D23 for those outside the USA

Aveen2008 · December 03, 2010, 05:37:15 PM

Hi,

I noticed one or two people here who don't live in the USA said they are members of D23, but I have a few questions...

How did you join? Because when I 'click to join' I am brought straight to the Disneystore uk website, so are uk members not actually allowed to join?

Is there any good reason to join if you live outside the USA as you can't really attend events and stuff?

what do you get from being a member?

I am just a bit annoyed because I consider myself a huge Disney Fan and I think there should be an official Disney fan club that is accessible to members worldwide and that has bonus' for all fans who join, not just those who live near the parks. :roll:

any information or can anyone help explain it to me? Thanks

dagobert · December 03, 2010, 10:09:13 PM

Quote from: "Aveen2008"Hi,

I noticed one or two people here who don't live in the USA said they are members of D23, but I have a few questions...

How did you join? Because when I 'click to join' I am brought straight to the Disneystore uk website, so are uk members not actually allowed to join?

Is there any good reason to join if you live outside the USA as you can't really attend events and stuff?

what do you get from being a member?

I am just a bit annoyed because I consider myself a huge Disney Fan and I think there should be an official Disney fan club that is accessible to members worldwide and that has bonus' for all fans who join, not just those who live near the parks. :roll:

any information or can anyone help explain it to me? Thanks

I'm a D23 member since last year.

When you click on the "Join" button you are redirected to the UK store. At the bottom of the UK store there is a link to the US store and you will be redirected to the US Disney Store.

There are no events outside the US and so there is only the magazine and the goodies that come sometimes with it. I really like the magazines and for me the four issues per year are worth the $75.

There is a cheaper membership that doesn't include the D23 magazines, but when you can't attend any events it is not the right thing for you.

When I joined I took the regular membership with the magazines. I know I will not attend any events in the future, although we were thinking of attending the Disney EXPO next year. Unfortunately I will start a new job I will not have the time. The package included a D23 member ship card, a certificate, four D23 magazines and a present. Last year the present was a beautiful Mickey Mouse poster. This year the present is a calender. When you are a D23 member you are also allowed to order exclusive D23 merchandise, like pins and other special things, from the Disney Store. I only ordered a pin and the magazines published before I joined. The merchandise isn't cheap.

Many people complained that there are no events at DLRP, but there is a simple reason for it. DLRP isn't a wholly owned subsidiary of TWDC.

Aveen2008 · December 03, 2010, 10:58:52 PM

Thanks Dagobert!

I don't think it would be worth it for me but I really do think there should be some sort of worldwide fan club! The Disneystore usa charges extortionate prices for postage to the uk so even if I was going to get a dicount on d23 merhandise it wouldnt be worth the postage.

But thanks for letting me know your experience and a bit about d23

dagobert · December 03, 2010, 11:08:53 PM

The shipping is so expensive, but due to the Dollar - Euro exchange rate it wasn't that bad. And thanks to my girlfriend. I got the membership for Christmas.

dagobert · January 06, 2011, 03:30:27 PM

Yesterday when I returned from my skiing holiday, I found a great surprise in my post box. I received my new D23 membership card for 2011 and the special gift for 2011:

dagobert · January 07, 2011, 03:47:15 PM

Today I found another great surprise from D23 in my post office box. I have already posted it in the Collecting Disney thread. I received a wonderful D23 pin from Disney. I don't know why D23 has sent me the pin, because I have already gotten a watch.

Javey74 · January 10, 2011, 09:15:49 PM

I agree with Aveen, it's about time that there was a world wide fan club, which gives gifts and special discounts. The only discount which has been really worthwhile is my DLP Shareholders Club Card which gets me 10% off any merchandise in the Disney Stores and it came in real handy at DLP, reckoning up the spends we saved just over €100 using it..

I get invites to the meetings held at DLP, but again just like the American ones, I couldn't just get up and get a flight and go. There could even be a fan club for Europe with bases in each country, Disney Fans like us could at least get to the Expeditions in our own country.

At this rate it looks like we might have to start our own up.. :mrgreen:

davewasbaloo · January 10, 2011, 10:05:29 PM

What I would say for UK fans, Castle China in Warwick often has a fan meet where they sell the WDC series. But we have met animators and imagineers, have dinner, and quizes, it is excellent. And Adam (author of the Brit's guide) of course does his Mousemeets event in April too.

Years ago I used to host large events in London and Birmingham, but the spark and drive to continue (one event was the premiere of PotC in Leicester Square), as well as a 50th birthday party for Disneyland in Milton Keynes.

dagobert · January 10, 2011, 10:18:35 PM

It would be great to have some events in Europe, especially at DLRP, but I don't think this will happen in the near future.

There are also discussions on Micechat.com if a D23 membership is worth the money, even in the United States. Most of the events are at the Walt Disney Studios Lot in Burbank and of course at the US Disney Parks. Jeffrey Epstein from D23 did a question and asnwer for Micechat and he says that in the near future most of the events will still be in Burbank and Anaheim. The reason is that the D23 guys are based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank and so it is a lot easier for them to organize the events near the headquarter.

I also think that the parks outside the US will never be included in the discounts and events, just because TWDC doesn't own them.

I like to be a member and I know it is expensive, but I really like the magazines. In my opinion they are very well done and get better from issue to issue. One magazine costs $15 in the US book shops and it is published four times year and that makes $60, so the actual membership is just $15. The shipping is the really expensive part for members outside the US.

I'm also a shareholder of DLRP and the discounts for merchandise and restaurants are really great.