D23 Expo

An amazing expo experience for Disney fans! My first D23 was 2015 and I’d want to come back in 2017! I came on Saturday and there was definitely not enough time to see all that the expo had to offer. There were panels, exclusive shopping booths and sneak peeks for movies and theme parks, exhibitor booths, and cosplay/​photo-​ops galore!
Even though I was there from 12 – 7 PM, I probably only saw 25% or less of what the expo had to offer. There were lines galore and certain passes (storepass) ran out quickly. If I had to redo my experience — I would grab one of the more exclusive showpasses and storepass to the main Disney store, and also check out more of the exhibits. There were small amounts of free swag — Inside out pins, pens, etc. The food options were also not that great, with lots of lines for food trucks outside and mediocre carts inside.
Until 2017, I’ll be brainstorming what costume I’ll be wearing!

This was our first time attending D23 and it was wonderful. My one regret is that I only bought tickets for 1 day rather than 2. We got there around 10 AM Saturday and walked right in… no line. The only lines we stood in was for the Stage Passes, pictures with celebrities and food. Other than that we were able to see the entire convention.
I wish they had the convention more often rather than every two years. Perhaps that would reduce the tickets prices as this was rather costly for a family of 3. Other than that I will be back in 2017.

This is the ultimate Disney Fan event. The only place you can see first hand what Disney has in store for the next upcoming years.
I’ve been to many expos so I had high expectations for this one. Before I got in, I honestly thought it would be the size of NAMM (which takes up the WHOLE convention center + auditorium). Turns out the expo was probably only ¼ the size of what I thought it would be.
Lines. Lines. Lines. That’s all I could see everywhere. I felt like half my day was wasted being in line. The star wars badge took around 2 hours alone…
There’s a good amount of panels, make sure to try to go to at least 1 when you are there!
I would have LOVED to get a Luxo ball, I would have also loved to get those limited edition tsum tsums. Only those lucky people got it. I hope y’all are happy!
I may or may not come back in 2 years. It was cool; I did like it. BUT the only problem was the LINES.

This was one of the best experiences of my life! I even got to hear Randy Newman sing «You got a friend in me» apart from John Lasseter killing it with his presentations. Tickets sell out so plan in advanced! Think Comicon to the 1,000^th power of all things Disney and little StarWars/​Avengers on the side. Even got to see a Disney Shanghai Exhibit/​Old Disneyland props/​rides etc. If you love all things Disney then consider this one of the most educational experiences and places to spread Disney magic and love. Did I mention I got to meet Wall-​E too?

First time at this expo and it was just sooo much fun! If you’re into Disney in any capacity, come here with some cash and get some exclusives! You can come dressed up or just normal. It’s like Comic-​Con for DISNEY geeks with tons of news and releases, special editions and fun little things like getting your nails and hair done, personalized coca cola bottles, star wars stuff, a peek into Shanghai Disney… Just TONS of fun!

Going to d23 is like going to disneyland.
Pricey parking, lines, lines, and can I say more lines?
I had no idea what to expect since it was my first year going. My friend told me about people lining up super early in the morning at night but I wasn’t gonna get up for that.
We got there around 10ish and the line was bananas. There were people who lined up from 7am still trying to get in. We lined up for about an hour or more to get into the convention.
Inside the exhibit hall there were more lines the line for the Disney Store was three hours holy — — - -. Let alone they were out of tsum tsums at that time already. It was pretty ridiculous. We only managed to get tickets which they call stage passes that you have to line up to get. The only one panel we got into was toy Story which was kind of boring to me.
Only disney employee get an affordable price for tickets because I wouldn’t pay 70 dollars for a day full of lines.
It was that cool that they had the coke machine though, selfie with Muppets, and disneyland snacks

D23 expo this year was a huge disappointment! This was our third expo and the previous ones were amazing and better organized. Heard constant complaints at this one and really didn’t see much. Hours of standing in lines to do anything and honestly wasn’t worth it.
The only great thing was the Legends show which was amazing but the rest a true disappointment and we won’t be attending any in the future because of how disorganized it was and the lines were far too long. Spent 3 hours in line just to shop at the Disney Store.

