D23: Free Members-Only Gift with Issue 3

 

Technorati Tags: Disney Twenty-Three, Disneyana

D23: Issue 2 Cover Shots

I got some tweets on Twitter about wanting to see some shots of the cover of the new issue of Disney Twenty-Three Magazine.  So here you all go (You can click on the images to see larger versions):

FRONT

 

BACK

 

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D23: Free “Gift” with Issue 2 of Disney Twenty-Three Magazine

Well, I got a ring at the doorbell and it was our postal carrier.  She had couple very familiar boxes in her hand.  They were the same box that our welcome packet and premier issue of Disney Twenty-Three magazine showed up in.

Personally, I felt it was way too early for the second issue to arrive, but who am I to argue.

When I tore open the box, I was greeted with a small envelope:

I opened up the envelope and found a small folded up item.  According to the fine print on the envelope, it’s a reproduction of the 1955 “Acres of Fun” Disneyland Souvenir fan from the Walt Disney Archive Collection:

The item opens up to form a fan:

This was highly unexpected.  Granted it isn’t an item of great monetary worth but it’s something that is really nice with it’s reproductions of originally 1955 artwork from the attractions that were in Disneyland during it’s first year.

This will definitely find a place in my cabinet of Disney collectibles.

Technorati Tags: Disneyana, D23, Disney Twenty-Three

D23: Princess and the Blog

It was teased during the various post-Stockholders’ Meeting interviews, but now the first post has been thrown up.

The blog I’m talking about is The Princess and the Blog. 

The first installment is an introduction to what is to come in the future.  There doesn’t appear to be a single author but we’ll hear from various people involved in the making of The Princess and the Frog.  Which just so happens to be Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation after a long string of computer generated animated movies.

I was quick to notice that D23 didn’t take the traditional approach to blogging that those of us who read them have come to expect.  They haven’t designated a URL for this blog that one can bookmark or subscribe to an RSS feed so it’s easier to find updates.

Even though they call it a blog, it’s more like an article in their “web magazine” called D23.  I guess if you wanted to be literal about it, it really is a blog because the word is nothing more than a contraction of “weblog”.

I hope, as Disney rolls out future blog “posts” for this movie or launches new ones, they take the approach that the Disney fan’s have grown to expect and give them their own spots on the web that we can bookmark and/or subscribe to.

In the meantime, the content is there for us to enjoy and here is the link:

The Princess and the Blog

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D23 Charter Year Tinkerbell Pin

Finally, the UPS delivery truck pulled up and dropped off my Charter Year Tinkerbell Pin from the D23 Members Only section of the D23 Boutique

 

Technorati Tags: D23, Pins, Merchandise

Grumptastic Distractions: D23 Delivery

Well, I’d be the first to admit that I don’t have much of a life.  So ever since I signed up for the membership into D23, I have been watching my mail to see what, if anything has arrived.

Well, today I got some mail.  It turned out to be Enchanted Rose and my membership cards.  So I thought I’d throw up some pictures of what it looked like.

So here it is for your viewing pleasure…

   

 

Technorati Tags: D23

D23 Launch Day Shirt (Back)

D23 Launch Day Shirt (Front)

Grumptastic Distractions: Are you 23?

If one didn’t know it was coming from the marketing department of the Disney Corporation, one might have mistaken the “Are you 23?” campaign as one capitalizing off of Michael Jordan’s famous association with the number 23.

After a viral campaign of a few months where we were teased with the question of Are you 23?, we found out that the rumors were true and Disney was starting their first Official Disney Fan Community.

The official announcement came during the Disney Stockholders Meeting, but following that, there was by-invite-only conference call with key Disney executives to discuss the D23 program that had many bloggers, podcasters and website hosts on the call.

I wish I could’ve been on the call, but maybe the fact that until now, I hadn’t provided a way for people to email me may have been the cause ;)  So Disney, if you are reading this and want to invite me to future press events such as what occurred today, I have an e-mail link you can hit now.

According to what I’ve been told by people were on the conference call, Disney talked about the Disney Expo event that will occur on September 10-13 2009 and will have some exclusive events during the Expo for Members of the D23 Fan Club.  Another thing that was mentioned was that there will exist the possibility for members of the unofficial fan community to have a presence at the Expo.

I’m not going to give a lot of details because it’s been cut & pasted all over the internet on many blogs and websites.  But the official D23 website is http://www.disney.com/d23 and there is plenty of info there to read up on.

There has been a lot of chatter on Twitter and Facebook if purchasing a D23 membership is worth it.

First, I need to mention that the price of a member is $74.99 (before tax).  Also, there are not any family memberships available at this time, so you’ll need to purchase a membership for each member of your family who you think will want to attend any special, members only events.

Since I don’t attend Disney stuff without Enchanted Rose, I purchased a membership for both of us.  Memberships are available online only through DisneyShopping.com.  When you purchase your membership you are asked to provide a Member Name.  When I purchased my membership, I made the mistake of thinking D23 Member Name was like a screen name for a forum so I used one of my usual names.  Later in the day, I got a call from Disney Shopping to get a name that matches a picture id.  So, when I purchased my wife’s membership, I made sure to use her full name.

Another thing I should point out, you either need separate accounts for Disney Shopping to purchase more than one membership, or you’ll need to purchase one and then choose the “Buy as a Gift” option so you can purchase for the other members of your family.

Now to the question of if it’s worth it….

At this point, I think it’s too early to say.  Right now for the money you are getting a 1 year subscription to the Disney Twenty-Three publication (which sells for almost $16/issue) and a free “Charter Member” gift.  So unless the “free gift” is a piece of junk worth less than $10 you pretty much get $75 worth of merchandise for your membership.

During the conference call, Marty Sklar made the statement that this isn’t just Disney’s way of selling more merchandise.  Already people have called this into question because D23 launched with some pretty pricey members only merchandise.

But, I’m going to go out on a limb that as time goes on we are going to hear about more members only exclusive events and access that doesn’t involve merchandise. 

They’ve already announced the Disney Expo I mentioned earlier which has a discounted price for members ($58 savings off 4-day ticket and $7 savings off of daily price)

I’m guessing in the future that we’ll hear about other events and fan gatherings that can only be attended by members.

Only time will tell what the future will hold for D23.

For me, the decision was easy.  I kept putting off joining the WDCC because I thought it wasn’t worth the $50 membership.  Then, I found out this year that there were some WDCC members-only pieces that I cannot get, that my wife wants, because I didn’t join back when we originally wanted.  When this opportunity arose, I had to join just to avoid missing out on any possible events or collectors merchandise that I couldn’t participate in because I wasn’t a member by a certain date.

So, yes, I’m 23 and dang proud!  I cannot wait to see what the future holds now that Disney has taken the official foray into the world of Fan Communities.

Hopefully, they know what they are getting themselves into…haha

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