ILoveRides

I'm having some issues. I'm trying to add 4 images to an existing report (my D23 Expo day 1 report) to replace 4 images in the middle of the report that didn't resize properly and are way too small. My plan was to upload the 4 new images to the end of the report, delete the four old images from the middle of the report that were too small, and then change the order of the last 4 new images to have them show up in the right place. I ran into two problems... 1. Images with the .jpeg suffix didn't upload. I renamed them .JPG and it worked. 2. After solving problem #1, I got the four photos to upload to the end of the report. However, the captions for all the original photos shifted down 4 places, filling in the last 4 new images with the four captions that were originally the last 4 captions of the report. At the beginning of the report, it repeated the 1st photo's caption 4 extra times, so the first 5 photos now had the caption that was only supposed to be on the 1st photo. Hopefully that makes sense? I'm using Safari on OSX.

Day 1 Coverage: Page 1 Day 2 Coverage: Page 2 Day 3 Coverage: Page 4 Here’s our coverage from day three (Sunday, August 11, 2013) of the D23 Expo: Welcome back! This is our third and final 2013 D23 Expo report with coverage from the last day of the Expo. (Photo provided by Disney) We started off day three at Honda’s ASIMO stage. ASIMO is Honda’s advanced humanoid robot. The letters stand for: Advanced Step in Innovative MObility. The robot can balance, walk, run, kick a soccer ball, and even dance! These things are easy for humans to do, but for robots that’s quite an accomplishment. Spears loves ASIMO! As a special perk at the D23 Expo, you could get a limited edition Innoventions coin and lenticular ASIMO card for liking ASIMO on Facebook! If you missed the D23 Expo, don’t worry, you can still see ASIMO. He performs regularly at Disneyland in Innoventions. And we got the super top secret scoop: ASIMO version 3 will be coming to Disneyland, hopefully within a year from now! Walt Disney Imagineering is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, so Disney brought 1401 Flower St. to the convention to give fans a behind the scenes look at Imagineering. Lets “Journey into Imagineering!” We teleported to 1401 Flower St., the home of Imagineering. You can tell because Disneyland is now listed as 32 miles away, rather than right next door. Tokyo Disney, why must you be so far? Someday I’ll return! Visitors were given guest badges before going in. Once inside, there was a short video to introduce guests to Imagineering. Then the doors opened, and we were free to explore. Inside there were tons of displays and things to look at. They really did a great job! And there were real life Imagineers on hand to explain things and answer any questions. A model from 1977 for a space pavilion at Epcot. An early concept model for a scene from Western River Expedition. A closer look. It looks like it would’ve been fun. Here’s a Disney Springs model. We met R2D2! The boxes behind us are a teaser for something Star Wars. One is labeled, “Orange Harvest,” a reference to “Blue Harvest,” the working title they used for “Return of the Jedi” while it was in production. What exactly they’re teasing is still a mystery, but this confirms that something is in the pipeline. Over at the “Experience Development Lab” booth they were showing off Magic Bands. And ways to personalize your Magic Bands. Of which there is no shortage. You didn’t expect Disney to miss out on a merchandising opportunity, did you? The Magic Sliders, Magic Bandits, and Cover Bands did all look pretty neat. There’s mine in green! So if you don’t know what Magic Bands are yet, they’re basically a band you wear on your arm that creates tan lines, tracks you, and allows people to steal your personal info. (I kid, I kid - just mocking the critics). In reality, it’s a smart wristband that lets you enter the parks, pay without cash, enter your hotel room, reserve a Fast Pass, have customized experiences (characters and rides can theoretically interact with you by name, or could know it’s your birthday and wish you happy birthday), etc., etc., etc. The system has a lot of potential to improve the way guests experience the parks. It’s currently rolling out in Florida, and I’m guessing it won’t be long until it hits the other DIsney properties. Here’s Spears showing off how they look. There was a whole display about Mystic Manor, the new dark ride that recently opened at Hong Kong Disneyland. There were props from the attraction. A model of the manor. Here’s Albert the monkey from the ride. The ride wasn’t based on any pre-existing IP; the story and characters were created just for the ride. Large amusement park attractions are increasingly being based off movies nowadays, so it’s refreshing when one is made from scratch. There were boards describing all aspects of the ride, from the engineering to the landscaping. Here’s the Interior Design board. The Graphics board. Moving on, there were lots of models of ride vehicles on display throughout the exhibit. Two Autopia car models. Could this be the future of Autopia? Technically the ride is in Tomorrowland, and cars and freeways are hardly futuristic anymore. The Research and Development booth had lots of interesting things on display. The Amazing Destini was a robot that guests could control. There was a control panel that let you control every action on the character. These servo motors would respond to the guest input, pulling wires that would control the robot’s movable parts. So you could make him look at the camera like this! They also had a musical plant on display. It was a real, living plant that would play music when you touch its leaves. Pretty amazing! Abe Lincoln’s head was also on display! And it moved! Creepy! This is the real one use in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland. They also had a finger sample so you could feel what the skin material feels like. Spears’ new nickname is “Lincoln Fingers.” The highlight of the R&D booth was El Fortuno, a fortune telling animatronic. You put a coin in... And El Fortuno comes to life! He talks and moves just like a real fortune teller. He asked Spears if she had a talent, and she said she could do a cartwheel. Since Spears was wearing a dress, and El Fortuno only had a top half, they both did the top half of a cartwheel, which basically looked like this. El Fortuno then gave us our fortune. We are destined for wealth! El Fortuno never gets it wrong. You are looking at two soon-to-be very wealthy people. The Illusioneering Lab had various special effects. The projector on the right is used to project ghosts in The Haunted Mansion. The round film wheel in back rotates in the light, creating the moving image to be projected. This was designed by Imagineering decades ago and is still used today. A lightning making machine. It projects lightning bolts onto a surface. This lamp could display customized messages to viewers. It was programmed to say “Hi Alice” at the event, but they said in the future it could interact with the specific person viewing it. (Cough, cough, Magic Bands?, cough cough) Hidden Mickey! These polarized surfaces were neat. They change color based on the light hitting them. Eyes used in rides. Outside the booth there was a Spaceship Earth early concept model. R2D2 was driving around checking everything out. He learned tons about Imagineering. Next up, the Dimensional Design booth. There was some live sculpting going on. Jiminy Cricket in printed and sculpted form. Here are some 3d printed sculptures. 