The goal of this blog series is to factually prove or disprove rumors, myths and misconceptions in the Disney-verse. Tonight I wanted to cover some urban myths, legends and misconceptions I heard at and about the D23 Expo! Tonight’s topics “You Have To Be The Best To Table-ize”, “You Have To Pay To Sign” and “Coming To a World Near You” will hopefully help clear up some confusion you may have before the 2017 Expo.
You Have To Be The Best To Table-ize
The D23 Expo is full of interesting and new things. First you have the pavilions that the Disney Parks put together, this year’s included the Disneyland Shanghai, Pandora the World of Avatar, and a 60th Anniversary walk through for Disneyland. Then of course Disney’s merchandise and media groups have displays. Next up you have the big companies like Hallmark,American Tourister and Vans showing off their amazing Disney, Marvel and Star Wars related items. But, then come the smaller vendors, museums, blogs, travel agencies etc. Many though seem to think these groups are all there for free. That they are invited by Disney to be there and that they in fact are just handed real estate at the most important Disney event of the year.
I won’t lead you on and make you wait until the end of this part of the article to find out if this myth is fact or fiction. This myth my friends just is not true, it is totally busted. I spoke to a very nice lady Judith of Antico a vendor at this year’s D23 Expo. When I inquired about the cost of the expo her response was “Autumn, you were asking about vendor booth pricing for D23EXPO 2015. Keep in mind vendors pay for the booth, electrical access, Internet access, and material handling. Depending on what your merchandise is, all of that can at least double your cost. All of your merchandise and furnishings you bring are weighed and moved in and out by union laborers. We had a 10 x 20 booth for $2,200, paid nearly $600 for access to 3 electrical plugs, $200 for Internet access for one iPhone, and nearly $1,400 for material handling. That’s one reason why some folks in the group speculating that vendors “get in for free” just does not set right with me. Most people have no idea what it takes to participate in D23. due to the regulations with the City of Anaheim, we had to pay nearly $700 to park our 20 foot cargo trailer at an RV Park for the 10 days we were in Anaheim. Hotel parking lots do not accommodate large trailers, and the Convention Center does not allow overnight parking. Also, we had to pay for our parking space for our vehicle every day.” For those doing the math that is over $5,000 for three days of Expo. Vendors also needed to have a California Vendors permit and insurance, and if you waited to sign up sign up fees went up.
Judith also went on to tell me that “We had outstanding experiences with so many people who came to our booth- the retired head of the Disney Archives; countless artists, animators and Imagineers; other dealers who had a similar commitment to uphold Walt Disney’s legacy; serious collectors; and especially young people who are just beginning their journey of collecting Disneyana treasures. The amount of work (and money) put into the event by Disney and their employees was incredible. The support provided by Freeman and the union workers was outstanding, there is simply no other Disney fan event of that magnitude any other place. We were very honored to be a part of D23EXPO 2015.”
Any group or company that was at the Expo paid to be there. In the case of the blogs and podcasts that were there, none of these groups were specially picked by Disney for their contributions to the company, nor were they held to a certain level authenticity or originality in their reporting, they merely shelled out the money required to have a booth, or found a few other companies to go in with them on the same space.
You Have To Pay To Sign
There was a large amount of confusion leading up to this year’s Expo that guests would have to pay to get autographs from the whose who of the Disney-verse. This easy to disprove myth (yes it is in fact busted) comes from the fact that a company in the vendor area that was charging for autographs had a business name that was causing the confusion. Said company had the same name as an event at the Expo which was causing guests to think the two were in fact connected, when in reality the official D23 sponsored autograph and photo sessions were free to those attending D23.
Coming To a World Near You
The Sunday night of Expo I started seeing some weird rumors circulating around social media, and over the weekend I saw one horrible rumor completely shattered. First let me touch on the shattered myth. Back in July we mentioned that another blog had taken to the streets announcing Cars Land was definitely coming to Hollywood Studios and that that announcement would be made in May. That announcement not only never came, it was completely dispelled with the announcement of Toy Story Land.
The second has to do with the Expo itself. The D23 Expo is held every two years at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Center is currently undergoing renovations to expand it’s already insane capacity. The Expo is held in California primarily due to it’s proximity to the Disney Archives, the Imagineers and Historians who lead presentations, and the big name stars that appear in the Movies, Parks and Animation presentations in Hall D23. The Anaheim Convention Center also sits directly behind Disney’s California Adventure park. Hosting the Expo at the ACC every two years not only makes financial sense, it helps keep the archive items that are displayed at the Expo safe because they don’t have to be transported far to be displayed. Oddly though, the same group that attempted to convince us Cars Land was a 100% go, is now trying to say that it was announced and confirmed that Expo would be moving to Walt Disney World in 2017. Sadly my friends this announcement was never made, and until D23 confirms the exact dates and location of the 2017 Expo, it will stay busted in the eyes of TMSM Mythbusters!
If you have missed any of our other TMSM Mythbuster articles and would like to catch up on what Disney Urban Myths are Busted, Plausible and Confirmed feel free to catch up by visiting our MythBuster’s archive.
Graphics from D23.com
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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