New D23 Expo Superthread! (6/24/2019)

[Mathmagicland]

We will make the best of it too and go to parks etc but limit any more money given to Disney. Not the cast members fault but it is Disney and D23’s fault. I am unclear why they would think that hanging out in a basement of a concrete and glass structure in earthquake central without hygiene and limited bathrooms for 8+ hours is a happy place to be. My time is woth more than that so it is disrespectful. 40000 people? Thats what is wrong. I cant imagine the health exposure you would have. Thousands of dollars to stand around? Sorry for those who have done it in the past and even more so for those who think we need to pay those dues. Sad that was accepted as the norm and tolerated without adequate corrective action. Company is probably not ISO certified. Poor Anaheim. No one spending money if they are in line. Normalized deviance is very much a problem for Disney. The Expo experience and plan thus far is unacceptable and they really need to create truthful disclosures. Hmm. Class action? Response from the manager is discouraging sounds like we should not bother with lines at all.
So excited for and proud of the Legends being inducted and very upsetting to likely miss that one. Was the main reason we bought tickets. Unfortunate their induction will be forever linked with recall of all these issues.
The grieving process for those without any reservation and for whom the realization of all the lost income in planning for this is why we are so very disturbed. Will take some time for us.
Re spothero we use it all the time in DC. Awesome app and way better customer service than Disney.

Everyone is entitled to share their thoughts & opinions here - this is mine.

To level set - I do not work for Disney and never have, and yes I too was frustrated with the reservation process yesterday. Having thought a lot about the experience, and having read your post (and other comments both here and on other sites & channels), I feel compelled to respond and share my thoughts.

1 - True, it did not go well but in fairness to Disney they were trying to address feedback and comments from past expo attendees regarding lines and distribution of passes by providing an advance booking process this year. Disney has done this every expo, tweaked the processes a bit based on guest feedback.

2 - they never said everyone would get the passes they wanted, and anyone whose done a D23 event or other con knows those are very popular and most book up quickly. Same goes with getting tickets to ComiCon which I’ve heard stories about but never tried to attend, or Anime Expo and the special ticketed events there each year which my DS attends so I have first hand knowledge. There are always more attendees than seats in most any panel. At least Disney clears the rooms between panels, unlike ComiCon, so we have opportunities to get into later panels.

3 - Personally I have to also find a bit of fault with those who took up more than one spot in the queue by logging in with multiple devices or multiple browsers or had multiple people trying on multiple devices for the same passes...as well as those solo who booked two spots only to try to sell one of them to someone who didn’t get a spot. All of that contributes to the situation. In the parks, we get one spot in line; why should it be OK to have multiple spots in the virtual queue? Unfortunately that is a fact of the process until there is a way to limit each badge to only one spot in the queue.

4 - there are definitely a lot of learnings for Disney and their third party virtual queue vendor with the way it played out, and way to contribute to the solution is to provide constructive feedback. Yes, I will be sending some in to them.

5 - as someone who has willingly camped out in the basement the past two expos, I do not agree with your description and that has not been my experience. It was not an unhealthy environment and there were not 40,000 people in the basement. Disney now provides the basement to allow people an indoors place to wait overnight, because for the 2013 Expo people were lining up all around the convention center outdoor areas. We’d chat with people in line around us, all kindred souls, and also seek out fellow DIS folks somewhere in line, make new friends, see people we now knew as we wandered the convention floor or were in line for panels.

6 - while the reservations are new for the Hall D23, except for sorcerer, we have never known how many stage passes they’d give out for any session, so it is hard to know how to compare this expo to the last one, until we are there and see how it goes.

7 - as I’ve shared a couple of times in this thread, and as others have noted post- reservation process, there are stand by lines and no reservations do not need to mean a bad expo experience. Last Expo I did the entire 3-day expo with only one store pass and no stage or talent passes. I’d hit 3-5 panels each day, got to two stores, did the whole show floor more than once, and did a Talent central signing. It can be done with some advance planning, much like a Touring Plan in the parks where not everybody or every ride has a fast pass and it’s always better to be there for rope drop.

So, I will still be there, I will again be in the basement, I will miss my store pass, and I will see how it goes with the stand by lines again this year.

