Stars gather at Disney to help launch campaign
By Todd Pack | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted October 9, 2003
At Magic Kingdom. (JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Oct 9, 2003
Walt Disney World wants to build its reunions business with exclusive offers such as $59.99 "Safari Celebration Dinners," a $29.99 seat on a "Magical Fireworks Voyage" on the Seven Seas Lagoon -- and a little pixie dust to help big groups conjure up hard-to-get dinner reservations.
Seizing on the post-Sept. 11 trend of people wanting to visit with everyone from cousins to classmates, Disney is rolling out a new program called Magical Gatherings.
"This program taps into a fundamental trend . . . that extends beyond traditional family reunions to gatherings of all types, including old friends, classmates, grown siblings and even neighbors," said Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Rasulo discussed the program during a briefing on Wednesday, the first day of a three-day media tour to promote a vacation's worth of projects across the Orlando resort.
Later, Disney announced a separate promotion called Kids Stay and Play Free.
When visitors use a Visa card to buy a nondiscounted Disney Dream Maker vacation package of at least four nights, one child age 3 to 9 is free with each paying adult. For a family of four with two parents and two children staying in the same room, Disney says the savings would be $443 on a four-night package.
The package must be booked by Jan. 2, 2004, and it is available most nights from Jan. 4 to June 12, 2004.
Visitors who use Disney's Visa card from Bank One will receive 100 Disney dollars that can be used throughout the resort.
Wednesday night at the Magic Kingdom, celebrities from former Brady Bunch brothers Barry Williams and Christopher Knight to Even Stevens' big sister Christy Carlson Romano turned out for the grand opening of Mickey's PhilharMagic. The 3-D computer-generated movie features songs from modern classics such as The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
Disney put nearly as much showmanship into its Magical Gatherings presentation, which featured confetti-shooting cannons, a parade of children and a song from Disney's upcoming animated feature Brother Bear.
Launched this month, the Magical Gatherings program is designed to make it easier for groups of eight or more to visit the Orlando resort.
It includes a trip-planning Web site and special events and accommodations for those attending reunions.
"It's important that guests can get rooms on the same hallway and dine together at large tables," Rasulo said. "We're even providing two-way radios so nobody misses a minute of memories."
Leisure travel analysts say reunions could become a big business.
Fifty percent of travelers surveyed this spring had taken a trip within the past 12 months to visit family or friends, up from 24 percent in 2000, according to Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, an Orlando-based travel marketing and consulting firm.
The popularity of reunions "has been a huge bubble that has shown up since 9-11, but it appears it's going to be ongoing," said Judy Randall, president and chief executive of Randall Travel Marketing, a consulting firm in the Charlotte, N.C., area.
Often, she said, reunions are being organized by members of Generation X, the generation of Americans that followed the baby boom.
The former latchkey kids of the 1970s and grunge rockers of the '90s are now thirtysomethings with families of their own, said Randall, who didn't attend Disney's gathering on Wednesday.
"Family and friends are very important to them," and "those behavioral patterns won't go away," Randall said.
But Rasulo said the typical reunion traveler "looks a lot like our core audience" of financially comfortable baby boomers.
Indeed, Magical Gatherings isn't necessarily for travelers on a budget.
Options include a "Safari Celebration Dinner" at Disney's Animal Kingdom, featuring "a spectacular VIP journey across the rolling savanna" and dinner at the park's Tusker House Restaurant, including live entertainment. The price is $59.99 for adults and $19.99 for children ages 3 to 9, and requires park admission.
Meanwhile, the Magic Kingdom's "Magical Fireworks Voyage" will offer a view of the fireworks show from the lake in front of the park. Priced at $29.99 for adults and $14.99 for children, excluding admission, the cruise will feature Disney trivia and pirate tales and an appearance by Peter Pan.
SO: If you use Banke One's Disney Visa you get the $100 dollars, not with a regular Visa Card. Hope this answers some questions.
