Disney Movie Rewards

Post by **Neal** » October 4th, 2008, 1:11 pm

Is anyone a member of Disney Movie Rewards?

I am.

I realize a lot of the prizes are actually way more expensive than buying them at a retailer, but I still feel I shouldn't waste those points I got for buying Disney DVDs.

However, a new promotion has me a little perturbed:

Disney Magical Places

Basically, you enter the codes as you did before, but for Tinkerbell, Caspian, WALL-E, and Sleeping Beauty you can win a coin depicting the characters.

Also, each code allows for the chance to win a one million dollar sweepstakes.

What angers me is that 7 DVDs I have bought from Disney in the past two months were eligible, yet it seems as if since I entered the codes for those before October 1st, the codes won't count.

Two of the codes I entered in the last 7 days! But they may not count?!

I wrote to Disney Movie Rewards about it. I hope a cast member tells me I'm wrong, or is at least willing to fix it for me.

If I don't get rewarded for those codes, I'm going to feel extremely cheated.

I know Disney is a corporation like any other, and many-a-time people have complained about their services, but this is my first time where I've felt like they're being unfair.

Maybe I'm wrong about how this works, we'll see what happens.

Here's the e-mail I sent them:

"To Whom It May Concern:

I am an avid purchaser of Disney DVDs. I get at least one new DVD a week. I am also a member of the Disney Movie Rewards loyalty program. I visited the site for the Disney Magical Places promotion today:

http://magicalplacespassport.com/home.h ... C93}#/home

...and was concerned with how it works.

A total of 7 DVDs I have purchased ($140 value) were eligible for the promotion if I entered their magic code. However, I've already entered these codes yet they did not unlock those 'cards' on the Disney Magical Places site.

I hope you do not actually intend to not give people who already purchased these DVDs the equal chance as someone who buys them after this promotion.

I mean, I entered the codes for the 101 Dalmatians DVD and Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World DVD in the last 7 days. You honestly mean they won't count because it wasn't after October 1st?

I seriously hope I'm mistaken. I have a great love for the Disney company and love getting new DVDs from you, however, I will be quite put-off if my 7 DVDs do not count because the codes were entered previously.

I haven't even redeemed those points for those 7 DVDs yet at the Disney Movie Rewards site.

Here are the 7 DVDs I have bought that are eligible titles in the Disney Magical Places program, yet the 'cards' aren't unlocked at the site:

101 Dalmatians DVD
Enchanted DVD
Mulan 2-pack DVD
Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World DVD
The Jungle Book 2 DVD
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning DVD
Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas DVD

They should unlock 'cards' at the Disney Magical Places promotional site.

I hope you can assist me in this.

Thank you!"

What do you think?

*Disney Movie Rewards: Disney Magical Places (Promotion)

Post by **Ben** » October 5th, 2008, 10:06 am

Boy, you're a bit intense, aren't you?

I think you'll get a nice and decently polite response from Disney saying that this is a promotion like any other and that you simply missed the dates.

I bought some toothpaste a couple of weeks ago at my local store. This weekend, they had a sale on it, but I didn't suggest I get some money back for having bought some at a higher price previously.

This is just like that: they have a promotion - mostly to get people that have not yet picked up these discs to get out there and buy them, it's called added incentive - and that promotion will have dates attached. Am I supposed to go in after the promotion has ended and complain that I bought a disc one week late and would have picked it up earlier had I known I got a free coin?

No.

By the way, this statement: "I realize a lot of the prizes are actually way more expensive than buying them at a retailer, but I still feel I shouldn't waste those points I got for buying Disney DVDs" confuses the heck out of me.

Basically, I get Disney DVDs. There's a free code inside. I enter it, for free. They're exchanged for free points, which add up. When I have enough free points, I redeem them, for free, for something cool, which is sent in the mail free of charge.

Simply, where's the expense!?

"Tinkerbell, Caspian, WALL-E, and Sleeping Beauty" - these haven't been released yet, so you'll be good to get your coins, right?

"If I don't get rewarded for those codes, I'm going to feel extremely cheated." - what, for getting free stuff and still being entered into the sweepstakes with any upcoming title you purchase?

"Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World" - I'm still lost as to how this counts...it's been part of the Gold Collection for years. Did it get a re-issue?

"I haven't even redeemed those points for those 7 DVDs yet at the Disney Movie Rewards site" - so you have or you haven't? Honestly, you're getting so twirled up in your angst about this that it's not very clear what you're saying!

I think you have some compulsive issues that need looking at, or that you could well be Dusterian...

Post by **Neal** » October 5th, 2008, 10:50 am

I posted this at another forum and multiple members agreed with me that they felt the process was unfair and they had already e-mailed Disney, as well. I guess a lot of us Disney fans are just really intense.

I see sales and loyalty programs as two different things, especially when you're comparing $2.50 a bottle versus $140.

