No one knows how to throw a party quite like Disney.
That’s probably why, for the last quarter century, some of the most spectacular celebrations on Earth have actually been housed right in Disney’s theme parks. In fact, it’s something of an annual tradition for Disney to run year-long promotional campaigns centered on the Disney Parks, where grand decor, astounding entertainment, and special offerings abound.
When they’re done right, Disney Parks’ annual campaigns can leave the kinds of lasting memories that are cherished for generations. And sometimes, they don’t exactly live up to the hype… Today, we’re exploring Disney’s best (and sometimes, weirdest) campaigns from The Millennium Celebration to the World’s Most Magical Celebration and beyond… Which of these promotional eras do you remember best? And which do you think were flops?
1999 – 2001 – Millennium Celebration
The “OG” when it comes to modern Disney Parks promotional campaigns, there are many who would attest that nothing has yet topped the Millennium Celebration in terms of cultural reach and scale. Not since the American Bicentennial in 1976 had Disney so expertly managed to elevate its theme parks into a larger, shared cultural celebration, and arguably, there hasn’t really been such a focused, global, all-in-this-together moment into which Disney’s parks have played since (given that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t lend itself very well to a theme park promotional campaign).
Famously, the Millennium Celebration was hosted at EPCOT – a park then in the midst of a controversial reinvention. (Where have we heard this before?) In many ways, there was no place else the Celebration could’ve been. After all, from the moment of its 1982 opening, the park had been billed as an early arrival of the 21st century. And now, with the year 2000 knocking down civilization’s door, EPCOT would serve its purpose as a permanent World’s Fair, showcasing both the promises of the future and the interconnected world we share.
To be sure, the ramp up to EPCOT’s role in the Millennium Celebration is remembered now as a period in which many great things were lost. In their rush to disguise the park’s inherently-’80s aesthetic and “upgrade” its lengthy, informative dark rides into more modern thrills, Imagineers and executives clearly missed the mark. It’s the pressurized preparation for the Millennium Celebration, after all, that saw the Lost Legend: Horizons shuttered for Mission: SPACE, World of Motion sacrified for Test Track, Journey into Imagination replaced with “Disney World’s worst ride ever,” and characters injected at random throughout Future World in a short-sighted, piecemeal attempt to draw families to the park.
But it’s not all bad. The Millennium Celebration was also the catalyst for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth – the long-running, tear-jerking, heart-stopping nighttime spectacular that dared explore the story of humanity from Earth’s creation to the emergence of culture and our path onward, together. Likewise, the cerebral, celebratory Tapestry of Nations with its iconic score, parading around a World Showcase sharing humanity’s story. Those two shows together were perhaps the trust glimpse at what EPCOT could be for the world since the park opened two decades earlier.
Sure, aside from Illuminations, the two most enduring elements of the Millennium Celebration were probably the two clunkiest: the infamous Sorcerer Mickey arm and wand that were grafted onto Spaceship Earth’s silhouette for nearly a decade and the “graveyard” of Leave a Legacy memorials that made for a sullen entry to the park for twice as long. But today, as glimpses of the original EPCOT re-emerge in yet another round of foundational reimagining, it’s clear that the Millennium Celebration was one of the most impactful events Walt Disney World has ever hosted.
2001 – 2003 – 100 Years of Magic
Keying off of the significant success of the Millennium Celebration, the 100 Years of Magic campaign was a ready-made sequel picking up in 2001 – the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth. While you could certainly argue that infant Walt wasn’t yet making much magic as a newborn back in 1901, it’s the thought that counts. Frankly, any acknowledgement of the existence or importance of Walt Disney by the modern Walt Disney Company feels like a gift to fans, so who could complain?
Whereas EPCOT had served as home base for Millennium Celebration, 100 Years of Magic moved to another park in need of an attendance boost: the Disney-MGM Studios. The promotion was anchored by the opening of the “One Man’s Dream” exhibition in the park (now “Walt Disney Presents…”). The park also debuted the “Stars & Motorcars” cavalcade.
But of course, the most memorable component of the 100 Years of Magic campaign was its de facto icon. Given that the Sorcerer Mickey arm and wand grafted onto Spaceship Earth had been a marketing and merchandising coup for EPCOT’s Millennium Celebration, designers crafted an equivalent for the Disney-MGM Studios and its 100 Years of Magic: the infamous Sorcerer’s Hat.
