Dishney: D23 Revelations!

By Vickie Chang Mon., Sep. 14 2009 at 12:14 AM

Categories: Dishney

Paul Hiffmeyer/Disney

D23: It's all over! On September 10-13, the massive D23 Expo converged all things Disney--films, theme parks, merch--into one convenient building. And to be honest? We were kinda bored. Sure, some major announcements were made (stay tuned for that) and we got to see some cool things (Nightmare Before Christmas! In 3D!) but we found it a bit slow for our liking.

The Convention Center was split into three floors: The first brought us the main exhibition hall, full of booths showing off the latest toys and licensed Disney goodies; The second and third featured theaters and auditoriums, along with several rooms of all sorts of crap to look at--"Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives," "ABC House Screening Room," etc.

All that was okay. While the crazed Disneyana fanatic would have appreciated the rows upon rows of Disney collectibles on the first floor--along with the Pin Traders Area, of course--it was really the exclusive announcements the Disney camp chose to reveal during the weekend that made it really worth it.

After the jump: Find out what's coming to--and leaving--Disneyland and why Johnny Depp paid a visit to Anaheim. And? More photos in addition to photog Chris Victorio's slideshow here!

That's right: Jack Sparrow's back for another round in in 2011. Johnny Depp visited D23 clad in full-on pirate regalia to announce Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides--of course, this is all in addition to his other Disney projects including 2010's Alice in Wonderland eerie live action film directed by Tim Burton.

The next huge announcement is about Disneyland: Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo admitted at Saturday's "Imagineering the Future of Disney Parks" panel that the now much-outdated-but-still-beloved Star Tours will be closing in 2010... And, right on cue, the "Imperial March" blared from speakers, and in came Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers. Turns out, the ride will be closed at both the Florida and Anaheim locations for some major revamping... including a 3D feature. Fancy! Check out this video released by Disney of what's to come:

Another thing we were disappointed with: The lack of cosplayers. We were expecting at least a handful of near inappropriate Disney princesses and adults in plushie Eeyore costumes. Nope. We did spot this adorable gal at the Disney Dream Store, though:

We tweeted at 2:24 p.m. on 9/11: "Observation of the afternoon: Aside fr the grownass woman in the Snow White costume, Disney superfans look SO NORMAL. #D23" That same grownass woman later tweeted back at us "I was in the Snow White costume thank you, haha. #D23" Oops. We never said you didn't look cute at least!