterious benefactors, but they had both won a Muppets reservation and very nicely offered Brian and I their plus ones. So we ate our hot dogs in line and had a very nice chat.
Saw the tail end of a little Muppets/puppet show:
Next up was the big room with the giant model of Splash Mountain. Tiana also randomly showed up on the balcony overlooking the space and that was cool.
Besides the cool model there weren't too many details of the actual attraction refurbishment.
Another model of DL's new ToonTown:
Chatted with an Imagineer for a few minutes about their exo skeleton type suit. This is the the tech they are using for the new Hulk meet and greet at DL.
At the very end was a display for the Wish. I love cross sectional diagrams like this. If my memory serves me right the art director for the Wish was just casually hanging out there. I think this booth had a lot of high up imagineers just hanging out all weekend.
Next up we discovered what I think was a hidden gem of the expo. The Marvel booth had several small talks each day. You didn't need a reservation, just walked up and everyone sat down on the carpet in the booth and listened. This one featured costume designers from Ms Marvel and She Hulk and I enjoyed the panel a lot.
At this point Brian ducked out and went back to the room to change, his Doctor Strange costume was bothering him a lot. It was 11:30 when the little panel was over, Brian was on his way back and we quickly grabbed some hot dogs from the same truck as yesterday and then at noon we met up with some very nice people from the DIS. I won't name them here in case they want to remain as our mysterious benefactors, but they had both won a Muppets reservation and very nicely offered Brian and I their plus ones. So we ate our hot dogs in line and had a very nice chat.
Last edited:
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
They started to seat for the panel around 12:45. We ended up getting really good seats in the last row of the front center section. I was immediately blown away from the moment we walked in. Look how awesome that stage is!!!
I was very happy with how gigantic this room was. I really hope all the standby people got in, because I know this was my number one panel and I think it was a lot of other people's number one as well. There actually ended up being empty seats in the back section just because of how huge the room was, so I really do hope everyone got in and they didn't cut the line for time purposes.
The panel ended up starting about 10 minutes late but it was worth it.
Gonzo got us started, which was only fitting since he was the narrator of the movie. While he started off, he quickly introduced Nina West as the panel host.
Shortly thereafter Kermit joined:
And of course Miss Piggy wasn't far behind:
And even little Robin who played Tiny Tim:
There was some nice banter between Nina and Miss Piggy, then the Muppets exited and the rest of the panelists came out. We had, from left to right: Paul Williams (he is a songwriter and did all the song lyrics for the Muppet Christmas Carol, and he also wrote Rainbow Connection), Brian Henson (director and son of recently passed Jim Henson), Polly Smith (costume designer) and Dave Goelz (Gonzo and many others).
Just so many interesting things and nice discussions and behind the scenes tidbits. If you are a fan of the movie I highly recommend looking on youtube for a copy of the entire panel. It was just so, so good.
As a surprise, Jodi Benson of Ariel fame came out and sang 'When Love is Gone'. Which was, of course, amazing! Also highly recommend youtubing this.
There is the link for Brian's non-monetized version, if anyone wants to take a look.
Of course, they saved the best for last. At the end of the panel they did a medley of all the songs from the movie. You MUST also youtube this, it was so amazing. And tons of surprises like the vegetables and the penguins popping up throughout the medley.
This panel really lived up to my hopes. It is probably in my top 3 expo panels of all time (just for comparison sake, also in the top 2 is a panel where Richard Sherman played the piano and sang 'Feed the Birds'). If my benefactors are reading this trip report, thank you again for the invite!!!!
This was definitely a highlight of the expo. We came out of it very happy and excited and met up with some friends who were waiting for us in the hall.
I was very happy with how gigantic this room was. I really hope all the standby people got in, because I know this was my number one panel and I think it was a lot of other people's number one as well. There actually ended up being empty seats in the back section just because of how huge the room was, so I really do hope everyone got in and they didn't cut the line for time purposes.
The panel ended up starting about 10 minutes late but it was worth it.
Gonzo got us started, which was only fitting since he was the narrator of the movie. While he started off, he quickly introduced Nina West as the panel host.
Shortly thereafter Kermit joined:
And of course Miss Piggy wasn't far behind:
And even little Robin who played Tiny Tim:
There was some nice banter between Nina and Miss Piggy, then the Muppets exited and the rest of the panelists came out. We had, from left to right: Paul Williams (he is a songwriter and did all the song lyrics for the Muppet Christmas Carol, and he also wrote Rainbow Connection), Brian Henson (director and son of recently passed Jim Henson), Polly Smith (costume designer) and Dave Goelz (Gonzo and many others).