3d printing allows for rapid prototyping, and as the technology improves I’m sure this will be used more and more by Disney in the future. They even had a 3d printed model of one of the arms from the Dumbo ride. It had actual moving parts, just like the ride. A model of one of the best ride vehicles on Earth! The car from Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea. Outside the booth there was an early concept model for The Land Pavilion at Epcot. There were so many details in the all the models. This balloon ride looked like it would be amazing. I would love to ride something like this! Here’s the Show Animation booth. (i.e. animatronics!) 5 Alive! Brakes, brakes, WHERE ARE THE BRAKES?!? Mater was having an out-of-body experience. They had a bunch of figure surfaces and finishing materials that you could touch. Spears would make a wonderful bearded animatronic. Look at all the fun stuff to touch! There was even a bird animatronic that you could control. He says, “Oh no, I am at the mercy of Spears!” But the highlight of the Show Animation booth was definitely the Hatbox Ghost towering over everyone. They claimed they built it just for the D23 Expo, but rumor has it you may see him in The Haunted Mansion soon! The Creative Technology Group was showing a Dish Digital Immersive Showroom. It was a giant wraparound screen showing a computer generated ride-through of Mystic Manor. They use this screen to get a feel for the timing of things and how things will look once they’re complete. On to Show Production... In case you wanted to know how to paint a castle. An artist was doing a live blacklight painting. Painted vs. unpainted. If you only saw the painted version, you’d probably believe that the rope is real. A lot of work goes into making “fake” things look real and aged. And when it’s done well you don’t even notice all that hard work because it just looks natural. There were no new Avatar announcements per se, but there was an Avatar area set up. The Imagineers said all of these things were things they brought back from their research trip to Pandora. So an Avatar land or attraction is still coming in some form, but no real details were given. Spears tried on the huge and heavy backpack, and lifted the huge and heavy shoe. Noted! That concludes our Journey into Imagineering. The only thing we couldn’t show (because photography wasn’t allowed) were the original drawings and paintings of Disneyland. Several of the original images of Disneyland that were drawn while it was still in planning and construction were on display. One painting even had blacklight paint to show how Disneyland would light up at night - it was fascinating to see it transform from day to night. Some things you just have to go to the D23 Expo to experience for yourself! At the exit of the Imagineering exhibit was Mickey’s of Glendale, a store filled with exclusive Imagineering merchandise. An overview of the store. There were all sorts of Imagineering goodies. Hats, pins, shirts, sweaters, notebooks, etc. Some hats. Pins. More pins. But that wasn’t the only store at the D23 Expo. There were also the Disney Store and Disney Dream Store. Here’s the Disney store. There was pretty much always a line to get in, but they had a spokesperson entertaining the crowd which made things seem to move a little faster. At one point an employee tried to get a wave going in the line. She had moderate success. Inside there were some nice merchandise displays. There was something for everyone. Here’s some Steamboat Willie merchandise. Small World dolls. They even had the dolls on spinners so the Display felt like a scene right out of the ride. Nightmare Before Christmas 20th anniversary merchandise. A special D23 Vinylmation. Lets take a look at the third major store at the convention, the Disney Dream Store. There were paintings for sale. Blank Vinylmation characters. Hand painted artist Vinylmation characters. D23 Expo Duffy Bears. D23 hats. D23 watches. D23 pins. Pretty much everything D23 you could want. After checking out the stores we headed upstairs for an Imagineering discussion. On the way we had to stop and take a picture of these costumes because they were great. We asked Linguini to take his hat off, and sure enough Remy was underneath! We also ran into Barbie from Toy Story 3. It’s time to see some Imagineers in the “Leave ‘em Laughing” panel. Dave Fisher hosted the panel with Kevin Rafferty, George Scribner, Joe Lanzisero, and Jason Surrell. They discussed humor in Imagineering. George drew photos throughout the presentation showcasing his belief that you can never torture Donald Duck too much. The more you do to him, the funnier it is. They showed off some rejected ideas for the stern characters on the Disney Dream cruise ship. My favorite is the one on the bottom right. It would’ve been hilarious to see that being towed behind the ship! This is what they decided on for the ship. When you ride the Aqua Duck water slide be sure to keep an eye out for Donald. They played some outtakes from the recording of Mr. Potato Head’s Midway Mania track. And they explained the story behind Mater forgetting the lyrics and singing “something, something, something” in Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. It turns out Kevin Rafferty was singing the song to John Lasseter and he forgot the lyrics, so he just filled it in with “something, something, something.” Lasseter thought it was hilarious and said, “You gotta do that!” And the rest is history. The panel was a lot of fun, and did leave us laughing! As we left, we checked out the Disney Center Stage where Bill Rogers, the Voice of Disneyland, was recording voicemail greetings for guests. The line to have it done was already closed off when we got there, but we hung around and listened to him record greetings on other people’s phones and they were really cool. He even customized the greeting based on your favorite attraction. Maybe next D23 Expo we’ll have another opportunity to do this! So that’s the D23 Expo! The event is a lot of fun, and offers some unique experiences that you just can’t get anywhere else. Over the three days we met celebrities, talked with Disney Legends, got to see previews of the next several years of projects Disney is working on, peeked behind the curtain of Imagineering, and saw world-class performances. I’d say that’s three days well spent! Thanks to Disney for inviting us to attend, and thanks to you for checking out our report! Don’t miss the next D23 Expo when it returns to Anaheim in 2015!

