Disney today revealed a sneak peek at some of the new collections and limited-edition sets attendees can get their hands on during D23 Expo 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center from Aug 23–25. During the show, fans can scoop up never- before-seen collections across the three Disney-operated retail shops on the Expo floor: shopDisney.com | Disney store, The Dream Store, and Mickey’s of Glendale.
D23 Expo 2019 attendees will be introduced to new collections that celebrate milestone anniversaries and fan-favorite characters across Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel along with must-have official D23 Expo 2019 gear and accessories, nostalgic Disney Parks-inspired items, and limited-edition collectibles celebrating Walt Disney Imagineering’s heritage.
Below are highlights of some of the exciting merchandise fans will be able to purchase at the show. To purchase tickets to the Expo, visit D23Expo.com.
ShopDisney.com | Disney store – Home to the widest assortment of Disney merchandise for everyone in the family, D23 Expo 2019 merchandise will give fans a wide variety of specially curated collections and limited-edition (LE) series with a behind-the-scenes twist. Honoring some of Disney’s biggest legacies, here is a snapshot of what fans will see:
- Disney Designer Collection: Midnight Masquerade Series – The fan-favorite series returns with a new twist and features doll sets of Tiana and Naveen, Giselle and Edward, and Aurora and Phillip. Rapunzel, Belle, Meg, Cinderella, and Esmeralda will also be included. In addition to dolls, fans can pick up pin sets, stationery, mug and plate sets, and more
- Legacy Collection – This LE collection will celebrate anniversaries and milestones for some of the most beloved Disney characters and films including:
- Donald Duck 85th – Plush, collectible pins, a retro T-shirt, varsity jacket, hat, and more
- Silly Symphony 90th – Spirit Jersey shirt, retro T-shirt, pins, and more
- The Lion King 25th – Celebrate the wonder that is The Lion King with LE collectibles, plush, litho set, and more
- The Little Mermaid 30th – Celebrate 30 years of The Little Mermaid with journals, ornament sets, pins, apparel, dolls, and more
· Disney•Pixar
- Take home a LE “Talking Woody,” “Talking Jessie,” and “Talking Bullseye,” along with a LE plush set of Ellie and Carl in their “Adventure Book” and much more
- Backstage Collection – Go “Backstage” for a behind-the-scenes look into DisneyPixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Walt Disney Animation Studios to celebrate the artistry, legends, and rich heritage of The Walt Disney Company.
- Disney Backstage Collection Subscription Box – D23 Expo guests will be among the first to see and order the new Disney Backstage Collection subscription box, which celebrates the artistry of Disney through limited-release T-shirts, pins, and more, delivered to your doorstep—all in a custom-designed
- Walt Disney Animation Studios “Under the Hat” – LE Wreck-It Ralph Shadow Box, mug, and sketchbook
- Disney•Pixar “Under the Lamp” – Pixar campus hat, fleece, tiki crew mug, and more
- Lucasfilm “Behind the Force” – All-new crew jacket and hat along with a LE “Java the Hutt” T-shirt, mug, and more
- Marvel “Behind the Hero” – A LE Black Panther Shadow Box, hat, and more
- Mickey Mouse Shufflerz – Fans can extend their “Mickey Mouse Memories” collections with the new Mickey Mouse Shufflerz that highlight Mickey through the years—pressing the top of the figures 10 times causes them to “shuffle” along their way! Pick up the LE 13-pack or single
The Dream Store – Jam-packed with D23 Expo 2019-themed official merchandise and other specialty items from Disney Theme Park Merchandise, The Dream Store returns with something magical for Disney fans of all ages. This year, guests will discover whimsical assortments inspired by the Dapper Dan’s, Main Street, U.S.A., and iconic Mickey balloons on a variety of items including apparel, art and collectibles, accessories, pins, and more! The Dream Store is a Disney enthusiast’s dream come true. Highlights include:
- Dapper Dan’s – This collection features a “Dapper Dress” from Her Universe along with adult T-shirts, a Spirit Jersey shirt, pins, plush, Funko POP figures, and much more
- Mickey Balloons – Evoking the feeling you get as you stroll down Main Street, U.S.A., the Mickey Balloons lend their iconic look to an assortment that includes adult apparel, a Spirit Jersey shirt, skirt from Her Universe, hats, mugs, accessories, and more
- Official D23 Expo 2019 Gear – Swing by to grab official 2019 D23 Expo gear and apparel including T-shirts, a Lounge Fly mini-backpack, hat, pins, and more!
Mickey’s of Glendale – Mickey’s of Glendale, the Walt Disney Imagineering store, returns with two stores for three days only for D23 Expo attendees at the Anaheim Convention Center:
- Mickey’s of Glendale Main Store – Mickey’s of Glendale will feature exclusive merchandise designed by Imagineers, including hats, T-shirts, accessories, and more. Additionally, Guests will have the opportunity to shop limited-edition collectibles celebrating Walt Disney Imagineering’s
- Attraction Quote T-Shirt Collection – An assortment of T-shirts that let fans celebrate the most iconic quotes from their favorite attractions through bold graphics.
