Destination D: Disneyland '55

The inaugural Destination D, whose theme is "Disneyland '55," will be held this September 24-25. Destination D: Disneyland '55 will take D23 Members on a journey through the design, creation, debut and magical history of the world's first Disney theme park. The first Destination D will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel. Tickets will be available this summer.
Destination D: Disneyland '55 will offer two full days of special presentations, panels, screenings and guest speakers that let fans meet and talk with key figures in Disneyland's history. Future Destination D events will explore other important aspects of Disney's creative legacy. Following its premiere in September, Destination D will alternate annually with the enormously popular D23 Expo.
"We're very excited to also be creating an entirely new event with Destination D, which will bring Disney's fascinating history to D23 Members in ways no other Disney fan can experience," Clark said. "There's nowhere on earth quite as special as Disneyland, and we want fans to see it as they never have before."
The D23 team is in the midst of developing exclusive programming for Destination D, but an early peek at plans reveals a host of special speakers, presentations and panels throughout the two-day event, including:

• "Disneyland: The Way We Were" — Disney's Chief Archivist Dave Smith will look back at highlights from Disneyland history;
• "Disney Undiscovered" — An exploration of never-built projects and attractions developed for Disneyland;
• "23 on 55" — The Walt Disney Archives celebrates Disneyland's 55th anniversary;
• "Weird Disney" — A showcase for some of the quirky, little-known facts, places, people and ideas that even the most avid fan might not know.

Check back here soon for more details on the programming and events planned for Destination D: Disneyland '55 as well as details about the D23 Expo 2011.
Destination D joins a lineup of special events throughout 2010 designed exclusively for D23 Members. Among them are free screenings of classic Disney movies during the "50 & Fabulous" film festival at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank; members-only tours of the famed Walt Disney Archives; an exclusive Sip & Stroll event during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival; and holiday-themed Magic and Merriment weekend at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

D23 Expo Coming in 2011

 

THE D23 EXPO: THE ULTIMATE DISNEY FAN EXPERIENCE

Imagine a place where every step you take immerses you further into the Disney movies, magic and memories that live so deeply in your heart. A place where pavilions and exhibits from every part of The Walt Disney Company transport you on an unforgettable adventure through the past, present and future of the Disney imagination. It's a pixie-dusted world where magical experiences — celebrity appearances, special screenings, never-before-seen exhibits and special presentations — are around every corner, just waiting to whisk you off into the very heart of Disney magic! And, of course, each day at this celebration gives you the opportunity to meet and mingle with thousands of people you have something very special in common with: A LOVE OF DISNEY!

This place is the D23 Expo, the single largest gathering of all things Disney and one of the most unique ways to connect fans to Disney's timeless stories, characters, movies, Parks and more. At the inaugural D23 Expo, held September 10-13, 2009, thousands of excited fans discovered what happens when you put the many wonderful worlds of Disney under the same roof for four days: Magic!

The first-ever D23 Expo attracted nearly 40,000 Disney fans, bringing the entire world of Disney under one massive roof. During the D23 Expo, fans were treated to appearances by superstars like Johnny Depp, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta; explored exciting, new concepts and attractions from Disney Parks and Walt Disney Imagineering; peered into Disney's history at special panels, presentations and displays; and discovered the newest entertainment, products and events from throughout The Walt Disney Company.

The next D23 Expo, which will light up the Anaheim Convention Center from August 19-21, 2011, promises to deliver even more excitement! We're still hard at work finalizing plans for the D23 Expo 2011, but you can expect to see what's new and what's next from Parks and Resorts, The Walt Disney Studios, Media Networks and Disney Consumer Products and more. Of course, there will be special exhibits of rarely seen Disney props and costumes from the legendary Walt Disney Archives, headline-grabbing celebrity appearances, screenings of classic Disney movies and exclusive sneak peeks at some that no one has seen yet, musical performances, panel discussions with legendary Disney actors, performers, animators, Imagineers and more and of course, Mickey and some of our favorite characters will be on hand to make sure the fun never stops!

Tickets for the D23 Expo 2011 will go on sale August 19 (one year in advance), with specially priced tickets available exclusively to D23 Members. In addition, D23 Charter Members will have access to a special Charter Member Lounge at the D23 Expo 2011, at no additional cost.

"The first D23 Expo surpassed all of our expectations, and our 2011 Expo is already shaping up to be a jaw-dropping, not-to-be missed showcase of the best and brightest Disney has to offer," said Steven Clark, head of D23.

Stay tuned to D23 for more information.

News and Information from D23

D23 First Anniversary at Walt Disney World

Once again thanks to our kind reader, who has brought us some pictures of last night’s D23 First Anniversary Party. A report will be up within the next couple days of the event, but these are just a few pictures from the event. NOTE: No pictures were allowed in the Fantasyland talk.

 

     

 

    

   

   

D23 Expo News Part 4: Mousellanous Information

Todays article FIRST article features Mousellanous News from the D23 Expo, held last weekend, we have talked about parks now lets venture out of the Disney Theme Parks, and head to the Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Pictures.The first information we have is about the Disney Cruise Line, which, in 2011 will be moving around, with the new Disney Dream ship docking at Port Canaveral in 2011, the Magic and Wonder will be touring the globe, so it seems.

With the ships going to Alaska, Mexican Rivera, Northern Europe (UK and North of France) and the Mediterranean (North coast of Africa, Italy, etc.), as well as 2 Panama Canal Crossing Cruises. Stay Tuned for more information at DisneyCruiseLine.com.

Other news we have has to do with Muppets a new muppet movie will be being released in the futured to be called "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever", and also the Muppet What Not Labs (where you can make your own Muppet) will be coming to the parks in the near future.