Plopped down right at the end of the park’s otherwise-immersive Hollywood Blvd. (and thus blocking views of the ready-made park icon, the Chinese Theater), the 122-foot tall pointed hat may be remembered as a hideous, unthinkable mistake for many… but for a generation of Walt Disney World guests, the hat was the Studios’ icon, right alongside Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, and the Tree of Life. (Actually, the Sorcerer’s Hat wasn’t removed until 2015, meaning that for an unimaginable 14 years, the hyper-detailed and beautifully-designed Hollywood Blvd. ended in a 12-story cartoon hat – the longest surviving piece of the 100 Years of Magic campaign by far.)
2005 – 2006 – The Happiest Celebration on Earth
You have to imagine that as Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary approached, Walt’s original park in California wasn’t looking too good. Mired in the budget cuts, slashed maintenance, and penny-pinching leadership that had defined the end of Michael Eisner’s era (and dragged down by the still-new California Adventure that hemmoraged money and good will), it seemed that Disneyland would end its first half-century in dire straits.
However, the pieces began to align. In 2003, Matt Ouimet was elevated to President of the Disneyland Resort. Ouimet famously took it upon himself to lead a massive restoration of the park, fast-tracking projects to not only refresh Disneyland and restore staffing, maintenance, training, and guest service standards long-since lost, but to shine up attractions across the resort. The result was The Happiest Homecoming on Earth – a campaign that invited anyone touched by Disneyland in its first fifty years to return to Walt’s original park and see it reborn.
That’s especially important at Disneyland, where “fans” and “guests” are generally one and the same. Still fundamentally a regional park, Disneyland relies heavily on generations-long, local and vocal visitors who grew up with the park in their backyard, and Ouimet’s push for the Happiest Homecoming was like a reintroduction to the park for millions.
Convincing that regional audience to return to Disneyland and to embrace their nostalgia and memories with it really, really worked. Guests found a completely rebuilt Space Mountain, an entirely refreshed Enchanted Tiki Room, a re-opened Submarine Voyage, a Tomorrowland returned from dismal coppers to classic white, and the entire park spiffed up in gold. (Famously, every remaining Opening Day Original had one of its vehicles painted gold as a tribute.)
Best of all, the resort launched “Remember… Dreams Come True”, a sincerely-astounding fireworks show that literally serves as a Grand Circle Tour and Kiss Goodnight for a day at the park, with narrator Julie Andrews celebrating Walt’s enduring legacy for the nostalgic park. Because of the Happiest Homecoming, Disneyland is a park that has learned to lean into fans’ passions, and into acknowledging and celebrating history – something Walt Disney World tends to actively avoid.
For Disneyland, the Happiest Homecoming on Earth served as a true relaunch. Its focus on inviting local and regional guests to return literally created the modern Annual Pass program and the “lifestyling” ethos of Disneyland. For better or worse, it was 2005 that returned the park to prominence and made Disneyland everyone’s local hangout, shaping the distinctly-laid-back Californian vibe that permeates the park and reinforcing the intensely loyal, vocal fandom who literally calls it home.
Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary was cause for celebration at other Disney Parks around the world, too, where it took the name of the Happiest Celebration on Earth – an ode to 50 years of Disney Parks. Magic Kingdom, in particular, got in on the act, decking out its castle in gold and debuting a “Magic Window” that displayed all five Disney Castles across the globe.
As a matter of fact, despite it being Disneyland’s birthday, it’s Disney World that got the gifts. As part of the “Happiest Celebration,” Walt Disney World was “gifted” one attraction from each resort: Soarin’ from California, Cinderellabration from Japan, and “Lights, Motors, Action” from France. (The brand new Hong Kong Disneyland was a newborn; far too young to be expected to provide a gift.) The Happiest Celebration surely went on to inform the look and feel of every campaign to follow, including the one fans often cite as the best…
2006 – 2008 – The Year of a Million Dreams
Sad as it may be on a list that’ll continue on to 2023, many Disney Parks enthusiasts will be quick to tell you that in terms of annual promos, Disney peaked with the Year of the Million Dreams. It makes sense. Coming off of the resounding success of the Happiest Celebration that practically escorted the world back to Disney Parks after a multi-year downturn in tourism post-9/11 (and positioned just before the 2008 Recession that sent the world back into financial despair), the Year of a Million Dreams was exactly what the world needed.
