Disney Parks Announcements - Let The Memories Begin!

[Scar]

We at INTERCOT have been invited and have attended previous press events, and they were awesome.

Melanie just figured out why it stunk... Intercot wasn't there!

[Imagineer1981]

No theme also allows for bigger events to actually be special. Like the 15th and 20th etc, those were huge marketing campaigns and they felt so special. You went home and told everyone, "ya I was there for the 15th anniversary party and they had a special parade and fireworks, etc". It made it an event to go to. Now everyone expects some new giveaway or tie in and I think they take away from true events that should be celebrated.

[Tekneek]

Now everyone expects some new giveaway or tie in and I think they take away from true events that should be celebrated.

Not to mention the financial drain it is, and how it distracts them from the fundamentals that the company was built on.

[Ian]

It's not really a financial drain, though. A marketing campaign (especially one as social media-oriented as this one) costs nothing compared to the only other way Disney has to lure guests to their parks ... building new attractions.

This all started with the Millennium Celebration. It was a wild success and kept the parks packed to the gills until 9/11 hit and killed the tourism industry.

So Disney went, "Huh ... for a few bucks in T.V. and print advertising we can get millions of folks down here. We don't need to sink tens of millions of dollars into those silly new rides and attractions we used to build. Now we can just tweak a parade or open a new store, hype it up as "something new", slap a marketing slogan over top of it and we'll pack 'em in!"

And it actually worked ... the 100 Years of Magic was a big hit as was Year of a Million Dreams. But that only lasts for so long ... these last two or three have been totally lame. No one is going to Disney World simply for the chance to have their picture projected on the Castle. I think they just couldn't resist acting like accountants ... "This thing is working and we're making money! How can we make even more?? Well ... these celebrations and the associated marketing are costing us $x per year. If we cut that by 20% that money would go right to our bottom line!"

And so the celebrations get progressively cheaper and lamer as time goes by.

[valjane]

Guess I won't be taking any nighttime pics of the castle on my next trip. Who wants a picture of a castle with a bunch of random families on it?

[Nascfan]

Guess I won't be taking any nighttime pics of the castle on my next trip. Who wants a picture of a castle with a bunch of random families on it?

Agreed. Some of the best pictures we have are of the castle lit up in the different colors.

Lame, lame, lame.

[Tekneek]

It's not really a financial drain, though. A marketing campaign (especially one as social media-oriented as this one) costs nothing compared to the only other way Disney has to lure guests to their parks ... building new attractions.

Indeed. I was not putting it in the right perspective. I would rather they expand the Traditions classes in lieu of trumped up marketing nonsense, at least. That cost may be comparable, but I don't really know. That's something they can't advertise, or necessarily track in terms of ROI, but it is probably more important than anything else they do.

[GothMickey]

It's not really a financial drain, though. A marketing campaign (especially one as social media-oriented as this one) costs nothing compared to the only other way Disney has to lure guests to their parks ... building new attractions.

This all started with the Millennium Celebration. It was a wild success and kept the parks packed to the gills until 9/11 hit and killed the tourism industry.

So Disney went, "Huh ... for a few bucks in T.V. and print advertising we can get millions of folks down here. We don't need to sink tens of millions of dollars into those silly new rides and attractions we used to build. Now we can just tweak a parade or open a new store, hype it up as "something new", slap a marketing slogan over top of it and we'll pack 'em in!"

And it actually worked ... the 100 Years of Magic was a big hit as was Year of a Million Dreams. But that only lasts for so long ... these last two or three have been totally lame. No one is going to Disney World simply for the chance to have their picture projected on the Castle. I think they just couldn't resist acting like accountants ... "This thing is working and we're making money! How can we make even more?? Well ... these celebrations and the associated marketing are costing us $x per year. If we cut that by 20% that money would go right to our bottom line!"

And so the celebrations get progressively cheaper and lamer as time goes by.

This is TDO in a nutshell. They find the cheap way out. Remember, this is the management team that slashed majority of the funds for Space Mountain. This is the management team that wanted a barebones refurb of Star Tours. This is the management team that wanted no part of FLE. This is the management team that refuses to fix the yeti. See a pattern? I think it is high time we Disney fans finally speak up. I think we either need a voice like Al Lutz is for Disneyland, some sort of social media outlet, some sort of Save Disney campaign that Roy waged. We need to send a message loud and clear, we are not going to take it anymore.

Write to Iger. Write to Tom Staggs. Let them know your anger. Write to the national media. Write to Jason Garcia at the Orlando Sentinel. Post videos on You Tube of the disaster this current management team has made of WDW. I'm sorry to say it but we need to shame these people into action. And if not, we have to shame Iger and Staggs to the point where they must cut out certain managers from WDW. Let's stand up as one voice and show Disney we have had enough.

OK, now I am stepping down off my soap box. Rant is over.

[DizneyRox]

Guess I won't be taking any nighttime pics of the castle on my next trip. Who wants a picture of a castle with a bunch of random families on it?

Really? You wouldn't buy a DVD of this nighttime show especially if your picture is one of up to 500 pictures they can use on a daily basis?

I wouldn't be surprised if:

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, don't forget to stop by Exposition Hall on your way out to purchase a Keepsake DVD of tonight's performance featuring pictures of YOU, our guests!

People will eat that up! OMG! There's our picture! People will be tripping over each other to take pictures that might make it on the castle that night. And of course, buy them since they will be memories of their trip.

