Dazed by the cost! A Disney FanDaze story.

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Hey guys!
So 2018 is now under way, and as a Disney fan, but more specifically a Disneyland Paris fan, it’s hard not to look back on 2017 without a whole spectrum of emotion, and above all pride, for what our home resort achieved in its 25th year.

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We entered 2018 with promises that it wouldn't stop there for DLP, with the sparkling celebrations of the 25th being extended until September. Two new seasons would bring Parc Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios to life, Pirates and Princesses in the spring and Marvel Summer of Super Heroes debuting in June. Not only that but favourites Season of the Force, Electroland and Run Disney (now re-branded as Magic Run Weekend) will all be returning, and of course the classic Halloween and Christmas seasons remain intact.

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But if all that wasn't enough to make you want to part with your cash to visit the resort during 2018 a new jewel in the Disneyland Paris crown was announced. On September 1st 2017 we got our first teasers of FanDaze, described as "A magical experience created especially for Disney fans!" that was about as much as we got for the next 30 days other than a series of teaser images and the strap line "It's fun to be a fan at Disneyland Paris". Of course social media kicked into overdrive with rumours and speculations over what this might all mean, until the 30th where a handful of specially selected bloggers and vloggers got invited to a special press event to find out about what would be on offer.

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I won't spend a huge amount of time going into what was announced, it's been covered plenty by now and if you've some how managed to miss it fan sites such as DLP Town Square, Dedicated to DLP and Salon Mickey have all covered it far better than I ever could. What I can however say with some degree of confidence is what was announced got us all very excited, but right from that point the burning question was about price and availability.

Fast forward to the end of December 2017 and Disneyland Paris announce they've saved one special late Christmas gift for us all, and to welcome in the New Year the FanDaze package information would be announced on the 1st January. Suddenly that buzz from September was back in full force, as after months of speculation and itching to start making travel plans and hotel bookings, we'd finally be getting some answers.
So the New Year rolled in and the announcement came, but it wasn't with the fanfare we'd predicted. It was more of a daze of confusion and frankly for some, disbelief. I always expected prices for FanDaze to be on the higher side, as you only have to look at events like Run Disney to imagine what these events cost to put together. Scale the number of rare characters up a few times and of course the costs rise with it.

Full details of all the packages and what they include are available on the Fan Daze official site, so of course I won't go into too much detail here. The main things I have taken from the announcements so far are;

  • Event is the first weekend of June 2018

  • Tickets go on sale January 15th 2018

  • At this time tickets can only be purchased as part of a package

  • At the time of writing this no Annual Passholder discounts have been announced

  • A limited (but as yet unquantified) number of standalone tickets will be launched in Spring 2018

  • The cheapest package starts from €412.50 Per person (based on 2 adults sharing at the Santa Fe)

  • Additional packages are then available to include bolt on options such as brunch and panel places.
So what are my initial thoughts? Well firstly, what’s on offer looks and sounds great. I'm a huge character fan and being able to meet characters like Bolt and Mittens would be amazing. The Duck Tales parade and Max Live shows sound like they'd be something I'd really enjoy, and new outfits for Mickey and the VIPs are never going to get anything other than thumbs up from me. I'm surprised however that it's once again taken so long to get this much concrete information out, and I'll be interested to see if the packages do go on sale at the planned date and how smooth the launch is. You may remember I had some trouble last year buying my Run Disney bib, so I desperately hope they've learnt from that.
As for the price, which seems to be probably the biggest talking point right now, I kind of expected it. I mean I knew it was going to be expensive, an event on that scale comes at a price and for a resort that needs to start turning a profit FanDaze was always going to be a fairly big cog in that machine. I am, however, a little disappointed at how much of it is an additional cost.
The panels in Animagique Theatre, for example, are going to be ticketed in addition to the main FanDaze event, at a cost of €25 per person per panel. I know there is obviously limited seating available, but I had expected it to be a case of having to prioritise queuing for that on a first come first served basis over some of the other events. The basic price seems slightly more than what I expected but not totally astronomical given it includes hotel and park tickets. It’s the upgrades that I think have sadly been misjudged and I know a lot of fans are feeling priced out.
Another annoyance coming from fans with regards to the cost is the fact that Disney have left it so late to announce prices and sale date. It's January, commonly one of the hardest months financially of the year, and they've only given a fortnight's notice for when the tickets will be on sale. Not only that, but the event is only a few months away. This doesn't allow much time at all for people to organise their finances, especially with many of the themed packages being so limited. It just causes additional panic which could have otherwise been avoided. I hate to say it, but part of me wonders if this is part of their plan to drive panic ticket sales.
So will I be attending? That's a hard one, and I guess the truth is I'm still on the fence right now. From day one this has sounded like the event of my dreams. Not only is it a hugely character focused event, Duffy and Shellie are part of the main line up of Mickey's VIPs and the information released on the 1st even listed a Duffy and friends panel as part of the one off event. I'll be honest here, as a self-proclaimed Duffy super fan, I do feel a certain amount of pressure to make it happen and find a way to attend. I'm worried what people will think of me if I don't go to the event where he finally has the spotlight I've been wanting for him.
But the truth is there's a lot more to consider as it is a large cost and there are additional expenses on top: extra days in the parks, travel and the fact that the prices are all based on 2 adults sharing, so that would probably increase further if I was to do this as a solo trip. It would also be on top of other trips I've already planned to do this year/next year that need to be saved and paid for.
That got me thinking, I don't think I'm at all alone as a Disney fan in saying that other than meeting rare characters in my home park, another huge goal is to visit the other Disney parks around the world. What could I do with the money I would have spent on FanDaze? It would be a sizeable chunk off a trip to Anaheim to visit Walt's original park, or it could go towards a trip to one of the Asian parks to see Duffy and his friends, and I'd probably even get more time with them that way!
It's still early days as far as FanDaze goes, and I hope as more information becomes available things will become clearer, and some of the negative points I have mentioned will be addressed. I'd really like to see Disneyland Paris make a success of this, and I'd really love the opportunity to be able to say I was a part of it when it does.
What are your thoughts? Did you hope to attend FanDaze? Have your plans changed following the announcement of the prices? Drop me a comment I'd love to see how other fans feel!
Hoodsie xxx

