Weekend Update – Internet & Disney? LeSportsac Giveaway, Links & More!
While working on our Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Report earlier this week, I started going off on a tangent (as is often the case), and realized it might be better off as my main ‘essay’ in the weekend update. The tangent was actually inspired by the announcement of Jingle Cruise coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and it’s a scenario we’ve seen play out time and time again as news is released or leaked, analyzed, and preemptively deemed terrible or praised as brilliant by fans online. Which leads to my question…
Is the Internet Harmful to the Disney Experience?
Every year as a child, starting in 1986, I went to Walt Disney World with my parents in the spring. We lived in the snow belt of Michigan, and it was nice to get away from the “Lake Effect Snow Machine,” as I remember the local weatherman calling it. All of these trips were in the pre-internet days. One of my earliest memories was visiting in 1992 and seeing the construction for Splash Mountain and the signs announcing that it was “coming soon.” I don’t remember that area of the park before that, but I do remember going back in 1993 and riding it for the first time. Same thing happened with Tower of Terror and Alien Encounter. My entire knowledge of the construction of these attractions extended to signs in the parks, billboards as we drove down, and the Disney Radio (“Florida’s In-Car Welcoming Station“) that came into range about 30 minutes from Walt Disney World.
Going into those experiences blind made them entirely new, without any “spoilers” or preconceptions. Although I highly anticipated each of these additions, I wasn’t fixated on them nor did I know any details, real or rumored. I was essentially a blank slate, with impressions formed solely based upon the experience at hand. My memory of this sense of excitement has led me–to this day–to never watch a ride-through video of an attraction before experiencing it myself, in person.
Being a part of the online Disney fan community makes it impossible to avoid spoilers completely, and even without watching video of an attraction, I know plenty about it before experiencing it. To some degree, I even have an opinion of it before experiencing it, or at least some preconceived notions. I am firmly in the camp of “withholding judgment until I experience it,” but being exposed to so many opinions online prior to that does tend to prejudice or at least skew thinking, even if only subconsciously. I’ve been wrong enough times about Disney additions when judging them before the fact that I’ve mostly learned to avoid doing this, even if I still do judge a bit in terms of concept, thematic fit, etc.
Setting aside opinions, the amount of information we’re exposed to before an attraction’s opening creates expectations. Part of this is on Disney, and part of it is on us as fans. For years prior to its opening, Disney hyped up New Fantasyland as the “biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history” and slowly fed fans tidbits of information and ‘sneak peeks’ of the project. Likewise, fans discussed the project endlessly via social media, and it seemed like almost every fan blog had weekly construction update photos, further fueling the fire. This continued (and still continues, I suppose) for over three years.
I don’t care what it is, if you’re anticipating something for that long and are constantly discussing it, chances are the actual experience is not going to live up to your expectations, no matter what you’ve told yourself about not having an opinion before experiencing it. (And this post is certainly not written to defend what I consider to be a thus far underwhelming New Fantasyland, it’s just the best recent example for making my point.)
It isn’t just big additions, either. Nowadays, we know so much about every little thing going on, and have the chance to dissect every change and addition to death before even insignificant changes have been made.
I’m not completely condemning this, as I do think that active, constructive criticism from the fan community has led to certain positive decisions and even has caused Disney to revise plans. At the same time, though, are we our own worst enemies? Does our constant fixation on and knowledge of the goings on of the parks take away from our enjoyment of them? Would that sense of discovery with new experiences, and a completely blank slate going into them, be better for us? Would it be a good thing for us to step away from the rumor mill, to avoid the construction photos, and just see everything “fresh” (or close to it) in person?
To some degree, there is no going back. We can’t “uncreate” the internet. If we want to participate in the fan community, we will be exposed to certain things. I think many things are beneficial to know before going (so don’t stop reading this blog, you NEED to read it, dangit! ;)), and a dialogue about the parks is good, but is our tendency towards analysis of things that don’t yet exist, or even minor existing details, healthy for our enjoyment of the parks?
These are all actual questions and meant to be an open dialogue with you–not rhetorical writing devices. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on this.
LeSportsac Giveaway
We mentioned this giveaway of a LeSportsac ‘it’s a small world’ on Facebook bag earlier in the week, and here it is! One winner will come from the giveaway widget-thing below, one will be picked at random from our newsletter mailing list. (So subscribe if you haven’t already.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Read the newsletter this week to find out whether you won!
Upcoming Posts
Here’s the slate of posts for the upcoming week:
Monday – Disneyland Hotel Review
Tuesday – Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Report – Part 11… Last morning in Tokyo Disneyland. Click here to catch up on past installments of the Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Report!
