Originally Posted By nbodyhome I am at the parks nearly every week right now, and barely have noticed anything that has to do with the current, long-running promotion. I just don't see it as something that entices guests. There is ALWAYS a promotion going on now. I'd like to see Disney take a year off. But the Epcot 25th would have been a real reason for celebrating.
Originally Posted By smeeeko ^I agree on that one!! From what I understand there's little to be left of the 25th Celebration by the time we get there this weekend.. (well except for the gallery which we intend to check out of course!) EPCOT was one of Walt's babies, you'd think they'd have something a little more permanent. Even the Epocot gallery exhibit closes at the end of the year, no?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<There was a nostalgic emotional tug for DL's 50th and with a park that is driven by the Greater LA area it was the right choice. WDW tried a similar approach for the 25th of WDW (albeit it was really only the MK) and that worked to a degree.>> Well, WDW's was a huge success based upon the fact they kept extending it 'due to its popularity with our guests' ... and we all know Disney's publicists never lie! <<I just don't think the vast majority of guests would have the same tug for Epcot (and appreciate that this is coming from a Epcot fan).>> They wouldn't have had to. Again, you tie it in to the larger YoaMD. You win on both ends. When I see more attention paid to HKDL's second anniversary than EPCOT Center's 25th, well, something just seems so wrong. Disney wouldn't have the theme park empire it has today if not for the success of EC. Heck, you might not have your job. <<You would also have had mixed marketing messages which is never good. >> That has never stopped Disney before. Right now, WDW is either The Place Where Magic Lives or The Place Where Dreams Come True depending on what recording you listen to and what merchandise you buy ... and we still have Magical Gatherings too. <<I'm glad they did something for the fanbase but considering how light the attendance was (despite the online campaigning) they seem to have made the right choice. I'm not sure what they could have done differently.>> You know why the attendance was light in the morning, although it was much heavier later. Team Disney wanted to/tried to ignore the whole anniversary.They were shamed into doing something due to some fans online (including a 16-year-old kid!) and CMs, most importantly Jim MacPhee. If this had been in planning for months like your Hawaiian vacation, with the usual hordes/whores of media and 'B' list celebs, there would have been worldwide attention. <<No comment on the last question. >> I'm sure it's great. That's an absolutely beautiful area ... the Marriott is terrific. I'd hope Disney can outdo them!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<It was Michael's choice entirely. It was an opportunity he couldn't realistically refuse and a huge step-up for him. I wish him well as he is a talented guy. Personally I was shocked as he lived and breathed the parks.>> All I'll say is when has a Disney parks and resorts executive ever been fired? They always leave due to opportunities they just can't pass up ... I'm sure most working Joes and Janes wish they could leave on such great terms.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 >>It was Michael's choice entirely. It was an opportunity he couldn't realistically refuse and a huge step-up for him. I wish him well as he is a talented guy. Personally I was shocked as he lived and breathed the parks. He genuinely loved the product and has ever since he helped opened DLP. It is a big loss in my mind. He was able to create stuff out of nothing.<< Could have fooled me
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>They (Doobekah) are on vacation<< Oh I see. Well, tell Rebekah I have spare EPCOT 25th anniversary button if she didn't get one. She has my email and can email me at will.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Also... memo to me: Maybe I should put up some of those HKDL 2nd anniversary plastic shopping bags for auction on EBay... Hmmm....
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Gee.. the more I think about this, the sadder I get. Leemac claiming a 25th celebration at EPCOT would do nothing for the park or the resort... yet going back to WDW's 25th anniversary in 96.. even with the hideous pink castle, the celebration was extended past the one-year mark and into 1998...because it was WAY TOO POPULAR with guests. Imagine what they could have gotten away had they chose to celebrate WDW's 30th and 35th with a little noise.. eh? And with the rumors from Paris, where their 15th anniversary may be extended up to december 08 due to popular demand... it's even sadder that Disney's most visible (and presumably most visited) resort can do stuff like that and management there claims it's not important for the bottom line. We'll see what TDL's 25th will bring to TDR, where attendance has already begun to show an upward swing this year.....
Originally Posted By TDLFAN At least EPCOT got their 25th anniversary show...like 11 years ago? Who remembers "EPCOT 25: Illuminations"??
