Yes, Disney learned quite a lot from the 25th Event.
EPCOT's 25th happened because of our little 'fan uprising', indeed. I will take some of the 'blame' for that....happily.
The 30th happened because Disney learned from the experience they had on the 25th...and all the money it generated for them. They definately sat up and took notice, and realized suddenly that retro sells and anniversary events like this can create insane sales numbers.
They liked this, and it of course helped to 'inspire' Disney to create other 'fan event anniversary' happenings. I have found it amusing to watch from the sidelines.
The 30th was done as a cash in by Disney...in my opinion. If you look back, the comparisons between the two are interesting.
The 25th was a fan-spearheaded 'movement' that began humbly on this very website and garnered some serious steam after a few months of rallying.
Disney eventually rolled out the red carpet and gave one h*** of a days experience in the end. It was a amazing experience like no other...and can never be repeated. It was a true one-off.
The 30th was created by Disney itself, and announced and hyped on all of the official Disney media outlets. The big difference this time was that the actual REAL 'event' was a expensive D23 sanctioned happening...which fans had to pay big bucks to attend. In-Park happenings were sparse. It smacked too much of marketing..and it seemed sadly obvious that the 'anniversary celebration' was only happening just to sell D23 Epcot's 30th tickets and related merchandise.
To be fair though, i think it is nice that Disney is making a effort to acknowledge milestone anniversary dates related to the Parks. Fans no doubt love it, and we all like the cool merch and special happenings. So i guess it is a win/win situation for most....
A shout out to all my 25th peeps out there....it has been ages.
( waves )
