10/1/21 (Planning thread for those w/ Magic Kingdom ressies on the BIG 50th)!

[DisneyandBeerLover]

I know of a lot of people who were going to Epcot the 2nd that went to MK on the 1st. And it was busy sort of— it reminded me of pre-covid times on a regular weekend with packed lines for food and merch but not so much for rides. There was a virtual queue for the Remy merch as well as the ride. I had been to Epcot a few times earlier in the week and it was much slower.

 

[Tonyz]

Just fyi you can find a lot of the Oct 1 merch at Creations in epcot today, the 2nd. Just got me a shirt and pin.

Hahahahaha what an absolute joke!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

One of my favorite things from yesterday were the CMs leading everyone to sing happy birthday to the country bears and tiki birds before their shows.

We didn't make it to tiki birds but did to County Bears and it was one of my favorite parts of the day too! The audience was singing the songs and really into it - it was great!

 

[Dinosmile]

I would have really enjoyed the vibe

Maybe, maybe not. I am a lifelong Disney fan and it was also my husband's 50th birthday. I loved being around so many other people who "get it." They get the magic. They're excited by all of the details. And they love talking about it. On the other hand, the Disney powers that be did basically nothing to make it special except release limited edition items that required people wait in long lines (or keep refreshing a website for a virtual queue) to even see. The long merch lines paired with short attraction lines were really disheartening. I waited in line for a popcorn bucket for ages behind a couple with 3 little kids (including an infant) who were screaming and/or begging to go DO something rather than wait in line. But both parents had to stay in line to get their 4 "souvenir" popcorn buckets.

I was there the year of Mickey's 60th birthday and we all got cake (I still have one of the napkins!) after the parade. I was there for Give a Day, Get a Day (I was there for the event, which was very, very cool, but this was all above and beyond the event) and, not only did everyone get a free day in one of the parks for volunteering, they gave participants special pins. If you were wearing your pin, some restaurants would give you a little piece of custom chocolate or other fun treat as a thank you. Those things were small, but felt really special. In contrast, they moved the 50th rededication (and the first fireworks viewing) to a media event the night before and then basically didn't acknowledge that day.

I know that finances aren't great right now, but thanking your biggest fans doesn't cost anything. (And, yes, the posters are pretty, but I wasn't necessarily there for "stuff").

All that said, the cast members were GLORIOUS as always. And a special shout-out to the folks at Pecos Bill who, after a very long day, sang Happy Birthday to my husband TWICE when we finally returned to try to get some food later that evening. The vibe for me was mixed and I know I'm not alone because nearly everyone I spoke to during the day felt the same way. We all sat around waiting in the morning for something to happen.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Question about the popcorn buckets…what do you guys do with them? Do you fill them with popcorn at home? Display them? I just never knew there was a fervor for popcorn bucks.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Question about the popcorn buckets…what do you guys do with them? Do you fill them with popcorn at home? Display them? I just never knew there was a fervor for popcorn bucks.

I can't speak on behalf of all of the Popcorn People, but here's my story...my 16YO son kind of "fell" into collecting Popcorn buckets years ago. When he was younger, that's all he really wanted - for a snack and a souvenir. We thought it was silly and too expensive but finally gave in and then found it served a multitude of purposes...see above, plus he liked seeing the new ones, then he was excited to carry it around all week and get refills, and it served as a nice break to sit in the shade and eat Popcorn.

My kids were supposed to come with me on this trip and then the return of travel restrictions prevented that, but they happily gave me their blessing to come with my sister, so it seemed natural to get my son a 50th bucket. So, I didn't know about the Mickey head ones till that day, only the regular ones with the 50th design. Nor did I ever anticipate the complete inefficiency in which they would distribute these Popcorn buckets - I swear for a while it looked like they had the CMs awkwardly filling Mickey heads per order - it took forever for them to process one party. To me, that was a planning and staffing issue - that line could have moved much faster.