 

[Gothemi]

For those asking about the StorePass and stand by lines, I recall the last Expo there were StorePasses as well, but stand by was also allowed in. It was my understanding at the LAST expo that only a few thousand StorePasses were issued to accommodate the stand by line as well.

Clearly, that might have changed this year, but I don't see them completely excluding standby lines, or only having a stand by as filler for StorePass no shows.

This expo feels strange though and so many things have already gone wrong so who knows.

 

[HydroGuy]

We will make the best of it too and go to parks etc but limit any more money given to Disney. Not the cast members fault but it is Disney and D23’s fault. I am unclear why they would think that hanging out in a basement of a concrete and glass structure in earthquake central without hygiene and limited bathrooms for 8+ hours is a happy place to be. My time is woth more than that so it is disrespectful. 40000 people? Thats what is wrong. I cant imagine the health exposure you would have. Thousands of dollars to stand around? Sorry for those who have done it in the past and even more so for those who think we need to pay those dues. Sad that was accepted as the norm and tolerated without adequate corrective action. Company is probably not ISO certified. Poor Anaheim. No one spending money if they are in line. Normalized deviance is very much a problem for Disney. The Expo experience and plan thus far is unacceptable and they really need to create truthful disclosures. Hmm. Class action? Response from the manager is discouraging sounds like we should not bother with lines at all.
So excited for and proud of the Legends being inducted and very upsetting to likely miss that one. Was the main reason we bought tickets. Unfortunate their induction will be forever linked with recall of all these issues.
The grieving process for those without any reservation and for whom the realization of all the lost income in planning for this is why we are so very disturbed. Will take some time for us.
Re spothero we use it all the time in DC. Awesome app and way better customer service than Disney.

I don’t get where you are coming from. Earthquakes? Class action lawsuits? Health hazards? Wow.

This is the 6th Expo. I have gone to all except the first. The last few have involved waiting in the basement. That actually worked great all things considered. Except when they messed up Animations last Expo. But that could happen again. The only differences this time as far as I can tell is the advanced reservations and the gold member lines. They always seem to say that “this year” they are REALLY going to enforce food and beverages. Maybe they will this time.

Time to take a chill pill?

 

[NateD1226]

We will make the best of it too and go to parks etc but limit any more money given to Disney. Not the cast members fault but it is Disney and D23’s fault. I am unclear why they would think that hanging out in a basement of a concrete and glass structure in earthquake central without hygiene and limited bathrooms for 8+ hours is a happy place to be. My time is woth more than that so it is disrespectful. 40000 people? Thats what is wrong. I cant imagine the health exposure you would have. Thousands of dollars to stand around? Sorry for those who have done it in the past and even more so for those who think we need to pay those dues. Sad that was accepted as the norm and tolerated without adequate corrective action. Company is probably not ISO certified. Poor Anaheim. No one spending money if they are in line. Normalized deviance is very much a problem for Disney. The Expo experience and plan thus far is unacceptable and they really need to create truthful disclosures. Hmm. Class action? Response from the manager is discouraging sounds like we should not bother with lines at all.
So excited for and proud of the Legends being inducted and very upsetting to likely miss that one. Was the main reason we bought tickets. Unfortunate their induction will be forever linked with recall of all these issues.
The grieving process for those without any reservation and for whom the realization of all the lost income in planning for this is why we are so very disturbed. Will take some time for us.
Re spothero we use it all the time in DC. Awesome app and way better customer service than Disney.

I respect all of your opinion as we each have one but....

 

[Simba001]

One of the things to realize is what was done in the past and how early people lined up is..... in the past. While someone stated they got there 6 am last year and got in for a panel others said they got there at 5 am and did not get in. Its all over the board and again.... in the past. The on - line reservations are new and the official overnight line up time is earlier than before, so its really anyone's guess as to when to arrive. Just like if you are in the Park and your favorite attraction is closed..... your vacation is not ruined. You go and enjoy another attraction. Go with an open mind, be flexible, plan on lines, make friends and enjoy what you end up doing. (Yes.... I write this to remind myself of all this, too as this has been a frustrating start before we even get there ).

 

[ashley0139]

I'm wondering if folding chairs really will not be allowed and why not. How can they do that when people are waiting overnight?

