New Fantasyland Pin Release Review

On Thursday  December 6th it was a historic day at the Magic Kingdom. New Fantasyland officially opened its doors with a Grand Opening. Sure, it's great, magical, wonderful blah blah blah. But what us collectors were most excited for was the stuff Disney made for us to buy! Specifically, the pins.

I post this article because sometimes the release of Limited Edition items becomes a bigger story than the items themselves. As the hobby changes, Disney is still trying to figure out the best ways to do things. I think the New Fantasyland pin release was a huge step forward. So I believe that is worth a story.

Due to work, Rapinzel was not able to attend the pin release held at the Coronado Springs Resort, but she texted me at the end of the day and asked how it went...

Here is what I meant...

The Good
Disney decides to hold a separate event for the New Fantasyland pin release. I believe this was a smart move. First, New Fantasyland is too small to hold the release at the shop there. It would impact guest movement and enjoyability far too much. They could hold it at say the Diamond Horseshoe like at the 40th. However, moving the release off site to a resort allows for traffic flow to be diverted from the Magic Kingdom do a different part of property. It just makes sense, and I applaud it.

The Awful
Disney did not plan for some of the most obvious details regarding this event. They staffed the place with Cast Members, registers, tables, switchback lines. The resort knew there was a pin event, and was ready for it. But they were not ready for the crowd. Sure, there was a no line up in the hallway until 4pm rule, but what to do with the crowd before then. They had no plan for this. Did they really think no one would arrive on property until 3:50?

The Great
Disney enforced the no line until 4pm rule. Actual Disney security patrolled the halls kicking out guests who lined up early. This was a very important part in pulling this whole thing off. And Disney showed they communicated very well and that they can enforce these types of rules. If guests were allowed to line up early, it would have been extremely unfair.

The Stupid
Disney had no plan for crowd control, we were gathered on the sidewalks spilling into the driveway where buses and cars were pulling up. We were at various doors, blocking guests exit and entry.

The Funny
Do you remember the Disney "Notazoo" advertising campaign for the Animal Kingdom? It was a lot like that. As the huge crowd assembled outside the doors of the Coronado Springs Convention Center, the security came out every 15 minutes or so to remind everyone that this is NOT a line. They said it over and over again. This is not a line. It was very funny to all of use who were not lined up pretty much in the order we arrived. But it was an understandable, if still comical, announcement. They needed to make sure that your place was not secure. People may go ahead of you. Point of entry may not even be where you are not lined up. There were also various not lines at various doors.

The Horrible
As the time for entry drew ever closer, not lines began to form closer to the doors. Eventually it came to the point were the crowds were just pushed up against the doors... doors that swing outward... toward the crowd. We couldn't move. We had no idea how crazy it would get when they said "come in" and we tried to open the doors and squeeze through. The security finally pushed us back a few steps.

The Smart
Security selected just one door to let the crowd through. They announced that we were still not a line, but that only by coming in this one door, would we be allowed to join the line at the ballroom inside the building. Although this would create a huge traffic jam outside the building, and some guests were not happy about this idea, this was the smartest thing they could have done. This allowed guests to calmly enter the building one by one and walk over to the ballroom. No worries about who was running in from another direction or event behind you. It was just an orderly entry.

The Fantastic
Disney did not wait until 5pm to open up the cash registers. They let us into the ballroom and began to ring up sales just after 4pm. Realizing that were already hundreds of people here, and not wanting to keep that huge line wrapping around the convention center hallways for an extra hour, they began the sales early.

Overall, Disney took a few giant steps forward with the New Fantasyland pin event. I thought the idea for a separate event was brilliant. There was obvious communication in a positive manner between the event organizers and everyone involved. They had many registers and Cast Members in place. They enforced the no line up before 4pm rule. Now, they just need a plan for the crowd before the line up time. The issue will be alleviated by moving the time to about 5 hours before the event. Therefore you will have a space reserved for them. The pins? Oh ya, they were cool too.