D23 expo

[dizfan]

Just got back home from the last day of the D23 Expo. It has been a fun but exhausting 3 days!

Almost all of the presentations that I attended were worth the wait in line, but the way this event is set up it seems like that's where everyone spends most of their time @ the expo: in a line. So that was a bit frustrating.

I attended: The History of the Disneyland Hotel (1959 rate: $15/night!) with rare video of Walt at the hotel; Vintage Disneyland & Walt Disney World, amazing old color videos; Imagineering Cars Land & Buena Vista Street; Imagineering the Disney Dream and Fantasy, the new Animator's Palate show will really be a hit next year; and of course the big arena events for Disney Parks and Disney Studios.

The Parks event was nothing new aside from more details on the massive Shanghai castle and a new mini expansion of Disneyland's Fantasyland. Nothing too exciting.

The Parks Pavilion had a massive model of WDW's Fantasyland. It was gorgeous, I can't wait to see it in person.

Was anyone else there?

[denlo]

Wish I could say I was there. Maybe some year. However, I can't stand in lines for more than 30 minutes so maybe it wouldn't be a good idea. Thanks for sharing the details. They Disneyland history sounded interesting. I know you are very knowledgeable about DL already and it sounds right up your alley.

[BLTby40]

I brought my kids to DL so we could attend D23, but I decided to take the conference one day at a time.
We went on Friday to meet the Disney Channel Stars, but got in one line and were told that we were past the place where they'd be taking more fans on to sign autographs. For the next session we got in line 2 hours beforehand but were again, cut off about 10 people back. I told my kids to adjust their expectations and enjoy the rest of the day. We went to the edge of the stage when their favorites came out, and, bless his soul, the young man from Lemonade Mouth (a tween Disney Channel movie) singled out my kid from the audience and grabbed his book to get signatures (which was quite against protocol). My kid is 6, and now says they are good friends. I did not see one other workshop or demo but it was well worth the trip. In fact, I found the twitter feed ffor one of the stars and saw my son (and myself) in their photogallery. It was fun to show him how much he matters, as a fan, tto these young actors. I won't say it was hard to go with kids, but it would have been much easier if I had brought Mary Poppins along!

[TimK]

I was there.

Was absolutely dumbfounded by the lines just to get into the convention hall. Back in 2009 we arrived near opening every day and just walked right in the doors.

The first day we got into both the Legends and Parks arena sessions. Waited about an hour for Legends and had balcony seats. Waited 2 hours for Parks and were on the floor.

Second day we arrived two hours before the start of the Studios session and figured we would at least get into the building. Not even close. Really disappointed at that one. Brought my wife along and that's the one session she had her heart set on.

Didn't even bother trying to get into any of the smaller sessions. From my '09 experiences, I knew that most of those would fill up 2+ hours out. Also knew they would be on YouTube within hours.

I understand the dilemma that Disney faces with the crowds. When you cap attendance at 17,000 (which was reportedly the case on Saturday) and have an arena that only seats 4,000, obviously many are going to be turned away. Not to mention the smaller rooms that hold well under 1,000. But Disney has to do something to fix those problems.

The Blue Sky Disney blog has some very good suggestions...things like actually renting out the entire arena rather than leaving 2,000+ empty seats and broadcasting sessions on the TVs they had scattered throughout the facility.

I was also disappointed that they did not have any sort of smaller session focusing on Aulani. For such an important high-profile project, you would think they would appreciate the added exposure.

Overall the content wasn't quite as good as '09, organization was shockingly poorer in many respects and the crowds were often suffocating.

If someone wants to combine a visit to the Expo with a Disneyland vacation, it's not a bad deal at $30 per day...as long as you have realistic expectations regarding the wait times. But for those who traveled any great distance solely for the Expo experience, I suspect it was a massive disappointment.

[wdrl]

I wonder if the emphasis of the D23 Expos will change in the future. I suspect Disney will continue to exhibit things about the Parks, and have retrospectives about Walt and old Disney films and legends, etc. But I think the D23 Expos will become more and more a platform to showcase upcoming movies, TV shows, and celebrities.