Wednesday – Wild Card Wednesday! Walt’s Restaurant Tour, Studio Catering Co. Review, or Harbour Galley Review. This is your call, vote in the comments. Majority wins!
Thursday — Luggage Review & Comparison
Friday – TBD
Cool Linkage
Our photos this week on TravelCaffeine include Kyoto, Walt Disney World, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plus, I did an essay on why Professional Photographers are an Endangered Species.
The Disney Parks Blog announced Jingle Cruise coming this holiday season to Disneyland and Walt Disney World!
TouringPlans released comprehensive coverage of the Disney Cruise Line, including a helpful Disney Cruise Line fare tracker tool.
A lot of people ask us about vegetarian options, and we have no clue. Fortunately, for those interested in vegetarian stuff at Food & Wine Festival, Disney Food Blog has you covered!
ImagineeringDisney has an awesome post about a fan-made 1/87th scale Splash Mountain model. This is some really incredible work!
Gorillas Don’t Blog takes a look at the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship at Disneyland with a few gorgeous photos.
If you’ve written or read a good blog post recently (or know of any meet-ups, etc.), please share a link in the comments of this article. Hopefully this will help me find great new blogs to read and feature in future “Cool Linkage” sections, and also send a bit of traffic your (or their) way!
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That’s it for this update! To follow our adventures, find us on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Flickr!
Your Thoughts…
Have any comments about this update? Do you think internet interactions have changed expectations and experiences for Disney fans? Have a vote for our Wild Card Wednesday blog post? Have any of your own blog posts to share? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is an idiom that is particularly apt when it comes to Disneyland and Disney World in relation to the internet.
I’m in my 40’s and the first time I went to Disneyland was in 1975. Then again in 1978, ’82, ’88 and so on throughout the years. When I was a child, actually being IN Disneyland was the only way to experience those “scents, music, emotional associations” (as Mi Mi eloquently put it). You had to be there. If you missed Disneyland, your only recourse was to beg your parents to take you again. But once you arrived, finally back in Disneyland, my reaction was so strong. Overwhelming sometimes. As you walked through the park, you not only experienced everything again, but there was a powerful trigger of remembrance to the previous times you were there.
Now that I have my own children, I know that they love being in Disneyland, but if they miss the Grim Grinning Ghosts song, or the rides, they can simply pop onto Youtube or Tumblr or any number of other sites and quickly and easily hear and see the rides. I believe that this somewhat satiates that desire.
And, at least for me, being able to go Disneyland three times in ten years meant I was only able to see the rides three times in ten years. It made the rides just as new, wonderful and awe inspiring as the first time I had seen them. If you’re able to watch the ride a hundred times, or hear the song, or see pictures, I think it does make it a little less special.
That being said, there are many benefits. The internet has provided “secrets” about the parks that I would never have ever known, tips on how to make the trips better, information about rides being closed, places to stay etc. It’s made planning and enjoying trips much easier.
I ended up getting the 1987 calendar from ebay! Thanks for the suggestions- I can’t wait to get it and use in 2015!
Awesome! I’ve been stockpiling these calendars for a while (including that one) and I’m set for about the next decade, with a couple of gaps…
Well, I arrived home last night to a letter from Virgin Holidays informing me they’d just heard from Disney about the works going on at the Polynesian and restricted access to certian areas. Leaving in just one week, I’d probably have been more disappointed by this news (which in truth probably won’t affect me at all!) if I hadn’t known all about it anyway thanks to the online community!
(I’m different from the first “John” that replied).
Regarding Internet, I have a different take — I’m still leery of FP+. Two observations that come to mind: 1) you need to be a Disney resort guest and log on to the Internet before you arrive to reserve your space. 2) that eliminates the spontaneity of being able to grab a regular FastPass, not to mention making the stand by lines much longer when regular FP has been eliminated and no one is going to through the FP+ line.
Also, the MDE app is neat but I used it sparingly. I found myself referring to the printed map/times guide more often. It did come in handy one time when I was using the GPS to find out how to get to Sleepy Hollow from elsewhere in Liberty Square though (a directions feature similar to Google or Apple maps would be helpful.)
I am not 100% positive, but I think the final roll out of the fastpass+ system will not be Disney Resort guests only. The beta testing has been that way but it appears it won’t stay that way. I just returned from a week at French Quarter where we got to test the magic bands. I have an annual pass which I was able to easily connect to my a count with my disney experience app. After returning home I went onto the app and there is another 2 week test in November and the app does allow me to make fastpass+ choices even though I don’t have Disney hotel reservations. It appears as though I only need current park admission of some sort.