misterID
Well-Known Member
I can't help it.Everyone involved with this sucks. They suck so bad. If they aren't bringing it back in some fashion, don't do this. They know how people feel about it. They're using it as a cheap gimmick for their expo.
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D23 Expo Theme Park News and Announcements
- Thread starter Livingwithstartours
- Start date
I can't help it.Everyone involved with this sucks. They suck so bad. If they aren't bringing it back in some fashion, don't do this. They know how people feel about it. They're using it as a cheap gimmick for their expo.
CinematicFusion
Well-Known Member
You are absolutely right.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
YAY! It's just a real shame Iger couldn't announce the new Disneyland stuff at D23 Expo and then let the Imagineering pavilion show some real artwork and models.
Why wait until October? Because of the new fiscal year?
The wood crates of Star Wars props and the big model of a shopping mall just didn't cut it for D23 Expo this year. 2013's Expo was just.... kinda lame.
CinematicFusion
Well-Known Member
I think that is why we are arguing, there really wasn't much to talk about at D23. Had they had some major news, we would all be speculating on that news.
I thought they were at least going to announce the cast of Star Wars. Oh well.
Things of importance:
1. Iger, “We’re going to continue to invest in Disneyland,” Iger said. “We’ve got some pretty exciting things that we’ll be announcing over the next couple of months.”
2. Maleficent and Pixar's Inside Out (which is set inside a girl’s brain) prompted sizzling reactions, with positive chatter immediately spreading to the trade show floor
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Two years after AvatarLand was announced and they've got absolutely nothing to show at D23 Expo.
I'm not an expert on hidden Disney corporate politics and operations in any way, but I have been observing Disney theme parks for decades. And what the lack of AvatarLand news at D23 Expo this weekend tells me is that they are still struggling with this project. They haven't landed on any sort of concrete plan or concept that they have committed to yet, and things are still very much in flux and still in the earliest design phases and years from construction, much less completion.
My own hunch is that WDI is struggling to come up with compelling attraction concepts for the Avatar theme. And as part of the creative process WDI probably has done some consumer research in the last two years and the results from American consumers were a collective "Avatar? Honey, did we see Avatar?... The blue aliens? Oh, okay. Is that still a thing?"
And then WDI looks at that consumer research into the emotional connection with Avatar's plots and characters and goes... Uh-Oh!
Now go build a theme park land for that concept, please.
Black Pearl
Well-Known Member
Say what you will about the pre-advised lack of SW & Avatar announcements... the concerts are worth the admission alone.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Yeah, if you can actually get in and catch one.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
The Imagineering pavilion had a demonstration of their Digital Immersive Showroom (DISH) technology, but it was only showing existing rides and some small clips of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, nothing for new attractions.
bhg469
Well-Known Member
I'm sure some people were impressed by that, but people covering Disney tunes doesn't show the company's growth, only its distant past. Is the expo over? No news, no park expansions, no star wars or avatar, no Disney springs news, not even new benches...
Black Pearl
Well-Known Member
Yea. D23 is no different than any other major convention. Comic Con, is the next closest one I can think of with a mix of announcements, events, swag and merch to be bought. The lines are long, the people varried in levels of "fan commitment", and the value of it all isn't going to match up to the ticket price for everyone.
Not everyone will be thrilled at the idea of an "X-Files" reunion panel, just the same as an evening with some of America's song writing treasures from Disney.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
I would bet Comic Con is worse, when it comes to long lines and crowds. I enjoy the separate D23 events, though, and some of them resemble what you would see at the Expo. At least those are pretty easy to attend.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
Harry Potter still has way too many video screen projections for my taste. Where are the actual themed environments with audio animatronics? There are like 2 real scenes in the ride and the rest is just staring at blurry dark screens.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
@Black Pearl Are you at the Expo now?
Black Pearl
Well-Known Member
No I'm currently on the opposite coast haha. I didn't mean to sound like I was there and apologies if it did. I actually was gauging this years event to see if I will attend in 2015. In short, last night I told my wife we'll probably be doing a DL and D23 2015 trip in the Summer.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
Two years after AvatarLand was announced and they've got absolutely nothing to show at D23 Expo.
I'm not an expert on hidden Disney corporate politics and operations in any way, but I have been observing Disney theme parks for decades. And what the lack of AvatarLand news at D23 Expo this weekend tells me is that they are still struggling with this project. They haven't landed on any sort of concrete plan or concept that they have committed to yet, and things are still very much in flux and still in the earliest design phases and years from construction, much less completion.
My own hunch is that WDI is struggling to come up with compelling attraction concepts for the Avatar theme. And as part of the creative process WDI probably has done some consumer research in the last two years and the results from American consumers were a collective "Avatar? Honey, did we see Avatar?... The blue aliens? Oh, okay. Is that still a thing?"
And then WDI looks at that consumer research into the emotional connection with Avatar's plots and characters and goes... Uh-Oh!
Now go build a theme park land for that concept, please.
I dont agree with this at all. 99% of the people visiting the parks know what Song of the South is but everyone lines up for Splash Mountain. Ditto for Mr.Toad at Disneyland. The quality of the attraction(s) is what matters not the subject matter.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Just for fun, I found a picture online of the 2011 Expo entrance.