Basically, the Year of the Million Dreams saw “Dream Squad” Cast Members dispatched across Disneyland and Walt Disney World. These Cast Members were charged with the appropriately-Disney job of making dreams come true for those who least expect it. A Cast Member might hand you a pin, or a lanyard filled with them – yours, free. They might give your entire family dreamy Mouse Ears at no cost.
But the Year of a Million Dreams was best known for bringing to life the dreams that money can’t buy. Sure, FastPass is free anyway, but imagine stepping off of a ride and being handed a “Dream FastPass” lanyard, with once-per-ride, anytime access to nine rides across Magic Kingdom for your whole family; being invited to the press opening of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage; being randomly told that EPCOT will stay open late for you and a few a hundred other guests tonight.
Better yet, you might be randomly selected by a Dream Squad Cast Member to win a $500 World of Disney gift card; an all-expenses paid trip to the other domestic Disney park; a 220-point Saratoga Springs Disney Vacation Club timeshare ownership, promising free stays at DVC properties and all dues paid through the 2050s; a 4-day Disney Cruise with VIP reception on Castaway Cay; even the Grand Marshall Tour – a 15-day, all-expenses paid trip to the Disney Parks in Florida, California, Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong, plus $8,000 cash to pay the associated taxes.
Of course, despite not being the biggest prize on the roster, the pièce de résistance was an overnight stay inside the parks, via the custom-crafted Cinderella Castle Dream Suite at Magic Kingdom or the Disneyland Dream Suite above New Orleans Square at Disneyland. The practice of giving away a night in each suite every day was one of the most exciting possibilities for guests in the parks… Just don’t expect a dream come true, and certainly don’t ask for one.
Sure, 99% of Disney’s giveaways during the promotion had a retail value of $24 or less (think, pins, hats, shirts, exclusive ride time, FastPass access, etc.) and most guests didn’t really end up with anything at all. But somehow, the atmosphere of the Year of a Million Dreams was enough to lift everyone’s spirits anyway.
The Year of a Million Dreams was such a tremendous hit for guests, it became the Years of a Million Dreams, extending through 2008. In all, Disney reported distributing about $18 million in giveaways in 2007 (the full list of which you can view here), and $13 million in giveaways in 2008. The total – about $31 million – is far, far less than the cost of the even the smallest attraction, yet engrained tremendous good will in the hearts of Disney Parks guests… so much so that Disney probably should’ve made the practice permanent. But oh well. Time moves on, and so does the promotional cycle…
2009 – What Will You Celebrate?
The “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign is memorable for its too-good-to-be-true promise that any guest would be granted free admission to Disney Parks on their birthday.
As a guest-facing perk, the giveaway made good sense. Disney Parks have always been synonymous with celebrations, like graduations, honeymoons, adoptions, retirements, weddings, and birthdays. A national study by travel research firm Ypartnership suggested that 7 out of 10 people had taken a vacation primarily to celebrate a special occasion, and that Disney Parks had topped the list of destinations. Especially in the midst of the financial crisis caused by the 2008 Recession, the promise of a free admission might just enough to convince a family to consider upgrading their “staycation” into a full-blown Disney trip.
But still, free admission on your birthday?
Make no mistake, this wasn’t an altruistic offer from Disney. The campaign made great sense business-wise, too. Very few people visit Disney Parks for exactly one day – their birthday – alone. So even if Junior got in for free (in 2009, an $80 value), Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother didn’t. (Likewise, if you had a multi-day ticket or Annual Pass, Disney promised an “alternate birthday treat,” but explicitly decreed that no cash refund or credit would be issues for the unused ticket.) That means that a single free admission was a clever “loss-leader,” more than made up for by families opting into Disney Parks vacations thanks to the promotion.
The “What Will You Celebrate” campaign ran from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. That means that everyone on Earth got exactly one day of opportunity to enter Disney Parks for free (except those born February 29, who could redeem their free birthday admission on either February 28 or March 1 since 2009 was not a Leap Year). But offers of free admission continued into the following year with a different promo…
2010 – Give a Day, Get a Disney Day
The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion was one of the shortest-lived promotional campaigns in Disney Parks history… because it was one of the most successful.
Using The Muppets (who Disney acquired in 2004) as ambassadors, the campaign offered a compellingly simple premise: families could sign up to volunteer for a full day at a partnered non-profit organization, and in exchange, would receive tickets for admission to Disneyland or Walt Disney World theme parks for each volunteering member of their family for a day (meaning that, unlike the “What Will You Celebrate?” birthday-based free admission, the whole family could get a free day together.)
