Why does Disney wait to announce Star Wars Weekends?
If we have any cast members reading this, I really hope you can confirm this information. According to what I have been told, the Cast Member magazine, Eyes and Ears, has listed the 2008 Star Wars Weekends are going to take place again in June. If this is true, I am aggravated on so many levels.
Why would this be announced to Cast Members and not to potential guests? If the dates are decided, and it appears they are, what purpose would it serve to keep it a secret from the folks who need the information the most? June is a very busy time, and in case Disney executive can’t perform simple math too well, we are already past a six month window. By the time this gets announced, those who want to go will be behind the eight-ball on booking dining reservation in an extremely crowded month. When you can’t get Hoop-Dee-Doo or Le Cellier, you know who to thank!
Also, I did not attend Star Wars Weekend last year because it was in June. My hunch was that it would be way too crowded and hot. From everything I heard my hunch was right. This event has been in May every year but 2007 because May conflicted with a big Star Wars convention out west. That is not a problem this year, so going back to May would make sense. However, it appears making sense is not the order of the day.
But more importantly is the timing of the announcement and this happens every year. Disney always waits until late January or February to announce this enormously popular event. For a company the actively encourages guests to plan in advance, this seems like an unnecessary obstacle.
Rumor from Mouse Extra: Star Wars Weekends, June 2008 « Broke Hoedown said,
January 5, 2008 @ 6:02 pm
[...] 5, 2008 The Mouse Extra blog today says that the Disney Cast Member magazine, Eyes and Ears, has published that Star Wars [...]
Matt said,
January 5, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
It says June 6 - 29, 2008.
Matt said,
January 6, 2008 @ 2:06 am
I’m bothered it’s all June again. May & June is much better than June only.
Billy (cast member) said,
January 6, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
It is going to be June 6-29
Mike said,
January 8, 2008 @ 1:18 am
I must say, I don’t get the June thing. May seems to make the most sense
Raidermatt said,
January 9, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
Even though I personally have a better chance of visiting in June than May, I have to agree that May seems to make more sense. It’s a slower period so it would seem that the event would be more beneficial to Disney then. Similar to Food and Wine in the otherwise slow fall months.
It also doesn’t make sense that if the dates are established, they are not being released to guests. Certainly not the most guest-friendly decision.
As for last year’s event, yes, it was hot and crowded at times, but for me the bigger issue was they seemed to scale back on some of the events. I don’t think they had one of the trivia games they usually do. There were definitely fewer characters walking around and interacting with guests, which is probably my favorite part of the event.