Everything under the Disney umbrella that you could possibly want and love. Sneak peeks to future development as well as movies, actual props, new merchandise that will be released to the Disney Stores, D23 exclusive items that the public has no access to. YES!
As much as I am all in and sporting a hidden Mickey on my sleeve, the event has a few items to note for the beginner Disneyphile. If you do not have a panel that you are in need to see, that would be the best time for you to go shopping. 2015 offered for the first time shopping fast passes which went very quickly but were thankfully given out each day for an allowed time period. I thought it was a great idea… but that being said, if you showed up late and missed out, don’t cry over spilled milk.
I love the vendor booths (and occasional free swag!) as well as the art contest that had the entries posted in one of the walls close to the Dream Store. I always enjoy the different spin on the classics and appreciate each artist’s interpretation. It’s very fun and a great vibe! There were also a lot of retail stores that I did not realize had a collaboration with Disney, such as Uniqlo. I’m in love with the infant /​toddler Mickey Vans too! The line was insane but they sell them in the mall too, so it’s on my shopping list. :) If there is anything that you really want, I would suggest getting it on the first day instead of waiting and «getting it later.» I missed out on my vinyl and sorcerer Mickey tsumtsum. Bummer.
p. s. If you are claustrophobic, be warned. There were a lot of random pockets in the expo that I felt a sardine going up stream. Be sure to also wear comfy shoes, it’s mostly walking on cement all day! :(

I had a great time this year. It was my first time going. The only problem I had was the setup of the lines. It was very confusing walking in certain areas. I didn’t get enough free posters like everyone else did. No one even checked my bag.
Pros: I got inside very quickly. I didn’t have to wait too long
Lots of displays to look at
Easy access to restrooms and food vendors
Parking was easy
Got cool Roger rabbit merchandise.
Cons: No one controlling the lines or not knowing enough information about where to buy merchandise. I went to the celebrity section. They kept telling me I needed a ticket. Can someone explain to me why I needed a separate ticket to see the celebrities? Wonder– con did not care if I went up to each celebrity and said hello. No one could give me an answer.

D23 is a relatively new expo on the scene put on by Disney with the first one held 2009. It alternates years now with Destination D which is held in off years in Florida at Disneyworld. The structure of Destination D is a little different than D23, but that’s for another review. I am a charter member and a gold member so I am writing this based on my experience at the past four D23 Expos as my husband and I have attended all of them.
The biggest differences from the first expo to now are (1) it is WAY more crowded and popular, and (2) it’s become almost a mini comic-​con to me at this point with Marvel and Star Wars being a big draw especially at this year’s con. The lack of organization during the 2009 inaugural con was irritating, but because D23 wasn’t as hugely popular it didn’t make a giant difference then. Unfortunately, despite some effort, the lack of organization appears to have continued to the current expo along with thousands of more attendees. A lot of the problems are the same (ex. lack of communication to team members who are directly dealing with attendees), which leads a lot of us I think to question, why they haven’t been improved over the last 4 expos. Here’s hoping for 2017 as Disney has asked several members for direct feedback AGAIN. #brokenrecord
What you need to know to attend the con and not lose your mind:
(1) Expect to not do more than 1 – 2 big things (like shopping in one of the three big stores — Dream Store, Disney Store, and Mickeys of Glendale or attending a panel) and expect to stand in huge, long (at least 2 – 3 hours on average) line for each of those things PER DAY. Don’t think you are going to be able to hit several big ticket things — pick your top 2 and plan around those. For example, at this expo we wanted to attend the Parks Panel and we planned our day around that — we ended up sitting/​standing in line for about 4 hours. Yup.
(2) D23 started a new policy this year for morning panels — they opened up Hall E in the convention center the NIGHT BEFORE and allowed people to SLEEP there overnight in order to be one of the first in line for the panel. Saturday morning was the live action panel and therefore hundreds of people actually took advantage of this. The line for the 10:30 live action panel was closed by 5 am per cast member report. Don’t plan to attend the morning panels unless you are taking advantage of the overnight policy and/​or getting in line around 4 am when the parking lots open.
(3) Stagepass and Storepass on its face was a good idea — what it turned into is not. Even though these passes can guarantee you admission to either a particular panel or store, you end up doing time in line just as if you had stood in line for the actual venue. If you want a pass for either, you can end up waiting in lines up to 1 – 2 hours long anyway. We wanted an afternoon stagepass and got in line at 11:30 just to make sure we had a pass which was starting distribution at 12:30 — we got to the front and got the pass around 1 pm and by that point, the line had tripled in size. We also still got in the Stagepass line for our panel about 30 minutes prior to the panel and it seemed like everyone who had a storepass had the same idea so again, we still waited for a good amount of time in line.
(4) Hit the emporium areas — that’s where the dealers are and that is where you will find the merchandise. If you are a true Disney fan, you will appreciate walking around these areas and just seeing the history. We collect historical Disney items and this is where we spent a lot of time Sunday. It was too much of a hassle to try and get into the «official» Disney stores most of the weekend. On the same note, some of the walk through booths were pretty fun and at random times, they would hand out some free stuff.
(5) Disney does lines better than a lot of people, but the lines at Expo are just ridiculous. Just know that they are long and frustrating.
(6) If you do plan to attend the con one year, I would seriously debate just joining D23 for that year to get the gold member entrance time. Members were let in at 9 am and general admission at 10 am theoretically. What happened though was that member started to line up extremely early on both days and thus the general admission line wasn’t let in probably until close to 11 am. That line was long and in the sun — I heard more than one person complain and one woman even said she got a sunburn just from standing in the sun in that line!
I’m sure there’s other things I could mentioned, but just know that overall, D23 cons seem to have gone downhill since the inception. Whether that’s a function of more people attending or the continued lack of organization and communication, or both — D23 can be a frustrating con but for a true Disney fan, it’s really one of those events that you can’t miss.

