Disney has announced its schedule for its upcoming Destination D23 event, which is taking place between September 8 and 10th, 2023, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, in Walt Disney World Resort, Florida.

This event sees Disney celebrating its 100th Anniversary and will take a limited number of events on a journey through every era of Disney, as we venture back through the last century of storytelling and look forward to a limitless future for the company, and its most dedicated fans!

While the event is generally more focused on the Disney Theme Parks, it will be hosting a few panels for its films and TV shows, including a Walt Disney Studios Showcase presentation on Sunday morning, which will offer those in attendance a sneak peek at exciting upcoming projects from The Walt Disney Studios!   With the actor’s strikes ongoing, there won’t be any actors taking part in the event, and Disney is likely to focus its attention on upcoming theatrical and Disney+ releases.  Hopefully, we might get a new announcement or two, but nothing is guaranteed.

There will also be panels for the upcoming Animated film, “Wish” and the Disney+ series, “Secrets Of The Whales”, along with a Disney+ themed Halloween party.  Unlike the D23 Expo event, which takes place every two years in California, the Destination D23 event is much smaller, with only about a thousand fans in attendance in once large room.

Disney has announced that it will be livestreaming all the magical announcements shared on Saturday, September 9, 2023. To watch the livestream, go to our YouTube or Facebook pages.  So it won’t be live-streaming the Walt Disney Studios showcase on the Sunday.

Here’s a full look at the presentation lineup:

PANELS AND PRESENTATIONS

Saturday, September 9, 2023

• 9 A.M. – 9:15 A.M.: Destination D23 Welcome
• 9:15 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.: A Celebration of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow — Join Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro and special guests for an entertaining presentation looking to the future of Disney parks, featuring updates from around the world and some fun surprises along the way.
• 10:45 A.M. – 10:55 A.M.: D23 Updates with Michael Vargo
• 10:55 A.M. – 11:15 A.M.: The Early ’Ears – Ub, Oswald, and Mickey — Join Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline on a journey back to the roaring ’20s and the “Early ’Ears of Disney” during this retrospective conversation, featuring iconic characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse, and the Legends behind them, like Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney.
• 11:15 A.M. – 12 P.M.: 100 Years of Classic Characters: Unforgettable Stories — Actress and designer Ashley Eckstein catches up with fellow voice actors behind fan-favorite Disney characters, including Bret Iwan (Mickey Mouse), Kaitlyn Robrock (Minnie Mouse), and Disney Legend Bill Farmer (Pluto, Goofy), for a “table read” of iconic scenes spanning 100 years of Disney history.
• 2 P.M. – 2:35 P.M.: National Geographic Live: Secrets of the Whales — Dive deep into the groundbreaking science of whale families—and their startlingly human parallels—through the awe-inspiring work of celebrated National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry.
• 2:35 P.M. – 3:15 P.M.: Disney Cruise Line: 25 Years of Innovative Design at Sea — Get an inside look into designing and building Disney Cruise Ships from the Disney Imagineers currently working on its newest fleet. Learn of the intricacies that go into designing unique spaces and the complexities of ship design.
• 3:30 P.M. – 3:55 P.M.: Marvel’s Avengers: Beyond Earth’s Mightiest – Celebrating 60 Years — Celebrate 60 years of Earth’s Mightiest Super Hero team, the Avengers! Since their debut in 1963’s The Avengers #1, this all-star roster of beloved characters has been uniting to fight the foes that no single hero could withstand. Now, join Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski to trace the comics history of the Avengers across six decades—and BEYOND! Surprising stories and tantalizing teases await in this can’t-miss panel about how the Avengers rose to become a pop culture phenomenon! Avengers, assemble!
• 3:55 P.M. – 4:20 P.M.: 100 Years of Innovation: Magic in Every Medium — At its core, The Walt Disney Company lives by its ability to “keep moving forward”, as curiosity leads us down new paths. Imagineers Daniel Joseph and Karin Hanson reconcile a century of innovations in which Disney stories have been brought to life through magic, connecting how they have been inspired by the innovations of yesterday, to the exciting ways they innovate through storytelling today.
• 4:20 P.M. – 5 P.M.: EPCOT: Always in a State of Becoming — A look into the design and ideas behind the transformation of EPCOT and its new neighborhoods, attractions, and experiences. Explore the legacy of the park and discover more about the collaboration between Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney World Resort throughout this ambitious process. Highlights include details uncovered by the Marty Sklar Archives and the inspirations that have guided the evolution of Disney’s first park without a castle.

Sunday, September 10, 2023

• 9 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.: Walt Disney Studios Showcase — A sneak peek at exciting upcoming projects from The Walt Disney Studios!
• 10:45 A.M. – 11:15 A.M.: 100 Years of Walt Disney Animation Studios — Becky Bresee and Wayne Unten, heads of animation on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming feature Wish, sit down with legendary animator Mark Henn to revisit some of their favorite filmmaking memories.
• 11:15 A.M. – 11:25 A.M.: Disney Global Ambassador Showdown — Join Disney Parks Ambassadors from every Disney destination around the world, as we learn more about each of their home resorts and engage them in a friendly competition to see whose resort is the “best of the best!”
• 11:25 A.M. – 12 P.M.: Weird Disney: Centennial Edition — Get weird with Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives, and experience 100 years of “Weird Disney” moments in the centennial edition of a Destination D23 fan favorite!
• 2 P.M. – 2:45 P.M.: The Road to 1923: Walt Goes West — Dial the clock back to the 1920s as Disney Legend Don Hahn and Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline provide new and fascinating insights into Walt Disney’s fabled journey that would lead him to join his brother Roy in California, where the two would establish the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio—the beginning of what is now The Walt Disney Company.
• 2:45 P.M. – 3:15 P.M.: Down the Rabbit Hole: The Disney You Didn’t Know — Join Disney archivists and authors Kevin M. Kern and Steven Vagnini for a journey down the rabbit hole as they uncover astonishing Disney discoveries, connections, and little-known facts that will change everything—well, at least some things—you thought you knew about the Disney universe!
• 3:15 P.M. – 3:45 P.M.: 100 Years of Creativity: A Playful Look at Disney Imagination — Join Imagineers Diego Parras and Jason Grandt for a decade-by-decade look at some of the more interesting and lighthearted moments of Disney creativity from the last 100 years.
• 3:45 P.M. – 4 P.M.: See Ya Real Soon: A FAN-Tastic Finale
• 7 P.M. – 9 P.M.: DISNEY+ HALLOWSTREAM COSTUME BASH — Enter the world of Hallowstream with Disney+, the streaming home of your favorite Halloween stories. With phantomized photo-ops, chilling treats, and spellbinding surprises, guests will find all their hearts’ desires in this lavish lair of scares.

What do you think is going to be revealed during the Destination D23 event?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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