Update for June 12 – 18, 2006
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News and Views
“Year of a Million Dreams” to follow “Happiest Celebration”
with new attractions, opportunities and surprises
At a press event last Wednesday night attended by MousePlanet’s Mike Scopa
(link), Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
announced the new marketing theme that will begin at the conclusion of the
“Happiest Celebration on Earth” campaign. At the same time, they confirmed
that the “Happiest Celebration” would end September 30. Beginning October
1, the new theme will be the “Year of a Million Dreams” and the parks will
be branded as “Where Dreams Come True.”
During the celebration, according to a Disney press release, “Disney cast
members will award a million dreams — both large and small, including many
‘money-can’t-buy’ experiences — to guests selected through a random process
as part of a unique “Disney Dreams Giveaway” promotion.”
The marquee promotion at Walt Disney World for the event is a day of royal
treatment, followed by a night spent in “Cinderella’s Royal Bedchamber,” a
room to be constructed inside Cinderella Castle
in the Magic Kingdom. (The Disneyland version
will be special “Mickey Mouse Penthouse” accommodations at the Disneyland
Hotel.)
Other dreams to be given away will include traveling to each Disney resort
around the world to serve as grand marshal in a Disney parade, admission to
special parties and other events at the U.S. parks, private meetings with
characters and a Golden Fastpass ticket. Ride Pirates
of the Caribbean with real pirates. Get invited to a gala ball. Special
entertainment and programs will also be in place at the parks and resorts,
themed to entertain would-be Disney Princesses, pirates, adventurers and space
explorers.
New attractions will debut during the year, all of which have already been
mentioned here. The Seas with Nemo & Friends opens at Epcot‘s
Living Seas pavilion later this year, as
will Finding Nemo – The Musical at Disney’s
Animal Kingdom. In a confirmation of rumors reported here a while back,
early 2007 will see the opening of “The Laugh Floor Comedy Club” in the Magic
Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. Other attractions
will debut new or alternate versions at Disneyland.
Another intriguing part of the announcement states that “[g]uests will be
able to customize their visit to a Disney park to pursue the ‘Dream Track’
of their choice with on-line planning tools and in-park technology to help
them become the hero or princess they’ve always dreamed of being.” No further
details were given on this aspect of the program.
Beginning some time in January, one family per night will be selected to
stay in Cinderella’s Royal Bedchamber, ten stories up in Cinderella Castle.
The room was originally planned as a Disney family apartment. It was not completed
during the construction of Walt Disney World and, after the death of Walt’s
brother Roy O. Disney just month’s after the resort’s opening, was left unfinished;
just a shell without even drywall. Since then, it has been used as a location
for switchboard operators and a changing room for performers in castle forecourt
shows, among other purposes. Designers are still working out how to turn it
into a room fit for a princess, leading to the January start date for that
particular aspect of the promotion.
Winners for each of the dreams to be granted will reportedly be selected
at random anywhere on Disney property through a system being developed by
consultants.
The campaign debuts at a new web site, accessible at both mydisneyparks.com
and wheredreamscometrue.com (link).
This fountain at Epcot’s Morocco pavilion is undergoing some refurbishment.
Photo by Brian Warneke.
“Keys to the Magic Kingdom” sweepstakes kicks off “Year”
with one dream and a minor slip-up
“For the first time ever, to launch Disney’s ‘Year of a Million Dreams’
celebration, one lucky guest and family will receive a once-in-a-lifetime
dream come true as they get the Magic Kingdom park all to themselves.”
So says the press release from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. To kick off
the new marketing campaign, Disney will be giving away a four-day, three-night
trip to Walt Disney World, including the chance to have the Magic Kingdom
to yourself.
The winning family will enter a red-carpeted Magic Kingdom lined with cast
members wishing them well, followed by a VIP tour of the park to see favorite
attractions and characters. The general public will be allowed into each land
as the family finishes their stay there. The family will serve as grand marshals
of that afternoon’s Dreams Come True parade and have a special private viewing
location for that night’s Wishes fireworks. You can enter the “Keys to
the Magic Kingdom” sweepstakes online at mydisneyparks.com (link).
