*Hey Siri, play Dear Diary by Britney Spears*
Today, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event kicked off in Anaheim. We just returned from the Disney Entertainment Showcase and I’d like to reflect back on the first day. What I did; the great, the good, the bad, and what I hope to see from the rest of the weekend.
First of all, it’s tough to not feel overwhelmed at D23, especially on the first day. Almost every major shopping vendor requires a virtual queue nowadays, there’s never enough time to check out everything or attend all the panels, and… what time do we have to leave for the Honda Center again? I had a few things I knew I wanted to accomplish today, and of course that included some favorite fuzzy felt friends.
If you know me, you know I love a good themed outfit. I wanted to incorporate a certain fashion icon into my look; starting with my Bob Baker Marionette Theater x Big Bud Press jumpsuit, I added little touches of Kermie and Piggy. I felt super colorful and very much in my element. Completely “who, MOI”?
At the The Muppets 70: A Glamorous Miss Piggy Retrospective panel, we saw some precious preserved pieces from Jim Henson Studios and the Walt Disney Archives, including Miss Piggy’s own pup, Foo-Foo, her engagement ring from Muppets Most Wanted, and some film-used costumes.
LOOK AT FOO-FOO peeking in the corner! A fun tidbit: Kermit’s original banjo is on its way to the Walt Disney Archives! Sadly, the Muppets did not make a live appearance here, which has been a highlight at past D23 events. Here’s hoping they pop up somewhere this weekend, as this was the only designated panel celebrating 70 years of the Muppets for the entire show.
On my way out of the panel, I discovered I was matching with not one, but TWO of my puppety friends! Yay!
While touring around a few of the show floor pavilions, I noticed an adorable little Nostalgia from Inside Out 2 within the Pixar booth. I just… need more of her. She was easily my favorite part of the latest film and hope she returns for future Inside Out installments…
I was able to visit Mickey’s of Glendale today, the shop offering Walt Disney Imagineering-exclusive goods. This was achieved by entering a shopping virtual queue at 4AM(!!).
Are you surprised I’m talking about Muppets again? No? Good. The Muppet madness continued here with a cute new collection celebrating 70 years of Jim Henson’s creations. Reminiscent of the original it’s a small world attraction poster, the design is from Muppets Producer Dani Iglesias (who hosted the Miss Piggy panel earlier), available on t-shirts and prints.
I picked up the matted print and had it signed by Dani in the booth. We had a lovely conversation about our beloved Bean Bunny, and Muppet tattoos… which led to me asking if the idea of a Muppets Haunted Mansion overlay for Walt Disney World ever crossed her mind? She enthusiastically nodded and suggested we take the idea over to the WDI booth for serious consideration. She passes the test. *Now accepting backers for this very important campaign.*
One of the few panels Ryno and I had secured with our show tickets was for today’s Making a Goofy Movie: The Road to Lake Destiny. Since we’re both HUGE A Goofy Movie fans, this selection was a no-brainer. We were able to see the panel introduced, including Don Hahn and Bill Farmer, among other greats. They showed us a trailer from the upcoming Disney+ documentary Not Just a Goof; just a few behind the scenes moments, the music builds, and… I’m already emotional about it. I grew up with A Goofy Movie, created specific choreo to those Powerline songs, sang along to After Today with all the different voices, and fell in love with Goofy – he’s forever my favorite “fab 5” character. Sadly, we couldn’t stay for more than 15 minutes of this panel since we had to make our way over to the Honda Center for the largest presentation of the day, the Disney Entertainment Showcase. This is a major flaw at this year’s D23 event. I really wish Disney didn’t line up two of their bigger panels at the same time, forcing attendees who purchased the extra Honda Center show tickets to choose. The panel selection process is already a lottery, why make it even more unfair to those who are paying more money? Why is the end of the day so heavy-loaded and not the beginning? It also makes planning around the shopping opportunity virtual queues difficult.
Traveling to the Honda Center was fairly easy for us today. We Lyfted over from the Hilton Anaheim next to the convention center; it took about 12 minutes of drive-time to get to the Honda Center.
The Disney Entertainment Showcase brought us a slew of celebrity appearances and not-so new movie and series news, along with a few fun surprises in between. One of my favorite moments from the entire showcase was the opening remarks from Bob Iger. This was his first event appearance in 5 years, and he seemed emotional over it. He came across very warm and genuine, expressing “the world needs to be entertained more than ever before, and we take that responsibility seriously“.
Another highlight of mine was when Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan took the stage, revealing the official title for their Freak Friday sequel: Freakier Friday. I am so onboard for this, it’s not even funny. And the two of them seem just as excited as us fans! Honestly, I temporarily lost my voice after seeing them reunited on stage. THEY’RE THE ULTIMATE, OKAY?!
The catchy, witchy song performance from Katherine Hahn and the rest of the all-star cast from Agatha All Along convinced me to watch this musical series as soon as it drops. Me, excited for a Marvel series? Who knew?
David Blaine was there promoting his new series Do Not Attempt with National Geographic. The illusionist travels the world, meeting different people and their own fascinating talents, uncovering new types of magic. Upon entering the Honda Center, every attendee received a small black package labeled “do not open”. Eventually, David Blaine asked us open those to reveal a special deck of cards he created just for us. With that, he pulled off an unbelievable mass card trick with the largest audience participation ever recorded.
For better audio and visuals from the Disney Entertainment Showcase, and to hear Ryno and I’s thoughts on it all, check out our video here!
Day 2 (& 3?) Wishes ~
- I’d love to carve out some time to meet Bluey and Bingo at some point!
- FX’s The Bear has an impressive immersive experience at the FX pavilion. The line was dreadfully long all day Friday but I’d love to make this happen at some point. Every second counts!
- I’m planning to check out some of the smaller vendors in the D23 Emporium side. I often find some fun vintage Disney pieces there (last year I secured my original Haunted Mansion and Country Bear Jamboree vinyl records!). I also love seeing the various community setups.
- Surprise… more Muppets for me! There’s a sneak peek at the upcoming release of Clue: The Muppets board game.
- Tomorrow is *the* day for us theme park fans! Here’s hoping for some big announcements at the Horizons Disney Experiences showcase, and maybe a few surprises? Be sure to check out my Walt Disney World and Disneyland hype articles, including my very specific wishlist for both coasts.
See you tomorrow!
Theme Park Correspondent for The DIS | Chloé loves kitschy dark rides, roller coasters, a good background area music loop, hot Butterbeer, and all things Halloween. You’ll mostly find her wandering around Orlando’s biggest theme parks snapping pics and sharing tips… or probably talking about The Great Movie Ride.
