Walking the Entire D23 2026 Show Floor: The Avatar Experience, Imagineering Models and Exclusive Merch

A different kind of Disney day

D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event took over the Anaheim Convention Center on August 14 to 16, 2026. We gave ourselves one simple goal for our day there: walk the entire show floor and see as much as we could.

There are no rides at D23. Instead you get a full day of sets, screens, characters and news you can't get anywhere else. For us as a family, that made it feel completely different from a park day, in a good way.

One of the first stops: the Avatar Experience

We headed to the Avatar Experience, and it set the bar high. Stepping into that lush, bioluminescent Pandora genuinely stopped us in our tracks.

There's an immersive 4D moment inside, and between the glow and the life-size scale of it all, it was the thing we kept talking about for the rest of the day.

Imagineering, the Archives and Walt's home

From Pandora we wandered into Imagineering: Horizons, which was full of incredible Disney Parks models. If you love seeing how the parks come together, this is a slow-down-and-stare kind of room.

Next was the Walt Disney Archives: Uncrated exhibit, packed with real props and costumes. Nearby was a beautifully detailed model of Walt Disney's Southern California home, which was one of those quiet surprises we didn't expect to linger at as long as we did.

Photo ops and booths around the hall

We hit the Disney+ and Hulu photo experiences, stopped by the Disney Cruise Line booth, and checked out the Pandora jewelry booth with its new Disney charms.

Some of the fun was in the smaller brand booths tucked around the hall. Walking the whole floor meant we found plenty of those, along with the real feel of the place: the crowds, the scale and the lines.

The shopping

Then there's the shopping. The D23 Marketplace, Disney Store, Mickey's of Glendale and The Walt Disney Company Store were all loaded with exclusive D23 2026 merchandise, pins and collectibles.

Doing D23 with kids

We went with Mia in tow, and we came away with a clear sense of what worked for us, what we'd do differently next time, and which show floor experiences were completely worth the wait. If you're planning a future D23, or just curious what a fan event this size feels like, the video shows the real walk from start to finish.