Perhaps you were at D23 Expo in Anaheim too. And if you were not, then it’s likely you have already read about the announcements and highlights of the Expo. So this is not news from the Expo.

In this article, I’ll share my experience, impressions, and opinions from the Expo, along with some of my photos.

, Curator of Yesterland, August 21, 2015

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Spanning three levels at the huge Anaheim Convention Center

Every odd year beginning in 2009, The Walt Disney Company has mounted a gigantic convention in Anaheim for Disney fans, D23 Expo. Fans show up, eager to spend time with others like themselves and to leave with new knowledge about Disney, along with bags of hard-to-get merchandise.

My first D23 Expo was 2009. That year, I tried to go to a bunch of presentations and panels, dealing with the frustration of long lines. One morning I had a door to a presentation room closed just as my part of the line got near it—after an hour of waiting and being assured that I would get in.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

StagePass ticket distribution

I sat out the next two D23 Expos, even though I knew that Disney had learned from the first one by using rooms with higher capacities and offering more passes similar to FASTPASS.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

D23 Expo guests waiting to enter

Actually, there seems to be one thing that Disney has not been able to figure out. I heard complaints about how hard it was to enter the convention center. It should not have been necessary for D23 Gold members with pre-paid tickets to stand in the hot August morning sun for more than two hours—finally getting in an hour after the official entry time for Gold members and too late to make it to 10:00 a.m. events. Disney now has until 2017 to fix the problem; it should not be that difficult. (Hint: use more doors, just as Disney parks use many turnstiles at park entrances.)

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Direction sign for the vast ground floor

For all D23 Expo attendees, it was best to arrive with patience, comfortable shoes, a credit card, and the expectation that it would only be possible to take in a fraction of what was offered. Those who snagged Sorcerer Package tickets for $2,000 each could avoid lines, got preview time on Thursday, and had other benefits—but still could only take in a fraction of D23 Expo.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Midget Autopia at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum booth

This year I went to D23 Expo with an exhibitor pass instead of a paid pass. Exhibitor passes are a byproduct of renting exhibit space, so they’re really a different kind of paid pass—but I wasn’t the one paying.

Kaye Malins, Executive Director of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri kindly invited me to join her crew. I helped set up their space the Thursday before the event and spent some time working at the booth all three days, although primarily Saturday afternoon. It was a crew of the nicest people (all putting in far more hours at the booth than I did). We showed off a genuine Midget Autopia car that operated at Disneyland from 1957 to 1966. The car rotated slowly in front of a backdrop of the handsome Santa Fe Depot that houses the museum. The perfectly engineered rotation mechanism was custom-built by Lee Hoover, one of the volunteers.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Midget Autopia on a turntable

We told guests how Midget Autopia had to leave Fantasyland to allow a walkway to “it’s a small world”—coming soon to Disneyland from the New York World’s Fair. Walt Disney donated the ride to his boyhood hometown of Marceline. Midget Autopia ran at Walt Disney Park in Marceline into the 1970s. The big story at the booth was the plan to bring back Midget Autopia adjacent to the museum in Marceline. Guests could make donations and could use Sharpies to sign two park benches—and many did. The benches will go to the Walt Disney Barn in Marceline.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Creative guest costumes

You never know who is going to drop by a booth. Some D23 Expo attendees got into the Disney spirit by dressing up. Katherine Ashburn and Joshua Partridge from Florida were terrific as Sadness and Anger from Inside Out.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

More guests dressed for the event

With an exhibitor pass, I could not attend any of the shows in the three largest halls. No Disney Legends Awards ceremony. No Pixar and Disney Animation presentation. No Walt Disney Parks and Resorts presentation. No concerts. No Imagineering panels.

That was just as well.

