In Their Defense… Standing Up for D23

Posted March 15th, 2009 By: Jackie Steele

There has been a lot of dissention out there… well, snarkiness, really… about Disney’s recent announcement of the formation of D23. The concept of this official fan club for Disney is frankly something we fans have been seeking for quite some time now, and it troubles me to see so many people deriding it. What I don’t think many Disney fans realize is the width and breadth of this program, and what an unprecedented effort this is. And I for one, want Disney to know that it’s appreciated.

The primary argument against D23 is that it essentially becomes a “pay-to-play” venture, where only those who can afford to pay the $75 membership fee are the only ones allowed to be a part of the venture. Not exactly. A vast majority of the offerings are available to anyone, regardless of their membership status. Essentially every portion of the D23 website is open to anyone who wants to look, regardless of membership status. The same goes for many of the events that have been planned, including the recent appearance of Disney artist Dave Pacheco at Disneyland. The upcoming D23 Expo in Anaheim is also planned to be open to anyone, not just club members. The only thing that is, at the moment, member-exclusive is the ability to actually purchase certain exclusive merchandise. Ironically, most people deriding the club are also vocal against their perception of the quality of the merchandise and say they wouldn’t purchase it anyway… that is either a severe case of “sour grapes,” or proof that their argument is baseless since they’re not missing out on anything they would care for anyway.

An interesting little corollary to this “pay-to-play” argument is that some fans feel it sets up an “elitist” culture inside the Disney fan community. I disagree. Not once has Disney called D23 the “only place for TRUE Disney fans,” “the place where REAL fans gather,” or “the ONLY way to be a Disney fan.” No, D23 has been, since day one, “the official community for Disney Fans.” That is no different than Disney.com being the “official website for Disney information,” yet we hear no one claiming that Disney.com is elitist over nonofficial websites. Let’s also look at some history… for year after year, there have been official fan groups of one sort or another; the Mickey Mouse Club, the Magic Kingdom Club, and the Disney Club, just to name a few. Some of these have cost money to join. But let’s be honest… a lot of these clubs/communities sprang up in the pre-internet days… days when we were just a little less cynical as a people. Currently, any loudmouth with a blogger account or his own website (me included) can spread his vitriol as gospel. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we know that there are a LOT of people out there who claim to be fans but are absolutely miserable when it comes to everything Disney. They feel that the only true Disney fans are those who protect Disney from Disney. Much like the old George Carlin joke about those driving faster than you being maniacs and those driving slower than you being idiots, there are many on the internet who feel that anyone who doesn’t disagree with everything the mouse does is a “fanboy.” Now, some internet groups have formed that claim they are better than D23… which to me seems quite ironic given this whole elitism argument. You’re not joining D23 because it’s elitist, but you have an idea for a club that’s much better… one that REAL fans will join, instead of just “fanboys?” Sounds pretty elitist to me.

While we’re on the subject of this alleged elitism… If we’re going to go with the argument that anything that isn’t open for free to everyone is elitist, then we have some work to do. First of all, we have to disassemble Disney Vacation Club. After all, why should the elite few get to stay in larger rooms and actually lease property at Disney just because they have the money? Actually, we’ll need to ditch everything but the value resorts… why should the elite types get to stay in “deluxe” resorts. Then again, we might need to get rid of all on-property accommodations… why should people who have the money for a Disney hotel get to stay on-property and other folks don’t? Also, we need to get rid of annual passes… it’s bad that people who can pay more get to visit more, right? Better get rid of parkhoppers too. People who pay more for their tickets than I do shouldn’t be able to go to different parks while I’m stuck in one. Better yet, charge no admission at all… it’s elitist to say that only people who can pay to enter the parks should be in them. Is this going to happen? Of course not. Is it an absolutely absurd concept? You bet. But the point is, even though something costs money, it isn’t always elitist.

So what exactly is my $75 a year going toward? Is it worth it? To me, the answer is an emphatic “yes.” Here’s why. Let’s look at what members get. First of all, there’s the membership certificate and member ID card. A nice gesture, but the cost is negligible. So we’ll discard those for the purposes of this argument. Next up, we have a four-issue subscription to the “Disney Twenty-Three” magazine. At roughly $16 an issue, that’s a $64 value right off the top. Now granted a lot of people say that’s high-dollar for a magazine. And yes it is… but this is a very nice magazine… not just in terms of content, but also in terms of paper and print quality. The magazine is best-comparable to Tales from the Laughing Place in terms of production value. That publication goes for roughly $36 a year. Add in the extra content in terms of official documents from the Disney archives, and it’s a good value to me. A little side note here, while we’re on the subject of the magazine… the prevailing argument is that fans don’t need the magazine to offer late-breaking information because the unofficial fan sites often have it first. While true, let’s keep in mind that many of these same people were adamant that Disney shouldn’t have discontinued the old Disney Magazine because, “even though I already knew a lot of the information, I still enjoyed reading the articles and getting more information.” It’s no different than still buying a newspaper or weekly news magazine, even though the information has already been disseminated via television, radio, and internet.

The D23 membership also includes discounted admission to the D23 Expo in Anaheim this September. If you’re planning on going to all of the expo, then this is a $21 discount. Figure in the $64 worth of magazines, and that’s $75 in “freebies.” Your $75 membership is now zeroed out, and that’s not even counting the free gift you get when you join.

Speaking of the D23 Expo… I think we would be well-advised to study it, because it represents the heart of what D23 is truly about. D23 represents an unprecedented effort by the company to really give the fans what they want… a chance to gather, with the company’s blessings, while the company essentially rolls out the red carpet for them. Many of you know I’ve done some work with WDW Celebrations putting together fan gatherings inside the parks. There are plenty of other folks out there who either currently do or have done the same thing, including Mousefest and NFFC, among others. All of these groups have at least one thing in common… they want to have an amazing event and provide those “oh wow” moments that can only be achieved by cooperation from the Mouse House. From all early indications, D23 is the kind of thing groups like these could only dream of. Disney is putting out the call across all branches of its company to have every division come together, with events and experiences tailored specifically for Disney fans. It’s what fans have said they have wanted. Yet here we sit looking at group after group popping up online decrying D23 and what it stands for. And honestly, it makes us look like a bunch of spoiled brats.

We all know that there are those out there who absolutely cannot be happy with Disney. Imagineering could reopen Horizons, and have Dreamfinder doing the samba with Jesus Christ at the dedication ceremony… the next day, people would be on the forums complaining that they should have done the tango instead. It’s simply impossible to please those who refuse to be happy with something. And there are a lot of people like that in the Disney fan community.

But here’s the catch… if the fan community continues to be nothing but a hotbed of vitriol against the company, then why on earth would the company ever want to do anything the vocal fans want? People are begging for the return of the subs at WDW, the return of Dreamfinder, the return of Horizons, the return of Mr. Toad. But why? Why on earth would Disney give us ANY of that, if all we ever do when they do offer up something for the fans like D23, is complain about it?

So, for whatever it’s worth… for whatever one lone voice amidst the electronic babble of the internet is worth… I want to tell Disney “thank you.” Thank you for D23. Thank you for opening the doors of the archives and the entire breadth of the Disney company to the fans.

My reservations are made… and I’ll see you all in California on September 10th.

-Jackie Steele

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