My 2 cents is that Disney doesn't know how to market things to people anymore, because they don't seem to understand the audience or even their own company that well. Eisner was far from perfect, but he's held in high regard because not only did he turn things around, but he put his own version of Walt's showmanship in there, whether it was opening a new attraction or hosting the Sunday night movies. Disney really needs that "greatest show on earth" element if they want to impress people.
Disney has been absolutely lazy. How difficult is it to get spelling on banners, statues, and merchandise correct? Someone isn't doing their job and we're the ones that are paying for it. 🤦🏻♂️
Save for Once Upon a Studio, I don’t feel like Disney is meaningfully acknowledging their 100th anniversary outside of using it as a means for toys and merch. Hopefully Wish is good
Once Upon a Studio felt meaningful because it wasn't a short mandated by committee or by the executives. It was an idea that some animators had during the pandemic; they WANTED to make something special, and succeeded because they were passionate about it
This is a big celebration - so big that on the actual 100th Anniversary of 10/16/23 - Disneyland California treated it just like any other Monday. Epcot did nothing special either other than what they already were doing for the D100. Disneyland Paris is the only park that actually did something special. Such a disappointment!
Anniversary fatigue. 50th was mostly a let down. Castle was incredible but merch and event differentiation stunk. Epcot 40th was wrecked by project delays and harmonious. By the time 100th came, no-one cared.
They could have done it right with timing of Tron release, Epcot rehaul, and Epcot fireworks, but no they missed every deadline, accounting to this jumbled mess of an anniversary celebration
Fun Fact: the 25th anniversary was my family’s first trip to Disney World. We thought the cake castle was the coolest thing we’d seen. We still talk about that. So to answer your question it being our first time made it more special.
My first time also made me realize how magical the place really was and so over the top… I always looked for something as cool and wondered why they never did anything as cool as that. Never once thought it wasn’t cool
The podcast reminded me how much I miss the Magic of Disney Animation. It would have neat had Disney temporarily brought back a form of the attraction to celebrate 100 years of the company. They could have even had a tie-in with Wish and Once Upon A Studio. A miss opportunity.
It's difficult for a company to celebrate their 100th birthday while simultaneously trying to disown their history. And honestly, 15 years ago I would have been all-in on the 100th anniversary of the company (my first two trips to Disneyland were in 2005 and 2006, for the 50th, and somehow I ended up at DLP for both the 15th and 20th). But Iger's Anything-But-Disney Decade has made me as disinterested as they seem to be. Hell, I COULDN'T EVEN spend money on them. They got rid of all the Disney Stores and the Disney Movie Club in my country, and priced me out of a trip to the parks, and long-since alienated me from their new films. The only thing that hit me in the feels was Once Upon a Studio, but juxtaposed directly with the controversy over the live-action remakes, it still felt like they were digging up the corpses of old friends.
I just wanted to say thank y’all so much for this podcast and doing this long form content. I have a long drive and listening to y’all makes me look forward to it. I love the honest conversations, and the off-topic banter. It makes me smile and laugh. Thank you for bringing me joy to my drive :) It’s so great to hear truthful conversation from people who love this as much as I do. I listen on RU-vid and let the ads play
I was in Disneyland on October 16th and absolutely nothing was done to acknowledge the 100th. In fact, there was no parade (only a small Halloween cavalcade) and no fireworks. No announcements and no special items sold. There were events backstage for the cast members, which they deserved, but nothing for parkgoers.
I was there the 16th as well. It felt like no one knew how special the day had been. Not only that, but over half the banners had been removed from the castle. How am I supposed to feel the magic in the park if they don’t even care about it?! It makes me sad! Current management has to be changed!
I think the only park that even mentioned it on the day was Paris. They had a special announcement and then they had 100 characters walk down mainstreet to Commemorate the day. It's such a shame the other parks didn't do anything
@@ThatFandubGirl100 Characters is such a nice, thoughtful feature and Disneyland CA should’ve been the one to initiate this. I truly believe Domestic Park management (CA and FL) needs a complete rehaul, as the current leadership continues to exemplify a lack of care
We planned a whole trip for almost a year just to be there on Oct 16th to celebrate the 100th anniversary and we felt the same - we couldn’t believe nothing was done to celebrate. With most of the 100th decor gone as well, it truly felt like just another day at Disney, nothing special. I think they should’ve at least brought back Wondrous Journeys for that night.
