Kim's Corner
Page 6 of 7
the queue -
Well… it still took us nearly two hours in line - and with far fewer guests than were there for the SoundStation pin event - so the ability of the venue - even with every register and the pin cart in use - to process that many guests needs to be enhanced. I don’t know what the "magic number" is - but two hours is still a bit extreme. There are still little things that could be done differently - a pin board in the queue that would allow those like my "newbie" friend to decide if she wanted any of the 100 Mickeys would have been a good thing. As would a system that allowed people to come and go from the line - a large Diet Coke makes for an uncomfortable wait.
the pins -
OK - I seem to remember being told during one of last years "pin seminars" that the price of a pin would "never" be determined by their edition size alone. Well - unless the cost of producing and shipping and marketing a simple single-layer cloisonné pin has gone up considerably over the last 6 months… When I had heard that there would be a Where’s Mickey? pin event, I thought ‘wooooo-hooooo!’ - and when I heard that the seven pins produced for the event would be a LE of 2,000 I thought ‘cool’ - and then when I heard that the pins would be priced at $8.50 each, I thought ‘OUCH - that’s price-gouging DLR style’.
A single-layer pin at the DLR is priced at $6.50 - as were the twelve pins in the International Mickey series released last year - the only difference between them and the Where’s Mickey? event pins - or any other pin on the racks at the resort - is the edition size. I paid the $8.50 (- my AP 10%) for the LE Mickey pins anyway - but I collect Mickey - many other collectors didn’t buy the pins at all. I bought the pins for this event - but I’m not likely to pay $8.50 for any other LE pins released for another pin event if they were to feature another character. I understand that it’s been a tough year for the theme park industry and in a soft economy most divisions aren’t going to make their year-end profit projections - I also understand that balancing the books on the backs of those who pay your bills is bad business.
And - there wasn’t a GWP completor pin for those buying the LE pins for this event as there had been for the previous event - although a lucky few were given the SoundStation logo GWP pin as the Where’s Mickey? event pin by mistake or miscommunication. Not that I think that every pin event needs to have a GWP pin for those buying the LE pins - but - when you put out very nearly $60.00 (before any discounts and such) - and some $120.00 or more - a small token on the part of the DLR for your support of the pin trading promotion is a nice touch.
Where’s Mickey? Pin Event - the ugly
Kicking this event over with my pin pals as I was getting ready to write this review - I didn’t find a single occasion of something that could be considered "ugly". Cool!
Not that there weren’t problems - not that the lines weren’t too long or that the pins weren’t over-priced or that the game wasn’t too easy for the Disneyland aficionado… But there were obvious attempts to fix the problems that plagued the SoundStation event thereby making the Where’s Mickey? event a success - I’d say that the lessons had been learned and the steps taken to assure those participating - both guest and CM - would enjoy the day.
Where’s Mickey? Pin Event - the future
I like pins and so I like pin events. I’d be happy to see an event a month being run at the resort. They don’t need to be tied to pin releases or to merchandise events. If the response of the Disneyland day guest for this event is any measure I’d say that I’m not the only one who enjoyed the Where’s Mickey? event.