Every so often the Walt Disney World Resort builds up a huge celebration complete with brand new rides, some parades, and new interactive exhibits. Last year, Disney kicked off the 15 month long Millennium Celebration which showcased shows like Illuminations 2000: Reflections of Earth and Tapestry of Nations and new rides like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Test Track, Kali River Rapids and other entertaining shows. But once the celebration ended on January 1st, 2001, the question arose. What could Disney do to top that?
Well before the Millennium celebration kicked off, imagineers had that question on their mind. Many ideas went through around but the one that seemed to pop up the most was the 30th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. As much as everybody loved this, the idea was shot down by Eisner. Why? He thought it was too soon after the 25th Anniversary celebration to throw a birthday party for Walt Disney World again.
Then one idea fell right into their laps: the 100th birthday of Walt Disney, the man who created the Walt Disney Company and made it famous around the world.
After that the deal was sealed and Disney announced plans for it in April 2001. Plans were to have the celebration last from October 1st, 2001 till January 1st, 2003. The heart of the celebration will take place at the Disney-MGM Studios (rumored to be renamed The Walt Disney Studios Florida). Details are still coming out about the celebration but it already sounds boring to thrill seekers ready to ride the next big ride and those who look beyond the shops and parades.
The 122 foot tall Sorcerer Hat will be the celebration's icon like the Mickey Wand was for the Millennium celebration. Each park will have a brand new parade including an update of the Tapestry of Nations parade. Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama and Walt Disney: One Man's Dream will be the rides opening up. That's it!
All pretty cheap. Parades are popular at all theme parks by guests and accountants because they are so cheap to make, so that's why Disney decided to put a new one in each park. And the rides? Well Chester & Hester's is basically off the shelf carnival rides that are much cheaper then building a brand new original attraction. It also included pay-per-play Midway games. That's how Disney kept costs down for the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure. Walt Disney: One Man's Dream showcases stuff that mostly came from Disneyland and took little time and money to ship. So why is it a shopper's delight?
Disney plans to do a huge merchandising campaign for the celebration. Commercials for the celebration are already popping up. Disney must be desperate to get people over to WDW, since the economy is slumping and advanced bookings are down.
Disney is creating so much merchandise that it goes beyong what the other celebrations have done. Miniature snow globes of the "Share a Dream Come True Parade" floats will be sold for $50 each but the main merchandise item is accourse pins! Ever since the Millennium celebration, collecting pins has become a craze. But this time around the pins are special so when you encounter a certain part of a show, they will light up. These pins will cost you $10-$15 each, about 4 to 9 dollars more then the regular pins. 30th Anniversary merchandise will also be sold and expect a lot of Sorcerer Hat merchandise like with the Mickey Wand 2000.
I'm not saying this is a horrible thing.
I love to collect Disney merchandise and I am a hard-core pin collector. That's not the problem. The problem is that Disney presents no major new attraction but only minorattractons that are off the shelf carnival rides with retheming. For a celebration remembering the man who created the magic, Disney sure shows their appreciation in a very cheap way. We expect a lot more from Disney, especially in their celebrations. Just my $0.02.
Till next time, See Ya!
Well before the Millennium celebration kicked off, imagineers had that question on their mind. Many ideas went through around but the one that seemed to pop up the most was the 30th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. As much as everybody loved this, the idea was shot down by Eisner. Why? He thought it was too soon after the 25th Anniversary celebration to throw a birthday party for Walt Disney World again.
Then one idea fell right into their laps: the 100th birthday of Walt Disney, the man who created the Walt Disney Company and made it famous around the world.After that the deal was sealed and Disney announced plans for it in April 2001. Plans were to have the celebration last from October 1st, 2001 till January 1st, 2003. The heart of the celebration will take place at the Disney-MGM Studios (rumored to be renamed The Walt Disney Studios Florida). Details are still coming out about the celebration but it already sounds boring to thrill seekers ready to ride the next big ride and those who look beyond the shops and parades.
The 122 foot tall Sorcerer Hat will be the celebration's icon like the Mickey Wand was for the Millennium celebration. Each park will have a brand new parade including an update of the Tapestry of Nations parade. Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama and Walt Disney: One Man's Dream will be the rides opening up. That's it!
All pretty cheap. Parades are popular at all theme parks by guests and accountants because they are so cheap to make, so that's why Disney decided to put a new one in each park. And the rides? Well Chester & Hester's is basically off the shelf carnival rides that are much cheaper then building a brand new original attraction. It also included pay-per-play Midway games. That's how Disney kept costs down for the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure. Walt Disney: One Man's Dream showcases stuff that mostly came from Disneyland and took little time and money to ship. So why is it a shopper's delight?Disney plans to do a huge merchandising campaign for the celebration. Commercials for the celebration are already popping up. Disney must be desperate to get people over to WDW, since the economy is slumping and advanced bookings are down.
Disney is creating so much merchandise that it goes beyong what the other celebrations have done. Miniature snow globes of the "Share a Dream Come True Parade" floats will be sold for $50 each but the main merchandise item is accourse pins! Ever since the Millennium celebration, collecting pins has become a craze. But this time around the pins are special so when you encounter a certain part of a show, they will light up. These pins will cost you $10-$15 each, about 4 to 9 dollars more then the regular pins. 30th Anniversary merchandise will also be sold and expect a lot of Sorcerer Hat merchandise like with the Mickey Wand 2000.
I'm not saying this is a horrible thing.
I love to collect Disney merchandise and I am a hard-core pin collector. That's not the problem. The problem is that Disney presents no major new attraction but only minorattractons that are off the shelf carnival rides with retheming. For a celebration remembering the man who created the magic, Disney sure shows their appreciation in a very cheap way. We expect a lot more from Disney, especially in their celebrations. Just my $0.02.Till next time, See Ya!
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![dino-rama02[1].jpg](https://d3ofq03apmfb8c.cloudfront.net/data/attachments/0/675-e5cc5f1ae61ebd72a29d63b469d0c2f4.jpg?hash=5cxfGuYevX)