Originally Posted By dagobert Disney is doing a special event on Friday September 4th at the WoDS in DL and at the Once Upan a Toy Store at DTD in Florida. Is Disney going really crazy now? They are charging fans 50 Dollars for the opportunity to buy Star Wars merchandise. So guests should pay money to be allowed to spend more money. >>>Tickets to the Force Friday merchandise event include: - The opportunity to be among the first to purchase new Star Wars and Star Wars: The Force Awakens themed merchandise, including Disney Theme Park Merchandise exclusives and licensed products. Purchase limits will apply. - Amenity gift <<< <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/08/force-friday-merchandise-event-details-released/">http://disneyparks.disney.go.c...eleased/</a> That must be one heck of an Amenity gift for 50 Dollars. I don't want to offend anyone, if someone plans to go there, but this is one of the must stupid things I have seen recently coming from Disney.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>That must be one heck of an Amenity gift for 50 Dollars. I don't want to offend anyone, if someone plans to go there, but this is one of the must stupid things I have seen recently coming from Disney. <<< I guess I have to rethink that sentence, because I just talked to a co-worker, who is a big SW fan and collects SW figurines. He told me that he would pay the 50 Dollars just to get out of the hassel and be among the first to buy merchandise, especially when it's limited. According to him many people buy the limited stuff and sell them later for high prices on ebay. That's why he likes such events, because only a certain amount of people can attend and usually they get enough time just to stroll around and buy stuff without worrying that the products run out. It seems there is a demand for such events.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that $50 sounds like a huge amount for such a non-event. If it were more than just a first-look at the new merchandise, or were even in one of the parks, I feel differently, but this just seems like a cash grab In the early 00's, DL was known for having lavish merchandise events, rolling out high-end stuff for specific themes like Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion. I never attended one, but they were in the park and typically had artist signings and live entertainment. From what I heard, they were very popular, even though they were essentially just an opportunity to buy stuff that would be on sale to the general public I also think it's interesting that DL keeps double-booking their race weekends with other events. During the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in May, they also had the premiere of Tomorrowland in DTD. This event is scheduled during the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. Although this appears to be a pretty small scale event overall, I wouldn't be surprised to see people leaving World of Disney as we walk to the 10K early Saturday morning; I'll probably pass by there around 4:30-5ish
Originally Posted By phruby $50 bucks to buy inflated price stuff available everywhere on Sept 4th is pretty silly. My guess is Hasbro/Disney will over stock everything just like did for Episode 1. That stuff will be around for along time and we will miss future waves because stores won't restock until every piece is gone. The current situation is stores haven't restocked for three years because of the poor distribution for Episode 1 3D release. Stores would rather have empty pegs for fear of being stuck with crap they can't sell.
Originally Posted By leemac <<In the early 00's, DL was known for having lavish merchandise events, rolling out high-end stuff for specific themes like Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion. I never attended one, but they were in the park and typically had artist signings and live entertainment. From what I heard, they were very popular, even though they were essentially just an opportunity to buy stuff that would be on sale to the general public>> There was a lot of exclusive merch. I went to the first two HMH events and the merch was all exclusive as far as I can remember. They had some pretty special events back then - dinner events inside the attractions etc. The problems were always poor planning from Disney. I remember a Art Classics Convention themed around POTC where they forgot to check if the attraction was open - it was down for refurb! At least you got to walk through the load/unload with the channel drained. There was also a huge disaster when Tim Burton and Danny Elfman refused to turn up for a HMH event. That one was very pricey and the panel was pretty awful in the end. Like all Disney things they keep loading them on to the calendar and eventually they killed the golden goose. At some point I'm sure they will do the same with RunDisney.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>There was also a huge disaster when Tim Burton and Danny Elfman refused to turn up for a HMH event.<< Is it really a surprise that Elfman wouldn't show up, after he refused to let his music be used in the overlay for the first year? It seems like he wanted to avoid any association with HMH as much as he possibly could. Last year (or the year before?) Disney released a video of him after his first trip through the attraction (after a mere 13+ years of the overlay!) and he seemed utterly flabbergasted that it wasn't a complete trainwreck Given that background, I don't see why anybody on the planning team would think he would have any interest in appearing. For me personally, I don't particularly like his music, and I think that the original year's soundtrack was much better than the current one (though much of it still remains throughout the attraction) >>At some point I'm sure they will do the same with RunDisney.<< This was my immediate thought as I was reading the sentence leading into it. It seems like DLR at least has finally met that limit, since November's Avengers Half Marathon hasn't sold out yet and May's Tinkerbell Half Marathon and Pixie Dust Challenge are being *very* slow to fill, when they would have filled in a matter of hours a year or two ago With DLR's focus on narrowly themed events, rather than the more broad themes of WDW's races, it seems like they're really hit-and-miss with their popularity. DL1/2 and Star Wars are still very popular, but Avengers and Tink just don't resonate as well with most of the runners. The underwhelmed field at these events is a big part of why I don't think a 14-acre Star Wars land in DL (or 11-acre Carsland in DCA) is a good idea, since the popularity will always wane WDW still seems to have some pent up demand, especially since they recently cancelled the TOT 10-miler and Everest 5K/scavenger hunt. The WDW races always feel more like goals that people from all over the country build up to and use to celebrate their hard work, where the DLR locals tend to make those races into 13.1-mile parades of selfies, hashtags, and ridiculous self-promotion. Although the runDisney brand tries to make them all seem connected, it's amazing how different the vibe is at the different resorts. It's also amazing how many poor logistical decisions the DLR crew continues to make, even though they've put on 15+ race weekends at this point, and have access to WDW's vast trove of institutional knowledge
