Hello from the D23 Expo! Well, I should say I’m getting ready for day one of the D23 Expo. We’ll be walking over to the Anaheim Convention Center shortly before spending all day walking around the show floor, listening to different panels and enjoying all of the festivities. I’m not sure if I’ll do this for each day of the expo (Saturday will be a big news day without live updates) but for Day 1 I’ll be adding updates of our firsthand accounts throughout the day on this post.

For those looking for a more general view of the 2026 D23 Expo, I’ll warn you now that the first few updates will be heavy on the theme park side of things. That probably isn’t a surprise since this is a website that covers theme parks. Our first stop this morning will be on the show floor and getting a look at the Imagineering Pavilion. I expect the place to be packed so the quality of phone uploads to the site might not be the best but I’m sure we’ll double and triple back around throughout the day.

There are several panels that I’m looking forward to today. Melissa and I are both interested in the Beauty and the Beast panel as well as the midday offering about film scores. Different panels are my favorite part about the D23 Expo generally but it’s hard to balance how much time to spend listening to these versus walking around the show floor. First world problems, right?

The hardest choice of the day for me, personally, was deciding between The Muppets Musical History with Seth MacFarlane or going to the Entertainment Showcase at the Honda Center tonight. Barring any last second change of plans, I’m a little heartbroken to say that we plan to go to the Entertainment Showcase. We had all but decided on the Muppets Musical History but then it was noted that no Muppets will be at that panel. I’m hoping that means they’ll be at the Entertainment Showcase instead. Plus, we wanted to get a lay of the Honda Center land before the parks showcase tomorrow night.

That’s enough preamble for now. We’re thrilled to be back at D23 Expo and are looking forward to bringing you updates throughout the day and weekend. Sorry that most of the videos and photos will be from my phone instead of camera for this post. It’s a lower quality but significantly easier for this certain post. We’ll have plenty of camera photos on the way.

The next update will be from inside the Convention Center, likely with lots of photo and video from the Imagineering Pavilion!

Update 10:25

We’ve made our way into the convention center and have been walking around the Imagineering Pavilion. It’s very impressive! They’ve gone hard on the models this year and there’s seemingly an update for every single thing that was announced in 2024. I’ll have a few more thoughts in the coming hours but am uploading some photos and videos for now. Enjoy!

Update (noon) from the Imagineering Pavilion

One of the coolest parts of this year’s Imagineering Pavilion are the stage presentations. Every 40 minutes or so, Imagineers are taking the stage to talk about a different subject.

The first one I saw highlighted S.E.A. (the Society of Explorers and Adventurers) and where it exists throughout the Disney Parks. A big reveal about an ‘artifact’ was teased but nothing came of it today. I think we’ll hear something tomorrow.

The next presentation featured a look at the ride vehicles that are coming to Piston Peak. They showed off details about the headlights, how they designed the whole car and more.

Apparently, these presentations will keep going throughout the weekend and will be new each day. Check the Imagineering Pavilion for a daily schedule every morning!

Here are a few more photos from the pavilion. The Piston Peak model really steals the show with its massive size! I’m coming around on the project as we see more and more of it, although I’ll always miss the river.

Our First Panel of D23 Expo Update (2 PM)

Contrary to public belief, we aren’t spending the whole day in the Imagineering Pavilion. We just got out of our first panel – Disney Music Presents: The Art of the Score featuring Michael Giacchino. He’s an Oscar winning film composer who’s worked on a number of Pixar, Marvel and Disney films.

Along with Disney theme parks, one of my other joys in life is movies. It was insightful to hear him talk about his process and all of the great directors he’s worked with. Panels are always one of my favorite parts of these events and this was no exception. We even got this cute giveaway!

Time for some shopping now!

4 PM Update

Shopping was a success! Unsurprisingly, Melissa loaded up on Duffy merch while in Mickey’s of Glendale. The show floor has been slammed for much of the day, which isn’t a surprise on day 1. Getting into things other than the Imagineering Pavilion will wait for later in the weekend.

