Wow!!Disney launching "Year of a million dreams"

[wifey]

This sounds wonderful, any guests visiting after October 1st may be given special scrolls inviting them to join in special activities for more info see
www.orlandosentinel.com

 

[carolfoy]

thanks for that, I also heard that there was going to be a competition with the winner getting a 'golden fastpass' and the new theme was going to be 'where your dreams come true'
edited to add: how fabulous - a night in cindys castle, surely everyones disney dream?

 

[Dicky Knee]

Sadly, its just for people from the US.

 

[wifey]

It would be great if some of us UKDisers actually got to experience some of these things, I know that folks would really make the most of them These things should be available to ALL guests not just locals we pay big bucks too to get our perfect holiday

 

[carolfoy]

Sadly, its just for people from the US.

If they're being picked randomly how can they ensure the winners are from the US?

 

[Dicky Knee]

If they're being picked randomly how can they ensure the winners are from the US?

Taken from the Disney Website:

*Open only to registrants who are 18 or older upon entering and are legal residents of, and physically located within, the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

The terms and conditions say this, so if someone from the rest of the world entered, if they won it would probably be void.

 

[carolfoy]

What a shame, They'll probably have a lot of bad publicity though if they turn around to people and say no

 

[Claire L]

Taken from the Disney Website:

*Open only to registrants who are 18 or older upon entering and are legal residents of, and physically located within, the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

The terms and conditions say this, so if someone from the rest of the world entered, if they won it would probably be void.

I think those terms and conditions are just for the sweepstake as there is a commitment to attend WDW on a certain date.

Claire

 

[mandymouse]

I'm just sad that they're not celebrating Epcot's 25th Anniversary ~ and not bringing back Tapestry of Nations

 

[Strommie]

I'm just sad that they're not celebrating Epcot's 25th Anniversary ~ and not bringing back Tapestry of Nations

I agree.....I loved Tapestry of Nations. I listen to the soundtrack all the time

 

[angel659]

It sounds lovely. Its a pity we are not arriving until a week after it finishes

 

[SimonV]

You'll have to excuse me if I'm just a little bit underwhelmed by this 'wonderful celebration.' To my mind, it basically consists of a couple of revamped attractions (Finding Nemo for Tarzan Rocks and Monsters Inc for Timekeeper), plus the return of the Living Seas' old ride, just with a Finding Nemo theme, and the final (long-awaited and much-needed) full rehab of the Living Seas pavilion, so that you no longer enter through a tacky gift shop and walk straight into the humongous queue for Turtle Talk (one of the worst things Disney have ever done to Epcot, IMHO). All of these things we knew about anyway, they are just being 'repackaged' under the Million Dreams banner.

As regards the 'previously unimagined experiences' (which is a bloody stupid phrase, because people have been imagining them and asking for them since they first heard about the apartment in the Castle!), the chances of them happening to any one family on any given day are about 1 in 50,000, which certainly wouldn't send me scurrying to the travel agent's to book a holiday there (the emphasis being that if you are staying on Disney property, you have a better chance of 'winning' a stay in the Castle or a Golden FastPass).

It's probably a nice thought that something like this might happen to you if you happen to be there anywhere, but is it really a huge enticement to visit?? I can't help thinking it is just another clever marketing spin based around what was already happening, with the few Golden 'extras' thrown in because they don't basically cost Disney any extra money.

The Orlando attractions are going to be up against the launch of the new $50million Space Shuttle Experience at the Kennedy Space Center next year and I have certainly yet to hear of anything else that would come close to that as a real reason to visit. Certainly, the 'Year Of A Million Dreams' doesn't seem likely - if this is all there is - to pack them in the way the Happiest Celebration on Earth did (which involved a major genuinely new attraction in each park). To my way of thinking, this is purely a stop-gap measure to keep people interested until Epcot's 25th anniversary kicks in from October 2007 (which they have yet to announce but, I'm sure, will be a significant event in due course).

Please excuse the cynical interpretation here but, really, I expect a lot more from Disney than a Willy Wonka-type marketing campaign.

 

[k-herm]

As ever Simon, an intelligent post from you.

Out of interest, what were the new attractions laid on for the Happiest Celebration?

 

[wifey]

Good comments SimonV I too think that Disney could do alot better especially when you consider how many nationalities visit Orlando, they really need to rethink some if their ideas!!Don't know how the whole not forwarding passenger info thing will affect tourism
Looking forward to reading more about Kennedy Space Center plans for next year, keep your good work going

 

[SimonV]

The new attractions for Happiest Celebration on Earth were:

Magic Kingdom: Cinderellabration (which, we believe, will return to Japan in October) and the less saccharin Cinderella's Surprise Celebration will be back in its place.

Disney-MGM: Lights! Motors! Action! stunt show

Epcot: Soarin'

Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest.

 

[Emmo]

Why does there have to be a celebration at Disney every day of the year, surely they don't need them to bring people into the parks as I would (and so would MANY OTHERS) go there even if there were no celebrations.

Can they not have a break from CELEBRATIONS and maybe just let us have a normal Disney experience.

I think it would be nice to do the 'dreams' thingy being activated by the turnstiles as you enter rather than registering online. I think that would be a much nicer and more random idea!

 

[SimonV]

I think that's a fair point, Emmo. I don't know why the marketing people feel the need to make every day 'special' in some way when the parks are special enough anyway. It is almost like a mania to make something out of nothing, and, IMHO, it looks pretty feeble when you trumpet something as 'amazing, wonderful, special' and there is no real substance to those claims. Certainly going back to the 90s there was none of this business of making every year a different 'celebration.' I guess they think they need some kind of marketing 'hook' to keep people coming, but I would have thought they were better off just adding something genuinely new each year than with these spurious marketing campaigns.

 

[AlanUK]

Perhaps a cynical view might be that it is to do with merchandising

I suspect that Disney relies on a lot of repeat business and in order to sell more merchandise to those repeat visitors and maximise their profits they feel that that by simply stamping it with that years 'celebration' they can sell the same things to the same people more than once

 

[kkymmy]

I'm rather looking forward to the pins haha!
We're going during YOAMD but i'm not expecting it to be any different to last time I went (September/October 2004...nothing special going on then! except food and wine at epcot...but that would happen anyway).

The thing open to US residents only is a sweepstake to win the keys to the magic kingdom. i just think that would be scary....having a whole theme park to yourself...sends shudders down my spine!

I am looking forward to it though...it'll be interesting to see how the really make it any different (if at all)

and Simon...I love your books...I only read the 2004 one because that was the current one when I went but it kept me entertained between parks and restaurants for two whole weeks!!! (Although I have to say I think Ming Court is overrated)