If you are a fan of Disney, Marvel or Star Wars, then you probably attended D23 EXPO 2015 at the Anaheim Convention Center on August 14-16. If you didn’t, then you probably heard some of the news and announcements that came out from the EXPO.
But the announcements weren’t the only things happening at D23 EXPO. With so many things happening on the show floor at D23 EXPO, I had to break this into 2 parts.
Shanghai Disneyland. Disney is expanding and opening a new park in Shanghai in 2016. This part of the EXPO was dedicated to the new theme park. There seems to be 6 themed lands: Mickey Avenue, Gardens of Imagination, Adventure Isle, Treasure Cove, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, along with Disneytown, a version of Downtown Disney.
• Chip & Dale’s Treehouse Treats and Remy’s Patisserie in Mickey Avenue.
• Ride mythical beasts on the Fantasia Carousel in the Gardens of Imagination.
• Explore waterfalls, ruins and dig sites in Camp Discovery in Adventure Isle.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure in the pirate-themed land of Treasure Cove.
• Voyage to the Crystal Grotto is just one of the rides in Fantasyland.
• Get ready to enter The Grid on the TRON: Lightcycle Power Run coaster in Tomorrowland.
• One of the resorts opening nearby will be a Toy Story Hotel.
Pandora and The World of AVATAR. Coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Disney World. AVATAR Flight of Passage and Rivers of Light are two attractions based off the movie. There was a little area you could walkthrough with some travel posters, props and miniature park model.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Probably one of the most anticipated movies opening this December. Costumes from the movie were on display.
• First Order Stormtroopers
• Captain Phasma
• Finn, BB-8 and Rey
Marvel. I felt this area was poorly represented compared to Star Wars, Pixar and AVATAR. There was only a Marvel backdrop, the Ant-Man suit and Iron Man’s Hulkbuster arm on display here. They could have had something for Captain America: Civil War or from the comic publishing side of Marvel here. Total missed opportunity to promote the New Marvel Comic Universe after the events of Secret Wars.
Pixar Animation Studios. Over the next few years the animation powerhouse will be releasing original movies and some long-awaited sequels.
• The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, Coco, Cars 3 and The Incredibles 2.
• Just from watching the short trailer being played in the mini-theater area of Pixar’s booth, The Good Dinosaur looks to be a visual and heartwarming story. Thanksgiving 2015.
• She just kept swimming… Finding Dory. Summer 2016.
Disney Animation. Zootopia is the 55th animated feature film coming to theaters March 4th, 2016, then Gigantic releases on March 9th 2018.
The Lion Guard. This animated TV film is based on The Lion King movie and will be focused on Kion, the son of Simba and Nala. It will later air on the Disney Channel as an animated TV series in 2016.
Disney/ABC TV Pavilion. A host of photo opportunities were scheduled here throughout the day and changed every hour. The casts of Disney and ABC shows, from Girl Meets World to Baby Daddy and black-ish to The Goldbergs, took pics and selfies with fans.
John Lasseter Studio Collection. Pixar film-themed Hawaiian shirts were on display. One shirt for, what looks to be like, every film he has produced or directed.
Consumer Products Pavilion. This area had the latest products from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars. Some with activities and things to buy.
• Disney Publishing had some new Inside Out books that were really cute and a Dali and Disney: Destino book.
• Minnie’s Nail Bar and TinkerBell’s Bun Bar were free to attendees.
• Unlock Your Inner Princess by choosing the princess that inspires you, leave a message and tie it to the Keys to the Kingdom gate.
• Evolution of the Stormtroopers.
• Pixar products.
• D-Style, an assortment of products blending trendy with cute.
• Disney Descendants line of fashion dolls.
• Disney Store 3D Print Studio allows you to get a 3D printed figure of yourself as a Stormtrooper, Iron Man (Heartbreaker armor) or a Mouseketeer. I really wanted to do this, but opted not to.
D23 EXPO Trading Card Quest. This was a fun little activity. The D23 EXPO 2015 Souvenir Guide contained a starter pack to get you started on your quest to collect all 30 cards. There were Card Distribution Stations in specific areas of the show floor that you could pick up another card for your deck. If you downloaded the D23 mobile App, then you could receive notifications on surprise card drops. If you wanted to trade for missing cards to complete your set, then you could visit the D23 EXPO Trading Card Quest Headquarters at the Disney Visa Card booth. The booth always had a crowd of people gathered around it.
More pics from the show floor.
I guess Part 2 of my D23 EXPO post will focus on the stores and the merchandise, since I didn’t mention any of that here. It would have made this way too lengthy to cover it all and read.
D23 EXPO happens every two years, so the next one will be in 2017. Visit D23.com for more news and info.
