My Trip to the 2013 D23 Expo - That's a Wrap!

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Then they told us a story about a failed attraction. They were planning a Water Feature for the pool at SSR. It was going to be based around Donald Duck.



The water canon which Donald is being shot with eventually begins to lift Donald off the ground as if the water is propelling him upwards. In reality there would need to be some sort of support that would lift Donald up but it would appear that he was being lifted by the water alone. And Donald would be furious about this.

Now the gentleman to whom they were pitching the idea was Asian and did not speak American English very clearly. The Imagineers got about halfway through the presentation and all of a sudden the Asian man jumped up from his chair and yelled, “No pole up character butt!”

One of the Imagineers joked in hindsight, “Well that’s why he was furious!”

They moved on to Toontown and some of the crazy things that they do there.





They played for us a Police line recording.

Press 1 if an Anvil has fallen on your head.
Press 2 if your eyes are bulging out
Press 3 if you have swallowed hot sauce
Press 4 if you are seeing birdies instead of stars when a safe falls on your head



They played a few more really funny radio commercials. If you linger around Toon Town you might hear some of these commercials. I don’t remember any of them now, but I do recommend if you have the opportunity to listen to any of those commercials in Toon Town you should. It’s another one of those little details that Disney does so well.



They showed us some gags from DCL. They called it the DCL stretching room. These gags read going up or going down in the elevators on I believe the Dream and the Fantasy.



Then they showed us some of the concept art for the stern of one of the ships.










This was the winner. They also told us that when they heard the name of the slide they had to include this little Donald reference as if he had flown off the slide.



For the attraction Toy Story Midway Mania, Don Rickless did the voice. It took them 33 total hours of recording in the studio to get it all right. They played us some of the outtakes and they were pretty funny.



Also in DCA when they were working on the soundtrack for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, Kevin had written a song for Larry the Cable guy to sing, but when he got in front of John Lasseter to pitch the song he came up with a blank. So he just started singing, “something, something, something, something.” John Lasseter loved it and included that as one of the songs in the Junkyard mix.



Another thing about the ride was that Kevin wanted a “joke” button on the ride operator’s console for times like when the ride was taking too long to load so that something was going on after the standard boarding announcement was completed. They wrote 20 jokes and had them recorded and now they play them when needed.

And with that little tidbit, they had run out of time and said goodbye. That was it! The Expo was all over. We had a blast, but I was ready for some real grub. Not just delivery food, something from our fridge or the take out counters in the Hilton.

Up next, Feed me Seymour!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Being paid to write and develop gags at Disney. Sign me up for that job!

Love the crack about nothing funny about the Eisner years.


And yes, CosPlay = costume play.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That necklace is beautiful even though it more widely available then you would have liked.

The seminar sounded fascinating again. I always kind of assumed that the humorous touches were always part of Disneyland. I loved that Disney Cruise Line was also included.

Corinna

 

[Pesky]

WOW, those are some amazing sessions! I adore your necklace -- it's beautiful! And you guys scored on some great artwork. And isn't it funny how fate works to bring Si and Am back to you all.

 

[Pinkocto]

What a great last session! These are some of the things that make me love Disney so much, the extra funny details. No where else will you find things like this.

And oh my for cutting the dating game scene because an ant wouldn't date a spider... Not to mention the horrible image the children would get from that line

 

[franandaj]

Being paid to write and develop gags at Disney. Sign me up for that job!

Love the crack about nothing funny about the Eisner years.


And yes, CosPlay = costume play.

I thought that was one of the funnier jokes of the whole session!

That necklace is beautiful even though it more widely available then you would have liked.

The seminar sounded fascinating again. I always kind of assumed that the humorous touches were always part of Disneyland. I loved that Disney Cruise Line was also included.

Corinna

Thanks! I really like it a lot. I've been wearing it every since the Expo and I've only changed it out once, that was for about a week when I was going to Disney and I met up with Jenny and her DH. Joe Lancisero works primarily for the Cruise Line, so he had a lot of stories related to DCL.