It meant I had time to spend with D23 guests at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum and MiceChat booths, to enjoy exhibits on the show floor, and even to attend three excellent presentations at the Walt Disney Archives Stage.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

MiceChat, O’Zell, and Walt Disney Birthplace

A well-attended row of adjacent booths offered MiceChat, O’Zell Soda, and the Walt Disney Birthplace. MiceChat was practically its own little expo—with celebrity guests, MiceDeals, MiceTrips, Fairy Godmother Travel, all sorts of swag, prize giveaways, and artist Shane Grammar.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Artist and former Imagineer Shane Grammar

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Character animator Nik Ranieri and animator/historian Tom Sito at MiceChat

Photo by a volunteer, 2015

Charles Phoenix, Werner Weiss, and Mike Peraza

Dusty Sage at MiceChat invited me to appear at the MiceChat booth. I signed free Yesterland postcards, met many D23 guests who have been reading Yesterland for years (thank you for all the kind words!), and talked to other guests who were completely unfamiliar with MiceChat and Yesterland—but are now going to take a look.

MiceChat had three or four celebrities at a time. During my shifts, it was an honor to be in the company of such people as pop culture humorist/author Charles Phoenix and Disney animation artist Mike Peraza. (In the photo above, I feel underdressed in my official Marceline “Bring Back Midget Autopia” bowling shirt, although I really like that shirt.)

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Guests waiting to enter the Disney Store

It seems that for many D23 Expo attendees, the highest priority was shopping. StorePass tickets for the Disney Store, Mickey’s of Glendale, and the Disney Dreamstore disappeared quickly each morning. Guests filled long switch-back queues for each store. Perhaps some of the WED and WDI goods at Mickey’s of Glendale would have appealed to me, but I have no idea what was being sold in that store or the Disney Store because the lines were always way too long.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Guests waiting to enter Mickey’s of Glendale

You might think the photo above is from the first morning, with a large crowd eager to get the best selection. But the photo is from the final day at 4:55 p.m., just 125 minutes before the end of this D23 Expo. The crowd was still trying to get in.

There was a brief time late Sunday morning when there was no line at the Disney Dreamstore, so I entered. I left without buying anything.

There were plenty of places to shop without entering one of the large stores. “Friends of Disney” and Disney Partner Retailers offered all kinds of Disney-licensed merchandise. In the Emporium booths at the back of each of the three show floor halls, art galleries, collectables dealers, websites, autograph sellers, publishers, and others offered a wide variety. Ed Asner and Dick Van Dyke, among others, autographed photos or posters—for a price.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Vans with Disney characters

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Disney character American Tourister luggage

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Mattel Precision Series

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

A closer look at Precision Series’ Radiator Springs

A toy series that I liked is the new Cars Play Set from Mattel’s Precision Series. The models of buildings from Radiator Springs are higher quality (and higher priced) than typical toys. My guess is that more adults will buy these for themselves than for children. Flo’s V8 Café, which lights up, has a suggested price of $99.99. By the time someone buys all the buildings and die-cast cars, it could really add up. It’s a good thing I have no place for them.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Disneyland exhibit from Disney Archives

The 60th anniversary Disneyland exhibit, with artifacts from the Disney Archives, was a Yesterland exhibit of sorts—although they didn’t call it that, of course. Other websites, including MiceChat have photo galleries from the exhibit. Very well done!

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Benjamin Franklin from America on Parade at the Disneyland exhibit

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Shanghai Disneyland exhibit entance

But my favorite exhibit on the show floor was about Shanghai Disneyland.

I was particularly impressed that the people working at the booth were Imagineers who worked on Shanghai Disneyland. I talked with Christopher Merritt, Senior Production Designer for Mickey Avenue. The street serves the same role as Main Street U.S.A., but it uses the roster of classic Disney cartoon characters, including some obscure ones, as the merchants of the street. It’s expected to be more relevant to the audience in China.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Imagineer Chris Merritt

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015

Many details about Shanghai Disneyland

This article only scratches the surface of D23 Expo.

I’ll see you at the next one in 2017.

The Secret Tour of Disneyland, 2nd Edition (Yesterland review here) is a feature-length DVD by the father-daughter team of John Delmont and Lauren Delmont. It’s filmed on location at Disneyland and other Southern California places with connections to Walt Disney. Lauren is the host of the entertaining tour, with fun facts about Disneyland and the park’s history.

I just learned that they’re down to the final 40 DVDs. They will not manufacture any new ones.

You can purchase The Secret Tour of Disneyland from Amazon.com—until the remaining inventory runs out.

Click here to post comments at MiceChat about this article.

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Updated August 21, 2015.