I’m torn as a Disney fan to give 3 stars to this event. I could go 4 but the lines… the lines… Let’s see how I feel as I write this entry if it bumps up to a 4.
As a D23 Gold Charter Member, I have only really used my membership to get into the first Fanniversary event in SF & saw Mary Poppins in Anaheim w/​Dick Van Dyke (which was amazing!). So I had no intentions of paying for D23 Expo or heading down for three days to Anaheim until I got an email about The Goofy Movie reunion. If you know me well, The Goofy Movie is my favorite Disney movie. The Goofy Movie is one of the most underrated Disney movies ever. It has great music and the story is just so a-​typical of Goofy. So that was it. It sealed the deal. I was off to see the panel & just in the nick of time as it was the last day before prices would go up for the event. Pricing generally is cheaper much earlier on and being a D23 member you do get cheaper tickets. So I got the second tier of cheaper tickets which was $ 171 for three days. We ended up staying at the Clarion near the convention center which was very convenient.
How was the event? Well I was with my other gal pals who attend this every time so I was in the know. They basically gave me the low down of needing to arrive 3 hours earlier otherwise you’re basically not going to go into any of the Hall D23 events. For Friday, we lined up at 6am in Hall E & waited… good thing my friend brought Phase 10 to play & we made friends in line. Well we were then ushered into the event maybe 30 minutes before hand and got to see the newly inducted Legends. Highlights were seeing Susan Lucci, George Lucas, & of course Johnny Depp who had no clue why he was there. We then rushed to the next event and lined up which was basically the same routine for the next couple days.
The next session was about Disney Animation & John Lasseter was presenting. It was great to see the next upcoming animation especially Moana where Te Vaka performed. Made me want to take up Tahitian again. Only downside was this event went over by almost an hour & I had to make the decision of leaving or missing out on Goofy… I wasn’t going to miss out on The Goofy Movie. I dashed out & got to the panel in time. Let me just say… I peaked at this moment. Seeing Jason Marsden (voice of Max), Rob Paulsen (voice of PJ and MANY others ie Pinky from Pinky and the Brain), Jim Cummings (voice of Pete and Pooh, Tigger *sigh*), Jenna von Oy (voice of Stacey), and of course Bill Farmer (voice of Goofy), was just… awesome. They talked about the movie, they spoke in their voices, they reminisced with us all and what happened at the end? A POWERLINE CONCERT! Yes folks, Powerline himself, Tevin Campbell, came out to perform the theme song Eye 2 Eye. That was it. I melted and just like Roxanne… eyes wide and glowing.
Aside from the panels which you have three different stages to view them also you can get Stage Passes which are Fast Passes to events (which was waiting in lines again to hopefully get them), there were various events on the Stage Floor from photo ops with cast members of ABC Family, Disney Channel, and ABC Shows, autographs from various artists and directors, and singing on the center stage. Again very hard to get into any of these events as well as folks would line up very early and folks would give out wrist bands and then close off lines then all of a sudden they’d magically open the line after they said they wouldn’t open it again. That was one aspect I did NOT appreciate. Both with lines and stage passes. We spent a lot of time waiting in Stand By lines due to staff telling us one thing and then doing something else. It caused us to miss more of the events as well as missing them due to events starting late or ending late. Sometimes it made me think about maybe buying Sorcerer tickets ($ 2k) just so that I didn’t have to stand in these lines.
Besides that, it was really great to see all the cosplayers, Disneybounders, & just being surrounded by folks who really love Disney. But if you do go to this event here are some tips:
— Go in a group. You’ll need them to hold places in lines.
— Friday is a good day to go as it’s not as crowded
— Saturday is VERY crowded & sold out first. If you want to get into the Hall D23 sessions make sure to go 3 – 4 hours early or 5 hours, get a wristband.
— Sunday is a good day to hit the main floor as the sessions were not as interesting, but…
— Make sure if you want to see stars, Hall D23 basically will bring out special guests so I skipped Sunday sessions but now wish I had gone to the Frozen Fandemonium to see Kristen Bell and Josh Gad.
— Read all the events and plan. If you don’t you’ll definitely miss out.
— Always have a back up plan.
— If you’re a charter member, the lounge has free coffee, tea, and popcorn!
— Bring snacks, food, water, games, etc. as you’ll have time to do things in line.
— Just have fun! Enjoy your days and dress up!
I may go again, pending what’s on the schedule.