It's not all that hard to do, they will be compiling the pictures throughout the day and be able to produce the DVDs on demand pretty much. Start again the next day!

CHA CHING!

[Polynesian Dweller]

Ian has summed it up well the celebrations are getting lamer. This management has finally shown that it has none of the creative thinking that was the true basis of the company. To have gotten where it did it needed Walt's amazing creativity pared with Roy O's financial management. They left enough of a legacy that the company could keep going on it for quite some time.

But the board needed to ensure that the creativity remained at the leadership position. Today's lame, actually it would need to improve to be lame, announcement the company has proved that the creativity has disappeared. It started a few years ago with the completely unimaginative Imagination Pavillion, weak exhibits in Innoventions, the closure of Pleasure Island with apparently no firm replacement plan and the troubled FLE project, among others.

This company has no future unless it gets its sense of creative leadership back. So yes, write all the letters and emails but also, if you have Disney stock, even 1 share, if you get a proxy form then vote against re-electing the board. That sends a message that the board is not doing a good enough job of holding its management to the highest standards of quality.

[Ian]

Well if the negative feedback on their Facebook page and Twitter feed doesn't have any effect, I can't imagine a letter writing campaign will.

I keep trying to remind myself that they did just make a big announcement with the huge Fantasyland expansion ... maybe we were being a bit greedy thinking this was going to be more big news.

This company has no future unless it gets its sense of creative leadership back.

I certainly mean no disrespect by this at all, but if you are feeling this way Disney really does have problems. You've been one of their staunchest defenders as best I can tell, so for you to be having such a visceral, negative reaction tells me an awful lot.

[potzie]

Quick question,is this nighttime show in lieu of Wishes or in addition to Wishes? If they are doing away with Wishes this is saving even more money.

[Melanie]

Quick question,is this nighttime show in lieu of Wishes or in addition to Wishes? If they are doing away with Wishes this is saving even more money.

No, it's in addition to Wishes (or whatever nighttime fireworks are showing). No announcement was made on times, or even the beginning date for this, unless I missed it.

[eam]

That is ok, not missing much I assume. After reading the press release, I am very underwhelmed. Unless they have something else in store, this is a waste of a press conference.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I certainly mean no disrespect by this at all, but if you are feeling this way Disney really does have problems. You've been one of their staunchest defenders as best I can tell, so for you to be having such a visceral, negative reaction tells me an awful lot.

No problem Ian. I have had a love of Disney since I was 6 or 7 and it feels like that company has pulled away the under pinning of that loyalty and a part of me had been taken away. As I read more it just gets worse.

People should read the photo submission agreement. Basically you give up all right to your photos, texts videos and whatever and they don't have to give you royalties. Worse, they can give them to any third party they want. You could end up as an ad for any company. It just feels like complete exploitation and lack of concern for their customers.

It took a lot and the blinders are now off. A very sad and upsetting day for me.

[Ian]

I have had a love of Disney since I was 6 or 7 and it feels like that company has pulled away the under pinning of that loyalty and a part of me had been taken away.

I'm exactly the same way. I just got there faster than you did.

I've loved Disney since I was so young I don't even remember it. Some of my very, very first memories are of watching Winnie the Pooh filmstrips (yes ... I said filmstrips!) on this little Fisher Price record player/filmstrip thing I had. I remember my first trip to Disney World like it was yesterday even though it was actually in 1974.

But for too long now I've watched Walt's original vision for the company slowly stripped away, replaced by the same type of rampant profit taking and small-minded corporate thinking that takes place in every other mega-conglomerate across the globe.

I once thought Disney was special, but now ... it's just another corporation out to line the pockets of its execs at the expense of anyone and everyone. And for me? Well I'm a grownup. I'm used to disappointment. I can take it. But I do feel sorry for my children who will never, ever know how special Disney World once was.

[JPL]

They seriously pay people to come with these ideas geez! I could have be doing 35 other things and half asleep and come up with something better than this one!

Who cares about strangers pictures being projected on the castle I mean let's be real here do I want to go ride Splash Mountain or watch some pictures of some Random Family from Nebraska? If I want to look at random starngers vaction pictures I can stay home and search Google Images!

[princessjojo]

Guess I won't be taking any nighttime pics of the castle on my next trip. Who wants a picture of a castle with a bunch of random families on it?

No kidding. I want no other people I have to explain in my postcards at christmas. Nor do I want my family in someone else's christmas card picture...

[DizneyFreak2002]

Well if the negative feedback on their Facebook page and Twitter feed doesn't have any effect, I can't imagine a letter writing campaign will.

I keep trying to remind myself that they did just make a big announcement with the huge Fantasyland expansion ... maybe we were being a bit greedy thinking this was going to be more big news.

I certainly mean no disrespect by this at all, but if you are feeling this way Disney really does have problems. You've been one of their staunchest defenders as best I can tell, so for you to be having such a visceral, negative reaction tells me an awful lot.

This.... The thing is, I think we were all hoping for a FLE announcement... We didn't get that... We got boring, dull information we already knew... The projection show on the castle will be a miserable bore and hopefully a failure.. With the failure at Chef Mickey's and this inevitable failure of plastering photos on the castle, will we finally get some new management in this place???

[BrerGnat]

I can't imagine anyone actually submitting photos AFTER reading the photo release form. I mean, sell the photos to any third party? Are they kidding???

No thank you! I don't want my home videos to end up as "B roll" for the Disney company or anyone else!

Oh, and for the record, it seems like Disney doesn't know about Google Images yet. I mean, they just figured out Power Point.