Tom and Eric giving us fashion advice like they're Meryl Streep and we're all Anne Hathaway 😂 I'll stop wearing my 50th windbreaker when it's pried from my cold dead fingers!
I’ve skipped WDW since COVID. The 50th did nothing to make me interested. I will actually be to Tokyo Disneyland for third time since Japan reopened next month. I just enjoy those parks better. The 50th was the first anniversary at WDW that I missed since the 15th. Yes 15th.
I agree Tom, the parade's are missed. Much like the memories you made with your parents on Galaxies edge, my memories of the tapestry of nations parade with my mom is something I will always cherish and it's a shame that so many people didn't get to experience how special that was. I also miss that giant sorcerer hat at HS. The little things have been all but lost at WDW.
If I was tasked with 100 year celebration, I would make maintenance a priority, and make sure that that everything was up-to-date with being maintained, and everything was cleaned for all the parks. Also, special 100 year parades that show the span of the 100 years in all the parks. food. so merchandise from all the characters over the hundred years. Also, bring out all the characters from all from over the 100 years. I wouldn't bring them all out at once. You can phase them. However it is still economical for Disney. Balloons, fireworks, cake make it a big huge celebration. anyway, this is an initial thought.
I'd add making some TV specials to promote the parks, like they did in the 80s and especially the 90s. I loved it when Full House went to WDW and stuff like that, it made Disney seem more special.
They almost didn’t make it to those milestones. Then, they had earned the right to celebrate because they did it right. They actually made it feel like a party the whole world is invited to.
I still have My Pal Mickey. He still works and he still reacts with the park - with the giggle, vibrate and jokes and games. He comes with us on most trips.
1:10:35 is the killer quote. This episode is a better celebration of 100 years of Disney than the 100 years of Disney celebration was. There’s a lot of good stuff in this episode but that part stuck out.
I personally like the dated merch. Mainly the magnets. We have a magnet from every time we go. Had a terrible time finding a magnet in October 23. We've been every year since 16. It's a big deal for us since we live in Indiana. Love these podcasts. We even attended a wdwnt tonight last year. Love what you guys do!
"I do not make films for children... or, at least, not primarily for children." "You're dead if you aim for kids." "We design the films to appeal to ourselves." "The adults have the money; ... children don't have any money." - Walt Disney
I do have to say I appreciate Disney is making merch now and then for more niche things. The last 5-6 years has been great for The Enchanted Tiki Room merch compared to how it used to be.
I really enjoy the content guys! Y’all have so much knowledge of the subjects at hand, and your thoughts and opinions feel honest. Keep being you and keep the show going!
Wondrous Journeys was the best thing to come out of Disney100. They should bring it back in 2024 - just omit the prelude “For over a hundred years….” part.
Tom couldn't be more right. I love the parks, go every weekend, traveled around the world, do architecture bc of my love for theme parks; but I'd never work for Disney. I live minutes away from WDW and go way more frequently, but Universal creative has had better leadership and creative control from management (with the exception of the value engineering of Kong/FF).
What’s most embarrassing is how Disney company manages to miss every deadline nowadays, Tron missed the 50th anniversary, now the Epcot fireworks missing the 100th, not to mention Moana water attraction opening in the Fall instead of Spring that had to be a missed deadline too.
If you want to get the REAL love of Walt and the early years, I'd suggest you go the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. What Dianne and Ron created there will blow any true Disney fan out of the water. THAT is where Walt's spirit rests, not in the corporate sales areas of the theme parks.
I can only afford to go to Disney World every few years or so (went 2008, 2012, 2022), so for me, getting dated merchandise reminds me of the year i went. it's special. For context, I'm based in the UK so I can't fly over to the USA as often as I'd like. Granted, Paris is somewhat closer, but we all know their customer service can't beat WDW or California.
The only good anniversary I’ve witnessed from Disney was the Disneyland 50th anniversary and Year of a Million Dreams, that was so much fun and a creative endeavor for the company as a whole, I don’t think they’ll live up to that. The 100 Years of Wonder was just sad.
