FROM: Why Did Disney DO That?!? Published As Necessary

D23 Membership - One more perk please!

Lee explains the challenges of being a D23 member but living in Canada. how do you justify the costs vs. the benefit?

- Lee Beatens, August 31, 2011

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Well, I finally did it. I’m now a D23 Member in good standing with my certificate, membership card, free gift, and a magazine. And the process was pretty painless.

I simply went online to the official website, which redirected me to the online Disney Store, where I filled out some forms for about 10 minutes and then coughed up my money via credit card. And faster than I could complain about the price, I was on my way!

Less than two weeks later I received my membership package (which you can see by visiting my website) and I was a card-carrying D23 Member.

Three more magazines to go and it will be time to re-apply.

Boy, time flies, eh?

“What are you waiting for?”

But seriously, I held off joining because, living in Canada, the perks of this official Disney Fan Club didn’t do much for me. A D23 Expo in… California? No good to me! A special movie premier in… Florida? No good to me! A traveling exhibit makes it way to… New York? No good to me!

Many Disney fans have complained about the concentration of events in those two States, and that even though some events do trickle into other States, they’re still almost impossible to attend on any kind of a regular basis.

So if you live in Canada, or even worse, Inner Mongolia, a membership probably isn’t going to give you the same value as it will for an American living in California.

What can be done?

Not much. That’s the short answer.

Realistically, Disney can’t have events in every country around the world. One can only imagine how much trouble putting together the D23 Expo was, and what a nightmare it would be to take it on the road.

But there is just one perk that I would like as compensation. A perk that would be available to everyone worldwide. A perk that would level the joining field just a little.

How about offering a two-year or three-year membership with a discounted cost? A two-year membership could be $10.00 off, and a three-year membership could be $20.00 off the regular price. Disney could also add one extra gift at the two-year level and two extra gifts at the three-year level.

That way, us fringe members could feel just a little bit special!

But until that happens, I’ll plug away as a ‘Lesser Member’ on the outer reaches of Fandom and await the day when Disney says: “There, there. Here’s an extra perk!”

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