What filled the D23 2026 show floor in Anaheim

From Aug. 14 to 16, Disney fans filled the Anaheim Convention Center for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. In July, Michael Vargo, who heads D23, Disney’s official fan club, promised “the largest show floor in D23 event history.” Disney never gave a size in square feet. What it did give fans was a long look at what the company is building next, along with a few things it usually keeps in storage.

Imagineering’s pavilion

Walt Disney Imagineering, the part of the company that designs the theme parks, called its space Imagineering: Horizons. The day before the show opened, Dominic Diaz of Imagineering wrote in a post for Disney that the pavilion was “the largest pavilion in Imagineering history,” with more than 150 Imagineers working it over the weekend.

Most of the pavilion was models of rides and lands that are still being built. One was a 19-by-19-foot model of Piston Peak National Park, the Cars-themed area coming to Magic Kingdom. Bruce Vaughn, Imagineering’s president and chief creative officer, told ABC News that riders on its off-road vehicles would “feel every bump.”

For Animal Kingdom’s planned Tropical Americas area, there were figures for an Encanto attraction and a model of the entrance to the Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent ride. For the Carousel of Progress, which Disney is refreshing at Magic Kingdom, Imagineering showed new costumes and a Rover animatronic. Disneyland fans got to see the Avengers Campus expansion in miniature, a ride vehicle for its Stark Flight Lab, and plans for the Avatar area coming to Disney California Adventure. Models from the parks overseas included Tokyo’s new Space Mountain and a Lion King attraction for Disneyland Paris.

The pavilion changed partway through the show. D23 held its big evening shows at Honda Center, an arena down the road, and Disney’s theme park presentation there was on Saturday night, Aug. 15. By Sunday morning, new pieces had appeared on the floor, Laughing Place reported. They included a serpent-and-pyramid model for the Indiana Jones ride and sculptures of Moana and of Buzz Lightyear and Woody for the cruise ship Disney Believe.

Mundo Pixar comes to Anaheim

Pixar brought a preview of Mundo Pixar, its touring exhibition, with walk-in sets from Pixar films and a shop next to it. Pete Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, stopped by the Pixar area during the show, Peyton Schultze wrote on the Disney Parks Blog. If you missed the preview, the full Mundo Pixar exhibition is open at Wembley Park in London through Nov. 1.

The Archives’ Uncrated exhibition

The Walt Disney Archives built a new exhibition called Uncrated, set up to look like the company’s storage warehouses, where usually only its archivists go. “We can’t take you there, but we thought this time we’d bring it to you,” said Becky Cline, who runs the Archives. D23 said the exhibition held more than 200 objects, including costumes from Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Cruella. Laughing Place reported that the Ark of the Covenant from the Great Movie Ride and Weebo the flying robot from Flubber were on display too. Archives staff opened new crates in front of visitors four times a day.

Formula 1, ESPN and Disney+

Disney and Formula 1 have been partners since 2025, and they brought a show car painted with Mickey Mouse to a photo stop called “Fuel the Magic.” At set times, Mickey and Minnie, dressed in racing suits, posed with fans in front of it. The day before D23 opened, the two companies extended their deal through 2028 and added Pixar’s Cars. At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in early September, the Formula 1 safety car ran dressed as Lightning McQueen.

Disney controls ESPN and owns ABC. ESPN called its booth “We’re Going to the Super Bowl!” It had stadium-style photo sets, a confetti celebration and a pin fans could get only at D23. The game it was promoting is Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. It will be the first Super Bowl ESPN has carried and ABC’s first since 2006.

The Disney+ Hulu Experience had a 4D theater, a hunt for collectible mystery pins, and photo sets for shows including Percy Jackson and the Olympians, American Horror Story and Camp Rock 3. Chloé Ferreira, who wrote about the show for the fan site WDW Info, counted 16 photo spots for Disney+ and Hulu shows in Hall A.

Talent Central and the pin stores

Talent Central was where fans met characters and got autographs. R2-D2 and Chopper from Star Wars posed for photos on Saturday, and WALL-E and EVE on Sunday. D23 took reservations for those meetings and signings through July 24, and it kept standby lines open for everyone else. The same area hosted signings with animators Eric Goldberg and Mark Henn, and with Bret Iwan and Kaitlyn Robrock, who voice Mickey and Minnie.

Pins were the hardest thing on the floor to get. To shop the stores selling pins made only for D23, fans had to join an online waiting line that opened at 6 a.m. each day. Germain Lussier of Gizmodo wrote that he tried to get into one of the stores “literally one second after 6 a.m., only for it to be sold out.” Artists who design Disney’s official pins signed autographs on Friday and Sunday, and a panel about pin trading ran on the Hyperion Stage, one of the show’s stages, on Friday, according to the fan site Disney Pins Blog.

How crowded it got

Disney did not release an attendance figure. Past D23 events have drawn well over 100,000 people, Saleah Blancaflor wrote in Fast Company. Mr. Lussier wrote that a display of props from the Avatar films “had a long line at all times.” Ms. Ferreira wrote that crowds moved better than at past shows, but that the Emporium Marketplace, where independent sellers used to set up in Hall A, was gone.

Editor written. AI used for spelling and grammar only.