Where's the expense? I see (and I'm far, far from alone on this idea) that when you buy a product and then get points in a loyalty program system, those points were 'bought' with the product. My $20 bought those 100 points. From Chase Credit Card Rewards to Frequent Flyers and beyond, there's no one I've ever met who sees it different. Those points aren't free. You paid for the purchase of a service/product and the cost those services rendered or that product is the same cost as those points.

Really, I'm NOT the only one who sees it like that.

And thereby, 300 points for say the Ratatouille poster basically means that poster is $60. For each $20 I spent, I got 100 points - so I'm getting a "free" poster for $60.

I don't really care about the coins, I just care about backwards compatibility. The same backwards compatibility that works on the Disney Movie Rewards site already. If I enter a code at a certain date, and a prize is added later, I'm not told that my code only works for prizes up until when I entered it - it works with all products before and after. The other Disney Movie Rewards members I've talked to feel that the same system should work for promotions. A code is entered and works with all past and future rewards - so why not promotions? People who already own the DVDs aren't going to go re-buy them, anyways, but there will be an incentive for those needing the push over the edge on a purchase. Everyone wins.

As for DVDs I bought before the rewards system came around - I can print off a form and send in the proof of purchase tab and get those points. So it doesn't punish me for having bought DVDs prior to the system being put in place. This worked for me already on my Dinosaur DVD and Mary Poppins DVD.

It's that kind of easy, backwards compatible system I'm disappointed not to find here.

As for Pocahontas II - I think it's being re-stocked just for this promotion. I have never seen it on DVD anywhere before - not at second-hand sellers or official retailers, but last weekend I was at K-mart and surprisingly they had just stocked Pocahontas II with the 'movie rewards' logo on it. I think they needed a complement for the 2-Disc Pocahontas DVD, so they re-branded PII as a movie rewards eligible title.

"I haven't even redeemed those points for those 7 DVDs yet at the Disney Movie Rewards site"...

I was saying that I got those 7 DVDs so recently, I haven't even redeemed them for prizes yet.

I don't know who Dusterian is but judging by what you're saying I'm assuming it's an ex-member you didn't really like. No, I'm not, and if I'm so 'compulsive' than so are dozens of other Disney fans who say these same things.

Post by **Randall** » October 5th, 2008, 12:48 pm

Sorry, I'm really not seeing your point. Your $60 bought you 3 DVDs, right? Plus, you got points to be used in a program where someone else makes the rules. What's unfair about that? Sure, it would be nice if you knew about future promotions in advance, but that's not how the world works. Promotions get announced and discontinued all the time. We've all lost out on stuff before. It's the same as when a price drop happens a week after we bought a disc. Some stores may give you some of your money back, but they certainly don't have to. Similarly, Disney is not bound to do anything other than what they choose to do, so long as it isn't illegal.

Your points are still good for plenty of other items. If you missed out on some coins, that's too bad. But as Ben said, that promotion is for people who hadn't bought the disc yet (or, at least didn't register their points yet). So, you don't qualify. Simple as that.

I do agree that Disney would make friends if they allowed you and others to use prior entered codes for the coins, but it's quite fair to me that they don't wish to go to the trouble. You may not like it, but they're free to make their own rules.

Post by **Ben** » October 5th, 2008, 1:36 pm

I really don't see the "buying points" nonsense.

If a DVD - for argument's sake - is $29.99 for 101 Dalmatians, and you pick it up for much less than that, say $20 or $23, then how can you say you're "paying" for the code?

The code is there in the same priced disc just as much as it isn't there in a same priced disc.

That Pocahontas II came out in 2000 for $29.99 (okay, Movie Rewards is newer than that, but for argument's sake) and didn't have a code, and now it's out again, rebranded with a code, it's still $29.99.

And if you then factor in that you won't pay $29.99, that you'll pay closer to $20, then how can you justify that again then?

Especially when, much to their credit, you get the reward sent to you for zilch - I know other places where you get a freebie, with a $2.99 handling or mailing fee. Disney not only includes a color-printed insert in the package and doesn't charge extra for it...it not only allows you to sign up to their program for free...it not only allows you to put your points towards exclusive stuff not found elsewhere, but they send the stuff out to you for absolutely nothing.

In a world where you don't get nothing for nothing, that's a heck of a deal.

And...if you pay $20 for a disc and think that's $20 spent on a code, then you're all frankly nuts. You're buying a DVD for $20 that you would have spent anyway!

Okay...I'll bite on your odd, odd thinking, but even if you factor in, say, a dollar for the code's worth, for three dollars' worth, you got a poster that's probably worth double than that in the store - IF you can even get that particular poster in a store.

All I know is that over the past two years, I got me a small heap of DVDs just for picking up titles I would have bought anyway.

Where am I paying extra? Where, frankly, am I paying at all?

