The End of Wonderland CDs?

X-S Tech

X-S Tech

Active Member
Well, again I would suggest that this is probably Disneyland's choice, not WDR's. Not sure, just a hunch. And this could be a case where a complaint or letter to City Hall might do some good. If it's simply an operational choice (To operate or not to operate in this case), enough guest letters might do the trick. Were it a decision by WDR ("This isn't a worthwhile investment in our time" "We don't like releasing music in this format" etc...) I would say it would be harder to change, but hopefully that's not the case.
 
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ladytramp

New Member
Well, that would explain it then...

I managed to slip in a two-day excursion to WDW while job-hunting in Kissimmee, and I went to the Magic Kingdom mostly to have a few Wonderland titles burned. But when I got there, there was an Out of Order sign posted. I was also told by a somewhat sympathetic cast member that the one in Downtown Disney was also out of order.

They had managed to burn a few titles before the system went down, so I could get Babes In Toyland. But I really wanted Summer Magic and The Parent Trap, too.

That was two weeks ago, and I was going to call to see if I could order them. Does anyone know if the system there is operating again? Or is there another venue through which to order them? Or is anyone going there who would be willing to pick up those two titles for me?

I think Randy's news is great... but as I don't have an mp3 player or an iPod, I'm hoping those of us who still have CD players will be able to benefit as well.

Anyway.... great time at WDW... was bummed that Pirates was closed for rennovations (this year of all years?) ... but otherwise a great two days. Expedition Everest was wicked!
 
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Figaro77

New Member
Haven't replied yet due to sadness, since I'll be going on my yearly trip to Disneyland in late October. I didn't go last year, so I've only picked up a few of the titles I want. But, Randy's news made me squeal with glee. I'm a happy guy today. ;D

ladytramp, my suggestion would be to download iTunes, and buy from the online music store, and then you can burn what you buy on CD. You don't need an iPod to use iTunes. ;)
 
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musicradio77

Member
Well I guess our vinyl collections will still be useful after all, lol. ::)

But seriously, this is sad to see. I talked with Randy a couple of weeks ago and he hinted this was going to happen. He also said it is possible that the entire collection or parts of it will be offered via iTunes.

If you don't have any Disney collection on vinyl, try Ebay.
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Andre

Member
Yep, the wave of the future is compressed, downloadable music files that sound lousy on my sound system at home.
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I've never actually downloaded anything from one the online music stores, but the feeling that I got when I checked them out a while ago was that the bitrate wasn't brilliant.

I must confess that I'm generally happy enough with MP3s for most of my audio collection, and all the tools & players that I use will cope with MP3s fine, so it's a good format to stick with. I tend to store run-of-the-mill stuff at around 200kbps (or more accurately, I use LAME VBR mode V3, which averages to around that rate) and 320kbps for anything very important. But then I've got the original CDs anyway, if I ever want to refer back to them. 128k is far too low though, and I wouldn't dream of paying for anything that low.

If anyone has used these online stores recently, what bitrate options do you get?

Andre
 
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narkspud

Member
Sorry for coming across as bitter up above, folks, but I really don't understand the business logic.
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The business logic: Your company has limited resources. Your job, oh MBA, is to maximize the profits from them. You can have your people work on a reissue of an old classic that will move maybe 10,000 copies, or you can have those same people spend the same time working on a Raven album that will blast a couple million copies just through WalMart alone. So which one do you do?

(Hint: the "But it's also important to stay in touch with your fanbase" argument is wishful thinking by said fanbase, and has no basis in the economic realities of a big conglomerate like Disney.)

That's the business logic. Here's the other side's argument: "Yes, but Disney is not merely a profit-maximizing machine with interchangeable cogs for employees. It is a family entertainment company with a rich history and thousands of artistically-minded employees with great respect for that history. If Disney is to consider themselves an *entertainment* company rather than mere money-grubbing pond scum, then it is their duty to release the products they have that the customers want, even if it doesn't maximize the bottom-line profit, and to do the best job at it that they can." And even though it may not seem like it at times, Disney DOES often operate like this. Randy wouldn't be restoring the old recordings at all if they didn't. (I hope the grammar police enjoy this paragraph.)

BTW . . . you can add my vote to wanting only lossless files. My ears can hear the difference. If they ain't lossless, I ain't interested. Period.
 
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will

Member
Another great Disney idea down the drain - All I can suggest is start a letter writing campaign to John Lasseter and Robert Iger and let them know how much we enjoyed "peering into the vault" and being able to share some of the music that may not have seen the light of day. If they don't want to do the Wonderland Music kiosk at the parks, the at least let us purchase them through the Disney website - but that would make good business sense and probably a few bucks for the mouse, so let's not hold our breath.
 
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narkspud

Member
If they don't want to do the Wonderland Music kiosk at the parks, the at least let us purchase them through the Disney website - but that would make good business sense and probably a few bucks for the mouse, so let's not hold our breath.
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I don't think it would make any business sense at all. You're assuming that there are millions of Disney fans who would want a complete collection, but there aren't. Did you buy all the Wonderland kiosk CDs? I sure didn't, and there's no way in heck that I'd even consider it, even if I were obscenely wealthy.

Disney has a much better idea of how these suckers would sell than we do. Seriously, I'd bet large sums of, uh, whatever I have large sums of, that a good many of their so-called "classic" titles wouldn't sell more than a few hundred copies worldwide grand total. Or are you really going to tell me with a straight face that you would be willing to shell out $18.99 for a CD of nothing but multitracked accordion music? Disneyland released an LP that was exactly that. WDL-3029. It even has an ugly cover.

Selling CDs online requires infrastructure and inventory, and having them pressed requires a minimum order of 1000 discs (and you don't get the volume rate for that quantity, let me tell you). Plus you have to sell enough to cover mastering, packaging, promotion, royalties, documenting and administering said royalties, storage and handling, creating the writeup on the website and about a bazillion other things that I can't imagine because I don't work in mail-order fulfillment. Selling CDs in a theme park where they can be "manufactured" on demand makes a bit more sense, and selling them as automated downloadable files online makes even more.

It also makes sense to press small runs of the most popular titles and sell them at the parks, minus the kiosks (perhaps under a sublicensing deal with a smaller music company). I expect we'll see that happen. Be patient.

Disney is still one of the only two significant catalogs of American children's records with many titles still accessible for purchase (Sesame Street is the other). The kiddie catalogs of RCA Victor, Capitol, Columbia, Decca, Mercury, Golden, CRG/Young People's, Peter Pan and Hanna Barbera all contain material as good as or better than anything Disneyland Records ever did (and some of it is Disney material). Nearly all of it is moldering in the vaults, unavailable anywhere. That's what you ought to be whining about.
 
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