D23 Disney Expo: Day 2

Day 2 was a big, important day for me. Kiwi and I set our clock for 5am and groggily started the day. I passed the McDonalds next to our hotel and looked longingly at the McCafe mocha in the display. We each got a warm drink which was worth it while walking down Harbour Blvd under the overcast sky. We were already shivering from the cool wind by the time we got to the convention center. We could see a fairly long line winding through the palm trees closer to the door, so we thought we'd walk over and see which line we needed to get into this time. Confused staff directed us all the way back to the street where we first arrived. We tucked in line behind an auburn-haired girl, of whom I immediately hit it off with. Kiwi ventured off somewhere while I got to know the girl in front of me. I found out she was actually a Disney Staff member, better yet, she designed and made the character costumes at Disneyland!

We had a great time talking about the park, her costuming, the previous day at the expo, and everything under the moon. It turns out the same girl stopped us the day before to take a photo of Kiwi and I in costume! She and her friend, who arrived later, both complimented me on our costumes and I was a little more than flattered hearing that from a Disney costume designer!

At 6:15am we lined up and were one of the first 20 people in our line, but by 7:30 our stomachs were growling. Hearing rumours of a Starbucks, I decided to check out the hotel across from the convention center. I left Kiwi to entertain our new friends and wandered past the ever growing D23 members line. It was a little disconcerting to see the members line so large considering the event in the arena that morning was the only thing I really wanted to see. It was the entire reason I booked our trip and waited two years to attend.

Shaking the unsettling feeling from my stomach and turning it's attention to food, I found another growing queue in the lobby of the hotel. This time for Starbucks. Not wanting to wait for 20 pretentious latte orders that didn't have enough shots or were made with too much milk, on my way back I spied a small breakfast bar. There were a handful of people in line and after 5 minutes I strolled past all the coffee patrons with a banana, muffin, water and cheese & ham croissant all costing less than their low-fat, soy, triple shot, shaken, upside down, glow-in-the-dark lattes.

Opossum checking us out from his little perch

We waited a few more hours, entertained by a rogue opossum and a Daniel Radcliffe doppelganger, and were more than ready to go inside. By 8:50am we nervously awaited the doors opening for the D23 members. The girls in front of us had gone past the line more recently and said it had almost doubled in size.

And here is where the D23 Expo failed horribly and lost a great deal of respect and patron loyalty.

When the D23 members were let in first, our new friends found out through updates on Twitter and text messages from a vendor inside that not only did the doors to the convention open, but so did the queue for the Walt Disney Studios presentation. This presentation was the very reason I wanted to come to the expo. We watched, heart-brokenly, as members (who we learned had bought memberships the day previous just so they could get in early) strolled up at 9:45 to get into the convention and line up for a seat in the arena.

By 9:50 the entire arena was full and so was the standby lineup. We stared at each other wondering what went wrong here. How could they offer an event listed for everyone when members were allowed to take all the seats? They must have known this was going to happen. If this event was a member's only event, why didn't they just say so? Because that's what it turned into anyway. They should have let members in early but not let the queue for the Walt Disney Studios open until the doors opened to the general public. If we had known they'd let all the members line up first I would never have gone that early, or gone at all!

Kiwi and I showing our disappointment with 
the events that took place that morning

Our small bit of space to sit and stand while waiting in yet another queue

At 10am we were the first ones in line and the first ones to not get a seat in the arena. Kiwi and I looked at each other hopelessly, my heart dripping with disappointment. We decided that we wouldn't waste all the time we spent waiting, so we got in line (again) for a Q&A panel with the Pixar creative team. After another two hours, and many pins and needles later, we entered and got a great spot a few rows back from the front off to the far right. While we were in queue we saw another couple who had also dressed as Wall-E and Eve, but were happily surprised that it was nowhere near the quality ours was. That sounds a bit catty, but after 7 hours of waiting in line, I had every right to be. I had wanted to wear our costumes on Saturday as I knew most cosplayers would be wearing theirs, but I had anticipated getting a seat at the presentation and didn't want to wait for hours, outside, on the ground in a white dress. It was a shame, as the Pixar team could have easily seen us.

John Lasseter, a few meters away from us

It was a great panel, amazing to hear from everyone and their experiences at Pixar. Hearing Bob do his voices from the movies including: The Stingray from Nemo, Dug and Roz was just fantastic. During the Q&A at the end of the panel we heard from many well spoken (and some not so much) fans as they thanked the team for, ultimately, their childhoods. I thought about it for a moment and realised that Woody and Buzz were there for me growing up, too. I saw Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on my birthdays, I went and saw a Bug's Life with my dad (which was rare doing things just us two.) Listening to these fans share their memories brought back all of mine, and that's really what Pixar does. You always remember where you saw each Pixar movie and how it made you feel, which characters were your favourite, which songs you hum when you're in the kitchen... It was great to personally thank the Pixar team, even if it was just through applause in person.

After the panel we left on a starstruck high (also we didn't have much sleep and waited in line for more than 7 hours total) and went to the park for the rest of the night.

Overall I was extremely disappointed with this event day. They had sort of figured out the line system, after the fiasco the day before, which consisted of masking tape lines and arrows on the ground and volunteers with orange airport lights. The arena catastrophe, allowing D23 members to stroll in 10 minutes before the doors to general admission opened and still got a seat in the arena, was truly upsetting. I don't think there was one person who wasn't completely pissed off at the events that happened that morning, I guess except the members who bought memberships the day before. 

We left early that day and decided to cheer ourselves up by having a nice time at Disneyland and treat ourselves to a restaurant dinner at The House of Blues. It was a nice evening, but it couldn't make up for the disappointment we felt that day. 

-Strawberry