D23 Expo is a Disney fan event, so there has to be a parade, right?

And so when the red-carpeted aisles inside the Anaheim Convention Center started to clear out just before 2 p.m. on Friday, you didn’t have to put on your thinking cap, or Mickey Mouse ears, to know what was coming.

A pair of giant inflatable Mickey-head balloons led the way, followed by pompom-shaking Street Party dancers, themselves followed in turn by grand marshals for the parade, including “Phineas and Ferb” co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. A troupe of dancers dressed in vintage ’70s disco attire came next and then a marching band playing Disney music.

That was just one small slice of the first day at D23 Expo 2019, back in Anaheim for the first time since 2017. Here are five more highlights that captured our imagination.

Tina Elliot shows off her Haunted Mansion costume during a parade at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. Elliot, who costume feature scenes from the Haunted Mansion ride with moving parts, won Best of Show in the Mousequerade Costume Contest. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Nyssa Sara Lee shows off her Ursula costume during a parade at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. Lee won the Heroes and Villains category in the Mousequerade Costume Contest. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Jorge Burgueno dressed as the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Heroes & Villains display during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Karin Worley. dresses as Aurora, poses with Mary Poppins costumes at the Heroes & Villains display during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Leila Raye-Crofton and Caro Vanrensburg don costumes from the Soundsational Parade during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Christy Zemler dons a homemade Toy Story alien-avoiding-the-hook costume during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Allen Waiserman, dressed as Lumiere, reacts to the crowd during a parade during a parade at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. Waiserman won the Once Upon a Contest category in the Mousequerade Costume Contest (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Allen Waiserman, dressed as Lumiere, won the Once Upon a Contest category in the Mousequerade Costume Contest during a parade at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A Cinderella dress worn by Lilly James in 2015 on display at the Heroes & Villains display during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Costume designer Kirk Stefferud poses with his homemade Elsa costume with pants next to an original Elsa costume on display at the Heroes & Villains display during the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, Aug 23, 2019. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mousequerade slays the runway

The competitive creators who enter the Mousequerade costume contest brought some amazing work to the stage on Friday, but when you’re up against a woman who built a fully functional and wearable model of the Haunted Mansion ride, well, you’re not gonna beat that, now are you?

Tina Elliott named her 56-pound costume the Grim Grinning Gown, and it is hard to overstate how spectacular it is. It essentially portrays the ride in sequential order and everything works like it does inside the actual mansion. The Doom Buggies not only move as if they’re on a track — they spin around as they’re supposed to. The ballroom dancers twirl. The things that are supposed to light up do just that.

To quote one of the Mousequerade’s three judges, actress and Her Universe fashion line founder Ashley Eckstein: “My mind is blown.”

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Elliott, a resident of Orinda, won the Disney Inspired category, which she also took in 2017 with a similar wearable representation of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction. This time she also grabbed the overall title of Best In Show, which comes with a $2,300 check.

“It’s been amazing,” Elliott said. “My favorite thing is when (people) walk up and they’re just amazed. Open mouths.”

Avengers assemble! Soon

The big announcement on Thursday before the convention officially opened was that Disney plans to build Avengers Campuses — not Marvel Lands — at its theme parks, which was news that thrilled the Marvel Cinematic Universe fans at D23 on Friday.

Kevin Jasper and Miranda Herman of San Jose were in line to check out the models and schematics for the coming attractions — he in a Captain America T-shirt and custom-made Mickey ears that featured Cap’s shield in one round ear, Thor’s hammer in the other, she in a Captain Marvel jacket and matching Vans.

“I was just so excited,” Jasper said of the news that Avengers Campus is coming. “We’ve seen the Stark Industry logos” — “Iron Man”-themed signage on the site of the former “a bug’s life” attraction inside Disney’s California Adventure — “and wondered what that would be.”

While “bugs life” fans are sad — the late land is represented at D23 only by photo-op spots in a remote corner of the exhibition hall featuring decommissioned ride cars from Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train and Francis’ Lady Bug Boogie, may they rest in peace — Herman said she’s happy that the more adult-appealing Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting more real estate.

