Disney Pixar's 'Brave' Trailer Released Today!

Back in late August we were lucky enough to be able to attend the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.  Part of the festivities we were most happy to attend was the Walt Disney Studios' Presentation.  We wrote about the different movies coming from the studios over the next few years and one of the films we were most excited about was Disney-Pixar's newest film, "Brave", which is set to release on June 22 of 2012.  As we wrote then, neither of us really knew much about the movie at the time; having only seen a very brief teaser, we knew very little about the story of Merida or what the movie was about.  We also noted, however, that with the addition of some more information and clips/footage from the film shown at D23, that it had moved to a solid "5" for each of us on our must-see list.

The first full-length trailer was released today, and we have to say, it's done nothing to dissuade us from our earlier stance.  The film looks absolutely amazing, and we can't wait to see Merida brought to life on the big-screen next summer.

What are your thoughts on "Brave"?  Having seen what we have so far, is it something you're excited to see, waiting for further footage to judge, or what?  We'd love to hear from you and find out what you think about the trailer, so sound off!

Disney-Pixar's "Brave" - Releases June 22, 2012

Talking Mickey Mouse at the D23 Expo - Disney Wordless Wednesday

Well, it would have been a "Wordless" post, but then the darn Mouse talked...

Courtesy of our friends at FindingMickey.com

D23 Expo 2011: Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives

Photo courtesy of Magical Days With the Mouse

*click on any of the smaller pictures for larger versions* 
In some respects where the D23 Expo is concerned, we may just have saved the best for last!  We've taken you through everything we experienced at the Expo and have done our best to show you the highlights from it all.  So here we go with the last thing we experienced before we said goodbye to the Expo for 2011, the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives.

We stood in line for about an hour for this one, which wasn't too bad considering just what it entailed.  Based on its name, it was just what you would expect it to be; a collection of memories, props, costumes, artwork and pretty much anything else you could think of from throughout the history of the Walt Disney Company, all put into one 12,000 square-foot exhibit at the Expo.  The exhibit was broken up into several different rooms with general Disney television and movie materials, a separate room dedicated solely to things from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the television series "Lost", a room dedicated to costumes from the original 1982 movie TRON, a "Mickey room" dedicated to all things Mickey Mouse, and a room filled with original artwork submitted by fans for the Expo (alongside movie props) based on the movie 101 Dalmatians.

We spent a good half hour to 45 minutes just walking around inside all of the rooms, snapping pictures and exclaiming over everything we saw, and there was a ton.  While we took a lot of pictures, like we did for everything this weekend, we tried to choose the best of the bunch and the ones we enjoyed the most to share with our readers.  We hope that you enjoy looking through them as much as we enjoyed taking them and sharing them with you.

And that's almost it!  We'll be back tomorrow with one final article wrapping up the D23 Expo 2011 in one neat little package, and we have a very special announcement we'll be making as well, so make sure you come back for that!  It's going to be a first for our blog, and we can't wait to get it out to you guys.

One last exhibit and one last batch of pictures for all of our readers; enjoy!

Mickey Mouse Club costuming

Bette Midler, frozen! - Hocus Pocus

The Wizards of Waverly Place Movie costumes - our kids LOVE this one!

From possibly one of our favorite movies EVER - Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Desk and documents from National Treasure

Pirates of the Caribbean costuming and props

Costuming from the original TRON (1982)

Props and decor from the live-action 101 Dalmatians starring Glenn Close

D23 Expo 2011: The Carousel of Projects

*click on any of the smaller pictures for larger versions*
Well, we've officially moved into Sunday now!  We spent Saturday wandering the floors and and standing in our lines for the two panels we wanted to attend: the Walt Disney Studios Presentation and the Lion King 3D Presentation (both of which we've talked about).

