Originally Posted By leemac <<Get access, as in comped, or buying? >> Aren't most of the events free? I'm really not familiar with what they do. Things like the last Star Tours "flights" etc.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer No, you need tics to most of them! Last Flight is a very large rarity! Terrible, huh?
Originally Posted By hopemax You can add the Disneyana conventions to the trash heap of, "ways Disney tried to capitalize on the fandom, but then threw away." The continuing thing I keep hearing from, Disneyana, the pin events and now D23, is that it seems like once they have your money, they cheap out on the hosting. They will run out of food, so not everyone gets served. The drink selection will be coffee or tea (not considering there will be children or non-coffee drinkers in attendance). And when these mistakes are uncovered, it takes forever for someone to figure out how to get water to the event. I think the last Disneyana convention, they tried to combine with the pin event, and had a bunch of stuff outside, in tents at the Epcot parking lot, and there was a lot of rain, so it was just an uncomfortable experience, when you are used to the Contemporary ballrooms. Friends attended one of the D23 events at WDW. I forget which one, but it involved meeting at Epcot and taking a bus ride somewhere. After the event concluded, the bus back to Epcot dropped them where you pay for parking! Seriously! My friends are elderly, and one has medical conditions (heart/lungs) that allow him to park in the handicap area. So you can imagine how long it took to get back to their car. These are types of things that would never happen if it was some private company that had booked with Special Events. And if it did; there would be hell to pay. But with these events, good luck if you can even get in contact with someone to complain to.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I've told you about it! Sheesh! >> I know ... that's why I said 'barely'! <<So, when are we getting a Cali report?>> I hope to put something up before the weekend because once the delays start ... they never end! But DLR was great (as usual) and it wasn't even close to the best part of the 'working vacation'. <<And when are we convening with the other member of the DG Club? >> Isn't he taking an Oasis at sea right now? ~You note I haven't commented on the subject of the thread yet~ Email?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'll have to disagree with you there - it is a terrible concept that has been mismanaged from the start.>> Yep. <<There is no market for a Disney fan club on the scale that is required for the company to make it work. Definitely not if you see it as a profit center.>> Yep again. No way it can be profitable. Which makes me cringe at rumors that Iger wants to make the Archives a profit center due to some jealousy over the Disney Family Museum up in SF. <<Sure - if you want to market to the fan base then make it free and charge a premium for events. Don't charge folks $75 for a magazine that is worse than Newsreel and for access to events (although they seem to screw up the online sign-up every time).>> Like I said Lee, wanna make a bet that in a few years we'll be talking about 'Remember when Disney tried that D23 deal?' At some point, just the most rabid (with too much money to spend) fanbois and the online Disney whores won't be enough to justify its existence. I'm betting that time is a whole lot sooner. <<If it was free then you could build on a huge available market.>> FREE?!?!? C'mon, you're a numbers guy. Where does free ever fit into the Disney business model? <<Instead the bulk of their fanbase is in SoCal as everything is so DLR-centric. Imagine making it free and developing events for Denver, Seattle or Boston? It would then make sense to fly an animator or imagineer out to talk to groups.>> Great idea. But we know Disney doesn't work that way. I have to admit I am taking a perverse pleasure in watch D23 wither like a roach that's been stepped on, but isn't quite dead. ~Let's all buy some pins!~
Originally Posted By leemac <<FREE?!?!? C'mon, you're a numbers guy. Where does free ever fit into the Disney business model?>> You know once in a while they do do something that doesn't generate a profit. For a CEO that is obsessed about the Disney Difference and the brand in particular you would have thought that reach out and connecting to all of the fans would make sense. )
Originally Posted By leobloom <<A little bit of both, I'm in grad school. Studying magical bathroom design, of course.>> << I honestly thought of you last week when I tried out the new DCA facilities that were built near Paradise Park. Large, clean (spotless really), Airblade dryers and GET THIS TDO -- WARM WATER THAT ISN'T JUST A TRICKLE. ~ABC has 'issues'~ >> It's always nice to be remembered...when someone's standing at a urinal taking a leak. Oh, well. Whatever. Never mind.
