WDW is turning 50!!

[BurningStroller]

atleast according to TIVO. Good Morning America is going to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World tomorrow at 7am!

Not only did Disneyland give Soarin' to WDW for it's 50th....it gave them their 50th too!

[Modern Folly]

haha, I checked on tvguide.com and it said that it's covering Disneyland's 50th.

[eyes_of_mara]

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! This has got to stop! WDW keeps getting all the Limelight, even though it's OUR park's 50th. Do you think DL will get all the same hooplah WDW is getting now when WDW actually hits its 50th? Fat Chance.

But we will stand strong. Today (4th) a newscaster at DL accidentally said WDW instead of DL, and he got booed. Serves him right.

[Jspider]

no WDW will to busy stealing stuff from the 70th or something weird like that

it's all a number game

companies do it all the time, rumor has it the next Xbox will be called the Xbox360. Why? because they figure customers will think a bigger numbers better (they wanted a number larger then Sony's PS3)

this applies to theme parks in that a bigger number obviously means a bigger celebration because they have more to celebrate

didn't they also do a 100years of Walt that was advertised as WDW's 100th or something

the sad thing is WDW really steals all the actual thunder out of celebrations because they leave everything including the temporary stuff up

why should I feel the need to visit during a celebration year if it'll all be there anyways when I visit five years after when they've built more impressive rides?

I dunno there's a certain deal with celebrations they're nice and temporary to inspire me to rush there and actualy SEE it

[mistryl]

You'd be surprised how many CMs I've overheard saying "All these decorations are up because we are turning 50!" Um, no you aren't. Last Sunday when they got their new nametags, we stopped to look at one, and she specifically stressed that it was "Disney LAND" that was turning 50. At first it seemed silly that she said it like that, but I'm actually glad she did so that maybe the average guest would actually understand.

Doesn't it confuse tourists that last year we were celebrating 100 years of magic, yet this year we're celebrating 50?

[WDW1974]

And in 2007 we'll be celebrating 25 Years of [something, likely discovery] at Epcot.

It's all about the marketing now. I doubt when Walt Disney was dreaming up Disneyland he had timeshares on his mind, yet at WDW you get to see that famous interview with Walt on the DVC-shill channel at your magical WDW resort.

As for tourists being confused, what do you expect? They're tourists. They want to know where they can get the monorail for Universal and why Disney doesn't do something about the rain. But CMs should know better, should understand exactly what the company is mar...I mean, celebrating.

[Mouse princess]

Its all about Marketing- which is why DL will be celebrating the 50th (as all locations) until 2006. I don't know about you, but my parties don't normally run 1 1/2 yrs. But, than what are they supposed to celebrate and market to everyone in 2006?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

...WDW really steals all the actual thunder out of celebrations...

I don't actually think it's that bad this time. Sure, they have the gold hats and tags. Sure, it says "50" everywhere.

But DL got Art Linkletter and Julie Andrews. WDW got Ashanti and a boy band.

[WDW1974]

There's little doubt that the place to be was in Anaheim, if you had a choice as far as parties/events.

WDW's is strictly designed to whore itself to the media to get coverage and fill hotel rooms. Period. I mean, who's really going to plan a WDW vacation just because Cinderallbration opened or Lucky is walking around DAK or even to ride a proven winner in Soarin. Disney needs to sell the whole package and is an expert at doing so.

[Jspider]

I don't actually think it's that bad this time. Sure, they have the gold hats and tags. Sure, it says "50" everywhere.

But DL got Art Linkletter and Julie Andrews. WDW got Ashanti and a boy band.

actualy I was refering to the damage WDW does to itself not the "supposed" damage that it does to Disneyland

and yes Disneyland got a celebration fully recongizing it's history

WDW got a bunch of things it would've mostly recieved anyways

it's all a big success for Disney I can't complain about too much

[BigDaddyKyle]

You've got to remember...WDW is Disney cash cow resort. It has the most parks, the most resorts, the most everything else. Why wouldn't Disney spill DL's 50th over to WDW. It just makes since marketing wise. I am not mad a Disney for bringing the other parks and WDW into the limelight with DL. I think that it is a very, very wise idea on Disney's part.

[Mr. Eggz]

I said it before, I'll say it again. Nobody at WDW decided to celebrate DL's 50th or steal anything from DL. That decision was made by Michael Mendenhal, XVP Parks & Resorts Marketing. his office is in Burbank not Anaheim or Lake Buena Vista. His background is in films not theme parks. If anyone is mad about the way the 50th is handled address those cards and letters to...

Michael Mendenhall
Executive VP, Global Marketing
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

[mistryl]

I actually really enjoy the spilling over of DL's celebration over here. I grew up close to DL and I was a CM at DL. It makes me feel a little more at home, if not a bit homesick.