Anyway, back to my story...as people have said, it was a weird day. We were with the first few hundred or so in and just walked in for a tee shirt, no issues. My sister and I were mostly there for the vibe/celebration and had managed our expectations and only picked 1 priority ride each, but we were walking on rides all morning. Because I had gone on so many rides at will and my sister and I were free to do our own thing too, I decided to try and get one before lunch. I honestly never anticipated the line to be so inefficient but by that point, I figured I was ahead of the game on rides (we unexpectedly had been walking on rides earlier in the week at HS and AK too) and he'd get a kick out of the Mickey head so I decided to stick it out till our lunch window. The blazing sun was tough but it was fun to chat with people. I most likely would not have made that choice had I been traveling with my family. I do think that Disney hyped up the buckets and could have anticipated the demand and planned accordingly, but I made the choice to stand in the line.

In answer to the other part of your question, he puts them on the hutch of his desk and they make him happy when he does his homework!

Never thought I'd write such a long post about popcorn buckets, but it definitely was not the day I expected!

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Just stopping in to say our 50th day went a little different.
We didn't want any special merch, I ordered stuff the day they dropped online, just incase it was madness Oct 1.
We got there for EE and went to Dumbo, just felt that was the ride to do for our first 50th ride.
We went the evening before and hit a lot of rides with low waits, and had yesterday and this Tuesday Boo Bash, so rides were not on our priority.
Anyway we had an 8:15 CRT, and then Magical Moments pics at 10:15.
Our photographers took us thru the back path to the castle, to bypass Main Street, and guess who we ran into-Josh D'Amaro! He spoke to us briefly, said he loved our matching shirts. Made my 50th day!
Anyway, our photographers were fantastic. The main gal even got on her stomach to get a pic of my 50th tattoo on my ankle with the castle behind me. (It's the 50th logo I got it in March for my 50th Bday.)
We decided to leave when we realized nothing special was happening.
And then we decided, "Let's make our 50th even more special for us. Lets go to each park in our matching shirts and get a pic in front of each icon." and so we did.
We went to Epcot at 2. Got some great pics with a photographer, then saw Mickey and Minnie so got some pics with them.
Then headed to DHS, pics in front of TOT, and then walking up to order DS9 a slushy, a CM came out and handed him one for free.
Got some pics in front of gold R2D2 for DGS4, and then headed out to AK.
Great pics in front of tree. Navi, Safari, ADR at 5:50 at TH, and closed out the park with EE3x, and FOP 10 min wait.
We've always wanted to do all 4 in one day, now we'll have a special pic collage for our 50th day.

OT: Just got our Remy BP for today, SRT and Harm tonight, Space220 tomorrow, DHS Tues AM, and dessert party/BB Tue night!!

 

[luv2cheer92]

Just stopping in to say our 50th day went a little different.
We didn't want any special merch, I ordered stuff the day they dropped online, just incase it was madness Oct 1.
We got there for EE and went to Dumbo, just felt that was the ride to do for our first 50th ride.
We went the evening before and hit a lot of rides with low waits, and had yesterday and this Tuesday Boo Bash, so rides were not on our priority.
Anyway we had an 8:15 CRT, and then Magical Moments pics at 10:15.
Our photographers took us thru the back path to the castle, to bypass Main Street, and guess who we ran into-Josh D'Amaro! He spoke to us briefly, said he loved our matching shirts. Made my 50th day!
Anyway, our photographers were fantastic. The main gal even got on her stomach to get a pic of my 50th tattoo on my ankle with the castle behind me. (It's the 50th logo I got it in March for my 50th Bday.)
We decided to leave when we realized nothing special was happening.
And then we decided, "Let's make our 50th even more special for us. Lets go to each park in our matching shirts and get a pic in front of each icon." and so we did.
We went to Epcot at 2. Got some great pics with a photographer, then saw Mickey and Minnie so got some pics with them.
Then headed to DHS, pics in front of TOT, and then walking up to order DS9 a slushy, a CM came out and handed him one for free.
Got some pics in front of gold R2D2 for DGS4, and then headed out to AK.
Great pics in front of tree. Navi, Safari, ADR at 5:50 at TH, and closed out the park with EE3x, and FOP 10 min wait.
We've always wanted to do all 4 in one day, now we'll have a special pic collage for our 50th day.

