D23 FIRST LOOK: Our Preview Of The Show & What You Need To Know

D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event kicks off its 2024 convention today in Anaheim and there’s a lot to see! We were lucky to get a sneak peek at some of the show floor last night and we’re bringing you a first look. But, at least some of what you are coming to D23 for will need to wait for Sunday as it’s not yet on view. We’ll fill you in on whether D23 is delivering a turbo-charged expo this year or if the company’s big convention is running on an empty tank. 

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Let’s get started and dive right into this year’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event

D23 Day at Disneyland Kicks Off the Celebration

For the first time ever, D23 kicked off its biennial weekend-long convention with a special “D23 Day at Disneyland” event.  The event featured special merchandise releases, art displays, dance parties, a cavalcade of Disney Legends and more.  The end result was a special day in the park for D23 fans and guests in town ahead of the big convention which offered a few Disney extras.  

While D23 Day wasn’t terribly elaborate or different than a regular day at the park, it was a nice way to incorporate and further integrate the D23 events with the Disneyland Resort. A short but sweet little cavalcade featuring a number of Disney Legends rolled down Main Street, U.S.A. in the early afternoon.   

 

D23: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Of course, conventioneers arriving in Anaheim are here for Disney’s big show.  We got a sneak peek of some of this year’s offerings and were excited to see a completely reimagined show floor with bigger and more impressive pavilions, experiences, and shopping opportunities than ever before. Much of it designed to accommodate more people in the hopes to keep lines shorter. We break it all down for you below. 

D23 Expo Shopping

For Disney shopaholics, the all-new World of Disney: The Product Experience will be a dream come true for fans looking for the latest merchandise line, collectibles, and more.  The World of Disney experience has multiple stores all located together in a sort of mini pop-up mall environment.  Guests can shop from various shops including D23 Marketplace, Disney Publishing, Disney Store, Swarovski, and more.  

Merchandise includes a first taste of Disneyland’s new 70th Anniversary line, an all-new collection of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad merchandise, Marvel and Star Wars offerings, Swarovski crystals, collectible dolls, and more! There’s something for everyone here.

Nostalgic Disney fans can even take a photo with a recreation of a classic Disney Store plush mountain!  Hey, Disney — bring back those stores, we miss them!!!

For all the hot D23 Expo merchandise finds, please check out our dedicated article: 

Heads Up! D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event Merchandise Now Available

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D23 Expo Marvel Mania

On the main show floor, a highlight this year is the MARVEL Studios pavilion.  Themed as the Time Variance Authority (TVA), Marvel fans travel through the TVA and get glimpses at the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s past, present, and future through Timedoors.

The whole experience is a delight in atmosphere and theming, and features actual props from the Disney+ show Loki as well as costumes and props from other Marvel Cinematic Universe films and shows.  TVA agents shout at guests, urging them to keep moving with haste so they can make it through the Timedoor at the end of the pavilion — one that takes guests into the world of the latest MCU show coming soon to Disney+, Agatha All Along. 

This may seem weird but the whole experience feels like a convention-friendly riff on a Halloween Horror Nights maze, themed to the MCU. But don’t worry, there are no jump scares here.  It’s all incredibly fun for Marvel fans and a great twist on a convention pavilion.  We really, really loved this pavilion.   

D23 Expo Special Experiences

Nearby, the Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic pavilion gives guests a peek at how large-scale scenes can be shot using ILM’s impressive digital screen-based backdrops and Disney+ offers photo ops themed to some of their most popular programming. Meanwhile, the AVATAR pavilion has its own large-scale pavilion. While we weren’t able to get a sneak peek inside Pandora, the exterior itself was heavily themed — it was as if Disney built a Rainforest Cafe in the middle of the show floor.  With AVATAR getting its own large-scale show floor presence this year, could the pavilion possibly offer any hints at Disneyland’s upcoming AVATAR-themed experience?  We’re looking forward to finding out today! 

D23 Expo Imagineering Pavilion

But, of course, the most anticipated D23 pavilion is always the one hosted by Walt Disney Imagineering.  And without a doubt, this year’s Imagineering Behind the Dreams pavilion has lofty expectations from fans.  Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Experiences head Josh D’Amaro have spend the last year repeatedly promising plans to “turbocharge the parks” over the next 10 years.

The plans, which remain fairly ambiguous at this point, promise a $60 Billion investment in the Disney Experiences division which oversees theme parks, resorts, Disney Cruise Line, and more.  So, with $60 billion on the line, surely Imagineering has a sprawling showcase of new and upcoming projects on display at D23, right?  Well… no.  Actually, not at all. 