I also don't think Disney officially announced that the Disney100 celebration would be ending in August. They announced it would start in January, but never announced how long it would last or later announced an end date. Wondrous Journeys stopped on 8/31 but there is still speculation it could come back after the holidays. Actually, if you go to Disneyland's website it still shows Disney100 front and center. So if it ended in August why didn't they remove it? For WDW's 50th they announced the end and it also lasted 18 months. WDW's website changed back to remove the 50th after it ended too. I would have expected Disneyland's Disney100 celebration to last at least until the actual 100th anniversary. Oh well, it is what it is I guess!
There were so many errors on those banners. Snow White had the wrong year. There were signs with the words with not spaces between. There were misspellings. There were a bunch of issues. The quote being wrong. There were other issues.
People who say it’s ticky tacky to call them out for their missteps are the people who are directly responsible for the continued declines throughout the parks. Those that just willingly accept everything.
@@veronicareitherreese6671 not arguing that you’re wrong. Arguing that that you’re right, actually. And, sadly, what replaces pride in work? Someone from above saying that it’s “too expensive”. And they know many, many guests won’t care.
Aside from the rare treats we recently got, nothing that today’s Disney is offering is really commemorating it’s own milestone. It’s way too fricking short and underwhelming.
Thank you for voicing my own frustration with how DL handled the end of Disney 100 at the Park. I even rescheduled my MK reservation to October 16 in the hopes that the Park might do something, anything, special as a thank you to guests for supporting the corporation over the last century. What we got was pretty much nothing. Magic Happens ended the day before. Wondrous Journeys concluded on August 31 (and that was a wonderful crowd to witness the end to a great, nostalgic, show). Let's not mention the Castle and Main Street already in full blown Halloween decor, and/or transitioning to the holidays.... I still remember the hoopla for DL's 50th on its start in May 2005 (including being a part of Media day before that), and the incredible event that was the actual 50th in July. It's not a fair comparison...but that's the point. Great effort for that. Nearly none for the error filled, lazily executed, Corporate 100.
I vividly remember Disney’s 100years of magic and it ended when I was 4. They would randomly select people in the parks for a variety of things. My family got a big a booklet of fast passes from a cast member. And the merch and theming was so festive and higher quality than the 100 years of wonder imo. I cant remember much of Disney’s 100 years of wonder and it was only a year ago.
Maybe Disney just knew people were still revenge traveling and so they didn't even have to try to do something over the top or unique to get people to make reservations
I was at the 50th at MK. And I thought the same thing Tom said. I watched that welcome show in the morning and it landed flat. I was like, what was that????
I remember being a little girl and being at the 100 years of Magic. They truly did an amazing job! I was disappointed that the 50th and now the 100th have been such a let down. I hope Disney regains the magic back before my kids are old enough to remember the parks. I want them to have the memories that I and my brothers had at the parks. Also I still have my pal Mickey 😂
How can one celebrate history if one is actively destroying said history? While I am not in any way a hard core Disney fan, I always appreciated the IDEA that was Disney. When I had the chance to actually visit Disneyland in 1984 I jumped at the chance. My impression back then was that it was a bit worn around the edges but functioning well and making people happy. I had a wonderful time, wished I had more time to explore. It was nice. We got discounted entry due to being at the 1984 Worldcon. It was busy but not so packed that wait times were impossible. Food was good. I look at both parks today and even if I could afford to go, I have NO IDEA how to navigate all the… things. The parks. The passes. The bookings of so many things. In 1984 when we wanted to eat we just walked to a place and ate. Yeah yeah I’m old and not ‘with it’ . 😁
Soaring was added after my last visit to Disney in 96 and was something I def was excited to see this year on my return to WDW. I thought it lived up to expectations and the things you blasted were moments for me that were pretty cool. It's Disney, it's supposed to be magical. Seeing those "perfect moments" is part of the theming. The polar beer welcoming us on the journey, the elephants tossing dust in our way as a territorial "get outta here" were pivotal moments which captivated the audience. The aughhhhss, wooooos n such happened during those parts. You talk about theming & storytelling then you blast it? If You two talked like you wanted this to be some simulator attraction in Gatlinburg, TN without any of that magical Disney Pixie Dust. LAME IMO I found out I was going to WDW thanks to my amazing partner who was the financial backer for our trip right as the 50th started. I was super thrilled to get there and see those last days of the celebration as I was visiting the March 19th-21st. It was a bit much seeing the 50th and 100th promoted but I understood logistically the reasonings. I found the 50th medallion on the castle very attractive. If I was to invest in a poster, bust, toy or some display of the Disney castle I would choose it to have the 50th logo on it. I understand you guys come at the angle of "everyday Disney junkies" verses the average guest who has a passion for Disney but only is able to visit due to financial reasons once in a long while. Sometimes it would be nice for you to quit bashing everything as if things needed changed where Disney panders more towards locals. Don't forget the magic fellas. Perhaps a Disney detox of some kind is in order. I love ya, I get so much enjoyment from being part of the fandom of WDWNT. I enjoy hanging out. Just a nudge here reminding you to keep bringing up positives more often and expressing that Disney magic you perhaps may be muddied down by Disney's recent actions and ignorances.