I think I had more fun at home reading about the D23 Expo online than I did in person.
The line (s) to get into the expo were confusing, chaotic, and, easily, the the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen all year. It made no sense and there were very few workers around to make sense of it.
Once inside, there was many things to see. Pixar had a great booth as did the one about Shanghai Disneyland. There were of course more lines for the stores at the D23 Expo and those lines were incredibly long.
I was hoping to see some of the panels but it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to happen. People were lined up for some panels the night before.
It really seemed that you either needed to take a lazy approach or be there the night before camped out to really have a great time at the D23 Expo.

First year going and I was so disappointed, pointless lines every and there isn’t a sign saying what line is what, everything was so unorganized it seemed like there were more stores to spend more money then there were things to look at. I would not go back because how unorganized it was, the car shows are way better and seem to know what they are doing more then Disney a multi billion dollar company.

Let me preface this review by saying the young people we spoke with all loved attending the 2015 D23 Expo. It is very much geared towards those who don’t think twice about camping out overnight for Black Friday deals. We heard numerous stories of gleeful millennials who spent the night on the convention center floor only to face more hours waiting to get into the convention center followed by waiting even more hours to get into a presentation or a store to purchase a limited edition item. The D23 Expo is geared exclusively to this crowd. If you’re not cut from this cloth pay yourself the greatest favor of your life and do not attend.
The *only* other option to spending a weekend standing in line is the $ 2000 Sorcerer’s ticket which sell out within seconds of going on sale online months before the expo opens.
So now onto our experience as 40 and 50 something’s who would only camp out at a state park. The best analogy I can think is if you ever wondered what it would be like if Six Flags ran Disney then the D23 Expo 2015 is about as close as you’ll get. They simply don’t get it or don’t care about guest experience or crowd control.
For example the gold/​silver D23 membership entrance line went around the convention center and all the way back to Katella ave. They had taped lines that snaked back and forth with thousands standing in the brutal sun/​heat. The promise was gold and silver members were to get into the expo floor an hour early at 9:00. In reality while they may have opened the doors at 9:00, it was only one set of doors resulting in the majority not getting into the convention center until 11:00 — noon.
To add to the madness there were fire and brimstone Jesus freaks outside with enormous signs proclaiming damnation while playing scripture from a boombox. The whole scene was entirely apocalyptic. The members of this cult clearly saw the D23 expo as a ripe opportunity for converting the easily led.
Again let me reiterate, if you want to see any of the major presentations plan on camping out overnight. Same holds true if you are hoping to purchase limited edition merchandise from the incredibly small expo stores. Even the B-​list presentations require hours and hours of waiting in line. The absolute best part of the expo was the Disney archives exhibit but that too required standing in line for a maddening amount of time.
Why would Disney allow such an inept fan club like D23 to represent them? It’s hard to say, but in case anyone is listening here are a few suggestions for improvement:
— Move the 2017 expo to Orlando with triple the capacity
— Utilize every available entrance so it doesn’t take hours for attendees to get in
— Ensure the outdoor queues are shaded
— Replace Jesus nuts with costumed Disney characters
— Replace blaring boombox scripture sermons with Disney music
— Offer more tiered level of ticket prices and benefits. There needs to be more than just Sorcerer and the current gold member benefits are a joke if not flat out deceptive advertising.
— Offer advance sale of tickets to presentations/​shows tied to your name with no option to sell or transfer your ticket (just like the admission tickets). This would eliminate the need for camping out and standing in horribly long lines.
— Have the big presentations in an arena with a capacity of at least 15,000
— Align the D23 Expo experience to the same high quality level of Disney parks
— Have a separate expo for Star Wars and Marvel fans
So that’s it. Despite being huge Disney fans the D23 Expo was obviously not a good fit for us. But if you don’t mind spending an entire weekend standing in lines there apparently is a good time to be had.

