Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom Virtually Closed
By 
Hib in
Disney, R.I.P., features on
April 15th, 2008
I just returned from Orlando, Florida, and five days at Walt Disney World. On the very last shuttle bus ride we took (the Disney “Magical Express” back to the decidedly un-magical security checkpoint at Orlando International Airport), they showed a promotional movie on the bus, doing everything short of casting voodoo spells to get you to come back. One of the last things in this movie was a short commercial inviting everyone to visit VMK.com, the virtual online version of DisneyWorld. That was yesterday, April 14.
Today, I fire up the computer to start catching up on things, and find this on Raph’s blog:
Disney is shuttering Virtual Magic Kingdom. Nobody knows how many active users it has these days, and Disney is of course moving aggressively into more virtual worlds, encouraging users to switch to Toontown, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, and Club Penguin.
First off, this was announced on April 9, which means that Disney (usually a company that’s right bang on top of things promotionally) was still trying to get people to visit VMK.com five days after they announced it will be closed in a month and a half. Admittedly, reworking that canned promotional video isn’t going to be high on the Disney priority list, but still. Seth “Yavn” Mendelsohn, producer for VMK and the man with the unenviable task of announcing the news that the world will be shuttered, has also issued an update on the situation after the expected outpouring of dismay.
So it’s been a difficult past few days for all of us. I know many of you are upset – some upset with me, some upset with the company, and lots of you just plain upset. Many of you are still struggling to understand the decision we made to close Virtual Magic Kingdom. We hear you and we share your concern and sorrow.
Please know that the decision to close VMK was not made without a great deal of thought and discussion – because we loved creating VMK just as much as you loved playing it. We considered many options prior to closing but ultimately determined that VMK had accomplished its goal and then some. VMK was a valuable part of the Disneyland 50th Celebration, but it was never meant to live on forever. It’s now time to focus our resources on our new virtual worlds.
Please enjoy VMK while you can, and let’s all be thankful that we got to enjoy the game for as long as we did.
At this point, the Disney corporation is going to have the chance to experience the ugly side of virtual worlds…specifically, what happens when you give someone a new home, new friends and activities, and in the case of VMK a new lease on life, and then take it away from them.
Disney goes out of its way to sell the premise that they’re “making dreams come true”. In fact, right now WDW has one of their usual park-wide promotions in progress, “The Year of A Million Dreams”.
Apparently, my dream was to win a hat while standing in line for the Tower of Terror.
But that’s beside the point. The point is this…despite the fact that VMK has “accomplished its goal and then some” (a phrase that, in the language of PR, translates to: “It’s served its purpose.”), Disney now finds itself in the position of telling at least a quarter of a million fans of their product “We’re making your dreams come true…well, except for this one.”
If the press grabs onto the angles inherent in this story like the 11 year old with Spinal Muscular Atrophy who wrote ” I love VMK cause I can WALK, TALK, EAT, DANCE, SHOP and play checkers all by myself. PLEASE HELP ME! Love, Madison p.s. VMK is GERM FREE too! p.s.s. and no one stares at me there.”, would Disney keep the world open in some fashion?
If so, it’ll be after the press splash, so they can show the world once again how they DO make dreams come true, this time by valiantly keeping their virtual world open…”for the children”.
The countdown to the Disney PR department leaking that story to the press has begun, probably on ABC (since Disney owns it and can control the way it’s presented).
And yes, I AM that cynical.
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April 16th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Wow! What a great way to end your trip. Watching a video to see you and your family can still see the magic daily on a regular basis at VMK.com, only to find the gates are closed. Sounds like some departments within Disney have failed to talk to each other. Come on Disney, keep the magic alive virtually, with the Magic Kingdom the other games just done supply the magic like VMK does.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Visit http://www.savevmktoday.com
My letter to Disney:
Dear Mr. Iger,
I am writing to tell you about a magical place. A place where young and old can gather to play, learn and enjoy the Disney Magic. A place envisioned by an amazing man who dreamed of places where families could gather and have fun leaving behind the real world when they entered. A place that only the magic and creativity of Disney could build.
