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A Disney weekend in photos, after the break!
D23 2024 - Day 3 @ The Anaheim Convention Center (08/11/24)
Soundtrack for this Adventure:
Magnolia Park, Disney - 'I2I '
(From Disney's 'A Whole New Sound', available in September!)
Doesn't it always stinks when you're longtime, small-scale, fan convention explodes into a full-blown... mega-popular... must-attend event of the summer? That's how I felt in the weeks leading up to Disney's fan expo known better as D23 which takes place in Anaheim every few years. The Pandemic knocked off the schedule as it was originally every ODD year. Now, it is every even year. Some small unnecessary details to write down on this blank page but if you compare 2022's D23 to 2024's event... you'll probably see a drastic difference. We sure did. Good thing we made terms with the chaos for a nice chill weekend in Anaheim.
My first D23 Fan Expo was all the way back in 2015 when I ventured at the crack of dawn to check out the announcements for Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and many other Disney properties live in a dark convention hall. I don't normally attend panels but this one turned out to be quite memorable in hindsight. Being at the forefront of the new generation of Marvel & Star Wars felt quite awesome. So I find it quite sad to see both franchises at a low point currently. Had such promise. Definitely, a hard pace to keep up with after so many successes.
Afterward, I wandered around the floor checking out all Disney promotions, wardrobe highlights, and exclusive merchandise showcases alongside longtime D23 members. All these things made me want to come back to each expo... which we have! Now my Big Sister leads the charge booking everything. Making it a fun weekend event we can experience together as a family. Can't thank her enough for swimming through the excitedly chaotic charged fanbase.
D23 expanded hugely for 2024... moving all the big announcements down the road at the Honda Center, which I'm sure you saw all over social media last week. Disney has big plans for everything beyond 2024: films, TV, merch, new Theme Park attractions, and countless more things. They made their growing plans known to the world but we didn't care about all that. Nor did we want to spend the money. So we planned to visit Downtown Disney on Friday for dinner & shopping, Disneyland on Saturday to check out the revamped Haunted Mansion alongside some new food meals, and D23's show floor on Sunday to stand in too many unnecessary lines in hopes of getting some free swag and some exclusives.
We were against the clock for most of our time at the Convention Center on Sunday. She had to be back for work by the end of the night, but luckily the show floor mostly had promotional booths that I didn't really care to participate in. So I ran the entire length of the Anaheim Convention Center in a few hours. Taking pictures as if I were in a speeding car on the freeway. Zoom zoomed all while checking in on everyone.
I did wait in an hour-plus line to see Marvel's Loki gigantic demonstration experience. That's all the energy I had in me by the end of the day. The popular "Peelverines" crew (from Fortnite) even took over the TVA set just before I ventured through the doors. Made for a lucky photo opportunity. Check them out below. Afterward, we shopped upstairs at the humungous D23 fan shop. Had been tempted to buy the $300 remote control Star Tours shuttle before arriving but I couldn't bring myself to walk away with one. Despite the resale value maximizing at over two thousand dollars. Would've had to buy two because I sure as hell wanted one for the office. Got some photos of it luckily.
On the ride home, we stopped off at Mrs. Knott's Family Restaurant for a scrumptious chicken dinner. A similar play we ran after our Christmas trip. That delicious food washed away any regret I had from my sales dilemma above. Couldn't have been a better way to punctuate this family trip to Anaheim...
Enjoy the photos!
Photo Gallery
Full Album... available on Flickr!
