I just can't stay away from this topic for some reason. :lol:
D23 Expo in '09 attracted almost 40,000 people. Not bad for a first year event that only gave folks a couple months notice to plan a visit, and future Expos are expected to grow from there. The next one is August, 2011 at the Anaheim Convention Center, so book your flight now.
All of the convention facilities combined on WDW property would only equal a fraction of the space available at the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the West Coast. If D23 Expo moved to Orlando, it would have to be held at the massive Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) in Orlando.
How do you propose getting 40,000 people per day back and forth from WDW property to the OCCC? If the average tour bus seats 40 people, it would take a fleet of 2,500 buses making four round trips per day to move all of those folks back and forth. It would be a logistical nightmare, and that's even assuming you could have just one bus collection point on WDW property at the Transportation and Ticket Center, and one drop off location at the OCCC. I'm not even sure that's possible, or if Orlando regional government would allow Disney to bring in every spare bus from the Eastern Seaboard to be used on local streets and freeways for the event. And what if the Expo grew over time to 50,000 or 60,000? Another 1,000 buses brought in from the Midwest to supplement the original fleet of 2,500? The invasion of Normandy would look like childs play in comparison.
Unless D23 Expo shrinks considerably to a size of 5,000 people or less, and uses just a fifth of the floor space it used in the Anaheim Convention Center in '09, D23 Expo is staying in Anaheim for good. This map was used in the D23 thread, but it might help clarify things for folks who have never been to Anaheim and don't understand how everything is within a 20 minute walk of everything else. In a late summer climate free of humidity and rain, no less.
There's a reason why Disney signed a contract to use the Anaheim Convention Center for D23 Expo through 2015. You're looking at it in that cute little
Anaheim Resort Walking Map above. Dozens of types of lodging from the deluxe Grand Californian Hotel to a midlevel Sheraton to a budget Best Western motel is within walking distance in Anaheim. Dozens of dining options from premium Napa Rose to deluxe Morton's Steakhouse or Ruth's Chris or Catal, to chain Cheesecake Factory or P.F. Changs or ESPNZone, to budget Denny's and McDonald's is within walking distance in Anaheim. The largest (and arguably snazziest and most recently updated) convention center on the West Coast, with an attached 10,000 seat indoor arena is within walking distance. Plus a little thing called Disneyland is there too. :animwink:
It's a logistical slam dunk for D23 Expo to be held in Anaheim.
Now, what D23 should be doing is holding smaller weekend events in WDW like the upcoming Destination D conference they are hosting this month at the Disneyland Hotel Convention Center. That type of smaller event could go into the biggest conference center at WDW at the Coronado Springs. But for now, they seem to be keeping D23 events bigger than a meet n' greet close by the corporate office in SoCal.
.