 

[HydroGuy]

I'm wondering if folding chairs really will not be allowed and why not. How can they do that when people are waiting overnight?

Are they saying no chairs? I have not read closely enough!

 

[CarolynFH]

Same here. Nothing on the confirmation about a guest. Also, I went to the app to look up “my reservations” to make sure they are there and all that is there is the screen that says reservations have been filled. I guess I better have the confirmation email handy.....

Does anyone know how to link your badge to the app? I activated online but now there’s no way to log in after the fact on the app.

After we activated our badges on our computer the other day, I activated them on both my iPhone and my iPad. Yesterday afternoon and evening and again this morning I checked My Reservations in the app, and like you I see only the notice that reservations are full and information about standby lines. I also went to the Badge Activation link and instead of seeing the message I saw before, saying that my badge was activated, I get the form to activate my badge, but when I enter my badge number and email address and click Submit, nothing happens.

I am hoping that by Friday they have reset everything and linked our reservations to the app, but I’m not counting on anything, and I am bringing my confirmation email on my phone.

 

[soniam]

I think we need to be respectful of others feelings. Telling people to calm down isn’t going to help. Some people need to rant. We should probably allow them that opportunity. Providing positive potential solutions and realistic information, even if that answer is “I don’t know”, is probably the best way to help. Providing feedback in an especially, even overly, sensitive manner might help to keep things friendly. There are a lot of first timers and old hats on here that are fearful and uncertain. Some for themselves and some for the friends and family they are bringing. It can be hard to know how people are really feeling, because words on a webpage are not as clear as in person communication. I definitely see where people are coming from and can understand it, even if I don’t necessarily feel the same. We need t just try to empathize with each other and be kind.

 

[soniam]

I'm wondering if folding chairs really will not be allowed and why not. How can they do that when people are waiting overnight?

It’s their show, and they can make any arbitrary, irrational rules they want. We won’t know how it’s enforced until it starts.

 

[ashley0139]

Are they saying no chairs? I have not read closely enough!

Sadly, yes. Of course, as usual, who knows how the enforcement will be. I bought new chairs just for this.

 

[soniam]

Are they saying no chairs? I have not read closely enough!

Yep, it says no folding chairs. I guess a park bench would be fine though

 

[Simba001]

Are they saying no chairs? I have not read closely enough!

Prohibited Items

• Firearms, ammunition, knives, and weapons of any kind.
• Self-defense or restraining devices (e.g., pepper spray, mace).
• Marijuana (including marijuana-enriched products) or any illegal substance.
• Objects or toys that appear to be firearms or weapons.
• Fireworks or other similarly explosive and/or flammable objects, smoke machines, or fog machines.
• Alcoholic beverages.
• Glass containers (excluding small containers such as baby food jars).
• Horns, whistles, large megaphones, or artificial noise makers.
• Recreational devices such as drones, remote-control toys, skateboards, scooters, inline skates, or shoes with built-in wheels. Bicycles are only permitted outside the Anaheim Convention Center and must be walked within the event perimeter. Bicycles must be parked at designated bicycle racks located in the Arena Plaza.
• Strollers that are greater than 31 inches (79 cm) in width and 52 inches (132 cm) in length.
• Wagons, including stroller wagons.
• Any trailer-like object that is pushed, pulled, or towed by an Electric Conveyance Vehicle, wheelchair, stroller, or person.
• Wheeled mobility devices with fewer than 3 wheels or devices that cannot maintain stability and balance when stopped, unpowered and/or unoccupied. Training wheels and/or modifications are not permitted. Devices must be manually or electrically powered and operated at a walking pace. Devices should be single rider and not exceed 36 inches (92 cm) in width and 52 inches (132 cm) in length.
• Suitcases, bags, coolers, or backpacks, with or without wheels, larger than 24 inches long x 15 inches wide x 18 inches high (61 cm x 38 cm x 46 cm) are not allowed. Loose or dry ice is not permitted in these containers. Re-usable ice packs are recommended.
• Folding chairs are not allowed.
• Selfie sticks, hand-held extension poles for cameras or mobile devices, flags, and banners are not allowed.
• Tripods or monopod stands that cannot fit inside a standard backpack or that extend over 6 feet (182 cm) are not allowed.