WOW, those are some amazing sessions! I adore your necklace -- it's beautiful! And you guys scored on some great artwork. And isn't it funny how fate works to bring Si and Am back to you all.

They were some pretty cool sessions, Thanks on the necklance.

I can't wait for our house to be finished so we can start getting some of this stuff out of the boxes and on display!

What a great last session! These are some of the things that make me love Disney so much, the extra funny details. No where else will you find things like this.

And oh my for cutting the dating game scene because an ant wouldn't date a spider... Not to mention the horrible image the children would get from that line

This was a great way to end the Expo, so much fun! I loved that joke in that the director didn't even bat an eye at how sick the spider joke was and went straight to the ant not dating a spider!

 

[franandaj]

After the Expo was technically over, they hosted a “Fond Farewell” in the Sorcerer’s Lounge for us. There were more cupcakes and I believe that there was a beer and wine hosted bar so that we could sit around for a bit and chat.



By the time that we got back to our room, we were tired and hungry. We had stopped to chat with some of our new friends on the way back to the hotel. We had met them in line the first day of the Expo preview and had continued to chat with them all throughout the weekend. They were moving over to the VGC the next day, for a few days at DLR before heading home. We were able to sprinkle some pixie dust on their trip before we said our 3D goodbyes. We are 2D friends now and keep up (as much as one keeps up through FB and the DIS, which sometimes can be quite a lot!)

Back at the room was another story. All weekend we had been dumping stuff everywhere and tomorrow we had deal with the reality of getting it all into our car and back home.





This was the bag that we bought at Mickey’s of Glendale that we filled with pins, T-shirts, and all our other purchases.



We had talked about where we would go for dinner, and we had a new stipulation on our dining plans. Since making the offer on the house, we couldn’t really afford to eat out, except at places where Fran had already purchased gift cards. (That’s a whole ‘nother conversation about how we “save money” buying gift cards online). I couldn’t find the ones for Lonestar Steakhouse (which was a short drive to Tustin), but I did have the ones for Morton’s just a scooter’s ride away! Oh Darn!

So off to Morton’s we headed! They started us off with a loaf of some very yummy bread.



I had one of my standard Martinis (well technically it’s a Gibson, but essentially it’s a Martini).



I shared my French Onion Soup with Fran.



I let her have all the Lobster Bisque to herself. Both of these soups were out of this world!



We split this steak between us.



As well as Creamed Spinach



And a baked potato. Sorry these are so dark and blurry the light in the restaurant was very low and I certainly wasn’t going to use my flash for these pictures. That would have been very rude to the diners around us. Anyways, it was a kind of swanky place.



I like all my fixins on the side so that I can add them with each bite, whereas most other people like it slopped all on top of the potato. My way is better when you want to take the potato home for leftovers.



And of course who could forget dessert? In a high end restaurant like this, they always have some delectable “to die for” desserts and tonight was no exception. We got the Flourless Molten Center Chocolate Cake.



I had to take this picture once we had taken a bite to show how ooey and gooey the center of the cake was.



Bellies full and minds and bodies exhausted we headed back to our room for our last night of sleep before returning home.

The next morning was chaotic. I found out at about 7:30AM that people with Chase Disney Visa cards could start making F&W reservations. Turns out there was a very limited number of spots available on this day, and not even all of the seminars were open for reservations. The point is that I used up a lot of time for packing and my attention was not focused when we were ready and calling the bellman. Also my blood pressure was going sky high as I “had” my Grand Marnier tasting and got disconnected before I could pay. Then when I called back it was sold out. I was on the phone all the way home trying to get something booked, however, before my calling fiasco, here is Fran waiting for the Bellman.





Turns out no one communicated Fran’s message to the Bellman which was, “You will need two carts maybe three”.

When he got up to our room he said, “This isn’t all going to fit on one cart. I’m going to have to get one maybe two more.”