 

From DisneylandForward, to the Tropical Americas expansion of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, to Beyond Big Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom, to new cruise ships, hotels, and more — it’s pretty well known that Disney has a lot of projects in the works.  Indeed, Imagineering head Bruce Vaughn noted that he’s never seen Imagineering so busy with so many active projects across so many different properties around the world all at once.  Vaughn happily bookended his comments by saying Imagineers are hard at work on “really cool shit” that they’re all excited for us to see.

 

But if you’re attending D23 this year hoping to get a preview of all of that cool new stuff like models, concept art, information, and more — then it’s best to temper your expectations for now.  Unfortunately, none of that cool new stuff is on display here and the pavilion largely showcases the various technologies, techniques, and creative disciplines that Imagineers are masters of.  Indeed, there are 200 Imagineers are on hand this weekend, ready and willing to talk to guests about recently completed projects, their creative processes, and technologies behind the magic.  Simply put, this year’s pavilion isn’t a showcase of the “turbocharged” plans for the future…. well…. at least not yet…

The closest thing we get to anything new is a maquette of the upcoming Avengers Multiverse E-ticket attraction.  That ride, announced for Disney California Adventure at the last D23 Expo two years ago, seems to finally be ramping up and we expect to hear more on it as the weekend continues. 

Note the ride vehicles are a motion base style system similar in design to Universal’s Transformers and Spider-Man rides as well as Disney’s own Peter Pan-themed attraction that recently opened at Tokyo DisneySea. That leads us to believe this will primarily be a 3D digital screen based ride. Disney has previously noted there will be large-scale physical sets involved as well, creating a hybrid screen-and-physical-set ride through experience.

Speaking of Disneyland projects, in an appearance at a media event earlier in the day, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock told reporters that the approval of the DisneylandForward initiative allows the Disneyland Resort to expand by 50%.  Mr. Potrock noted that much of Disneyland’s expansion space had long been zoned as surface parking lots and unusable as theme park expansion — until now.  

Mr. Potrock was hinting that some of the big DisneylandForward projects will take over current parking lots such as the existing Toy Story Lot, Downtown Disney lots, and tram loading areas.   

We expect to find out more on DisneylandForward on Saturday night, as Ken promised the Disney Experiences Showcase with Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro will include a lot of news for Disneyland.  Additionally, Bruce Vaughn promised two “reveal rooms” in the Imagineering pavilion that will open to guests on Sunday morning, following Saturday night’s announcements.  Those reveal rooms will hopefully be packed full of the models, concept art, and new information we had hoped to see here all weekend.

It is a bit of a disappointment to withhold so much for the last day of the convention.  We feel bad for guests who could only come on Friday or Saturday who will now not have the opportunity to see the new stuff after paying to get in.  Not to mention, it could be a possibility that guests in attendance on Sunday might not be able to get in to see the newly-revealed displays if demand is too high — a problem that could have been avoided if the reveals were done sooner.  But there’s still a lot to see, and for those with Sunday tickets, much to look forward to on a second visit to the pavilion. 

We look forward to seeing what Imagineering has up its sleeve on Saturday night. With $60 billion and a year of hearing Josh D’Amaro talk about “turbocharging” things, our hopes are high. 

D23 Disney Archives Car Exhibit

We’ll conclude our D23 2024 first look with a peek at the Walt Disney Archives’ exhibit — “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show.”  The exhibit this year doesn’t require queueing and isn’t enclosed in pavilion walls, which is a nice change from future years.  The Archives exhibit is a large space with various vehicles from Disney movies, theme parks, promotional tours, and more.  Guests can weave in and out and pass through at their leisure.  

While we were hoping for a bit more from the Archives, it is neat to see some of these vehicles up close — including Walt Disney’s personal car as well as the little “runabout” he used to drive up and down Main Street at Disneyland. This one was loaned by Walt’s granddaughter! 

 

Alright, that wraps up our first look at D23 2024.  Do you think this year’s expo is a turbocharged event or are Disney’s big conventions starting to run on empty?   Let us know what you think!   We’ll continue to bring you the latest news and revelations from the convention throughout the weekend.   Stay tuned to MiceChat for all of the latest news, we are covering things as we see them on MiceChat’s Instagram story. 

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Want more?  Over the course of the weekend, we’ll also be adding new projects, concept art, and more to our newly-updated and relaunched Disneyland Resort Project Tracker.  

Disneyland Resort Project & Rumor Tracker