Well we made it to the last day! We actually ended up accomplishing everything we had on our list to do at D23, I am pretty proud of us considering it was our first time and we really didn’t know what to expect. Day 3 was much more chill for us with no crazy Talent Central stories. Haha! Day 3 ended with the Disney Legends ceremony and it was pretty fantastic, I can’t wait to share it with you!
Not So Early Morning
None of us got up at 3:30am this day, we “slept in” until about 7am and then took our time eating breakfast and getting over to the convention center. We were still there before the doors opened but waited a little bit before rushing in to let the crowds get where they were going. We only had one panel we were wanting to get to so this day was for exploring the show floor!
Show Floor
This was honestly like nothing I had ever seen before. There was just SO MUCH to try and do and see, there was no way to do it all. If you know me, you know that is hard for me to accept but there was no choice here. You would have needed three whole days just to get to every booth and see all the things. We made it into the Star Wars ILM showcase and it was very cool but we didn’t stay for the whole thing because we wanted to maximize our time. We looked through the Disney Archives Car Show, so cool! We tried to start the Great Pin Pursuit but didn’t get too far on that because all the lines were so long. We did collect some pretty cool stuff from around the booths, including our D23 Gold Member pins.
We did a little shopping in The Walt Disney Company Store since there were no virtual queues today and you could go right in. But the coolest thing we did on the show floor was to go through the Disney VoluntEARS booth. They had an assembly line set up for people to go through and put a bag of food together that would be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. The booth had signage that told you all the ways the Disney VoluntEARS help in their communities and at the end you became an honorary VoluntEAR and were given a Mickey hat. I really thought this was awesome and I am glad we got to be a little part of it.
World of Disney: The Product Experience
This was such a cool area and I am sad we didn’t get to spend more time here! They had a mini golf station with the cutest little course, a giant claw machine that you could get a plush from, and a Star Wars area that had basketball and skeeball you could play for a prize. Thatcher and I did go in and play in the Star Wars area and that was really fun. You could choose from two little lego sets or a key chain for your prize. There were also displays of vintage Disney toys and products on display as you entered the room with descriptions and what time frame they were from.
Donald Ducks Quacktacular!
This was the only panel we attended on Day 3 and it was so much fun! The panel talked about how Donald came to be, how he became a central character for Disney and even showed some never before seen shorts and sketches. Did you know that Donald Duck has actually had more features than Mickey Mouse? And did you know that Donald Duck was honorably discharged from the Army in 1984 after being drafted in Donald gets Drafted back in 1942? Tony Anselmo who voices Donald Duck was there and told us about being mentored by Clarence Nash and what it has been like being the voice of Donald for the past 40 years. We got to see the new DIY Donald short and at the end we all sang Happy Birthday to Donald while he came out on stage! It was such a cute panel and a great celebration of everyones favorite duck!
Disney Legends
That night at the Honda Center was the Disney Legends ceremony hosted by Ryan Seacrest and it did not disappoint! It was a star studded event and not just the Legends that were being inducted. They each had someone present their award to them and say a few words and some even had performances before being presented with their award. Each recipient also had a short video clip showing why they are a Disney Legend. I thought it would be nice to tell you who introduced each person and how all the speeches were. if this sounds like something you would like to see, don’t fret, it will be on Disney+ very soon!
Harrison Ford was announced by Bob Iger, I did not realize they were such good friends but going off their speeches they definitely are. Harrison Fords speech was so heartfelt and sweet. He even teared up a little bit at one point and so did I! Hahaha! he talked about how he wouldn’t be anyone without all the hard working and talented people he has worked with over all the years. This would be a reoccurring theme in all the speeches which was nice.
Jamie Lee Curtis was announced by Lindsay Lohan and Jodi Foster who joked about how Curtis was so nice it made her sick. Jamie Lee Curtis gave a speech echoing what Harrison Ford had said about not being alone in his success. She thanked all the people she has starred with and worked with over the years and then something really special happened. She lead the whole audience in singing There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow and talked about how important the message in that song is for us all to understand.
Kelly Ripa was announced by Ryan Seacrest who she thanked and then said she was so glad he found something else to host! Haha! She was hilarious and talked about how all the happy things in her life were made possible by Disney. Her career, she met her husband working for Disney and even made a joke about hidden mickeys in her dressing room with her husband making their children. It was so so funny!
Martha Blanding was announced by Derek Hough and the Dapper Dans, Main Street Band and Mickey and Minnie all came out to perform and welcome her to the stage to accept her award. Her video was so moving, she was the first African American tour guide and manager in Disneyland, and has done so much in the company over all her years as a Cast Member. Her speech was very moving as well as she talked about how her high school guidance counselor told her she didn’t need to go to college because she would never make it in the corporate world. Well look at her now! She has done so many amazing things in the Disney company and it was obvious that everyone who worked with her loves her. It was nice to see a Cast Member honored next to these big celebrities.
