Destination D anyone?

[TP2000]

I am expecting more from D23 as far as gifts and surprises go. That was one of the things that at the DLR Dest D was very short on and I heard more then a few feel the end of the event fell flat. I am guessing besides the gift book we will be getting more then that at check-in and a few things during the weekend.

That may explain the increased cost of the WDW tickets compared to the Disneyland event last year; they will be passing out more gifts and souvenirs over the course of the 2 day event.

I'm a huge fan of the Orange Bird, so I'll be jealous if they give out Orange Bird items!

It is interesting that tickets are still available for this. I'm also interested in the featured guests and speakers, as it's mostly a long list of Californians flown out for the event; everyone from Tony Baxter, the current WDI VP of Disneyland, to Jack Lindquist the former Disneyland President (who must have gone out to help open WDW in '71?), to other famous faces like Marty Sklar, Richard Sherman, Bob Gurr, Dave Smith, etc. There's a few names that don't sound familiar, and I'm sure some of them are Flordians. How neat they found the original 1971 WDW Ambassador, Debra Browne! Still, the deck seems to be stacked with Californians flying in for the weekend.

http://d23.disney.go.com/expo/05141511_EE_WDWDestinationD40.html

I bet the first class cabin of the Virgin America non-stop from LAX to MCO is booked solid with Disney execs on Thursday, May 12th. :lol:

But if the itinerary on the D23 website is to be believed, Meg Crofton or any other TDO executive won't be making an appearance. Not that there appears to be a lot of love for Meg in the WDW fan community, but TDA's George Kalogridis held court at the Disneyland Destination D last September and he was well received. Eric Jacobson, the WDI VP in charge of WDW, will be speaking for 75 minutes on Sunday morning. But Tony Baxter is flying out from Anaheim Hills to host two separate sessions for several hours spread over both days? That's odd.

Regardless of where the folks speaking at this WDW event live and work, this looks to be a fun event with some really interesting sessions and topics! The Walt Disney's EPCOT session on Saturday afternoon sounds absolutely riveting! I'm very surprised tickets are still available this late, but I can't wait for your trip report Jerm. :wave:

 

[Jerm]

I'm very surprised tickets are still available this late, but I can't wait for your trip report Jerm. :wave:

This is going to be a killer trip....I guess I should do a Pre-trip report to go over all the plans we have for a busy 10 days!

I am guessing after this event there wont be another like it in WDW. The numbers just don't seem to be worth it. But we will see!!!!

 

[stratman50th]

I didn't have a clue as to what D, or D23 was. Glad you posted a link. Fan club? I read the white paper on the site you posted, but what does it get you, and does it seem to be more of a DisneyLand thing?

 

[Jerm]

I didn't have a clue as to what D, or D23 was. Glad you posted a link. Fan club? I read the white paper on the site you posted, but what does it get you, and does it seem to be more of a DisneyLand thing?

http://d23.disney.go.com/

D23 is a Disney fan club that has been around for 2 years now. It is not just a Disneyland thing, they do have more events in the Anaheim/Burbank area because that is where it all started. They do have events in Fl the Destination D being one of them, they always seem to do something with any big events going on in the Florida parks. But with this event not doing so well, it seems, this might cut down on the events that do happen in Fl.

 

[stratman50th]

http://d23.disney.go.com/

D23 is a Disney fan club that has been around for 2 years now. It is not just a Disneyland thing, they do have more events in the Anaheim/Burbank area because that is where it all started. They do have events in Fl the Destination D being one of them, they always seem to do something with any big events going on in the Florida parks. But with this event not doing so well, it seems, this might cut down on the events that do happen in Fl.

I should have worded my statement differently. I assumed it was Disney-wide, but my assumption was that it was more of a California thing because of what you said, but also because for the most part, Disneyland is really a California "place" and not an international destination like WDW. My sister lives in Orange County and my nephew has been going to "Disney" (that's what he calls DL) for years to just hang out with his friends. It's more local community oriented than WDW, therefore it would make more sense that it fills up. It's not as much of a trip for people to just get in their cars and drive for a couple of hours for a big meeting. I hope I'm explaining myself properly. In a nutshell, except for being a Disney nut, what is the point of a fan club for east coast people that live farther away and can only go once a year or so?