“I think it’s more of a grown-up version of what the kids enjoy,” she said of the appeal of the Marvel movie phenomenon of the past decade or so. “They get the cartoon version; these are PG-13. It’s real people, real action.”

Heroes and villains in fashion

The Disney Archives exhibits at D23 are always fascinating, and this year’s installation, Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume, is no exception.

Fans enter into a room filled with costumes from four different versions of costumes from Cinderella cinema: “Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” and the dresses designed Ellen Mirojnick for Brandy in the title role and Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother; the TV series “Once Upon A Time,” and the Cinderella gown designed by Eduardo Castro for Jessica Schram; “Into The Woods,” and designer Colleen Atwood’s work worn by Anna Kendrick; and the live-action remake “Cinderella” for which Sandy Powell dressed Lily James.

Audrey Young drove up from San Diego County by herself to check out D23 and was happily gazing upon the finery before heading into the bigger display of costumes from across the Disney universe.

“This is an opportunity to see, one, something that celebrities wore, and two, to see it makes it real,” she said. “Whitney Houston, I grew up loving her. To see that, it’s just, ‘Wow!’”

The rest of the exhibit lined featured heroes and villains, some of the costumes quite spectacular. You had your Captain Jack Sparrow pirate garb worn by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise near Angelina Jolie’s menacing black costume from “Maleficent.” A pair of black-and-white costumes worn by Glenn Close in “101 Dalmations” and its sequel, “102 Dalmations.” A circus ringmaster get-up worn by Danny DeVito in “Dumbo.” Amy Adams’, James Marsden’s and Susan Sarandon’s outfits from “Enchanted.”

And in one corner, maybe the best of the bunch: Julie Andrews’ costume from her title role in “Mary Poppins,” a legendary part, alongside Emily Blunt’s more recent outfit for “Mary Poppins Returns.”

Cosplay is king. And queen

There isn’t as much cosplay at D23 as you find at San Diego Comic-Con and similar fests but it feels like the overall quality of what’s walking around the exhibition hall floor might be higher.

Nicole Halliwell, a self-described draq queen from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was stopping traffic with her down-to-the-prosthetic-teeth-perfect recreation of Bette Midler’s role as the witch Winnifred in “Hocus Pocus.” She’s got it down well after six years of doing a drag queen-cast live show of the movie, she said.

“I think for me especially the appeal is that she has no filter and she’s absolutely herself,” Halliwell said. “She’s a villain, and I kind of identify with that — I’m a Scorpio and a drag queen, so … .”

Ranitra Coleman of Long Beach was one of many stunning Elsas — Elsi? — from “Frozen,” though as an African American cosplayer she said she always brings in a little bit out that influence, too, here taking cues from actress Lena Horne’s role as Glinda the Good Witch in “The Wiz.”

“I like to take this opportunity to educate people,” she said.

Sierra Rivera of Orlando, Fla., stopped traffic in a hand-sewn gown that with 55,000 sequins and 380 different pieces of fabric depicting the It’s A Small World attraction, an homage to her grandmother’s favorite ride.

And 4-year-old Sirius Black — yes, his parents Deborah Lee and Kevin Black named him after a character from the world of Harry Potter — was one of the cutest cosplayers on the exhibition hall floor, dressed as Doctor Strange right down to a painted on mustache and goatee and a bit of gray for his hair.

Legends in the hall

Disney CEO Bob Iger inducted a new class of Disney Legends on Friday morning, a universe that continues to expand with each entertainment company Disney swallows up, and this year’s inductees did some fine things to celebrate their honor.

Singer and former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera belted “Reflection,” a song from Disney’s “Mulan.”

“High School Musical” director Kenny Ortega cracked up the crowd with an anecdote about how as a 5-year-old he tried to dismantle the family TV set with a butter knife so he could enter the actual world of “The Mickey Mouse Club” TV series.

Newscaster Dianne Sawyer apologized for stealing all the toiletries from her room at the Disneyland Hotel on Thursday night, though that crime paled in comparison to actor Robert Downey Jr.’s confession, the “Iron Man” star apologizing for getting arrested for smoking marijuana at Disneyland on his very first visit to the Happiest — oh yes, you know he was happy — Place On Earth.