OT: Just got our Remy BP for today, SRT and Harm tonight, Space220 tomorrow, DHS Tues AM, and dessert party/BB Tue night!!

That sounds like a wonderful day!

 

[Mome Rath]

Hahahahaha what an absolute joke!

Yeah, it was really an odd choice for them to do things the way they did, mad house at MK for something they were going to release the next day, and gobs of it. For a little while I didn't believe it was the dated (Oct 1st) merch, but double checked, and sure enough, it was.

I had fun, but honestly the 1st was a disappointment for us too. There wasn't anything "special" reserved for the day except what we cooked up ourselves. The best part that day was the lunch we had... when we left the park...

 

[disneydent]

Just got back home from my trip. Overall I will never regret going on a Disney trip. However I'm pretty disappointed in the 50th and talking to a lot of people at the parks it seems like it was the general feeling. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to be there. Ended up being first in line at the gates after waking up at 4 am, got all the merch we were looking for and got to ride tons of originals but outside of that the 50th didn't really feel like any different day at the parks. Pretty disappointed in the fact that Disney did the ceremony the day before the 50th with no regular park guest in the park (thats Chapek for you) but I looked past it. But no special characters, no small ceremony at the start of the day. All we really got was the welcome show back that we had before. Also, how were they not prepared for the madness of the emporium? Should have been a line from the start. Wasn't until the fight that broke out when they decided to change it. Felt awful for the emporium employees.

Its just odd to me that looking back at any other park anniversary much more was done and the 50th fell flat (talking the actual 50th I know the celebration last 18 months). I understand that there were plans but Covid delayed the new attractions but there were small things that could have been done to make the day a little more special.

 

[Eastern]

Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to be there. Ended up being first in line at the gates after waking up at 4 am, got all the merch we were looking for and got to ride tons of originals but outside of that the 50th didn't really feel like any different day at the parks..

To have a day where you 'got all the merch we were looking for' and 'got to ride tons' you would have had to get up at 4am, as you did, and the only reason this worked for you was because the vast majority of guests felt it was crazy and unnecessary to do this. The vast majority didn't get the souveniers or experiences they were hoping for and that is a shame. The 50th was hyped for so long and in the end it was a media event that all guests paid a lot for and only some got the experiences they hoped for.

We expected crowds so not surprised, but we also expected more merchandise to be available. As it was, we felt that the anniversary merch choices were not great. All my son wanted were some pins and he got them, but it was a hassle refreshing the virtual queue until we got a spot and then not knowing when you would be called (5 hours later) to shop. Chapek doesn't care about the guest experience, he cares about money. There should be a better balance if he wants to retain guest loyalty. The 50th was a wakeup call for many guests, I'm sure.

I won't pay what I did again for a Disney vacation. Maybe it doesn't matter, maybe it does. Time will tell.

 

[shoes99]

Just returned last night for 4 nights. We are 75+ and did not get up at 4AM or purchase the merchandise except for Pins and the Resort Mug.
Had a DAS pass so most rides were walk on, Mine Train was 30 minutes return time. At 10AM the bus MK from Pop was empty.
We were there at the 15, 25, 40 anniversarys so if were were breathing we would be there for the 50th ...
Since we had not been back since Oct 2019 we also went to the Studios on Oct 2nd to experience ROTR, Mellinium Falcon and Mickey & Minnies RailRoad.
Crowds were also not bad since we did early entry at 8:30AM and went right to Batu. Happy to experience the Anniversary...
Returned to Newark on a 777. Nice experience and the plane was full.

 

[nintz]

Coming back from the 50th I learned one thing. People seemed to care more about the merchandise than the park experience. I just find it crazy that people would shout and go into a frenzy for a plastic Starbucks coffee that costs 50 cents to make in China, just so that they could say they have one. I actually had one in my hand and put it back. Unless it came with a Mickey Mouse glove to hold. It hurt holding it after a few minutes. Disney did drop the ball on the ceremonies, But, I enjoyed the day!