 

[HydroGuy]

Prohibited Items

• Firearms, ammunition, knives, and weapons of any kind.
• Self-defense or restraining devices (e.g., pepper spray, mace).
• Marijuana (including marijuana-enriched products) or any illegal substance.
• Objects or toys that appear to be firearms or weapons.
• Fireworks or other similarly explosive and/or flammable objects, smoke machines, or fog machines.
• Alcoholic beverages.
• Glass containers (excluding small containers such as baby food jars).
• Horns, whistles, large megaphones, or artificial noise makers.
• Recreational devices such as drones, remote-control toys, skateboards, scooters, inline skates, or shoes with built-in wheels. Bicycles are only permitted outside the Anaheim Convention Center and must be walked within the event perimeter. Bicycles must be parked at designated bicycle racks located in the Arena Plaza.
• Strollers that are greater than 31 inches (79 cm) in width and 52 inches (132 cm) in length.
• Wagons, including stroller wagons.
• Any trailer-like object that is pushed, pulled, or towed by an Electric Conveyance Vehicle, wheelchair, stroller, or person.
• Wheeled mobility devices with fewer than 3 wheels or devices that cannot maintain stability and balance when stopped, unpowered and/or unoccupied. Training wheels and/or modifications are not permitted. Devices must be manually or electrically powered and operated at a walking pace. Devices should be single rider and not exceed 36 inches (92 cm) in width and 52 inches (132 cm) in length.
• Suitcases, bags, coolers, or backpacks, with or without wheels, larger than 24 inches long x 15 inches wide x 18 inches high (61 cm x 38 cm x 46 cm) are not allowed. Loose or dry ice is not permitted in these containers. Re-usable ice packs are recommended.
• Folding chairs are not allowed.
• Selfie sticks, hand-held extension poles for cameras or mobile devices, flags, and banners are not allowed.
• Tripods or monopod stands that cannot fit inside a standard backpack or that extend over 6 feet (182 cm) are not allowed.

They always say that and it has always meant no camper/lawn style folding chairs. Not the small kind that fold up and fit in a backpack.

 

[ashley0139]

They always say that and it has always meant no camper/lawn style folding chairs. Not the small kind that fold up and fit in backpack.

Thanks for clarifying. I've never tried to bring a chair before.

But also, how are people supposed to know that?

 

[justlai87]

I also went to the Badge Activation link and instead of seeing the message I saw before, saying that my badge was activated, I get the form to activate my badge, but when I enter my badge number and email address and click Submit, nothing happens.

I see the same thing.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for clarifying. I've never tried to bring a chair before.

But also, how are people supposed to know that?

By sitting on concrete floors at previous Expos and learning literally...the hard way LOL.

You are right though. Most folks won't know. I invested in these for the 2017 Expo:

https://www.amazon.com/Lightweight-...ocphy=9031580&hvtargid=pla-487413561963&psc=1

 

[Gothemi]

By sitting on concrete floors at previous Expos and learning literally...the hard way LOL.

You are right though. Most folks won't know. I invested in these for the 2017 Expo:

https://www.amazon.com/Lightweight-...ocphy=9031580&hvtargid=pla-487413561963&psc=1

This is what I was thinking. Last expo I brought the small packable chairs like these and had no trouble. I say a few other people with similar chairs too so I assume these small packable camping chairs that fit inside a backpack are OK, but as many have said before, who knows this year.

I plan to bring my little packable chairs again this year. If they deny me, I'll just toss them as they already gave me two solid years of good use and are wearing out.

 

[keahgirl8]

This has me very concerned (and is adding to my already full bag of anxieties!). They say you don't need paperwork, but then they say they will be strictly enforcing the food and beverage rules. The ACC bag check crew were clueless last time and I don't expect better this time. How are we supposed to "prove" that we have allergies and need to bring in our own safe snacks? And we have a water bottle with a filter, but I wonder how they expect the limited number of water fountains in the ACC to support up to 40,000 people?