^ But on that note, an evil army of Intamin Cables sounds like an amazing theme for a trip report.

The new Intamin Cable is already thinking evil thoughts...

Here’s our coverage from day two (Saturday, August 10, 2013) of the D23 Expo: (Some photos provided by Disney) Also, be sure to check out these two videos from day two... The first video is of John Lasetter’s emotional Disney Legends acceptance speech on behalf of Steve Jobs: (Video courtesy of Attractions Magazine) The second video is of Disney Legends Alan Menken and Richard Sherman performing “A Whole New World” and “It’s a Small World”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKrVyztYlzo We’re back, and we’re starting off day two with the Disney “Live Action” Presentation. That means movies! There were lots of fun announcements. The presentation was hosted by The Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. If you ask me, those four brands shown on the screen are all synonymous with “quality.” Now before everyone gets too excited, let me break the news - there were no new Star Wars announcements. They did confirm what we already knew though, that “Star Wars: Episode VII” is still slated for release in 2015. And they said details will come, just not yet. But fortunately Marvel did have news and announcements to share! Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, was brought on stage to share what’s up and coming. Marvel gave a look at, “Thor: The Dark World” (November 8, 2013). Here’s the description of the movie from the press release: “Thor, the Mighty Avenger, battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s ‘Thor’ and ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos...but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.” Three huge stars from the movie - Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston - were introduced and the crowd went wild. Next up from Marvel, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (April 4, 2014). The description: “After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.” Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and Chris Evans greeted the crowd. Marvel also gave a first look at, “Guardians of the Galaxy” (August 1, 2014) which is based on the Marvel comic book that first appeared in 1969. They also announced “Avengers: Age of Ultron” which is scheduled for release in summer 2015. Next up after Marvel was Disneynature. Disneynature announced “Bears” (April 18, 2014) which follows a year in the life of a bear family as two impressionable young cubs are taught life’s most important lessons. Spears says, “Cute baby bears? Count me in!” Next up, Walt Disney Studios. Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, introduced “Muppets Most Wanted” (March 21, 2014). I’m not usually a big Muppets fan, but the clips they showed from this movie looked great. Ty Burrell then drove on stage in a tiny European car from the movie. The car was hilarious. I’d love to try driving one. Next Bailey introduced Disney’s “Into the Woods” (December 2014). The movie follows a baker and his wife’s quest to break a witch’s curse in order to start a family. Along the way, they encounter several well-known fairy tale characters and together they learn what happens after “happily ever after.” Disney also gave a sneak peek at “Cinderella” (March 13, 2015), showing some pre-production test footage. Cinderella is Spears’ favorite Disney cartoon, so she’s really excited for this movie. Disney gave a first look at “Maleficent” (July 2, 2014), starring my favorite actress, Angelina Jolie. And then the best surprise ever happened! Angelina Jolie made a live appearance!!! How cool is that? I don’t think I stopped smiling for the rest of the day. Do we really need to continue after Angelina Jolie? I feel like I could just end the report now. But okay, okay, I’ll continue... The next announcement confused the crowd a bit. Filmmakers Brad Bird (director, co-writer, producer) and Damon Lindelof (co-writer, producer) displayed a black box labelled "1952" that was found in the basement of the old animation building at Walt Disney Studios. It contained symbols, clues, and a video left by imagineers. This box is the inspiration for “Tomorrowland” (December 12, 2014). Some of the contents of the box were shown on stage, but the whole presentation left more questions than answers for me. Is the box even real, or was it just created for the movie? I’m looking forward to learning more about this box and movie in the future. Finally, Bailey discussed and showed clips from Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks” (December 13, 2013) which tells the untold story of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen. Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak, who portray the famous composing team of Richard and Robert Sherman, appeared on stage. To end the presentation, they welcomed “Mary Poppins” composer Richard Sherman on stage, and everyone sang along to a performance of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” while performers danced through the theater. After the presentation we took a quick drive around the convention floor. Spears found some Minnie nail polish she liked - so if anyone is trying to find a present for Spears, there you go. The next presentation we went to was the Disney Legends ceremony. Bob Iger (Disney CEO) and Tom Bergeron (Host of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and America’s Funniest Home Videos) hosted the ceremony. The hosts asked any Disney Legends in the audience to stand and the Legends were honored with a round of applause. Disney then saluted the Disney Legends who have passed away since the last ceremony. Annette Funicello, Lucille Martin, Norman Palmer, Mel Shaw, Robert Sherman, Ginny Tyler, and Ray Watson were all honored in the tribute video. An a capella group sang the background track for the video. 8 new Disney Legends were then honored. Here’s Tony Baxter giving his acceptance speech. A relevant Disney character was brought out for each new Legend. John Goodman was given his award with Sully from Monster’s Inc. Billy Crystal was honored beside Mike Wazowski from Monster’s Inc. The other new Disney Legends are Collin Campbell, Dick Clark, Steve Jobs, Glen Keane, and Ed Wynn. Here’s John Lasseter accepting the award on behalf of Steve Jobs. Lasseter’s acceptance speech was a moving and fitting tribute from a close friend and colleague of Steve. I highly recommend watching it. If you missed it, it’s posted at the beginning of this report. Lasseter barely made it through the speech. He had tears in his eyes, and many people in the audience were crying too. It was a really emotional moment. After all the legends were honored, the characters all came out and waved goodbye. To the side of the theater, all the legends had their handprints and signatures immortalized in concrete. Here’s Tony Baxter signing his name. Billy Crystal making his handprints. One more! Here’s Glen Keane signing his name. After the presentation we hopped right into line for the night’s big show - Disney Legends Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken in “The Disney Songbook” concert. We wanted to be sure not to miss it! Spears showed off her mouse ear ring while we were waiting. It’s showtime! Minutes before, that entire area behind us was filled to the brim with people waiting in line. They all headed into the theater, and now it was our turn to follow! For those who don’t know, The Sherman Brothers and Alan Menken are the who’s who of Disney music. If you have a favorite Disney song, there’s a good chance one of them wrote it! Tim O'Day hosted the evenings festivities. Alan Menken and Richard Sherman came on stage to a standing ovation. (One of many they received that evening!) Sherman played first. He played songs from The Parent Trap, Jungle Book, Aristocats, The Tiki Room, Mary Poppins, and MANY more! The screen behind the performers displayed images relating to each song. Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak made a cameo appearance and sang along to “A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins. When Sherman was finished the crowd went wild! The crowd then went equally wild when Menken came out to play. Menken played songs from Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Newsies, Pocahontas, Hercules, and more! To finish the concert Menken and Sherman both played songs they had written about the world - Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” by Menken and “It’s a Small World” by Sherman. Menken and the crowd sang along to Sherman playing “It’s a Small World,” and it was the perfect end to a perfect evening. It’s hard to describe what it feels like being in the presence of living legends performing their greatest works, but this night is one I’ll remember forever. And the icing on the cake was Disneyland’s fireworks bursting overhead as everyone drove home. Thanks for checking out part 2 of our report, and don't miss part 3 on page 4 of this thread!

