Disney Magazine Ceases Publication

[CSUFSteve]

Who knows what the heck is happening? Seems like confusion even within Disney Magazine given the variety of answers posted.

Perhaps *this time* I was too harsh on Jim... Latest from my friend...

I've done further checking, this time with the Los Angeles offices of
Disney Magazine, and I need to take back what I wrote earlier. The
rumor is not false.

The rumor is both true and false...

Disney Magazine IS ceasing publication -- but the current issue of
Spring 2005 will NOT be the last one. The last issue to be published
will be Disney Magazine's Summer 2005 issue. After that, Disney
Magazine will be no more.

My own call to the toll-free number had the cust serv person give me an exasperated "no we're not ceasing publication" answer. Guess we'll know when/if we get a notice.

 

[GTOKID]

I am VERY upset!!!! I only got 2 issues...and I bought a 2 yr sup. Now I gotta get all my info from you guys!!!! So Keep up the Good posting!!!! THANKS! John

 

[Ashitaka]

This is kind of what I was guessing was the case: That the Summer 2005 issue would still come out, as it would be all ready written, laid out and all set to go, and then the magazine would cease publication.

Meanwhile, they can technically (if not ethically) take new subscriptions. They don't want to get stuck with a whole bunch unsold copies of the Summer issue. Then they give you a refund for the rest of the subscription (or convince you to take FamilyFun instead). That way they have sold you the one issue they had.

In February I signed up for a subscription via the Disney website (which no longer has any subscription info, making it likely that the magazine is a goner). And I was not too happy when the first issue I received was not the Spring issue which had already been published, but the old Winter issue. They must have had too many spare copies and decided to foist one off on me. Even the contest in it had already expired. It wasn't until last week that they sent me the Spring issue.

So if they do come out with the Summer issue, they'll have sold me three issues before having to return the rest of my money.

As for what the sales reps tell you on the phone, they can only say what they have been told to say or go with what info they have. I'd say the info we have from two or three sources involved with the actual publishing of the magazine trump the customer service line of "everything's fine, it's only a false rumor."

 

[thimblekisses]

Perhaps the "no, we're not ceasing publication" answer is what the reps are told to say to avoid whatever the likely reactions of the person on the other line might be. If we care enough to call and ask, then we're probably likely to go berserk if they were to tell us "yes, I'm sorry, we're ceasing publication, and your nine-year subscription will now be applied to Stitch magazine."

It's (theoretically) like not announcing on television that an asteroid was about to destroy earth, just to preserve the calm and avoid the chaos.
all those people do is answer the phone and say what they're told to say. It's very likely that, like the Disney reservations people, they're not actually located at the place where the magazine is in production. They could be in another state.

There's no way to know for sure till we all get the cards in the mail, or don't. But at this point, for me, signs seem to be pointing to the Summer issue being the last one.

 

[Tigger2000]

I thought it was great having Disney Magazine...especially since I Live in the UK (i hate livin in the UK)...i only subscribed in November (which made me have to wait till March...) and I'm only ever gonna get 2 issues..

I say we all protest! :lookaroun

 

[MKCustodial]

Well, I had a subscription till the beginning of this year, when I cancelled it and asked for a refund. The last 3 or 4 issues simply never arrived, and I was tired of calling asking for reshipping.

Anyways, I can understand their frustration. They go around and dig for a story, only to have it out all over the 'Net by the time the mag sees print. They should definately open a website of their own, though. Disney Insiders or the like.

 

[SewIn2Disney]

I just got a letter in the mail from Disney Magazine, and on the outside it said "important information". I ripped that sucker open, knowing that this was the end.......


All it was was a letter telling me my subscription is about to run out and I should renew. Whew....I'm hoping this is all one big rumor.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I, for one, won't be transferring my subscription. I subscribed to the Disney Magazine. If you won't be publishing it, I'll take a refund.

