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Disney's D23 Expo Explained By A Fan (Me)

I have always wanted to go to the Disney D23 Expo but it wasn't until I became "A Disney Freak" this past December with my Vinylmation collecting that hubby and I decided to purchase tickets to this year's show. Since we were already D23 members it made buying tickets to the Expo all the more easier. So what is a D23 Member you ask? D23 is Disney's official fan club. With a membership you get all kinds of discounts, access to buy special merchandise, access to cool events and much more.

The Expo which is held each year at the Anaheim Convention Center, is very much like San Diego's Comic Con. D23 refers to 1923, the year Walt Disney started his studio. There are presentations, special exhibits, and a vendor floor where vendors come out and sell their Disney Memorabilia and merchandise. Basically, if you are a Disney fan, you will love this expo.

Hubby and I had a pretty good time and agreed we would go again. But alas, like Comic Con, the lines were long. I believe this is the third year and lucky us it was the year it exploded with 30,000 admissions. So suffice to say, we wouldn't have hit these bad lines in years past. I overheard people talking in line that the people in the front of the line stated cuing up at 2:30am in the morning. Can you say wowsers?

Hubbby and I arrived around 8am and the line was plenty long. We had just enough time to make a vinylmation trade. I traded one of my Hong Kong 9 inch Castles for a 9 inch 500 Limited Edition Minnie Mouse Kidada. As it is pink, I figure it will look good in baby girl's room. Here is a picture of my latest vinylmation addition. Hubby also met up with a girl to buy a 9 inch Pete's Dragon he had wanted. He informed me that he has to have the entire Animation Series including the 9 inches. Um okay. We are trying not to buy anymore new ones and trade the extra ones we have. Not always so easy.

We waited in line for a little while and then they started letting people in. After to talking to the people in front of us, I decided to get in line for the 10:30am show, as according to them that was the must see presentation of the 3-day Expo. The plan was I was to wait in that line while hubby ran all over the place to buy the limited edition vinyls they had on sale. Well, what we didn't know is that they were taking all cell phones and cameras for this particular presentation so there I was in line and they took my cell phone so hubby couldn't find me. We decided or rather, were forced to go separate ways.

While I waited in line for the 3 hour presentation on Disney's upcoming film product he went shopping. He was disappointed to find all the vinyls he wanted were sold out. But the thing that redeemed his morning was the vinylmation trade box center. This trade box was particularly awesome because they loaded it with rare and hard to find vinylmations!! So hubby got 3 cool new vinyls.

I on the other hand proceeded to spend 3 hours watching Disney's new film line for 2011, 2012 and 2013. The show was hosted by Walt Disney's Chairman, Rich Ross, John Lasseter the head Creative Officer and Kevin Feige from Marvel. The show was awesome! I got to see footage trailers and even the beginning of some movies to their upcoming films.

They even brought out producers, directors and movies stars galore! I got to see Billy Crystal, John Cryer, Sarah Silverman,Jason Segal, Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Amy Adams, Jennifer Gardner, Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johannson. Some of the movies I got to see were Planes, Mosters University (Monsters 2), Brave, Wreck-Em Ralph, John Carter, Frankenweenie,The Odd Life of Timothy Green, OZ: The Great and Powerful, Chimpanzee, Muppet Movie, and the Avengers.
They even handed out PIXAR 25th anniversary cupcakes int he middle of the presentation. We put on many of these shows at my studio but I have to say this was a really well produced show. I was sorry hubby missed it as he would have enjoyed it.

After the show I caught up with hubby and we went through the show floor and to all the various booths and exhibits.
Took pictures and got some autographs and bought some trinkets. We had some lunch before heading upstairs to wait in line for some other shows. While hubby waited in line for presentation with Disney's Imagineers I waited in line and went through the Disney Treasures exhibit where they pulled out memorabilia from the archives. I thought they could of pulled out some more cool stuff but instead they had costumes from Hocus Pocus and the Rocketeer, not exactly exciting.
I got back in line with hubby and we concluded out day with a 2 hour session with Disney Imagineers. It was pretty cool if not overly long. They must have of had 10-15 Imagineers giving presentations. By the end we were so tired and we were like "Yah, we know you have an awesome job!" So hubby and I cut out a little early because the pregnant lady was beat after a long day on her feet.

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