Disney Parks Blog Lays the Smack Down on Internet Rumor - Twice!!

I heard that one too, and it's really interesting that they outright denied the Tiki Room rumor, but not the Country Bears.

Hey Jeff! The Bears Live ON!

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/06/about-our-country-bears/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DisneyParks+%28Disney+Parks+Blog%29

Alright, let me put on my journalist hat here.

That's a very interesting response from WDWNT, and perfectly within their right to do so. When it's your site, you get to do what you want with it. I would have been very hurt and feel attacked if Disney Parks Blog had said the same thing about Grown-ups.

• Tom said "You'll only read this side here because Disney won't let any other site tell you any of this. By the way, how many of those sites have reported on the Country Bear Jamboree closure rumors yet?"

First, Disney is not controlling what Disney Bloggers are saying. In my almost 8 years with Grown-ups (and 11 years as a blogger) I have been asked once to remove a post. That post was a rumor post that was based on speculation on a future product based off of a Park Survey a team member took. I.e. It was a rumor that we were backing up with some fact. The post was removed and life went on. Most folks probably never even noticed.

Now and again a member of our team does go to a media event. At events we are asked to produce a review, and given a timeline in which that review should happen. That's it. Often we're given press releases with pertinent information to help us write from, we are not expected to cut and paste those press releases. A good journalist then takes that information and writes their own story. Never, never, never has Disney told me that I had to write using their words.

Many many many Disney bloggers are not journalists. They don't work within a set guideline, they don't follow any set list of professional standards, and they haven't taken a single journalism class. Blogs are like the wild west, there aren't many rules. The problem is that readers don't always know that. They don't understand what is fact, what is opinion, and what is a canned press release that has been cut and paste from Disney. Though if you read a lot of Disney Blogs you can tell who is just doing the cut and paste because you start to get deja vu.

Second, I want to express why you haven't seen the Country Bear rumor posted on Grown-ups anywhere besides this thread. This thread that is very clearly marked as a RUMOR. That's because Walt Disney World for Grown-ups deals in fact, not rumor. I have a list of approved media sources that I work from. These are sources that follow professional journalistic news standards, most of them are professional new organizations. A few are other Disney Blogs that are also very strict with where their news comes from.

If I'm going to post a rumor, it's going to be here on the message board under this thread that clearly says rumor. If a rumor does show up in a blog post, I promise you it has been confirmed by 3 independent news sources.

If anyone ever has any questions about what I'm posting, or what they have heard on other sites. I am always willing to discuss it. I am not in the business of bashing other Disney fan sites, but all readers should be aware that it is the wild west and just about anything goes out there.

p.s. I also want to make a quick note here that WDWFG pays for everything outside the odd media event. All of our team members and guest authors stand in the same lines as the rest of you, pay for our tickets and meals out of our own pockets, and are subject to the same reservation times and limitations. We feel that is the best way to give you honest reviews. Sure - it means we don't get on the Disney "who's who" list. But it allows us to write about the experience we get as just another tourist vs. having special treatment.