Pete, Kevin, John, podcast team, RU23?

[Matt@WDWR]

Yeah go back and read your post. It is insulting to them. And I never said people should not join. I just said truthfully that it is completely underwhelming and disappointing. I might join just for the book but it won't change the facts that Disney built this up and rewarded its fans with an expensive catalog and nothing else. At the very least they should have gotten 1/2 off Expo tickets. Not 7 bucks off.

 

[MenashaCorp]

Sheesh!! Another Community Forum thread here...

It never ceases to amaze me how the blog-o-sphere encourages people to spew vitriol. This is a happy forum. If the DIS Unplugged is not your cup of tea, that's fine and dandy. If you want to be miserable and contrary toward those who provide the very forum you're using, go jump in Bay Lake. Preferably on a warm day.

 

[connie1042]

Okay,lets not turn this in to the great debate. Either you will join or you won't. Did I, yes I did. I have no great expectation. I know what I payed for. If this was several years old I would not have even thought about it. I did it because it is the first year. I am not a collector of anything Disney. I have some Disney stuff, but I guarantee, you they are not worth much. I will not to to the Expo, but would stop in if it was at WDW while I was there. I do agree if you are a member you should get in free to the Expo. No one told me to buy into this. If I lose, I lost 80 bucks. Sure I could have saved it for my trip, but in the long run Disney was going to get the money anyway. If things don't go well the first year, they will lose many fans that will not buy it next year. So let's wait and seehow they handle this.

 

[Matt@WDWR]

And I would never criticize anybody who bought into it. However, I will think most everybody can see reason to criticize Disney for building it up and giving us this.

Mind you, as a Disney Pin nut, I will admit to feeling the urge to overpay for those pins. hahahah

 

[GIR-Prototype]

I've heard of and read some complaints, and now I'm going to say my piece.

I've heard that they're asking a lot of money for items that seem unrealistic.
That's just not true. Not of the items themselves such as $800 pens, nor of the D23 Membership.

How is it not true?
In terms of the pen as a specific item, Mont Blanc offers pens with a $100,000+ pricetag. Do I want one, no I do not. But when you examine the pen being offered, it is in fact possible to compare it to items of a similar price to evaluate it's worth. If however you don't want the pen, or a pen that costs that much for fear of losing it, breaking it, having it stolen, well then you wouldn't buy a pen anywhere that costs that much, so why complain?

The price of the D23 Membership. $75 USD. The D23 Magazine, a quarterly magazine with a price of approximately $15 USD would cost you a yearly total of $60 USD, plus the costs of gas or mass transit fees, *and* additional costs incurred by finding out if the store of your choice has the new issue on sale, such as the internet or telephone time. Granted that you pay for some of these things "anyway," when you use them for a purpose, effectively part of the service charge is going towards that. And let's not forget about sales tax where applicable; Mickey Mouse may getting the lion's share, but Uncle Sam wants his cut too. Now that you've got that chunk of change in mind, add on everything else.

What is that? Well, parts of the remainder of the $75 charge goes to paying for postage; on the D23 Magazine, and on the Membership Certificate and Card. Another portion goes to actually making your Membership Certificate and Card. And some of it goes to paying for the "Surprise Collectible Gift" to be made and shipped to you. And of course, someone has to write, edit, and construct the bi-weekly email newsletter whether or not you opt out of it. And another portion of that money pays for the internet hardware and access that it takes to e-mail such a thing out. And there's also webmastering services and other associated costs with the Disney.com/D23 website.

That's where your money is going. When you keep all that in mind, that's an amazingly great deal as opposed to a "waste."

Now I've also seen people saying things along the lines of Disney's just catering to their wealthy client base. So what if they are? Disney in order to remain in business has to turn a profit, and has to find new ways of doing it so that if and when something experiences a profit loss, or another division needs money for this or that project, there are resources available to cover that.

But Disney isn't just catering to the wealthy. Don't forget that Disney has for years offered things for sale starting at $1 all the way up to several thousand dollars. It is my opinion that Disney puts an intentional and concerted effort into designing and making offerings that allow them appeal to largest possible total audience. Disney offers things to those on a limited budget too, such as an annual pass that has an effective cost of $1 a day, there are the value resorts such as Pop Century, and there's the dining plans that for $40 a day let you eat over $150 a day in food if you stop and plan properly.

Don't lose sight of the fact that if you don't like it, you're not obligated to join. There's no sign hanging over your head that tells everyone that you are or are not a D23 member. And there's no rule that says you have to buy one of everything in the boutique. If you don't like it, and have to say something about it, just say you don't like it. If you want meaningful change to happen, then when you expand upon why you don't like it, then please, base your complaints on reality & research, and not on a kneejerk reaction.

Keep on moving forward.

 

[Matt@WDWR]

I get what you are saying but nobody is claiming they were made to join. People have the right to complain about a crappy program (in their eyes, of course) even if they don't join. I haven't seen a complaint yet that was not valid.