Once in the park, “VoluntEARS” were invited to participate in the Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade – a mini-parade wherein “Give a Day” guests marched alongside an under-construction parade float carrying Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Sweetums.
Tickets could be earned through the promotion through qualifying volunteer work beginning January 1, 2010, but needed to be redeemed before December 15, 2010 (with a few blockout dates around holidays). Disney hoped to recruit one million volunteers and thus committed one million single-day admission tickets to the cause. Just 67 days into the year – March 9, 2010 – Disney announced that the “Give a Day” promotion had exceeded their expectations. One million “days” had been volunteered, and one million “Disney days” distributed, bringing the promotion to an early end.
2011 – Let the Memories Begin
At the start of 2011, barely a quarter of Americans had a smart phone. The newest innovation was the iPhone 4, with an unprecedented 5 megapixel camera. Instagram was just three months old. Disney World did not have free wifi, FastPass was free and booked day-of, and MagicBands didn’t exist. But the “Let the Memories Begin” era saw the increasingly tech-savvy, photo-forward, phone-as-camera culture coming and embraced it as a media-tinged promotional campaign.
In addition to a 14-city promotional tour where guests could pose for virtual in-park photos, the “Memories” campaign was based around a pseudo-social-media campaign where guests could upload their in-park photos to a Disney-curated web page, creating a sort of fan-generated archive of Disney Parks vacations throughout the year.
Those images (as well as in-park pictures captured by PhotoPass photographers) also had a guest-facing function. Each night, that day’s images would be used to populate a show called “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” that saw real guest photos projected onto Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom and It’s A Small World at Disneyland. (Projection mapping was a brand new technology for the parks, and the gimmick of searching for your image on the castle was a clever one that remained part of several subsequent nighttime shows.)
Projection mapping and the display of guest-submitted photos isn’t the only thing that remained from the campaign. “Let the Memories Begin” became a de facto slogan of the Disney Parks and in fact, banners bearing the phrase were hung over the entrance to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom and remained for several years, even outlasting the promotion they were placed there for.
2012 – One More Disney Day
In every year divisible by four (except years divisible by 100 unless also divisible by 400), a “Leap Day” is added to the year to keep our 365-day calendar synchronized to Earth’s trip around the sun (which, more accurately, takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds). So what better way to use that “extra” day than at Disney Parks?
Yes, in 2012, both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom were open for 24 continuous hours, from 6 AM on February 29 to 6 AM on March 1. It wasn’t the first time that Disneyland had been open for 24 continuous hours. (In fact, Disneyland had stayed open for 60 continuous hours to celebrate the opening of Captain EO in 1986, and again to debut Star Tours the year after).
The modern return of a 24-hour “party” wouldn’t be the last, either. Disneyland continued hosting 24-hour events in 2013, 2014, and most recently 2015, where the all-nighter coincided with the launch of the park’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration. We’ll let you decide whether “One More Disney Day” really belongs in a list of annual promotions. After all, the campaign centered on a single day, which was finished just 60 days into the year. It’s certainly no “Year of a Million Dreams,” but as Disney clearly began reassessing what kinds of promotions its parks needed, it serves as a unique experiment.
2013 – Limited Time Magic
The promise of “Limited Time Magic” was one of the oddest in Disney Parks promotions – essentially, “special entertainment, events, souvenirs or surprises” that would change from week-to-week, disappearing forever if you missed them.
There was an air of “kitchen sink-ness” to the campaign, which basically turned each of the year’s 52-weeks into loosely-constructed mini-campaigns focused on character meet-and-greets, merchandise drops, custom snacks, and swapped decorations. For example, “True Love Week” (around Valentine’s Day) saw limited-time sweets and prix fixe menus; “Long Lost Friends Week” featured rare character meet-and-greets; Frontierland’s Golden Horsehoe Revue returned for a single month…
On September’s Friday the 13th, Disneyland and Hollywood Studios stayed open until “13 o’clock” (1 AM) with Villain meet-and-greets in the parks; “Pirate Week” saw “Pirate-Palooza” parties at both resorts; “Fairies Week” saw the characters from the Tinker Bell spin-off Fairies series appear…
As you might expect, the “Limited Time Magic” mini-events ranged in scale, quality, and importance, but were generally well-received. And unlike many campaigns that followed, these day-, week-, or month-long events actually bolstered guests’ experiences in-park, with ever-changing, well-orchestrated plusses that spoke to Cast Members’ flexibility. It meant that every visit to the park for locals or Annual Passholders felt “fresh” while also banking on a post-Happiest-Homecoming market of popcorn buckets, Instagrammable snacks, and must-have merch that turned every week’s limited-time offerings into a must-document, social media-ready collectible.
