Disney in-store event is a BUST

To Whom It May Concern:

We are huge Disney fans in my family. When I received the email about the “Mickey Sing-Along and Storytime,” I immediately called our Disney store to make sure it was participating and marked the calendar to go. With my toddler dressed in her favorite Minnie Mouse tee shirt and Princess light-up shoes, she tucked her Mickey Mouse under her arm, and we headed out for the I Heart Mickey event.

To say that we were disappointed with the event is beyond an understatement. I was embarrassed for the Disney brand.

I expected high-energy, happy singing, a cute video and lots of happy kids. I even planned to go back with several moms and tots later in the week. What I got was a pathetic attempt to bring people into the store with a terrible video, bored associates and a cute book that wasn’t even for sale.

We arrived about 20 minutes prior to the event start, and there were several families milling about the store talking excitedly about the pending event. After doing a little shopping, we parked my daughter in front of the screen to watch some TV (Beauty and the Beast was on). Sitting on the floor with my daughter, I didn’t even realize the event started…

Suddenly, the screen changed to a very OLD sing-along video of M-I-C-K-E-Y…            Having overheard one cast member telling another about the video earlier, I knew this was it. Several other children were gathered on the floor behind us, and I overheard a cast member passing out Valentine’s characters to snuggle with during the video. (Cute, but no one brought my daughter one…)

Once the song was over – the song that NO CAST members participated in singing… the next video was a vintage Mickey cartoon – my favorite. But to my dismay, this wasn’t a cute lovey Mickey cartoon – for an event about loving Mickey; it was a cartoon about Mickey KILLING bugs. Ummm death and Valentine’s day – WHAT were you thinking?

After sitting through this painful toon, the final song was an ‘80s sing-along filmed at River Country – an old favorite of mine. Too bad it was mostly about Donald, no cast members sang and it was not very catchy…

Finally, the “event” concluded with the reading of a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Valentine’s book. My daughter LOVES to be read to, so this was a highlight. We gathered round to read the story, which was adorable. I asked to purchase the book, only to be told the book wasn’t available in the store… Ummm gee, great – bring me into the store show my daughter a great book, but don’t sell it to me. Thanks.

My husband looked at me and said, “That was pathetic.” I knew he was annoyed that I dragged him to the mall for that. I was annoyed too!

This was not the kind of thing I expect from Disney, this is the kind of thing I expect from a community library. Needless to say, we will not be going back with friends – in fact, I told friends NOT to go.

I am sorry Disney; this was the first Disney event I didn’t like because it was terrible.

Your Biggest Fan,

Jennifer Burg

www.TheSuburbanMom.com

3 thoughts on “Disney in-store event is a BUST”

  1. I agree, I have gone to a couple of these instore events and they all seem a little disorganized and “winged’ but we go anyways because at the end of the day my 3 yr old likes the Disney Store, and she would be happy with a sticker so its something to do. But I know your sentiment, I no longer take my husband because its not worth it. If my kid were older I doubt shed want to go. We just went to Disneyland after to restore our faith. LOL

    Reply
    • Yeah – I was super disappointed, but I did get a nice email back from the folks at Disney recognizing the obvious mistakes I pointed out. So, maybe they will get better… Until then, we have season passes to Disney World, so we will just head out to the Magic Kingdom 🙂 No worries, we still LOVE the Mouse~

      Reply
  2. This is the nice email I received from the Disney Store…

    Wanted to personally respond to the disappointing experience that you had at one of our Disney Stores. From the sound of it, the experience was a lot less fun that it was originally intended. Based on your feedback, we are re-communicating the expectation of our castmember’s participation.
    I am sorry that the animated short was a disappointment – this feature changes out daily.

    As for the fact that the storybook was not for sale, that is a miss we are addressing for future events. It is feedback like yours that helps us continually improve our events. In the coming weeks there will be How-to-draw Mickey classes and Mickey trivia quizzes. Next month there will be a Princess and the Frog craft and party, and an Easter event. For a full outline of upcoming events, please become a fan at facebook.com/disneystore. If you would like to speak to someone directly, please call 866-902-2798. We hope that you give us another chance to exceed your expectations.

    Sincerely,
    Mark Villalovos

    Reply

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