D23: all is well in the land that Disney built.  That’s the gist of a full-day’s visit to D23 2013.  To be fair, D23 is an unusual experience if you’ve never been, and probably if you’ve been before, as it continues to evolve. Not quite a general pop culture convention, and yet something more than just an expansion of the usual Disney-fare visitors find at Disney parks and their surrounding environments.

Relatively small by major convention-event standards, and exclusively focused on all things Disney — if you saw an item of anything not licensed by Disney, it was purely snuck in there by the vendor, who probably otherwise agreed to not display anything but Disneyware — D23 is a very “up” environment, quite literally with song and dance, ensuring the Disney experience is complete and thorough, and, importantly, appeals to attendees of all ages.

 

 

 

 

Split over three levels in the Anaheim convention center, D23 2013 offered panels, autograph sessions, a room with “Disney Treasures” featuring props and various items from Disney of yesteryear, and multiple opportunities for attendees to spend Spend SPEND on both Disney and Imagineering items (and with ONLY a three-hour wait for the Disney store less than an hour after the show opened on Saturday!), as well as the usual after-market vendors and art that are usually found at conventions. Relatively small by major convention-event standards, and exclusively focused on all things Disney — if you saw an item of anything not licensed by Disney, it was purely snuck in there by the vendor, who probably otherwise agreed to not display anything but Disneyware — D23 is a very “up” environment, quite literally with song and dance, ensuring the Disney experience is complete and thorough, and, importantly, appeals to attendees of all ages.

D23’s full slate of presentations and panels appealed to just about every demographic and fan-base now in the Disney stable, with one HUGE, NOTABLE EXCEPTION: the small, but ever plucky, story-time tales of Star Wars that a few fans were interested in hearing more news about were discussed only via an incredibly well-done retrospective for “fans new to Star Wars” (and we welcome these handful of folk to modernity and/or Earth, as the case may be), with an ever-so gentle tease of the future.

[Well, okay, and TRON fans were also left wondering about TRON3!]

But with the much-crying-by those who for whatever reason expected to have the Chairman of Disney discuss title, plot, characters, merchandising, future, and all other things of Star Wars, left aside, the team at D23 brought forth news on Thor, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Maleficent, and provided floor visitors with a tight, nicely executed little snapshot into Imagineering, the “design engine” that’s brought so much of the Disney-lands experiences to life.  Celebrating it’s 60th (or really more 61st) year of making THINGS (a unique term of art used by Walt himself) come to be, attendees were treated to look into what the Imagineers both imagine and engineer (–> and we pause for the unavoidable, but necessary cringing).

And, yes, among the various items on display at the Imagineering “tease” were a few prominently located and specially marked crates, hinting at some future developments the land of Disney will no doubt soon share more formally.  Of course, all the tightly-wound smiles and nods, winks, and assorted half-denials, helped confirm the singularity of Disney and Star Wars is truly just around the bend (in the track…).

But the unprecedented, if limited, view into Imagineering also revealed that so much of what makes the Disney experience an experience, otherwise largely taken passively by park-goers, is, in fact, quite literally engineered from drawing board to reality in multiple steps, painstakingly developed through sketches, models, and test-beds before getting the green-light for construction or, understandably with some otherwise at-first great ideas, not cleared for development.  Nothing is by chance at Disney, but those THINGS that become part of the experience are a product of untold levels of refinement and hours of development.

D23’s inherent identity and brightline statement to the rest of the pop culture convention circuit as “Disney’s Comic Con” does however mean that if one is not fully versed in, or captivated by, the essence of all things Disney, from the various takes on Mickey-through-the-years to the latest Pixar film, you may find there is little that appeals beyond whatever brought you down there in the first place.  And while you’ll certainly find a number of fans appearing in costume, they will inevitably be dressed in some sort of Disney-owned property.  Nothing wrong with a celebration of the Disneysphere, but anyone who wants a more generalized experience MUST check that expectation at the door — which was not a problem for 2013, because in true Disney experience, while everyone was ever polite, helpful and friendly, lines & wait times were very much “Disney”, too, so attendees had plenty of time to sit (stand) and reflect…

Still in its relative infancy by convention standards, D23 will continue to evolve, and with the Marvel universe and Star Wars galaxy providing an almost endless source of new material to be part of the Disney experience, the next D23 (-24…?) will almost certainly grow in size and its appeal to fans.   Of course, one key feature of D23 if you like your Disney but reach your fill of convention-hall time — you’re only right next to Disneyland…

 

 

Now if they could just do something about a park shuttle, more coffee kiosks, and better line management…