^ I wish there was more info on it. It was just kind of "there." No one was talking about it or anything, at least when we were there. We were trying to get coverage of everything so we didn't get to stay and play long, but I totally could've! Even as an adult haha. I can totally see this working at the parks (Toontown?) or on the Cruise Ships. I can only imagine how fun it would be if it were 10x the size with 10x the things to play with. You could build an empire!

Yep, it's a Halloween special that will debut on ABC on Oct. 16. Here's the description from the press release: The first 10 minutes were great. It looks like it will definitely be worth watching if you're a Toy Story fan.

^^ I knew someone was going to ask that!

The 2013 D23 Expo was just held on August 9-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center and TPR was there with David and Spears! The D23 Expo is billed as, “The Ultimate Disney Fan Event,” and it didn’t disappoint. There were new announcements, surprises, celebrities, and lots more. Check out our full report below: Day 1 Coverage: Below! Day 2 Coverage: Page 2 Day 3 Coverage: Page 4 Minnie Mouse Spears is dressed up and ready to go! We kicked things off with the grand opening of the Phineas and Ferb Waffle-inator Challenge. To celebrate, members of the press were greeted with a waffle breakfast. And not just waffles... There were all sorts of delicious treats. Spears studied up on the Waffle-inator rules. Do not eat the waffles! No Spears!!! Don’t eat it! Rules are rules. Phineas and Ferb showed up and posed for photos. Radio Disney host Jake Whetter greeted the crowd. Jake then introduced the Waffle-inator. The goal of the Waffle-inator is to hit Doof with waffles to help Phineas and Ferb get to the top of the building and free Agent P. You can see the waffle shooting cannons in the bottom of this photo. Jake introduced members of the cast and crew of "Phineas and Ferb" and "Marvel Universe," and everyone got ready to start shooting waffles. The cast took turns launching waffles at the screen. After they were waffled out, the cast posed for some press shots. From left to right: Vincent Martella - voice of Phineas; Alyson Stoner - voice of Isabella; Dan Povenmire - co-creator, executive producer, and voice of Doofenshmirtz; Jeff “Swampy” Marsh - co-creator, executive producer, and voice of Major Monogram; Jake Whetter - Radio Disney host; Fred Tatasciore - voice of Hulk; Travis Willingham - voice of Thor; Adrian Pasdar - voice of Iron Man; and Drake Bell - voice of Spider Man. Spider Man and Iron Man joined in on the fun. Spears hobnobbed with all the celebrities. Here’s Spears with Alyson Stoner. After the animation presentation we headed to Stage 28 for Marty Sklar’s “Dream It! Do It!” panel. For those who don’t know, Marty Sklar is a famous Imagineer and Disney Legend who worked with The Walt Disney Company for 54 years. His new book, “Dream It! Do it!: My Half-Century Creating Disney’s Magic Kingdoms” was just released. Marty offered some insight into his life and his process writing the book. He also went over ten guidelines to theme park design called, “Mickey’s 10 Commandments.” Just for kicks, here they are: 1. Know your audience 2. Wear your guest’s shoes 3. Organize the flow of people and ideas 4. Create a weenie 5. Communicate with visual literacy 6. Avoid overload 7. Tell one story at a time 8. Avoid contradiction 9. For every ounce of treatment, provide a ton of treat 10. Keep it up One of the cool things about the D23 Expo is you never know who you’ll bump into. On the way out of the theater we said hi to Disney Legend Bob Gurr. Next up we checked out the silent auction. Shhhhhhhh! There were all sorts of neat Disney items for auction. I remember these! Who wants a Mufasa or Sarabi figure in their home? Or how about an authentic Disneyland Park sign? How cool is that? We headed down the escalator to check out the rest of the auction items on the main floor. Guests are encouraged to wear costumes, and plenty did! This Jack Skellington costume was one of my favorites. In the main hall there were more items being auctioned like this car from DCA’s Monsters Inc. ride. This romantic Mickey and Minnie bench was under $1,000 when we were there on Friday. (Although I’m sure the price went up by Sunday!) Okay, I KNOW some TPR members would love to have these authentic Matterhorn Bobsleds. I know I do! The bidding was already at $12,000 when we saw them on Friday. I wonder what they ended up selling for? There’s no shortage of shopping at The D23 Expo. Disney art, sculptures, pins, and more were all on sale. Look at all those pins! You could even purchase a giant Sully if you were so inclined. That must’ve taken awhile to make! Throughout the convention floor there was always something going on wherever you looked. There was plenty of entertainment throughout the day - everything from yo-yo performances to dancers. Here’s Magician Todd Migliacci entertaining crowds. We caught the tail end of the costume contest, and got to see lots of elaborate costumes. Hi Buzz! I loved how intricate everyone’s costumes were. 5 winners were awarded special bronze statues. Here’s one of the winners! A close-up of the statue. Lets check out more of the convention floor. Throughout the hall there were plenty of give-aways and raffles. We saw bags and pins being given out, and nicer items being raffled off. At this Cars Land inspired booth you could purchase Disneyland tickets. I think