Originally Posted By cmash95 Personally I think when it comes to celebrating anniversaries disney can't really get it right. I mean WDW got golden mickey ears and was treated to new attractions when it was Disneyland's 50th birthday. While WDW's 30 was replaced with walts 100 celebration that was based in MGM and the 35th was replaced with YOMD. A milestone like your silver anniversary should never have been passed over and treated as a regular occurance. There should have been more merchandise and a huge celebration with children dressed in international garb singing and disney dignitaries galore. That's how it used to be done and how it still should be. It's a terrible diservice to not only the diehard fans but the tourists that disney wishes to draw through their gates that this occasion was nearly ignored.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Now that EPCOT Center had it's 25th anniversary day (sort of), any chance that they MIGHT do something for DAK's 10th in April? I can't imagine anything big, obviously. Not even to the scale of what they did for EPCOT Center. But, some 10th anniversary merchandise and a short rededication when the park opens that day would at least be nice. I do remember that EPCOT Center did have some 10th anniversay items back in 1992 which we picked up on our honeymoon. It would be nice if they did the same for DAK.
Originally Posted By idleHands <<Gee.. the more I think about this, the sadder I get. Leemac claiming a 25th celebration at EPCOT would do nothing for the park or the resort.>> I think he meant a 25th celebration at EPCOT would do nothing to advance Team Rasulo's agenda. Brad Rex blew the obvious opportunity for a fantastic year-long celebration tied into the YoMD campaign. And after he bailed for greener professional pastures, Jim MacPhee decided to pick up the pieces and attempt to deliver something memorable, which was all put together at the last minute. The obvious absence on Monday of the surviving Disney Legends and Imagineers who helped design and build EPCOT Center, like X Atencio, Harriet Burns, Blaine Gibson, Tom Fitzgerald, and Tony Baxter, not to mention the absence of Pixar fanboys like Lasseter and Docter, was indeed troubling. Apparently, Disney did not want to pony up the bucks to fly these folks out to Florida for the celebration, and instead opted to only send their Imagineering Ambassador. How pathetic is that? Don't get me wrong; Marty's presentation was definitely the highlight of the day. Great videos and photos; terrific little-known facts about EPCOT Center's creation and construction. Marty is a master speaker and all of his presentations are golden. I'm glad he was the present for the day's festivities. That being said... I wanted more. And EPCOT's silver anniversary deserved much, much more. This was a nice gesture for the fans, but who's kidding whom? That's all it really was, a gesture. Nothing more. The Disney Legends were missing, the current Imagineers who cut their teeth on EPCOT's pavilions were missing... nothing but a small exhibit featuring archived images and a few models to remind us of the rich Imagineering history that EPCOT Center created. No other park at this scale, Disney or otherwise, has ever been attempted since. And EPCOT Center is still in the top ten of most visiting theme parks in the world, pulling in over 10 million visitors each year. That alone should have been justification enough for the grand silver anniversary celebration that failed to materialize.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Very good points. I just touched upon some in the "anyone know' thread ... it all seemed choreographed to make sure no one got the mistaken notion that EC's 25th was important. Watching a fat Disney publicist yawning in the morning sun kind of summed up the whole 'tude about the day.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Personally I think when it comes to celebrating anniversaries disney can't really get it right.<< Funny because Disney seems quite involved with the japanese park anniversaries and they are great celebration, but also, the sad part is... Disney DID used to get it right back in the days... Like the Tencennial or the 20th for the MK? It's misguided marketing teams that have damaged that aspect of the theme park experience with their phoney bologna marketing agendas like Million Screams and Magical Botherings...
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>EPCOT's silver anniversary deserved much, much more.<< I agree, but cheer up... we have TDL's 25th to look forward to in 6 months.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Yeah. WDW has no trouble offering first-rate celebs for its 10th, 15th and 20th anniversaries (and none were lazily extended like these marketing events that never end.) The 25th was the first that did little for me. First, I found the pink castle cheap, tacky and ugly. The parade (even though the music is still in my head) was uninspired. And they didn't open one attraction at the MK for it. They pinned everything on TT at EPCOT and sat and waited months and months as it was plagued by problems and couldn't open. That's kind of when I thought WDW had jumped the shark (is that still used? I am not a hip Spirit.) ... the marketing campaigns since have largely been style over substance. I'd say the current one is one of the worst if only because it's going to last two years.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I agree, but cheer up... we have TDL's 25th to look forward to in 6 months.>> I already am!
Originally Posted By Socrates Sorry to come to this late, but I was there on the anniversary, and I sat in on Marty's first presentation. What struck me about it was the number of people who walked out on him. To the average EPCOT visitor, how important was this date anyway? Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