It turns out, we bought so much stuff that we couldn’t fit our luggage in the SUV after loading all our purchases. We ended up leaving one scooter and our luggage with Bell Services, and heading home with all our loot. I picked up my friend/cleaning lady and we unloaded the first load of stuff at our storage garage and headed back to Anaheim to pick up the luggage. We were back home and unloaded by about 5PM at which point I’m pretty sure we just collapsed. Another Expo completed! I can’t wait for 2015!

 

[jedijill]

Wow! That was some haul! Morton's looks fantastic!

Jill in CO

 

[dolphingirl47]

Those cupcakes are so cute. Dinner looked delicious. I can't believe how much stuff you managed to buy during the Expo.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

That is a great haul. Well done!

Morton's looks great. I think I could easily eat just the soup and dessert.


Here's to 2015.

 

[Pinkocto]

Thank you so much for sharing your awesome experience with us!

Dinner looked fabulois. And I hope you can get settled in the new house soon so you can display all those wonderful purchases.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Was that seminar full?

The Women of Pixar seminar at Stage 28 was not that full. It was about 2/3 full that day.

Finally caught back up to your trip report during the D23 Expo. I remember reall ywell seeing a lot of guests dressed up as Disney characters which they had great costumes.

Great update from the Walt Disney Imagineering 60th: Leave 'em Laughing seminar at Stage 23. I did see you at that seminar just before it started at 4:30pm. That seminar was the best one that day out of all the seminars on Sunday. We did laugh a lot. The soundtrack for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree that Kevin talked about was the best one of something something something. It is so nice to see the pictures of the seminar from a different angle where we were in the back.

That is a lot of stuff that you and Fran bought during the Expo and I didn't even bought a third of what you bought and I did spent a lot that trip. Morton's looks very nice and the food looks good as well.

It was fun to read your D23 Expo trip report and I can't wait to go back in 2015. Maybe this time my DA and I will get the Sorcerer's package so we won't have to wait in those long queues for the seminars.

 

[Leshaface]

Omgosh, I had no idea people dressed up! Love the Mulan outfit. Trying to figure out who the girl with the white hair is supposed to be..

Loved reading about the 'Leave 'em laughin' seminar. Thanks for posting that! Such fun and cool facts.

I always smile every time you post pictures of your purchases. You two definitely know how to shop!

Now I need to hear about how you save money by buying gift cards online!

 

[Wonder2008]

Thank you for another thorough and entertaining trip report! You obviously went to a lot of hard work in putting all of that together, and those of us who could not attend certainly appreciate it.

Having just returned from our first time at Disneyland during the holidays, my sister wants to return in 2015 for Disneyland's 60th anniversary. Who knows - maybe we'll finally get to go to one of these Expos!

Thanks again,
Robert

 

[franandaj]

Wow! That was some haul! Morton's looks fantastic!

Jill in CO

Yeah it was! I'd just like to finally get settled and start putting some of those pieces out where we could see them. I definitely love Morton's!

Those cupcakes are so cute. Dinner looked delicious. I can't believe how much stuff you managed to buy during the Expo.

Corinna

I'm still in awe of how much stuff she managed to buy!

That is a great haul. Well done!

Morton's looks great. I think I could easily eat just the soup and dessert.


Here's to 2015.

Probably we should have just stuck to the soup and dessert, but we ate almost nothing all day so I was STARVING!!!!!!

Thank you so much for sharing your awesome experience with us!

Dinner looked fabulois. And I hope you can get settled in the new house soon so you can display all those wonderful purchases.

Me too!

The Women of Pixar seminar at Stage 28 was not that full. It was about 2/3 full that day.

Finally caught back up to your trip report during the D23 Expo. I remember reall ywell seeing a lot of guests dressed up as Disney characters which they had great costumes.

Great update from the Walt Disney Imagineering 60th: Leave 'em Laughing seminar at Stage 23. I did see you at that seminar just before it started at 4:30pm. That seminar was the best one that day out of all the seminars on Sunday. We did laugh a lot. The soundtrack for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree that Kevin talked about was the best one of something something something. It is so nice to see the pictures of the seminar from a different angle where we were in the back.

