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I didn't say that such marketing was stupid. I said that doing so without anticipating that they were getting hopes up among precisely that targeted audience was stupid.

Saying, "Hey, Constance is going to have a sixth husband!" and then plastering HBG all over the publicity materials and the new pins isn't exactly subtle...

I disagree. It is unreasonable. There is no reason to assume that "hardcore fan" also means "someone fully familiar with Disney's corporate and business structure." Some are. Some aren't. Simple as that. Very stupid of Disney to assume otherwise.

I agree with you about the assumption that "hardcore fan" might not necessarily be "someone fully familiar..." However, I have a hard time believing that the general public isn't at least somewhat familiar with the fact that Disney has diverse assets. The Disney brand name itself is associated with a lot of different things: movies, theme parks, television, etc. On top of that, I would suspect that most people know that Disney, as a parent company, own several other brands (ABC, ESPN, Miramax...). They make that information readily available.

Dan, I think I might have misunderstood the context of the original "Joe Public" comment and now I'm a bit confused. You said "...if one official Disney voice says something..." Could you clarify what that "something" is? Thanks.

If "they knew exactly what they were doing," then they knew too that they would inevitably be getting hopes up among the targeted fans (which they have), and if they went ahead anyway, knowing that they would dash those hopes, then they were stupid. Short term gain (selling merch), but long-term loss (some of your best customers are now furious with you). How is that not stupid?

Perhaps some customers would be furious, but will they stop buying merchandise/theme park passes because of it?

I don't recall the venue for the unveiling of that early concept art, but the event was covered and photographed (obviously). These days, if you don't want something like that put all over cyberspace, you don't put on a slide show with photographers present.

I agree. I was just curious as to why they wouldn't put better concept art on display. Do you happen to know if it was an event just for the pins, or for the 40th anniversary of the HM in general?

...I still say it's rubbish to suggest that it's common knowledge that a whole narrative scenario about the HM can be isolated to HM souvenirs, with no implications for the ride celebrated in those very souvenirs...

I know virtually nothing about the Disney pin events. I was asking if it's a possibility that they have the wedding theme picked out as the basis for the event with a payoff to the story that would make sense to the attendees without changing the ride. I really have no idea, I was just thinking aloud. Maybe someone familiar with past pin events can shed some light on that?

The "Joe Public" perception is that official Disney is official Disney, and plenty of HM fans have the same perception, because they have no particular interest in the inter-departmental policies of the company. ... If someone said, "I didn't know it worked that way," then I, for one, would not accuse him of unusual ignorance. ... It's simply a matter of intelligent anticipation of normal public reaction, as it actually exists, not as it "should" be.

Thanks, I think I have a better idea of what you meant. I originally mistook your comment to mean that the average person isn't aware that Disney simply has different departments/properties and such, not necessarily related to how they work (or don't work) in relation to each other.

Along the lines of memorabilia though, what if Disney was putting out Autopia merchandise and some of it featured the old, pre-Chevron style cars. Should that be taken as a sign that the old cars are coming back, or simply as a nod to the attraction's past?

The only defense against stupidity on the part of Disney is to claim that those silly fans ought to have known better, that they ought to know things about the Disney business that many of them, obviously, do not.

Telling the disappointed public that they're ignorant and have no one to blame but themselves (when anyone with half a brain could have seen the problem coming), is a STUPID way to run a public entertainment business, regardless of whether you're "right."

I'm not sure I understand what makes the public ignorant and worthy of blame. But, yes, I would agree that refering to your customers as such would be pretty stupid on the part of any business.

As for your last point, the only ones who are saying that disappointed fans have only themselves to blame are the people in discussion fora like this one who don't think Disney has done anything wrong or anything dumb if HBG is a no-show. The inescapable implication of this position (whether stated or not) is that the fans who thought Disney was telegraphing plans for HBG2 have overactive imaginations and don't understand how these things work (i.e., they're ignorant. It's their own fault). Since I assume Disney is not going to say "Whoops, our bad" to people who thought HBG might return because of all this pin stuff, there's only one other message they can send.

I haven't gone through every post in this topic, so I could easily be missing something...

• There is something extraordinarily stupid about how Disney has handled this...
• Yeah, I'd say that qualifies as leading down the primrose path.

• [B]ad word of mouth is [not] likely to do anything to hurt a huge multinational corporation like Disney...[they have] survived PR disasters a lot worse than a handful of angry fans, and they know it.
• I'm not sure how the customers can be found to be ignorant or at fault for Disney not making their message clear...

The inescapable implication of this position (whether stated or not) is that the fans who thought Disney was telegraphing plans for HBG2 have overactive imaginations and don't understand how these things work (i.e., they're ignorant. It's their own fault).

the Playing cards, overall, pretty nice, but the only artwork are the stretching portraits as the Kings Queens Jacks etc. and Madame Leota as the jokers.

There are actually four events in play here. There was the Feb 13, "Friday the 13th Valentine's Eve," massive pin release, with its own fanfare. Then there's the Summer pin festival ("Opin House"). Then there's the SHAG art thingy. Lastly, there's the big 40th Anniversary merchandising event.

That's true. I forgot about the Shag and Feb. 13 events. My point was that somewhere, somehow we got confused and based part of the discusson on the false understanding that the Opin House and September Event were one in the same.

You couldn't be more mistaken about how they handle changes in the HM. Unlike other attractions, with the HM they never, ever announce changes or additions in advance (and for that matter, there is little or no advertisement about them after they're installed). So if they haven't promised anything with regard to the HBG, that means nothing, because, literally, they never do that for the HM.

That's simply not true. Even a page on doombuggies.com confirms this. (The last paragraph and related illustration of the opening section)

However, I did notice a pattern. The examples I gave, save the erroneous listing of the new bride, are all new. Either new attractions or new components of existing ones. Your list, at least the items related to the Anaheim Mansion (I've never been to the Florida one, so I can't speak to the point regarding that), are essentially different versions of something that was already there. If you want other examples from around Disneyland, you could add the Abominable Snowman (from the Matterhorn) with the strobe light effect to this list, as well.

If they don't deliver, then either they knew what they were doing and didn't care (in which case they have shown contempt for their best customers)

What critera are you using to determine who Disney's "best customers" are?

or they didn't realize how blatant it all looks to the fans (in which case they are colossally stupid).

I actually had the opportunity to discuss something similar to that point earlier today with some HM fans. One wondered why pins would mean anything if the expensive figure from a few years ago didn't. For the most part, there was agreement that the events are basically cash grabs. Granted, it's a small group of fans, but the point is that not all HM fans would feel cheated or that Disney had somehow done them wrong if HBG doesn't reappear within the attraction. A fellow fan brought up an interesting point though. Why worry about something that's not in the HM and just appreciate what we have already?