What are your thoughts about this. Registration went through the roof, every position was sold out very fast, and there is no WDW expense of doing this on-site. By having a LE of 750-1000 you can signup many more people than this via the virtual route and leave everyone up to the luck of the draw. In-person event would have had the RSP's limited to the folks who made it to the event via registration. I just have a bad feeling about this and how it will affect future in-person pin events. Full disclosure, I did not get in. Collecting for 18 years and attending the pin event for 15, first time I am not participating in a decade and a half.. Mike S. Figment919
I could see them doing like an online event if it's popular and then still have the WDW and DLR events. It costs them very little and they get feedback in person for events. They also don't have to deal with shipping logistics. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
While technically they could sell a lot more tickets this way, they really can't because too many people means very few people get very few pins, which is a primary aspect of this. If I end up getting nothing in my RSP, I sure as heck won't be doing it again next year. And the tickets they do sell they have to charge less for since there is not as much value, so making less money off the tickets. And that's not considering the additional income they would normally be getting from selling all the lunches, people eating in the parks, people like me getting park tickets for the days, etc. I think it will be less valuable to them this way. And that's presuming people would even continue to go to this. It's obviously the only option this year and folks are jumping in, but I wonder how many will continue to pay $50 in future years to see a few presentations about pins. No trading with other participants. No board trading. No auction pins to gawk at and/or go for. No seeing the new pins in person to get excited about them. No scavenger hunt fun. No meeting up with "pin event friends". No games. Etc. If this is the model going forward, I imagine interest would quickly dissipate.
P.S. Last year sold out crazy fast too. With much higher ticket prices. Especially the Best in Show option.
Virtual events don’t equal admission ticket sales or hotel room bookings or food and wine purchases or Halloween Parties, etc. My concern would be more laying off all the event people, but they could eventually rehire or contract. Next year could be virtual though.
Since I am a glass half full kind of person, I don't see virtual continuing as a replacement for the in person events. Disney makes a lot of money at their annual WDW event (as stated in posts above). Perhaps as a new option to expand reach of their pin trading/pin sales? I see pin trading as a way Disney generates park enthusiasm in general. Virtual just doesn't benefit the parks.
I think they will still do in-person events because many people stay on property, and Disney will want to fill rooms. However, I could see them doing this for an anniversary release instead of a Pin Trading Night right now.
I did not even try to sign up, my opinion is that I prefer the in person events, you get to make new friends, see others you have not seen for a year and get to trade with many others from all over
I think they will continue to do them virtually until they can safely and logistically do them in person again, and will then switch back. With virtual events they still get the money from pin sales (probably a bit more than during a regular event, since the RSP catalog is pretty much the highlight of the virtual event), and some money from registration, but they are missing out on the hotel reservations, park tickets, food sales, etc. that come with in-person events. Some of the big draws of the yearly event just aren't logistically possible virtually, so interest in them will probably go down each time they do them virtually. It's not about a virtual event being more fun, it's about keeping attendees and cast members safe. It's just a fact that there is currently no safe way to do a trading event in person at this time. Their only two choices were to do it virtually or not do it at all. If you don't think a virtual event will be fun or worth it, then you don't have to sign up. But it's a way for people who do want to participate to at least have part of the experience (and for Disney to sell the pins that were probably far enough into production that they couldn't cancel).
Unfortunately, we may still be dealing with the Coronavirus crisis through next year so this could be the "new normal" for the time being. The Disney Park Pass system will be in effect until the end of 2021 which means they'll be limiting capacity and indicates Disney doesn't expect things to change. I also get the strong feeling that with all the money Disney is losing, festivals, special events, entertainment, etc. will be cut. *sigh
