Well, I'm back here at home in Portland Oregon, I've unpacked and I've had some time to sit back and reflect on the last weekend and my first D23. I'd like to share my thoughts and some of my realizations, hopefully it can help some other people's first D23 in the future.
First and foremost, this convention is huge. But not huge enough. Granted, I haven't been to San Diego Comicon, which I hear is giant, but I've done my fair share of conventions and this was by far the largest. The floor is expansive, you'll get lost in it. There's certainly more on that floor than you'll be able to do in three days. That being said, this convention is popular. So very popular that it's very clear that it has outgrown it's venue. The Anaheim convention center, as is, simply cannot properly accommodate this convention. They're building a massive expansion to the grounds and I hope that solves the issue. But this year's convention was pushing this venue to it's limits, and it doesn't look like things will slow down.
This leads me to my next point. Because of the size of the venue vs the crowd sizes, they don't have enough exhibits to properly absorb crowds. You will wait. You will wait a lot. Let me take Saturday for an example. It took me about two hours just to get inside the expo. Once I got inside, I immediately went to the stage pass line to begin waiting for the 12:30 stage passes to open up, which was still an hour away. After that, it took another hour to get through the line to get my stage pass. From there, I rushed down to Hall E to wait for the Parks and Resorts panel, which was a couple hours. During which panel they gave away surprise fantasmic passes to be redeemed at stage pass. Redeeming said ticket took another couple hours in line (And also forced me to miss my panel that I had waited for a stage pass for that morning, more about this later) Needless to say, you will stand in line a LOT. Stores, panels, experiences. They're all waits that outdo any that you'll see in parks.
You need to not see this as a bad thing though. Another thing I realized is how standing in line can be a really enjoyable experience! Where I live, I'm a total fish out of water as far as my love of Disney goes. Nobody is into Disney like I am. But when you're at D23, these are all hardcore fans who feel the same way you do. It's so easy to meet new people, chat, etc, while you're in line. On Sunday I waited two hours to get into Mickeys of Glendale, and the people I was in line with made it a total blast. We talked about Disney, shared podcasts we like to listen to, even talked conspiracy theories. It's totally crazy and fun. You need to understand that you'll be in line a lot and you should make the best of it.
Now about that panel I was forced to miss. YOU WILL NOT be able to do everything you plan on. When I was researching tips on how to handle D23, everyone said to plan, plan, plan. And they're right. But they fail to mention that you need to have several backup plans, if not to just expect for your plans to fall through altogether. Perfect example was that stage pass I stood in line for. It took me a couple hours to score, but little did I know the parks and resorts panel would force me to totally abandon those plans in order to attend the soft opening of Fantasmic. A worthy trade off, but shows that things can happen that totally throw a grenade in your plans. And this wasn't the only thing I was forced to totally abandon. You need to come to peace with the fact you'll miss some things. Seek a happy balance between planning and playing things by ear.
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that this isn't Disneyland. You have a mix between genuine cast members and temporary expo workers. You need to learn the difference, because the difference in help they offer is staggering. The standard expo workers, with their blue t shirts and stick on name badges consistently failed to answer basic questions for me, including "Where is stage pass?" and "Where's the Disney Archives Stage?" Their knowledge base is very limited. Don't bother asking them anything you don't have to. The cast members were stellar though. Seek them out. They will do you right, as always.
I gotta get some sleep. I'll continue this tomorrow, if anyone is interested.
First and foremost, this convention is huge. But not huge enough. Granted, I haven't been to San Diego Comicon, which I hear is giant, but I've done my fair share of conventions and this was by far the largest. The floor is expansive, you'll get lost in it. There's certainly more on that floor than you'll be able to do in three days. That being said, this convention is popular. So very popular that it's very clear that it has outgrown it's venue. The Anaheim convention center, as is, simply cannot properly accommodate this convention. They're building a massive expansion to the grounds and I hope that solves the issue. But this year's convention was pushing this venue to it's limits, and it doesn't look like things will slow down.
This leads me to my next point. Because of the size of the venue vs the crowd sizes, they don't have enough exhibits to properly absorb crowds. You will wait. You will wait a lot. Let me take Saturday for an example. It took me about two hours just to get inside the expo. Once I got inside, I immediately went to the stage pass line to begin waiting for the 12:30 stage passes to open up, which was still an hour away. After that, it took another hour to get through the line to get my stage pass. From there, I rushed down to Hall E to wait for the Parks and Resorts panel, which was a couple hours. During which panel they gave away surprise fantasmic passes to be redeemed at stage pass. Redeeming said ticket took another couple hours in line (And also forced me to miss my panel that I had waited for a stage pass for that morning, more about this later) Needless to say, you will stand in line a LOT. Stores, panels, experiences. They're all waits that outdo any that you'll see in parks.
You need to not see this as a bad thing though. Another thing I realized is how standing in line can be a really enjoyable experience! Where I live, I'm a total fish out of water as far as my love of Disney goes. Nobody is into Disney like I am. But when you're at D23, these are all hardcore fans who feel the same way you do. It's so easy to meet new people, chat, etc, while you're in line. On Sunday I waited two hours to get into Mickeys of Glendale, and the people I was in line with made it a total blast. We talked about Disney, shared podcasts we like to listen to, even talked conspiracy theories. It's totally crazy and fun. You need to understand that you'll be in line a lot and you should make the best of it.
Now about that panel I was forced to miss. YOU WILL NOT be able to do everything you plan on. When I was researching tips on how to handle D23, everyone said to plan, plan, plan. And they're right. But they fail to mention that you need to have several backup plans, if not to just expect for your plans to fall through altogether. Perfect example was that stage pass I stood in line for. It took me a couple hours to score, but little did I know the parks and resorts panel would force me to totally abandon those plans in order to attend the soft opening of Fantasmic. A worthy trade off, but shows that things can happen that totally throw a grenade in your plans. And this wasn't the only thing I was forced to totally abandon. You need to come to peace with the fact you'll miss some things. Seek a happy balance between planning and playing things by ear.
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that this isn't Disneyland. You have a mix between genuine cast members and temporary expo workers. You need to learn the difference, because the difference in help they offer is staggering. The standard expo workers, with their blue t shirts and stick on name badges consistently failed to answer basic questions for me, including "Where is stage pass?" and "Where's the Disney Archives Stage?" Their knowledge base is very limited. Don't bother asking them anything you don't have to. The cast members were stellar though. Seek them out. They will do you right, as always.
I gotta get some sleep. I'll continue this tomorrow, if anyone is interested.
