No More Swashbuckling

Well, it appears that Disney has decided to put a kibosh on Mickey's Pirate and Princess Parties, at least for the time being.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise though as it is totally understandable why Disney made this choice. The parties never really did seem to attract the crowds. And Disney seemingly tried all they could to get the masses to attend. They extended the dates from just January, February, and March to what seemed like the whole first half of the year...and still, the parties just couldn't find a hold.

I think I can guess why these parties didn't take off very well...actually I have a few guesses.

First of all, is that it didn't center around a holiday...so a lot of people couldn't justify spending that kind of money for an event where it seemed as though Disney was just trying to get more money out of you. Those parties are expensive...and I think Disney may have hit their limit with how many parties people would go to in a year...and I'd guess that Disney may have miscalculated the reasoning behind why they'd go. I mean think about it...the Halloween and Christmas parties seem special as they centered around specific events, but the Pirate & Princess Parties never seemed to feel as special. It wasn't centered around a specific time of year, instead it was a party where Disney could seemingly throw anywhere. Which means, it always seemed like a way for Disney to get extra money out of people during the slow time of the year. (Which it also would appear, since the parties didn't do as well, that people saw right through the gimmick.)

The second reason would be that I don't believe the parties got such hot reviews from other party-goers. Sure, I'd heard the firework show was outstanding...but really that was all there was. The parade isn't one that was nearly talked about as much as the other two party's parades are. The Halloween and Christmas parades are the ones that get the most hype...and out of those two, Halloween wins hands down. Another drawback for the Pirate & Princess Parties, instead of handing out candy or cookies, they gave guests "pirate treasure" which basically consisted of cheap plastic jewelry and beads. Not nearly as nice as free food. More like, ok...now what am I going to do with this junk now that I'm done with it?

The last reason that I think pushed Disney over the edge on making this decsion was with the economy going the way it is. If they were already having trouble getting guests to these parties, I would assume that now, they'd have even more trouble selling tickets to this fledgling event. Add to that, that Disney can save additional money because they don't have to pay the Cast Members to work in a relatively empty park for the night either. It seems like a no-brainer for Disney to 86 the event.

So, who knows if we'll ever see these parties again later in the future...but for now...you'll have to get your treasure (and Jack Sparrow) somewhere else. Anyone up for a trip to Tortuga? :)