Spears makes a good Mater. If you haven’t visited Cars Land yet, you should! It’s awesome! The Build-A-Bear booth had some photo ops available. Artist Kristen Cumings was creating this delicious looking painting out of jelly beans at the Jelly Belly booth. Huffy had some cool limited edition Mickey and Minnie cruiser bikes for sale. There was a play area set up with foam blocks and parts for kids to build things. Being kids at heart, we of course went in and played. Here’s Spears striking a 100% Official Manly Pose. There were Planes and Cars toys on Display. They were all either previously in stores, currently in stores, or soon-to-be in stores. Spears liked the strawberry car with pink headlights. My favorite toy was the Lightyear blimp. A “Draw Your Favorite Muppet” area was set up. There were papers that taught you how to draw different muppets, and once you honed your skills you could draw one on the chalkboard wall. I was surprised how good all the drawings were. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for Spears! Spears is nurse for a day with Doc McStuffins. I have no idea what’s going on here. If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Disney Consumer Products was teaching guests how to draw various different Disney characters. We ran into famous cosplayer and model LeeAnna Vamp while wandering around. The “best in show” costume contest winners were posing with Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper. There was a Star Wars display with various figures and toys. I’m excited to see what Disney will do with the Star Wars franchise in the coming years. Minnie Spears and Minnie Mouse decided to hang out. After checking out the convention floor we headed upstairs for the “Broadway and Beyond” show. It was a full house! Host Thomas Schumacher introduced music from various Disney Broadway shows, and five of Disney’s biggest broadway stars performed the songs over a live band. There were songs from lots of Disney plays including Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Newsies, and more! From left to right are Disney Broadway stars Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast), Merle Dandridge (Tarzan and Aida), Heidi Blickenstaff (The Little Mermaid), and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King). And here’s the fifth performer, Josh Strickland (Tarzan). The performances were incredible. You could really see and hear why these performers were on Broadway. They were some of the best singers I’ve ever heard live. As an added bonus, famous Disney musician Richard Sherman (pictured) was sitting just a few seats down from us. As were Disney musician Alan Menken and Holly Madison of Playboy fame. Ashley Brown gave a performance of “Feed The Birds” from Mary Poppins that garnered a well-deserved standing ovation. TPR loves Newsies! This show was the highlight of the day for me. It made me want to go see every Disney Broadway show. On the way out Holly Madison posed for a picture with Spears! As we left the parking structure we kept asking ourselves, “WHY does the fun have to end?” Then we decided - it doesn’t! We headed over to Trader Sam’s for the Tiki Luau D23 Expo After Party. Just for the D23 Expo, Trader Sam’s expanded its footprint onto the Frontier and Adventure towers’ lawn areas. Polynesian dancers performed while guests mingled, drank, and dined under the stars. We ran into one more of the costume contest winners at the after party. Her dress had so much detail! There were Disney heroes on the left side and Disney villains on the right side. Can you find the Yeti? There were bars and tables set up all over the lawn, and along with a full drink selection was a special punch (available in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic form) available for purchase - it was really good! The Polynesian dancers and music were a great touch. After a long day at the convention, it was nice to just kick back and relax at Trader Sam’s. That’s it for day one of the D23 Expo. Thanks for checking out our trip report! Don’t forget to check out part 2 on page 2 of this thread - there are lots more fun surprises in store! After our waffle-tastic intro to D23, we headed inside for the Walt Disney Animation presentation. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, welcomed everyone to D23. Photography wasn’t allowed during this presentation, so the photos from this presentation are courtesy of Disney. Pixar showed off the first 10 minutes of “Toy Story OF TERROR!” - premiering Oct. 16, 2013 on ABC. They also gave a peek at “The Good Dinosaur” (May 13, 2014) and showed the “Party Central” short that will precede the movie. Additionally they gave a first look at “Inside Out” (June 19, 2015) and “Finding Dory” (Nov 25, 2015). Walt Disney Animation Studios showed off “Frozen” (Nov. 27, 2013), and the short “Get A Horse!” that will precede it. The Animation Studios also gave a first look at “Big Hero 6” (Nov. 7, 2014), and Zootopia (2016). Disneytoon Studios gave first looks at “The Pirate Fairy” (Spring 2014) , “Planes: Fire & Rescue” (July 18, 2014), and “Legend of the NeverBeast” (Spring 2015). There were lots of surprise guests and celebrities during the presentation. Bill Hader and Phyllis Smith, pictured here, came on stage to introduce their characters in Pixar’s “Inside Out.” Hader will play the emotion of fear, and Smith will play the emotion of sadness. Kristen Bell, Tom Hiddleston, and many others also made appearances.