I LOVE Disney! I will tolerate long lines at the Disney parks and try to make the most of things when i visit. This was my first time at a D23 Expo. I have to say I was let down.
1. The lines to get in WERE really long and considering that it was one of the hottest weekends we had to bear standing in the hot sun. I think if they had some canopies or those fans that blow mist would really help. Especially if your going with kids. We got there at 9:00. If your a Gold/​Silver member you were able to get in at 9:00. General Admission at 10:00. We did not get into the center until close to 11:00!
2. Considering that they had to get SO many people in the event itself started at 10:00. Photo ops, presentations, and lines to get passes. if you were in the General Ad that your were screwed. Basically the silver/​gold members got everything first! i Think they should have at least started the first photo ops, presentations and able to get into lines for passes until an hour after to give the rest of the general a chance.
3. Photo ops! if you didn’t get in by 9:00 you missed the first 2 scheduled ops. They didn’t let you line up until «an hour before a photo op» to get a wrist band. which only let about 100 people. really a 100 out of thousands of people who went? When we did return to lets say at 12:00 for the 1:00 photo op they said it was sold out! what? but you said to come back 1 hour before. Finally after so many parents were upset they made a line for the last photo op which they started at 2:30 and we waited there until 6:00 or else we would have missed every other photo op there was. In my opinion there should be a designated line for each photo op or changed out as they go and not let anyone line up until 1 after before or maybe if its something that they really want to take a pic with give the choice to us to sit 4, 5 or 6 hours in line. True fans would.
4. since i had to wait in line for 3 hours i missed out in many other things. I didn’t get a chance to go into any stores. or get many free items they were giving out since it was already sold out by the time we got in or left one thing to go to another.
5. Finally We only went on Saturday. I heard one of the busiest days out of the 3. personally they should have anticipated on so many people coming and not running out of things.
Finally If your to go next time there is a D23 Expo and from what i heard every time they have one more and more people go, I say go all 3 days. Dedicated one day to try to get most of the freebies they give away. Another day for photo ops, autographs, presentations and one day for the displays and concerts. Look at the schedule and give your self a chance to see it all. Oh and become a Silver/​Gold Member cuz they obviously get a lot more preference then the rest of us. plus a discount at the shops.

Disney has 60 years of experience organizing lines and people. It’s amazing how horrible they can still be at it.
5 stars for the events, announcements, and general convention floor.
⁰⁄₁ star for the official store organization. They have the Storepass as a way of organizing the entry, which was a good idea in theory. But even being a gold member, close to the front of the expo entrance line, who ran to the storepass purchase area immediately, it was already sold out. The general admission line for the store is 3 hrs long, even only allowing gold/​silver members. Cuz apparently screw the non-​members. Horribly organized and spaced. You should have a much larger store, or multiple, or something else.