Just so many interesting things and nice discussions and behind the scenes tidbits. If you are a fan of the movie I highly recommend looking on youtube for a copy of the entire panel. It was just so, so good.
As a surprise, Jodi Benson of Ariel fame came out and sang 'When Love is Gone'. Which was, of course, amazing! Also highly recommend youtubing this.
Of course, they saved the best for last. At the end of the panel they did a medley of all the songs from the movie. You MUST also youtube this, it was so amazing. And tons of surprises like the vegetables and the penguins popping up throughout the medley.
This panel really lived up to my hopes. It is probably in my top 3 expo panels of all time (just for comparison sake, also in the top 2 is a panel where Richard Sherman played the piano and sang 'Feed the Birds'). If my benefactors are reading this trip report, thank you again for the invite!!!!
This was definitely a highlight of the expo. We came out of it very happy and excited and met up with some friends who were waiting for us in the hall.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
We started telling our friends about the panel and were headed to the expo floor. As we were walking my head quickly swiveled. I think subconsciously I'd seen the earing. It was Joe Rohde! Just casually talking to some people in the expo main hallway.
I was not going to NOT say hello, so I waited off to the side until the was done chatting with some other fans and swooped in and asked for a quick picture.
You can tell I am delighted.
We didn't really have all that much time until we'd wanted to head out for Oogie Boogie, but Brian and I did get Box Lunch reservations to meet the Deadpool comic creator.
Along the way we stopped to get a picture with the Hulk Smash hand. I'm not sure who the photo op was affiliated with but it was set up to be like part of the Avenger Con show floor from Ms Marvel's first episode. They even handed out these sweet Avenger Con lanyards:
Brian, who is not pictured, had ducked around the corner to the Marvel pavilion and realized that the star of Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani, was actually at the Marvel booth and took part in one of their small panels. She was extremely excited and cute and just having the time of her life.
After that sighting, we quickly got our Rob Liefeld, Deadpool creator's, signature at the Box Lunch booth. We did have a reservation but they were letting anyone walk up.
It was 3:15 and we wanted to get headed to Oogie Boogie Bash, so we quickly went back to the hotel and got ready for the party.
Typically, I like to attend all days and all parts of every day at conventions. However, we were disappointed in our reservations and the fact that we hadn't got any for the major Hall D23 panels, so we had been planning on skipping out of the second part of Saturday for a while. We were all very excited for Halloween at DL, none of us had ever been there before for it. We had high hopes for the party and were very excited to go. Otherwise, we definitely would not have left the expo at 3 on Saturday.
I'm not 100% sure but I think we arrived at DCA around 4 for the party. First order of business was food, followed by checking Avengers Campus for characters.
None of the characters were on the ground but we did spot Loki and Black Panther up high. I wonder what they chat about.
Since Brian wasn't in costume anymore, our friend (Sylvie from the Loki TV show and I), had a little photo shoot. Loki decided to make an appearance in the background.
We ended up grabbing some food from Lucky Fortune Cookery. I booked it to the Pier area to see if a line was forming for Kingdom Hearts and everyone brought the food over and we all took turns eating on benches near where the characters meet.
I was not going to NOT say hello, so I waited off to the side until the was done chatting with some other fans and swooped in and asked for a quick picture.
You can tell I am delighted.
We didn't really have all that much time until we'd wanted to head out for Oogie Boogie, but Brian and I did get Box Lunch reservations to meet the Deadpool comic creator.
Along the way we stopped to get a picture with the Hulk Smash hand. I'm not sure who the photo op was affiliated with but it was set up to be like part of the Avenger Con show floor from Ms Marvel's first episode. They even handed out these sweet Avenger Con lanyards:
Brian, who is not pictured, had ducked around the corner to the Marvel pavilion and realized that the star of Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani, was actually at the Marvel booth and took part in one of their small panels. She was extremely excited and cute and just having the time of her life.
After that sighting, we quickly got our Rob Liefeld, Deadpool creator's, signature at the Box Lunch booth. We did have a reservation but they were letting anyone walk up.
It was 3:15 and we wanted to get headed to Oogie Boogie Bash, so we quickly went back to the hotel and got ready for the party.
Typically, I like to attend all days and all parts of every day at conventions. However, we were disappointed in our reservations and the fact that we hadn't got any for the major Hall D23 panels, so we had been planning on skipping out of the second part of Saturday for a while. We were all very excited for Halloween at DL, none of us had ever been there before for it. We had high hopes for the party and were very excited to go. Otherwise, we definitely would not have left the expo at 3 on Saturday.
