{"id":470515,"date":"2026-09-21T02:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T02:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470515\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T02:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T02:50:11","slug":"automatters-more-d23-2026-the-ultimate-disney-fan-event-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470515\/","title":{"rendered":"AutoMatters & More: D23 2026 \u2014 The Ultimate Disney Fan Event \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simply named D23 (Disney fans might remember when it was called D23 EXPO), this three-dayevent is aptly billed by Disney as \u201cThe Ultimate Disney Fan Event.\u201dHeld every two years in Anaheim, this is the arguably the best place to go to celebrate all things Disney \u2014 in costumes if you are so inclined. Think of it as Disney\u2019s version of San Diego Comic-Con. D23 is now my primary opportunity to experience Disney first-hand since, after many years, I finally made the decision to let my annual pass to the Disneyland Resort expire and not renew it.<\/p>\n

\"HUGO'sHUGO\u2019s Sweets & Fizz animatronics
\n(Jan Wagner)<\/p>\n

D23\u2019s main venue was the Anaheim Convention Center. Presentations were held on several large stages throughout.<\/p>\n

Roving groups of musicians entertained from time to time, on the first floor. Exhibit spaces werededicated to Lucasfilm, Avatar, the Walt Disney Archives, Pixar, The Simpsons, The BlueyMovie, Marvel Studios, Disney+, Hulu, Disney Music, a Ravensburger gaming area, the DisneyCruise Line, Disney Volunteers, Disney Fine Art, The Walt Disney Family Museum, the DisneyTheatrical Group, Disney F1, Talent Central and more.<\/p>\n

\"ModelModel of Piston Peak National Park, coming to Walt Disney World in Florida
\n(Jan Wagner)<\/p>\n

Inside the large IMAGINEERING Horizons exhibit, visitors were given a fascinating look intowhat goes into making the amazing attractions at Disney theme parks around the world. At\u201dHugo\u2019s Sweets & Fizz\u201d we were entertained by an animated alien proprietor and Grogu. Insidewas also a large-scale model of Piston Peak, which will be coming to Magic Kingdom at WaltDisney World in Florida. I spent hours in this exhibit space.<\/p>\n

One exhibit was a large LEGO scale model, created by fans, of the \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201dride at Disneyland, complete with flowing water and ride vehicles.<\/p>\n

Attendees\u2019 desire to shop were more than satisfied in the D23 Marketplace and Pinstore,Mickey\u2019s of Glendale and the Walt Disney Store. I bought Muppets merchandise! Non-Disney commercial exhibitors included Honda, Chevrolet, Hasbro, Crocs, Heinz, Loungefly, BoxLunch,Citizen and more.<\/p>\n

\"Fan-builtFan-built Pirates of the Caribbean scale model
\n(Jan Wagner)<\/p>\n

Panels were ongoing throughout, discussing all sorts of interesting topics. I was fascinated by the Hasbro panel, at which we were introduced to an especially animated and responsive Grogu \u2014 an adult collectable, which was available for pre-order. When the Hallmark panel concluded, we attendees were surprised with a very special gift: a hardcover book titled \u201cHallmark: A Century of Caring.\u201d Inside was a DVD containing a Hallmark Hall of Fame film pluscommercials.<\/p>\n

On Sunday evening we were entertained by Alan Menken in concert. Photos from his life wereprojected as he played the piano, sang and spoke to us.<\/p>\n

D23 used to be held only at the Anaheim Convention Center, but Disney had even bigger thingsin mind for their showcase event when they moved their spectaculars to the Honda Center, which has a much larger space to accommodate huge crowds for a presentation. Showing a huge crowd also makes for great TV.<\/p>\n

\"AlanAlan Menken in concert in the Anaheim Convention Center
\n(Jan Wagner)<\/p>\n

On Saturday at the Honda Center, Disney showcased what is new and coming to the DisneyParks all around the world, at a presentation called \u201cHorizons: Disney Experiences Showcase.\u201dThe other two presentations at the Honda Center were the \u201cDisney Entertainment Showcase\u201d on Friday and the \u201cDisney Legends Awards Ceremony\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Admission to the Honda Center and the Anaheim Convention Center each require entering alottery to try to buy tickets. I entered the lottery for tickets to the Anaheim Convention Centerbut this time I did not try to buy tickets for the presentations held at the Honda Center. At theprevious D23 my seat was at the far end of the Honda Center. If it were not for big screen TVs, I would have been way too far away to see anything \u2014 and, as I learned last time when I arrived at the Honda Center for the one presentation that I was able to buy a ticket for, cameras with detachable lenses are absolutely not allowed.<\/p>\n

So, instead of at least being able to use a camera with a long zoom lens to directly see \u2014 and take pictures to show you \u2014 what was happening on stage, I was compelled to leave my very expensive camera outside the venue. Also, by taking a bus (or driving) to the Honda Center, you will absolutely miss the opportunity to see and experience some of what is happening at the Anaheim Convention Center.<\/p>\n

To explore a wide variety of content dating back to 2002, with the most photos and the latesttext, visit \u201cAutoMatters & More\u201d at https:\/\/automatters.net . Search by title or topic in the Search Bar in the middle of the Home Page or click on the blue \u2018years\u2019 boxes and browse. Copyright \u00a9 2026 by Jan Wagner \u2013 AutoMatters & More #944r1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simply named D23 (Disney fans might remember when it was called D23 EXPO), this three-dayevent is aptly billed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,310,1002],"class_list":["post-470515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-del-mar-times","tag-del-mar-times-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}