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D23 Expo Recap: Day 1

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Friday, August 19 was opening day of the D23 Expo (I’m working under the assumption that you are familiar with D23) and it kicked off with a bang. Or a mouse, as the case may be. It always starts with a mouse.

D23 crowdsWhile the expo was open to the general ticket-buying public, it did offer a number of perks specifically to official D23 members, such as discounted passes, special “members only” events and early admission. It pays to belong, people!

Friday’s itinerary started at 9:00 a.m. with two of the aforementioned members only events, namely the Disney Store Opening Ceremony and the Radio Disney Road Crew Dance Party.

Other events that morning included an art contest with Disney.com, vintage footage showcasing the history of the Disneyland Hotel (congrats, DH, on the new ranking!), meet and greets with artists Jim Salvati and Robert Olszewski of the Disney Store and Disney Dream, respectively, and characters from Disney Channel’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

Then it was time for the 2011 Disney Legends Ceremony, which was, as you might imagine, magical. However, not everyone was able to attend the ceremony, so they had to settle for other really cool things like The Wonderful Words of Disney… Behind the Page: Kingdom Keepers presentation with Ridley Pearson. I would have loved to have attended this event to discuss some of my issues with the continuity, or lack thereof, within the series, but alas, Mr. Pearson was spared my fanboy criticism, and is probably the better for it.Read More »D23 Expo Recap: Day 1

American Idol Scotty McCreery sings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

American Idol Scotty McCreery visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Monday May 30th, 2011 and sang his hit single “I love you this big” for adoring fans. Later, McCreery dropped in for a very special visit with the contestants of The American Idol Experience, where he provided some advice on how to give a winning audition and later helped announce the name of the winning contestant.

Since the American Idol Experience opened in 2008, it’s been a tradition that the recently crowned American Idol champion stops in to film a few commercials, add their likeness to the attraction, and pose for photos. Unfortunately it’s not a very good event for the average guest. If you’re not one of a select 100 or so fans, you don’t get the good view of the stage. As you can see from the first video, only about 100 fans were allowed near the stage. The rest had to watch from a very bad spot behind the press stand.

More photos and video below the jump:

Read More »American Idol Scotty McCreery sings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Paula Abdul to host “Star Search” on ABC?

From Entertainment Weekly’s Ausiello files we learn that Paula Abdul will move to the ABC Network as host of a re-launched “Star Struck”. Abdul, of course, is not on American Idol this year and three was some speculation that she would follow Idol judge Simon… Read More »Paula Abdul to host “Star Search” on ABC?

Disney Payments to Idol Stars revealed in court docs

With a new season of American Idol underway it’s fun to note that one of the final 24 actually was a ‘Dream ticket’  winner at American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In fact, Aaron Kelly won his ticket to the front of the audition… Read More »Disney Payments to Idol Stars revealed in court docs

Disney News – The Morning Report

Catching up with what you may have missed yesterday The LA Times questions Bob Iger’s focus on the franchise strategy. I think they may have something there. Progress City, USA returns to the story behind “project future”, what would eventually become Walt Disney World. There’s… Read More »Disney News – The Morning Report