I'm not 100% sure but I think we arrived at DCA around 4 for the party. First order of business was food, followed by checking Avengers Campus for characters.
None of the characters were on the ground but we did spot Loki and Black Panther up high. I wonder what they chat about.
Since Brian wasn't in costume anymore, our friend (Sylvie from the Loki TV show and I), had a little photo shoot. Loki decided to make an appearance in the background.
We ended up grabbing some food from Lucky Fortune Cookery. I booked it to the Pier area to see if a line was forming for Kingdom Hearts and everyone brought the food over and we all took turns eating on benches near where the characters meet.
Last edited:
Duckbug.Ducktales
Listening to the music to Fantasmic!
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2020
How cool you met Joe Rohde!
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
At almost exactly 5 on the nose the Kingdom Hearts backdrop was wheeled out and a line formed. We were roughly the 5th group.
We were warned by a CM that the characters might be starting late. I still am not sure if they regularly don't start until 6:30 or if usually it's 6 at party start. When the party started at 6 we took turns trick or treating at Dr Facilier's trail. Sadly, he was not there yet and we never did see him that night.
Long story short, they didn't end up starting until 6:40. And we were told Donald would not be showing tonight. Which was pretty sad since he is my favorite. Usually you get some combination (not all 3) of Donald, Mickey and Goofy in their Kingdom Hearts attire.
We ended up with Goofy.
Next up was Ernesto de la Cruz's trail. The line only took about ten minutes. But first, we saw a DL cat! One of our friends is a DL cat aficionado and had never seen this one or knew of it's name, so we called him Ernesto de la Cat.
After Ernesto de la Cat's performance it was time for Ernesto's. We got a crazy eyed selfie:
And took a million pictures (only pictured: 2 out of a million).
Due to our late party start because of the Kingdom Hearts characters late start, it was around 7:10 at this time. Since we were nearby we headed to the Buena Vista Street area to check on characters there. The Blue Fairy's line was already capped and she wasn't even out yet. We did see Ping meeting and were able to jump in her (his?) line and had a 10 minute wait.
It was roughly 7:30 and we made our first party mistake. We saw a curb spot near the end of the street for the parade and decided to grab it. I had originally intended to watch close to the start of the parade. We ended up having to wait half an hour for the headless horseman and in total 50 minutes until the parade started. I really wish we hadn't spent that much time waiting for the parade.
Besides that misstep, I was heavily comparing this parade to MNSSHP Boo to You.
Even though the horseman rides at a trot at WDW, and this one walks, I think I liked this one better. Having Ichabod and the townspeople walk out front really added a lot.
And finally, after starting at 7:45, at 8:20 the parade reached us.
We were warned by a CM that the characters might be starting late. I still am not sure if they regularly don't start until 6:30 or if usually it's 6 at party start. When the party started at 6 we took turns trick or treating at Dr Facilier's trail. Sadly, he was not there yet and we never did see him that night.
Long story short, they didn't end up starting until 6:40. And we were told Donald would not be showing tonight. Which was pretty sad since he is my favorite. Usually you get some combination (not all 3) of Donald, Mickey and Goofy in their Kingdom Hearts attire.
We ended up with Goofy.
Next up was Ernesto de la Cruz's trail. The line only took about ten minutes. But first, we saw a DL cat! One of our friends is a DL cat aficionado and had never seen this one or knew of it's name, so we called him Ernesto de la Cat.
After Ernesto de la Cat's performance it was time for Ernesto's. We got a crazy eyed selfie:
And took a million pictures (only pictured: 2 out of a million).
Due to our late party start because of the Kingdom Hearts characters late start, it was around 7:10 at this time. Since we were nearby we headed to the Buena Vista Street area to check on characters there. The Blue Fairy's line was already capped and she wasn't even out yet. We did see Ping meeting and were able to jump in her (his?) line and had a 10 minute wait.
It was roughly 7:30 and we made our first party mistake. We saw a curb spot near the end of the street for the parade and decided to grab it. I had originally intended to watch close to the start of the parade. We ended up having to wait half an hour for the headless horseman and in total 50 minutes until the parade started. I really wish we hadn't spent that much time waiting for the parade.
Besides that misstep, I was heavily comparing this parade to MNSSHP Boo to You.
Even though the horseman rides at a trot at WDW, and this one walks, I think I liked this one better. Having Ichabod and the townspeople walk out front really added a lot.