Where is this place you may ask? It sounds magical and fun. The first thought you may have of course is that it is Disneyland- but this is not the place I speak of. It is a form of Disneyland in a different technological age. The place I speak of is Virtual Magic Kingdom.
VMK started out as what Disney thought would be a promotion for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. So they built this amazing virtual world to replicate Walt’s amazing Disneyland.
They threw open the gates and invited us in. We came slowly at first but once word spread we grew. VMK did not become an online park where we entered for a while then left. It became a community built by its players. A community of young and old, sick and well, and people of all races from near to far off distant countries. Here we found a place that evoked the Disney spirit in all of us. We played, danced, built rooms and formed friendships in the spirit of the man himself Walt Disney.
VMK was growing and becoming more popular so that when the promotion ended the gates were left open and our community flourished. There is no place like it on the Web where children and adults can play in a safe controlled atmosphere. I personally found a place where I and my 13 year old son could be together. We shared in this wonderful kingdom built only as Disney can do-amazing graphics, fun games, a sense of being part of the parks and much pixie dust.
They created our characters to look lifelike, like little people. We named them, dressed them, and formed their personalities. They became part of us. We look forward and enjoy seeing our little people everyday.
Suddenly on April 7th we were hit with an unbelievable devastating blow. On May 21, 2008 our kingdom, our community will cease to exist. The shock that took over was beyond belief. I felt numb, weak, and sick to my stomach, like I had been hit by a bat. How can this happen? How can a company as compassionate as Disney allow the doors of our Kingdom to close?
The news crushed my 15 year old son (slinkyman). VMK has become part of his life, part of his daily routine. A day is not complete without seeing his little person who he created to look like himself. After a few moments the shock and reality sank in and the tears started to flow. WE hugged and just cried asking how, why, how can they?
You see VMK is not just a mere game to us. Six months after slinkyman started playing VMK he was diagnosed with cancer. A shocking blow to any family made worst it being a child. I found my strength to get him through this, and then an amazing thing happened. Thanks to the spirit of Disney he took refuge in his Kingdom. In VMK he was not sick. He was a normal kid that still had hair and he had many friends. He had a support team in this community that was not available elsewhere. Cancer scares many people and our family pulled back-offering no support or visits. Here in VMK slinkyman and I have a community of amazing friends. They talked, listened, comforted us, prayed for us and sent mountains of pixie dust our way.
Through out his treatment whenever we were at the hospital slinkyman would take along the laptop with him. During these painful and scary days of treatment he would play VMK as the poisons to kill the cancer were pumped into his body. Doctors and nurses would ask him what he was playing and he would passionately tell them of a place only envisioned in dreams. VMK became an instrumental tool in his recovery. We have made life long friends and have wonderful support thanks to the magic of Disney. So to us it is so much more then a mere game. It is in our soul.
I had a friend tell me the other day the VMK is in slinkyman’s DNA- they could not be more right. I was able to save my son from cancer but I fear I will not be able to save little “slinkyman” from the darkness that is about to be bestowed upon us.
Please I beg you to reconsider this decision. Please hear the cries of young and old and let our little people live. I can not imagine a day without seeing the face of my little person. I like may others are then willing to pay to keep this community of ours alive. Please consider this option. Please show compassion and Disney spirit and show the children you care. After all in VMK the minds of our young a being filled with Disney and they will grow into adults that spend much money on anything and everything Disney.
In this Year of a Million Dreams I ask you to please dry a Million tears and let our dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Bugdozer
April 16th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Visit http://www.savevmktoday.com
I am a single adult female with no children who has played VMK for the last 2.5 years. I believe that the Disney Company needs to take another look at this little place on the internet called Virtual Magic Kingdom. How can it not be the most magical and probably one of the most viable and lucrative “games” on the internet? VMK has only begun to really start in my eyes.
There is still so much that can be done with it. I also believe at one point in time, Yavn (the lead producer) even stated that he would like to see Epcot (my own favorite park) be built into the game. And why stop there? There’s still Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and California Adventure.