What the campaign did not do well is to incentivize out-of-town visitors, who were unlikely to be able to coordinate their cross-country trip or time off work with ever-changing, weekly-rotating events. But even if “Limited Time Magic” probably wasn’t the best name, given its flexibility, its smaller scale, and its merchandising focus, it’s no surprise that “Limited Time Magic” has returned as an umbrella for transient offerings several times in the decade since.
2014 – #DisneySide
As ever, Disney’s 2014 campaign – “Share Your #DisneySide” – not-so-coincidentally lines up with the ever-changing tech capabilities of Americans. Whereas 2011’s “Let the Memories Begin” aligned with the birth of Instagram and the first inklings that phones and cameras would become one-in-the-same, by 2014, nearly two in three Americans reported owning a smartphone, Facebook users surpassed one billion, and # ceased being the “pound symbol” and became forevermore the “hashtag.”
Disney suggested that the social media friendly promotion was about “showing your Disney side – the side of you that says “yes” more often, laughs louder and lives life to the fullest. It’s the side of you that embraces fun and comes out to play the moment you step through the gates at Disney Parks.”
But unlike past years, the Disneyside campaign didn’t really have any in-park benefit, messaging, or focus. Honestly, that makes sense, too. In 2014, Disney had officially purchased Lucasfilm, and it was clear that the Parks were on their way into a supporting role as Disney’s Iger-era accumulation of IP, franchising, and licensing took center stage in the so-called Content Wars that were soon to come. The #DisneySide campaign asked for Disney fans to embrace “lifestyling,” buy merch, post about Disney’s brands, and swear allegience to Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Star Wars.
Put well by Theme Park Insider’s Robert Niles, the #DisneySide campaign represented a shift wherein rather than advertising theme parks or films or merchandise, Disney’s product was Disney – the Brand and the Lifestyle. The DisneySide promo smartly figured that we, the people, had far greater reach via social media in proselytizing the “magic” of Disney than any campaign could. Obviously, it worked. People happily identify as “Disney Fans” and hang “We ♥ Disney” in their hotel room windows; can you imagine anyone self-identifying as “Comcast Fans” or hanging “We ♥ Comcast” signs in their windows at Cabana Bay?
While #DisneySide might not have caught on, it clearly served as the catalyst for today, when brand loyalty is at an all-time high and fans readily celebrate a multi-billion-dollar international entertainment conglomerate clobbering competitors, gobbling up studios, and commodifying intellectual property.
2021 – 2023 – The World’s Most Magical Celebration
Disneyland celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2005 with an international Happiest Celebration on Earth campaign and a golden promotion built around nostalgia, restoration, invitation, and the legacy of Walt Disney himself. Sixteen years later, its younger sister in Florida went… a different direction.
The Most Magical Celebration is just as elaborate in design, with a shimmering, oil-slicked “EARidescence” adorning marketing, park icons, and merchandise across Walt Disney World. But whereas Disneyland’s 50th leaned heavily on the park’s history, music, rides, and founder, Disney World’s 50th is a celebration planned by a very different Walt Disney Company. To that end, it’s really no surprise that the Most Magical Celebration practically avoids any commentary on the parks, their history, or their founder.
Instead, the celebration’s emphasis is almost entirely on post-2010 Disney media franchises. The two nighttime spectaculars that launched as part of the campaign (Magic Kingdom’s “Enchantment” and EPCOT’s “Harmonious”) make no mention of the parks they’re found within, much less their 50th and 40th anniversaries, respectively. (Only after immense fan backlash – and in the latter half of the 18-month celebration – did Disney retcon a Walt tribute into the “Enchantment” projection show.)
Likewise, fifty golden statues distributed across the parks aren’t of Imagineer-made characters or landmark rides from across the resort’s first five decades, but of Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Star Wars characters. (Of the fifty, only one – Figment – represents a park-specific character, and he was replaced in the associated Happy Meal toy line with a movie character.)