And finally, after starting at 7:45, at 8:20 the parade reached us.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Overall I thought the parade was fun, though it seemed a bit empty. Thought it could have used some more in between float dancers or characters. I did like Boo to You better, though this one is still fun. I also really like the song, as you could all tell from my TR title.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
The clock was ticking so we headed to Cruella's treat trail and spent some time watching her.
Next up we took the short walk to Madame Mim's trail.
We saw that Thor and Loki were meeting but sadly their line was closed. Would have loved to meet Loki what with our Sylvie in the group.
Next up was Agatha's treat trail. She did notice my Scarlet Witch but was off on a tangent about Sparky.
We got into a line to meet Black Widow, but not a minute after we did she left and they dispersed the line. We decided to wait around for a few minutes and see who came out next. Zombie Cap was supposed to be a D23 Oogie Boogie Bash exclusive but we hadn't seem him come out yet.
Sure enough, around 9:10 his spooky music started and he came out. This was a pretty scary situation, and not just because there was a zombie Captain America on the scene. A crazy mob of people sprinted and pushed to get into his line. Myself and one of our friends were caught up in it and there was really nothing to be done except to move with the crowd. We ended up about 5 people apart from each other smooshed up against the wall and in line. Which I guess turned out ok? But was still scary. Two of our friends noped out of the whole thing and went to Villain's Grove. Brian ended up joining me when it came time for my picture. The CMs were really preparing and rushing everybody and trying to get a lot of people through. Only ended up waiting about ten minutes.
We were happy to have met Zombie Cap, but headed off for more friendly characters in Radiator Springs while Brian swapped out a fuel rod.
There was only one group ahead of me so I met Pirate Cruz Ramirez. I never did get to meet Lightning and Mater in their costumes, though I did see them from afar.
It was 9:40 and high time to get to Villain's Grove. On the way, I loved this bear with his pumpkin:
Next up we took the short walk to Madame Mim's trail.
We saw that Thor and Loki were meeting but sadly their line was closed. Would have loved to meet Loki what with our Sylvie in the group.
Next up was Agatha's treat trail. She did notice my Scarlet Witch but was off on a tangent about Sparky.
We got into a line to meet Black Widow, but not a minute after we did she left and they dispersed the line. We decided to wait around for a few minutes and see who came out next. Zombie Cap was supposed to be a D23 Oogie Boogie Bash exclusive but we hadn't seem him come out yet.
Sure enough, around 9:10 his spooky music started and he came out. This was a pretty scary situation, and not just because there was a zombie Captain America on the scene. A crazy mob of people sprinted and pushed to get into his line. Myself and one of our friends were caught up in it and there was really nothing to be done except to move with the crowd. We ended up about 5 people apart from each other smooshed up against the wall and in line. Which I guess turned out ok? But was still scary. Two of our friends noped out of the whole thing and went to Villain's Grove. Brian ended up joining me when it came time for my picture. The CMs were really preparing and rushing everybody and trying to get a lot of people through. Only ended up waiting about ten minutes.
We were happy to have met Zombie Cap, but headed off for more friendly characters in Radiator Springs while Brian swapped out a fuel rod.
There was only one group ahead of me so I met Pirate Cruz Ramirez. I never did get to meet Lightning and Mater in their costumes, though I did see them from afar.
It was 9:40 and high time to get to Villain's Grove. On the way, I loved this bear with his pumpkin:
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
The line for Villain's Grove seemed really long but only took 20 minutes.
This place was really cool and MK in WDW needs something like it for MNSSHP parties stat. I'm thinking Tom Sawyer's island is the best area, can even do some sort of theme for the ferry and have a CM dressed as a ghost or skeleton ferry you across.
There were distinct areas themed after different villains, but the whole thing was very difficult to photograph because it was such low light. But still an awesome sensory experience.
This place was really cool and MK in WDW needs something like it for MNSSHP parties stat. I'm thinking Tom Sawyer's island is the best area, can even do some sort of theme for the ferry and have a CM dressed as a ghost or skeleton ferry you across.
There were distinct areas themed after different villains, but the whole thing was very difficult to photograph because it was such low light. But still an awesome sensory experience.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
All too soon we were at the end. We spent about 15 minutes, though it's all free wandering and you can spend as much or as little time as you want exploring.
After that we walked up to Maleficent's treat trail. She was very entertaining to watch and was roasting a couple about true love.
It was 10:30 at this point and we were quickly running out of party time and still had lots we needed to do. We walked up to Mother Gothel's treat trail and listened to her for a bit.
