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D23 winding down?
- Thread starter asianway
- Start date
Previously you could buy the magazine at the parks, ds.com, Barnes & noble... Now you have to be a member
Tigger1988
Well-Known Member
The magazine was the least interesting part of the membership, no loss. Most issues I own are still in their original plastic. The only reason anyone joins is for the events.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Thank you! I had wondered about that last week when I noticed the D23 Magazine they were selling in the parks was the Fall 2012 issue.
So now you can't even buy the magazine unless you're a member?
I said it in that other thread a few days ago, but something tells me this August's D23 Expo will be the last one they hold and the D23 concept will be wound down and sent to Yesterland in 2014.
HMF
Well-Known Member
It makes sense to me. They have done nearly everything in their power recently to show they dont give a rats A** what the fans think
LudwigVonDrake
Well-Known Member
They've probably squeezed every last nickel out of it they can and will move on to another nickel and diming enterprise.
juniorthomas
Well-Known Member
Basically right, with a slight tweak: it's probably too expensive to keep printing in such large quantities. Limiting the print run is just a different way of squeezing nickels.
wishiwere@wdw
Well-Known Member
I had a feeling this might happen after they started giving away the base membership to DVC members this year. And I'm one of them lol. Oh well.
Timekeeper
Well-Known Member
I remember the good ol' days not too long ago when the magazine was available on the shelves at Barnes & Noble... 
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
I decided not to rejoin...I feel being an Premium Annual Passholder I get better Discounts for the parks than just for one special event in the park at a time I am not there...
RedtoGray
Member
I didn't renew after my first year of membership. There wasn't enough return on investment for me. The magazine was decent but frankly I get better and more informative Disney news from sites like WDWMagic. The magazine was not conducive for easy reading either. The format was too big and the type was often hard to read because of the multi-colored/photographic backgrounds.
They branded themselves as the "insiders" fan club. I didn't get that. I don't live in California or Florida so dropping everything for a one night only event doesn't make sense for me or the fam. The only way a fan club like this works is if you can keep a consistent connection to your members and you give them ALL the opportunity to be closer to the thing they love wherever they are in the world. You have to appeal to the masses of Disney freaks, like me, so you can bring in enough money to build the connections (special merch, in the parks concierge/tours, local clubs, east/west coast conventions, magazines, meet and greets outside of the parks). Just my thoughts. I think it would be interesting to hear what everyone else would want from a truly "insiders" fan club.
They branded themselves as the "insiders" fan club. I didn't get that. I don't live in California or Florida so dropping everything for a one night only event doesn't make sense for me or the fam. The only way a fan club like this works is if you can keep a consistent connection to your members and you give them ALL the opportunity to be closer to the thing they love wherever they are in the world. You have to appeal to the masses of Disney freaks, like me, so you can bring in enough money to build the connections (special merch, in the parks concierge/tours, local clubs, east/west coast conventions, magazines, meet and greets outside of the parks). Just my thoughts. I think it would be interesting to hear what everyone else would want from a truly "insiders" fan club.
Skippy's Pal
Well-Known Member
Truer words were never spoken. I still have several years' worth of the Disney Magazine. I had hoped that D23 would bring back the feeling of the MK Club and the Disney Magazine, but it didn't. I gave D23 a couple of years, then dropped it. Lacking access to the D23 events, it was all about the magazine and the fanboyness, but it turned out there was no there, there.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I don't think you'll have to worry about that. When they shut down D23 in late '13 or in '14, it will be many years until they try something like that again, if they ever do.
Just judging by the massive D23 Expo, it's an extremely expensive thing for them to operate and pull off. Disney must have lost a fortune on the whole D23 concept in the last five years.
And what was the point of D23? I got all the insider scoops I need from a few key websites (like this one), anything of interest offered by D23 events is available online almost immediately, and my one splurge was buying a day ticket to the D23 Expo as a Southern Californian for an afternoon stroll through the exhibit halls. If they had been doing truly unique and irreplaceable experiences, it might have been worth it so long as you lived within 100 miles of Disneyland or WDW. But they didn't even really do that, but charged a chunk of cash for it anyway.
So long, D23. You won't really be missed.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
That's me.
It's just a hunch I've had for a few weeks now. The whole D23 concept seems to be flagging, and its impact on the fan community is shrinking by the day. When was the last time anyone here on the boards mentioned it, aside from this thread? It's been months since D23 came up in conversation here (aside from the "wait 'til D23 Expo for the announcement" comments), even big D23 supporters can admit that. In theory, most of us should be D23 members and it should have an impact on our conversation here. It doesn't.
So.... I was thinking about it while planning my summer out (which includes a day at D23 Expo), and I got to thinking that the D23 concept has been kind of a flop. The Expo requires a HUGE amount of money and resources to pull off, and Burbank must be disappointed in the D23 concept five years in. It just never really took off, and it's costing Burbank an arm and a leg.
A small sign like this magazine retrenchment got me to put those thoughts down on the keyboard, and so I mentioned that I thought D23 was going the way of the Dodo Bird.
It just wouldn't surprise me at all to see D23 wound down and sent to Yesterland shortly after the D23 Expo this August.
nytimez
Well-Known Member
Don't they charge for D23 Expo? I always assumed they made money off the thing, given the combo of the two complaints I often see about the event - cost too much, too many people.
No interest in membership myself... seems like a scam to get you to pay money for the right to buy more stuff... but I figured the event itself was a moneymaker, plus something that gets them publicity since it gets media coverage.
No interest in membership myself... seems like a scam to get you to pay money for the right to buy more stuff... but I figured the event itself was a moneymaker, plus something that gets them publicity since it gets media coverage.