I can afford the club easily. Even if I joined so I can get the pins, I still would realized it's a waste of money and not a good reward for "Disney fans" as they put it.

 

[Launchpad11B]

Sheesh!! Another Community Forum thread here...

It never ceases to amaze me how the blog-o-sphere encourages people to spew vitriol. This is a happy forum. If the DIS Unplugged is not your cup of tea, that's fine and dandy. If you want to be miserable and contrary toward those who provide the very forum you're using, go jump in Bay Lake. Preferably on a warm day.

You da man J/Kim!

 

[cchev]

Sheesh!! Another Community Forum thread here...

It never ceases to amaze me how the blog-o-sphere encourages people to spew vitriol. This is a happy forum. If the DIS Unplugged is not your cup of tea, that's fine and dandy. If you want to be miserable and contrary toward those who provide the very forum you're using, go jump in Bay Lake. Preferably on a warm day.

If you don't like this new thread you can choose not to participate in the new thread. I agree that it is a very time consuming thread and the expense might be more than you're willing to put in. But I don't see why everyone is complaining about this thread; some people will want to participate in it and some won't. True I think that the author of this thread may be trying to just get a sort of extra income (in a gratification sense) through this thread. And some of the posts in the thread are just TOO LONG! I mean there are others in the thread that are short but I saw one post that was over 800 WORDS!!! Some may think that this thread is an insult to all of us that have been supporting forum threads for years but I think you have the right to participate or not....and instead of just criticizing the thread you should look at the facts and not just slam it at the first change you get

 

[Matt@WDWR]

That's it. I'm heading to my blog. And oh, I'm gonna BLOG like it's 1999. Wait... er... there wasn't anything called Blogs back then. Ah forget it.

 

[cchev]

I believe it would be AOL and MSN chat rooms back then...boy those were fun

 

[Matt@WDWR]

Prodigy , Ftw!

 

[doconeill]

Now that I think of it, after seeing GIR-Prototype's post, and aside from everyone's expectations vs. reality, this is a fan club. And its priced at about the same as a decent fan club is.

Think about some fan club that is related to something you you like. How much does it cost to join for a year? $30? $50? $75?

What do you get for that cost? Some news, the ability to buy "exclusive" items, perhaps a newsletter, often published irregularly. And a membership card.

That is EXACTLY what we are getting here. It just as Disney quality to it.

If you think of it as a fan club, then everything they are doing makes sense and the cost is not really that outrageous.

 

[doconeill]

I do think some people definitely need a little dunk in Bay Lake to cool off, but since that isn't allowed and Pete would have a coronary yelling at us for suggesting it, we'll just have to settle for the Typhoon Lagoon wave pool...

 

[cchev]

I think Typhoon Lagoon is closed for refurb

 

[doconeill]

I think Typhoon Lagoon is closed for refurb

OK...how about Stormalong Bay? We might have to throw people in from the walkway though if they are checking resort IDs

 

[cslittle999]

OK...how about Stormalong Bay? We might have to throw people in from the walkway though if they are checking resort IDs

That's closed for refurb too.

 

[doconeill]

That's closed for refurb too.

Only part of it.

 

[Matt@WDWR]

Just Don't Swim In The Lake!

 

[Jennygt]

Well maybe it needs said...

If you don't like it, don't join, its simple really. The way I felt about it was, after adding up 4 issues of the magazine it almost covers the total price anyway, so I'll try it a year and see what happens.

Everyone keeps yapping about an expensive pen or this or that...do these people walk through a mall and complain everytime they see something expensive?

That said, I don't think we've seen all of this yet. I think it will be adjusted over time, benefits will emerge to try to get more membership. If that doesn't happen and few join and fewer renew, its obvious what will happen.

But stop complaining...

Um, you seem a little bit on the angry side about this, I am not sure why this has got you so upset, but no need so get so flustered. I wanted to know what the opinion of the team was, I asked and they replied. I don't think that it is appropriate to judge what they wrote here or what they choose to discuss on the podcast. Perhaps a little , this is how it comes off to me. I am glad that you are please with the new D23 offer, some of us are not. Take a deep breath, it will be ok.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I also think its the job of a podcast to provide the info and let everyone decide on their own, NOT to rant about how let down they feel.

Did my opinion influence you to join this club or to not join? Probably not...so you did in fact form your own opinion.

I have ALWAYS encouraged others to do the same, freaquently stating "THIS IS MY OPINION. YOU SHOULD FORM YOUR OWN,"

If you read the title of this thread, it asks "Pete, Kevin, John, Podcast Team, RU23?". If you were not interested in our opinion or were afraid we might influence you opinion, you might have wanted to skip this thread based solely on the subject matter.

As for ranting, this is a public forum and based on the rules of this forum, accusing posters of "behaving like children" is against DIS BOard policies. You are encouraged to disagree all you like, but please be respectful.

As I have said previoisly......I was asked my opinion. I have given my opinion and I stand firmly behind it. Disagree all you like....but do it nicely.