Unauthorized Movie Shot at Disney Parks; What Should Disney Do?

This week at StudiosCentral, my Jentasmic! column addresses a movie that’s getting a lot of internet buzz and prompting discussions of intellectual property rights:

There’s been a lot of buzz on the internet about Escape from Tomorrow, a film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this week. The film was shot primarily at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, without permission from Disney; cast and crew filmed surreptitiously, mostly with handheld cameras. It tells the story of a man slowly losing his mind during the course of a day at Walt Disney World, after receiving bad news by phone in the early part of the day. It’s certainly not anything that a reasonable person would confuse for an actual Disney product. (Of course, like most people who aren’t at Sundance, I haven’t seen the film.)

Head over to StudiosCentral to read the rest. (tl;dr: I don’t think Disney should do a thing.

RFIDs and MyMagic+ and Privacy, Oh My!

Over at StudiosCentral, my recent Jentasmic! columns have focused on the NextGen, newly-announced MyMagic+ initiative at Walt Disney World.

• MyMagic+: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
• RFIDs and Privacy at Walt Disney World and Beyond

It’s interesting to watch the response to MyMagic+, both from the Disney fandom and from the press. Business writers generally zoom right into the moneymaker: Disney building an unprecedented database of Guest information, with implications for both privacy concerns and outstanding marketing opportunities. The fandom is mostly giddy for the new technologies, the new customization of Guest experience, and the convenience of wearing a MagicBand instead of carrying a card or two.

As a dues-paying member of the ACLU, which chimed in on tracking people with RFIDs years ago, I’m concerned about the privacy implications, primarily related to the inferences which can be drawn through data-mining (remember when a couple MIT students figured out how to mine Facebook data to determine whether a man was gay?).

And at the same time, I’m deep enough into Disney fanaticism that I’m likely to give the system a spin next time I travel to Walt Disney World. I’ll be interested to see how things go as MyMagic+ is gradually rolled out, and how much it changes from this point in response to Guest feedback and operational experience.

Sad Tea Party, WDW Today Reunion 2012

From WDW Today Reunion 2012:

Earlier this year, my friend and I were waiting in line to ride the Mad Tea Party at Magic Kingdom. We watched a group of guests riding it. There was one young girl who was with there with her mother and maybe her aunt? But her family had sat in one teacup and she had chosen to sit in another. Her mother and aunt were having a blast, spinning the cup, smiling and waving to the girl… who was just sitting still, looking so indifferent, not even spinning her tea cup at all.

This inspired me to create this Reuinion 2012 event. Here’s what we do. We fill up all the tea cups on the Mad Tea Party and just sit there, looking sooooo over it. Do not spin the tea cups at all. Don’t look like you’re having any fun.

It will be the Saddest Tea Party ever.

Submitted by: Mark Diba

Jentasmic! Have You Thanked a Cast Member Lately?

Towel animals don’t just make themselves, y’know. And yeah I have no idea what animal this is. Sloth? Puppy? Reindeer?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Cast Members need love too. This week I’m saying it at Studios Central in my Jentasmic! column.

If you’ve ever had a great, magical time at Walt Disney World, there have been Cast Members to thank for it. Perhaps it was a cheerful face as you boarded an attraction, or a Princess lavishing attention on your child, or a friendly bus driver welcoming you aboard. Or maybe it was something truly exceptional, such as the time a kind Guest Services Cast Member gave my son a new Buzz Lightyear mug to replace one he’d lost in the mens’ room, or the manager at Le Cellier who replaced my entire outfit after an unfortunate experience with a tray of drinks. Or maybe it was people you never saw: The Imagineers who designed an attraction, the housekeepers who left towel animals on your bed, or the people who prepared your meals.

Head on over to StudiosCentral for the full article.

Hidden Mary Blair in Walt Disney World’s “it’s a small world”

I’ve always been terrible at spotting hidden Mickeys. I’ve got the guide and all, but even with incredibly explicit directions, I still can’t see half the things I go looking for, unless I’ve got a personal guide.

One of my favorite Easter Eggs at Walt Disney World is the hidden Mary Blair in “it’s a small world.” She’s hidden in plain sight, and large enough that I can find her just fine. But she’s in such an odd spot that I never noticed until my friend Trace showed her to me. So on my trip to Walt Disney World last month, I captured this video.

