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chrisb26
04-07-2008, 08:41 PM
Don't miss this important message from Yavn about the future of VMK.

I hope you're enjoying our Topsy Turvy ToonTown month. We've got more cool events on the way including chances to win 14-day unlimited trial memberships to ToonTown Online!

Topsy Turvy ToonTown month won't last forever – so get to building some Topsy Turvy Guest Rooms, Game Rooms and Quests!

Speaking of things lasting forever, recently several of you have been asking about how much longer VMK will last. Well today I have some news about our future.

As many of you know, Virtual Magic Kingdom was created and launched back in 2005 as part of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary Celebration. VMK exceeded expectations in terms of performance, and as a result we extended the promotion (that is, VMK, the game) well beyond the 50th Celebration.

Eventually though, all promotions must come to an end, so I'm announcing today that on May 21, 2008, VMK will open our virtual gates for the last time. You read that right: VMK was never intended to last forever we'll close the game for good at the end of day on May 21st, 2008.

This is not an April Fool's joke.

Now we understand this news may be upsetting to you but let me explain. Again, VMK was launched as part of Disneyland's 50th Celebration in 2005 and the game has lived well beyond the originally intended time it was planned to run.

Over time you've seen our in-Park presence and other parts of VMK go away. You may remember our V.I.P Tours at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, or our in-Park Quest. We didn't stop doing those things because we don't love the game or our Guests, but because the time to run those promotions ended.
At Disney we're still committed to building communities and online virtual worlds and we're looking forward to providing you the opportunity to enjoy other exciting new experiences.

Don't look at VMK ending as a bad thing think of it as a new beginning, a chance to explore something fresh and new! Think of it like school: You don't want to leave your old friends, but still, the time has come to graduate and move onto another great adventure.

In the time since we've launched VMK, we've seen many players come and go, and we're hoping you will graduate from VMK too in particular, to games like Pirates of the Caribbean Online (http://www.piratesonline.com/), Disney's ToonTown Online (http://www.toontown.com/), Club Penguin (http://www.clubpenguin.com/) and the upcoming Fairies and Cars online virtual worlds. We think you'll find you enjoy those just as much as VMK – if not more.

Live the Legend! Play Pirates of the Caribbean Online!

In the meantime, VMK will run like it always has, with great events and new items every week until we close we might even fit in one or two more surprises along the way (of the virtual item kind).

So what's going to happen to the VMK Staff when VMK closes? Well, we're all moving onto other projects here at Disney and positively looking ahead to the future. Me and a few other team members have already moved to other projects (but are still making sure VMK is running smoothly until it closes).
I know that this is sad news for you, but we're all thankful we've had the opportunity to enjoy the game for as long as we did. Just know there are even cooler things on the horizon ahead, for you as players and for us as game creators. So as my good friend Captain Jack Sparrow would say...

"Bring me that horizon!"

-Yavn

Questions? We've prepared this Q&A:

Why is this happening? Why are you closing Virtual Magic Kingdom?

As Yavn mentioned in the Newsletter, VMK was created and launched as part of a promotion to celebrate Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.
The game/promotion has ran well beyond the original time it was intended to.

When is the last time I can play?

The game will close at 10:00PM PST, Wednesday, May 21st, 2008.

Will I still be able to buy cards and pins in the Parks?

Yes, you can still buy VMK Cards and Pins at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Parks while supplies last but after May 21st, 2008 the codes will no longer work in the game.

What will happen to the game and the website?

The website will remain up for a few weeks to let people know what has happened, but you will not be able to log into the game after May 21th, 2008.

What will happen to all my virtual stuff in VMK?

Since the virtual items live only in VMK, you won't be able to access your VMK items or take them with you to another Disney Online Virtual World.

chrisb26
04-07-2008, 08:48 PM
So I guess we know why VMK has been promoting other games so much recently because they are closing and want us to go somewhere else. Of couse the choices he offers are not for free games which is what most of us need. :(

mickeynuts
04-07-2008, 08:59 PM
I don't even know what to say. I tried pirates and it slowed my computer to a crawl, and in toontown we can't even chat.