On some websites and blogs that cover the movie industry, such as imdb.com, the D23 Expo was referred to as Disney's version of Comic-Con. Given their emphasis on movies and celebrities, its only natural that those sites viewed D23 as a way for Disney to show off its movies, TV shows, and on-air talent. But I wonder if future D23 Expos will attract more people wanting to see Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson, and Selena Gomez, and less people wanting to see an exhibit of Mary Blair's artwork.

Or perhaps I'm completely wrong. Maybe showcasing the latest Disney movies and TV shows was always a very big part of D23. But my gut feeling is that there is more demand to hear the latest news about "The Avengers" than there is to hear about Aulani or a refurb of Test track.

[TimK]

I think there's room for both the parks information and Disney's media empire. 3 days is a lot of time and really things work best if not everyone wants to see the same content. When you have 17K people in the building, it's a GOOD thing when some are headed for the parks pavilion, some are in the arena watching a Disney Studios presentation, some are lined up to meet Disney Channel stars, some are waiting for an "Art of Brave" session, etc.

Interestingly enough, Disney actually dialed-back the presence of ABC compared to the '09 Expo. In 2009 they had a big presentation on ABCs new TV shows which included appearances and autograph signings by a number of stars. Pilot episodes of the new shows were playing in one of the meeting rooms. Also had a performance by some of the folks from that Dancing with the Stars program.

This time there was no ABC content to speak of. Actually I take that back...there was a session where the pilot of a new show was shown and Q&A with the creators followed. Can't remember the title. Still, I bet they would have gotten a better turnout for a panel with the stars of Charlie's Angels.

Disney Weddings had a huge pavilion on the show floor in '09. Nothing this time. Also Marvel Comics didn't have any presence other than their arena session. Would have figured them to have some form of presence on the show floor.

ESPN is another Disney entity who didn't have any sort of presence at either Expo.

[denlo]

If Wil's suggestion is what the Disney guru's are thinking then they need to change the name from D23 to Disney/ABC-con. The D23 website describes a D23 membership as:

A D23 membership places Disney fans in the middle of the magic, while experiencing the nostalgia, adventure and fantasy of Disney as never before.

I'm still a little amazed as to the latest selection of Disney Legends, Regis Phelbin (Disney, really?) and Anika Noni Rose, Princess Tiana were inducted as Disney Legends. The first has a slim connection to Disney via Buena Vista Distributors and Princess and the Frog came out fairly recently and wasn't the great success Disney expected. These selections did not match past selections. Come on Disney you don't have to select a legend every year.

[DisneyGeek]

We went to the edge of the stage when their favorites came out, and, bless his soul, the young man from Lemonade Mouth (a tween Disney Channel movie) singled out my kid from the audience and grabbed his book to get signatures (which was quite against protocol). My kid is 6, and now says they are good friends.

That's awesome, as is appearing in the photos!

[TimK]

The first (Regis) has a slim connection to Disney via Buena Vista Distributors...

Which is a Disney company. During the presentation they also played-up his stint on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, two decades hosting the Walt Disney World Christmas parade, plus a few other things I'm forgetting.

I'm not a huge fan but he has been a good company man for a long time.

...and Princess and the Frog came out fairly recently and wasn't the great success Disney expected.

Yeah, that one was obviously a publicity stunt, pairing her up with Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara and the others.

I have to say, though, that I was thoroughly impressed with Anika after seeing her at the ceremony. She was well-spoken, charming, humble...and gorgeous. Incredible voice, too.

[denlo]

Which is a Disney company. During the presentation they also played-up his stint on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, two decades hosting the Walt Disney World Christmas parade, plus a few other things I'm forgetting.

I'm not a huge fan but he has been a good company man for a long time.

So do you think the cast of General Hospital which is an ABC show and now part of Disney, should be added to the Disney Legends? I still don't think being the host of the Disney parade on TV qualifies someone to be a legend. I think Walt has to rolling in his grave.