We decided to slow things down just a bit on Sunday, but there were still two things we were dying to do.  The first on our list was to take a peek inside the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Carousel of Projects.  Inside this room most of the current projects that Disney is working on for its Parks and Resorts were on display.  Among the highlights were:

• An look at the newest Disney Cruise Lines ship, the "Fantasy", which begins sailing in March, 2012
• An early look at all of the new attractions coming to the new Fantasyland in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
• A look at the construction projects taking place inside Disney California Adventure Park and the all new Buena Vista Street entrance
• A look at Cars Land, coming to Disney California Adventure Park in summer of 2012 and the all-new "E-ticket" attraction, Radiator Springs Racers
• Information on the Disney Vacation Club and its all new resort in Hawaii, Aulani
• An introduction and meet and greet with the one figure bound to pit Disney fan against Disney fan, the talking Mickey Mouse

And a few other things here or there, but those we by far the highlights for us in the room.  Many of the things we saw were discussed in the Parks and Resorts Panel on Friday afternoon in the D23 Expo main arena, but we weren't able to attend.  We were following all of the action on Twitter, though, and all negatives aside, we were glad to get an opportunity to just wander around the room and take it all in for ourselves, and get a more in-depth look into the things we're most excited to see coming to the California Parks.  Some of it was older news to be sure, but we got to physically see some things for ourselves that we never had before, and that made it totally worth the visit for us.

So, we're going to share our highlights from the room with you!  For those who weren't able to attend, we hope you enjoy the pictures of some of the really great stuff coming from Disney all over the world.  We'll be back tomorrow to wrap up our D23 Expo experience with our final room, so come on back for more pictures and keep strolling around with us.  Until then...!

The new "Storytellers" statue which will highlight Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure Park in 2012

A look at the new Pan-Pacific entrance and new Buena Vista Street upgrades at Disney California Adventure Park for 2012

Our friend Sarah from Magical Days With the Mouse made Chad do this

One of the actual cars that will be zipping around the Cars Land attraction Radiator Springs Racers in 2012

And the perfect end to our trip around the Carousel; a meet and greet with the one and only Talking Mickey Mouse

D23 Expo 2011: The Lion King 3D

We think that one of the things that we may have been most excited about doing at the D23 Expo, as odd as it may sound to some, was getting the chance to preview Disney's The Lion King in 3D with a few thousand of our closest Disney-lovin' friends.

If you're not already familiar with the story of The Lion King, where have you been hiding all these years?!  Originally released in 1994, the film tells the story of a young lion cub named Simba who, after running away from home following his father's (Mufasa) death at the hands of his uncle (Scar), begins living the "Hakuna Matata" life with his friends Timon (a meerkat) and Pumbaa (a warthog).  He eventually comes to realize just how much damage his homeland has undergone with his uncle in power and ultimately decides to return and set things right and assume his place in "the circle of life" as king.  And that's about the size of it!  Kind of understated perhaps, but short of writing an entire synopsis, you probably get the idea.

One of the things that made it so special for us is that like so many others, of course, we grew up watching The Lion King.  And like so many others, we can probably recite the majority of it in our sleep.  So the opportunity to be one of the first, worldwide, to see it not only on the big-screen again, but in 3D, was an opportunity that we just couldn't afford to pass up.

We were extremely pleased (and surprised!) to spend a few moments before the presentation began listening to the directors and producers behind this amazing film "panel" with the audience and give us a lot of behind the scenes information about The Lion King.  It was really interesting to listen to them talk in particular about the difficulties surrounding the film in the first place.  In hindsight, looking back it's been one of the most successful animated films ever, but for a long while Disney struggled to get it made.  The crew talked about how most people working on the project saw it as a "C"-movie, maybe a "B" at best, that nobody wanted to work on.  It's hard to imagine animators not wanting to work on The Lion King, but it happened.  They also talked in length about the 3D conversion process that Disney used to bring the film into the 3D era, which was of course very interesting.  Pretty much any behind-the-scenes stuff is okay in our books.  But the highlight of the entire show may just have been when the crew broke into a rendition of "Hakuna Matata" themselves and later did the entire "Lion King Hula" for the audience.  We're not sure we've ever clapped so hard in our lives; Yup Yup Yup!

They talked for around 15 minutes or so, and then it was time for the movie to begin.  We can't stress enough just how much we enjoyed viewing it.  We think it's the ultimate environment to watch a movie that's so well known and loved like this.  People were singing together, applauding at the same parts, laughing at the same parts, and crying at the same parts.  We could hear people muttering lines right along with the movie all around us (and we were too!), and nobody cared in the slightest.  Just an amazing experience all around that we were so glad to be a part of.