Krystal_Rose
04-07-2008, 09:07 PM
I can't believe they aren't offering something else that is at least comparable with this many members who enjoy playing every day. How is this not considered a marketing tool for people to plan trips to the parks? I don't know what to even tell my kids. Thank goodness they still have Webkinz and epets, but they will miss VMK a lot.

terri.m
04-07-2008, 09:10 PM
:cry:

JPL
04-07-2008, 09:22 PM
I suggest we all write into not only contact us

But send e-mails and real letters to Mr. Iger and let him know how we feel.


Robert A. Iger
President and CEO of the Walt Disney Co.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
[email protected]

Chescat
04-07-2008, 09:28 PM
I'm speechless and you guys all know that's something. :jaw:

I'm thinking all this pain and suffering they put us through over the last 6 months was to get us to quit. :mad:

I feel like driving over there to Burbank to give them a piece of my mind, why didn't they just close the game when Yavn left last summer.

chrisb26
04-07-2008, 09:33 PM
I am also shocked by this I mean I know people say it will happen all the time but I never believed it would lol

I mean even though VMK has frustrated me beyond belief before I still wouldn't ever want it to close I have made so many good friends on the game it will be sad to not be able to talk to them so much anymore :(

Thumper03
04-07-2008, 10:00 PM
:sad::pout::sob:
Just stunned here. We have to echo the previous thoughts. We've made so many friends through this great game, and the game always keeps us that much more connected to the magic.
So...what are the chances of an Intercot chat room? :secret:

varcity
04-07-2008, 10:11 PM
I'm speechless and you guys all know that's something. :jaw:
.

That's the trick? Why didn't it close earlier ;) Love you cat!

All kidding aside, I haven't been on very much since the release of Halo 3, and quite frankly it had gotten old before then too. Too many problems, too little activity other than talking to my family. And I do say, I have met some awesome people, Cat, Ice, Monkey, and the many others I have met, and I do hope some day I can meet up with the rest of you some where some place.

The one thing I will be sad about is that now instead of a 30 second load screen, I have to endure a 6 hour drive to have my escape from the real world. I was able to disappear into my character and leave all my problems behind, just like I do when I go to the real parks.

It's not like they have seen a decline in numbers. Especially if they left the booths up, online numbers would have grown, and in park visitors from VMK would have grown and created the original revenue they had and expected. I know I went to DLR for a couple stitch hats, and even went just so I can swoop up the last of the VMK cards when the booth closed.

You know, I didn't really think I missed VMK, but now I know it's closing, yea I miss it. I'll miss my stitch hats, pirate items, and tea party pins. I'll miss sitting in a room while doing homework, just to hear the music. I'll miss talking to my family. I'll miss the happiness it brings me.

I think I have said more in one post than I have in 4 months, and I should probably get off my soap box. That speechless thing cat mentioned, I made up for it :mickey:

If the inevitable does occure, I would like a way to contact you all :)

-Varcity

WDWfanatic742
04-07-2008, 10:26 PM
Well hopefully everyone that we know on here continues to stay on the site and post all over it. You knew it was coming and it had to happen sooner or later I guess. Why close it now when the game has gone to the dumps for about a year now, I have no idea. Least we know why they have been plugging POTCO and Toontown lately.

cheshirecollector
04-07-2008, 11:14 PM
They didn't give much warning, did they? Good grief...

I used to participate in armchair treasure hunts, and would keep in touch with others through one website. The hunts came and went, but the website stayed. But now that site has been gone for a while, and I would only be able to contact a few of those people again if I wanted to. At least we have Intercot to keep in touch, chat or not.

Like others here, I've moved on to another game (one that isn't anywhere near so hand-intensive). Maybe at some point we'll find more games (along with Pirates) that a large group of us want to go on together.

chrisb26
04-07-2008, 11:20 PM
They didn't give much warning, did they? Good grief...


I'm just glad we did get a warning

They could have just made it so we tried to log on VMK on day only for it to not let us cause vmk has shut down.

mickeynuts
04-07-2008, 11:33 PM
Like others here, I've moved on to another game (one that isn't anywhere near so hand-intensive).