For me, Disney has always been a magical experience. Ever since my very first trip to Walt Disney World in 1972 while still in the womb (so, I didn’t have a very good view). Over the years, I’ve had many happy memories of going to WDW with my parents and my sister. The last time I went, it was just my niece and I. Since that time, I have been missing the park. Imagine my surprise when in September 2005 I found out about this “game” on a Disney fan site. I ignored it at first because I’m not really a gamer. Then I looked at the people posting in the forum about it and thought, what the heck? I instantly fell in love with VMK. Here was a place where I could experience the magic of my beloved park without actually having to be there. And not only that, it was not your ordinary game. I didn’t have to worry about doing tasks and getting to higher levels. I could just walk through the park exploring at my leisure. I could just sit on a bench and watch the people go by. Or meet new friends who share my love of Disney. I could just play mini games all the time. Or I could spend my time trading or decorating my rooms. There really is no pressure to do anything and there’s so much to do. It’s like a vacation inside the virtual world.
VMK is the Happiest Place on the Internet. The people are generally so friendly and so kind. When I couldn’t afford to go to the parks to do park quest items, some people just gave me some of those items. When people are having a tough time in their real lives, they log in and are comforted by their friends. There are those players who will sit in the Esplanade for hours at a time and just give away things to new people coming in. There are those that will see that a player has been playing a game for a while and still can’t get it, so they help them out. During the last big quest, we had to reach a near impossible score on a certain mini-game. Many of us tried to help as many people through it as we could and we ended up with far more people finishing than was ever expected by the staff. And when the quest was suddenly ended 10 hours early, some people just gave away some of their prizes they worked so hard to get to others that couldn’t finish.
Then there are those people that play to escape their lives. Many people that play have disabilities or illness. I know quite a few who have various forms of Autism, cancer or other debilitating problems. Some have used the “game” as a form of therapy or recovery. Some have formed friendships in VMK when they couldn’t form friendships elsewhere. There have been kids who have learned to spell better due to the dictionary within the “game”.
There are also many families that play VMK. Entire families. I’ve known several where everyone in the household plays. Kids and parents alike. Also, I have seen where grandparents and aunts and uncles are playing. Even my Godchildren will log in at their home and play along with me. VMK really is an extension of the real parks. One quote from Walt Disney that really does fit VMK: “We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun - together.” No other game on the internet has this kind of appeal to all ages.
This is why I believe that you have the best online promotional tool available in internet “games”. VMK is capable of advertising and promoting Anything the Disney Company does. It’s not tied to only one movie or one park. It’s everything Disney. It’s the parks, it’s the resorts, it’s the movies, it’s the TV shows, it’s the clothes, the dvd’s, the music, etc. The company needs to just puts a few ads for the “game” on sites such as Neopets or Yahoo, AOL, etc to increase the amount of players (and possible new consumers). Then use the “game” to promote anything that Disney wishes to promote. It can be ads included on the actual screen or it can be in “game” items to promote something. Also, I do believe that the Disney Movie Rewards was a brilliant idea. Or just sell card packs with various codes for things that can only be received through the packs. Or just make the “game” pay to play. This is just a couple of ways to make VMK profitable for Disney. Oh. And one very important thing, get better servers for the game. That is a must so that more players can be online at the same time.
I believe that the company is just wasting its money on short term internet games to promote something. Want to promote a new attraction at the parks? Promote in VMK. Want to promote a new movie in the theaters? Promote it in VMK. Want to get word out about a new show on the Disney Channel? Promote it in VMK.
Oh. And you have probably wondered why when referring to VMK as a “game” I used quotes. It’s because VMK is not just a game, nor is it just a promotion. It is a community.
By shutting down VMK, you are losing a great promotional tool and destroying a community and children along with it. Walt would never have disappointed so many children.
In short, build on what you already have instead of tearing it down and save the community of VMK
Sincerely,
cteddiesgirl
April 16th, 2008 at 8:26 am
From a Mother’s Heart…
It’s about 4am now on April 8…3 hours after VMK closed for the night. I just checked in on my daughter (MonkeyRulz on VMK) who was still awake. She was crying…crying because we just found out that VMK was going to close. The thought of her losing all of her VMK friends was just too much for her to bear. No one thinks that children have much stress in their lives, but they do. Last summer she had surgery to remove a soft tissue mass on her thumb. Through the tears and the pain, she still was able to type to friends far and near in her virtual Magic Kingdom. This is what saved both of our sanities during this time. Her VMK friends was who she counted on while she was lying on the couch only able to use one hand to type. Her VMK friends was what made her forget her pain.
