Editor's Report
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We Must Be the Lucky Ones
By now you've probably heard all the horror stories about last weekend's Pirates of the Caribbean event. Fortunately for my wife and I and many of our friends, our story isn't among them. The primary reason we went was to see the panel discussion. We didn't arrive for check-in until 10:30 a.m. and were able to do so without a line. We stayed a bit then left and returned around 6:00 p.m. We viewed the merchandise and selected the items we wanted (two CDs and a button) without a line. We then went to the Fantasyland Theater to wait in line for about an hour. After the discussion we waited about an hour for the special ride. On our way out we heard merchandise would be available for pickup Sunday through Wednesday, so rather than wait in the huge line that had formed we opted to come back another day. When we returned on Sunday we turned in our slip and they said the merchandise would be ready in 2-3 hours. We went to lunch and returned a few hours later. One of our bags was ready, minus the button. They went in back and got a button for us. The other bag (just one CD) they said had already been sent to shipping. I was annoyed by the incorrect information given earlier, but it wasn't a big deal ... for us.

But make no mistake, from what we saw and heard, we were among the lucky ones. We heard from several people who said the day was basically spent waiting in line. Several people said they would never come to an event like this again or it was their worst day at Disneyland. Some were so tired after the morning and afternoon waiting they didn't even bother with the panel discussion or special ride - or instead spent that time waiting for their merchandise. We know people who didn't get out of the park until after 4:00 a.m. One person said they felt "abused" by Disneyland.

This is at least the fourth event of this kind held at Disneyland in the past year the previous being the Haunted Mansion event, Mr. Toad's Enchanted Evening and Cinderella's Anniversary Celebration. Merchandising at the prior events has had its own share of problems with Mr. Toad's probably being the most successful. By now you'd expect the situation to be continually improving, even if it weren't yet perfect. Why did this event turned out so much worse than the rest? What will future events bring? And how can Disneyland win back the trust of some of their best customers? 

I don't want to minimize what some guests went through. I saw them on Saturday and Sunday and their anger was genuine and justified. I also don't want to give the impression the event was 100% disaster because it wasn't. As I said, my wife and I had a great time as did many of our friends. We talked to several people that enjoyed themselves either despite the merchandising problems or because they avoided the problems all together. The entertainment and discussion were almost unanimously praised by those we talked to, and most felt the special ride was indeed special. The quality of the event's merchandise was also praised. But the experience as a whole, for many, is not a pleasant Disneyland memory.

For more reports from the event, read the Pirates of the Caribbean event topic on our Discussion Boards.

Note: On Tuesday evening Disneyland announced they would refund the admission price to all event attendees. Click here for Tom DeCaro, Disneyland's Vice President of Merchandising, statement to LaughingPlace.com.

This Week
We'll have more on the Pirates event as the week goes on. This week's Online Poll asks the question "Should Song of the South be rereleased?" This week's Trivia Contest is all about Walt Disney World Eateries..

Last week in this space we said a new column would be debuting last Friday. At the last second we changed our mind on that one. That column has been put on hold but may happen at some point in the future. We apologize for speaking too soon.

-- Doobie Moseley (May 23, 2000)