While I realize that ACC staff is different than Disney staff, I have been assured by Disney that if I have a medical reason, I would be accomodated. They said I should be prepared to answer questions. I am going to have that email printed and bring it with me. This is my first time having food issues, and it is also the first time they are claiming rules will be enforced. I know we don't know until we know, and it will be the luck of the draw, but since the rules state "no food and beverage unless you have a medical reason" I'm hoping they'll follow their own policies. It's been inconsistent in the past, but that is because some enforced the rules and some didn't.

Everyone is entitled to share their thoughts & opinions here - this is mine.

To level set - I do not work for Disney and never have, and yes I too was frustrated with the reservation process yesterday. Having thought a lot about the experience, and having read your post (and other comments both here and on other sites & channels), I feel compelled to respond and share my thoughts.

1 - True, it did not go well but in fairness to Disney they were trying to address feedback and comments from past expo attendees regarding lines and distribution of passes by providing an advance booking process this year. Disney has done this every expo, tweaked the processes a bit based on guest feedback.

2 - they never said everyone would get the passes they wanted, and anyone whose done a D23 event or other con knows those are very popular and most book up quickly. Same goes with getting tickets to ComiCon which I’ve heard stories about but never tried to attend, or Anime Expo and the special ticketed events there each year which my DS attends so I have first hand knowledge. There are always more attendees than seats in most any panel. At least Disney clears the rooms between panels, unlike ComiCon, so we have opportunities to get into later panels.

3 - Personally I have to also find a bit of fault with those who took up more than one spot in the queue by logging in with multiple devices or multiple browsers or had multiple people trying on multiple devices for the same passes...as well as those solo who booked two spots only to try to sell one of them to someone who didn’t get a spot. All of that contributes to the situation. In the parks, we get one spot in line; why should it be OK to have multiple spots in the virtual queue? Unfortunately that is a fact of the process until there is a way to limit each badge to only one spot in the queue.

4 - there are definitely a lot of learnings for Disney and their third party virtual queue vendor with the way it played out, and way to contribute to the solution is to provide constructive feedback. Yes, I will be sending some in to them.

5 - as someone who has willingly camped out in the basement the past two expos, I do not agree with your description and that has not been my experience. It was not an unhealthy environment and there were not 40,000 people in the basement. Disney now provides the basement to allow people an indoors place to wait overnight, because for the 2013 Expo people were lining up all around the convention center outdoor areas. We’d chat with people in line around us, all kindred souls, and also seek out fellow DIS folks somewhere in line, make new friends, see people we now knew as we wandered the convention floor or were in line for panels.

6 - while the reservations are new for the Hall D23, except for sorcerer, we have never known how many stage passes they’d give out for any session, so it is hard to know how to compare this expo to the last one, until we are there and see how it goes.

7 - as I’ve shared a couple of times in this thread, and as others have noted post- reservation process, there are stand by lines and no reservations do not need to mean a bad expo experience. Last Expo I did the entire 3-day expo with only one store pass and no stage or talent passes. I’d hit 3-5 panels each day, got to two stores, did the whole show floor more than once, and did a Talent central signing. It can be done with some advance planning, much like a Touring Plan in the parks where not everybody or every ride has a fast pass and it’s always better to be there for rope drop.

So, I will still be there, I will again be in the basement, I will miss my store pass, and I will see how it goes with the stand by lines again this year.

Couldn't agree more with this. I know it's hard to understand if you haven't been there, but it's going to be okay. I'm not saying it will be perfect. Nothing will be with this many people, but it will be okay.

Thanks for clarifying. I've never tried to bring a chair before.

But also, how are people supposed to know that?

I'm still not sure. It seems like they've changed things to mean all chairs, but it does seem like they should allow something for people to sit on and camp. I know they approved the stadium type chairs that have no frame.

 

[mickeytotallyrock]

It’s their show, and they can make any arbitrary, irrational rules they want. We won’t know how it’s enforced until it starts.

I have a feeling that the chair rule is more a venue rule imposed by the Anaheim Convention Center and not Disney (just like the food rule is directly related to the Aramark contract that the convention center has for their food). I think the security rule following will be directly connected to who the security providers are. If the security is ACC employees they might enforce the policies, but if the security is a 3rd party that Disney brought in my guess would be that they would be more lenient. We will see in a few short days...