My daughter was recently diagnosed with a form of arthritis, which has has helped to explain many of her health issues over the past few years. She currently has a lot of inflammation in her thumb, which causes numbness and pain. Medication has not yet been successful to heal it. She is a very strong person but when she accidentally hits her thumb, the tears fall like there is no tomorrow. She turns to her VMK friends for support all the time. When she is with them, all I hear is laughter. If VMK closes, it would be like her closest friends just left her. No more cheering up, no more support, no more enjoying each other’s company, no more forgetting about that big test coming up tomorrow, no more goodnight hugs and waves with friends across the miles…
For almost 3 years I knew my VMK friends would always be there for me…they were there when I had my gallbladder (gold.blot.her) taken out last summer. What real friends would have stayed with me when all I was able to do is lie around in bed for weeks? My VMK friends…that’s who. These friends have become very much a part of my everyday life and I treasure them. I want VMK to continue as it always has…I had no idea it was not supposed to last this long. But I also didn’t know that my little virtual self would wander around and make friends who have become near and dear to my heart. I don’t think any of us really knew that when we first started.
My daughter and I joined VMK before Frontierland was added. Since that time, we have both met wonderful people from all over the world…some of them have become a part of our real day to day lives. To those friends I have met in person…I thank you for your friendship. I am so grateful that we have met, and even moreso that you will continue to be a part of my life. To those friends inside the game who I have not had the pleasure of meeting: I thank you too, for your friendship and all the wonderful times we have had. I am indeed the luckiest girl in the world to have friends like you.
Monkey and I never realized how greatly we would feel this loss…the majority of VMK players feel the same way. We do not want to lose our friends, nor the Disney magic, and we are willing to pay to keep it going. How can wanting to continue the magic be a wrong thing? In the true spirit of Disney hearts, friends and family would not suffer a loss as great as this. What started out as a small virtual game, has indeed grown into something so much more. This little “game” has grown into a huge community of friends, families and true Disney lovers. In the midst of A Year of a Million Dreams, it’s hard to believe that friends and families will just go away.
Sure we tried playing other games over the past few years…but it was never the same. We always went back to VMK. No other game brings Disney magic right into our home inbetween trips to the real parks. No other game. If you can think of another game that makes me yell out “flawless,” or “awesome,” while watching real Disney’s fireworks light up the sky, please tell me. There just isn’t a replacement. You may not have created this game for us to grow an extension of ourselves in the virtual world, but that’s what happened. Everything in the Disney parks make us think of VMK as well…it always will. When VMK closes, I will have suffered a great loss…just how do you say goodbye to so many friends who you still treasure so much?
We are not alone in our feelings…there are so many families and friends who play VMK and enjoy Disney magic together…families who cannot be together in their real lives, such as mothers and fathers who are in the military and cannot visit their children. Without VMK, they would not have this opportunity to share Disney magic whenever they can. There are children who cannot see their moms or dads because of a divorce; and families who just live too far away to physically be there for each other. These families depend greatly on Disney’s VMK. Then there are those who are of ill health, who depend on VMK to forget about their health issues. I have a treasured friend who needs to use a wheelchair, but in VMK she can stand taller than her husband, who also plays VMK with their two children. I can’t even begin to count the numerous autistic children I have come across who have reached out in VMK and finally made a connection…children who have had no direction have been found to blossom and become outspoken because of this “game.” I have a wonderful friend (Smackeralchick on VMK) who has twin girls…one of them has autism and is experiencing great sadness over the news. Her other daughter, Dlandchick, has been battling cancer for more than a year now. In the darkest days of her treatments, she knows she can login to VMK and find loving and caring friends and family who support her from across the miles. There are many more adults and children who have cancer, or another serious illness who depend on VMK as their magical “getaway.” VMK is for everyone wanting just a little piece of Disney magic. We know we can login, and share our good days and our bad…with friends and families we have grown to treasure.
