Post #388917 by Tangaroa-Ru on Mon, Jun 23, 2008 2:20 PM

No question -- the event was not well thought out by Disney AT ALL. But Kevin and Jodie were gracious and wonderful, signing their merchandise past the cut-off signing time (which Disney said was 11 a.m.). The Disney employees were very patient and helpful, though. I arrived at the park at 6 a.m. My main purpose was to get photos of the event and Kevin and Jodie for my upcoming article for Tiki Magazine. But, hey, since I was there anyway...I did stand in the extremely long line and wait my turn. Happy to say I was able to get everything on all my friends' wishlists (except the fountains, which they promised to me in 6-8 weeks, since I was lucky enough to make it onto Disney's "will call" list). But there was this frenzied sense that they were running out of everything... only to find out later that they just couldn't restock fast enough. Odd how Disney didn't think this was going to be such a big draw.

Here's what I can't understand: After the success of the last Tiki Room merchandise, why didn't Disney put some imagination into this day? This should have been a REAL EVENT. It would have been so special to have had this take place (or part of it) in the pre-show Tiki Room garden. Maybe have the signings done there, instead of the VERY dark Main Street Cinema. Hire King Kukelele to entertain. Passed out free pineapple juice. ANYTHING. (Oh, wait. I just said "free"."Free" and "Disney" aren't allowed in the same sentence. My bad.)

Anyway, if I ran this circus, I would issue "Fastpass" type tickets to everyone in line, based on first come. That way, everyone could enjoy the park (and continue to spend their money... do you hear that, Disney execs?) until it was their timeslot to show up and buy their merchandise. Yes, people would still have to wait in line (at the beginning of the day (to get their "Fastpass" event ticket), and perhaps have to wait 20 minutes or so, when their timeslot was called, but I think that beats waiting in one line for HOURS, don't you? And it will keep the Main Street stores from being blocked with long lines of tired-looking people. (Always a cheery thing to see when you first enter an amusement park.)

I did manage to amuse myself in line however. I must have been asked at least one hundred times (by park guests) "What's this line for?" To which I merrily replied, "the bathroom". Always a crowd-pleaser.