D23 Continued!!

Sometimes as a kid I would think about the inner workings of Disneyland or Electrical Parade. On a few occasions I would strike up a conversation about it with my mom. I would ask many questions. It was obvious the questioning became old. Was I annoying? Was it weird I was so into the Disney brand? There wasn't anyone else as interested as me. At that time all I had was the Disney channel or Sunday specials on ABC. But, now I have Eric or I see all these fun people at the D23 Expo. Good thing the kids out there have this event. And let's face it, the adults too. 

On day two of the expo, Eric and I pulled out a casual interpretation of Flynn Ryder and Prince Naveen. The kids call this Disneybounding. Ok? 

Brandi, Rey, and Ricky joined us that day. It was a first for Rey and Brandi. I think we enticed them with our stories from Comic Con. As you all can see, Ricky came dressed as Sid from Toy Story. He had a popular hat. In the end, I don't think anyone realized who I was. 

 

It was our priority to attend the Once Upon a Time panel, at 1:00 PM. As soon as we entered the showroom we quickly went to grab a StagePass. This was a timesaver, acting like a FastPass.

 Having experience with juggling theme park showtimes and the fastpass system helped a lot. We pretty much just had Rey and Brandi running around like crazy folks! I will say, they have a good number of theme park hours under their belts too. 

While grabbing our pass it occurred to us that The Art of Frozen panel would start soon. Right away we quickly made our way to the escalators and jumped into the queue. We were near the front. 

We saw these ladies all over the expo. They also happened to be waiting for the panel. (Characters Elsa, and Anna is on the right)  

We were lucky enough to be given a thorough synopsis of Frozen and character descriptions. So much detail was presented to us. Wood carvings, fabric patterns, and lighting were created with a lot of thought. I wish we could have taken photos, but of course it's a big secret. 

One or two clips shown from the previous day were repeated. Our crowd was also treated to a few other samples of the film's story. The animation effects are fantastic. I know people are bitter over 2D animation being gutted, reasonably so. But, this film looks beautiful! It's going to be even better when shown in 3D. I hope many go and see Frozen. 

The "swag" or freebies given out at these conventions are a big positive. We all obtained a print of a cell from the new Disney short. It will premier to the general audience with Frozen. That too is a must see!

The Once Upon a Time panel was approaching, but we made a quick stop. They allowed visitors to draw Muppet characters with chalk. I love The Muppets. Rey had to use his skills because unlike myself, he can draw!

Even though we had the StagePasses, our seats weren't all that great for the panel. We probably should've arrived sooner. 

Two of the main writers/producers from the show discussed the current show, but also Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I am a little skeptical about this new show. They have Alice in a psycho ward in a Victorian looking time period, facing electro shock therapy for "delusions". I like the darkness level but Alice has been redone a lot. The last Disney incarnation was not long ago, in 2010. 

Once Upon a Time has a lot of questions to be answered this season. The characters are heading to Neverland, as most already know. My issue with that is we are leaving some cool characters behind only to add new ones. We are still looking forward to the show. It will be cool to see who Peter Pan will be. It's a huge mystery right now. 

A tasty looking mural!

Back to the showroom floor we all went! We had some more time to stroll through the vendor area and art exhibitors. Our artist that we usually search for, Amy Mebberson was present. I knew I wanted to commission a drawing, but was torn between ideas. I decided on Lucy Ricardo to be drawn in Amy's style. I couldn't wait to see the end result. Eric still wasn't sure what he would choose for himself. 

We were surprised to come upon Pat Carroll, voice of Ursula The Sea Witch. All I could hear was a quote where she says, "The little Tramp!!"

To keep the Little Mermaid theme going, Eric had a short visit with Ron Clements. He directed the film. Pat and Ron all at one convention! It was like Eric won the Disney lottery. 

As the time neared 5:00 PM, it was our cue to head for the Arena waiting area. Two more Disney icons would be performing, Richard Sherman and Alan Menken. These composer's songbooks have forged life memories in the minds of many. When someone thinks of Disney, it is the melodies of these two geniuses that fill one's thoughts. 

This was the queue. All the people seen here were waiting for the concert. The arena seats 4,000 and we still were sat in the overflow area. We weren't in the same room, but just next door. The screens were enough for us and I bet we had a "closer" view. 

   Alan Menken

   Richard Sherman

The only way to explain this experience is to call it ethereal. These men have touched on so many projects that filled my childhood. And everyone watching was engaged throughout the entire program. I'm not going to lie. It was lengthy. The show began around 6:40 PM and ended close to 9:30 PM. 

One highlight was when Richard Sherman sang a song from the Imaginations Pavilion in Disney World called "Magic Journeys". I wasn't 100% sure what it was used for, but I felt emotional after it ended. I later found out it was from the first 3D film that played there at the pavilion. 

Alan Menken sang some songs requiring many difficult techniques. As he said after Hunchback's "Out There", "You're all about to witness me have a stroke!" Menken had so many medleys and features. He lasted much longer than Richard Sherman, two hours. 

The day was a lengthy one full of many activities and swag. We would all be returning one more day, except Ricky. It was time to go sleep a few hours so that we may return!