During it’s annual meeting on March 10, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced D23, the first official Disney fan club and community (the name stands for Disney 1923, the year The Walt Disney Company was founded). A one year membership cost $74.99 and included: a one year subscription to Twenty-Three (four issues valued at $15.95 each), a personalized membership card and certificate and a surprise gift. Disney also said there would be other great benefits coming soon, including the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA from September 10-13, 2009.
Not wanting to miss out on this great opportunity, I ordered a membership that same day. Since joining, I’ve received the following: inaugural issue of Twenty-Three, my membership card and certificate, a lithograph (the special gift) and the second issue of Twenty-Three. The second issue was lost in the mail and my replacement didn’t come with the replica Disneyland fan; I’ve since contacted Disney Shopping and am hopeful I’ll receive a replacement soon.
A couple days ago, I came home from work to find a FedEx door tag on my apartment door: a package had been signed for by the apartment office and I needed to pick it up. Unfortunately, the office was closed for the day so I had to wait a day to receive the item. The following day I stopped by the office and picked up a tiny package. When I got to my apartment, I opened it to find the following items:
D23 Day One Charter Member Letter
D23 Day One Charter Member Pin
The folks at D23 had mailed a short note and a limited edition D23 Charter Member First Day Jiminy Cricket pin. For the Disney pin collectors out there, the pin isn’t labeled as a limited edition, but for all intents and purposes it can be considered such a pin because only a certain number of people joined D23 on day one.
It’s great that Disney rewarded the “early adopters” with a special gift. When D23 was announced, there were many discussions as to whether or not Disney was giving members enough to justify the cost. Considering the items I’ve received so far and the events I haven’t been able to attend (“Up All Night” at El Capitan Theatre for the premier of Up, “Flowers and Fireworks” at Epcot, etc.), I definitely think the cost is reasonable. If you’re a huge Disney fan and have the money, I highly recommend joining D23!
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I just received my pin and note today too. It is awesome and I totally agree with the comments above-I am very happy with my membership and all the benefits so far. I was also at the annual meeting where D23 was announced so received a special pin that day too.
Hi,
I joined as a Charter member at the end of last year, I still haven't received the limited edition lithograph despite contacting Disney who haven't replied. I'm contacting them again as this isn't the first problem I've had (I couldn't order D23 items from the store as they hadn't activated my membership) it's a shame this has happened as the items I have received have been excellent.
Diane – I'm sorry to hear that you haven't received all the D23 materials you're entitled to. How have you tried contacting them? As I mentioned in my post, when I had the same problem I contacted Disney Shopping and received a response within a day or two.
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