We were told that there are no plans for it to return. "No plans to return" and "It will never return" are two different things - so it's possible it may show up again years down the road - but who knows. They just spent a massive amount of money upgrading the ride, and I'm sure they want to keep everything as nice as possible. Having people in there scaring takes its toll on the show scenes so I do understand the decision. However, I will also say that I'm going to miss the Haunt overlay. It was always a highlight of Haunt for me, and something that differentiated them from the competition. On this note - don't miss the Mine Ride overlay this year! The Mine Ride is likely to undergo a similar restoration as the Log Ride after this Haunt season, so it will see some changes, and who knows if it will continue to be Haunted or not. I wouldn't take any chances just in case this is the last time it gets a Haunt overlay.

Fixed... again... I think?

I'm glad everyone fit on Outlaw Run... I'm sure that was a blast! From everyone's Facebook posts it sounds like Silver Dollar City is treating everyone great!

A scan of the new park maps...

Knott's must be pumping magic ageless juice into their celebrities because Ed Alonzo didn't ever age either.

^ Apologies! I thought it was an industry-wide term. Thanks for the heads up! I just went back and fixed the report.

Yesterday was the first ever Halloween Haunt Press Conference at Knott's Berry Farm, and TPR was there with David and Spears! Knott's put on this event to announce what's in store for Haunt 2013. They invited media and season pass holders to the Charles Schulz Theatre to reveal the mazes, scare zones, and shows that will entertain and scare you this Halloween season. The presentation was great, and the whole crowd was enthusiastic and excited for all the announcements - it was a lot of fun! Check out our full report below... We're at Knott's Berry Farm to get the scoop on Haunt 2013! Right after entering, we were greeted by a spooky host who pointed us to the Charles Schulz Theatre. This was the line of season pass holders waiting to get in right before the theatre opened. Knott's has been doing a lot of special stuff to reward season pass holders lately (like morning ERT!), and this event was another great perk for pass holders. The theater opened and the crowd funneled in. Spears was in the Halloween spirit with her spooky spider ring. Even the weather got into the Halloween spirit - it was cool and drizzling outside - a rarity during the summer in So Cal! As everyone settled in, monsters started appearing throughout the theater to scare guests. This picture will haunt my dreams. He's looking right at me! Ahhhhh! Lots of people got scared! Including Spears! Jeff Tucker - Supervisor of Park Shows, Knott's Scary Farm Facebook guy, Author of "The Sixth Key," and white-sparkly-jacket-wearing-hero-of-West-Coast-Bash - came on stage to greet the crowd. Those who have seen Jeff on stage before know that he is always hilarious and he puts on a great show! Jeff introduced (from left to right) haunt designers Brooke Walters, Daniel Miller, Timothy "Gus" Krueger, and Lara Hanneman. They dove right in and started off by announcing the returning haunt mazes. The first returning maze is Trick or Treat! You will once again get to trick or treat at the Witch's house to see the Witch, her tricksters, and the dead children she killed. This maze, along with all the returning mazes, will have some new surprises to keep them interesting for fans who have been through them before. The next returning maze is Pinocchio Unstrung! An evil Pinocchio will once again be collecting dead bodies to cover his skin. Daniel said Pinocchio Unstrung is, "Grotesque, twisted, and fun!" Only a haunt designer could say something is grotesque and fun! Next up for the returning mazes - Delirium! I'm a fan of this maze, so I was happy to hear that it's returning. You enter the mind of a psychotic patient in an asylum and live her nightmares. Endgames is also returning! It moved to a new location last year, and will remain in that location this year. Also returning: The Slaughterhouse! This maze is the longest running maze currently at Haunt, and the beef on the menu is still not what it was advertised to be! The Mine Ride will once again be turned into "The Witch's Keep." Last year this was an unadvertised maze for those who discovered it, and this year it will return once again. The Green Witch finds a cavern with energy that she uses to enslave everyone in the mine to do her bidding. But enough about the returning mazes, here come the new mazes! First up, Dominion of the Damned! Evolved from last year's Dominion of the Dead, this maze focuses on the King and adds more horror and more goth. There's also a deja vu theme - in one scene you will walk in and be seduced, and then in the next room that looks the same you will be murdered. The next new maze is Forevermore! Forevermore is a modern interpretation of Edgar Allen Poe's work. It's going to be extremely gory, and you will see the stories you know interpreted in a modern and horrific way. Also new for 2013, Black Magic! As a former magician and lover of magic, I'm excited for this maze. You will tour a burnt out old theater, make contact with Harry Houdini and other demonic illusionists, and see an array of magic tricks gone wrong. Next up, The Gunslinger's Grave! Set in 1883 in the old west, a corrupt