Originally Posted By TP2000 Interesting about the different vibes on each coast Ferret. What types of logistical problems do the DLR events face? I'm not a jogger and have no desire to be near these events. I will steer clear of the Resort next weekend due to the running events and the Star Wars merch mess.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>What types of logistical problems do the DLR events face?<< Most of it has to do with the limited space at DLR, including the narrow paths through the parks. In WDW, they're aware that the narrow park walkways are the bottleneck for any race, so it's typically about 5 miles before you reach the first park, which allows the crowds of runners to disperse before hitting the parks. At DLR, they put the parks at the very beginning (exiting the parks by mile 4) which is tough to do with a field of runners as big as they want to have DLR also won't permit the characters to appear outside of the parks (or even backstage). This leads to huge crowding in the early miles, and puts all of the "fun" stuff of the race in the very beginning, with the remaining 70%+ on the not-so-"scenic streets of Anaheim" (per official descriptions). WDW has characters all over the place (though I understand the potential difficulties in Anaheim, where access to the streets isn't as restricted for non-runners), and has interesting landmarks every few miles along the way Additionally, the biggest annoyance for me is constantly holding the races on holiday weekends. In addition to the higher travel expenses, these are times when the resort is already busy. WDW's races have traditionally been during quiet periods, as a way to fill up the hotels and bring bodies into the park. Because of this, their race weekends seem like a resort-wide celebration of everybody coming together; at DLR it often feels like we're an unwelcome burden, further stressing the resort's limited infrastructure. For example, due to the course layout, buses from the Toy Story Lot won't be able to run until at least 9:30-10 on Labor Day Sunday, and a significant chunk of the parking garage will already be filled by the runners who arrived in the early hours of the morning. Those runners will also be attempting to exit at the same time that the morning rush is getting in, and won't really have anywhere to go (they're typically routed out a back exit onto Walnut St) That's not to say it's all bad; the community does a great job of coming out to support the DLR races, both as official entertainment (dance groups, cheerleaders, classic car clubs, etc) and as random spectators. That kind of stuff is great, but it just doesn't feel uniquely "Disney" to me, and with the prices they charge, I want something a little more special
Originally Posted By perlster LOL Disney couldn't find enough suckers: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/09/force-friday-midnight-event-at-disney-parks-now-open-to-all-guests-on-september-4-2015/">http://disneyparks.disney.go.c...-4-2015/</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Hahaha! I don't know which is more surprising: that Disney thought they could get away with that sort of event, or that customers actually saw through it for once
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Way to spin it too, Disney blogs. They couldn't possibly say it was canceled due to low ticket demand. Instead, they say they're going to open it to everybody due to HIGH demand.
Originally Posted By dagobert What a surprise! People are not paying for spending money. Currently Disney/Lucasfilm are doing this global unboxing event. I have never seen a more stupid thing like that. It's so boring and people are unboxing toys everyone knows already. I guess I'm not Generation YouTube, but for me Disney's marketing department hit another low.
Originally Posted By TP2000 I looked at the Disney Merchandise website on Monday. Tickets for the Disneyland event were sold out, but there were still tickets for the WDW event. I can make fun of Disney's boneheaded greedy decisions as much as the next guy, but they really did sell out the Anaheim event days ago. This appears to be a situation where there was rampant demand for the Anaheim event but lackluster demand for the Orlando event. I have a hunch the Orlando event will be mellow, while it will be utter pandemonium at the Anaheim event.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I have a hunch the Orlando event will be mellow, while it will be utter pandemonium at the Anaheim event.<< This seems to be a fairly common theme for things done on both coasts, like the 24-hour parties. WDW's are popular, yet manageable, while DLR's are an absolute madhouse. I guess it's just another situation where the "One Disney" mindset really doesn't apply
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I would guess it's because DL has a passionate local fan base, while WDW is still mostly tourists. And tourists don't base their decisions on when to come on events like this, and probably aren't that interested in them when they happen.
Originally Posted By phruby Why would anyone spend $50 to buy toys at a 30% markup that they can buy at any Toys R Us or Target at midnight for free?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I think the lure for these merch events in the past has been that they offered limited edition merch, some only available at the event. So some people who lived close to DL, say, figured they could pay for the event, pay for the items, and still turn around and sell for a profit to people who didn't live in SoCal who would want those items. And indeed some were up on ebay as soon as those people got home from the park. I have no idea if DL and WDW are selling anything that won't be available elsewhere, either eventually or ever, along with the mounds of stuff that will be. I'm sure I could find out, but I just don't care enough to even bother looking. If someone is considering an event like this, though, they should do their homework.
Originally Posted By monorailblue So they also announced that World of Disney would be open all night, instead of just a few hours. Did anyone go? Was it mayhem? Was it swamped at 4 a.m.?
Originally Posted By berol <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-681026-merchandise-star.html">http://www.ocregister.com/arti...tar.html</a>
Originally Posted By monorailblue I do like the BB-8 remote control figure--saw a video of it yesterday. But at that price point? Probably not. And sharing is not my kids' strong point . . .
