The Success & Failure of "Limited Time Magic"

The year is just about over and now it's time for Disney to admit something:

They dropped the ball on "Limited Time Magic."


I didn't hate Limited Time Magic and I know there will be some people who totally disagree with me on this. When I say "dropped the ball," I mean that it could have been much better. 

It started off really well. Here at Walt Disney World, they forgot about the first week (I think they did some online poll) and decided to do "Canada Winter Wonderland" the second week of January. It was cute, though you could tell it was a rushed operation. Here is a picture of me with some of our favorite friends in Canada.

It was cute and a different meet and greet option. I definitely liked the picture! The following week was probably one of the best of "Limited Time Magic" and one of the events everyone looked forward to: Long-Lost Friends week.

I met so many wonderful characters I had never met before, such as Robin Hood and Ludwig Von Drake. It was worth waiting in the lines to see them (and it was such a big hit, it came back in August!).

A couple weeks later, we had "True Love Week," bringing many photo opportunities with some of Disney's greatest couples. You can tell that I was a huge fan of the character "Limited Time Magic" events. 

And I understand that not everything had to be a character-driven event. There was a "Boy-Band Dapper Dans" week where the Dapper Dans sang popular tunes from boy bands. Last week there was a special Flag Retreat (one of my favorite Main Street traditions) to honor Veteran's Day. Some of the merchandise events weren't bad either- such as introducing the "Glow With the Show" ears.

But overall, I couldn't help but feel that Disney could have just done a better job. There could have been more special "character meet and greets." There are so many characters at Disney that many guests don't get to see often (Huey, Duey and Louie! Roger Rabbit! The Dwarves!) that would have been a huge hit to see again. And although merchandise is always fun, if it's being sold in the stores for more than a week, is it truly "Limited Time Magic?" Take for example the "Glow With the Show" ears. I don't think that's really Limited if it's sticking around for a while. Same goes for when Beautifully Disney makeup came out. The special seasonal Trolley shows may be somewhat limited but they go on for more than a week (so if it's part of Limited Time Magic, something else should have accompanied it). 

And then there was the failure that was "Friday the 13th" at Hollywood Studios. From what I heard, the event was a complete disaster that Disney was unprepared for. Studios was overcrowded, the lines for characters were 3+ hours long, the park hit capacity hours before the event was to happen and people had to park in other parks to get bused over (which took more than an hour with traffic). In Disney's defense, this was the first time they had ever done the event so how could they have known? But, they should have had a plan in case that would have happened.

So, was "Limited Time Magic" a complete bust? I will still say no. I don't think it made people try to go to the parks especially for this year like other celebrations had done in the past but I think it was a real eye-opener for Disney. Such as- people love the characters! Hopefully this event will bring back some of the characters we don't see in the parks too often. Even for non-locals, the character events were a huge hit (especially when the villains came out to play). Those events did give a different kind of Disney experience, which is nice for guests whether it's their first time or their 500th time. It's called Limited Time Magic, which means there is some extra magic there (even if that magic isn't going to be there for long). And a few of those events were truly magical for me and many other people.

I don't know how the new "Show Your Disney Side" campaign will go. There's still not too much information out about it, but I like what I see. I think I also like that it's not about the young kids but even the big kids too (like myself).


So, "Limited Time Magic"- I'm glad you're over because I'm ready to embrace my Disney side. But I hope that my friends I met during this past year will come back to play soon (hint hint Disney)!