What game is it?

mickeytinkerbellprincess
04-07-2008, 11:44 PM
When I read this my throat just stuck. Not that I wouldn't miss my stuff, too, but I would miss VMK closing time dancing and you guys chasing me with magic and just hanging out together. I know all of you guys go on Intercot regularly, but if it wasn't for VMK, I would've never met you guys. It won't be the same anymore, and now I'm feeling really bad that I didn't go on more often before :( :sob:

cheshirecollector
04-07-2008, 11:53 PM
What game is it?

An RPG called Kingdom of Loathing. It's not kid-friendly, though. Mostly teenage and college-age guys. I'm able to play it because it's mainly mouse-clicking, and you get a limited number of turns per day.

Jeremy
04-08-2008, 01:32 AM
This is just so sad.:(
some of us even been on vmk since
Beta days.
now its going to be gone.
I'm going to miss seeing all my friends on there.:cry:

Randypandy
04-08-2008, 02:32 AM
I'm going to miss vmk too.:( I will miss all of you guys. Just wish there was a way for vmk to stay on longer. Why are they ending it now? There are so many ways to keep vmk open. They could even add on another virtual world. I'm still going to be on this board and a few others as well. VMK might close but i am sure the boards won't :thumbsup:

*tinker_belle*
04-08-2008, 02:39 AM
I read about this on another site and i was shocked! I've been on VMK for 2 years (and on Intercot for 7) and honestly these are the two things I've stuck with the longest. I am so sad to hear about this. Think of all the man hours logged to play the games and get credits and do really hard quests and get that magic you've been saving up for.....all for nothing. Well almost. I've met some neat people on VMK. Most recently Electro Stitch and some other cool people.
I'll still be around here but losing the game is so sad :(

jjramsey
04-08-2008, 06:55 AM
I agree with all the comments on here...and I have a few to add.


-There were many a tear shed at our home, not just among our children...even from a teenage boy!!! (Please don't say I told :blush:)

-A friend our kids joined VMK because they were members. His family only went to Universal Studios. Because of VMK, he begged to visit WDW, so he could see places from the game and get his park only virtual items. His mom has been amazed about how much he likes it. She just told us a week ago 'I don't know what he sees in the game, but I am happy about it! There are a WHOLE LOT of other things he could get mixed up in! This keeps those spare minutes occupied'

-We have bought more Disney movies than any time before due to the movie rewards with VMK items available.

-We have five large amusement parks within a four hour drive of home. WDW is 16 hours away. Since 2001 we have visited WDW over 16 weeks. As the kids have gotten older and WDW has become 'been there, done that' they have had reduced interest in going there. When VMK started, their interest peaked again. What does that say about the advertising benefits of VMK to teenagers (last kid just became a teenager about a week ago)? How many things do parents and kids (teenagers) thrive on...doing together? ...so maybe we will be seeing Busch Gardens more...(Heresy!!!???!!!)

I could go on, but...sniff...:(

Pay...yes! We would pay within reason...but not $80 per person.
Make it $40-50 for single/year + $10 each additional person.

Contact Disney? ...you bet we are!

cEveArdenfan
04-08-2008, 11:43 AM
So...what are the chances of an Intercot chat room? :secret:


...if it wasn't for VMK, I would've never met you guys.


:ditto: I sure am going to miss VMK. It's filled many a boring hour for me. Plus I met all of you on there. I'm glad we still have intercot, but I'll miss visiting with all you little virtual people. I'll be posting more often on here since I can't talk to you all in the game and I'll try to be on VMK a lot more often until the end of May staying up later than I have been.

bigpapiortiz34
04-08-2008, 07:04 PM
When I read this, of course, I almost shed a tear or two. This game has basically become APART of me life. So have all of you guys, and the many other friends that I have met in the game.

Its most definitely a shame that it is closing. It is actually very hard to pull away from something that you have been doing for 3 YEARS NOW (wow, has it been THAT long?). I don't really know what I will do without VMK and all of you. Clean I guess?

