Saturday, August 20, 2011

D23 Expo 2011 Coverage Central! (Saturday, Aug. 20)

End of Day Updates:
Well, it's pushing midnight now and we are finally home!  It was an awesome day at the D23 Expo with tons of highlights that we can't wait to share!

Our first day both exceeded our expectations and left us wanting in some areas, but we suppose that's just the way the cookie crumbles.  Really, the only negative we had to say was that some of the lines were just too darn long!  Ultimately, we didn't get to do everything we wanted simply because the length of the lines wouldn't allow us to.  We heard late Friday evening that Saturday was completely sold out, and you could tell it!  The lines were absolutely enormous for some panels and sessions, and were just too long to manage and get in everything that we wanted to do.  We're talking 2-3 hours for some.  But on the bright side it just shows how popular this Expo is and just how hardcore Disney fans can be!

On the plus side, though, we got to do both of the large arena presentations that we wanted to.  We started the day with the Walt Disney Studios presentation, which alone made the Expo worth the price of admission to us.  We got to see tons of Disney (and Pixar!) reps, lots of directors and producers, actors and actresses, loads of concept art, sneak peeks and film footage (some never before seen by anyone), and more!  We can't wait to talk about it more during the week, but suffice to say, if you're a movie fan like us, you would have loved it!  Can't wait to share more about it.  If you're looking for information now, we tweeted about quite a bit of it.  You can find it in our Twitter stream at the top of our blog.

We also were the first (worldwide) to view the new 3D conversion of what is arguably one of the greatest Disney classics of all time, 'The Lion King'.  While it wasn't full of new information and "hot topics", the ability to view this film with a few thousand other Disney fans, in 3D, with an introduction from the movie's directors and producers (who sang 'Hakuna Matata' to us for crying out loud!), was just amazing.  'The Lion King' opens mid-September for a special limited 2-week run in theaters, and we encourage you to go see it!  It's well worth it, and something we'll remember and talk about for a very long time.  We'll even start later this week when we blog about it!

And that's about it for today!  We spent our down time roaming the exhibits and running into many of our blogging friends and just taking it all in.  It was an amazing first day overall and we can't wait to get back tomorrow for more!

We'll be back in the morning to upload our pictures from Day 2 and let you know what we have in store for Day 3.  Come on back, rest a spell, and enjoy the Expo along with us!



Well, this is it!  Day 1 of our trip to the D23 Expo 2011.  We spent some time following all the good highlights and news coming out yesterday, and today we're going out to spend the day and see for ourselves!  Hopefully, if we've timed it correctly, we should be getting ready to walk inside the doors as this article publishes.  You'll know we have when our Twitter stream begins to light up.  Isn't technology wonderful? Okay, so one of the things we were warned about way in advance was to make plans for what we wanted to see at the Expo.  So that's what we've done!  Hopefully, if all goes well, here's what we have on the docket today:
  • The Walt Disney Studios Presentation - "Exclusive video clips, live performances, filmmaker discussions, star appearances and more!" - shouldn't be too hard to figure out why we want to do this one.  Unfortunately, they're not allowing cameras (or cell phones) in so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way; writing it down on a pad and reporting about it later!
  • A Good Look at Buena Vista Street - "Sneak a peek at the new entrance to Disney California Adventure with Imagineers" - one of the additions at Disney California Adventure Park that we're most looking forward to.  We can't afford to miss this!
  • The Lion King 3D - "Get an exclusive advanced screening of the Disney Digital 3D version of The Lion King" - One of the greatest animated classics of all time, on the big screen, and in 3D?  Enough said.
Doesn't seem like a whole lot, does it?  I mean, three things?  Really?  But each lasts a pretty good little portion of time, and they're our top 3 out of everything.  We wish we could do it all, but it's just not possible.  So, we plan on doing our best to get into these (which will mean standing in lines just like everyone else), and picking up whatever other panels or things we might be able to in between if we have the time.  Then it's off to Disneyland Park to hang with friends.  Should be an awesome day! Like we said, we're super-excited to be going, and we'll be sending out information and pictures all throughout the day.  You can follow us here at the top of our blog on our Twitter stream or our picture gallery, and we'll also be posting updates to our Facebook Page as well. Ready to hang with Days In The Park at the D23 Expo?  Here we go!   *Panel titles and descriptions from the D23 Expo website

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