Mayor hires the Red Hand Gang to kill a local gunslinger who got too close to the Mayor's corruption. The gang burned down the gunslinger's house, killed his family, and thought they killed the gunslinger - but they were wrong - and now he's back for revenge. You will get to walk in the steps of the gunslinger on a path of revenge through the old west. One neat thing to note about The Gunslinger's Grave is that when you are inside a building, you will actually be in a building, and when you walk outside, you will actually be walking outside. When you're outside, you'll feel dirt beneath your feet, and when you're inside you'll feel wood beneath your feet. This added level of realism should enhance the maze and make it seem more realistic. Another new for 2013 maze: Mirror Mirror! This one has the potential to be a standout maze. You will go through an actual mirror maze and have to find your way out with haunted touches throughout the maze. The final new maze for 2013 is Trapped: The New Experiment! Trapped was the extra scary, solve-puzzles-to-get-out, upcharge maze introduced last year. This year it's back - but it's totally new (no rooms will be re-used), longer, and even scarier than before. I loved Trapped last year, so I'm really excited to see what they'll do this year. Get your liability waivers and safe words ready! There will also be a Trapped VIP lounge that you can go in any time during the night if you've bought a ticket for Trapped that night. On to the Scare Zones... This year there will be 4 scare zones. Returning are Ghost Town, Carnevil, and Necropolis. New for this year will be Village of the Dead in Fiesta Village. As you can see in this pic, smoke began to appear on stage... The lights turned green, monsters appeared, and all throughout the theater we could hear the cackle of The Green Witch! She appeared on screen and announced that she will give everyone something to scream about! The Green Witch will be back at Haunt this year - in Trick Or Treat, The Witch's Keep, and also roaming free with her band of tricksters. Jeff Tucker fell to the floor and shivered in fear like a sissy little baby! Live Shows! Knott's always has strong live entertainment during the year, and especially during Haunt. This year's shows will be Possessed - an opportunity for you to come face to face with ghosts, Carny Trash - a magician carny will take you on a tour of the legends of the carnivals, Cursed, The Blood Drums, Academy of Villains - they were featured on America's Got Talent, and of course, The Hanging will return. The special guest for the evening was then introduced... Elvira! Elvira said it was great to be back at Knott's after 12 years, and announced that she would be appearing every night of Haunt in the show "Elvira’s Sinema Séance!" The monsters carried her luggage on stage since she'd be staying at Knott's awhile. Elvira's back! Jeff wished everyone a good night and that concluded the presentation. The screen showed the Elvira and Knott's logos as everyone left the theater. On the way out we took some pictures with the monsters. Scary! Fans of R. Kelly's "Ignition" will know that, "after the show it's the after party." Lo and behold, outside there was an after party for members of the media. R. Kelly would be proud! It was a scary after party! There were props set up. And spooky centerpieces on all the tables. Of course Knott's pulled out all the stops and had food! Lots of food! Mmmm... food! And desserts! Creepy desserts! All the desserts were so impressive! But what's better than all the rainbows and all the unicorns in the entire universe? Free drinks! And an ice dolphin OF DEATH! Spears got wine! It started drizzling, but thankfully some monsters were there to keep Spears dry. We liked all the spooky flower displays they had. You had to watch your back, because you never knew when someone would sneak up! As night fell, there was lots of clowning around. Jumping! Dancing! The clown tried to get Spears to look in his hat, but she refused! Elvira came out and sat in a throne underneath the marquee. Elvira posed for some photos. Spears posed for some photos. We were clearly having too much fun, because the night seemed to fly by, and before we knew it the letters were coming down on the marquee and the party was over. Thanks Knott's for throwing such an awesome event and for inviting TPR to attend! We loved hearing about all the surprises in store for Haunt, and we can't wait to experience everything in the Fall! The first night of Haunt is September 26th... don't miss it! Thanks for checking out our report!

^ One of my friends spotted it on Gizmodo too!

^ haha I should've used word bubbles.

^ Maybe there should be a smaller version in the emoticon menu for easy pasting like the Piers graphic?

The park just emailed me our Full Throttle on-ride still photos from the media day... Upside down in the massive YOLOop. Coming out of the YOLOop. The reverse launch. Over the tophat. In the brake run. Thumbs up!

Tokyo Disney! Kawasemi! Japan! Looking forward to more Japan updates. You can never get enough Japan updates!

^ I'm pretty sure they're the same trains. I'm 6 feet and fit fine, but the harness does hurt my shins. You dont notice it when riding, but when sitting in the brakes waiting to get back into the station you'll wish you could loosen the shin restraint. It'd be nice if they resolved that issue, as they're great trains otherwise IMO.