Pictures credit: 

Featured Image: Indiana John's Adventure

Other images: Disney fan Daze Official Twitter

7 comments:

  1. I completely agree with what you’re saying. It sounds like the event of my dreams and I’d love to be in attendance, however I want to go to Walt Disney World and I know that the money I spend on FanDaze could be used for that. I also get what you mean about feeling a certain pressure, I feel like I should be in attendance because I’m a fan of Disneyland Paris. But I don’t want to waste my money on an event that might not be worth it! It’s so confusing! Meg xx

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  2. It’s certainly a tough one meg, I’m just sticking to my guns and not racing into anything I might regret.

    Thanks for taking the time to read it xxx

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  3. As someone who has never been into character meet and greets, FanDaze was never going to massively appeal to me. I do, however, love party nights (at Walt Disney World) and sort of hoped there would be a bit 'more' on offer to convince me to go but nope. It seems so strange that they haven't introduced a non-package option, especially considering how many APs this sort of thing must appeal to.
    This is the first of your blog posts I've read and I enjoyed it! I'm going to take a look at some more :)

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  4. Hello!

    First of all thank you so much for reading! I haven't done WDW at all yet but I can see why/how the party nights do appeal and I personally can't wait to go to one.

    I do agree the FanDaze offer does seem to mostly be character based which is a shame though I think the Imagineering panel will be amazing!

    Hoodsie x

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  5. I’m going for the princess and pirate festival, I know they’ve announced the two new floats but it would be cool to see your thoughts on this new season as well 🌟

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  6. Hey there,

    I'm from the U.S. and live in Florida currently. I heard about FanDaze when they announced it and got excited - though, we differ in the sense I knew there was no chance of me being able to be there. Still, I was watching and waiting to see what would happen because I thought if this was successful they'd bring it here. Now that I'm seeing prices, I hope not.

    This event reminds me of the ticketed villains event they held here at Hollywood Studios. It was a disaster. They oversold it and were still selling tickets well past party start. They lost plenty of money on that one. This alone would probably keep FanDaze away from here. If I even had a chance of going to the upcoming FanDaze, I would be leary of going anyway after that experience. I worry this FanDaze will be oversold and those wanting to spend time with their favorite characters won't get to do so.

    Also, I completely understand where you're coming from in one particular regard. I'm a huge Pluto fan and I believe he'll be there along with the rest of the VIPs. I'd love to be there to see him in his outfits and interact with him. I feel that same pressure in some ways. Less about judgement, more about just wanting to be able to interact with him, especially during exclusive times. Though, as I said, there wasn't a chance for me to be there. And after the villains party here, I would need them to guarantee I'd get to ride a ride with Pluto and get to spend a lot of time with him for the price they are charging. Besides, I've had plenty of great experiences with him and I live nearby so I can see him and have many more great experiences in the future. I'll still be Pluto's biggest fan whether I'm there or not.

    I do have a question. I wasn't following everything to do with FanDaze. What kind of experiences are they guaranteeing with characters? Like are there extended meet and greets where you can spend a lot of time with your favorite? Or is it just the usual short meet and greets? Specifically, I was hoping to find out what events or where Pluto is involved in so I can see pictures later.

    Best of luck in your decision! :)

    Pawluto

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  7. […] I recently wrote up my thoughts of the upcoming Disney FanDaze event, and specifically the announcement of the packages and prices. In one of the comments it was […]

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