D23 Expo Impressions
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Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks we hope to present several articles detailing the just completed D23 Expo in Anaheim. But while it’s still very fresh in my mind, I wanted to give some overall thoughts on this year’s ultimate Disney fan event.

Last night I returned home from the D23 Expo in Anaheim. Having attended and been extremely impressed with the first Expo in 2009, I was looking forward to what Disney would do for an encore. I knew it wouldn’t be easy as the timing of the first one meshed so well with the projects Disney had coming up, but even if wasn’t quite up to that standard, it would still be a great event.

First, some info about my attendance. Due to prior obligations I was not able to attend events on Friday evening and Saturday which made the shortening of the Expo to only three days all the more painful. I attended the event as Media which meant I got a Thursday night preview of the Parks and Resorts pavilion and reserved seating for all the Arena presentations. The press badge also meant I did not have to wait to enter the Convention Center every morning. Other than that, any event I wanted to attend or pavilion or exhibit I wanted to see I had to queue for. I consider that a  good thing as it meant more non-media fans got to attend presentations. I think Disney made the right decision there.

There were some things I liked about this year’s event and many areas I feel they really should have done better. Here, in no particular order, are some thoughts.

The history of the Disneyland Hotel - how interesting could this be? Turns out - very

Interesting Presentations
Ultimately, I enjoyed the D23 Expo despite my issues detailed below. All of the presentations I attended were fun and informative. Having attends dozens of Disney presentations and panels of one sort or another in the past 15 years I can tell you they’re not all winners. But I really enjoyed each one I attended last weekend and that’s no small feat.

The Floor Lacked Buzz
I spent more time on the convention floor than in 2009 because of the no-reserved seating policy and there didn’t seem to be the same sense of energy as before. I remember walking into the Expo in 2009 and seeing Mickey there in the open taking photos (the characters present this year were not as out in the open). I remember the Alice in Wonderland table with all its atmosphere characters. The Radio Disney setup in 2009 was always hopping. And the buzz created by Dick Cook’s Studios presentation and Johnny Depp’s appearance was talked about the rest of the weekend. Instead, when I picture the convention floor this year, I picture walls and lines. Various Disney departments brought in celebrities for autographs which resulted in lots of lines. The Dream Store setup and Disney Living Small World setup were nice but again created walls and lines. It’s great that Disney brought in so many people for autograph sessions but as a result a lot of the energy that seemed to hover over the 2009 Expo floor dissipated into queues.