D23 Expo 2011 Coverage Central! (Friday, Aug. 19)

End of Day updates:
Well, Day 1 of the Expo is rapidly coming to a close and people are heading out.  There are still a few things happening inside (namely the Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament which our friend Neil from FindingMickey.com is in, and "Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix" is performing), but the heavy-hitters of the day have come and gone.  Even though we weren't able to be there for them, we tweeted about them throughout the day and had a few thoughts on them we wanted to share.

First, the event we're going to most regret missing (even though we had little choice) was the Disney Legends Induction Ceremony.  Many Legends were given the honor this year ranging from Guy Williams ("Zorro"), Regis Philbin (who doesn't know Regis?!), and Jim Henson, among others.  Arguably the highlight of the show, though, was the honoring of the Disney Princesses; Jodi Benson (Ariel), Paige O'Hara (Belle), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), Lea Salonga (Jasmine and Mulan), and Linda Larkin (Jasmine).  Not only were some of the greatest and best known princesses of all time present, but they performed!  Belting out tunes from their respective movies and polishing it off with "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes"... we can't begin to say how sorry we were to have missed it.  And just when we thought it couldn't be equaled, we learned that Rowlf and Kermit the Frog had come out to sing 'The Rainbow Connection' during Jim Henson's portion.  Never again shall we miss an induction we say!  That said, it was a real treat to follow along with all of our friends who were tweeting during the ceremony as it happened; it almost felt like we were there with you.  Almost...

The second big panel of the day (also held in the D23 Arena) was the Parks and Resorts Presentation.  Several items of interest were revealed here as well.  Briefly, they were:

• The presentation began with Mickey Mouse on drums.  Yes, you heard us right.  Mickey Mouse on drums.  Don't believe us - YouTube it.  We bet it's there.  And apparently he was good.  We're calling it Hidden Mickey Talent #254,362 (a number we picked out of mid-air)
• Walt Disney World Fantasyland Expansion - a virtual ride-along of the 'Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride' was given, which we heard will open in 2014
• Shanghai Disney - they talked about the new castle which will feature restaurants, all of the Disney Princesses represented in one place with meet and greets, and a ride actually through the castle, which will be a first for any of the Disney Parks
• Discussion about Aulani, the new Disney Resort in Hawaii
• Disney California Adventure Park - details on Buena Vista Street including the Red Car Trolley and Carthay Circle Theater which will feature an upscale restaurant with Napa Rose chef Andrew Sutton.  They also spent some time discussing Cars Land, which will open in 2012, highlighting Luigi's Flying Tires (based on Disneyland's classic UFO attraction), the Cozy Cone Cafe and menu, and Route 66 inspiration.
• Disneyland Resort - details on a Fantasyland expansion and an all new celebration called Fantasy Faire, which will replace the current Carnation Gardens.  They also highlighted "virtual customizable" experiences for the guests which would enable them to do such things as share a Haunted Mansion meal with an Imagineer, or visit "the attractions of yesteryear" while inside Disneyland.  They also teased a new "club experience" like Club 33, and teased a possible expansion of the current Club 33 as well.

And there you have it!  Our top  reports from the day.  We have to thank a lot of people, namely everyone but us who was at the Expo today tweeting like mad.  We were on this side today and couldn't have known what was taking place, being said, or sung, without you.  Thank you for your willingness to share with the world!

We'll be back tomorrow morning, and we'll be the ones tweeting and making a public nuisance of ourselves in the Twitter/Facebook, and blogging worlds.  We hope you'll be back tomorrow and Sunday as Days In The Park takes to the D23 Expo 2011 for our own coverage. See you in the morning!

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The D23 Expo is here!  We've been anxious for this day for a very long time.  In point of fact, we knew as soon as we started blogging almost a year ago that when it rolled around again, we'd have to be there.  And here it is, and there we are going!

Unfortunately, it just won't be today.  Due to circumstances beyond our control (also known as a daily ritual with children involved) we won't be beginning our coverage on our blog until Saturday morning.  We plan on being in attendance all day Saturday and Sunday and will be tweeting and posting pictures at what will no doubt be an alarming rate.  That said, some our best Disneyland blogging friends will be around today and tweeting and reporting: if you're not already be sure and follow our friends from FindingMickey.com and MagicalDaysWithTheMouse.com for all sorts of updates and news throughout the day.

You can follow all of our D23-related (#D23Expo) tweets here on our blog in our special Twitter widget, as well as check out pictures live from the event as we add them to our photo gallery.  We'll also be writing at the beginning of each day sharing what sessions we plan on attending that day, as well as capping off each night (God and exhaustion willing) with a quick summary of how the day went.  Heck, if we're really brave, we may even try our hand at blogging from the Expo while we're standing around in lines, and there does look to be quite a bit of that that's going to be taking place.

Next week, we'll devote our days to posting all about the event; our impressions, pictures, news and information, the whole nine yards!  And we may just have a surprise for our readers when all is said and done.

We can't wait to get this started! We hope you'll keep joining us throughout the weekend and into next week as we share all the Disney we possibly can.  We're huge Disneyland (Parks) fans, but we're also huge Disney fans in general, and we couldn't be more excited about this weekend.  Away we go!