Sure, undoubtedly, some of what Disney had planned for the 50th was scaled back thanks to the 2020 pandemic and its two-fold fallout: the downturn in tourism and attendance, and the slow-down on high-profile projects that saw Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle Run, and EPCOT’s reimagining all come untethered from their timelines and lose their connection to the promotion.
But more damningly, the “Most Magical Celebration on Earth” will likely also remain synonymous with its poorly-timed launch of the ill-received Genie+ paid-for line-skipping system, additional-cost “Individual Lightning Lane” add-ons for in-demand E-Tickets, record-breaking “Stand-by” waits for guests who don’t pay extra, the end of Disney’s Magical Express airport transportation, immensely complex tech-based planning with daily 6:55 AM wakeups, and a host of other cancelled perks and new upcharges that Disney used the pandemic as an excuse to monetize, to say nothing of new CEO Bob Chapek’s stated interest in downsizing portions, upping prices, and attracting fewer customers who spend more.
In other words, the Most Magical Celebration has fallen frustratingly flat both in its forgetting to celebrate Walt Disney World and coinciding with nearly all guest-facing perks evaporating into thin air. If the global ad-campaign was meant to bring travel-hungry guests back to a post-pandemic Walt Disney World, it clearly succeeded based on crowd levels and staggering waits. But if it was meant to leave those guests so impressed that they want to come back year after year? Well… we’ll have to see.
2023 – 100 Years of Wonder
Announced at the 2022 D23 Expo, “100 Years of Wonder” is meant to be Disney’s company-wide, all-in, across-the-board marketing campaign for 2023. Not to be confused with 2001’s 100 Years of Magic (which, you’ll remember commemorated 100 years since Walt Disney’s 1901 birth), 100 Years of Wonder harkens back to the 1923 founding of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio – the earliest iteration of what would become the modern Walt Disney Company. (It’s sort of wild to have lived 2001 to 2023 as the 21st century, 22-year equivalent of the time span that separated Walt’s birth and the founding of his studio.)
It’s not often that the entire Walt Disney Company and its dozens of gigantic sub-divisions all gather under one promotion, but that’s exactly what “100 Years of Wonder” is supposed to imply. From a refreshed “Disney 100” production vanity logo at the studio to world-touring Disney 100: The Exhibition, it’s clear that the company is going big.
At Disney Parks alone, the “Disney 100” celebration will see Disneyland decked out in the promo’s aesthetic: platinum irridescence. It’ll launch two new nighttime shows – “Wondrous” at Disneyland and “World of Color – One” at California Adventure, plus the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and the return of the “Magic Happens” parade. (Pairs of associated platinum-dripping Mouse Ears were pulled when fans mocked the uncomfortably biological appearance.)
Meanwhile, at Disney World, the “Disney 100” campaign will overlap with the tail end of the Most Magical Celebration on Earth. But Disney has already announced that the two shows that launched for the resort in 2021 – “Enchantment” and “Harmonious” – will both disappear in favor of Disney 100-themed offerings. (It’s a staggeringly short life for both shows, especially since their franchise-focused, sing-along styles would actually be better suited for the “Disney 100” campaign than they were for the 50th Anniversary.)
Like all things modern Disney, it’s hard to know what will come of the Disney 100 celebration. Despite the pomp and circumstance surrounding it, fans have their expectations tempered. This is, after all, a Walt Disney Company led by Bob Chapek. And while a franchise-focused, merchandisable centennial is well-suited for his interests, Chapek’s laser focus on the company as a “synergy machine” and the any-economist-will-tell-you-is-impossible goal of making the content black hole of Disney+ profitable has seen the year kick off with ominous news.
In November 2022 – a month before the campaign’s launch – leaked memos show that Chapek allegedly announced to Disney’s 190,000 Cast Members a “targeted hiring freeze” at the company, forbidding hiring except for “a small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions.” Even more foreboding, Chapek is instituting an evaluation process that will “look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings” including “some staff reductions” and “tough and uncomfortable decisions” to come. Chapek (who earned over $30 million in cash, bonuses, and stock in 2021) will institute a “cost structure task force” that echoes the darkest days of the end of Eisner’s run, sure to diminish Disney Parks’ standing and double down on upcharges and slashed perks yet again. (“Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”)
Does that make “Disney 100” sound like a compelling campaign to you?
