VMK closing, revisited

Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 April 2008 06:41 Written by lorie Tuesday, 29 April 2008 06:41

VMK News

It’s been a few weeks since the closing of VMK was announced. I wrote a post about that here. As far as I know there hasn’t been any change of plans on Disney’s part.  VMK is still closing as planned later on in May — in spite of the many petitions floating around the internet by avid VMK fans.

However, it seems I hit a nerve among some VMK fans — which was totally unintentional.

I truly am disappointed (and angry) that VMK’s closing was so unexpected and disappointing for my children. Really, I am! However, by the comments I received on my other posts you would think people think I am not at all sympathetic.

I do think Disney has handled this all wrong. However, they are a business and businesses do this type of thing all the time.  It doesn’t make it right –  I’m not all that surprised by it — but that doesn’t mean I’m not angry about it. No, I’m not canceling my upcoming vacation — that would be silly.

My kids are angry. The day they found out about the closure they were angry, frustrated and sad. They took their frustration outside to play basketball. That comment was not meant to mean they weren’t affected by Disney’s decision to close VMK.

In a way, I’m glad they are able to take this upsetting situation and deal with it in a constructive way. As a parent, I have been worried that they were spending too much time online with VMK. It’s hard to know what the correct balance is for kids. They have signed several of the petitions in protest of the closing and I’m fine with that. They have shown me several videos of newscast broadcasting the news across the nations and beyond.  They truly hope that their ‘vote’ counts.  They know that their actions ‘may’ or ‘may not’ have an affect on Disney’s decision. And that’s a good thing for them to learn at this age.

As much as I would like to see VMK remain open I don’t think it’s going to happen. Some people think it’s a financial issue. But I don’t think so. I believe many loyal VMK fans would pay for the service. It is worth a price, I believe — and I would be willing to pay a subscription price in line with other online games like Toon Town or Pirates of the Caribbean Online.  Somehow, I think the decision comes for a deeper reason that the public may never know.

VMK news!

Last Updated on Tuesday, 8 April 2008 03:59 Written by lorie Tuesday, 8 April 2008 03:59

VMK is closing!

My kids are so upset! Their favorite online pastime is coming to an end. We don’t allow them to spend too much time online — and we limit the places they can go when they are online. However, for the past two years VMK (Virtual Magic Kingdom) has been the place they have decided to spend their precious computer time and now it’s closing…. just like that … Disney left an announcement today for all kids to read. Here’s part of that announcement:

• Eventually though, all promotions must come to an end, so I’m announcing today that on May 21, 2008, VMK will open our virtual gates for the last time. You read that right: VMK was never intended to last forever – we’ll close the game for good at the end of day on May 21st, 2008.

What is a bit upsetting about this is the way Disney has gone about this. The game will be shutting down in slightly over a month. I thought their letter to members was kinda cavalier — in their letter they said the game was never meant to last forever — and that all things come to an end — and that even in the Disney theme parks attractions come and go, yada yada yada…..

To a kid … that’s harsh!  I know a lot of kids in the under 10 years old crowd that play this game all the time.  It’s a cute game — and seemed to me as a Mom a safe place for kids online.  Maybe they could have prepared members a bit more …. my kids (and me) had no idea this was a temporary thing just for the 50th anniversary celebration of Disneyland. Who knew?

Well … I guess the Virtual world is not much unlike the real world — my kids just got their pink slips and are headed for bigger and better things. After the shock of the closing of VMK they seemed to get really ticked about the whole thing — I have a feeling they won’t be spending much time on VMK over the next month that it remains open. For them, the closure announcement ended all the fun almost immediately — what’s the point in playing any longer?  So sad! Bad Disney!

For any fans who are still interested and still care here’s a link to a petition by fans to save the game … my kids looked at it and went out to play basketball.