Fun times were had at the D23 Expo this year in 2015. It was our first time visiting and thought it was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. While we only spent 5 hours here, it was still entertaining to see what’s in store for the future of Disney Parks across the world. We went to the session that spoke about the new attractions coming to Disney Parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Disneyland, Disney World, and more. In particular, it was also awesome to see James Cameron, Marvel’s Stan Lee, and Once Upon a Time’s Snow White + the Evil Queen! :)
Really wish I visited again on Sunday morning to get a photo opp with the cast of «Fresh Off the Boat», but alas, that opportunity will have to wait until another day. :)
Parking is $ 15 (no re-​entry)
Parking is $ 17 for in and out privileges
More photos here:

For 2015 expo, u will NEED:
portable fan
water
hat or umbrella!!!
sunscreen
portable chair while waiting in line
My first time to disney expo, so I got general pass. I will break the details bellow.
Parking
I went with friends and we got there around 7:45am, even the entrance hrs for general permit is 10:00am. (in case there is a line) When u get close to the convention center, it has digital signs that tell u where to turn. Once u get to the parking lot, u pay 15 $ and they will direct where to park. Then, just follow the crowd and walk to the convention center.
Waiting/​Permit
Once u get to convention center. There are 2 lines, general and silver/​gold line.
The line is freaking looooooooong. TRUST me! it goes around and around and the line doesn’t move. I started lining at 8:30 and I got in at 11:15. While lining up, disney staff will try to provide some ice water but its still HOT!!! n if u wanna go restroom, u hv to walk rill far…
so make sure u dun drink too much… the waiting part was poorly planned coz there were no signs… also even it was 10 am, they didn’t let the general permit ppl go in … !!!
Expo
There are many booths and activities. There is a nail place where u can get mini/​mickey design for each hand. Next to it, there is a tinker bell booth, where there are hair stylists who will make u a bun like tinker bell. Also, there is a booth where u can get free tattoo or purchase limited design tattoo. Some booths also give out gifts if u take pic and post on instagram. Uniqlo has set up a booth there this yr with many creative shirt designs that are about 15 $. Coca Cola also has a vending machine set up there which u can print ur name on the coke small can.
TsumTsum Fans
Go to Disney Store Tent. Please note that they hv limited ones each day and they sell fast! Near the booth, there is a display of tsum tsum «Dline» which will be available in oct. U just need to make sure the staff scan ur tag so they will email u the the releasing date for the products. If u r looking for the aladdin tsum tsum, if can go to disney downtown. After u exit the convention center, you can take a FREE shuttle to disney downtown.
Overall, I took out the starts for poor planning.

**Disney, Pixar, and Lucas. All Under One Roof!**
~What is D23?
The D stands for Disney and 23 is for 1923 when Walt Disney arrived in Hollywood with little money and a suitcase filled half with clothes and the other half drawing materials. Bob Iger introduced the Expo
Specifically for Disney fans to put them in the middle of The Magic.
The event hosts panels and presentations about Disney and its progressions. There is also the floor show which has various booths for shopping and new stuff. It’s a great opportunity for kids to meet the stars of their favorite Disney shows. You will also spot Adult Stars like Johnny Depp. There are numerous autograph signings available also.
~Coming Early is A Must!
We arrived at 5am. Yes, we are gold Members. Again this is an event for Disney Fans. It gets packed. The first 3 hours offered no lines and minimal lines once we entered.
~What Do You Get For Admission? 5 Stars!
Free cool stuff. We got Avenger Cards, Pins, Candy Treats, Uniqlo Disney Shirts, Kids Shows and Events (Jedi Training, Concerts…), Photo Ops and Autographs, and Being At The Center of The Magic. This is something the little one will never forget!
~Drawbacks –1 Star.
The Lines are long! They should have options to pay more for priority passes and limit those. The lines for the celebrity photo ops were disorganized. I saw one girl cry after a greedy parent cut in front of her and took the wrist band. The Staff was amazing and ended up letting this girl in, regardless. Stupid parents were the biggest problem. I saw several instances of parents telling their kids to cut lines. And, if free items were given out, some took grip loads of the same item (I.e. pins).
~The Staff is Amazing! 5 Stars!
Everyone was awesome. The crew went over and beyond and are everywhere and available.
I only wish I could go all three days and experience the panels/​presentations by Iger and others.
I am a fan!

