MouseAdventure Spring 2010

[innerSpaceman]

Yep, me too.


Well, we're out. Seems one third of our team decided I wasn't "thrilled" with the idea of playing, and made other plans. Thanks for asking me. But yeah, I'm none too disappointed ... so I guess 'not thrilled' was accurate.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I tend to think when a fun game inside Disneyland approaches the retail cost of a one-day admission to Disneyland, that's generally common sensically too expensive.

If they sell out again (which they always seem to do), then I would say that it is not too expensive. Maybe too expensive for your preference/budget, but not too expensive overall.

[BarTopDancer]

I'm not going to say that the price had nothing to do with our decision not to play. It's been in the consideration for the past few years and this year it was the final factor. That's our choice. We do understand that the event costs x amount to run (between supplies, rentals, staffing and even a profit - after all it is put on by MP). It's not like the MA staff is sitting around twirling their mustaches and imitating Mr. Burns thinking about how much they can charge just because they can.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

It's not like the MA staff is sitting around twirling their mustaches and imitating Mr. Burns thinking about how much they can charge just because they can.

Agreed - I'd never expect that, which is why I was curious as to the reasons why. Thanks to Alex for some illuminating points.

I'm sure that MA will continue to sell out, even as the price goes up and up and up...much the same way that APs continue to sell even as those prices skyrocket. Disneyland is a singular thing, as is MA, and people will pay for the experience. It may price all of us vets out of the market, but there are others with deeper pockets (or at least, deeper Disney mania and/or more willingness to take on debt) who will jump to take our places.

[Alex]

Look at this way if no other, you get to be the MA equivalent of those who talk about how much better Comic-Con was in 1984 when it was nearly free, there were no crowds, and it was more "real" because it wasn't so glossy.

As an example of subsidy in the early days, each MouseAdventure generated 10-15 hotel room nights for staff (about half used by me on trips to create the game) which were not reimbursed. At $10/head for the 175 or so players in that early game, almost all revenues would have gone to paying for accommodations. It was great for everybody to be willing to take that expense but it isn't really reasonable to do it to them twice a year for a decade.

[innerSpaceman]

Ya know, I don't really consider hotel accommodations a "legitimate" reimburseable expense for a website that is primarily about Disneyland but for reasons convenient to the staff, is located somewhere else - such that visits to Disneyland requiring hotel stays are required for them to conduct a chunk of their business.


of course, it's a free country. But that just seems silly. In any event, the market will bear what it will - and if MouseAdventure and Disneyland itself become the province of the affluent only, then that's just the way it shall be.


I won't talk about MouseAdventure being better when it was cheap. It was better because it took place ENTIRELY within Disneyland, and not too much of it in a sterile ballroom. But it was no worse when it was cheap ... which begs the question, what is the added benefit for the buyers now that it's so much more expensive?

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Ya know, I don't really consider hotel accommodations a "legitimate" reimburseable expense for a website that is primarily about Disneyland but for reasons convenient to the staff, is located somewhere else - such that visits to Disneyland requiring hotel stays are required for them to conduct a chunk of their business.

You expect the people who volunteer their time (including taking vacation days for travel) to hold an event for the enjoyment of others to also use their own money to pay for accommodations during event prep and the event? It's not like their staying concierge at the GCH.

Without the staff, regardless of where they live there would be no MA.

what is the added benefit for the buyers now that it's so much more expensive?

You do realize that once security shut it down all those years ago Disney started charging for the ability to even have the event, right? Did you expect MP to eat the cost of that?

Would you prefer that had been the end of it?

----

I think MA was better when it was smaller because it was more intimate and I knew everyone who was playing. I think I've had a blast in every event I've played regardless of the size though, because for us it's all about the fun. Yet if it was the same game and the same format for the last 10 years it would have become super boring.

Besides, now that all of us "veterans" are being priced out and/or deciding to "retire" it makes way for a whole new generation of players.

And I'll gripe that comic con is so frelling expensive and sells out super fast now. I want to go!

[Alex]

That there is a game they get to play? Because if it had stayed small and cheap it likely wouldn't exist anymore. There were options that might have kept it small but none that would have kept it cheap.

[innerSpaceman]

BTD, I'm just saying it's ironic that a bunch of people who have a website about Disneyland live so far away they must stay at hotels when they visit Disneyland.

In some nicer sideways reality, the game would have been developed by any 12 of the 60,000 rabid Disneyland fans who live in Southern California - and recoup of hotel expenses would not have been part of the actual game expenses.


Whatev. This is a tired tirade. The game is too expensive based on value, to me personally as a consumer. It's not a whit more fun than it was at $10 ... and if that was the heroin introductory gotcha price, I would pay "retail" up to $40 based on that teaser price. YMMV. If it's worth $250 to some teams, I'd say the game now caters to those with more disposable income than I personally have at this point. Good on them. Money makes the world go around.

[Kevy Baby]

It pisses me off when people forget that the world revolves around me