I was going through some of my photos and found some from the 2009 Expo. This is what the entrance looked like, when I arrived with my little nephew:
I was going through some of my photos and found some from the 2009 Expo. This is what the entrance looked like, when I arrived with my little nephew:
TP2000
Well-Known Member
This topic comes up every two years during D23 Expo time. Folks who have never been to Anaheim and/or D23 Expo understandably wonder why Disney doesn't try a D23 Expo in Orlando instead of only doing them in Anaheim. The short answer is; there's just not nearly enough room on WDW property for D23 Expo. The longer answer is...
Add the 330,000 sq ft at Swan/Dolphin to the 460,000 sq ft at the five other WDW hotels and you've got 790,000 sq ft total to work with, versus the 1.6 Million sq ft they are working with all under one roof at the Anaheim Convention Center. But the 790,000 sq ft at WDW is split up over seven hotels, much of that space is smaller conference rooms and reception lobbies, and the biggest single space you've got is the 65,000 sq ft Coronado Ballroom.
Then look at how D23 Expo uses the space they had at the Anaheim Convention Center (ACC). D23 uses some very large venues within that center. The most important and unique venue at the ACC is the Anaheim Arena, which they use in a 8,000 seat theater format for opening ceremonies, major keynote addresses, and executive presentations each day of the Expo.
D23 Expo Arena - Keynote Addresses & Executive Presentations
The Coronado Ballroom can be turned into a simiilar theater, but it wouldn't be tiered and the maximum number of seats is 6,600. So you could turn the Coronado Ballroom into its single level theater format and max it out a few times per day, but that takes it off the table for any other Expo uses.
Then there are the smaller Expo theaters; Stage 23 on the 3rd floor and Stage 28 on the second floor of the ACC. Stage 23 uses the 38,000 sq ft format for that ballroom with seating for 3,800, and 6,000 sq ft for queue. Stage 28 uses the 10,000 sq ft format for that ballroom with seating for 800 and 4,000 sq ft for queue. The equivalent at WDW is the 55,000 sq ft split into two theaters in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere ballrooms at the Swan. So now you've got a keynote theater and two smaller theaters set up for 3D and/or HD film presentations with high quality audio systems; spread between the Coronado Springs and Swan.
Then you've got the sprawling exhibit floor itself, which at D23 Expo uses exhibit halls A,B, C and most of D at the ACC. Those ACC exhibit halls have a combined space of 675,000 sq ft. The WDI Pavilion in Hall C uses 150,000 sq ft alone, but other major offerings above 100,000 sq ft are the Dream Store, Collectors Forum, Disney Interactive, and Disney Consumer Products. All of the remaining exhibit space in WDW could be used thusly;
150,000 sq ft Dream Store downsized to 86,000 sq ft for Coronado Springs Exhibit Hall, using 21,000 sq ft Fiesta Ballroom for required queue
150,000 sq ft Imagineering Pavilion downsized to 46,000 sq ft Fantasia Ballroom at Contemporary
25,000 sq ft Mickey's Of Glendale downsized to 8,000 sq ft Nutcracker Ballroom at Contemporary
100,000 sq ft Disney Consumer Products downsized to 18,000 sq ft Grand Floridian Ballroom at DGFH
100,000 sq ft Collectors Forum downsized to 38,000 sq ft Grand Harbor Ballroom at Yacht Club
35,000 sq ft Disney Interactive downsized to 11,000 sq ft Promenade Ballroom at Boardwalk
And now we've used every large ballroom or exhibit hall on WDW property. There's nothing left. But there's a lot of stuff that didn't make the cut; ABC Television, the 50,000 sq ft Treasures Of The Disney Archives exhibit, Disney Channel, Disney Citizenship, and all the smaller corporate exhibits from Disney Weddings, DVC, Disney Cruise Line, etc., etc., etc. You could use Epcot's 60,000 sq ft World Showplace hall for some of that stuff, but still you'd need to cut things down drastically or ask some groups to not host an exhibit.
But just to get the major players and largest exhibits onto WDW property, we've had to cut and hack everything to pieces, downsize everything by big percentages, and spread it across every ballroom and hall on the property. The logistics of getting everyone around to the various hotels and venues and events would be nightmarish, and once you got to each thing it would be in a much smaller format than the first four Expos in Anaheim from 2009 to 2015.
Which is why it's said every two years that D23 Expo in its current large format will never be able to be held on WDW property.
The only option would be to host D23 Expo at the massive Orange County Convention Center on I-Drive. That center is even bigger than Anaheim's center at 2.1 Million square feet, and could easily take on D23 Expo without breathing hard. The tough part there is now you've got this major Disney event not on Disney property, and it's 9 miles away on I-Drive and I doubt Disney would want to lose that important company vibe to I-Drive. Much less have to deal with the transportation logistics of moving 50,000 people to and from WDW property and I-Drive every day for the Expo.
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Cosmic Commando
Well-Known Member
I haven't been to either convention facility, but after perusing both facilities' websites quickly, Coronado would be very lucky to even be 1/5 as big as the place where D23 currently is.
Edit: Err... what @TP2000 said.
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