D23 (Disney)
D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, also known as simply D23, is the official fan club for the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2009, the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. The name D23 refers to D for Disney and 23 for 1923, which is the year Walt Disney founded the company.
Membership is in two levels: free and gold. Membership includes Disney twenty-three, yearly gifts, events, exclusive merchandise offers, and discount and early access to the Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
History
introduced D23 on March 10, 2009, during the company's annual meeting. D23 had a booth at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 and held the first D23 Expo from September 10 to 13, 2009. In March 2010, D23 announced that the expo would be biennial instead of annual, and Destination D events would be held in the off year. In February 2013, the Walt Disney Company Japan announced the first D23 Expo Japan would be held from October 12 to 14, 2013.In April 2013, D23 and Turner Classic Movies Festival teamed up for the 75th anniversary showing of Disney Animation's first feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Kirk Douglas hosted the showing of Disney's 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea newly restored from original camera negatives.
Steven Clark stepped down as head of D23 in late September 2013. In January 2014, Adam Sanderson took over as Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications with oversight of the Disney Archives. At the November 21, 2014, weekend event, Destination D, Sanderson indicated that the silver level of membership was being discontinued.
In October 2018, Disney Cruise Line began showing Disney at Sea with D23, a 30-minute entertainment news show that covers the many Disney subsidiaries with input from D23, starting with the ship.
Events
Events include:- The Ultimate Disney Fan Event biennial
- Destination D23 a smaller biennial event alternating with the Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
- *Disneyland '55 Disneyland Hotel's Grand Ballroom
- *Attraction Rewind Disney's Contemporary Resort; Mickey's of Glendale pop-up shop and Treasures of Walt Disney Archives, containing Disney Parks collectibles and memorabilia and New York World's Fair Disney collectibles; Tomorrowland sneak peek
- Advance screening
- Disney studio lot screening of past animated films with panel discussion
- Lunch with a Legend
- D23 Day: Walt Disney Studios and Archives members tours held three times a year
- Member VIP studio tours available to Gold members and are during the work week and include a Disney Legend lunch and a unique VIP gift
- Light Up the Season original an annual event for employees to mark the start of the holiday season, D23 members have their own version on the studio lot which consists of carols, cocoa, and a tree lighting.
- Member Night at Newsies—On Tour
- Behind-The-Scenes Experiences
- Member mixers at Disney stores, 2nd time in 2016, member only mornings of shopping, discounts, games and goodies
- Disney Fanniversary Celebration
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event (formerly D23 Expo)
- Disney Legends award ceremony
- Exclusive first looks at projects
- Upcoming attractions
- Celebrity appearances
- Pop-up stores with exclusive merchandise
- Presentations on Disney history
- Mousequerade fan costume contest
- Emporium for purchasing of collectables from fan vendors
- Walt Disney Archives curated exhibit
- Fan art contest
2009
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Experience
The first D23 Expo was held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California from September 10 to 13, 2009. It featured pavilions from Walt Disney Imagineering, showcasing models and tests for future attractions, Corporate Responsibility, which feature a photo op, as well as projects for overseas troops and homeless shelters, Disney Consumer Products, showing the many products being sold by Disney within the next few years, a Disney Dream Store, costumes and props from the Walt Disney Archives, a Collectors Forum, where people from all over the country showcased and sold memorabilia.Events were held in the D23 Arena, Stage 23, Storytellers Theatre, and Walt Disney Studios Theatre. Many future projects were announced, including an expansion of Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, an extensive re-hauling of Star Tours for Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios, a film based on the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides being revealed as the title for the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with a "Summer 2011" release, a new Muppet film, as well as clips and sneak previews promoting projects such as Prep & Landing, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast in 3-D, a set of viral Muppet videos, and a film series with Guillermo del Toro.
Celebrity appearances included John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer, Tim Burton, Selena Gomez, Donny Osmond, Tom Bergeron, Kym Johnson, Betty White, Robin Williams, Joseph Fiennes, Johnny Depp, as well as live performances by Miley Cyrus, Honor Society, and The Muppets.
2011
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event
The D23 Expo returned for a second time at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California from August 19 to 21, 2011. The Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives has expanded by since the Inaugural D23 Expo. The show floor also featured a new pavilion, similar to the Walt Disney Imagineering pavilion from D23 Expo 2009, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts's Carousel of Projects which shows the highlights of the developing projects coming soon in Disney Parks around the world.Shopping opportunities included the D23 Expo Dream Store returning from the inaugural Expo. Other D23 Expo-exclusive stores included Mickey's of Glendale from Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in Glendale, California and the Walt Disney Archives Treasure Trove from the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California. Other stores include A Small World Village and a Disney Store in the Disney Living Pavilion. Another popular area was the Collectors Forum, where guests could buy Disney Collectibles and connect with the Disneyana Fan Club, Mouse Planet, Mice Chat, Hidden Mickey author Nancy Temple Rodrigue, and artist Brian Rood with his one-of-a-kind The Rocketeer.
Events took place at the D23 Arena, Stage 23, Stage 28, the "red carpet" at the Talent Round-Up area, Storytellers Stage at the Disney Living pavilion, and at the Disney Channel/Radio Disney stage. The Disney Channel stage held performances from Coco Jones, China Anne McClain, a first look for Radio Disney's N.B.T., and a karate exhibition from Leo Howard. Guests also had the chance to meet and greet the cast of Good Luck Charlie, Jake and the Never Land Pirates and The Never Land Band, Lemonade Mouth, So Random!, Phineas and Ferb, Kickin' It, Fish Hooks, A.N.T. Farm, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, Pair of Kings, and Shake it Up.
Stage 23 hosted many events involving sneak peeks to projects from Walt Disney Studios and ABC Studios including The Avengers, The Muppets, Brave, Monsters University, Once Upon a Time, and Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, and the celebration for the 25th Anniversary of Pixar. Stage 28 hosted Walt Disney Imagineering panels for the Disney Cruise Line, Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure, "The Voices of the Parks", and vintage photos and videos of Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
The first rounds of the UDTT were held on August 18, 2011, which narrowed from thousands to one hundred and from one hundred to 20. It was hosted by Dan Roebuck who narrowed down the final round from 20 people to 3. After two full days of trivia questions, John Kurowski was declared the winner of the inaugural Ultimate Disney Fan Trivia Tournament. His name was engraved on a Ludwig Von Drake trophy which was preserved in the Walt Disney Archives. Kurowski also won a preview cruise on the Disney Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy ship which set sail to the public in 2012.
The D23 Arena hosted many milestone events only at the D23 Expo. This was the second time that the Disney Legends ceremony had taken place in front of guests at the D23 Expo; it had originally been held at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. At the expo, the company honored 12 people who contributed to The Walt Disney Company. This included Jodi Benson, Barton Boyd, Jim Henson, Linda Larkin, Paige O'Hara, Regis Philbin, Anika Noni Rose, Lea Salonga, Ray Watson, Guy Williams, and Jack and Bonita Wrather.