The 2019 D23 Expo

I had a wonderful time spending the past long weekend at the D23 Expo!

The Expo took place at the Anaheim Convention Center from August 23rd to 25th. As usual, the Expo was both exhausting and exhilarating.

The "exhausting" portion included 5:30 a.m. alarms, hours spent in long lines, and walking several miles a day. (At least it's good exercise!)

However, the exhaustion is always far outweighed by the exhilaration!

This year I saw a great many actors and filmmakers, including some major favorites.

I attended five panel presentations: The Music and Sounds of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge; Disney+ Showcase; Go Behind the Scenes With the Walt Disney Studios; Parks, Experiences, and Products; and Disneyland '59: Matterhorn, the Monorail, and Submarine Voyage.

I also attended a 45-minute presentation by Leonard and Jessie Maltin on classic Disney films soon to be available on the Disney+ streaming service.

I visited numerous show floor pavilions, including the big Disney Parks pavilion and two major costume displays presented by the Walt Disney Archives and Marvel. I shopped at two stores, the Disney Dream Store and my favorite, Mickey's of Glendale, and I also made a special purchase at the Disney Publishing booth.

Overall I'm pleased to say the Expo experience was greatly improved this year, with some of the problems I described in 2017 resolved. I never had to queue outdoors this year, a huge improvement in and of itself.

Advance online panel reservations were available this year for the first time ever, and my daughter and I were able to successfully obtain tickets for all the "big" panels. This meant much less time standing in lines, whether for ShowPass tickets or standby lines, and our daughter was very happy to attend the Studios presentation without spending the night in line this year!

We do have some concern for next year, as many people who logged on at the same time we did were unable to secure reservations. The standby lines for the Studios presentation again required an overnight stay, so if you don't obtain your advance reservations, it means spending the night or skipping it. I wish Disney would find a way to do away entirely with the overnight lines.

The only problem this year was the perennially poor food and service from the convention center's concessionaire, Aramark. You'd think Disney could at least pressure them to provide better service and maintenance, but after attending six Expos I guess that won't ever happen.

As the Expo ended, Disney announced that the Expo will return in 2021. Assuming it's still in Anaheim, I plan to be there!

I've been hard at work organizing and choosing from the hundreds of photos I took over the weekend. In the coming days there will be daily recaps as well as two additional posts on the costume exhibits.

Photo-heavy posts always limit the number of "new" posts which appear on the blog's "front page," so be sure to keep an eye on the links to Recent Posts near the top of the left-hand column or click "Older" at the very bottom of each page to scroll through and be sure to see everything, as there's lots of blogging ahead.

In addition to the D23 Expo posts, in the coming days I'll have TCM Classic Film Festival news, a look at TCM's September highlights, info on my latest Classic Movie Hub Western Roundup column, coverage of the Cinecon Classic Film Festival, additional "Photos From the Road" from our recent trip to Oregon, Blu-ray reviews, and more.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Previously: Off to the 2019 D23 Expo!

Update: The 2019 D23 Expo: Highlights, Part 1; The 2019 D23 Expo: Highlights, Part 2; The 2019 D23 Expo: Highlights, Part 3; The 2019 D23 Expo: Highlights, Part 4; The 2019 D23 Expo: Walt Disney Archives Costume Exhibit; The 2019 D23 Expo: Marvel Costume Exhibit.