We’re a mere 5 months away from the 2013 D23 Expo, and so I decided to take a look back on the previous 2 expos and share some highlights and magical Disney moments my husband and I have encountered during these events.
Today, we look back on day one of the inaugural D23 Expo which took place September 10-13, 2009. We were unable to stay for the Sunday events and we arrived in the afternoon on Thursday, therefore missing the Disney Legends ceremony entirely.
The very first event we attended was the ABCs of Disney which was a preview of what was to come on the ABC television network. The presentation was hosted by Tom Bergeron and included previews for “The Middle”, “Hank”, “Cougar Town” and “Modern Family”. We were also treated to a special performance from Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson from the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars”. (Guess what? They ended up winning the season!) We arrived a bit late for the presentation, but were still able to get descent seats and we slipped out early to get in line for another presentation we really wanted to see (if my memory serves me correctly, the ABC presentation had been running long). We made our way upstairs to get in line for An Afternoon with Imagineering Legends. It was about an hour or so out from the beginning of the presentation that was to feature such legends as Alice Davis, Marty Sklar and X. Atencio, and there were already quite a few folks in line, so we grabbed a spot and continued to wait for them to open the theater for seating. We noticed the line getting longer and longer and it was wrapping around the area in a very confusing way. As they started letting people into the theater we saw people who had not been waiting as long as us make it into the theater and by the time our line was let in, the theater was full. We were heartbroken as this was the one presentation we had been looking forward to the most.
Oh well, we figured since we were upstairs, we’d check out the Archives exhibit. We wandered around the exhibit, drooling over the various costumes and props on display. While we were admiring a costume from “Mary Poppins”, a man stood next to me. I realized very quickly that he had a camera crew and several other people with him, so my first reaction was to move out-of-the-way. Then I realized who this man was…none other than Mr. Richard Sherman! He was with some family members and was telling stories about the movie. When he was finished talking, I turned to him and thanked him for his contributions to music history. We shook hands and I shared with him my favorite song (which happens to be from that movie) and he shared a moment from Walt’s 100th Birthday celebration in Disneyland…one that we both remember fondly. I actually started crying on the spot…not something I’m known to do. We exchanged some sentiments, and it was apparent that he had to go, but he was so amazing and gracious…I hope we will get to spend more time with him in the future. This turned out to be THE highlight of our experiences so far!
Look who I found hanging around outside the Archives exhibit!
As I wandered around outside the exhibit, I passed by a lady who was in a hurry to get somewhere and I noticed her Disney name tag…Mary. This was none other than Mary Costa, the woman who gave a voice to Princess Aurora from “Sleeping Beauty”! She was in a hurry to get somewhere, so I didn’t get to speak to her, but that was alright…I got to see her!
We were planning to stay for the evening’s events which included a screening of “The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story” as well as the 50 and Fabulous screening of “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”.
If you have not seen “The Boys…” yet, please do. It’s an amazing story, not just about one of the greatest music writing teams in history, but it’s also about two brothers. There were many things we did not know about these amazing men.
Not only did we see the documentary, but we were treated to an impromptu sing along with Richard Sherman. Did you know that “It’s a Small World” was written as a prayer for peace and was originally performed as a ballad? When that story was told and the song played as it was written, I gained a whole new appreciation for the earworm.
After the amazing event was over, we stayed to watch “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” since neither one of us had seen it in years. I forgot how much I enjoyed that film!
This concludes day one….stay tuned for more!
this happy place 