D23 - not what I expected

[TheGreatGummi]

Up to this point I've been pretty supportive of D23, but the following factors have lead me to drop my support and abandon this "official community for disney fans":

1. The very limited quantities of "exclusive D23 member merchandise" is a treadmill I'm not willing to run on. Intentionally shorting members who've paid an annual fee to buy cool stuff, just so a secondary market can charge 10 times more the same items, sucks.

2. The "exclusive" bi-weekly e-mail is a hilarious joke. It's a copy of D23 info already made available to members. Lame, lame, lame.

3. The shipping situation for D23 mechandise is poor. I ordered a frame for my certificate on launch day. I've received 3-4 mails from Disney Shipping that it's backordered into May now. I had the order cancelled. This is not acceptable. If I ordered something simple like this from Amazon I wouldn't tolerate it - what makes Disney so special that they can delay products like this and expect to keep customers.

The other factors such as the nice-quality-but-light-on-content Magazine, the less than awesome poster, etc just added to the lackluster experience for me. So I'm voting with my time and money and tuning out. I'm unsubscribing from the newsletter, selling my D23 stuff on eBay to recoup my losses and redirecting my 3 remaining mags to my folks who will get enjoy them as coffee table decor. Best of luck to you guys - I sincerely hope that D23 works out and works harder to be fan-friendly community and not just another money pit for fans to get mired in.

Thx
John

[SCUBAbe]

yeah, it didn't seem to great to me. i did not join. They sell the magazine in the park anyway. It looked nice, but mostly pictures.

[Roger55]

I compleltely agree with the following you posted...

1. The very limited quantities of "exclusive D23 member merchandise" is a treadmill I'm not willing to run on. Intentionally shorting members who've paid an annual fee to buy cool stuff, just so a secondary market can charge 10 times more the same items, sucks.

2. The "exclusive" bi-weekly e-mail is a hilarious joke. It's a copy of D23 info already made available to members. Lame, lame, lame.

The other issues you experienced, I personally have not experienced the same. I am also satisfied with the magazine. I guess I have lower expectations.

I believe there have been and still are some issues surrounding D23. I however, feel it is still to early for me to bail out. I think it will need some time to mature into whatever it will end up being. I'm still taking a "wait and see" attitude.

[Goofus]

I understand your disappointment, and would also be mad about the frame fiasco. I too was disappointed that I was not able to get some of the pins offered for sale.

However, I still have high hopes and would encourage you to wait a little longer before making any decisions.

In light of your post, I went back and read highlights from the D23 media conference and am still looking forward to many things. For example, Steven Clark talked about D23 evening events at the park, merchandise items with Tron and Mary Poppins themes, advanced and discounted entry to D23 convention, and special hotel rates for the D23 convention. Also, from the D23 website, learned that there will be an advanced D23 member viewing of Up!

No matter what you decide, I wish you the best.

[Coheteboy]

I think as a first year production that has many kinks to work out, it's staying afloat.. barely. The real question is whether or not they can make year 2 much much more inviting to retain. That's the trick.

"Fool me once, shame on you......"

[NeverNeverland]

In light of your post, I went back and read highlights from the D23 media conference and am still looking forward to many things. For example, Steven Clark talked about D23 evening events at the park, merchandise items with Tron and Mary Poppins themes, advanced and discounted entry to D23 convention, and special hotel rates for the D23 convention. Also, from the D23 website, learned that there will be an advanced D23 member viewing of Up!

All is great if you live near the park
I still have hope for those of us elsewhere in the country!

[Dustysage]

There are issues, no doubt about that. But look at the sheer effort that they have put into this project. I wasn't happy at first with the overblown launch and the seeming swipe at the dozens of already existing fan sites. There is just no good way to be all things to all people and do it well from day one. Perhaps they have promised too much from the start. But that doesn't mean that they won't get there.

There is a level of quality and effort in D23 that I find hard to abandon. And I'm very eager to hear more about the D23 Expo in the Fall. That will be a make it or break it event for a lot of people (perhaps myself included). I think they know that as well. I fully expect them to pull out all the stops on the Expo and make it fantastic.

Someone here mentioned all the many Disney fans who don't live near the parks. D23 really must do a better job of reaching out to these folks as well. At this price, expectations must be more than met, they must be exceeded.

I'm waiting, patiently, and hopefully for now. I like so much of what they have done, and they are so close on the rest. For a whole new ambitious project, they really aren't too far off the mark from what we want and expect. They just have some additional work to do and need a more moderate price point for the membership.

-Dusty

[ALIASd]

D23 will be 1 month-old on Friday. Perhaps a bit more time to mature will help them get a trifle closer to at some realistic expectations being met, and potentially exceeded.

In my experience in dealing with launching products and creating events, as soon as someone wins something they suddenly are far happier.

[penguinsoda]

Up to this point I'm not overly impressed. But I also am trying to take a realistic standpoint that, yes... it has only been a month, and they still have time to wow me and show me that my $75 investment was not in vain. So far I just haven't seen enough "exclusive" stuff, (and I'm not only talking merchandise here)stuff for just the D23 member.

But I'm willing to wait it out and see what they do for the rest of the year, and what they have in store for year 2 down the road.

[ryanvalle]

Month one: we received first issue of quarterly magazine, membership card, certificate, lithograph, and a biweekly email.

My predictions for month two: just a bi-weekly email. They already sent us everything promised and a quarterly magazine doesnt come out everymonth.

Unless they release more details on the Up screening, I think April will be a boring d23 month.

[Gone2Disneyland]

…and I thought Star Trek fans were bad. (Btw, I'm a big Trekkie.)

True, I agree with a lot of the negative opinions posted here, but I'm also aware it's just been a month. Time will tell as we see what else comes up for us between now and the Expo and then after that. (I just wish my sister hadn't scheduled her wedding on the D23 Expo weekend…grrrr.)

[waltenthusiast]

i really liked the magazine...it was more of a book to me, not a magazine. i enjoyed the pictures they displayed, especially the ones of Walt

but i can understand where all of you are coming from. and i do agree that i hope they add more to the magazine in future editions.

[in2puck]

My problem with the magazine is that I was hoping it would be
more like the one we used to get as AP holders....that was such
a good magazine that I really miss. Maybe they'll be able to implement
some of those features into this magazine. And it's probably wrong
to compare the two seeing as they're coming from totally different
places. We'll all just have to wait and see..