As far as the movie itself went, it's just as awesome as ever!  3D or not, the opportunity to see The Lion King again on the big-screen again is worth the price of admission in and of itself.  While it's no Avatar, the 3D did add an entire new depth to the experience of watching the film, and we think that Disney did a great job of taking an originally 2D movie and bringing it up to speed.  Some post-conversion movies don't do a very good job of it, but with it being an animated film a lot of the same problems aren't there, and we think that Disney did a very nice job with this one.  Hands-down, it is going to look amazing when it comes out later this year on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D.

So, now that we've seen it, how about you guys?  Do you have plans to see The Lion King 3D for yourselves when it comes out next month?  It's set to release on Sept. 16 for special "two week only" run in theaters around the country so everyone will have a chance to see it.  Or, if you're lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area, it will be showing at LA's legendary El Capitan theater for three weeks, also beginning on Sept. 16.  You can check out the El Capitan website for more information on tickets and showtimes should you wish to view it "in style".  If you want to wait, however, fear not!  The Lion King is set to release on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on October 4 of this year.

Again, watching The Lion King 3D during the D23 Expo was an amazing experience.  Sure, there were other panels we could have gone to and lots of other things to see, but looking back we know we made the right choice.  And if we didn't, well that's just okay with us, because we'll never know the difference.

The Lion King 3D comes highly recommended.  If you can see when it releases next month, do it.  You won't regret it one bit.

D23 Expo 2011: Walt Disney Studios Presentation part 2

We're back!  We made it through our list of animated films presented during the Walt Disney Studios Presentation earlier today, and we're set to wrap it up this afternoon with our first impressions of all of Disney's live action films that were presented at the D23 Expo. 
 

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John Carter - Based on the Barsoom series of novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (who may be arguably best known for creating the character Tarzan).  John Carter, a Virginian Captain of the Confederacy during the time of the Civil War, is somehow transported while hiding in a cave to the planet Mars.  Because of Mar's gravity, he finds himself with superhuman strength and find himself in the midst of adventures, and wars, with warring Martian clans and in a relationship with a beautiful princess.  We did think it was pretty cool to see Willem Dafoe on stage talking about his Martian character, though.  Set to release March 9, 2012.    
Chad - 3 
Having known nothing about the character of John Carter prior to hearing about him at D23, I really didn't know what to think.  To be honest, now that I do, I'm still not sure I'm sold.  I was amazed to find out that the character is that old, though.  It's an interesting concept, and I'm sure I will probably see it eventually; I'm just not sure about theatrically yet.   
Mark - 4 
I'm glad I know what the movie is about now!  For a while I had no idea what to think at all.  It looks like a Prince of Persia meets Avatar.  I liked both of those films so this maybe right up my alley. 
Overall - 7
Just waiting for more information to make a solid decision on how we feel about it. 
 

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The Odd Life of Timothy Green - The story of two adults who, unable to conceive a child on their own, make a list of the characteristics they would want their child to have and bury them in the back yard, only to have their wish granted in the form of child who mysteriously appears in their home; Timothy Green.  Stars Jennifer Garner Release and set to release August 15, 2012.   
Chad - 4 
Truthfully, I'm a sucker for movies like this!  When Jennifer Garner stood on stage and said this movie speaks to the parent in all of us, she pretty much had me right there.  I may be a guy, but I ain't afraid of movies that make me cry, and this one looks like it's going to do just that.  Pretty much a must-see in my book.   
Mark - 3
The trailer was done really well, but the way they described the film made me a little nervous.  I'm still debating whether I'm going to see this one or not.    
Overall - 7
Just waiting for more information to make a solid decision on how we feel about it.
 

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Chimpanzee - A look at the life of a young orphaned chimpanzee named Oscar and the ape who took him and treated him as his own; set to release date Earth Day 2012.  
Chad - 4
Will I be hunted down and vilified if I admit that I haven't seen a single Disney Nature film yet?  I'm so ashamed... That said, I'm very interested in seeing African Cats (I will be buying it on Blu Ray when it's released) and after seeing the trailer for Chimpanzee, I have every intention of taking my kids to see it.  It looks amazing; gorgeous photography, cute chimps and an amazing story of love in the animal kingdom.  If I didn't see this one I'd hunt myself down.   
Mark - 4 
  I've seen every Disney Nature Film, so why stop now?  These movies are beautifully done, and should be seen by everyone.  I will definitely be seeing this one when it is released.    
Overall - 8
We're pretty excited about this one and will definitely be checking it out when it arrives in theaters.