 

[Eastern]

Coming back from the 50th I learned one thing. People seemed to care more about the merchandise than the park experience. I just find it crazy that people would shout and go into a frenzy for a plastic Starbucks coffee that costs 50 cents to make in China, just so that they could say they have one. I actually had one in my hand and put it back. Unless it came with a Mickey Mouse glove to hold. It hurt holding it after a few minutes. Disney did drop the ball on the ceremonies, But, I enjoyed the day!

omg, same! In Emporium. My son was holding it and said, 'wow, this hurts!' So I tried it and it and he was right. Then later I looked on ebay and it was listed for $134.99. We had a good laugh about that!

 

[CosmicGirl]

Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad the travel ban stopped me from going. If it hadn't been for other circumstances I would've even done the 15 nights in a third country thing to be able to be there, but oh how I would've regretted it. I'm shocked that this was it and still can't quite believe what happened (or didn't, rather). I mean, they shipped 300 CMs over to Paris for the day of the 25th but for their own 50th there's nothing? There's no explaining it. Even in its most dire times DLP always did something, even if it wasn't much and 95% of the people there that day didn't even know it was the anniversary. They always had at least a few announcements, a new parade, or fireworks when there usually wouldn't be any that time of year. One year they just had a couple of animators making personalized drawings for guests who happened to stop by. It wasn't much but I still treasure that. And DL's 50th was wonderful all day long. So I just don't get it. Before this I had already made up my mind that if I couldn't be there Oct 1st that I wouldn't be going back to the parks for a few years and their lack of caring for what should've been a special day just solidified that decision.

 

[NJlauren]

I am so sad to hear so many people had a disappointing day!

 

[brightlined]

Having been reading this thread for weeks, I'm still lost as to what people think Disney actually could have done to make it "special". I feel like people wanted bragging rights for something amazing, and Disney didn't provide anything "amazing" - despite the fact that Disney said well in advance that they were not going to do anything special at MK on 10/1.

I would challenge anyone in this thread to describe anything that Disney could have done to make it special that was actually logistically feasible under the circumstances.

Even the examples given here:

1) They gave out cake at Mickey's 60th.
That was November of 1988. The park wasn't busy, and it was 1988. Can you imagine the lines on Friday, just to give out cake? And the complaints? "Can you believe it was just vanilla?" "Can you believe they didn't offer a vegan or gluten-free cake?" "My piece was really small."

2) They should have given out pins or something nice.
It was a full park. Everyone here knows full well that people would have re-entered multiple times to get multiple items if they knew it was something special and valuable.

3) "I mean, they shipped 300 CMs over to Paris for the day of the 25th but for their own 50th there's nothing?"
DLP is a dead park by comparison. They need all of the attention they can get. The MK was already full. The special thing for CMs was the Friday night re-dedication ceremony and presentation of Enchantment.


The overarching problem - and full reason why there wasn't anything "special" - Disney was actively trying to dissuade people from going to MK on the 50th. They don't need a full-capacity park right now, thanks to the on-going issues with staffing. As we already know, things were chaotic enough as it was.

Every time Disney has done something out of the ordinary at a park, it's because they're trying to draw an audience to that park on that day. The last two Epcot anniversaries were big deals, given that it's historically been a dead park. DHS's 30th happened before Galaxy's Edge opened (and it was a Wednesday).

For most people, the special thing about Friday was being there. I don't get why it needed to be more than that, and why so many people expected it to be.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Having been reading this thread for weeks, I'm still lost as to what people think Disney actually could have done to make it "special". I feel like people wanted bragging rights for something amazing, and Disney didn't provide anything "amazing" - despite the fact that Disney said well in advance that they were not going to do anything special at MK on 10/1.

I would challenge anyone in this thread to describe anything that Disney could have done to make it special that was actually logistically feasible under the circumstances.