James L. Brooks was announced by the Simpsons and then Danny DeVito!!!! I just about lost it here because who doesn’t love Danny freaking DeVito! Between the Simpsons and him this was by far the funniest introduction of them all. James L. Brooks gave a great speech about working with the best of the best and being so glad the Simpsons were part of the Disney family plus a few jokes of his own of. course.
Colleen Atwood was announced by director Rob Marshall and this one was especially cool because Colleen is the first ever costume designer to be inducted as a Disney Legend! She has designed costumes for so many amazing films like Into The Woods and Alice In Wonderland that the details are just so incredible!
Frank Oz was presented by Pete Docter of Pixar. Frank Oz is such an incredible individual and has brought so many wonderful characters to life like Yoda! His speech was so heartfelt, he talked about how his parents were Holocaust survivors and immigrated here with him and his siblings. He said he remembered going to Disneyland and the huge difference it was playing there instead of bombed out buildings and that it held such a special place in his heart. The audience was obviously very moved and he was really touched by the reaction and had to take a moment to compose himself. He said he had struggled with having low self esteem most of his adult life and was scared to be himself, he told us all to not wait to be yourself and don’t hide who you are!
Miley Cyrus was announced by Ryan Seacrest and Lainey Wilson! Lainey Wilson performed Best of Both Worlds and it was AMAZING! Such a cool moment and she even said it was like a childhood fantasy come true since she used to sing it into her hairbrush as a child. Mileys speech was cute and funny, she even apologized to Mickey Mouse for malfunctioning from 2013-2016! Hahaha! Ultimately she told the story of how she became Hannah Montana and how Hannah made Miley as well and she pointed out that even people becoming Disney Legends are scared sometimes and she held up two speeches. One was the one she wanted to do and the other was the short one she would do if she got too scared to do the other.
Steve Ditko was introduced by Kevin Feige. This was a posthumous induction as Steve has passed away but so deserved as the creator of Spiderman and his nephew Mark Ditko accepted the award for him with a very sweet speech about his uncle.
Mark Henn was announced by the voices of Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana and Belle and their speeches about him were so sweet and really showed why those characters are so memorable to us all, it’s the way he drew them! Each Princess talked about how Mark really incorporated who they were as people into the characters. The fact that Belle was alway brushing her hair out of her face or that Tiana was left handed. Marks speech was equally as sweet as he thanked them all for being so wonderful and thanked the Lord for all of his blessings and gifts in the most sincere and heartfelt way.
Joe Rohde was introduced by Jane Goodall!! It was a recorded introduction but amazing all the same! She talked about how he had always intrigued her and how much he has done for the animal conservation world. She even said if she were a wild animal that could not be in her natural habitat she wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than Animal Kingdom. Then the Harambe Band played and danced to bring him on stage it was so good. Joe talked about all the things he has had the privilege to create with Disney and how honored he was to receive the award.
James Cameron was announced by Kate Winslett via video and Zoe Saldana in person. They both talked about how James Cameron brought the best out of them and made them better in every way. Zoe even said he told her she didn’t know how to run! Hahaha! He corrected this in his speech by saying she was amazing in every way and could do no wrong in his eyes. He also echoed the sentiment of others that his success is only because of all the talented people he has worked with in all of his movies.
Angela Basset was announced by Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther. The Dora Milaje came out onto the stage as well to welcome her onto the stage to receive her award. Her speech was so passionate and you can tell she has truly loved every character she has played, what an icon!
John Williams was announced by Harrison Ford and Kathleen Kennedy. They both agreed that John Williams is the greatest composer of all time, which I think we can all get behind seeing as how he has composed the most well known classical music ever! He was not there to accept the award but made a special arrangement of his most well known themes for the Pacific Symphony who performed alongside a video montage from the movies they went with. It was beautiful! Plus we got to see Harrison Ford again so that was awesome!
Conclusion
And that’s a wrap on D23!! It was such an incredible weekend filled with so much excitement! But I will say it’s not for the faint of heart or some who thinks it’s going to be a leisurely weekend, that it is not. Haha! BUT we did do everything we set out to do and saw all the things we wanted to see. My only wish is that we had been able to explore the show floors more but maybe that is for next time. I hope you have enjoyed all the recaps and make sure you check my socials too for some videos and clips of different things. There is more to come for sure, just so much to unpackaged. Until then, have a magical day!