Walt Disney World now twinned with....err Swindon?

G

goldswas

New Member
Wilson-uk said:
It was my girlfriends entry that won! so we are back off to the world in Feb! :)
No idea what it will contain. I guess it will be the history of the town.
I think a lot of it was based on the entry not just the town.
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Congratulations to her. I am very proud of her. Have lived in Swindon for 30 years and love Disney World to bits. It's the best thing that's happened since I've been here. Woo Hoo! It's all everybody is talking about at work today.
 
Scar

Scar

Active Member
I have to say, I am confused.

Does Disney REALLY need help getting in the news? Is there a shortage of Disney news I am missing?

If Disney really did do this to get in the news, why not partner with London or Manchester or Birmingham or (gasp!) Reading? Why Twinning?

Why not see this as a nice gesture towards a small town that is appreciating the publicity they would not otherwise get? I'm very confused at the cynical attitude towards this. But it might just be me.....

s8film40 said:
No, I'm not angry at all, and I'm happy for the people of this town. I am disappointed in Disney. Disney is a large corporate company and as such employs a marketing dept.. This department is supposed to come up with creative ways to market the Disney businesses to their customers. One would expect to see an even higher level of creativity than normal being that Disney at least used to be considered a creative company. Obviously the intention of this was to get their name in the news. There are so many other more creative less obvious ways to do this. Twinning a city is something a small town tourist board might come up with, it's a very unoriginal way to gain publicity. If I had a department dedicated to marketing and this is what they came up with, I would fire them.
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s8film40

s8film40

Well-Known Member
Scar said:
I have to say, I am confused.

Does Disney REALLY need help getting in the news? Is there a shortage of Disney news I am missing?

If Disney really did do this to get in the news, why not partner with London or Manchester or Birmingham or (gasp!) Reading? Why Twinning?

Why not see this as a nice gesture towards a small town that is appreciating the publicity they would not otherwise get? I'm very confused at the cynical attitude towards this. But it might just be me.....
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HaHa yeah Im sure WDW said hey what kind of nice thing could we do for our friends from the UK.

I'm not trying to be cynical towards the twinning itself, but as a publicity move it just seems amatuerish to me and not on the level I would have expected from Disney.
 
_Scar

_Scar

Active Member
I don't know about you, but I haven't heard this news outside of this forum. The only news I'd expect this to show up on is Swindon's news and Disney Forums
 
heliumalias

heliumalias

Member
No offence to WILSON-UK but I'm a sure a lot of people read/heard about this and like me went "cool! ....Swindon???"
After a couple of days reflection I think overall it is a good thing. It gets more visitors to WDW and potentially increases tourism in a place that most Americans would probably go nowhere near. To have picked London would not only have been a complete waste of time, exposed the company to accusations of bias (seeing as Disney UK is based in London) but also you can hardly compare the population size of WDW and London.

I'm be intrigued as to what the "entry" consisted of. If only to give an idea of the reasons for selection.
 
Thurp

Thurp

Member
This is the cheapest way for Disney to get free publicity all over the UK. This story is probably being covered by most TV stations, newspapers and radio. It may only be a quick 15 second story, but it's all they need, and it's all free.

And all it cost the PR division was 2 plaques most likely made at Central Shops, up to 4 plane tickets, giving them a room to stay and allowing them to play for free for a week.

I have no opinion on the winning entry or the town. I honestly don't know anything about the UK.

It's all a very low cost PR stunt with a high return on investment.
 
P

Philo

Well-Known Member
Wilson-uk said:
thank you all for the positive feedback! will pass the messages on!

In regards to the prize package:

Swindon will get a Disneyworld Themed party in Jan for 150 people.
We will be flying over to Disneyworld in Feb to attend the twinning ceremony and rebecca will be unveiling the plaque in Epcot. she will also be bringing home the plaque for Swindon.

Package contains a completely free holiday for 4. not sure who we will be flying with or what hotel we will be staying in yet.

She is currently on a train heading to Bristol to appear on tonight's news.
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My Jealous-o-meter has just hit maximum levels!
 
Ilovewishes

Ilovewishes

Member
Seems to be our US friends who are very confused (and some may say a little upset) over this whole thing. Personally, and as a Brit, I say good on Disney. It's about time they started looking across the pond at their UK fans and they have made a good start this year.

And, although I live in London, I am glad they didn't go with the obvious options of one of the big cities. Disney has already sponsored London's Oxford Street and Regent Street Xmas lights this year - let other parts of the UK feel the Disney magic for a change.

And yes, it has been on the news across the UK. I spotted it on the 6 o'clock news last night.

So hush, all you nay sayers, and let the UK have some attention from Disney for a change!
 
Wilson-uk

Wilson-uk

New Member
Never expected it to be big news in the states but its actually a lot bigger over here than we expected.

Rebecca has appeared on a countless number of radio shows. appeared in most of the big named news papers and also been interviews by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

All the jokes have come out about Swindon and its nothing the town dosnt get every day anyway. TBH i never expected any of the large cities to win the contest as they al ltend to be known for other reason such as Bands, Football Team or being the Capital.

I think disney have made a good decision to go with a less well known town!

Lets wait and see what happens in Swindon now and what comes of this twinning.
 
S

SWatsi

Member
Wish it could have been somewhere Yorkshire, but alas. Just glad its not Manchester or London or Newcastle..

If the plaque is going into Epcot, wonder if Disney might want to twin with a town from each of the World Showcase countries eventually?

EDIT: In other UK-Disney news, The Muppets might be releasing Bohemian Rhapsody (from the Youtube video) as a single to compete with X-Factor for christmas number 1. :D see here
 
jonnyc

jonnyc

Well-Known Member
SWatsi said:
EDIT: In other UK-Disney news, The Muppets might be releasing Bohemian Rhapsody (from the Youtube video) as a single to compete with X-Factor for christmas number 1. :D see here
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My UK Christmas Number 1 support is going to RATM - Killing In The Name Of, hopefully all 550,000 members of the Facebook group will actually buy it!
 
Wilson-uk

Wilson-uk

New Member
Sorry to drag up an old thread but the official twinning ceremony will be taking place on Tuesday morning at the Magic kingdom.

After that we will be the chosen family for the opening ceremony of magic kingdom and then whisked off to epcot to unveil the plaque in the uk pavillion.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Wilson-uk said:
Sorry to drag up an old thread but the official twinning ceremony will be taking place on Tuesday morning at the Magic kingdom.

After that we will be the chosen family for the opening ceremony of magic kingdom and then whisked off to epcot to unveil the plaque in the uk pavillion.
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Congrats again...have fun! :wave:
 

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