Originally Posted By leobloom ~Let's all buy some pinTs!~ --Sounds much better than buying more throw-away collectible pins (no offense, pin collectors)
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>These are types of things that would never happen if it was some private company that had booked with Special Events. And if it did; there would be hell to pay. But with these events, good luck if you can even get in contact with someone to complain to.<<< That's terrible, Hopemax...Disney isn't even doing right to their elite, overpaying fanbois!!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> That's terrible, Hopemax...Disney isn't even doing right to their elite, overpaying fanbois!! << And the fanboys do their best Oliver Twist and say, "Please, Mickey, I want some more!"
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>I know ... that's why I said 'barely'!<<< We could always use some new members! >>>I hope to put something up before the weekend because once the delays start ... they never end!<<< >>>Great idea. But we know Disney doesn't work that way. I have to admit I am taking a perverse pleasure in watch D23 wither like a roach that's been stepped on, but isn't quite dead.<<< If you are, what does that mean about what I'm doing? I'm throwing massive parties for when the roach croaks. gotcha there, speaking of which, have a paper to edit... >>>I hope to put something up before the weekend because once the delays start ... they never end!<<<< Oh, duh. That explains the lack of Lee. Heh. >>> Like I said Lee, wanna make a bet that in a few years we'll be talking about 'Remember when Disney tried that D23 deal?' At some point, just the most rabid (with too much money to spend) fanbois and the online Disney whores won't be enough to justify its existence. I'm betting that time is a whole lot sooner.<<< Very soon, the 2011 Expo might be it's last hurrah. That is all that they have on the calendar right now...
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>And the fanboys do their best Oliver Twist and say, "Please, Mickey, I want some more!"<<< And then Mickey bursts out into song only if you pay him 150.99 a ticket and only if you post pictures of the newest Bathroom Refurb on your Blog.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "They are also padding events to make them seem popular - the recent Arclight series was a dud - some theaters had more freebies than D23 members." From the 3 films that I saw (Newsies, 20,000 Leagues, Mary Poppins), I wouldn't really call it a dud. All 3 were almost completely sold out, and everybody was very excited to see them so the theaters had a great energy. In all 3 they asked how many D23 members were there, and only a few people (less than 10, even in the huge theater for 20K) raised their hands. It's not that what they are offering is bad, but people just don't see the need to join, since most of the perks are available to non-members. It just looks like they don't realize what exactly it is that people want. The membership seems to be expensive because of the magazine (and the magazine-only subsription certainly costs a lot), but I would guess that a lot of people (in the soCal area at least) aren't interested in the magazine, but are interested in the events. Since the events are open to everybody, there's no point in payint $80 to save a couple bucks at each event. If there was a membership-only membership, that didn't include the overpriced magazine, I would be a member right now. And as a side note, the guy who introduced 20K was one of the writers of the magazine, and he just didn't seem to know his stuff. He was reading off a note card, and started talking about how the film was made in the 40's, when the studio was focused on the military films from WWII, and that's why there was an emphasis on science. When somebody in the audience shouted that the film came out in '54, he seemed completley lost and tried to cover it up by saying that the studio was making other science-y stuff at the time, even though the Tomorrowland portion of the Disneyland TV show didn't come out until '55 because they had no idea what they were doing. Given that he writes for the magazine that costs about $15 per issue (double what a good book is), I just don't see any reason to get a subscription to it right now. D23 is doing some really great stuff. The events that I've been to (only the Arclight ones) were fun, and the blog is very well done. It just seems like the emphasis is on the wrong things to make me want to spend the money to join. I don't think that D23 will ever make enough money to turn the Archives into a profit center, but if they emphasize the right things, it will be able to help offset the cost some.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer ^ Emphasis- yes. Focus on the parks more. But they also have to lower the cost. A lot of this stuff isn't worth half of what they want. That's how they are trying to, and failing on making a profit.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> And as a side note, the guy who introduced 20K was one of the writers of the magazine, and he just didn't seem to know his stuff. He was reading off a note card, and started talking about how the film was made in the 40's, when the studio was focused on the military films from WWII, and that's why there was an emphasis on science. << How do you get in front of a big audience and have that little of a grasp on the information? Maybe it's just his job to smile and say what "they" tell him to say?
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>How do you get in front of a big audience and have that little of a grasp on the information? Maybe it's just his job to smile and say what "they" tell him to say?<<< Or in Rasulo's case, do your best Dick Cheney Leer impression.
Originally Posted By macnak81 was it just my age showing or do the new cars make the ride feel faster? The music did add some excitement, not as good as on board but we got to take what we can get in these days of cheaping out.