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Oz: The Great and Powerful - Take a look at Oz way back before Dorothy skipped down the Yellow Brick Road, and see how this humbug of wizard became known as the Great and Powerful.  Starring James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Zach Braff; set to release March 8, 2013.    
Chad - 5
Having read the entire set of L. Frank Baum's original stories dealing with the mythology of Oz, I couldn't be happier to see this movie being made.  Hearing the creators of this film speak in detail (and seeing concept art) about wanting to recreated Baum's original vision of Oz and its many locations and citizens leaves me wanting more!  I have extremely high hopes for this one.   
Mark - 4 
  I love the world of Oz, and I love hearing the different stories that take place there, but I am a bit nervous about James Franco playing The Wizard.  If done right, though, it's going to be amazing!  
Overall - 9
We'll be there opening day. 
 

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The Muppets - They're back!  After over a decade The Muppets hit the big screen once again to save their beloved Muppet Theater, home to the original television show so many of us grew up loving and watching from our own living rooms.  Starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and all of The Muppets; set to release November 23, 2011.    
Chad - 5 
Could not be more excited for a movie.  Having grown up watching "The Muppet Show" on TV on a weekly basis, and having viewed almost every Muppet movie to date, the thought of seeing them again on the big screen has me giddy.  And being able to see Kermit the Frog on stage during the presentation?!  If nothing else that makes me want to see this as quickly as possible.  And it looks genuinely funny.  Lots of laugh out loud moments, even in the brief little bit they let us view.  A "must-see"!   
Mark - 5
I will be the first in line for this; I guarantee it.  Nothing else needs to be said.  
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone?

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The Avengers - Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye team up under the command of Nick Fury to defend to the world from the forces of evil, namely Loki.  Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson; set to release May 4, 2012.   
Chad - 5
I have to admit (shamefully perhaps), that out of all of the movies we knew we'd be able to hear about, this one was at the top of the list.  And what a way to end the presentation!  Huge Marvel fan, have loved every one of the movies that have come down the pike recently, and after seeing Captain America over the summer, seeing another new teaser during the presentation (twice! thank you, Robert Downey, Jr.!) may have put me over the edge.  Seeing Scarlett Johansson on stage didn't hurt, either.  Cannot wait for this one! 
Mark - 5
Yes!  It has come down to this: Earth's mightiest heroes teaming up for superhero v. supervillain battles of epic porptions.  I mean, c'mon, you have Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man all in one movie.  It's gonna be da bomb yo!  And yes, I just said that.   
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone? 
 

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And there you have it, folks.  Our very first thoughts on all of the the up and coming Disney movies that were previewed during the D23 Expo Walt Disney Studios Presentation.

So, what did you think?  Are there any new ones on the list that you didn't know about before?  Any film that you are most excited about?  Or maybe you were at the Expo and want to share your own thoughts with us?  We'd love to hear from you!  We hope that these have given you just a small taste of what we saw and heard during the presentation.

Tomorrow we'll keep right on trucking with our D23 coverage and start talking about the next panel we were able to attend, but we're keeping it a secret until then. Come on back, keep strolling with us, and enjoy D23 right alongside us as we relive the entire weekend with you.

D23 Expo 2011: Walt Disney Studios Presentation part 1

We are happy to say that for the first time in Days in the Park history, today we'll be talking about movies!  We've talked about villains from movies before, but since we focus mostly on things from inside Disneyland, movies aren't usually on the list.  But they are today, and we couldn't be happier!  Why today?  Why, because of the D23 Expo 2011 of course!

Part of the D23 Expo experience included an exclusive look at upcoming Walt Disney Studios motion pictures.  We were excited to see all of these upcoming movies, and we couldn't wait to see who would be making appearances.  Sadly, but understandably, no cameras or phones were allowed inside the arena during the presentation, but we thought we would share with our readers the movies that were announced and how excited we are to see them from both of our perspectives.  There were many stars on hand, lots of studio execs, and we were able to see tons of concept art, teasers, trailers, and never-before seen footage from some of them.  Out of the entire weekend it was probably the one "must-see" for us, and we truly happy to be there.

