D23 offers its members new benefits, additional discounts

Jim Hill

15 years ago

It’s long been said that – if you build a better mouse trap – the world will beat a path to your door.

Well, as the folks in charge of D23 have learned, if you give Disneyana fans an exciting new way to celebrate the Company that (as Walt Disney once so famously said) was “ … started by a mouse,” an intriguing array of organizations and promotional partners will begin reaching out.

“Now that D23 has been around for about a year, people have a better understanding of what we’re actually about and what we’re capable of doing,” said Steven Clark, the Head of the Official Community for Disney Fans. “And as a direct result, we’ve now had a number of companies – some of them longtime Disney partners, while others are very new – reach out to us. Which then allowed us to extend
additional benefits and discounts to D23 Members.”

Take – for example – the deal that D23 recent cut with the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. For the entire month of April, members of the Official Community for Disney Fans who live in or visit New Orleans will be able to take 10% off their purchases at Ralph Brennan’s BACCO, Red Fish Grill, Ralph’s on the Park, and the Courtyard Café at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

“I was at D23’s first anniversary party at Walt Disney World back in March and actually ran into one of our Members who was from New Orleans,” Clark laughed. “I couldn’t help myself. I told her about what had in the works with Ralph Brennan and she then said, ‘That’s a discount that I would actually use.’ “

Mind you, this same 10%-off discount applies to Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen at Downtown Disney. But – then again – you get a similar discount at 27 of the other shops and restaurants that you’ll find at the very heart of the Disneyland Resort.

“Depending on how much you spend on meals or your purchases, you could recover the entire cost of your D23 membership, and then some, in a single trip to Downtown Disney,” Steven said.

But at the same time, Clark recognizes that not every Member of the Official Community for Disney Fans lives in or around Burbank, Anaheim or Orlando. Which is why Steven is pleased that organizations like the Mandara Spa, eFX Collectibles and Scrapblog are now partnering with D23.

“We want to make sure that there’s this extra layer of benefits for our Members who live outside of Florida and California,” Steven continued. “Which is why we’re thrilled that D23 members will now be able to get 10% off of all services at Mandara Spa locations in the U.S., Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean as well as – of course — the Grand Californian
Resort & Spa at Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin in Florida.”

But at the same time, Clark recognizes that Disneyana fans are … well, Disneyana fans. Which is why they then love to receive additional benefits that will give them new & interesting ways to celebrate Walt Disney’s creative legacy. Which – in the coming weeks – will include a $5 discount on admission to The Hollywood Show from April 23-25 in Burbank (which is where members of the original “Mickey Mouse Club” are scheduled to make an appearance). Not to mention special D23 pricing on tickets to the always popular “Evening of Disney Rarities” at this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival.

“What we’re trying to do here in bring some variety to the benefits that we offer our Members,” Steven explained. “Still give them the great Disney-related material that they’ve come to expect from D23. But at the same time, offer them something new. Like the special offer that’s available at ESPN Zone locations around the country in which D23 Members can get a burger, non-alcoholic drink and $15 game card for only $20.”

Don’t worry, though. While Clark and his team are hard at work, trying to expand the benefits and discounts that members of the Official Community for Disney Fans will receive (look for additional deals to be announced in the coming months, as D23 adds other companies, takes on
additional promotional partners), they’re still paying attention to the Club’s fundamentals
like Disney twenty-three magazine.

“Wait ‘til you see our Summer 2010 issue,” Steven enthused. “We’ve got great interviews with Nicolas Cage, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jake Gyllenhaal and Alfred Molina. We talk with the filmmakers behind ‘Toy Story 3.’ We’ve even got a story in there about the new version of Fantasmic! that
they’re adding to Tokyo DisneySea.”

All this plus those private, exclusive events that D23 members have now come to expect (FYI: Tickets for the next “50 and Fabulous” screening – “Pollyanna,” which will be held on the Walt Disney Studios Lot on May 8^th – go on sale today at 10 a.m. PST. And given that last
month’s screening of “Toby Tyler, or 10 Weeks with a Circus” sold out, you really don’t want to dawdle here). Not to mention the discounted admission that they’ll receive to the Ultimate Disney
Fan Experience, the D23 EXPO (Which will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in August 2011, with tickets going on sale Aug. 19 of this year).

“We’re just 16 months away from that event now,” Clark continued. “And we’re determined to make sure that the 2011 D23 EXPO tops our 2009 event. Just wait ‘til you see what we’ve got planned.”

But in the meantime, members of the Official Community of Disney Fans can take advantage of all of these great new benefits and discounts that have just become available, and may find that they save a lot more money and get more out of their membership than they may have initially imagined.

For an up-to-date listing of these special promotional offers and discounts, please
click on this link.