D23 2022

Travels

November 3, 2023 By Joshua Ching

So here I am, still playing catch up. Hench the reason why I’m talking about the 2022 D23 Expo now.

This is actually the second time I attended the D23 Expo. The first time was back in 2019, which I meant to blog about, but I got really sidetracked with trying to get all my San Diego Comic Con content from that year out, and by the time I was done I was so far behind on event coverage and well on my way into other events that I didn’t really think it was worth writing blogs about.

While it was tempting to just toss my 2022 D23 content at this point,, I decided against it because of how much I invested into getting it. I mean I spent the money to go, I invested the time to look around and take pictures. After all that, rather than losing out again and letting the pictures just sit on my hard drive I felt I should try to recoup whatever I can by doing the writeup and throwing it up online.

For those who aren’t familiar with the D23 Expo, it’s pretty much a Disney-centric exposition event where they show off previews of movies and tv shows, updates to the parks, showcase new swag-basically if there’s something Disney wants to promote or get hype behind they’re going to have some sort of activation for it at a D23 Expo event.

If you’re interested in attending D23 then I have to warn you that the tickets are really expensive, like 100 dollars just for one day expensive. For most conventions 100 dollars is usually more than enough to buy a complete weekend pass with VIP access, so 100 dollars for just one day is a bit steep, but considering this is a Disney event it’s no surprise that they’re charging a crap ton of money for it.

Also tickets aren’t that hard to come by—at least if you’re cool with going on either Friday and or Sunday—you just have to make sure to get them early. Tickets for Saturday are extremely hard to get while weekend passes are virtually impossible. A big reason for this is because in order to purchase D23 Expo tickets, one must have a D23 membership, and while there is a free membership tier, those who are willing to pay for Gold Level membership get early access to purchase tickets, so those guys all get first dibs at the weekend and Saturday passes. and even then it’s a bit of a crap shoot competing with the other Gold Level members. I remember at one point I was standing in line behind a guy who I saw had a weekend pass, and I asked him how hard it was to get it and he just told me it was extremely hard.

With that being said if you can only go one day I would recommend going on Sunday. When I first went to D23 it was on the Friday and it was just a freaking mad house to get around, with the lines just to check out the retail areas being super bad. Most people might not like going to Sunday due to the fact that the announcements and programming might be a little lackluster compared to Friday and Saturday, but honestly with the lines and crowds as bad as they are there’s a good chance you might not be able to attend Friday/Saturday programming at all.

Miscellaneous

Outside the convention center this sign/sculpture thing was setup to commemorate Disney’s 100th anniversary. Since D23 took place in August and this thing was sitting in the sun all day it was really hot to touch.

Also outside was Arcy, a street artist known for doing work with Disney was outside painting this giant mural. This is another plus side of attending on the last day of the Expo, I got to see the mural in its almost completed form.

Here’s a giant mural for the Twisted Wonderland mobile game, a game that was launched in Japan back in 2020, but an English localization wasn’t released until 2022.

There was a booth set up with information on Disney Cruise Line and inside of that they had a model of the Disney Wish which at the time was their newest ship.

Here’s a Marvel mural that caught my eye. I honestly forgot what it was for, although judging by the line I’m thinking I probably skipped the booth this was attached to just because I wasn’t willing to stand in line for it.

Here’s real life version of the Pizza Planet truck. Over the last couple years I’ve seen a lot of replicas/real life versions of movie cars at both car shows and conventions. Seeing this I’m wondering if this is a replica that a hardcore fan built on his own that Disney rented out for the event or if Disney had actually built their own and had it sitting somewhere either at 1 of their parks or in storage somewhere.

Park updates

One of the largest exhibits that was set up at D23 was one that was devoted entirely to showcasing all the updates and renovations that Disney was doing to all their parks.

Here’s a model representing the rebranding of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. On the outside it doesn’t look like they’re doing much, I’m sure most of the rebranding and renovations will be done on the inside which at the time Disney wasn’t releasing much information about it.

Another section of Disneyland that is getting an update is Toon Town. From what I could tell according to the information cards as well as what I saw in the model the centerpiece of the new Toon Town is Mickey and Minnie’s Runway Railway ride. Other updates include the addition of the El CapiToon Theatre, two more restaurants, Good Boy! Grocers and Cafe Daisy, and renovations to Goofy’s house and Donald’s Boat.

Costumes

With so many new movies and TV shows being promoted at D23, a lot of booth spaces were dedicated to showcasing costumes and props.

Willow

Here’s Erin kellyman’s Jade Claymore costume from the Willow Disney+ series that Disney decided to eventually pull off the streaming service as some cost-cutting measure.

The Willow Ufgood costume worn by Warwick Davis.

Elora Danan’s disguise when she was Dove.

Kit Tanthalos’s costume which was worn by Ruby Cruz.

Queen Sorsha’s costume which was worn by Joanne Whalley.

Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was another upcoming film they were promoting with another activation. Since I’m assuming they didn’t want to give out too many spoilers the activation was filled mostly with costumes or at least recreations from past movies.

Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones costume from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Major Arnold Toht’s costume from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark which was worn by Ronald Lacey.

Honestly I haven’t seen Dial of Destiny yet so I had to google this but here is Helena Shaw’s costume which was worn by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. I’m a bit surprised they had this on display, but considering that there was no information card for it I guess they thought no spoilers would get out if they had no information card about it.

Marvel

Aside from the Willow and Indiana Jones costumes there was also a display setup with costumes from a few Marvel projects.

Here’s Ant-Man and the Wasp’s suit alongside the Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness’s costumes.

Thor’s costume complete with Stormbreaker alongside Jane Foster/Mighty Thor’s outfit from Thor: Love and Thunder. As an added bonus there’s also the disembodied heads of Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, the magical goats.

Dr. Strange and Wong’s costumes with America Chavez’s outfit from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Added bonus, Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel costume.

And from Moon Knight, here’s Moon Knight, Mr. Moon and Layla El-Faouly/Scarlet Scarab.

Iron Studios

Companies that make statues, collectibles, and toys make up a huge chunk of the coverage I bring back from conventions. I was a bit surprised that the only collectibles on display at D23 were from Iron Studios, or at least they were the only ones with a prominent display. Considering how Disney has so many licensees out there you would think there would be more displays. My only guess is that they just didn’t have the floor space for more companies.