Yesterday was the media day for Full "YOLOCoaster" Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain and TPR was there with Corey (AKA Mr. Bebe) and David. Check out our full report below: Also, check out our full POV, rider cam video, and B-roll footage of the ride courtesy of Six Flags: We're at Six Flags Magic Mountain for Full Throttle media day! We checked in and headed into the park. There were stages set up in the new plaza area in front of the coaster. This area was mostly dirt about a week ago, so it's impressive how much got done in a week! The Full Throttle Dancers came on stage to entertain the crowd. These dancers weren't just for the media day - they will perform at SFMM daily. We were told the area comes to life at night when lighting effects enhance the dancing. There were also some characters on stilts walking around. YOLO!!! They had free freestyle Coke! You can't go wrong with free Coke, especially since it's not Pepsi, and especially since it was 90+ degrees outside! An MC came on stage and selected four volunteers to play a game. Bowls, brownies, and whipped cream were then brought out. The game was to see who could eat a whipped cream smothered brownie out of a bowl the fastest using only their face. It ended up being a tie. I'm pretty sure the only things they won for competing were the free brownie and the messy face. YOLO!!! When Gangam Style came on, Mr. Bebe couldn't help but start dancing. Some of the signage in the plaza area. More signage. Among the new merchandise were these Full Throttle helmets. Park president Bonnie Rabjohn came on stage and welcomed the crowd. She also introduced Six Flags CEO James Reid-Anderson who was in the crowd. And of course, she introduced Full Throttle and the new plaza area! She started a countdown... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 And the coaster was launched to a burst of fireworks and confetti! Full Throttle is now called "Full Contfetti" When the coaster launched over the tophat there was another burst of fireworks and confetti! Look at all that confetti! Mr. Bebe frolicked in the confetti. There are some misters built into the ground in the plaza. Mr. Bebe showed off his Marilyn Monroe pose, working hard to keep his dress down. But we all know that Mr. Bebe is a manly man, so he stopped being Marilyn Monroe in favor of a 100% official manly pose! The crowd gathered outside the ride waiting for it to open. Once the word came from the state that the ride was approved for guests, the crowd was allowed in to ride. Here's a photo from the line. There are no switchbacks - just a long walkway that leads out to the plaza. Thankfully there is some shade overhead. Here's the station. They weren't able to get it covered in time for the media event, but we hear that it will be getting covered soon. Zoom! Here's the view from the line of one of the first trains with riders launching. Being this close, one of the first things you notice is how quiet this coaster is. It's one of the most quiet coasters I've ever heard. It's nice not having your eardrums blown out while waiting in line. A look at the trains. And here's the view from the exit ramp looking towards the massive loop. The loop in all its glory. All 160 feet of it. On the opposite side of the plaza as the coaster is this building with 2 restaurants - High Octane Wings and Loaded Dogs - and a small shop. They were letting everyone try out the food. Here's Mr. Bebe's chili dog. He had already been snacking away at the fries by the time I got this pic, so you get even more than what's pictured. Mr. Bebe's favorite ride at SFMM is Full Chilidog. Now lets go behind the scenes of the commercial/B-roll shoot for the ride. Have you ever wondered how they get amazing aerial footage of rides? This is how! We met the guy from Dronefly.com who brought this helicopter camera rig and he told us all about it. It's really neat! I think every photographer who saw it wanted one! Here it is capturing the footage. This footage will be used for an upcoming commercial, and can also be seen in our Youtube video posted at the top of this report! Speaking of capturing footage, this camera will capture your smiling face after exiting the YOLOop. Ride photos can be purchased at the exit of the ride. And speaking of smiling faces, everyone seemed to love the ride. Look at all those happy people! For me, the loop is the star of this coaster. It feels unlike any other loop I've ever experienced. The train moves slowly enough through the loop that you just hang there being held in by only a lap bar. It's a unique, scary, and fun feeling! While you don't get too much airtime on the tophat, when you hit the brakes on the way down you're thrown forward and outward. It catches you off guard and is a great end to the ride. Most people were criticizing the brake placement of this ride as it was being built, but believe it or not, the brakes add to the experience. Lets head up the mountain and check out how things look up by Superman. This shot is looking down into the valley that Full Throttle occupies. The coaster goes right overhead. You can see how close people are in the bottom right hand corner of this picture. After crossing over the walkway, the coaster makes a dive loop into the old monorail tunnel. Here's the dive into the tunnel. The dive loop from another angle. This is the view standing by the dive loop looking towards Superman. And this is the view from Superman looking back towards Tatsu. Also, this is what the underside of a Yolotrain looks like. Very YOLO! Pop quiz time: Is Mr. Bebe sad becasue A - He's in jail. B - He's out of focus. Or C - because he waited 45 minutes in the sun for a Full Throttle train to go by, and one hasn't come yet. I'll give you a hint, it isn't A or B. Mr. Bebe is very happy to learn that a train is finally on its way. (Operations were slow in the middle of the day because of the commercial shoot. They had to move cameras, adjust things, etc. in between launches. Also, the coaster was being a little finicky - they were still working the kinks out. Normally things should run much faster!) Over the walkway! Into the tunnel! Over the tophat! Pop quiz #2: What's the best way to get down the mountain? A - walk. B - take the Orient Express. C - roll. These kids clearly thought the answer was C, but they were wrong, the answer is B. Here's a shot from the side of the dive loop as a train dives into the tunnel. This picture shows how high the train goes on the reverse launch. This photo was taken at its maximum height. This is one of the reasons why most people seemed to prefer the back seat on this coaster - in the back seat you go much farther up the loop on the reverse launch. One more picture of the dive loop into the tunnel. Back down the mountain, here's the view from behind the station, looking towards the loop. The train launches right out of the station. Loop! Tophat! Happiness! Overall Full Throttle exceeded our expectations, and is a solid ride with some unique experiences - extreme loop hangtime, ejector brakes - that you won't find on many other coasters. Thanks Six Flags for throwing an awesome media day and inviting TPR to attend, and thanks to you for checking out our report! Now get to SFMM and ride Full_Throttle because YOLO!!!

Great report Adam! It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the media days for the Hollywood and Florida Transformers openings. That Nest bag is really cool!

^ Nice find!