There’s just one problem, though. While the press release announcing the
sweepstakes says “The winning family will enjoy their VIP visit to Magic
Kingdom in October, early in the year-long celebration,” indicating a
somewhat open date, the official rules on the sweepstakes site paint a slightly
different picture. The sweepstakes web site says that the “[t]rip will
be fulfilled on October 1-4, 2006 at the Walt Disney World® Resort, during
The Year of a Million Dreams celebration.” In the sweepstakes rules and regulations,
it states that the Grand Prize is “a four (4) day/ three (3) night vacation
trip for four (4) persons to the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida,
commencing October 1, 2006 (“Trip”)” and states that one of the conditions
under which an alternate winner may be selected is “potential winner’s failure
to be available to make the Trip”. So the grand prize trip can only be taken
on October 1-4, and if they grand prize winner can’t make the trip on those
dates, they can’t receive the prize.
So what’s wrong with that? Just rearrange your schedule, right? Well, not
if you’re Jewish. You see, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year,
runs from sundown on October 1 through sundown on October 2. It is a day of
fasting, repentance and prayer, and is the one day of the year that even mildly-observant
Jews attend their temple or synagogue. By mandating that the trip must be
taken October 1-4, Disney is effectively elminating Jews from the sweepstakes.
We have brought this to Disney’s attention, and they are looking into the
matter. We are expecting an official response in the next couple of days and
will update this story when we get an answer, as well as running the response
next week.
The mandated dates are most likely designed to coincide with Disney’s annual
fall press event (which also is unfriendly to Jews, but we’re letting that
pass for now). This way, the winning family can experience their exclusive
access to the park with the international media looking on, and their joy
at experiencing the prize can be documented by the press to act as a springboard
for the marketing campaign’s opening media blitz.
Unfortunately, somebody in the marketing department did not look at their
calendar, and nobody checking it up the line noticed the conflict. Or perhaps
they noticed it but felt that sticking with the October 1 anniversary of the
resort’s opening as the traditional date for the press event was more important
that accommodating a religious minority of millions of people, 1.3-2 percent
of the nation’s population depending on the source. In either case, the powers
that be are now aware of the conflict, and we’ll let you know how they decide
to handle it.
Update, June 16: We have received confirmation from Walt Disney World that,
despite the fact that the sweepstakes appear to mandate that the prize must
be taken October 1-4, “the dates for the [prize] could become flexible
should the need arise.”
Tropical Storm Alberto heads for Central Florida, may help put out brush
fires
After a quiet first week and a half, hurricane season now has its first named
storm. Tropical Depression One became Tropical Storm Alberto yesterday, moving
slowly through the Gulf of Mexico toward northern and central Florida. The
storm is very disorganized, leading forecasters to predict that it will not
reach hurricane strength, and that it even has a strong likelihood of falling
below tropical storm strength before it makes landfall. At press time, there
was about a 35 percent chance of tropical storm force winds hitting the Orlando
area, most likely on Tuesday. It’s likely that the storm will not force the
theme parks to close, though many attractions and outdoor vending locations
may be closed.
While the storm may not be strong enough to close the parks and will merely
cause inconvenience to resort guests, it will be welcomed with open arms by
firefighters, who have been battling brush fires across the state for the
past few weeks. With rain already drenching the area, the total of 4 inches
that is expected should greatly assist efforts to contain and put out a 120-acre
fire near Walt Disney World and another in Volusia County. That help should
be short-lived, though, as the storm is the only rain forecast in the next
week, and the rest of June is expected to be on the dry side.
The wildfire near Walt Disney World has shut down portions of U.S. 192 and
S.R. 429 due to poor visibility due to smoke. The fire has been burning in
an area bounded by U.S. 192 on the north, S.R. 429 on the east, Funie Steed
Road on the south and Secret Lake Drive on the west. The traffic halt has
cut off some tourists from the theme parks. Fire officials are hoping that
the fire will burn itself out within the next few days, faster if the storm
helps out.
Freshly painted blue roofs are visible above the tarps at the rear of the
Japan pavilion at Epcot. Photo by Brian Warneke.