Drones are ok, but I just went 5 days to DLP and all the drone shows were cancelled for 4 straight nights, while fireworks, waterjets and projections still happened. I went in June for 5 days as well and while it was windy it didn't rain, 3 out of 4 nights the drone shows were cancelled. They have some very strict climate conditions at Marne-la-Vallée, that's for sure.
I was there at Disneyland Paris for the 100th anniversary - i felt it was alot of running around for not much at all. People staying onsite thought according to the app that they could get into the park for 7.30am. Nope it was 8.30am but no one had bothered to update the app. Then at 8.30am the regular line opened whilst the easy access line didnt open until 8.32am. You can imagine the vexation. The characters were meeting in the studios in their Disney 100 suits for just 4 hours and 15 mins in total that day. Was chaos. Alot of people missed out. People thought that the 'selfie' spot on the castle stage would be where you could have your pic taken with them. Nope. The managers were discussing in front of me how they were going to do it. They had 12 months to decide all of this. All the characters did was walk around on the stage and people could take a picture of them. I didnt enjoy that day at all: was a waste of time for me I felt. I preferred the following two days when it was regular park days. Blows my mind that Disneyland or WDW didn't do anything for the actual day. BUT the Dream and Shine Brighter parade for the 30th at DLP was magic. I also got to meet the DLP CEO Natacha Rafalskis as she was meeting people on the quiet at the exit of 'It's a small world.' Alot of people didnt know who she was.
We were in Disneyland on the 16th and NOTHING special done for the actual 100th birthday of the company. We'd flown out to Disneyland specifically to be in the original park on the day the company turned 100 and nothing. Not even a special show. I feel they did more for Walt's birthday than for the company's 100. It was beyond disappointing.
OMG I didnt hear the last episode but the Reese’s comments are great. Im guessing there was a debate over what is better the shapes or the cups. The shapes 100%. The peanut butter to Chocolate ratio is so much better. Dont even eat the cups anymore
The millennium celebration was definitely the best celebration they put on and the merch that went with it. I was young but it’s still iconic. The 100th is just confusing.
The extent of the Disney100 celebration can be summarized with the words of the great Gedde Watanabe from his appearance in UHF: NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Who else is in here trying to see who's being mean to Tom and Eric? And maybe next week you can debate the varieties of Oreos, both in flavor and size.
So right about the color scheme on the merchandise. I was at WDW several times over the 50th as I was in the process of moving here and the merch would rotate but it was just a slightly different scheme of blue and gold in vaguely different configurations. The 100 was nearly the same. I bought one item but thats it. I liked the decades but the rest was just meh! As far as the food for the 100th I feel like all the food was just purple died crap. I dont think I had one thing. I lived in California up until April and we went all the time and there just wasn’t much there. I was there in January on the day that the 100 officially started. They didnt do much really and the merch came out before the day even came. It just wasn’t well planned.
i wish you would have talked about how harry potter was supposed to go in magic kingdom! great show though, i just came back from my trip and im deathly sick now and this podcast made me feel better 💖
Absolutely missed opportunities left&right going on in diz management.... what a letdown for audiences&guests👎😬😮💨 Wdwnt is the true champion of showing love of Disney!
For "day of" celebrations, I think Epcot 40 was way better than WDWs 50th. Epcot had an actual ceremony and some of the higher ups there walking about meeting people.