If I dont get to say this before the game closes to all of you, I guess I will say this now.


THANK YOU

You all have been extremely wonderful people, and I am so grateful for all of you. You have been nothing but the best to me, and I cant thank you enough for that. If it wasn't for all of you, I probably wouldn't still be playing VMK. You have made this some of the greatest gaming years of my life. Thank you all. You all truly mean something to me.

Gosh I feel like I am giving a graduation speech. I guess in a way it is like a graduation, except we are like 2nd grade dropouts :)

I will be around INTERCOT, of course, so hopefully you see some of my posts around. And, hopefully, one day or another, I will be lucky enough to bump into one of you in say, WDW or DLR.

And hey, what is going to happen to the VMK section of intercot?

Anyway, hopefully we will have a HUGE party on May 21st, so I can see your little VMK characters one more time...

If I dont see you by then, god bless :magic:

-Diddy

WDWizard
04-09-2008, 07:56 AM
I knew the game was bound to close ever since they discontinued in park quests. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did since it was only a promotion for the 50th. Even though I won't miss it much, I'll miss Vmk being there for me to play when Im bored.

Things WDWizard wants to do before he virtually dies...
- Use an inferno pin
- Destroy all ride rooms while chescat watches in horror
:thedolls:

janebanks
04-09-2008, 10:42 AM
I just logged into VMK for the first time in awhile, saw the note on the home page, rushed over here to Intercot, and read the newsletter.

So now my virtual self is sitting on a bench in Main Street, absolutely stunned, not even wanting to visit my dusty rooms.

My real self is choking on my Grape Nuts.

I've been working full-time so we could have medical benefits (my husband is temporarily out of work), managing two small children and this big, old house, and thinking, "Well, I can't get to WDW, but there's always VMK - I can join the ongoing chats and fun there with my Intercot friends any time and take a break from life... oh, and when I get to quit my job, I'll have VMK every day!"

:sob:
so sad

fluffies
04-09-2008, 12:38 PM
I know I'm not on even nearly as often as I used to be, but when I heard the news it disappointed me greatly.

Not only have we spent immeasurable amounts of time & energy on this game, doing quests, earning enough credits for new things, and so on... but we've established a virtual family! And to know that they're taking a way the "place" in which we can all "meet" is unreal :(

Chescat
04-09-2008, 05:21 PM
Things WDWizard wants to do before he virtually dies...
- Use an inferno pin
- Destroy all ride rooms while chescat watches in horror
:thedolls:
Things I'd like to do:

Virtually hit WDWIzard over the head and boot out of my room
Destroy his ride rooms myself

mickeytinkerbellprincess
04-10-2008, 12:36 AM
Oh wow, ltns Fluffies. :wave:

It's really ironic, I'm trying so hard to make time to go on VMK, and bam, they decide to close when it gets really busy. Sigh. I'm dreading the good-byes in May. :(

mrsgaribaldi
04-10-2008, 01:31 AM
I don't even know what to say. I tried pirates and it slowed my computer to a crawl, and in toontown we can't even chat.

You can chat in Toontown but you need to have a password with your friends that you all put online. AT least this is how it used to be. I haven't played in a while. But if you get together with your friends from VMK and give each other your screen names for Toontown and a password that you all agree on, you should be able to chat.:mickey:

varcity
04-10-2008, 11:07 AM
You can chat in Toontown but you need to have a password with your friends that you all put online. AT least this is how it used to be. I haven't played in a while. But if you get together with your friends from VMK and give each other your screen names for Toontown and a password that you all agree on, you should be able to chat.:mickey:

I did this with someone on intercot, exchanged codes. typed them in, and chatted. Best thing about it is that there isn't a huge restriction on the dictionary, just nothing explicit or personal.

jjramsey
04-10-2008, 12:13 PM
We can always hope Disney changes their minds about closing VMK. I do not want to throw a wet blanket on things, but it seems in the past due to Disney's corporate size, that once they make a statement there is no moving them from that direction. Just think of the number of times there has been an uproar about the closing or refurbishment of a park attraction. How many times have they changed their plans due to public opinion? ...sigh...

