There has been an interesting threat over at the WDW Magic Forums over the weekend. Titled “Disney’s Punishment of Honest Media/Reviews“, the thread has been looking at the recent positive reviews the Galactic Starcruiser has been receiving from “approved” and invited sources. It’s also been looking at who is not allowed at the media, journalist, and influencer events that Disney Parks often hosts for big new reveals. Over the course of the conversations, user “Lentesta” (which is the account for the owner of Touring Plans) came to offer quite a bit of information that may be unknown to the general public. Here’s what was said:
I mean, not for nothing, but WDWMagic is banned from media events. I thought that was common knowledge.
I‘m banned specifically because of criticism about prices and DHS that got quoted by the NYT. Between the book and the site, around 250,000 families buy our advice every year before heading to a Disney theme park. If it was a question of “Well, we don’t have room for everyone,” at these events, you‘d never see small podcasts or bloggers.
Here’s Disney blacklisting the LA Times‘ film critics, because of what the LAT business section said about the theme parks: https://slate.com/culture/2017/11/disney-is-blacklisting-los-angeles-times-critics.html
One side effect of that thread was that I got stories from other reporters about how they got cut off, or their editors got calls, from Disney PR about what they wrote.
ETA: I think the Washington Post has been mostly cut off since publishing this in 2015: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news…ke-disney-world-left-the-middle-class-behind/. They have nothing on Halycon, and they’re the 4th largest newspaper in the country.
ETA: The Hollywood Reporter’s farewell to Disney’s last head of PR refers to her “scorched earth” policy when dealing with negative press: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b…enia-much-disney-pr-retire-column-1234985254/
These are some very interesting allegations. What the owner of Touring Plans is claiming is that their website was banned from media events by Disney over criticism, there is a history of “blacklisting”, and that there are a number of small, medium, and major news organizations that are not allowed at things like the Galactic Starcruiser media event. Is it any wonder then that the reviews have been glowing?
Slate’s 2017 article that Lentesta cites:
On Friday, news broke that the Walt Disney Company had decided to bar critics from the Los Angeles Times from advance press screenings to punish them for running this fascinating series about Disney’s political influence in Anaheim, California. The Times announced the news in a note to its readers that ran with their 2017 Holiday movie preview, saying that they would continue to review Disney films, but their critics would only be able to see them when tickets were available to the general public. This puts them at a huge competitive disadvantage to other outlets that can have reviews ready in advance, which is exactly the point.
Others who are often regarded as “insiders” provided credence to Lentesta’s claims. We recommend reading the full thread over on the WDW Magic Forums.
So what is this all about?
Well, we always knew that the reviews for The Galactic Starcrusier would be utterly positive in the beginning. I’ve also repeatedly gone on the record that I expect Disney to fill their reservations for the experience until about September of 2022. Despite this, however, we’ve seen communication from people who should be knowledgeable that Disney’s positive early reviews are a sign that critics have been wrong about the Galactic Starcrusier. Of course, that’s subjective, but it’s also disingenuous. We’ll find out what the real takeaway is once actual guests start attending the land-locked space cruise. Those reviews may be astounding… or they may not. But the idea that people, and especially consumers, should take early reviews as authentic gospel about the experience… well, that’s taking advantage of people who don’t understand how the system works.
a friend was genuinely confused by the Starcruiser “dance lesson” video going around, so I thought this could help provide context — that lesson pays off at Gaya’s show on night 1, when she leads everyone to do it during one of her songs. here’s a snippet: pic.twitter.com/UZkKXpo0kC
— 🍓✨carlye wisel (@carlyewisel) February 25, 2022
No, That Park Place does not attend media or other special events at Walt Disney World or any other theme parks. When we reported on the Figment Popcorn Buckets, we were there, on our own dime, spending real money and really covering the whole thing. When we reviewed Harmonious, same thing. And even if we become a huge entertainment news site following our current trajectory, we’re still not accepting the freebies. That’s why websites like WDW Magic, Touring Plans, and others have credibility. It’s not that sites which are restricted from special access are anti-Disney, it’s that readers want sites where they can actually read attempts at objective information. If readers want articles sprinkled with pixie dust and company schilling, there are plenty of sites out there that will offer it to you in heaps. But here at That Park Place, just like other sites with credibility, we’re not here to help Disney, Universal, Dollywood, SeaWorld, or anybody else. We’re here to offer honest takes and our best attempt at legitimate entertainment news.
I saw a comment from a reader of our site that noticed we’re not always positive about Star Wars on That Park Place. I thought that was interesting because it revealed something different about what we do here. Yes, we’ve been very positive about Star Wars at times. We’ve also been negative when content has been perceived as less than ideal quality. I know that everyone here at That Park Place hopes that is the sign of at least an attempt at balance.
Ultimately, I believe that it is in Disney’s best interest to allow honest reviews and opinions of their products. But no matter how Disney conducts itself under a new executive team, we’ll continue to cover their actions as best as we can and as honestly as we can. That’s what we’ll keep doing with all entertainment companies we write about. And over time, I think consumers will learn where they can go for opinions that can’t be influenced by quid pro quos.
Feel free to drop a comment below, and keep reading all the news and opinions that should be fun right here at That Park Place!
