Sayonara VMK! [VMK Closing]

[phd516]

A bit of sad news from Yavn..

Speaking of things lasting forever, recently several of you have been asking about how much longer VMK will last. Well today I have some news about our future.

As many of you know, Virtual Magic Kingdom was created and launched back in 2005 as part of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary Celebration. VMK exceeded expectations in terms of performance, and as a result we extended the promotion (that is, VMK, the game) well beyond the 50th Celebration.

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.

This is not an April Fool's joke.

Now we understand this news may be upsetting to you but let me explain. Again, VMK was launched as part of Disneyland's 50th Celebration in 2005 and the game has lived well beyond the originally intended time it was planned to run.

Over time you've seen our in-Park presence and other parts of VMK go away. You may remember our V.I.P Tours at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, or our in-Park Quest. We didn't stop doing those things because we don't love the game or our Guests, but because the time to run those promotions ended.

At Disney we're still committed to building communities and online virtual worlds – and we're looking forward to providing you the opportunity to enjoy other exciting new experiences.

Don't look at VMK ending as a bad thing – think of it as a new beginning, a chance to explore something fresh and new! Think of it like school: You don't want to leave your old friends, but still, the time has come to graduate and move onto another great adventure.

In the time since we've launched VMK, we've seen many players come and go, and we're hoping you will graduate from VMK too – in particular, to games like Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Disney's ToonTown Online, Club Penguin and the upcoming Fairies and Cars online virtual worlds. We think you'll find you enjoy those just as much as VMK – if not more.

I'll certainly miss the friends I made on VMK, many of whom I have no other means of connection with. It's a shame that they're ending the promotion on such short notice, but hey, maybe I'll be able to focus on my schoolwork on the weekends now.

On the other hand.. gosh! All that time I put in for those credits to buy all those items.. I'm just glad I didn't spend any Disney Movie Rewards points on any of the VMK items (i.e. Dancing Inferno Magic).

Goodbye VMK. The journey was fun while it lasted.

Please feel free to input your opinions.

[TopCat8]

Well I never was a big fan of VMK. I made an account and never logged in, so they got rid of it. Then I made a new account, and haven't logged in since I made it, so it might be gone now too. I do remember something like this happening to me before though. There were these things called CToons on the Cartoon Network site. They were basically digital trading cards. I had so many, and I loved it, but then it unexpectedly shut down, so I know how you must be feeling now.

[Wdzni]

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ugh
I had good times on there.

[myleadguitargirl]

Im SOOOOO UPSET!!! =[

[ryguy222]

LOL I had lots of good times on VMK, but my account (rycat) was deleted and i was wishing it wasn't. Anyway, it was a good game, but it got boring after about six months lol.

[Disneyknight467]

O_O

I HATE this! Hate it hate it hate it!

Sure I didn't log into it all the time, but Its a getaway for me, especially when I can't visit the actual parks! What makes me even more upset is how the cool stuff was about ready to come out and then they dropped the bomb! No more Trading Card Game Multiplayer, or new Tomorrowland Furniture (look at the new furniture sitting in the VMK gallery if you haven't already). I honestly wish there were more free Disney games like VMK that were just as awesome as VMK. Toontown you have to pay for to get the good stuff, along with POTC Online. This really frustrates and upsets me, but nonetheless I'll still love Disney and now I'll be even more upset when leaving the parks ='(

I've been with VMK since the 50th Anniversary...Oh how I hope you'll return someday!

[maleficents]

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

[ryguy222]

Lets See why. They had to pay employee's and web designers, and Game Designers to keep VMK in good shape, and they weren't making any money from it. Personally i wouldn't want to pay 10 bucks a month to play VMK, which is probably what they'd charge. This game was just an advertisement, to get people to come into the parks and to the quests, or show people what the parks are like so they could visit for the first time. So every day this game is open they were loosing money.

[KuyaHarrison]

would you pay 56 dollars a year, its pretty much a ticket to 1 Disney Park for one day.

[ryguy222]

No i wouldn't going to DLR once is better then going to a virtual one every day. Big Difference.

[stevo505]

Maybe they could charge us 6 dollars like Club Penguin. Of course I would pay for it!

[phd516]

I wouldn't pay a price (besides the electricity and internet connection..) for any virtual experience.
That's the only reason I even played VMK.. it was free. (minus electricity costs, cost of time, etc. - but you get the point )

[ryguy222]

I pay for POTC Online, but its a pretty good game. There is a story, and its in 3D, if they made a VMK in 3D with better sound, and Graphics, I may consider it. But not a 2D game like that.

[sfgam2006]

Yeah, VMK doesn't have the quality to be a game that Disney could charge for. They would really need to do some stuff to it like add some new features, maybe expand to a second park like DCA or maybe one of the Flordia parks and just add some more servers to be able to with-stand the traffic of the game.

I played the game, but I am not devestated like many of the people here that it is gone. It's not something worth going completly nuts over.

- Zach

[mrskellington]

I played the game, alot, then all of a sudden I just stopped.

Sure it was fun, but I'm not sad to see it go.