ClemsonTigger
Naturally Grumpy
There are no current plans to bring D23 Expo to Florida. Disney has reserved a week in early September at the Anaheim Convention Center for four years, from 2009 to 2012. There is not a facility large enough on WDW property to put on such a show, and you would also lose the corporate energy from having all of the other Disney divisions headquartered in SoCal being able to pull in a lot of star power for the event. (Studios, Animation, Pixar, Consumer Products, Adventures by Disney, ABC TV, Disney Channel, etc.)
That said, I now fully expect to see D23 Expo go into hibernation for at least a year, if not several years.
Attendance was not nearly as strong as they had hoped, and most of the attendance was from locals in Orange County and Los Angeles who just stopped by for a few hours one day out of the four. And anyone who went to the Expo can tell you Disney very clearly spent a mint on this thing! It was huge, lavish, customized, and very expensive looking! They likely took a huge loss on it. :lol:
The local Southern California media covered the D23 Expo extensively, and in interviews this week all Disney execs backed away from committing to a return of the Expo next September. The Los Angeles Times even quoted Iger as saying they don't know how often they will have this event now, and it may be "five years" before another Expo appears.
As much fun as it was, I would not be at all surprised to see D23 Expo be a one-hit wonder and fade into the history books never to be seen again. I think this might have been it for D23 Expo. :shrug:
I don't know what the attendance figures were...or what they were expected to be, but I have to disagree with you on the return of D23 Expo. From the bits and pieces I heard/twittered/posted, there were considerable crowds and interest and a great deal of coverage.
As a first time event with a slowly developing agenda and low key advertizing, I think it did really well, and with the positive fallout from this year I'm sure there will be more attention next year. I don't think the target audience ever was the every 2-3 year Disney visitor, so long lead time for planning will probably not be a priority either.