Even the examples given here:

1) They gave out cake at Mickey's 60th.
That was November of 1988. The park wasn't busy, and it was 1988. Can you imagine the lines on Friday, just to give out cake? And the complaints? "Can you believe it was just vanilla?" "Can you believe they didn't offer a vegan or gluten-free cake?" "My piece was really small."

2) They should have given out pins or something nice.
It was a full park. Everyone here knows full well that people would have re-entered multiple times to get multiple items if they knew it was something special and valuable.

3) "I mean, they shipped 300 CMs over to Paris for the day of the 25th but for their own 50th there's nothing?"
DLP is a dead park by comparison. They need all of the attention they can get. The MK was already full. The special thing for CMs was the Friday night re-dedication ceremony and presentation of Enchantment.


The overarching problem - and full reason why there wasn't anything "special" - Disney was actively trying to dissuade people from going to MK on the 50th. They don't need a full-capacity park right now, thanks to the on-going issues with staffing. As we already know, things were chaotic enough as it was.

Every time Disney has done something out of the ordinary at a park, it's because they're trying to draw an audience to that park on that day. The last two Epcot anniversaries were big deals, given that it's historically been a dead park. DHS's 30th happened before Galaxy's Edge opened (and it was a Wednesday).

For most people, the special thing about Friday was being there. I don't get why it needed to be more than that, and why so many people expected it to be.

This sums up my thoughts perfectly. The three things we did get for free were well above anything I expected.

 

[annekablam]

Having been reading this thread for weeks, I'm still lost as to what people think Disney actually could have done to make it "special". I feel like people wanted bragging rights for something amazing, and Disney didn't provide anything "amazing" - despite the fact that Disney said well in advance that they were not going to do anything special at MK on 10/1.

I would challenge anyone in this thread to describe anything that Disney could have done to make it special that was actually logistically feasible under the circumstances.

Even the examples given here:

1) They gave out cake at Mickey's 60th.
That was November of 1988. The park wasn't busy, and it was 1988. Can you imagine the lines on Friday, just to give out cake? And the complaints? "Can you believe it was just vanilla?" "Can you believe they didn't offer a vegan or gluten-free cake?" "My piece was really small."

2) They should have given out pins or something nice.
It was a full park. Everyone here knows full well that people would have re-entered multiple times to get multiple items if they knew it was something special and valuable.

3) "I mean, they shipped 300 CMs over to Paris for the day of the 25th but for their own 50th there's nothing?"
DLP is a dead park by comparison. They need all of the attention they can get. The MK was already full. The special thing for CMs was the Friday night re-dedication ceremony and presentation of Enchantment.


The overarching problem - and full reason why there wasn't anything "special" - Disney was actively trying to dissuade people from going to MK on the 50th. They don't need a full-capacity park right now, thanks to the on-going issues with staffing. As we already know, things were chaotic enough as it was.

Every time Disney has done something out of the ordinary at a park, it's because they're trying to draw an audience to that park on that day. The last two Epcot anniversaries were big deals, given that it's historically been a dead park. DHS's 30th happened before Galaxy's Edge opened (and it was a Wednesday).

For most people, the special thing about Friday was being there. I don't get why it needed to be more than that, and why so many people expected it to be.

They could have had an opening ceremony that had meaning. Or a fireworks show that speaks to the history of the park. They could've done more in decorations than put up some statues. I mean, IMO, I knew this was a disaster the moment the Disney Parks official video mentioned new CM nametags as something to watch for. Like cmon really?

I think a cool thing to do would be give out 50 prizes on the day. This would be easy to manage since everyone has to reserve their spot in the park now.

Basically, I think we just expected Disney to show some sort of creativity.

 

[Eastern]

I would challenge anyone in this thread to describe anything that Disney could have done to make it special that was actually logistically feasible under the circumstances.

I would have liked a commemorative pin or magnet delivered to the resort room for booking at rack rates on 10/1. I actually think it's weird that they didn't do this!

A special 50th grand finale for the fireworks would have been good. Honestly, since they do that on the 4th and on NYE I kind of expected that.

A suprise appearance by any character in the resort lobby would have been nice. Again, I have seen this during 'normal' times, so I don't think it's a stretch.