D23 Expo Day 3

Sam was feeling a little under the weather so she decided to stay in.  Pam and I took the ART shuttle over to the ACC.  Oh yeah, the PPH desk had told us on Thursday that the shuttle service from the DLR Hotel to the convention center had been cancelled, so Friday morning we walked.  As we got back to the hotel Friday evening, we saw a shuttle in the driveway???  So, a stop at the concierge desk confirmed that they were back on, and made Pam a happy girl!!  We rode over to the ACC instead of the previous day’s walk.

The only presentation really on the schedule for us on Saturday was the Inside the Walt Disney Studios at 10:30.  Having resolved the issues of where to go to get our special access, we grabbed a quick morning bit, and headed for the Sorcerer/Premiere lines.  As seems to be the case with most presentations at the Expo, this session started late as well, but, I’ll cut some slack.  At least it wasn’t ½ an hour late, like the Parks and Resorts presentation the previous evening.  The session started with Rich Ross, the head of the studio, coming out and regaling us with why he has the best job in the world.  That may or may not be, but the next guy he introduced probably does, John Lasseter.  John is an effusive and emotionally invested advocate for his craft, and he has some of the coolest shirts!  If you are a fan of animation, there are several feature films to look forward to in the next couple of years. 

The next Pixar release in mid 2012, Brave, is their first real excursion into the fairy tale style genre.  This formerly named “The Bear and Bow” is set in medieval Scotland, where a young princess – Merida defies tradition to pursue the live she wants, instead of the one she is expected to live.  Just from the clips we were treated to, I am expecting Brave to herald yet another Pixar success, and very much looking forward to the performances of Billy Connolly and King Fergus, and Craig Ferguson as Lord Macintosh.  From Walt Disney Animation Studio, we can expect Wreck-It Ralph in late 2012.  Wreck-It Ralph is an arcade game bad guy who want to prove he can be a good guy.  With the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, and Sarah Silverman, this looks to be another entertaining story from inside the Roy E. Disney Feature Animation building.  This release is definitely in line with Disney’s current efforts to find offerings more in tune with the tween male consumers.  Lest we forget Disney’s recent acquisition – Marvel, The Avengers will be the first, of hopefully many, picture being released by Walt Disney Pictures next May.  Of course, this November we can expect the Muppet movie, and it will be good to see them back on the big screen, though they may need to put it on IMAX in order to get Miss Piggy’s ego on screen.  J  Other features in the offing are Monsters University, John Cater, and a couple of, yet to be named, Pixar offering.  There are more, but that should enough to whet your appetite for now.  There were stars on stage during the presentation, but nothing as climatic as John Depp’s appearance, as Captain Jack Sparrow, at the end of the same 2009 Expo session.  So, I won’t spend any time on that one, other than to say it was fun, but there was nothing earth shattering.

The lines at any of the other venues were already maxed out, and I had an appointment in the Park for early evening which left the sessions in the later afternoon and early evening out consideration.  So the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the Expo floor.  Stopped by the Walt Disney Family Museum booth again, and got a chance to visit with Paul Anderson for a bit.  This was my second visit to the booth, as I forgot to mention in my previous post my first visit the day before.  On that occasion, I got my picture taken in the booth, as I was sporting some of my Museum regalia – a Museum t-shirt and my ever-present ball cap (complete with Found Member and current Friends pins.)  I was sporting another Museum t-shirt along with ball cap today as well, but no picture.  That’s okay, also on my person were Museum brochures for anyone interested, during my excursions around the Expo, I probably handed out about a dozen of them.  After a visit at the Museum both it was a trip around the rest of the forum area to see what collectible merchandise was available.  As we walked around the forum we came about a booth where Bill “Goofy” Farmer was signing autographs.  As Bill had just recently friended me on Facebook, I just had to stop and talk.  I also use these opportunities to talk up the Museum and suggest that he should come up and do a session for us.  Good News, something may be in the works.  YAY!!!  It was fun talking with him, and I even managed to get a autographed Goofy picture for one of his number one fans, and the young lady we had left at home.

After a trip back to the hotel room to down off the day’s booty, and to rest for a bit, it was off to the evening’s event, and I had been looking forward to it since I learned it was happening.  Many of you have already reading some of my comments in previous posts, and you see their banner link at the top of this page, along with a link in my favorites section, so it no surprise that I am a big fan of the Mousetalgia podcast and crew.  So, when I learn of a Mousetalgia Meet-up at the Park during the Expo, I knew I had to be there!!!  I arrived at the Hungry Bear at the appointed time, got myself a sandwich and a drinks - I was even a good kid and elected the coleslaw instead of fries, and went off to find the meet-up section. That wasn’t hard at all, I found Dave and Becky (with Button being as cute as she could be) sitting at a table with a few other individuals just a few step away from the condiment table.  Introductions were made and we all sat, talked, and ate as the party grew. In a few minutes Kristen and Jeff joins us.  I was particularly happy to Kristen, as she had recently had a bit to a scare which threatened to keep away from the Expo this year.  I was really glad to see that she had made it down, cuz I knew how much she was looking forward to the event.  After awhile of visiting with everyone, we gathered for a picture – if you look really close, you can see me hiding in the back, and then headed off for a group ride on Pirates.  We had, I believe a count of, 40 people show for the meet-up, a pretty good turnout, I think, and close to that many show up a Pirates for the group ride.  The wait was only about fifteen so we breezed through the line.  I’ve ridden Pirates dozens of times over the years, but this is the first time I ever got soaked going down the two drops.  But, it was a blast, and doing it with a group of people who truly enjoy Disneyland as much as I do made it that much better.  Next, it was off to the Jungle Cruise for a second group ride, again a short wait time meant we lost only a few people, the count was now 35.  Who knew you could actually fit 35 people on one of those cruise boats, but we did, with Dave being the last to board.  Our Skipper was great, but then, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced one who isn’t.  It is really interesting how different the Jungle Cruise is at night from a daytime ride.  Those thing that you know are there, kind of surprise you a little more at night.  Well, after the ride we all said our goodbyes and went along our ways, happy in the warm feelings that this Meet-up provided.  Thanks Dave, Becky (and Button), Kristen, and Jeff for a great event, I really enjoyed myself, and look forward to making future meet-ups.

After a short stroll back to the Paradise Pier Hotel, through Downtown Disney, I was back at the room with Sam and Pam and ready to rest up for tomorrow’s events.

Your comments or questions are always welcome.  If you have a correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel free to contact me at mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com

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