We went with an early dinner, sharing a California Burrito and Fish Tacos for those keeping score at home. Now we’re seated for the Walt Disney 125 Years of Inspiration panel. Some familiar faces are here as pre-panel entertainment!

It’s good to see Phat Cat Swinger getting a little love at the D23 Expo. Our next update will come from the Honda Center before the entertainment showcase tonight. Talk to you from there!

Update 6:40 PM

We’re entering the Honda Center for the entertainment showcase now! Any thought of sticking around the expo for the Muppets was left behind when it was noted that no Muppets would be on hand. Here’s hoping that doesn’t bite us!

An early highlight of the expo was the aforementioned Walt Disney 125 Years of Inspiration panel. They brought out 4 different legends to all talk about their time with Walt, including his granddaughter Joanna Miller. The other 3 legends were Bob Gurr, Floyd Norman and Tania Norris. If you aren’t aware of their individual stories then look them up, you won’t be sorry!

The panel was extremely heartfelt and I wish it included more of those people talking. It was special just to be in the room with them all, much less hear them talk about Walt Disney.

We’re seated now. I can’t say I care a ton about Marvel or other projects that will be talked about heavily tonight. But it’ll be fun to be a part of the excitement! We’ll report back soon on all of it.

Update 11 PM

Day 1 of the D23 Expo is over for us, as we’re back at home after the entertainment showcase in the Honda Center. There were some exciting announcements, specifically on the Pixar front with a few original movies shared along with Incredibles 3 and Coco 2. Similarly, Disney Animation shared more of Hexed which looks like a wonderful original story before sledding into Frozen 3.

On the Marvel and Star Wars front, I wasn’t overly excited but that’s probably more personal taste. Star Wars: Starfighter brought out Ryan Gosling and it’s a joy to be in the presence of that man. Same goes for the X-Men and announcing Adam Driver.

The biggest cheer of the night probably went to Kathryn Hahn as she introduced the live action Tangled. She’s playing Mother Gothel in the film and people lost their minds. They went out of the way to share that they were filming on location during that presentation, which makes sense considering Moana’s stumble and look.

We enjoyed the star power of the show! Seeing Anne Hathaway, Jodie Foster, Jon Favreau, Robert Downey, Jr. and Hailee Steinfeld on stage, among many others, is a thrill. Ke Huy Quan and Ginnifer Goodwin were unofficial hosts of the night and kept the show moving. Their involvement made sense considering the announcement of a Zootopia 3.

The highlight of the whole showcase to me was Josh D’Amaro’s heartfelt speech to begin the entertainment showcase. It wasn’t about any one entity of the company but felt like an introduction to the new Disney CEO. It also was a thank you to all of the people who helped get him there, including the fans. The speech made it clear how important D’Amaro sees the D23 Expo being, taking 10 minutes to talk alone on stage to the fans. He shared about his past, his interactions with the fans and what he’s excited to bring forward. I don’t think Iger could have made that speech believable and I know Chapek couldn’t have. D’Amaro isn’t perfect as CEO but when he leans into the personal side of things, it’s hard not to root for the guy.

As a whole, I thought the entertainment showcase was fine. I have to admit that many of the announcements just aren’t for me. I’ll see most of the movies they announced but that’s because I see a lot of movies, not because they are at the top of my list. I’m fine with that and I enjoyed seeing everyone excited. There were a few moments when the show dragged but all in all it was an enjoyable way to spend 2 and a half hours.

The whole day was a blast and we enjoyed running into several friends and colleagues. That’s half the fun of something like the D23 Expo, seeing old friends and making new ones. We’re looking forward to tomorrow as it will be a huge day (mostly night) for Disney Parks fans. We’ll have a bunch of posts up and I’ll probably forgo the live blogging tomorrow unless readers really want me to keep one going tomorrow. For now, goodnight from day 1 of the 2026 D23 Expo!

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