- Mickey’s of Glendale Pin Store – Disney pin enthusiasts will want to stop by the Mickey’s of Glendale Pin Store, which will feature a large assortment of limited-edition
Attendees can also head to “Uptown Disney” for an interactive shopping and photo experience, featuring merchandise available through shopDisney.com. In this booth on the showroom floor, fans can shop, snap photos with friends, and discover hidden surprises around every corner and magic in every step. Featured product includes the “Black Leather Collection” from Disney store China along with Marvel’s Iron Man MK50 Robot by UBTech, “The Lion King” Mighty Roar Simba from furReal, The Little Mermaid apparel and accessories, Toy Story 4 apparel from Fifth Sun, new Star Wars items, Mickey Mouse LEGO® Ideas Steamboat Willie set and the relaunch of the Minnie Mouse Dose of Colors collection.
Single-day tickets for Friday and Sunday of D23 Expo 2019 are available for $89 for one-day adult admission and $69 for children 3–9. Gold Members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club can purchase tickets for $77 for a one-day adult admission and $59 for children 3–9. Single-day Saturday tickets and three-day passes are sold out. For more information on tickets and D23 Expo 2019, visit D23Expo.com.

Movie
Joy Ride Is An Extremely Raunchy And Hilarious Comedy

Joy Ride is an extremely raunchy and hilarious comedy that takes the mantle of ensemble risky
comedies that at times, leave your mouth on the floor. Joy Ride focuses on two best friends
Audrey and Lolo (Ashley Sullivan and Sherry Cola) end up getting roped up into a trip to Asia,
they end up on gals pal cross-continent trek to find Audrey’s long lost birth mother so she
doesn’t lose a huge business deal.
The chemistry in this movie is superb. Every character has their moment to shine and there’s
rarely a scene where you don’t get a belly laugh. I was shocked at how crazy and bold this
movie got, continually pushing the line to get a laugh. The movie does a good job of getting to
the point and getting to the scenes that really make you chuckle. There are some editing choices where the story flies by some stuff, and it feels a little incomplete, but never at the expense of really enjoying being around for the journey.
I thought that this was a sleeper for this year and certainly a movie worth watching with your
friends some weekend. It’s great to throw on if you want a laugh and really just enjoy some
great actors riffing off each other. The focus on culture was a nice touch and really elevated the movie to another level. While I would say if you’re easily offended, this movie is not for you – if you’re looking for a no holds barred comedy, Joy Ride is a trip worth taking.
Events
Who Doesn’t Want To Wear The Ninja Suit Of Snake-Eyes Or Dress Like The Mandalorian?

Hasbro has had their pulse app out for a while now. It allows for access to items to buy, preorder, and a look into future projects and releases. It also allows for a very cool thing most nerds (a group of which I am a proud card-carrying member) have always wanted, the ability to make yourself into an action figure. I’ve contemplated making one for a time but, I finally got my chance to get my hands on one at Comic-Con this year. Now, of course, I had to wait in line as it was a pretty sought-after item. Who doesn’t want to have themselves wear the ninja suit of Snake-Eyes or dressed like a Mandalorian? I was approached by one of the booth staff as I was showing my nephew all the cool ways we could get him his own MIles Morales action figure with his face (as he’s a massive fan) and invited to take a seat and scan our faces into the Hasbro Pulse app with the help of their awesome team and make this dream a reality. My wife was with us, so of course she got in on the fun too. We scanned our faces in and it was very simple and quick. Then we all selected our figures to add our heads to. We all chose Power Rangers(Me as the Black Ranger, my wife chose the pink ranger and the nephew got the red ranger). Then we were told that we needed to wait about 4-6 weeks and we’d have our custom action figure team in our hands. This was a major part of our Comic-Con adventure and definitely, a memory my wife and nephew won’t forget (as it was both of their first Con ever). Thank you to Hasbro for being so generous(also getting me brownie points that home) and I highly suggest checking out Hasbro Pulse and all the cool stuff it has to offer.
Movie
The Last Voyage of the Demeter: Double-knock on wood!

Adapted and written largely from the Captain’s Log chapter of Bram Stoker’s magnum opus Dracula, The Last Voyage of the Demeter tells the story of Dracula’s journey by ship from Carpathia to London, and what happened to her crew in the interim.
