Are You 23? (Disney's D23 Fan Club Discussion)

[reyquila]

I joined yesterday!!! Definitively a great deal!!

[ajmrowland]

You call a $75 membership a great deal?

[goofystitch]

For the $60 worth of magazines, Disney Archive Collection gift, and special events (including an advance screening of Up), yes. I would say $75 is a wonderful deal. I've said it before. I firmly believe that Disney is losing money on the club membership itself. Where they will make money is through people buying the merchandise and attending the Expo.

Its sort of like Microsoft selling the X-Box below cost and making the money back through game sales.

[slave2moonlight]

I think you guys are getting a little bit ridiculous about this. I keep hearing the same complaint about the price and how "unfair" you feel this is. But here is the deal. Most of the content is FREE!!!!!

Then if you pay the fee, it really is a bad deal, ha. All kidding aside, I think I just can't wrap my brain around the concept of 15 dollars for a magazine, no matter how well-made. The least they could do is give them hard covers and call them collectible books like Time Life; Disney quarterly almanacs or something. It's hard for me to shell out even 6 bucks for something falling under the magazine heading. And as some folks have said, expecting us to shell out 75 bucks for any kind of frill package seems rather poorly timed by Disney with the current economic situation.

I will take a look at the magazine when I am in Barnes and Noble though. But I wonder what the free sculpture is. Is that a secret or have they announced it. If I saw it and liked it, I might be more tempted to join. The sad fact is most of the other stuff you get for your money seems pretty weak since most of us are not near a Disney park and can't afford to visit one anytime soon, and the e-mails, well, they're e-mails. I get tons already. I like the Disney ones, but if they're not going to have DMR codes in them or something, I'm not going to be happy about paying for them.

Honestly, I don't see why so many of you think $75 is an outrageous price to pay. I think Disney will actually be losing money on the membership fee.

what is expensive and inexpensive is relative, and the economy is bad right now. Fact is, to most people, 75 is a lot of money for anything that is not an essential. It doesn't mean that people don't want the items, but it is a lot more than they are worth or Disney wouldn't be offering this program at all. Disney is not one to do anything that doesn't turn a big profit these days, and I doubt they're losing money on the membership fee.

[CampbellzSoup]

I am 23 in one month!

[DaveWadding]

Looks like something to read when I'm at B&N...

[Flanger-Hanger]

Looks like something to read when I'm at B&N...

Won't take you long it's only 62 pages!

[musicradio77]

I don't join the D23 Fan Club, sorry, it's a waste of money. I've never seen the D23 Fan Club before, it is a site dedicated to fans of the community complete with vintage Disney stuff and lots more. I didn't get the D23 magazine yet, because it is a magazine for Disney fans where the Disney Magazine finally left off since 2005. It has the Walt Disney Archives and so much more. I've never been to the D23 site, but I'm not going to join them.

[slave2moonlight]

Any word on what the free gift is? A lot of people have said it is a sculpture. Is this for certain? I'm wondering if it's enough incentive to make me thing it is worth joining.

[ChrisLyne]

I joined on the 23rd. It took me a while to decide if I could justify the postage to the UK, but given what it woudl cost to import the magazine I decided it was worth it.

So far all I've had is the order confirmation. The order status hasn't changed so I don't think anything's shipped yet. I've not even had a "welcome to D23 email" (do they do these?) or the newsletter that is meant to come out every 2 weeks (has anyone had one yet?).

[slave2moonlight]

I also wonder how soon you have to join to guarantee that you get the first issue of the magazine. Would stink to join and get the second issue...

[ChrisLyne]

I think you start with whichever issue is out when you join.

At least I hope so! I'd hate to wait ages and then get issue 2 and have to back order issue 1 (plus shipping would be a nightmare again!)

[slave2moonlight]

I think you start with whichever issue is out when you join.

At least I hope so! I'd hate to wait ages and then get issue 2 and have to back order issue 1 (plus shipping would be a nightmare again!)

Yeah, my problem is that I haven't even decided if joining is worth while for me yet. I keep meaning to at least check the magazine out at Barnes and Noble, but haven't made it over there yet.

[slave2moonlight]

Where exactly is the magazine at Barnes and Noble? I scanned the magazine section today and couldn't find it. Is it not called D23? I forget if it had a different title...

[goofystitch]

I have received my welcome package, which includes the first issue of Disney Twenty Three, your membership certificate, a car decal, and a letter from Bob Iger. The issue that comes with membership is the most current. The second issue is in May, so if you order it past May, your kit will come with the second issue and you will have to buy the first through the Disney Store.

The Special Gift is not a sculpture, but is a high quality lithograph-like poster that measures 20 in by 30 in. It is of the portrait of Mickey Mouse that was done by Paul Felix for his 80th anniversary and the bottom right hand corner is embossed with the Disney Archives Collection. It came with a letter from Steven Clark, the president of D23, and the certificate of authenticity is signed by chief archivist Dave Smith.

The membership card came separately.

slave2moonlight wrote:

Where exactly is the magazine at Barnes and Noble? I scanned the magazine section today and couldn't find it. Is it not called D23? I forget if it had a different title...

I've been to 4 different Barnes & Nobles since the magazine came out and I always look for it to see where they place it. Its been different at all 4. One of them had it in the entertainment section, another in the art section, one had a special display for it, and the other put it on a table near the checkout. I find that its easiest to just ask someone who works there where you can find "Disney Twenty-Three," which is the name of the magazine. They are usually able to look it up on their computer and tell you where it is.

[slave2moonlight]

Thanks goofystitch. Well, with the gift being a litho rather than a sculpture, I am not as interested. Still undecided about all this, but I'm not really leaning towards it right now. I want to see the magazine though, and I still need to explore the online aspects.

[CJ]

Thanks for the information, goofystitch. I got my membership card last week, and my welcome kit a couple of days ago. I haven't received the gift yet. I had hoped the gift would be a sculpture. However, since I collect posters, I know I won't be disappointed with the poster.

[goofystitch]

I was disappointed at first when the gift came because there was so much speculation about it being a sculpture of some sort, but after I thought about it, it is a great poster and like I said, it is more like a giant lithograph. The next day I went to Michael's and found a nice and inexpensive frame for it. I am in the process of rearranging my room and will hang it when I am done.

[CJ]

I got the poster in today's mail. Here's what it looks like:

[slave2moonlight]

Pretty nice, but I'm out of wall space and have a ton of posters in my closet as it is. Wish it were a statuette. Not that I have much more room for those... easier to make room for them though. Thanks for posting the pic.