2017’s D23 Expo – The Place to be for Disney Cosplay

Back when I attended my first D23 Expo in 2013, I was surprised by the amount of Disney-related cosplays that I saw. While there were the familiar mainstays like Snow White or Aladdin, I was very surprised to see cosplays of characters I probably would never see in other, non-Disney venues!

This year, I decided to do another blog post like I did in 2013, and chronicle over 30 different cosplays I took pictures of, during the three-day event. Like last time, I ended up taking a lot of pictures, so I had to whittle my choices down to the ones below.

And trust me, there were plenty of great ones to choose from!

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One character I don’t often see much of, is Giselle from the live-action/animated feature, Enchanted. This cosplayer did a nice rendition of the dress she made from Robert Philip’s curtains.

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Sometimes, people dress up as representations of things related to Disney, and that’s what this couple did! Taking their cues from Pixar Animation Studios, the girl’s dress is a representation of the famous Pixar ball, while her partner is an interpretation of it’s famous hopping lamp, Luxo, Jr.

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This year marked the 15th anniversary of the release of Lilo & Stitch. While I did see a lot of girls and women wearing Lilo’s red dress with white leaf imprints, I was very surprised to come across Mertle Edmonds. Mertle was the bossy little redhead in Lilo’s hula class, and like in the film, she had to flaunt some attitude when I took her picture.

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“Abigail! Amelia! My two favorite gooses!”
I hadn’t seen The Aristocats in years, but upon seeing these two girls, Uncle Waldo’s declaration rang through my head, as I saw some nearby expo-goers, trying to figure out just who they were! It was fun to see that to simulate their webbed feet, they were wearing orange shoes!

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“Name’s Hades, Lord of the Dead, hi how’ya doin?”
Some cosplays will make me just rush over to snap a picture, and seeing this guy from the back, was one of those times! He REALLY put a lot of effort into this, as that is actually a facial prosthetic he’s wearing! He’s also got spiked dentures, contact lenses covering his eyeballs, and he was even in ‘lifts’ to give him some extra height! He even wore gloves to give his fingers the spindly, ‘Scarfe’ look of the character!

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One of the reasons I went to the expo this year, was to attend the events related to a recent DisneyXD series I watch: Star vs the Forces of Evil. While there were plenty of ‘ordinary’ cosplays of title characters Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, this couple to me, beat them all! They were not only wearing the disguises Marco and Star wore to infiltrate St Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses, but the girl portraying Star here, also hand-crafted the Flying Princess Pony Head figure her boyfriend was holding!

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Many of us know Merlin from The Sword in the Stone wearing his blue robes, but how often do you see him in his 20th century vacation duds, that he wore while in Bermuda?

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I saw a few people dressed up as Indiana Jones on the expo floor, but this was the first time I had seen an Indy, with Marion Ravenwood! It wasn’t enough that she made a version of Marion’s outfit from Cairo, but she was also wearing her medallion, AND carrying around that two-timing little monkey spy!

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“Can you turn yourself into a fly?” I asked this guy, in my best Mickey Mouse voice.
“Are you sure you don’t want a, pink bunny?” he asked, smiling that I recognized him.
This fellow is dressed as Willie the Giant, from the Mickey and the Beanstalk short. And just like Willie in the short, he had a little Mickey in his hand, to pose with.

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I’m always on the lookout for cosplays of my favorite modern-day Disney shorts, Paperman! This couple was one of several walking around the expo. Word was, the other had painted themselves grey to more closely resemble their animated counterparts.

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I saw quite a few Edna Modes from The Incredibles, but this little woman captured her larger-than-life attitude perfectly!

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Tron: Legacy has somewhat faded from most people’s minds, but it was neat to see Quorra and two of the Sirens from the film, off-the-grid.

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I definitely didn’t expect to encounter Percival McLeach from The Rescuers Down Under, but it was an even bigger surprise to see his monitor lizard Joanna, trying to purloin a few of his eggs (again).

