Spirited 24-Hour Day Musing:
First, apologies, but I won't be commenting on China and the Tomorrowland debut until post the holiday weekend.
I did want to chime in regarding what is now an annual event (even though Disney won't tell you so, in case they decide in 2019 to not hold the 24-hour kickoff to summer) though after talking to some people who were in Anaheim and getting an interesting note regarding MK.
BTW, I've only done this event once. Last year, Angie and I wrapped up a week in Anaheim by spending our last full day and night at the parks. No, didn't get up early. I think we arrived at the parks around 10:30 in the morning. Crowds weren't bad at all until late afternoon. But by about 6 p.m., they really picked up. Angie headed back to the Grand Cali about 11:30 when DL was packed. I was going to ride Pirates, but saw a 40-minute wait and realized that I'm a bit too old for the whole scene and left for the villa. I doubt I'll ever do the event again ...on either coast. You need to be young or someone like
@WDWFigment, who doesn't need sleep, to fully enjoy it. I'm only young at heart and I need a good 8-9 hours of slumber every night. It might be worth it if they had the event in Tokyo (they do have an all-night party on NYE at TDL, but it isn't a 24-hour deal and requires a special ticket ... and now I think Mr. Bricker may add this to his 'To Do' list!)
But back to Friday/Saturday ...
Apparently, DLR Ops screwed the masses royally on this one, as they have been known to do. DCA packed to the gills all night, while DL was virtually empty post fireworks. Fights out in the Esplanade. No organization. No crowd control.
I'm very curious to see if any of the social media whores (many of whom were flown out to Anaheim and given free rooms and free ... well, everything except crystal meth!) will actually give Anaheim officials the rightful bashing they deserve. You don't throw a party and then act shocked when lots of people actually show up (unless, perhaps, you're a fanboi).
That brings us to the swamps. And the MK where the 24-hour day sorta passed like the proverbial tree falling in the forest.
If you think the two paragraphs above have nothing in common, then you truly have no concept of how Disney uses and abuses social media in 2015.
A kind Spirit in WDW operations told me that ''we treated the day like simply an extended EMH night. That was what we were told to do going back months. We had a meeting months ago where [exec name withheld] told us that with all the new offerings Disneyland was premiering that the social media contingent, his/her word, not mined [sic], would all be out in Anaheim and that the purpose for the events is to utilize social media engagement to get free publicity for our summer. No considerable social media presence meant no need to actually try [and] put on a good show. The guests and fans didn't really factor into this. If we weren't ordered by Burbank to have this event, then we wouldn't have. I think anyone who attended got the idea we were going through the motions. They were right as that's all we were doing.''
So, there you have it. WDW went thru the motions because WDW management thought that was what they could get away with. Anyone spend yesterday in the Swamp Kingdom? I have a few friends who I think were going, but not sure.
BTW, apologies for accusing WDW's Top BRAND Advocate of whoring his way to Anaheim. I've been told that Lou Mongello was at WDW instead for some seminar (why do I sense a Scamway presentation?) for young leaders, so he was not at DL.
Also, been told that the new WoC is truly weak. That is lacks flow and has hugely out of place Frozen (yes, Let It Go!) and Star Wars (We're home Chewie!) segments. Sorry, but Walt had zero to do with either of these franchises. And even using DL as a jumping off point, that's still quite tenuous. But, hey they did remove a Marvel segment (no, I'm sadly not kidding!) This show was shoved down Steve Davison's throat (insert fanboi joke of your choice) by marketing people who truly have no idea what they are even selling.
Anyway, enjoy those few morsels and a safe and happy long weekend to all ... and, maybe, you could just think for five minutes of the weekend about what it symbolizes beyond picnics, beer and baseball. (or hockey if you just watched the marathon Ducks and Blackhawks game).