Grow up and stop complaining about something that actually treats the customer with a bit of respect for once.

Post by **Neal** » October 5th, 2008, 2:38 pm

Grow up?

I am but a strange, misled seventeen year-old boy!

I just bought five posters as part of their fall savings incentive. Can't wait to get them.

You get the DVDs with your points?

You might not have it, but, can you tell me if you think the "DuckTales The Movie: Treasure Of The Lost Lamp" & "Donald In Mathmagic Land" 2-DVD Set reward is a good deal?

I have 1,260 points and the 2-DVD set is 1,200 points.

I am considering it, but want to know if it's really worth all those points, in your opinion?

Post by **Randall** » October 5th, 2008, 5:27 pm

I was just eyeing the same set a couple of nights ago! I was about to get the live-action Robin Hood, until I saw that the Donald 2-pack was also available.

I do really want the DuckTales movie, but the Mathmagic Land featurette is also about to show up on the next Chronological Donald Treasures set, which I'll be getting. I could always sell the other disc on eBay (as I already did with a VHS of Mathmagic Land).

The set at Disney Movie Rewards is a decent deal if if you want both discs. I need a few more points for it, so I have time to decide. I happily blew most of my points months ago on the Zorro set.

Post by **Daniel** » October 5th, 2008, 5:44 pm

Speaking of the Zorro set, you'll be happy to know individual volumes are on the horizon for season 2, volumes 1 and 2 supposedly come out this month. (For DMC). Remember, season 1 started out the same way so this could bold well for season 2.

Other future DMC exclusives include:

A Mom For Christmas
Darkwing Duck: It's a Wonderful Leaf
Have Yourself a Goofy Little Christmas

Love the latter two, especially Goofs.

Post by **Ben** » October 5th, 2008, 6:48 pm

I got me the DuckTales movie before the Movie Rewards began, from a seller putting it on eBay when it was just a Movie Club exclusive.

So...I wouldn't go for that "set" (just two regular discs going together) per se, especially since as Rand says Mathmagic Land is about to appear in Treasures: Donald 4, but I can also see the value in having it separately available (hey Rand...if you wanna ditch that when you pick it up give me a shout), and of course it still seems to be the only way to pick up the DT movie (nice, in 1.66:1 anamorphic).

As with The Reluctant Dragon feature, sometimes these single releases are a good backup, or as I say in this new review of the Disney Exclusive disc, a quicker-accessible edition:
http://animated-views.com/2008/the-relu ... e-edition/

I'm mostly into the classic-era films to try and collect, of which there are only a couple more that I think I'd go for (Treasure Of Matecombe, Fighting Prince Of Donegal) in the current Movie Rewards line-up.

BUT...there are many more in the actual Disney Movie Club itself that I'd love to collect, or even actually pay outright for, but as I'm not in the States I need to wait and see if they show up in the Movie Rewards catalog.

Post by **EricJ** » October 5th, 2008, 7:27 pm

I wouldn't know about the free delivery, since the only Rewards prize I ever got was the VMK Virtual Home Theater (for my Space Mountain apartment), and I never got around to getting the Inferno pin...

Now that I can only choose from the real-world prizes (snif!

), they took away the Mickey Thumb Drive, just as I was able to afford it.

Post by **Neal** » October 6th, 2008, 12:06 am

The Reluctant Dragon was 700 points and I eyed it to be my first prize. By the time I reached that many points, it was removed as a prize! I couldn't believe it! The only prizes I'm really interested in are the figurines and posters. Well, I'm interested in that TV but know it's not attainable.

Post by **droosan** » October 6th, 2008, 12:25 am

You can always check out eBay for the coins, a few weeks after this promotion starts .. :idea:

I'd wager that a healthy percentage of those who claim these 'Disney Rewards' exclusive items do so with the sole intention of placing them into secondary collector's markets like eBay, or local 'flea markets' & such.

Certainly, you'd end up paying for it .. but if you 'gotta' have it, you'll pony-up the cash; that's why those secondary markets exist.

----------------

/still a 'lightweight', compared to most of the regular posters ..

Post by **Ben** » October 6th, 2008, 12:43 pm

Congrats on your 500th posting droo!

Post by **Daniel** » October 7th, 2008, 2:04 pm

Ditto, remember it's quality not quantity!

You know, I'm not member of Disney Movie Rewards, but I'm thinking about just signing up to get those coins! On the website they look gorgeous, I'm just wondering how the quality is. Guess I'll wait for pics or descriptions, but I'm sure they'll be good.

Post by **Daniel** » October 23rd, 2008, 8:28 pm

The titles I mentioned earlier are now available at DMC:

Volumes 3, 4 and 5 of Zorro are also listed, most likely for a November release.

They also have a Limited Edition tin version of Lilo and Stitch:

Heh, I'm actually not interested. I suppose because it's not that great of cover. Oh well.