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This Centaurette from Fantasia’s Pastoral Symphony, was part of a mother/daughter duo, that I saw outside the convention center. There was also a blue Centaurette who entered into the Mousequerade contest.

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I saw a few Maui’s on the floor, but this one had the physique and facial features, to really sell that demigod look (plus, his hook lit up!). It was also humorous, that everyone who thanked him for a picture, was greeted with a “you’re welcome” from him!

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Like an older woman I saw dressed as Mulan from the 2013 expo, these two are examples that you’re never too old to cosplay! It’s not often I see Anna, AND a snow-caked Christof from Frozen.

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While I’ve seen plenty of Ariel’s roaming the floor, this was the first time I had seen her daughter Melody, from Little Mermaid 2. Her ‘tail’ is actually a skirt that she could raise and lower.

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There were quite a number of ‘mash-ups’ regarding various properties and characters (I saw a Spider-Ariel at one point), but this was rather unique: a number of leading ladies, crossed over with the villains of their respective films!

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I saw a few people cosplaying characters from 1995’s A Goofy Movie, but there was only one Powerline, who was walking the floor with a boombox, blasting the film’s soundtrack. He was accompanied by a girl dressed as Stacey, the character Roxanne’s best friend from the film.

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The opening day of the Expo, had the most cosplayers there, due to the Mousequerade costume contest. When it was all said-and-done, these two girls, dressed as Te Fiti and Te Ka from Moana, were the big winners! Word is Te Ka’s volcano form was made from sculpted foam, and actual smoke emitted from it!

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With the announcement of a new Kingdom Hearts game, there were plenty of Sora’s around, though this guy really captured the character (especially with his huge shoes, and spiked hair!).

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Given that Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch was at the Expo on Friday, there were a number of GF cosplays to be seen that day. Before the day was up, I managed to snap this pick of Mabel, and “Grunkle” Stan Pines.

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“DARLA!!!” Yes, the Australian dentist’s niece from Finding Nemo finally made an appearance at the Expo!  Poor Chuckles, though.

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It often amazes me how beloved Tangled is by a number of fans, and I was surprised to see several of the thugs from The Snuggly Duckling. Here, we have Hook Hand, and Atilla (with his cupcakes)!

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The evil Madam Medusa from The Rescuers, was seen on the floor taking Nero for a walk, with the Devil’s Eye Diamond in his mouth. “Brutus is at home,” she informed me, of her other pet crocodile.

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This costume mash-up I almost passed by. This girl is playing a combination of Lilo and Rey (from The Force Awakens). What caught my eye, was her BB-8, that is actually made up as Lilo’s doll, Scrump!

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“So, what’s the sitch?”
Hard to believe Kim Possible debuted on The Disney Channel 15 years ago! I also saw Shego walking around, but really…where’s Ron Stoppable!?

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There were a number of people needing wheelchairs or scooters to get around, and this guy took his scooter, and decided to become Captain Jack Sparrow, steering his own Black Pearl around the expo floor!

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No, it isn’t “Showgirl Gadget,” it’s Miss Kitty, who performed “Let Me Be Good To You” at the Rat Trap Pub, in The Great Mouse Detective.  Sadly, she was the only Great Mouse cosplay I saw, walking the expo floor.

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Like the 2013 Expo, I saved my favorite cosplay for last, and this year, it was this woman, dressed up as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, from the Disney Parks! What was even more impressive, is that the train on her dress worked, and could complete a full trip all the way around her! Sadly, she didn’t win the Mousequerade contest’s big prize, but she did win for the “Inspired by Disney” sub-category! 

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And those were 30 of the many cosplays I saw at this year’s D23 Expo!  There were plenty of other amazing ones, such as a male version of Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, with a pink/blue splattered dress suit, Tinkerbell as a Rebel pilot from Star Wars, and even Vanellope Von Schweetz in her candy kart (that had to be specially taken through the security area!). There was even a woman dressed up as the pub thug Shorty from Tangled, in his “cupid” getup.

If any of you readers are the cosplayers I snapped pics of, please leave a comment! Any tidbits about making your costumes, or stories about their creation, are always welcome!