We wanted to make one last visit to Avengers Campus to see which characters were out. We got caught behind the second parade and followed it. I was very excited when we arrived and Scarlet Witch was meeting. We were one of the last groups let in her line and met her with 5 minutes of party time to spare. As you can see I was footwear casual Scarlet Witch. Boots went into the bag sometime before the Villain's Grove.
There were two minutes left in the party so we were the last party in the photopass line at the Avengers Campus A for the night.
All in all, it had been a very successful night besides the long wait for Kingdom Hearts and the misstep with the parade location. Besides the parade and the lack of fireworks, I enjoyed Oogie Boogie Bash much more than MNSSHP. The candy selection was better, the characters were better, I absolutely loved the treat trails. I am really into meeting the characters so I thought I might not like those, but we either got to interact with the characters or watch them interact with others and it was great. I wish it had been open to midnight because my biggest regret is that we didn't get to meet more characters. We're already planning on going back to DL next year so we can attend more parties.
Our must dos were: parade, villain's grove, all the treat trails and to meet as many characters as we could.
What we actually accomplished was:
Parade, Villain's Grove, all the treat trails save Facilier (we did his trail, he just wasn't there) Sid and Oogie Boogie.
Characters: Kingdom Hearts Goofy, Ping, Zombie Cap, Scarlet Witch, Cruz Ramirez
I would have really liked to meet Bruno but his line was very long all night. We weren't worried about the Sanderson sisters because we're doing a Disney Halloween cruise and they meet on there.
To be honest I'm still not entirely sure what all characters were out. I would have liked to meet the Blue Fairy and Merlin, but we just didn't have the time.
We did take some pictures of our candy haul after the fact. There were a few things that had to be refrigerated and we ate them during the rest of our stay:
The bags they handed out:
They also handed out this cool textured poster on our way out of the
After that we walked up to Maleficent's treat trail. She was very entertaining to watch and was roasting a couple about true love.
It was 10:30 at this point and we were quickly running out of party time and still had lots we needed to do. We walked up to Mother Gothel's treat trail and listened to her for a bit.
We wanted to make one last visit to Avengers Campus to see which characters were out. We got caught behind the second parade and followed it. I was very excited when we arrived and Scarlet Witch was meeting. We were one of the last groups let in her line and met her with 5 minutes of party time to spare. As you can see I was footwear casual Scarlet Witch. Boots went into the bag sometime before the Villain's Grove.
There were two minutes left in the party so we were the last party in the photopass line at the Avengers Campus A for the night.
All in all, it had been a very successful night besides the long wait for Kingdom Hearts and the misstep with the parade location. Besides the parade and the lack of fireworks, I enjoyed Oogie Boogie Bash much more than MNSSHP. The candy selection was better, the characters were better, I absolutely loved the treat trails. I am really into meeting the characters so I thought I might not like those, but we either got to interact with the characters or watch them interact with others and it was great. I wish it had been open to midnight because my biggest regret is that we didn't get to meet more characters. We're already planning on going back to DL next year so we can attend more parties.
Our must dos were: parade, villain's grove, all the treat trails and to meet as many characters as we could.
What we actually accomplished was:
Parade, Villain's Grove, all the treat trails save Facilier (we did his trail, he just wasn't there) Sid and Oogie Boogie.
Characters: Kingdom Hearts Goofy, Ping, Zombie Cap, Scarlet Witch, Cruz Ramirez
I would have really liked to meet Bruno but his line was very long all night. We weren't worried about the Sanderson sisters because we're doing a Disney Halloween cruise and they meet on there.
To be honest I'm still not entirely sure what all characters were out. I would have liked to meet the Blue Fairy and Merlin, but we just didn't have the time.
We did take some pictures of our candy haul after the fact. There were a few things that had to be refrigerated and we ate them during the rest of our stay:
The bags they handed out:
They also handed out this cool textured poster on our way out of the
Last edited:
MaleficentMe
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2021
Wow! That Ernesto is amazing! Thanks for the great report. Making me very sad I had to cancel my Oct 27-30 trip! One of these days I'll fork out the $$ to do an after hours event!
Share this page
-
See the 'Pixar Pals Playtime Party' Celebration at Disneyland
-
Together Forever - A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular Pixar Fest 2024 Fireworks
-
New Behind-the-Scenes Experience Coming to Cirque du Soleil at Disney Springs
-
Talking Dug from 'Up' to Greet Guests During Pixar Fest
-
New! Disney World Logo Merch Including Bags With a Spot To Hold Your Ears
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
