Official D23 Site up and running!

Well, I wasn't very excited about this leading up to it, but of course I "drank the koolaid" and had a friend pick up a copy of the magazine for me today. Then as soon as I got home I got my membership as well as 2 T shirts. Also made a call to my dad to see if he wanted to go with me to the Expo in Sept. Based on the info already released I think the Expo will be an amazing experience and the fact that I will get to share it with the person who gave me my love of Disney just makes it that much better.

That being said...we shall see how this all turns out. My husband doesn't seem to think it will be around very long (just like every other "official" club, magazine, etc)

I haven't gotten the mag yet. What are the details on the Expo? Dates, location, admission, etc.

(By the way guys and gals, is THIS the thing we hinted at that was the death knell of Mousefest?)

Thanks for the info. Wonder if its going to bounce back and forth from coast to coast?

Assuming you can't attend the convention on a given year, do you guys feel that the other benefits make the $74.99 annual fee a good value?

At first glance, it looks like Disney did a good job of extracting money from people like us, who'll empty our wallets for Disney even if it's not money well spent.

__________________

Upcoming Trips

July 2010 - Old Key West

Oct 2010 - Boardwalk Villas

Well I think you can make that argument about a lot of Disney pursuits. I will say it seems like they're basically saying "Join it will be great!" at the same time not really giving that much detail. I think it's basically a vote of confidence in the Disney brand.

I've seen a BUNCH of people on Twitter who are so proud to be "charter members".

Is there any benefit to joining first or are they just drinking the kool-aid?

Koolaid drinkers. Definitely.

I'll probably drink the koolaid eventually!

I think we've all drank the koolaid long ago, the question is was the dosage high enough that we'll buy this too. I mean it sounds good in theory but I think everyone agrees the details are awfully sketchy.

I'm going to wait and see what kinds of discounts and offers are announced. I'm not sure we'd be able to get the expo this year, anyway, so no reason to join for that.

I'll just keep hanging around on message boards; word will eventually get out if it's worth it or not in time for me to still become a charter member if I want to.

I like how they've put the vague carrot out there of getting to be a "Charter Member." Act now or you'll miss your chance to be a Charter Member people!

Were there "charter members" of DVC? I know that folks who are the "first buyers" of certain Villas (like AKL Villas) get some sort of a "first buyer" or charter member kind of gift for being the first....

Sounds like a great strategy to make me feel special! Which I do indeed like to feel.

DVC was a bit different, as they had to be licensed in the state of residence of the buyer. When we first looked at the original Disney Vacation Club (which became Old Key West) back in 1993 (I think it was), we were very interested, but we couldn't buy until a year later.

May be different now that they ARE licensed everywhere.

It's really quite brilliant because you know that Disney does do certain "appreciation" activities at times, so the Charter Member thing does sound appealing. That being said I have a feeling that Disney is not going to be able to do their own fan club as well as the actual fan community does. The organizers of Mousefest for example, are going to be much more in touch with what the fans want I think.