The thing that is amazing to us is that Disney did not even offer, "Look folks, this expensive. We need to set up a pay-to-play or will need to shut down." They just up and shut it down. My wife feels that they are trying to dump the popularity of VMK into the other (3 is it?) pay-to-play systems to raise income. In this case I am afraid they really blew it! A couple them are too 'young' and limited and the PoTC online seems to be too far out in content to appeal to the entire family. I am still looking PoTC over, but the more I see over the last couple of days, the more I am uncomfortable with the content.

One of the rending issues is the potential loss of friends in this Intercot group, with pockets of us probably going in different directions. That is ...sniff... the very worst part of the whole thing!

Our kids are really ticked off with Disney over this one. As much as everyone in our family really likes Disney related things and parks, I can see an appreciable cooling in the kids' attitudes when the topic of Disney comes up. We have spent some great family vacations (with the associated pile of money) at WDW. Unfortunately, this episode is leaving a bit of a bitter taste in the kids' mouths, when it comes to the Disney name. I am sure they will grow out of it, but until then...:ack:

Chescat
04-10-2008, 03:22 PM
Well a bunch of us signed up for the free version of Club Penguin last night. And we love it. We can talk, we can dance, we can emote, we can play games. We even got Genie in there dancing. :)

terri.m
04-10-2008, 03:28 PM
I signed up for penguin too but haven't found anyone yet.

I wanted to be Tea there but it had to be at least 4 characters. So i'm aka Tea!!

JPL
04-10-2008, 03:33 PM
Aww no Figgie Penguin :(

terri.m
04-10-2008, 03:35 PM
How about cookie penguin?

Chescat
04-10-2008, 04:06 PM
I couldn't get chescat or ratcat either. Had to go with my pirate name. I like cookie penguin! :thumbsup:

Patricia
04-10-2008, 04:50 PM
I think we have a penguin named Spookum?

I'll have to go in and see.

WDWizard
04-10-2008, 05:19 PM
I just tried that Club Penguin game, and it's horrible..:unsure: You can only talk to people with pre-set words and phrases (and we thought VMK's dictionary was bad...) and there isn't much to do. I'm also not too impressed with Pirate's and Toontown.

Disney pays all this money to acquire Club Penguin, but they discontinue a game that they already have that is much better -- VMK. :confused:

I hate it how they closed the game so abruptly, too. If I were in charge I would keep VMK open for the summer, when so many kids play since they are off from school, and promote it as "The Final Summer of VMK" with crazy events, giveaways, etc. then close the game in August/September by the time kids are back in school.

The likely reason why they closed it is because this game was only meant as a promotion for DL's 50th. The game stayed beyond that because of it's popularity, but as we saw previously with the discontinuation of in-park quests and no more park-related promotions, they realized that they were putting money into the game while they were getting no income out of it.

You can't really blame the "big evil Disney corporation" for doing this, though, it was a budget cut and I guess they felt that they didn't want to continue to put in the work and money to run the game. The only reason Disney's other games have survived is because they require paid memberships.

Good thing we still have Intercot to keep in touch, though, while other's might lose their VMK friends forever.:thumbsup:

(P.S. my penguin name is Wizzardd)

chrisb26
04-10-2008, 06:36 PM
I just tried that Club Penguin game, and it's horrible..:unsure: You can only talk to people with pre-set words and phrases (and we thought VMK's dictionary was bad...) and there isn't much to do. I'm also not too impressed with Pirate's and Toontown.

The likely reason why they closed it is because this game was only meant as a promotion for DL's 50th. The game stayed beyond that because of it's popularity, but as we saw previously with the discontinuation of in-park quests and no more park-related promotions, they realized that they were putting money into the game while they were getting no income out of it.

(P.S. my penguin name is Wizzardd)

I think you signed up for the wrong type of thing on Club Penguin there were two options when signing up. One was a Parent Control option where you couldn't type anything only use the presets however the one I used and many others that have signed up there allows you to say many things. In fact you can say much more in Club Penguin then you can in VMK.