D23 Expo — the Comic Con or E3 for the most avid of Disney fans. CEO Iger (looking quite fit and dapper, I might add) said this year that Disney has committed to hosting this soirée as a way of thanking its loyal base. The Walt Disney Company brings together many of it’s operating companies (Animation, Live Action Studios, The Disney Store, Interactive, Consumer Products, Parks & Resorts, Imagineering, etc.) to showcase things of yesterland and what’s coming up in the future. The biggest fans bring their credit cards and/​or their DisneyBound outfits and beautiful cosplays to experience The Magic.
There are exhibits, panel discussions, and «the big shows» as I’ll call them. The big shows happen in the D23 Area (ground floor arena), Stage 28 (second floor), and Stage 23 (third floor) of the Anaheim Convention Center. This year, I felt Disney did a much better time managing queues for the event. If you lined up before opening hours, there are generally three lines: a members-​only line, a general line, and a members/​general line specifically for the D23 Arena.
I consistently showed up for the biggest events at least 2 hours before and got into everything I wanted to see: Animation Studios, Broadway & Beyond (standby), Disney Legends Ceremony, Richard Sherman and Alan Menken present the Disney Songbook (63 songs in 2.5 hours!). As this is geared for the most avid Disney fan, be prepared to queue. We do this at the parks; we do this at the convention. Cast Members were very generous about you holding spots WHILE IN LINE (not once getting to the Arena for the big shows). And, they did a good job of managing expectations, probability of getting in, and getting accurate counts of even placeholder people waiting in line. However, on Friday, I waited in two lines for over 6 hours to see about 4 hours of content.
The memorable moments this year for me would be:
— about half of the Animation presentation,
— all of the Legends Ceremony,
— Broadway (hello — Ashley freakin’ Brown, OBC Mary Poppins!), and
— The Songbook.
— ARCHIVES (Mary Poppins’ original Jolly Holiday outfit! and a perfect precursor to Saving Mr. Banks due later this year…)
— WDI Journey Into Imagineering exhibit was CRAZY awesome, but maybe I’m just a fangirl of this sort of thing.
Some of the smaller panels were good but not standouts.
— WDI: DNA of Innovation and
— Women of Pixar.) Speaking of Women of Pixar, you can see a concerted effort to acknowledge women (Google «Brave» and «Brenda Chapman.»)
I am impressed that they had things for every age level and not just the kids or the seniors who grew up on the original MMC. EVERYONE had something fun to do at the Expo, and it was a delight. Even for me as a 20-​something without a kid, which I find is something harder to do at the Parks lately.
Because of all this line waiting, I missed most of the stuff on the floor, including the places to spend money. I was really bummed to have to make my afternoon flight back to Texas on Sunday and miss out on Mickey’s of Glendale. My most prized possession from the Expo 2011 was my Imagineering mug, and yet the 1-​hour line to spend money at this story was something unbelieveable to me.
IDEA FOR DISNEY FOR 2015 EXPO: open your doors an hour early and an hour later to let people spend money at the stores and Collector’s Forum. You keep them occupied by not standing in line; you make money. Win-​win.
All-​in-​all, you’ll have fun. You’ll see amazing talent like Lasseter cry when accepting the posthumous Legends award for his dear friend Steve Jobs. You’ll appreciate Billy Crystal saying that Disney is the best at bringing the family together to spend time together. You will love the celebrities from Kristen Bell to Bill Hader to Idina Menzel singing live! You will get a great laugh when you get Tom Middleton (Avengers’ Loki) cajoled into singing the Bare Necessities. You will hold your heart as Imagineer Tony Baxter is told he will have his name prestigiously put on a window of Main Street, U.S.A. You will love Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak singing «A Spoonful of Sugar» with composer Richard Sherman.
But you will wait a long time in line to see this all and spend a good chunk of money on admission, airline tickets, hotel, etc. Thankfully, there was StagePass and better informed queue managers to offset some of this…
I write this review as a charter member of D23 who went with my equally fan girl cousin of the same age. I cannot speak to attending the event as a family or as a non-​member.