More Walt Disney Pictures new that came from the expo was:

--A new DisneyNature Film will becoming out on Earth Day 2010, entitled OCEANS

--A new Disney Distrubition division called Disneys Double Dare You, a family friendly scary film section of the Studios

--And finally, the biggest news from the presentation was a NEW Pirates Movie entiled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

D23 Expo News Part 3: Hong Kong Disneyland Expansion

On today's news post, we dont really have any "news" but details from an already announced project...

In the Parks and Resorts exhibit housed an HKDL expansion area, with concept art and models, of Grizzly Trails, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Playland.Even though Toy Story Playland will be the first done, and to open, that didnt have as much stuff, if anything for it...

On to Grizzly Trails, the "Frontierland" type attraction, themed to a small western town called Grizzly Gulch.It will have a water play area...And the Grizzly Mountain Coaster, a mix between Expedition Everest, THunder Mtn Railroad, and Grizzly River Run... (Concept art below)Model of a Bear Audio-Anamatronic...Pictures and drawings of vehicle for the attraction...The final area was to Mystic Point, a sort of "Beastly Kingdomee meets Adventureland" area...Concept art of the building of Mystic Manor... An attraction that will be a mix between Hautned Mansion, and TDS's Tower of Terror...Models of the land and the manor...The manor layout of the attraction...Concept art of the attraction scenes with the monkey...Concept art and pictures of the vehicle, which is to be a trackless ride system...Model...
That is it for today... Tommorrow we will look at other Disney News from the expo, from Movies to Muppets... So Stay Tuned... If you havent already, please vote on the new blog poll on the top left corner of the page...

D23 Expo News Part 2: Walt Disney World Resort

Today we will take a look at the WDW news from the D23 Expo, headlining this article is of course the MASSIVE Fantasyland Expansion...

This expansion has been long rumored for years, and all of the plans have been talked about in cyberspace for the past couple of years, but no one thought that they all would come to fruition and on this type of scale.

In July of this year, a Fantasyland Expansion blueprint (pictured below) had was "leaked" to the internet, and all the fan sites and rumor patrols were all over it like flies to a light. With that, many of them figured that is was purposely leaked, and was an original plan, and that we wouldnt get ALL of it.
Many questions arrose throughout the community, from what are the castle walls? what is Be Our Guest Restaurant, could it be a incarnation of the DLP planned attraction? What is with all of the Princess Meet n Greets? And most of all, what is up with the "Dueling Dumbos"?

Well on Saturday September 12, 2009, Jay Rasulo answered those questions publicly at the D23 Expo and officially released the information regarding this major project, and believe it or not, it all came true, which came to the suprise of many.

As you can see in this concept art of the perspective expansion aerial view, it would take up from just beside Pinocchio's Village Haus all the way through Mickey's Toontown Fair, just like the plans that were "leaked" stated. And the castle walls question was answered in the picture below, they look as if they are to enhance the "story" of Fantasyland,with the Castle and the little village in the "main area" then outside of the walls, you have the little "forest" featuring the Princess cottages and such. First off, what looks to take the place of Ariel's Grotto, we have the Beauty and the Beast area, with many things, featuring a Bell interactive meet n greet (pictured below). This leads to the question, will Storytime with Belle, be moved to this area? The answer, most likely.We also have a "Beasts Castle" area which features a restaurant, now tentatively called Be Our Guest Restaurant...The restaurant seems to be a Table Service restaurant, and adding elements of possibly a show in it, similar to the DLP attraction idea, and the original concept of the Enchanted Tiki Room. Also in the picture below, we can see a waiter rolling around a car with Lumiere on it, which leads many people to believe that this restaurant will have a Living Character Interactive like the Remy in Epcot's France Pavilion. Rumors online suggest that this restaurant will be a Quick Service during Lunch, only having one room open, and a Table Service at dinner with all three rooms open.More concept art of this area featured a "Gaston's Tavern" which also seems like another idea for a quick service restaurant. Along with the Beauty and the Beast area, we also have a few more interactive meet and greet areas for more Princesses, for Cinderella and Princess Aurora.

Pictured below is the cottage that she will be meeting in for her meet and greets, it will be interactive, it sort of seems like the Happily Ever After Party that only ran for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the first Year of a Million Dreams.Another meet and greet will take place at Cinderella's Chateau, and guests will help her get ready for the ball...The "major" piece of news is the new dark ride that will be coming to DCA, is now swimming over to WDW's Fantasyland, Ariel's Adventure will take the place of Pooh's Playful Spot, and some now backstage area. This would be the outside entrance to the attraction, as you can see the Imagineers had more freedom with this facade than the DCA one, instead of a boardwalk theme, they are now having Eric's Castle. This attraction is slated to open in 2012.Here are some show scenes, (they seem the same as the DCA version, which is totally fine by me).Moving over to Mickey's ToonTown Fair, is the new circus themed area in which Dumbo was moved to have "Dueling Dumbos", and i think it gives it more of a Circus theme, which is a good thing.Dumbo entrance, this attraction is to have a new "queue" which Rasulo said will be more of a play area, then a queue.Our final piece of Fantasyland news is a new Meet and Greet/ Play area themed to Fairies and Pixie Hollow, which will be the final part of the project, opening 2013.Other major news from the event was Star Tour 2.0 coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios, which we talked about yesterday, so take a look at yesterday's article.
What do you think of the expansions and new additions??? Please comment, and vote in the blog poll for this week... Tomorrow we will take a look at the details of the Hong Kong Disneyland Expansion.