I also have no doubt the reason the game is closing is because of money isn't that what always makes things happen? The old saying does go "Money Makes The World Go Round" however I wish this wasn't true :(

Patricia
04-10-2008, 06:43 PM
Hmm.. apparently, we have a spookum and an icotpatti penguin. These characters are both played by my daycare kids.. so, it may not be me if you see them. I'll try to limit the kids to spookum to eliminate any confusion.

patti belongs to someone else.. so, if you see her, it's not us. :)

Club Penguin is geared towards very young children. There's not really much to do if your over ten. My little kids enjoy it as they don't have to build or type to have fun. They love the games. The kids nine and over were all huge VMK fans.

Wizard.. did you sign up for the safe chat accidently? There are two options.

WDWizard
04-10-2008, 06:48 PM
I probably signed up for safe chat, but even without it, the game still does not do much for me. As Patti said, it's not so fun if you're over the age of 10, so I dont think I'll be playing. There also seems to be a "WDWizard" on Club Penguin, so if you see him..that's not me

Things I'd like to do:

Virtually hit WDWIzard over the head and boot out of my room
Destroy his ride rooms myself
Destroy my ride rooms? That can be arranged ;)

I say we start a "Things you'd like to do before you [virtually] die" thread, haha.

mickeytinkerbellprincess
04-10-2008, 09:49 PM
Well a bunch of us signed up for the free version of Club Penguin last night. And we love it. We can talk, we can dance, we can emote, we can play games. We even got Genie in there dancing. :)

Don't forget throwing snowballs at each other! Muahaha :D True, it's not an exact replacement for VMK, but we can still hang out together, and hopefully Club Penguin won't close down anytime soon; it's been there for a long time. :)

WDWfanatic742
04-11-2008, 04:45 AM
When you don't find any of your friends and your not with friends on the game, it's not very fun. However after 30 days you can start doing the missions which look to be like mini-quests. I signed up for a month but unless everyone switches from VMK over to Club Penguin, I don't think I will pay over a month subscription.

jjramsey
04-11-2008, 09:16 AM
Club Penguin does not have a 'family plan.' At best, it would cost us around $240/year to play...:confused:...even if we were inclined to go there!

Patricia
04-11-2008, 12:53 PM
Ouch to 249 a year!

We have only ever had the free memberships at Club Penguin.

Chescat
04-11-2008, 02:42 PM
I think we should all meet Doll at the Fort one night and that way we can throw snow balls at her. Genie was pretty good the other night throwing snowballs at everybody. :thedolls:

Patricia
04-11-2008, 02:59 PM
ok.. the snowballs are fun. :)

Bugdozer
04-16-2008, 08:35 AM
Dear Mr. Iger,

I am writing to tell you about a magical place. A place where young and old can gather to play, learn and enjoy the Disney Magic. A place envisioned by an amazing man who dreamed of places where families could gather and have fun leaving behind the real world when they entered. A place that only the magic and creativity of Disney could build.

Where is this place you may ask? It sounds magical and fun. The first thought you may have of course is that it is Disneyland- but this is not the place I speak of. It is a form of Disneyland in a different technological age. The place I speak of is Virtual Magic Kingdom.

VMK started out as what Disney thought would be a promotion for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. So they built this amazing virtual world to replicate Walt’s amazing Disneyland.

They threw open the gates and invited us in. We came slowly at first but once word spread we grew. VMK did not become an online park where we entered for a while then left. It became a community built by its players. A community of young and old, sick and well, and people of all races from near to far off distant countries. Here we found a place that evoked the Disney spirit in all of us. We played, danced, built rooms and formed friendships in the spirit of the man himself Walt Disney.

VMK was growing and becoming more popular so that when the promotion ended the gates were left open and our community flourished. There is no place like it on the Web where children and adults can play in a safe controlled atmosphere. I personally found a place where I and my 13 year old son could be together. We shared in this wonderful kingdom built only as Disney can do-amazing graphics, fun games, a sense of being part of the parks and much pixie dust.