The Walt Disney Studios Presentation began with Disney's (and Pixar's) upcoming Animated Features.  It highlighted many of the films coming from Disney-Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disney Toon Studios.  The entire "animated" portion of the show was emceed by one Mr. John Lasseter from Pixar Animation Studios.  As huge (just like everyone else) fans of the Disney-Pixar films, it was truly awesome to be seeing him (in person) for the first time.  With all that said, let's take a look at some of the films we were fortunate enough to preview

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Planes - People have been talking about Planes for quite some time now, and it's being billed as an off-shoot of the Cars universe, but with airplanes of course.  Planes stars John Cryer (who made an appearance to talk about his character) as Dusty, a cropduster who decides to take off an adventure around the globe.  It's set to release Spring 2013.

Chad- 4
I'd heard about Planes before, and was interested in the concept, but seeing and hearing about it definitely made it more exciting for me.  Based on what we saw during the presentation, it definitely seems like it's moving in a very positive direction, and it looks like it will be a fun little movie.
Mark- 4
Personally I think the movie looks amazing, and I think that John Cryer is a great choice to play Dusty.  For some strange reason it reminded me a lot of old Disney cartoon, like "Susie the Little Blue Coupe", which is a good thing.
Overall - 8 
We're pretty excited about this one and will definitely be checking it out when it arrives in theaters. 

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The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs - Not much was given out about this movie (it's still very early in the planning stages), except it seems to be based on what the world might have been like if the asteroid we believe wiped the dinosaurs off the face of the earth never hit the earth.  Interesting concept to be sure!  Planned release around Holidays 2013.

Chad - 5
Pixar?  Dinosaurs?  Sold!  I won't get into it, but so far a very small number of the Disney-Pixar movies haven't been fives for me, so I'm going to call it a "5" before I've even seen it.  I have that much confidence.
Mark - 4
They have chosen another great theme for one of their movies, dinosaurs!  What kid doesn't love dinosaurs? It's a movie kids will be begging to see.
Overall - 9
We'll be there opening day.

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The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind - Exploring such interesting topics as the reasons why we get songs stuck in our head, why we dream, and why we even remember, this as of yet untitled Disney-Pixar film will travel to a world still unexplored in the realm of their movies; the human mind.  Planned release Spring 2014.

Chad - 4
Really not sure what this one is about (because of the little information we have at this point), but I'm definitely interested, and hey, it's Pixar!  How bad could it be?
Mark - 3
The first thing I thought of when they announced this was the movie Osmosis Jones.  No idea what the story will be about, but hey, it's Pixar.  I'm sure it's gong to be great!
Overall - 7
Just waiting for more information to make a solid decision on how we feel about it.

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Brave - Pixar’s first female-lead film stars Merida, a Scottish princess set on escaping her fate of an arranged marriage to "one of three idiot clan leaders.”  With Billy Connolly and Craig Ferguson; set to release June 22, 2012.

Chad - 5 
I have to admit that I haven't been following the news on Brave as much as others have so I was really anxious to find out more about it.  Now that I have, everything about it seems absolutely amazing.  The story, animation, concept - I can't wait to see this one now!  And we got a free poster from Disney-Pixar to boot!
Mark - 5 
I loved the trailer they showed, the clips they had, and the animation.  The time they spent talking about the film made me want to watch it just that much more.  I cannot wait to see this film!
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone?

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Wreck-It Ralph - The story of a 1980's 8-bit video game villain, in the present day, who's tired of playing the bad guy and begins searching through other arcade games to prove he has the goods to change his fortunes and be the hero.  With the voice talents of John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman; set to release in late 2012.

Chad - 5 
Totally a concept that I can get behind.  As both an avid gamer and a child of the 80's, what little we saw of the movie had me in stitches.  Arguably (since I've been arguing with myself about it ever since) the movie that was discussed with us that I am the most excited about at this point.
Mark - 5
Being a video game nerd I think this film is going to rock.  A video game character jumping around other game worlds; what more could you ask for?  Makes me think about what might happen if Mario ran into the guy from "Crazy Taxi"?
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone?

