SSE
Member
Treading lightly here, but you hit the nail on the head of an important element of the D23 Expo.
I went to D23 Expo this weekend for exactly one hour, and I spent about 35 minutes of that in the WDI Pavilion. Then cruised quickly through the rest of the exhibit halls, and I have to be honest and say I became uncomfortable with so many of the, um... unique adults that were there.
It is disheartening to see so many of Disney's most passionate fans who were as you described. It's not attractive, nor does it make one comfortable to be around. I simply had to walk away and drive home. It was easier to leave with nothing of any real substance displayed anywhere at D23 Expo this year. But still.
Thank you for broaching a subject that many of us observe and that makes many of us uncomfortable to be around. It's just a shame it has to be like this, that's all.
The good news is that as I type this you are somewhere inside Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom or next door at Cars Land and you are likely enjoying your day in those marvelous theme parks. Aside from D23 Expo, I hope your visit to Southern California was an enjoyable one!
My vacation is now over and I am back home on the east coast. My father and I both agreed that we wish we had an extra day to visit the parks, but had a great time. Since we hadn't done a D23 Expo before we were under the false assumption that after the early morning presentations the other exhibits and shops wouldn't take longer than a half an hr to visit. We expected to do the Expo in the morning and Disneyland at night, but we were only able to visit the parks a couple days.
We had such a great time at the Disneyland resort for the few days we were there. My dad and I commented that we felt more relaxed at Disneyland and California Adventure than we ever do at the Walt Disney World Resort. I don't know if that is a normal feeling people have or if it was just the time of year. One thing I also loved about the parks is the amount of trees and plants that they both have. It adds a great atmosphere to the park. In my opinion the attention to detail is also more prevalent there than Florida. I thought it was great, but also made me angry because I wonder if there will ever be management in Florida that will make a difference. Since WDW is my home resort I will always have a love for it, but after this trip if I had to choose between the two. I would choose Disneyland every time over WDW.
One thing I remember from the Animation presentation was when John Lasseter began talking about the movies coming from Walt Disney Animation Studios, is that he tells everyone they need to make these movies they need to be amazing because they have Walt's name on it. Which makes me feel that the company should hold the same standard to WDW.
I also loved Southern California. The weather was really amazing every day we were there. We talked with some cast members who said this is the nicest summer they have had in awhile. Each morning it was completely cloudy, but by around 10 - 10:30 the sky was bright blue without a single cloud in sight. It was hot in some spots, but there was a nice breeze that kept us from sweating or feeling too hot. The one thing I didn't enjoy (which is unrelated to Disney) is the amount of garbage on the highways. It is like that back at home too, but anywhere I go I hate seeing the amount of garbage people just litter a long our streets. I also don't know if it is because it was my first time on the highways out there, but it just seemed like there was a lot more than I was used to.
I will definitely be back, but unless its another trip with my dad or a family trip it probably won't be for a number of years. There are so many things I want to do and right now I can't afford to do what I want and take trips to Disney every other year or more. I think my next trip will be back to California though, but this time I want to check out Northern California. I want to see Nappa Valley and the Redwoods and also take a trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum.
