I had the pleasure of going to D23 Expo and San Diego Comic Con this month and felt I should share the personal experience in case anyone on here is curious as to what they’re like and need reasons to go (or you know, stay home) Along the way I was joined by fellow ONTDers @theblackwidow, @somnus_angel, @ace-kay, and @jellycar who made my stay that much more great. *Note: since by now all the trailers are out and better journalists have objectively covered everything this is mostly my personal recollections of what stood out most to me and what I think you’d be most interested in knowing*
Without further ado...
"" D23 Expo
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(Kate Micucci promotes Duck Tales on Disney XD)
This was my 2nd time here, and like 2 years before this did not disappoint. Everything owned by Disney was advertised here and you really got a sense how it owns you childhood and your children’s childhood. Thanks to somnus_angel and her sister we all got to go to the live-action panel which included sneak peaks at Mary Poppins Returns (IDEC if it’s going to be a complete retread it’ll be worth it just for more 2-D animated fantasy scenes), The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (I’ve the sinking feeling this is going to Burton Alice In Wonderland 2.0 in terms of flat plot yet Perfume Commercial Meets YA Cover Art aesthetic I live for, plus Keira as the Sugar Plum Fairy is every fashion sketch I did as a 1st-grader) The Last Jedi, (Kind of disappointed it was BTS montage and not a formal 2nd trailer but I can’t judge too harshly when this was my 1st time being in the same room with Mark Hamill) and of course Avengers: Infinity War (My biggest concern was this being Too Many Cooks with superheroes the Russos make impossible tasks look so fucking easy to execute and viewing the clip gave me the same rush as imagining Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars pitch on Parks and Recreation) *side note but I’m just saying even with a Broadway show there is just no way Aladdin can get better than in animated form but if you insist on remaking your animated movies in live-action The Black Cauldron/Chronicles of Prydain has SO MUCH POTENTIAL*
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(One of several indoor parades)
Why You Should Go: If you like anything including Disney animation, Star Wars or Marvel, this has every panel, merchandise, fashion piece, and exhibit you could imagine.
Why You Should Netflix Binge With The AC Instead: The road to seeing their movie panels includes sleeping on concrete with fluorescent lights and recent Blu-Ray releases playing non-stop and that’s ALSO if you want to be the first to own exclusive store items. There’s also neat aspects of the con floor you can’t get to unless you have a wristband in advance which you don’t know require a wristband until it’s too late (which is the only reason I couldn’t do the Duck Tales money bin photo op. )
SDCC
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(Lego Poke'mon)
After spending a few days at Disneyland and California Adventure it was off to San Diego which I spent with my hotel mates theblackwidow, somnus_angel and her sis. First thing I did was wait 90 minutes for the Blade Runner 2049 exhibit and after that I would not have expected the result to make up for baking outside but instead it’s everything a movie promotion at SDCC should be--you don a VR headset while sitting in a D-Box moving chair, then walk into a set recreation, see props and costumes on display, and interact with perfectly in-character extras before getting some whiskey and noodles. (Which TBH makes Westworld’s exhibit are the more puzzling because if you’re not going to do a full-size recreation of Sweetwater than WHAT’S THE POINT) On Friday I went to several art and animation related panels as well as a quite fascinating one on the science of rejuvenation and could the Lazarus Pit exist IRL (depressing spoiler: technically geneticists have all the pieces they need to further research on preventing age-related diseases but can’t go any further due to shit for funding) Then it was Hall H Saturday, and this was the first time I wanted to see everything they were promoting. Everyone freaked the fuck out upon seeing the Iron Giant cameo in
Vaporwave: The Movie Ready Player One, the panel for Blade Runner 2049 gave us hope that Jared Leto has been a non-existent hologram this whole time, and Damage Control (seewhatididthere) showed Batfleck non-soberingly avoid answering if he would continue being Batfleck or if he’d focus more on his increasingly demanding role of Midlife Crisis Man.
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(Shown: a summary of the entire Justice League panel)
Stranger Things, Charlize Theron, and Westworld went by without any major bombshells (although I am still shaking and crying from that mix of Thriller) Then Marvel came and blessed ONTD with what will be its new favorite wig-snatching reaction gif for 2018 in Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok looked exactly like the playroom of a child of the 80’s who’d pose He-Man, the Hulk, She-Ra and one half of Hasbro’s Posable Tears For Fears on top of a sideways Lite-Brite board. Finally, Sunday was exploring every square inch of the dealer’s room to pick up any illustration books I could find before gorging on fish tacos with @somnus_angel, @ace-kay and @jellycar watching Game of Thrones.
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(Best adult slumber-party ever!)
Why You Should Go: This con is so massive you’ll be guaranteed to have every last obscure fandom you’re in catered to, plus it’s a beautiful location and the con most likely to have A-list guests
Why You Should Netflix Binge With The AC Instead: Most of the sneak peaks go online the same day, plus you could easily spend more time in line than in panels.
So that was my month of cons, ONTD! Do YOU wish the Westworld exhibit was more immersive and could serve more than only 120 visitors a day?? ""
