Day 1

Day one of the expo begins on a hope that I would be one of the first 25 people in line to get the special limited edition 25th anniversary pins that the Disney Store was handing out.  Thanks to twitter and the updates from @stitchkingdom I was informed that there were already somewhere near 300 people in line by 6am.  I arrived at 6:45am and I would say roughly 600-700 people in line.  It initially started by wrapping around the arena fountain and backtracked to the convention hall entrance.  Luckily Disney, being one of the best companies when it comes to line queues, redirected the line into a more manageable situation.  Later, again informed through twitter, it was revealed that people lined up as early as 2:00am.  Yikes, it makes me wonder just how important sleep is.  Side note: Two years ago I was so relieved by D23 expo because it felt nothing like the San Diego Comic Con.  Now with lines starting near midnight and line queues being around 2 hours long, I may have to reconsider.


The convention hall actually opened early and let people in around 8:45am.  I decided to hit the Dream Store first thing in the morning because I love my limited edition pins and wanted the Little Mermaid print done by Larry Nikolai.  I got everything I wanted but the box sets of pins.  Those apparently sold out quickly.  The line to enter the store was just as long as the line to purchase the items.  I finally got out around 10:30am and noticed another line snaking at the Dream Store exit.  It was the line stand-by line for the D23 Arena where the Legends ceremony was taking place.  I wanted to see Regis, the muppets, and the princesses (especially Jodi Benson) but wasn't informed until I reached the actual line queue that I would not make it in.  Ugh!

So what to do knowing that I would be missing the Legends ceremony.  Hit up the meet and greets and meet Robert Olszewski and Linda Rick.  I make it to the Welcome center area and Robert is just about to leave, but I get to meet Linda and she is such a sweet lady.  She unwrapped my precious moment doll (you might have guessed it, Ariel) and proceeded to write a message on the waist of the doll and took a picture with me and the doll.

At this point I had to decide whether to attend the Making of Little Mermaid ride panel or meet the cast of Good Luck Charlie.  I actually did neither and decided to grab a meal.  I needed to eat!  Bad decision.  The line to eat seemed just as long as any other line I was previously in.  By the time I get my food (a Ranch House Burger Combo) and finish eating it is 1:30, the Mermaid panel is half way done and the line for Good Luck Charlie is beyond capacity.  I walk around to the Disney Interactive Media Group Pavillion (this term is used to identify sections of the expo) and get to try out a new art section of the Disney.com website, receive a disney.com pin and get entered into an Epic Mickey raffle.

The only other thing that I wanted to do this day was to meet John Musker and Ron Clements, Directors of the Little Mermaid.  But that wasn't until 3pm.  But at the Disney Animation booth, there was a signing by the creative team of Prep and Landing - Naughty vs. Nice.  And they were giving out Fairies cards.  Not bad for waiting to see the Ron and John show.  Also it gave me time to recharge my cellphone, which again died within 5hrs of getting to the convention center.

Once Ron and John arrived, they were met by a group of lovely ladies dressed as disney characters, specifically Ursula, Ariel in human form (springtime outfit), and Arista (the sister in red).  Ron and John were more than excited to see such enthusiasts and wanted to take pictures with these ladies.  The same could not be said for the staff on hand, wanting Ron and John to make it to the booth ASAP.  I get to meet them, shake hands, and receive a signed Disney Legends print.  I wanted to take pictures with them but the lady at the booth asked to move the line quickly.  Bummer.

I knew there was no chance I would make it into the Parks and Resorts panel in the Arena so I moseyed on up to the Charter Room (the room to relax right next to the treasures room on the second floor.)  It was a rest well deserved.  I enjoyed the free Starbucks brand coffee and the no host bar but I wished there could have been hors d'oeuvres instead of just cookies.  Oh well.  I met two lovely ladies from North Hollywood and they were such a pleasure to talk with.  One of the ladies was a of the VIP package for Dancing with the Stars two years ago at the D23 Auction.  They had a book of pictures that they took while on the DWTS set and backstage at the trailers.  They shared stories about meeting the celebrities and we all reminisced about that season of DWTS, the first D23 Expo, and how different this Expo feels from the first Expo.

To complete the day I went back down to the floor, got a signed press sheet from the directors of Tangled, wrote a thank you postcard to our troops and met the cast of So Random! (really was there to see Tiffany Thornton).  Met her back in 2009 and felt like I had to this year.  The line queue was filled beyond capacity but people were informed that they may not make it to the front.  When they cut off the line I was literally 7 people ahead of the end.  Here is where the drama begins.  There were about 3-4 tweeners chewing off the head of one of the booth staff, which led to other booth staff trying to smooth out the situation.  The lack of attention to the line led to about 10 more people filling up the back end of the line.  This may sound cold but all that was behind me so I didn't pay any attention.  I got to meet Tiffany and was barely able to take a picture with her.  The booth head was being real strict on taking pictures and holding up the line.

I was so hungry that I went out to eat at P.F. Chang's at Gardenwalk.  Food well worth it but the time it took meant that I may not make it into the Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix.  Trusting twitter I was informed that the queue had reached capacity.  It was already 8pm so took the advice of the twitter-verse and decided that I didn't want to enter a queue just to be rejected again.  I later read that people who entered after 8pm still made it in.  My loss.  And boy was it my loss.  I have seen some of the twitter responses from the show.  Frustrated but I gotta let it go.  I am ready to hit the sack and prepare for tomorrow.  I am hyped to see the Disney Studios panel at the Arena, see the screening of Once Upon a Time, see Chelsea Kane (Fish Hooks), and meet Larry Nikolai, along with doing the Monster's university panel.  Then finish the night with Lion King 3D.  I'm sure there are other surprises that are in store and all I can do is adapt and make the best of it.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you enjoyed this fan's review of D23 Expo 2011.  Also sorry for no pictures but I forgot my connection cord but I will upload them on monday or tuesday after the expo.