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Monsters University - A prequel to Monsters, Inc. that will take us back in time and show us how Mike and Sully became buddies (after being rivals) during their college years.  Billy Crystal and John Goodman return as Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan; set for 2013 release.

Chad - 5 
Huge fan of the original, and after seeing the amount of research that's going into this one (to make it true to college life), and seeing how excited everyone is that's on this project, it's just made me want to see it that much.  And seeing Billy Crystal come out on stage to talk about it didn't hurt any either!
Mark - 5
I'm really glad that Disney-Pixar is bringing back these two characters.  We'll have to wait until 2013, but I believe it will be more than worth it.
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone?

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Frankenweenie - Tim Burton's re-imagined stop motion version of his original live action story about a boy and his resurrected dog; set for release October 2012

Chad - 5
I readily admit that I'm a huge Tim Burton fanboy.  I know that the most people either love him or hate him, but count me among the lovers.  And as a huge fan of both The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, he had me before I really even knew what this one was about.  Can't wait!
Mark - 5
I loved the original version of this story, but Tim Burton's animated features have never disappointed me.  It gives me a reason to go ahead and plan a visit to the theaters in October 2012, a full year (and then some!) away.
Overall - 10
Midnight showing, anyone?

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As avid movie-goers, we almost couldn't help but love everything that we saw.  Talking to others after who felt a little let down by it all, we can't help but be happy we weren't at the Expo 2009, just so that we didn't have anything to stack this one against.  For us, it was awesome to see so many actors and studio people that we hold in such esteem and listen to them talk about their product.  You can tell that they love what they are doing, and that made it all worthwhile for us.  Oh, and the cupcakes they gave the entire audience in celebration of Pixar's 25th Anniversary didn't hurt, either.

Well, that concludes our very early perspectives on the Animated Features we saw at this year's Expo, but not the end of our list.  We'll be back sometime this afternoon with all of the live action movies that were previewed as well, and give you our early thoughts on those, too.

D23 Expo 2011 - Pavilions and Exhibitors

*note: click on any of the smaller pictures for a LARGER version*
When we were beginning to go through all of our pictures and starting to think about what we were going to write, well, the word "overwhelming" comes to mind.  We hardly knew where to start!  We mentioned it on Twitter yesterday to which one of our followers quickly responded: "Start at the beginning, and when you come to the end, stop!  See?"  Not only was it great advice, but it's a quote from "Alice in Wonderland", too, so that's exactly what we're going to do; start at the beginning.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday to get ready to head out.  Actually, it was before even "bright and early" now that we think about it.  We had heard that lines on Friday morning were really long, and Saturday was supposed to be sold out, so we rounded up our gear and headed out to park at the Toy Story Lot around 7am.  Luckily, the Anaheim Convention Center isn't too far from the Lot, so we were able to walk there in around 10 minutes, and after running into a few friends and gabbing a bit, we hopped into the D23 Member's line, which already looked something like this:

All we can say is "Thank God" for our membership.  It helped us get in fairly quickly all things told, and we even got to go in a little bit earlier than the 9am opening time for members that we thought we were going to get (General Admission were let in at 10am every day).  We were already all keyed up and excited, but when we got inside this greeted us, which of course did absolutely nothing to calm us down in the slightest.

Welcome to the Expo!!!

Once inside and through all of our checkpoints and receiving our ticket lanyards (a nice touch!) and guidebooks, we were ready to start exploring.  And that's where we'll start our first look at the Expo, inside the Exhibitors and Pavilions Hall.

This was "the hub", if you will, through which everything else kind of branched off and was basically a common room of sorts for all of the D23 Expo guests.  We spent a lot of our time over the course of our two days wandering all over the hall, and got to see quite a few pretty cool things (and meet some pretty cool people in the process).

The exhibitors portion of the room was of course where all of the, well, exhibitors were.  Art galleries were selling their painting and lithographs, Disney oriented websites such as MousePlanet and MiceChat were on hand to talk to guests, Vinylmation and Pin selling was taking place; there was just loads to see.  While it was kind of neat to look around at all of the booths and see all of the Disney wares, we honestly enjoyed the front of the hall the most, though, for several reasons.  A lot of movie-oriented booths were set up near the front of the room that really got us interested.  We couldn't be more excited about "The Muppets" which opens in November, and although we didn't meet them ourselves, we were able to see (and picture!) Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner from "TRON" signing for other guests.  It was awesome just to be able to say that we had seen them!  We also got to check out a booth and hear more about a movie we're very excited to see when it comes out next year, "Wreck-It Ralph".  It was the first we had heard about this movie this weekend about an 8-bit video game villain from the 80's who is tired with his status of a villain and longs for something more and sets out to prove that he is "hero" material.

Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner (TRON) signing autographs for the guests

There was also a lot going on on the floor on display, both for the kids and the adults.  We got a chance to see Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, the Black Pearl (from "Pirates of the Caribbean"), and even Walt's limo was on display!

Lightning McQueen made completely out of LEGO

There was also tons of excitement in the pavilions area, because that's where the Disney Channel/Radio Disney stage where. The area was always packed to the gills with parents in line with their children to see their favorite Disney Channel stars, such as the casts of "Lemonade Mouth", "Pair of Kings", "Kickin' It", and "Shake It Up".  Chad's own boys watch "Shake It Up" religiously, and we were even able to catch a pretty darn good picture of some of the stars signing autographs for many of their fans.  We're obviously way beyond the target audience of those shows, and we were still pretty excited ourselves!

Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Kenton Duty and Caroline Sunshine sign for "Shake It Up" fans

Wanting to shop? Well, the pavilions portion of the hall had you covered there as well!  There were all kinds of stores all around selling all kinds of Disney paraphernalia and goods.  Some of our personal favorites were the Disney Store booth and the D23 Expo Dream Store where they sold all of the official D23 Expo merchandise (we bought shirts which you'll see in a later picture).  They even had an area set aside for auction items from Disney to be on display!  They were hosting a large auction upstairs for some fantastic items such as a huge snow-globe of Sleeping Beauty Castle from Disneyland Park inside the Main Street, USA Emporium, but our favorite had to be the car, or pirate-ship rather, from Peter Pan's Flight.

The on-site Disney Store

One of the vehicles from Peter Pan's Flight up for grabs (and money!) at the D23 Expo

There was just so much to see, and so much to do, it would just be impossible to cover it all (as you can probably tell if you're still reading this). But we've got a couple more of our highlights from the floor still to go! We also, as avid gamers,got a huge kick out of the Disney Gaming Pavilion and seeing the new XBOX 360 Kinect's game, "Disneyland Adventures", in action.  The lines were always so long we didn't participate ourselves, but stood on the outside just like every other fan and "oohed" and "aahed" at how cool some of the gaming stuff Disney is putting out actually is.  Chad's already decided he's going to have to run out and buy an XBOX as a result of it.  No word yet on his wife's reaction to the news.

The Disney Gaming Pavilion

All that said, and out of all the excitement though, we think that one of our favorite things we did during our weekend on the floor was to participate in the Disney Voluntears program where we got to stuff bags with necessities for people who have been the victims of natural disasters around the world for the Red Cross. It was just a small way to give back to others who are less fortunate than ourselves, but it made us smile to be able to do so. So we waited in line, we grabbed our bags, and we stuffed and smiled the entire time. And at the end, we even got to take a picture with some of our favorite people on the planet, FindingMickey.com , who were able to do it with us.  It may not seem like much, but in the midst of everything else going on, we were glad that Disney was able and willing to let us participate like that in some way.  Pretty cool beans, as far as we're concerned.

Working as a Disney Voluntear for the American Red Cross

And that just about wraps up our highlights from the Exhibitors and Pavilions Hall's booths, shops, and interactivity-type things.  We feel like we only barely scratched the surface, but there was just so much we could write a novel on it and still find more to write about, so we figure as long as hit our high points, we've done our job.  There were still a few other things going on in this area of the Expo that we'll hit on later in the week, though, but we've said a mouthful so we'll break off for now.

We hope that everyone has enjoyed the pictures!  We'll be putting them into one big photo gallery (which we hope to have done later today) that we can add to as we go along, and we'll post a link for that as soon as we have it.  In the meantime, we'll be back tomorrow with a write-up of the different panels we were fortunate enough to attend during the D23 2011 Expo.  We hope you'll be back to read all about it!

We'll end with probably the coolest thing of all that was out on the floor, the "Perry the Platy-bus".  Enjoy!

*singing* Agent P...