:zipit:

 

[Captain Chaos]

I, for one, won't be transferring my subscription. I subscribed to the Disney Magazine. If you won't be publishing it, I'll take a refund.

:zipit:

Me too..... i want my Disney fix.. seems like the internet will be the only place we can get it now... not that it is a bad thing.. I love WDWMagic...

maybe we can all get together and take over the publishing of Disney Magazine.

 

[General Grizz]

Letter of the Week:
Disney Magazine to Stop the Presses?


TO: SaveDisney Editor
RE: Disney Magazine

Disney employees and fans were abuzz this week with the latest news from Disney, this time from the Publishing unit in Northampton, Massachusetts. The subject was the stalwart Disney Magazine. The buzz? The Disneyland 50th summer issue will be its last. Everyone on staff is to be laid off at the end of this month.

Fans and employees were staggered: of all the Disney "branded" businesses, this is one that appeared to be a no-brainer. It was a cross-generational tradition (dating back to the 1960's with Vacationland Magazine and later Disney News, the magazine of Walt Disney's defunct Magic Kingdom Club). Disney Magazine was geared toward a key core audience interested in the Company, it provided every Disney business prime access to that market, it provided outside advertisers with direct access to that market, and it provided Disney fans with the latest news on everything going on in the Company. In addition, the Company could control its image there, and strategically communicate with a readership already inclined to favor the Company and its products.

Why would the Company kill such a business? I'm sure your first reaction will be, "It probably lost money." Well, it didn't. In fact, Disney Magazine surprised everyone by becoming profitable as a consumer magazine EARLIER than predicted.

The pretzel logic at work here will not only surprise you, it may confuse you beyond belief: Although Disney Magazine made money, it was not considered a "growth" publication by the powers-that-be at Publishing. So, instead of letting it chug along being successful and turning a profit, however small, the potentially damaging and expensive decision to shut it down was reportedly made.

Why would this be allowed to happen? Some intelligence sources say that key business unit heads (who utilize the magazine's powerful reach) had not been informed that the publication was being shuttered.

Is the decision perhaps a holdover of Peter Murphy's Strategic Planning group? Is it an initiative by the CFO, Tom Staggs, and his finance department? Or is it yet another mistake from the Publishing wing of Andy Mooney's Consumer Products division? (Hey, at least it hasn't been changed into Disney Princess Magazine!).

Perhaps this mistake can still be corrected by a higher source.

Sad Subscriber

- SaveDisney.com

 

[gregwardlow]

I read this thread over the weekend and was bummed, then today I check the mail and what do I find? A subscription renewal notice for Disney Magazine. "Remit payment by 4/20/05 so you don't miss an issue!" it says, no postmark so I don't know when it was sent out. Going to miss it, it always seemed like forever waiting for the next quarterly issue but we were always so excited when we finally saw it in the mailbox.

 

[prberk]

Letter of the Week:
Disney Magazine to Stop the Presses?


TO: SaveDisney Editor
RE: Disney Magazine

Fans and employees were staggered: of all the Disney "branded" businesses, this is one that appeared to be a no-brainer. It was a cross-generational tradition (dating back to the 1960's with Vacationland Magazine and later Disney News, the magazine of Walt Disney's defunct Magic Kingdom Club). Disney Magazine was geared toward a key core audience interested in the Company, it provided every Disney business prime access to that market, it provided outside advertisers with direct access to that market, and it provided Disney fans with the latest news on everything going on in the Company. In addition, the Company could control its image there, and strategically communicate with a readership already inclined to favor the Company and its products.

...

Perhaps this mistake can still be corrected by a higher source.

Sad Subscriber

- SaveDisney.com

I completely, whole-heartedly agree with the business assessment above. Sometimes value to the company as a whole (such as this instrument that reaches DIRECTLY to Disney's core constituency) is MUCH greater than the product's specific income. The ad and subscriber revenue is not the REAL value of this magazine. (Read my last post, a couple pages back, about a similar case in Nashville.) The REAL value to the company is its laser-lock on the company's core audience.

