For those who doubted last week's piece on those Tim Burton
Weekends that are supposedly being considered as Disney's Hollywood Studios'
seasonal alternative to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic
Kingdom, did you catch this morning's announcement of Disney Parks &
Resorts' "Limited Time Magic" program?
Using a three story-tall, 45,000 pound fairytale castle made
of ice that they'd built overnight in Times Square as a visual metaphor for this new entertainment initiative (i.e.
sometimes really beautiful & fun things only last for a very short while),
Disney used "Good Morning America" to help spread the news about
"Limited Time Magic." With some week and month-long programs that I'm
sure Disney history buffs will love (EX:
That Frontierland favorite, the fabled Golden Horseshoe Revue will be
returning to Disneyland Park for one month only next year) while others are
complete head scratchers (The Dapper Dans are going to perform Boy Band
numbers? Seriously? Is there actually
a person on this planet who's been sitting around thinking, "Oh, my life
would be complete if I could just hear a close harmony version of 'I Want It
That Way.' I mean, if you want to hear middle-aged men perform Backstreet Boys
songs, just go to one of this group's reunion concerts. Anyway … ).
Photo by David Roark. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
And just so you know: Not all of the weekend and/or
month-long events that are in the works for 2013 have officially been announced
yet. And given that back on September 26th, the Company snagged the domain name
for:
disneyroyalball.com
There may be some genuinely sizable things in the works for
this year-long event that have yet to be revealed.
Photo by David Roark. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
But — for now — let's just grab the calendar & circle
the dates of the "Limited Time Magic" events that Walt Disney Parks
& Resorts did officially announce today. Like "Unleash the
Villains," which will be held at Disney California Adventure &
Disneyland Park on September 13, 2013. Where virtually every Disney Villain
character costume will be pulled out of storage so that the walk-around
versions of these characters will then have free reign in Disney's two Californian
theme parks right up until the 13th hour (i.e. 1 a.m. on September 14th).
And if they can put together that sort of special limited-time-only
celebration for the Disney Villains, just imagine what sort of event the
Entertainment department at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts could build around
with the Disney-produced films of Tim Burton?
Photo by David Roark. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Seriously, folks. This is kind of a daring new thing that
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts is doing here. And it will be interesting to
see what impact the "Limited Time Magic" program will have on occupancy
rates at both of the Company's Florida and California Resorts. Whether people
will actually be willing to buy plane tickets and then book hotel rooms just so
that they can then be on hand for "Long Lost Friends Week" (which is
supposed to built around walk-around character costumes that just aren't seen
in the parks anymore).
Sure, there'll be some hit-and-miss stuff here. And given
that Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure theme park draw most of
their annual visitors from less than 100 miles away from Anaheim … Well, I
can't help but think that this "Limited Time Magic" program will be far
more successful out west / have a more dramatic impact out there than it will
have down in Florida. But that said, I'll still like it if Disney theme park
fans could come out and support this short-time-only entertainment concept.
Photo by David Roark. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Because you never know what a year-long event like this,
where all sorts of show concepts and possible entertainment ideas (EX: How would Disneyland Guests react
if they suddenly found walk-around versions of the Marvel characters wandering
around Tomorrowland?) are quickly trotted out & tested might lead to.
Oh. Almost forgot. The nice people at Disney Parks and
Resorts are suggesting that — if you want to learn more about what's in the
works for "Limited Time Magic" (more importantly, hear about all of
the other events that are planned for 2013 in real time as they're officially
being announced) — that you might want to follow @DisneyParks and then start
using the hashtag #LimitedTimeMagic.
Your thoughts?