Mongello vs Werner

[NWOhioAngela]

I have a semi-used Sharpie and a couple of stamps.

I'm calling it a "desk set" and it's a limited edition.

It's $800.

Does it come with directions?

 

[Matt@WDWR]

Limited Edition instructions.

 

[snotgonnatellu]

i just cant wait until i get that "i told you so" moment that i know is coming. One day they are gonna reveal a GREAT event that only members get to be part of and everyone on here is gonna scramble to sign up, and then i will gladly say I TOLD YOU SO !! haha

at least im hoping so, cause if not i fully expect you all to tell me I TOLD YOU SO !!

 

[andrewilley]

... They could have offered a message board, heck there are lots of things they could have offered for less than $75.

I thought that too, but then they might have been afraid of totally alienating the current online community, and getting a real backlash from people saying that Disney are trying to steal other sites' traffic.

i just cant wait until i get that "i told you so" moment that i know is coming. One day they are gonna reveal a GREAT event that only members get to be part of and everyone on here is gonna scramble to sign up, and then i will gladly say I TOLD YOU SO !! haha

Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon. I suspect they have no idea yet what the club take-up will be like, and so don't want to limit the numbers of people who can attend the events, buy the stuff, etc. Of course, on the downside that will reduce the number of people who actually want to join. Catch 22 really.

Andre

 

[*NikkiBell*]

First of all, I think it is a SHAME that NikkiBell thinks after all of this time that people on this particular board would be judgemental for joining D23. We are all friends even if we are buying cool points on the side from Kevin... speaking of cool points...
QUOTE]

I find it an uncomfortable situation myself. I'm hoping things die down soon. It bothers me that people are becoming so divided over D23 on here that name calling is happening and people are feeling badly if they join. That really makes me sad.

With that sad, I am done talking about it because we have something else much more important to discuss. What kind of cake will be served at Kevin & John's? Pete, what will you and Walter have?

 

[katscradle]

I'm in, where do I send a check?

For what its worth I'm also a D23 member, yes I a sucker. If they announced dog poop with a disney logo I would have bought it.

Thankfully there's room in this world for all viewpoints. And I kinda like my nice rose-tinted spectacles which give even the most idiotic behaviour the benefit of the doubt sometimes.

I happen to love the history of Walt Disney and the company he founded - the people, the films, the characters, the music and everything else - and I think our beloved parks would be a lot better for following his original ideals a little more closely rather than trying to follow current trends (a year or two late). So I guess the overall concept of D23 really does appeal to me - just don't expect them to make it an up-to-the-minute news service!

Was the D23 mystery marketing campaign wrong? Not really, although I suspect the founders of D23 (or more likely Disney's marketing people) were very naive in not anticipating how the whole thing would get blown out of all proportion by the potentially rabid internet community.

Should there be some sort of theme park loyalty scheme? Absolutely!!!

However, did Disney give ANY hint that D23 would be anything remotely to do with theme parks, and so are they "arrogant" in not making D23 about the parks? Nope, not at all - any more than the WDCC collectors society, the DVD buyers club or the comic-books fan club should be about the theme parks. In fact, in many ways the theme park fans (amongst which number I do count myself) could be described as the ones being "arrogant" in expecting that the mysterious D23 should have been all about what they happened to want.

So in summary, a thumbs up to Dis Unplugged for wanting Disney to do something to reward its loyal theme park guests, but also a big thumbs up to Lou Mongello for discussing and supporting D23 for what it actually is rather than what we might have wanted it to be.

Andre

P.S. Actually my own (completely personal) gripe with D23 was not the $75 membership charge per se, but their reliance on disneyshopping.com for distribution and hence the ludicrous $60 international postage charges - but I guess that makes me a sub-group of a minority in Disney USA's eyes... and maybe an arrogant one at that.

I do not think that anyone who paid for D23 is a sucker!
I live in Canada!
I do not think that Disney has thought about their international fans!
Let's break this down!
D23 is $75.00 if you live in the US!
For Canada D23 =$125.00 US
$125.00us = $155.16
So to get 4 magazines a year and the right to buy some overpriced stuff
I am paying $38.79 per magazine.
I don't pay that amount of money for any magazine subcription.
My Celebrations subscription did not cost me anywhere near that amount.
I also get more magazines.
I just don't think this was well thought out by Disney!

 

[andrewilley]

I just don't think this was well thought out by Disney!

I don't think there's anyone in any of the online communities who will disagree with that comment.

I am very much in favour of the overall concept of D23, but somewhere between the best intentions of Dave Smith, Steven Clark, et al and the final implementation, the gargantuan Disney machine may have fumbled the ball in some key areas.

Andre

 

[Mickey_Man]

I wasn't going to post because many of my thoughts have already been shared by others but i can't resist....

DW is similar to Lou M. in that she is an ultimate disney enthusiast (we vacation there a few times each year, were married there, yadayada)..as she calls him, "Uncle Walt" and his company can do no wrong in her eyes, and consequently mine as well....BUT, in this instance she started to become skeptical when she had signed up on the D23 site for the email "to be the first to know" when D23 was rolled out on 3/10...when she went to the site at 12:30, the countdown timer said -30:12. They missed the 12 o'clock mark and she still, even today, hasn't received her "first to know" email.

After coming here and reading that others had already purchased D23 on the disney shopping site, she clicked over, read the so-called "perks" and called me upset with "Uncle Walt". For $75, it didn't seem like much in terms of benefits.

After listening to the podcasts it just feels like Disney is now seeing how popular certain fan sites and podcasts are and they would like a piece of it, or to control it. Knowing the difficulties Pete expressed with the organization of MouseFest activities this past year, it makes you wonder.

We both are optimistic that there must be more to come, there HAS to be. Living in CT, and having a DW that works in education, attending anything in September is out of the question, i would think for people with school-age children it is the same impossibility. What would i like to see? Possibly the right to make ADRs earlier than the new 90 days out, discounts in the parks, mousemeets of sort, an expo at WDW not just in CA, recognition at check in in the resorts, frequent meets within the parks, and hey, even a t-shirt would make me happy!

Merely being given the opportunity to purchase merchandise (which isn't our thing), a certificate, an expo we can't attend, and a high quality magazine, doesn't seem like a whole lot for $75.

Will i join? probably. But not yet. I'm waiting to see what else......in the meantime....I'm waiting for Kevin to issue the cool points..

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Well, I was on facebook and found a "fan group" D64 basically agreeing with Pete. In any case, someone got their surprise D23 gift --

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=3430707&postcount=1400

So the litho without a frame, a certificate without a frame, and the magazines - oh yeah, and the $7 discount on the West Coast. There it is.

 

[Cruz Family]

Well, I was on facebook and found a "fan group" D64 basically agreeing with Pete. In any case, someone got their surprise D23 gift --

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=3430707&postcount=1400

So the litho without a frame, a certificate without a frame, and the magazines - oh yeah, and the $7 discount on the West Coast. There it is.

That is really cute!