They created our characters to look lifelike, like little people. We named them, dressed them, and formed their personalities. They became part of us. We look forward and enjoy seeing our little people everyday.

Suddenly on April 7th we were hit with an unbelievable devastating blow. On May 21, 2008 our kingdom, our community will cease to exist. The shock that took over was beyond belief. I felt numb, weak, and sick to my stomach, like I had been hit by a bat. How can this happen? How can a company as compassionate as Disney allow the doors of our Kingdom to close?

The news crushed my 15 year old son (slinkyman). VMK has become part of his life, part of his daily routine. A day is not complete without seeing his little person who he created to look like himself. After a few moments the shock and reality sank in and the tears started to flow. WE hugged and just cried asking how, why, how can they?

You see VMK is not just a mere game to us. Six months after slinkyman started playing VMK he was diagnosed with cancer. A shocking blow to any family made worst it being a child. I found my strength to get him through this, and then an amazing thing happened. Thanks to the spirit of Disney he took refuge in his Kingdom. In VMK he was not sick. He was a normal kid that still had hair and he had many friends. He had a support team in this community that was not available elsewhere. Cancer scares many people and our family pulled back-offering no support or visits. Here in VMK slinkyman and I have a community of amazing friends. They talked, listened, comforted us, prayed for us and sent mountains of pixie dust our way.

Through out his treatment whenever we were at the hospital slinkyman would take along the laptop with him. During these painful and scary days of treatment he would play VMK as the poisons to kill the cancer were pumped into his body. Doctors and nurses would ask him what he was playing and he would passionately tell them of a place only envisioned in dreams. VMK became an instrumental tool in his recovery. We have made life long friends and have wonderful support thanks to the magic of Disney. So to us it is so much more then a mere game. It is in our soul.
I had a friend tell me the other day the VMK is in slinkyman’s DNA- they could not be more right. I was able to save my son from cancer but I fear I will not be able to save little “slinkyman” from the darkness that is about to be bestowed upon us.

Please I beg you to reconsider this decision. Please hear the cries of young and old and let our little people live. I can not imagine a day without seeing the face of my little person. I like may others are then willing to pay to keep this community of ours alive. Please consider this option. Please show compassion and Disney spirit and show the children you care. After all in VMK the minds of our young a being filled with Disney and they will grow into adults that spend much money on anything and everything Disney.

In this Year of a Million Dreams I ask you to please dry a Million tears and let our dreams come true.

Sincerely,

Bugdozer

jjramsey
04-16-2008, 09:15 AM
...touching...to say the least!
8..-)

Hope whoever reads it has a heart (at least not like the tinman in Wizard of Oz)!

Patricia
04-16-2008, 03:16 PM
Wow.

I have never met Slinkyman.. but I know who he is, I knew he had cancer and I held on to hope that he would recover.

Because of VMK, he was a part of my day.

Chescat
04-16-2008, 06:04 PM
Thank you Bugdozer. I've followed your stories of VMK and your park travels for a long time (which included your trip last year). We are glad to have your letter here to Mr. Iger. I would suggest (if you haven't already) send your story into the media to show this isn't just a video game. But something that has helped all sort of people from terminal ill, sick, handicapped, and just regular people.

The sad part is when Yavn and his team left last summer, the replacement people (not VMK staff or Hosts) had no understanding of what type of place we have and never adapted to us. They just feel, ah this is too much work, lets just close it. We will never know what the real reason for closing the game like this is.

We are going to continue to fight for VMK whether it be letters, media attention or protests at the park. We will keep fighting.

mickeytinkerbellprincess
04-16-2008, 08:03 PM
I think we should all meet Doll at the Fort one night and that way we can throw snow balls at her. Genie was pretty good the other night throwing snowballs at everybody. :thedolls:

Oh, of course, first thing you think about when someone says snowballs is Doll. :P All I have to say is Genie you are going DOWN! :D

IamBelle
04-17-2008, 08:15 PM
My Sister Banned My Computer, I Hope They Will Allow Banned Ppl On For 1 Last Time!! I Really Have Missed It!!!:(

JPL
04-17-2008, 08:59 PM
Just a thought Is this cause for a class action suit since VMK promoted trips to the parks and purchasing of items to get rewards?