SOME of that audience uses the internet, but I can guarantee you that not ALL of them use it as much as we do. But they DO care about Disney, and who knows how many have picked up the phone and made that reservation for ANOTHER vacation this year (rather than the beach this time), after the magazine landed in their mailbox and the read it during the winter snowstorm that kept them home and thinking of Florida...

I hope that this can be changed!!!!!!

 

[Gregory]

Its obvious that the magazine doesn't stand a chance against the internet when it comes to news- but, should Disney give up?

I think that theres a lot they could do. Even if they sold the magazine to an outside publishing company who gave out less free subscriptions, charged a bit more, and published it almost monthly.

Disney has access to a ton of stuff that the internet doesn't. More Ask Dave type stuff, and take stuff from the archives. Have articles and pictures from a long time ago, have interviews with famous people (Imagineers, people like Eisner, etc), recipies, and exclusive stories (as someone before mentioned, you won't find great articles with equally great pictures like the one about Tony Baxter anywhere on the internet)... Getting the news out first doesn't have to be a top priority.

The magazine as it is isn't that great- theres a few good things, but recently its been lacking (same with Disney Adventures.. don't even get me started there...)... If it used the things that are good, and added onto it, I think that the Disney magazine could be revival.

 

[Lynx04]

I wonder if the proliferation of the internet and many Disney sites, the magazine and many other are becomeing not as profitable.

 

[TP2000]

I guess I'll now turn to my eTicket magazine which is actually more interesting to me anyway...goodbye Disney Magazine.

Good point about The E Ticket Magazine. I pour through every article of every E Ticket Magazine, that thing is great. I only had to skim through Disney Magazine for a few moments at the newsstand before I put it back without buying it because it was just the same 'ol stuff I already knew in every issue. (And the stuff I didn't know about in Disney Magazine was banal and worthless... I could care less that darling little Kelsey in No Neck, New Jersey dressed up as Madame Leota for Halloween)

Thank goodness there's still E Ticket Magazine. Disney Magazine should have seen the writing on the wall with the Internet five years ago and shifted their focus to be more like the E Ticket Magazine.

 

[DisneyPhD]

You know, never belive everything you read on the interet. As far as rumors go, I never really belived them until I saw them puplished in the Magzine.

I used the link Long Family provided on page 8 and emailed them my dispointment and hope that this isn't true. It is possible that even if it is true rumor, if they get enough puplic feedback they can change their mind.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Where can I check out this e-ticket magazine?

 

[mrneon606]

I was wondering that too... How often does it come out and how do i get it?

 

[-SIR-]

Just because the news may be outdated doesn't make the magazine a failure... I really enjoy the articles written about all things disney... It has nothing to due with what is new and coming out... It has everything to do with reading an interesting article from an inside source about things in the company... articles like "ride operator for a day" giving info about what exactly the ride operators do, some of their jokes, etc. and having the editor experience it herself (all of Deborah Way's articles are great as they are humorous and incitefull) or even exclusive interviews with people like Tony Baxter, or Alan Menken, (those are the articles I enjoy best) and the graphic displays of the articles are great... the pictures and presentation are always very good... that can't be repeated very well with an online magazine. My point is I never read the magazine for those couple of pages of news.. I read it for the articles, the great pictures, and the fact that I can hold a whole lot of disney info (about parks/movies/animation/music) all in one hand and take it with me... If I wanted a guidebook id buy a guidebook... Who's starting the petition.. it should be ready when we hear about the news.. the sooner the better! ...

 

[Gregory]

http://www.the-e-ticket.com/

I don't like it only because its mostly Disneyland.. And, it has other parks mixed in..

I tried LP magazine, but its also mostly DL.. and, theres basically no content in the magazine...

WDWMagic should get together to make a magazine :lookaroun