 

[Tigger1988]

I should have worded my statement differently. I assumed it was Disney-wide, but my assumption was that it was more of a California thing because of what you said, but also because for the most part, Disneyland is really a California "place" and not an international destination like WDW. My sister lives in Orange County and my nephew has been going to "Disney" (that's what he calls DL) for years to just hang out with his friends. It's more local community oriented than WDW, therefore it would make more sense that it fills up. It's not as much of a trip for people to just get in their cars and drive for a couple of hours for a big meeting. I hope I'm explaining myself properly. In a nutshell, except for being a Disney nut, what is the point of a fan club for east coast people that live farther away and can only go once a year or so?

There really is none. D23 is a money trap, Destination D has thus far been the only worthwhile "major" event for us as east coast people since D23 began 2 years ago.

 

[Jerm]

There really is none. D23 is a money trap, Destination D has thus far been the only worthwhile "major" event for us as east coast people since D23 began 2 years ago.

D23 has many lovers and many haters, I have been a member for a year and a half and feel like the magazine w/the fun gifts are worth the membership alone. But I understand how you feel about the events, I have not really attended any of the big events other then Dest D here in DLR because they do cost a lot!

But this is not a lets rip on D23 thread! What is everyone looking forward to the most at Dest D? I can't wait for Magic Journeys: A Flight of Fancy through 40 Years of Walt Disney World Musical Memories, that was the hit of the event last year!!!!

 

[stratman50th]

But this is not a lets rip on D23 thread!

I just didn't know what it really was and was trying to decide if joining was worth the cost.

What is everyone looking forward to the most at Dest D? I can't wait for Magic Journeys: A Flight of Fancy through 40 Years of Walt Disney World Musical Memories, that was the hit of the event last year!!!!

That sounds like something I would enjoy. I think that is what I enjoy the most about Disney, the history.

 

[DanzerSam25]

My husband and I are both going. My mom is waiting for her schedule to come out before she decides if she is going to go. My dad is die hard Disneyland, so he doesn't this is event is worth it. However - he is interested in Becky Cline and Dave Smith, so he may break down and come.

I am looking forward to all of the events but 1 - Jason Surrell. I am not a huge fan of his, but I will be nice

 

[Jerm]

My husband and I are both going. My mom is waiting for her schedule to come out before she decides if she is going to go. My dad is die hard Disneyland, so he doesn't this is event is worth it. However - he is interested in Becky Cline and Dave Smith, so he may break down and come.

I am looking forward to all of the events but 1 - Jason Surrell. I am not a huge fan of his, but I will be nice

Jason is someone I do look forward to meeting, his takes on Pirates, Mansion and the Mountains are some of my fav books! It will be nice that they are having a mixer after the last event on sunday, at Disneyland it was pretty much........THANKS FOR COMING! and that was it.

 

[R W B]

Umm... I'm already planning on getting to WDW between 3-4pm on the 14th for my trip and the membership isnt that bad, either $25 or $75 a person but the thing thats crazy is the tickets, $175 each. Gotta think about this one especially since most events happen on the west coast.

 

[Victoria]

I shall be there. I won't be doing the scavenger hunt though. I would really like to but I never found a partner in crime.

 

[Hoop Raeb]

Getting closer folks. Anyone else going? Wanna do a group ride Space Mountain on Saturday night maybe?

 

[Jerm]

Getting closer folks. Anyone else going? Wanna do a group ride Space Mountain on Saturday night maybe?

Can't make it into MK on Saturday, but who knows how it will be after the first day.

Did everyone get the e-mail with the merch and new schedule? Anyone notice the change for Sunday night?

