Hey Briar,
I SOO agree that there is a disconnect between those who have decided to pull the plug and the rest of the Disney circle.
I have not had a chance to share this yet, but it ties right in on the irony you observed. On a very recent DL visit there were a few "interesting" VMK-related moments worth mentioning.
1. I made a point to stop in at City Hall on my way out to fill out a Guest Comment Form and expressed my extreme disappointment with VMK closing and talked about the many, many visits to DLR that were VMK generated.
The interesting thing is, the lady at City Hall had a very vague idea of what VMK was. "It's that little game like thing with the codes, right?" - sigh -
To other ladies in the lobby overheard us and 1 said, "My daughter loves that game. It's closing?" Nothing like being the bearer of bad news.
The CMs at City Hall had no idea who to send my comments to or what department is even "supporting" the game. I encourage EVERY one of you that lives locally to stop in at City Hall to express your disappointment IN WRITING.
2. I stopped in to visit at CM I have become friendly with over the years that works at the Magic Shop. She had heard only from other guests that VMK was closing. She mentioned that they did not have any Magic Mirror cards, but that they had just received a stack of Penny Press cards to give out with purchases. She said aloud, "Which seems sort of odd with them closing it and all. What a shame."
3. I also took these pictures up in Innoventions, where VMK seemingly is going strong.
Note the bottom of the banners say, "Create a character." I did get a half-hearted chuckle from listening to CMs answer the "Why can't I make a character?" question asked several times while I was there. Uh... Disney... People are begging you to let them play!
It was very sad for me. Several of the CMs there know me from the many years that I have been going up there for VMK. Some of them came over and discussed the closing with me (some of them didn't know it was closing until I mentioned it). It's almost like VMK is the little project that someone dreamed up for a purpose, and now that the initial group's purpose has been served, no one wants to take responsibility for it (or cares about it - except for those that took the time to love it... us).
I had 1 CM walk out with me expressing that they hope guests they have come to know over the years will still come up to say hi every now and then as the CMs enjoyed getting to know so many of us.
And on that sorrow note, I had to get SOME fix of the magic..... which I thought many here would benefit from to. Try to remember, the magic DOES still exist - even if part of it seems to be (hopefully, maybe, PLEASE not) dying.
They didn't turn out as good as I hoped - next time I will haul that tripod... maybe. If 1 of you out there gets Disney-related smile from 1 of these though, mission accomplished. There IS still Disney magic out there.... just not online it seems.
and 2 shots that did NOT turn out as I had planned, just might be some of my favorite shots ever........
If you have ever wondered what Main Street and the Castle are like at 1:30am with a very few remaining stragglers heading towards the gate:
(apologies for the blurriness - really really hate hauling that tripod!)
And when I saw this one the following morning, just before I deleted it as a bad fireworks picture, it stopped my breathe for a second. The fireworks didn't capture as I had wanted, but it's almost like 2 Disney icons were trying to tell me to Remember the Magic:
- Dreams (dreaming of sharing my birthday with friends on VMK... on May 22nd)
Guess we better get our trip in fast!
