Category — Online

This is the story of how Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK) came to its end and how and why it doesn’t have to be that way.

The year is 1959. Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom of Disneyland is just about to enter its third year of operations. Disneyland has been very successful not just in attendance, but in creating a new type of community; a remaking of Main Street America in Walt’s image. Walt calls Disneyland his great experiment. He uses it to cross-promote his movies, television shows, and his growing interest in urban planning.

However, something is not quite right. The surrounding area has penned his magical kingdom in with cheap looking motels and tourist traps. Disneyland really needs to grow, add new attractions, even remake whole parts of the theme park that just aren’t working. Walt has got grand ideas, add a steel roller coaster hidden inside the Matterhorn, bring online a monorail system (even extending to Downtown Los Angeles), remake parts of Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland and even Main Street. Perhaps to open even a whole new city where urban blight will be a thing of the past.

All that will cost money, take time, and talent. Those are resources Walt could use elsewhere in his growing company. So he decides that his ‘experiment’ in 360 degree themed entertainment has been a success. But he wants those customers go enjoy one of his other projects where there is a higher margin so he can afford his future plans.

So, shocking everyone who has come to love and enjoy Disneyland, worked there, made friends there, even come to regard its wide avenues and wondrous attractions as part of Americana itself, Walt Disney decides to end his experiment and set up shop elsewhere (perhaps Florida, where he’ll have more room).

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Latest: Saving Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom – 4.15.08

May 21st, 2008 will mark the end of one very cool MMO game brought to you by Disney Online. Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom is wrapping up play and urging its players to join in on one of Disney’s other offerings. The only hitch, those games require pay-for-play to get full functionality.

Needless to say this is causing an uproar among the games fans who have invested time and effort in building their characters, rooms, and friends in VMK. VMKMagic.com has started a petition to save the game.

I’ve included the full notice of closure and faq from VMK’s newsletter below the cut

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Macromedia’s The Flash Blog has video of a Disney travel AIR application. AIR is Adobe’s new software package that allows developers to create platform independent applications that can live on the web or on your desktop (if you have AIR installed).

This happens to be a desktop application for Disney’s travel agents. It sure looks nice! It’s all drag and drop and features a ’scrapbook’ like feel so agents can compose their own scrapbook presentations for their clients. My only question is, with an interface as easy and beautiful as this is, why would Disney want to offer this only to travel agents? I think anyone could benefit planning and quoting their Disney trip with this. (Link)

The Walt Disney Company hasn’t released any official numbers, but the MMORPG tracking site MMOGChart estimates that Disney’s Pirates Of the Caribbean online game has about 10,000 active players. It’s a good number, but not impressive in an age when video games are outselling their movie-theater counterparts. So Disney has announced plans to add new content to the game and increase inter-player communication.

Now, I haven’t logged into the POTC MMORPG myself. But I have played a few other MMORPGs in my day and I know that player interaction is one of the big reasons for joining up (the other being how rich a world has been built). Right now Pirates of the Caribbean is rated E10+ by the ESRB which means suitable for everyone 10 and older. There has been some debate recently about whether the game is even appropriate for the pre-teens which it is attracting. Disney may find that by making the game PG-13 they can allow more player interaction and attract more long term customers.

Any existing players wish to chime in in the comments?

(Hat tip to Colin Stewart at the OC Reg for this article)

Disney’s Fairies Pixie Hollow (covering all the bases in the great Pixie versus Fairy debate) was officially unveiled at the recent Toy Fair in New York. In the MMORG

visitors to the new online world will be able to explore the homes and meadows that make up Pixie Hollow. Fans will play and chat with Fairy friends, go on quests for Tinker Bell, play games, earn badges, craft jewelry and clothes and personalize their Fairy world.

This is all part of Disney’s attempt to franchise the Tinker Bell character even more. About 7 to 8 years ago Disney began to notice that its two strongest brands, Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh, had been joined by the Disney Princess and Tinker Bell brands almost totally via fan demand. The whole Pirate craze was manufactured almost out of whole cloth to provide some gender balance in the merchandise department. The Pixie brand has had a few fits and mis-fires in its launching process, but it seems to be on track now with the MMORG and the three upcoming Tinker Bell movies.

This article in the NY Times explores the interesting fact that teenage women are the new driving force in the online world. So it seems like a pretty smart play by Disney to get them while they’re still pre-teens and impressionable.

I find myself answering many questions on Twitter about what to do at Disney theme parks. Sometimes its advice on what to do at the parks, sometimes its suggestions on what to avoid, or just general tips and tricks. Turns out I’m not the only Disney fan on Twitter who does this. So I got to thinking, we should make it easier for people to find us when they have a Disney related question.

Here’s my thought. We chose a #hashtag that all Disney fans on Twitter track. What are hashtags? See http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Hashtags

We then publish the hashtag on all our twitter profiles, websites, etc, that anytime anyone wants realtime advice for a Disney theme park they can just twitter a question with that #hashtag and anyone in the group who is online will see it and send an answer.

Of course, any group like this needs a name. I’m thinking something based on Disney’s Rescue Rangers. Twitter Rangers? Disney Twitter Rangers? Disney Help Rangers? I’m open to suggestions.

Anyone can participate just track the hashtag #DizHelp in your twitter client.  Then answer questions as they’re twittered with #DizHelp in your answer.

To ask questions of The Disney Help Rangers just use the #DizHelp hashtag at the end of your twitter message. Most questions or requests for Disney Travel Advice should be answered quickly, more quickly as others sign up. I realize it takes a little fore-knowledge to participate. But if all the Disney Help Rangers put #DizHelp in their response tweets then the word of its use will spread.

What do you think?

Previously: Disney on Twitter –

Disney.co.uk is set to relaunch with an update that sounds very familiar to the extreme makeover Disney.com received here in the US a few months ago.

Disney is launching an elaborate new version of its UK website on
Monday, combining its retail and content offerings with virtual worlds,
widgets and interactive tools as it tries to cement its audience base
among a new generation of web-savvy children.

The new site is
designed to be a "front door to everything Disney". Disney.co.uk will
use "one-click" navigational tools that allow users to browse the site
by Disney character, brand, media platform.

They’ll also get the customizable Disney XD Channel, Club Penguin and more. If you live across the pond, have fun exploring your new toys and let us know what you think in the comments.
(Link)

Michael is back with a look at all the Domain Names newly registered by Disney. A few that caught my interest are:

• ArielsBeginningDVD.com – This is for what should be the last of the direct-to-dvd cheapquels that John Lasseter has finally put a stop to.
• TalesFromEarthSeaMovie.com – This is a film from Studio Ghibli and is the first film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki. The film is based loosely on a series of books by Ursula Le Guin.
• BobTheMusical.com – Another movie site, about a man trapped within a Movie Musical a la "GroundHog Day". Maybe he knows BobTheElf.
• TheWaltDisneyCompanyFoundation.Org – This is a good trend with corporations. Set up a foundation, get a website. Do Good Stuff.

Finally, there’s MyDisneyMarathon.Com which would work great as some sort of Social Network/Fundraising site for people training to run in Disney’s marathons. They probably have some other idea, of course.