Whatever you’d like to call VMK — whether it be a “game,” an “application,” a “promotion…” things have changed tremendously since its opening. It has grown into a real life community with living and breathing souls behind those cute little characters. Disney does not destroy dreams, it creates them. Please don’t take our dreams away.
Sincerely,
AmberDaze on VMK
April 16th, 2008 at 9:25 am
As a teacher and Disney fan, I found a way to connect with my students through VMK. We often “meet” on VMK after school for some Disney fun. This bond I have worked hard to build is being torn away. My students are disheartened, as if in some way they are losing a part of their teacher. I am hoping Disney will do the right thing and leave VMK alone. There are so many ways Disney could capitalize on marketing VMK, it seems foolish from a financial stand point to pull the plug on a successful venture. But what do I know? I’m just a consumer, family member, teacher, friend, traveler, and role model to hundreds of children.
June 1st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
As a parent I am shocked at the decision to close VMK. Who the heck made this decision ???? I read a quote recently where they said “after much thinking we have decided to close VMK, be happy for the time you had on it” Sorry, but what what a STUPID comment !!! What about the millions of people who enjoyed the game, what about all the people, especially the children who worked so hard to get multiple rooms, and had hundreds of items to go along with those rooms ?????????? How terrible that the decision was made to close it…….WRONG MOVE !!! For all those who so easily made the choice to close VMK, you should be ashamed of yourselves. You are disppointing millions of people….people who spend money at Disneyland year after year, people who spend their money on Disney products, people who spend money to see Disney movies…..you see where I’m going with this ?? Now many of us will associate YOUR decision to close VMK with us spending our money on Disney !!! Not a very smart move to close such a super site !!!
June 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I wil kill yavn. He is the one who stoped vmk form playing. If he cant pay for it we should. Yavn Please let VMK still be on Please ill give you 200 dollars.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I am Olivia Sambuchi in real life
June 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Please Get some money and pay for VMK . That can work if we all do it.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Get about 200 dollars and pay for Vmk to work. I cant change what has happen in the past but I can change how we work in the future.
Email me mine is Bsambuchi@aduthia.net. I agree I think it is sad VMK is closed.
June 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Will let VMK come back
June 19th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Who ever stoped VMK is mean. Sorry to all of are playerswho loves VMK. It is a shame that VMK stoped. Ill pay for VMK.
Or ill make up a new web site like VMK. Dont pantace.
Thank You!
July 29th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
why did yall close down vmk,
i mean i made so many friends at that game and i miss them so so so smuch but u ppl are just jerks for closeing it down and if yall really didn’t like to hurt little kids yall would bring the site back up i mean i had a ton ton ton of money but thats not the point the point is that i loved the games and so did alot of other 200,000,000,000 around the world i mean gosh u people should have a petion to see if epople want to close or not. Don’t just pop up say we are closeing down for ever
Please Bring VMK BACK !!!!!!!!!! =D
October 5th, 2008 at 12:55 am
I am saddened and very angry that they closed vmk down. I wonder what Walt Disney would be thinking if he knew that Disney closed down a game that millions of people loved to play and Disney just decided to close it for no good reason.I am sure that he would be rolling in his grave right now thinking of the huge mistake Disney had made. It was his dream to see millions of kids and adults come to a happy place and enjoy it.If Disney could see how many people this game has effected now i think they would be asking themselves why did we close it? We could have made it pay to play just like the other games we created.We miss this game like crazy and Disney doesn’t seem to care. If they did they wouldn’t have done this to us.
July 25th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Even to this day, more than a year after the Virtual Magic Kingdom closed, I still know over hundreds, even thousands of people who want their kingdom back.
Some have tried to recreate it with their own versions of VMK, such as VFK (Virtual Family Kingdom) and a few others made to try to take the place of this magic place.
If Disney wants to forget about VMK and move on to “bigger and better things” We the players sure wont let them. Those that loved VMK are still working towards finding their home again. Even after a year, we’re still mourning the loss.
Stop breaking dreams, Disney.
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March 5th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
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