Trace tells me that there are hidden Mary Blairs in every “it’s a small world,” but the only other one I could find info on is the one at Disneyland, which interestingly enough is also located with the Eiffel Tower. Anybody out there got the scoop on Paris, Tokyo, or Hong Kong?

WDW Fantasyland Construction View from Dumbo

I love the updated Dumbo attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom! The twin spires of Dumbo are a joy to behold, especially at night. And yes, I unabashedly ride Dumbo all by myself, and I am a middle-aged lady.

Right now one of the bonuses of riding Dumbo is the view of the Fantasyland construction. If you’re not already familiar with the Fantasyland expansion plans, AllEars has a great overview and recent updates.

Below are a video I captured while flying high on Dumbo on July 18, 2012, and a screen shot of perhaps the clearest view of the construction from the video:

Click through for larger image

Star Tours: In Praise of Avoiding Spoilers

With an old buddy, at Connection 2009

[Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!]

I waited . . . and waited. . . and waited. I guess you could say I’m dual-diagnosed, because I’m both a Disney fan, and a Star Wars fan. And still, I managed to avoid almost all spoilers about the recently-updated Star Tours attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Was it worth it? From this week’s Jentasmic! column:

I’ve got an analytical mind, and I find it hard to shut off. But that first time through, I was completely swept away. Darth Vader was there, and we were in his grip. My friend Eliyanna was a rebel spy! C3P0 and R2D2 managed to get us free, and before I knew it we were dodging AT-ATs on Hoth. Then a message from Admiral Ackbar (it’s a trap!!!), and now off to Naboo! I was having so much fun even Jar Jar didn’t get to me. I do believe Matt will vouch for me when I tell you that after the ride was over, I was so happy I could have cried.

Head on over to StudiosCentral to read the rest . . .

Jentasmic! on Disney Travel for the Frugal

I am the 99%! So one shouldn’t be at all surprised to know that I try to keep my travel budget low. When traveling to Walt Disney World, I tend to stay off-site (either using hotel points or a timeshare my family bought when the market tanked), and book flights with frequent flier miles.

My last two Jentasmic! columns at StudiosCentral have tips for the frugal Disney traveler:

• Disney Travel for the Frugal: Points Programs
• Disney Travel for the Frugal: Staying Offsite

Mousetacular: More Disney December 2011 Fan Meets

Shortly after my posts about All Ears December to Remember and WDW Today Reunion, I received a note from the folks at Mousetacular to let me know about their December 2011 Disney fan meets. Mousetacular’s offerings are a bit on the higher end than the other meets I’ve mentioned, as all involve meals and sometimes souvenirs.

I’m glad there’s plenty of room in the cottage industry of Disney fan businesses to support a variety of events. While I’ve still got my eye on that ticket to the All Ears Toy Story Mania event, I’m glad to know that Mousetacular has a similar event planned the next day. The Mousetacular price is a bit higher, and it’s not entirely clear to me how much that’s a matter of business model (e.g. sponsorships, profit margins), or of different plans for catering and/or other aspects of the events, which I know can significantly affect costs.

And of course, all this makes me nostalgic for MouseFest, when I could just go to one web site and find out about all the meets that various groups were having. Mind you, I seem to recall that there couldn’t be a fee associated with any meets held under the MouseFest umbrella, so the meets were a little different. But there was a certain convenience and unity to having a central organizing focus for all the meets, and I miss that.

At any rate . . . I’ll be there in December, at some variety of events. Just 162 days to go!

All Ears December to Remember Fan Meets 2011

Okay, I booked flights for my next Disney trip just knowing about Reunion . . . but now I’ve discovered that AllEars.net also has a great line-up of meets this December 8-11, 2011.

But I probably shouldn’t have even said anything . . . because some of these events have very limited capacity and I don’t want y’all buying up the tickets before I have a chance! Tickets go on sale sometime in July.

I’m really glad to see both fan meets will be in town, in part because they’re operating with different business models. For Reunion, there are significant benefits to booking through the event sponsor, as you get tickets to a special reception, and you can buy tickets for hard-ticket events before the general public. But if like me, you’re using frequent flier miles and staying in your own time share, this means that booking through any travel agent isn’t really an option. So, I’m glad there’s another option now with AllEars, where I can just obsessively check my email and other electronic feeds to see when tickets go on sale, and hope I get in early enough.

Checking now . . . and now . . . and now . . .