Patricia
04-17-2008, 09:01 PM
I don't know.. but I do have several unused card codes from the parks.


:(

jjramsey
04-17-2008, 09:27 PM
Just a thought Is this cause for a class action suit since VMK promoted trips to the parks and purchasing of items to get rewards?


It probably does, but even though I agree, I would have a hard time joining. As much as we do not like it, any company has a right to do whatever they want with their programs. There are probably clauses in the agreements we signed way back when we first joined VMK.

...besides as hard headed as they are being over this, maybe there is some compelling reason to shut down that they are not in the mood to share? What is to say, they were threatened with a major suit if they did not shut down...and don't want to spread the word...or idea to anybody else? (just playing :thedolls: advocate) ...slap myself...slap myself... wow, glad I came out of that role...would hate to get stuck there ;)

Brenda Archer
04-20-2008, 05:48 PM
Sorry to butt in as a newbie but I heard about the closure and saw Bugdozer's post and was saddened. I saw the post at Raph Koster's blog about the closure.

I'm in a different virtual world, for adults and teens only, but we also have a lot of people who have developed a virtual family and I can really relate myself. I became really isolated after getting cancer, my family also couldn't cope, and I lost them. In the virtual space I developed ties with friends that I could never bear to lose.

Is there *any* way Disney could migrate the userlist to another world or at least to a board or MUD so these kids could stay in touch with each other. Even being reduced to IM is going to be far better than simply losing each other, and throwing up a pure text-based solution is low overhead. I don’t have the resources to do this, but if anyone does, might Disney consider it?

Another option might be to allow parents to stand in for the kids and contact other parents. This gets you around the child safety issue. Parents could network on behalf of their kids by exchanging emails and could set themselves up as a parents’ community, say for example in Second Life. At least this way the kids could stay in touch with each other through a secure channel - the parents.

I certainly hope Disney will consider these or other suggestions to allow the community to persist even if the world is shut down.

I can be reached at brenda_archer_1 at yah oo com or in Second Life as Brenda Archer (IM may be capped, if I don’t reply, try again).

Patricia
04-22-2008, 03:21 PM
There is a lot of buzz out there about Disney's responsibility to VMK players. I'm hearing many people suggesting Disney should have a place to move all the members (boards or MUD.) Sadly, they are dealing with kids and once it moves outside of VMK's well moderated, dictionary protected environment there is no protection in place for these kids.

I think leaving it to parents to moderate their children would be too risky for Disney to even consider leaving their name attached. As with all things INTERNET related, there is no sure way to know who is at the other end of an email address. As a parent, it would be irresponsible of me to set my child up to email freely with other game players I don't know, even if it's from a Disney site.

WDWfanatic742
04-26-2008, 02:38 AM
We will be offering our Guests an opportunity to explore Disney’s other online virtual worlds, such as Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Toontown Online. If you are a VMK member in good standing you will receive information about this offer via email.

Part of the response being e-mailed from VMK. Sounds like you should be able to get probably 10 days for free. Too bad I already paid for Pirates Online with a year. Whoppie-do...

Brenda Archer
05-14-2008, 01:10 AM
There is a lot of buzz out there about Disney's responsibility to VMK players. I'm hearing many people suggesting Disney should have a place to move all the members (boards or MUD.) Sadly, they are dealing with kids and once it moves outside of VMK's well moderated, dictionary protected environment there is no protection in place for these kids.

I think leaving it to parents to moderate their children would be too risky for Disney to even consider leaving their name attached. As with all things INTERNET related, there is no sure way to know who is at the other end of an email address. As a parent, it would be irresponsible of me to set my child up to email freely with other game players I don't know, even if it's from a Disney site.

I agree with the safety part. I was thinking more in terms of a note passing situation where the parent reviews everything before handing it to the child. Or, a setup where the parent and child were logged in at the same time and place.