In the late 1990's, Disney introduced a new concept in merchandising at the parks: Disneyland Forever and Walt Disney World Forever. Fans could scarcely believe the good news; Disney was opening the vaults and allowing guests to choose their favorite park music on touch-screen kiosks, and then burn their own CDs. To Disney fans, this was a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket moment.
Across the country, die-hard park fans bumped up their vacations, called in sick to work, and began scouring the internet for lists of available tracks. So much treasure to choose from!
It was all so much fun. For the next several months, whenever a co-worker or friend would mention they were headed to Disneyland, I'd beg them to do me one tiny favor, then hand them a list of music and a twenty dollar bill. Before I even set foot in the park again, I'd gotten the biggies: all the available Pirates, Mansion and Tiki Room tracks.
A very nice internet friend volunteered to obtain my requested WDW tracks and mailed the disc to me without charging anything over the cost. 'Cause Disney fans tend to be awesome.
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| My little collection -- I know some fans got every single track. |
And when I finally got down to Disneyland in person, I was ready. Boy, was I ready. For those of us on a tight budget, the fun -- and frustration -- was in deciding which of the tracks were most important. At about $20 for each disc of ten tracks, the Forever CDs weren't cheap, and thirty second sound effect clips cost the same as eight minute ride narrations. Like many fans, I stood there at the kiosks, checking my list, creating and ordering CDs until I ran out of cash.
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| A typically eclectic track list | |
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The Forever kiosks were wonderful while they lasted, but the system had its flaws. The sound files were all over the map in terms of sound quality and volume level. The system broke down a lot. And--in the end--the process of creating and ordering a CD was too time-consuming and confusing for the average park goer. Fans loved it, but most guests ignored it. Sadly, the most wonderful souvenir system to ever grace the parks disappeared.
In the years that followed, of course, the cultural landscape changed. Sharing music became easier than ever, iTunes and Internet Radio became more and more prominent, and Disney themselves, with the help of great producers like Randy Thornton, turned out some amazing park soundtracks. The release of the 6-Disc
Musical History of Disneyland made, for the first time, a comprehensive collection of park music and attraction ride-throughs easily available to consumers. Recent CD releases such as
Finding Nemo: the Musical and
Cars Land show that Disney seems to be more aware of the public's desire to take the music and ride soundtracks home.
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| The Inside Cover Dedication on each DL Forever CD |
In this age of digital downloads, there seems to be no reason
why Disney can't bring an updated Forever System online. They could set up an
expansive and wondrous online store for purchasing park music and
attraction sound files. The question is, do they want to?
They should, and they should make the purchasing an event in itself. They could offer the best-quality recordings and give purchasers club points for each download to be used toward obtaining limited-release collectibles.
Disney's current top brass certainly seem to have their eyes on the future. I just hope they don't forget to bring the treasures of the past along, and use today's technology to revive a great idea.