That is a lot of stuff that you and Fran bought during the Expo and I didn't even bought a third of what you bought and I did spent a lot that trip. Morton's looks very nice and the food looks good as well.

It was fun to read your D23 Expo trip report and I can't wait to go back in 2015. Maybe this time my DA and I will get the Sorcerer's package so we won't have to wait in those long queues for the seminars.

I'm amazed that so many seminars were not full on Sunday. The Leave em Laughing was a great way to end the Expo. I'm sure you would enjoy the Sorcerer's package if you can justify the price. I keep checking the D23 site to see when tickets will go on sale.

Omgosh, I had no idea people dressed up! Love the Mulan outfit. Trying to figure out who the girl with the white hair is supposed to be..

Loved reading about the 'Leave 'em laughin' seminar. Thanks for posting that! Such fun and cool facts.

I always smile every time you post pictures of your purchases. You two definitely know how to shop!

Now I need to hear about how you save money by buying gift cards online!

People have been dressing up since the first one. I've seen some great costumes over the years. Well, Fran knows how to shop, I just have learned how to load the car.

As far as gift cards, just google "discount gift cards online" or something similar. There are at least half a dozen sites that offer gift cards for sale. These are cards that people have received as gifts, or just no longer need and they are selling them for cash. The more popular cards may only be sold at a 2% or 5% discount, but just the other day she was asking me how much in Dress Barn cards I wanted at 20% off. You can sign up for email notifications when people list cards you're interested in. Costco cards sell within minutes of being listed as well as Arco and a couple others.

You can also buy them on eBay. Either way, if you know you will spend money at that store and you can get the gift cards for less than face value, you save something. Plus on eBay you get 2% back into your eBay account in eBay bucks. She was able to use eBay bucks to buy a Kroger gift card, that was worth over $400, so there was some completely free groceries.

 

[rentayenta]

Holy crap, that's a lot of swag!

Dinner looks amazing and I put my tater fixins on the side too for that very purpose, it always goes home.

The sparkly cupcakes are cute.

 

[franandaj]

Thank you for another thorough and entertaining trip report! You obviously went to a lot of hard work in putting all of that together, and those of us who could not attend certainly appreciate it.

Having just returned from our first time at Disneyland during the holidays, my sister wants to return in 2015 for Disneyland's 60th anniversary. Who knows - maybe we'll finally get to go to one of these Expos!

Thanks again,
Robert

You're welcome! I've been fairly crazy for the past couple months. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to DL. We are moving to a new house so it's been hard for me to keep up with DIS stuff! I think it's going to get even harder now!

 

[franandaj]

Holy crap, that's a lot of swag!

Dinner looks amazing and I put my tater fixins on the side too for that very purpose, it always goes home.

The sparkly cupcakes are cute.

It sure was a lot! Just unloading it wiped me out! If the Expo hadn't already!

I always like my stuff on the side, that way I can add it bite by bite and when I reheat the potato, the sour cream doesn't go bad! I know I won't be able to eat the whole thing on the night out!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm amazed that so many seminars were not full on Sunday. The Leave em Laughing was a great way to end the Expo. I'm sure you would enjoy the Sorcerer's package if you can justify the price. I keep checking the D23 site to see when tickets will go on sale.

You were correct that the seminars were not that full on Sunday. I did see a lot of Sunday attendees than the other attendees that had the 3 Day badges on the showroom floor. The Leave 'em Laughing was the best seminar out of all that Sunday. After talking with my DA about the Sorcerer package with you at the Expo, she will want to consider it so we won't have to wait in the queues for the seminars, shopping, to get in the Expo when it opens, etc. I'm checking every once in a while to see what the dates are for D23 Expo in 2015. We'll have to wait and see what the price is for Sorcerer package if it is worth paying the price. $1500 for the Sorcerer package is a lot money at the 2013 and I would guess that the 2015 package might be even more then the 2013 Sorcerer package.