Ray, definitely seems worth it for you and Nancy since you will going to the expo, might as well sign up during the charter membership period. The good thing is you don't have to stay a member year to year, so you can always back out if the bennys don't pan out. You make a good point about the snow globe. It only takes a small sacrifice of something else to make up the $75 and if you really want it then its worth it.
I agree with Paul. This looks like more of an opportunity to spend $75 just so you can buy more things. Not sure if many people on the East side of the US will see this as an opportunity to spend a few hundred dollars just to go to the expo for free. As for the mag - I have heard many say it can be purchased at some of the bigger book stores like Barnes and Nobel. On one of the podcasts, they said that Disney had researched the unofficial boards for 3 years and determined that the D23 program is what the unofficial Disney community really wanted. If they actually did 3 years of research to come up with this program I wonder what boards they researched. For now, I am going to wait and see where this goes and hold on to my $75.
Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist or anything, could this be the main reason Mouesfest is not happening this year? (edit: typo fix)
It is the #1 theory right now. According to the Press Conference, Disney is planning on incorporating the unofficial communities into the Expo in some fashion. It's also been said they are entertaining the idea of including some of the fan communities on the Expo Executive Planning Committee
FWIW, the charter member certificate thingy looks awfully like the war bonds Disney helped sell during WWII.
Today in one of the stores in Tokyo DisneySea there was all this merchandise for D24. D24? But Tokyo is 25 years old... is it a misprint? what happened in 1924? A million conspiracies went through my head, but in the end it seems just to be the name of a Disney clothing line here that was designed by an outside company in partnership with Disney. Pretty interesting from a merchandising standpoint since it was the first time they did that, but still....my theories were much more entertaining.
i am still considering purchasing a membership in D23, but waiting for a few issues to be clarified. my interest is gaining at this time. btw, i posted a link to the press release in a separate thread if you want to check it out.
From the press release: "D23 membership is not required to visit Disney.com/D23, but some merchandise and special event opportunities are exclusive to D23 members." Does this mean that non-members can access the archival info without a membership? I'm moving in the opposite direction of Tim the more I learn. It appears you can buy D23 stuff with Disney Movie Reward points. I wouldn't be able to attend the Expo b/c of a wedding, and anyway remain skeptical that it wouldn't just be an exaggerated shopping expo. I can talk to Disney fans on the internet for free right here. Especially if you can be a charter member by signing up anytime in 2009, and charter members can buy back issues of the magazine (and/ or the general public from stores such an B&N), I see no incentive for to not wait and see. It's fair and puts into perspective that it is the equivalent in cost of a snowglobe. But 5 snowglobes means an annual pass, and I have to find 5 "snowglobes" in my budget to cut out if I want to renew my AP. I am not saying that Disney won't make it worth my money, but right now I see no incentive to not wait and see.
From what I'm gathering the "exclusive" members only events that have been talked about thus far is early viewings of movies before their official release date. Steven Clark has done a lot of talking up of their attempts to allow D23 members (plus a guest) to see UP before opening. But in the same breath he says that this is only phase 1 and knows that this isn't a club for everyone. He said on the Mouse Guest Weekly podcast that if you want the material on the website for free, that's OK. If you only want the magazine, then buy it from Barnes & Noble or the various Disney venues, if you want merchandise, cheaper entrance into the EXPO or any of the other benefits that will be announced over time, then buy the membership. Disney is not making it a secret they know everyone is not interested in paying for a membership. But, it does make for interesting discussions. Some people have to pick and choose their luxuries carefully. Some people don't. Some people are in that position due to their own bad decisions, others are not (i.e. students). Speaking only for myself, my annual pass for Nancy and me are built into the budget. D23 wasn't. But I know throughout the year there will be unplanned purchases of Disneyana. Snowglobes are the usual offenders. So, it was easy for me to equate the unplanned purchase of a snowglobe to the purchase of D23 membership. An AP doesn't enter into the equation because the funds are already secured. But, not everyone is in the comfortable of a position and if the economy becomes any worse and we lose clients, I may easily put into a more conservative position myself
Ray, don't take anything to personally. Dina and I are constantly criticized and judged by friends and family for staying at the Contemporary. Yes, Dina and I know that we can stay at all star or off property for much less, but we did that during out twenties and now our priorities have changed to make the Contemporary the most important part of our Disney Experience. Like you, our vacations and passes are part of our annual budget.
Craig, I doubt anyone on this forum could make me feel offended about anything. But, I have found myself being attacked a lot on other forums for purchasing into the D23.
For what it is worth, I am sorry if I offended anyone. It was not my intention. I have absolutely no desire to pass judgment on how others spend their money, and was only using the discussion thread as a way to ask a question (which I thank Ray for answering) and to "talk out" an opinion for personal clarification and--perhaps--to be useful to others.
As I said, I wasn't offended. Maybe Craig thought my response indicated some offense on my part. But TMIP is great in that we can can have intelligent discussions about all things and that isn't limited to Photography. We have gotten word that our membership kits are being shipped, so hopefully in a week the word about the secret collectible gift will surface and people will start to be able to make more educated decisions about joining
I didn't think any offense happened here, but I have also seen on other boards the anger at this new d23, and at the people that bought in. It seems like the people that have bought in have had to justify their reasons. I believe I saw on Ray's twitter, that he was having to explain himself to naysayers.
I don't like those kind of people; it's none of my business if someone else wants to join. Just because I don't want to (at this time) doesn't mean someone else shouldn't. Some of the anger is probably leveled at the cost (in today's market) without understanding all of the benefits....me thinks that the ship will probably right itself within 12 months once merchandising gets booted from the helm. I read someplace else that the D23 merchandise wasn't moving while the exclusive pins with a piece of a raft to Tom Sawyer's Island went quickly at one shop. Imagine the AP cost for a family of 4 (when does a kid become not-free?) Their market for D23 is primarily going to be APs and DVC members... (With SoCal AP holders being the equiv. of WDW's DVC members, who probably get APs, not including the Floridian APs....I think any Florida resident can get the lower price AP while DL restricts to just SoCal.) Gotta get off my soapbox before the Light Magic and the Charge of the AP Brigadeâ„¢ gets in my head again.
I got the first issue, which is beautiful, though still not as nice as Tales From the Laughing Place. I'm on the fence about signing up, since I will not be able to go to the events (unless money suddenly rains down on me), but the surprise item designed from the Vaults will push me one way or another.