So here we are in Bulgaria, middle of 1897, and Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) of the Russian schooner Demeter is here to take on some strange cargo from some unknown client and transport it to Carfax Abbey in London. In need of some extra hands, the Captain sends out his capable Second Wojchek (David Dastmalchian) to scout for some, and initially the roving black doctor and aspiring philosopher Clemens (Corey Hawkins) is passed over in favor of more work-roughened men. The adorable cabin boy of the Demeter, Toby (Woody Norman), narrowly misses being crushed by the mysterious dragon-marked crates being loaded onto the ship, saved by Clemens himself and switched out with the superstitious sailors running from the Demeter like they had been poisoned by the sign of Dracul. And now, armed with some nine or so crewmen, Doc Clemens, and Captain Eliot himself, the twenty-four strange what looks like coffins adorned with dragon signs brought mostly safely aboard, the Demeter can make for open water and the Hell that awaits them there.
The duty of showing Clemens around the ship falls to a cheerful Toby, who proudly shows him the living areas, the Captain’s quarters, the very-large cargo hold, the galley and kitchen where the overly-devout Joseph (Jon Jon Briones) cooks the crews meals, the various above decks, even the sails, and the rigging are all at least touched on, and the livestock pens that Toby himself is in charge of, including the handsome good-boy doggy Huckleberry, or just Huck. We the audience get a very clear feeling of what it’s like to actually be aboard the Demeter, just how large she really is, and what living on a ship for months at sea is really like, the reality and practicality and the dangers of it.
Everyone more or less settles in for a hopefully uneventful voyage, taking mess around the common table and exchanging ideas or aspirations for when they arrive in London early thanks to the fair winds, and receive a handsome bonus for their troubles. But that involves being alive and making it to London to spend said bonus and pay, and the coffin crates spilling dark soil from the motherland and disgorging all sorts of other nasty secrets, have some serious plans to the contrary.
First, it’s the livestock, innocent and shrieking in their locked pens as a monster takes great furious bites out of their necks, and of course, the creature just straight up ruins poor doggy Huck. Then there’s the fully grown girl that gets dislodged from an open coffin-crate, covered in bite scars and as pale as death, she eventually starts interacting and talking after several blood transfusions from Doc Clemens, Toby learns her name is Anna (Aisling Franciosi). And then, as the weather turns foul and the winds begin to be a serious problem, the attacks turn toward the remaining humans onboard the Demeter.
Most people these days are familiar with Dracula, that gorgeous cunning vampire Elder who can supposedly transform into a bat or a wolf, seducing women to voluntarily offer up their veins like an unholy sacrament, a being at once beautiful and powerful, but also horrific and murderous if given half a heartbeat to smell your blood. This is not Dracula.
Instead, the creature that hunts the humans occupying the Demeter is an absolute monster, not a single human feature left to it, barely even recognizable as humanoid-shaped, instead boasting not just full-length bat wings but an entire exo-skin of bat membranes that can be used for feeding, a mouth full of needle-like teeth akin to a predator of the deepest darkest parts of the ocean, those yellowed Nosferatu eyes that will not tolerate light in any way, and of course giant pointy bat-ears. This is a thing, a grotesque straight from the depths of Hell, and no amount of glamor magic can make this Dracula (Javier Botet) seem like anything other than what he, is – a parasitic demon who only wants your blood. There is no reasoning with it, no trapping it, not even really any talking to it (kinda hard to talk when your throat has been ripped out), and, like the much more frightening Dracula stories of old, no amount of pure faith behind a symbol does anything other than give false hope.
Coming face to face with an actual abomination does different things to different people. The formerly delightfully foul-mouthed Abrams (Chris Walley) dissolves into a blubbering mess; poor Larsen (Martin Furulund) didn’t even get to see his own death coming; and it turns out Olgaren (Stefan Kapicic) wants to live so badly, he’ll suffer becoming a blank-eyed Renfield if that’s what it takes. All of Cook Joseph’s purported pure faith didn’t stop him from trying to take the coward’s way out and didn’t save him anyway when the sound of unnatural bat wings descended on him. I find that kind of irony delicious. Dear Anna, resigned to her fate to be eternal food for the horror that terrorized her village, nevertheless wants to try and save whoever is left of the Demeter with her own sacrifice, and there aren’t many. Wojchek of course wants to kill Dracula, but for all his logic and solid practical nature, has no experience whatsoever with this sort of thing, and sure doesn’t want to sacrifice the Demeter, the beloved ship he called home that was promised to him by Captain Eliot himself, in order to destroy that demon. Even poor sweet Toby isn’t safe from the creature’s clutches, and what happens to the cabin boy of the Demeter is what finally sends Captain Eliot over the blooming edge. And who could blame him? For this sort of thing to happen during the last voyage of such a proud, solid ship as the Demeter, is some serious bullsh*t.
To leave such a film open for a potential sequel, especially when called the last voyage of something, was a pretty hefty ask, and somehow the filmmakers managed it. I personally think a different version of Van Helsing, the infamous vampire hunter, teaming up with a certain black doctor who nurses a serious grudge against Dracula, could be a kickass sequel. Until then, experience the doomed final journey of the Demeter and her poor crew in all it’s bloodstained glory, in theaters now!