815pm – 8:30pm Magic Journeys Pre-Show

8:30pm – 10:00pm Magic Journeys: A Flight of Fancy through 40 Years
of Walt Disney World Musical Memories
As a spectacular conclusion to Destination D: Walt Disney World
40th, Disney Legend and Academy Award® winner Richard M.
Sherman makes a rare Florida appearance just for D23 members and
their guests. Richard, along with his brother Robert has contributed
a multitude of hit tunes to the Disney songbook for films, TV and
theme parks. He will be joined by a few familiar faces from the realm
of Walt Disney World Resort entertainment in what promises to be
an unforgettable concert experience.

Not only did they extend the show, they added what I hope will be a showing of the preshow that I never saw!!!!!

 

[marni1971]

I`ll be there in spirit....

 

[Jerm]

I`ll be there in spirit....

I will let you know of whatever happens!

 

[zooey]

I`ll be there in spirit....

Sad you can't make it, Martin. I'd love to meet you in person some day.

 

[TP2000]

Except Disneyland's was held in a 18,000 sq ft ballroom and Disney World's is being held in an over 44,000 sq ft ballroom.

Except they didn't use it all, or even come close really. :animwink:

As was our collective hunch here, the crowd for this event appears to be noticeably smaller than Disneyland's Destination D last summer. Pictures and reports are streaming live at Micechat. Interestingly, there's very little reporting of it here on this WDW-centric board.

And as I guessed they would do in an earlier post here, the event planners have drawn closed the moveable walls on the Fantasia Ballroom, leaving the center H Section open for the main theater-seating events. The H Section they are using is 10,305 sq ft, and they appear to have approximately 20 rows of 30 seats per row (being generous with that estimate), split by a center aisle. That's about 600 seats, again in a generous estimate.

It looks like it's a happy crowd of excited fans, but it's a rather modest group of about 600 using a downsized 10,000 square foot section of the Fantasia Ballroom. Some of the merchandise available looks really cool! I wish they sold that type of stuff in the normal WDW gift shops!

 

[nemofinder22]

If anyone is interested in lot(and I mean LOTs of photos as in 3000+) of the presentations Dateline Disneyland has a GREAT set of them on their smugmug. FYI Dateline Disneyland is a fan site.

http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/WaltDisneyWorldResort

 

[TP2000]

If anyone is interested in lot(and I mean LOTs of photos as in 3000+) of the presentations Dateline Disneyland has a GREAT set of them on their smugmug. FYI Dateline Disneyland is a fan site.

http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/WaltDisneyWorldResort

Yes, some really amazing pictures of every corner of Destination D from start to finish available there! Miceage's Micechat discussion boards are also using the Dateline Disneyland pictures as part of their streaming-live updates all weekend from Destination D, so lots of great commentary about New Fantasyland, Animation Suites, DHS version of Star Tours, etc.

Overall though, I'm struck by how little coverage or buzz this event created on WDW fan sites such as this. It's also very apparent that the Disneylanders were flown in from SoCal to Orlando en masse for the weekend, they were the hosts and celebrities for the presentations, and nary a TDO executive showed their face at this fan event. If George Kalogridis appeared onstage and offstage at last summer's Destination D at the Disneyland Hotel, you would think Meg Crofton would have showed up for 40 minutes just to say hi and welcome the superfans to her property. :veryconfu

This Destination D event appears to be another crystal-clear example of how differently the two American theme park properties operate and interact with their fans. And still I say... Some truly FABULOUS graphics, merchandise and materials were presented at this WDW Destination D event! It proves there's a treasure-trove of fantastic kitsch and history that they just scratched the surface on for WDW. :sohappy:

WDW is now 40 years old, and that's about how old Disneyland was when the superfan community in the mid 1990's really turned Disneyland nostalgia and interest into a major profit industry for Disney.

Would it have killed Meg Crofton to just stop by the Contemporary this weekend, even if she didn't want to get up on stage and say "hello and welcome" over the microphone?


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