Kingdom Hearts at Disney World

**Firstly, if this is posted under the wrong thread, I apologize and don't mind if it is moved. I wasn't sure exactly where to put it**

As a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, it bothers me that Disney hasn't done anything to integrate the series into their theme parks--Magic Kingdom, specifically. Last October, I attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, cosplaying as Riku. While there, I ran into four other cosplayers from KH, heard rumors of others roaming the park, and got recognized by many--including several employees.

That got me thinking.

There's really no reason for Kingdom Hearts NOT to be part of the Magic Kingdom. Disney is slowly releasing more and more KH (trickling it in, more like) to their theme parks and merchandise. We are now beginning to see KH pins, and at one time KH figures were even sold in the Japan store at Epcot. One October, they even had Donald and Goofy dressed in their Chain of Memories outfits! AND, they had a guy walking around in a Sora costume--an official Disney employee. Most recently reported, park attendees at the Wreck-It Ralph meet-and-greet at Disneyland reported hearing Hikari playing over the loudspeakers.

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I believe that we, as fans, should take some steps towards getting KH into the Magic Kingdom. I've let this issue tumble around in my mind for a few weeks. After seeing all the cosplay in the Magic Kingdom, I finally had an idea:

Create a day where KH fans unite and attend one of the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween events in 2013, dressed in cosplay or wearing KH shirts, necklaces, etc. Basically, just make the statement that we love Disney, we love Kingdom Hearts, and we'd love to see them get together. I'm currently calling this project: Magic Kingdom Hearts, with the end-goal being to join these two "kingdoms" together by joining the hearts of a legion of fans.

So, why the long post? Basically, this is just an idea in my head right now. If it receives a positive response, I'll be putting together a website soon with much more detailed information. Right now, I'm posting this for two reasons:

1. As my fellow Kingdom Hearts fans, I want to ask you: does this idea sound do-able? Is it something that you would like to be a part of?

2. I'm looking for information on any KH presence that has ever been (or still is) at the Magic Kingdom. For example, if you went to the Magic Kingdom cosplaying a KH character, I'd love to post your picture on the website. If you know (or have pictures of) any pins, plushies, figures, etc. that have ever been at the Magic Kingdom, I would love to have pictures/information on them. Basically, any information that you have about any kind of KH presence at the Magic Kingdom--or Disney in general--I would love to have it (and put it on the project website with your permission).

Walt Disney himself once said that it's, "Kind of fun to do the impossible." Getting Kingdom Hearts into the Magic Kingdom might seem a bit impossible, but if Walt can do it, so could we.

Looking forward to everybody's feedback! ;) Thanks for reading!

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PROJECT: Magic Kingdom Hearts is now up and going. We've already had several people sign up to attend! Be sure to check out the official project website here: http://magickingdomhearts.webs.com/

Alternatively, you can click on my signature to check out this website. Hope to you gusy there!

Sorry for the long post. I hope it doesn't violate forum rules in any way. If it needs to be deleted, I apologize. Feel free to move it if it's in the wrong section. Thanks!

 

Whoa! KH at Disney! :O That would be amazing! I'm a huge fan of the series, and it would be cool if we could do this. I'm in! ;D

 

I had no idea either until I started doing this research for the project. They aren't sold there anymore, which is a shame. I found a picture of a shelf of KH figures inside the Japan Epcot store, but I can't seem to find it again. I'll keep searching and if I do come across it, I'll post it here.

 

I like where you're going with this. I've also always wondered why they just don't include KH. If there's anything I can do let me know in a pm or something.

 

I would love to be apart of this but I have a big problem I live in New york :c

but I totally support this and wish KH will one day be in Disney world!!

 

I also live in NY. x_x (still would like to support though in whatever way I can)

 

I love this. It would be great if Disney made KH seem more part of it than it already is. I would definitely join this if I wasn't half way across the world. :P But still great idea I'll support it from waaay over here.

 

Wow! Thank you guys for the feedback. I'm over-whelmed with the response this project is getting! ^^ Looks like I'll be setting up a project website soon.

For those of you who would be unable to attend the event physically, there will be other way to help--such as publicizing the event and maybe even donating towards it (if it gets that big). I'll post more about that on the website. Your optimism is very encouraging.

And this event wouldn't take place until October 2013, so who knows? Maybe some of you would actually be able to fly out for it. ;) You never know.

I'll keep posting general project updates here. Continue to provide feedback as you think necessary. I'll stay in touch.[DOUBLEPOST=1353434370][/DOUBLEPOST]

I found the picture of the action figures at Epcot!



They don't sell them there anymore, but perhaps with the new Dream Drop Distance Play Arts line coming out, they'll carry them for a bit again.

On second glance, I'm suprised that the store was actually selling fakes. These are bootleg figures: the warning label is only in one langauge (not three) and the red tab on the bottom left corner of the box give that away. I'm really suprised! O.o I collect action figures, so I've learned to recognize the warning signs. These are 100% fake from China.

 

I live in Australia, but I was planning a trip to America for next year anyway. Who knows? Maybe I'll just turn up :)

This is an awesome idea by the way

 

Probably because Disney doesn' t share the same type of contract with SE as they do with Pixar, a lot of KH copyrights are Square properties.
Organizing a temporary promotional event is one thing, both sides turn a profit out of it, but making something more permanent wouldn' t be very interesting for Disney since they already have a lot of material to choose from that is entirely theirs. Not to mention KH is nowhere near as popular as Star Wars or Indiana Jones. I' m afraid Disney only sees KH as a side marketing tool, catering to gamers every now and then.

Apparently the owner of Dysneyland Paris had a very hard time making a Jules Vernes inspired Space Mountain, the Americans weren' t too keen on letting him create something that isn' t 100% Disney and, gasp, not American ! Kill it with fire !

 

This would be absolutely terrific.

This also brings to mind: will there be any Kingdom Hearts in Disneyland, California? It seems only fair for both theme parks to have KH merch.

 

You bring up some very reasonable thoughts. It's true that KH isn't near as popular or well-known as Starwars or the Disney films themselves, but I'd still like to see some kind of Kingdom Hearts presence at the Magic Kingdom, even if just as more merchendise. The purpose of this event day would be to raise general awareness of Kingdom Hearts to those at Disney and just kinda say, "Hey, we really like Kingdom Hearts. It's got a lot of fans. You ought to put more of it in the Magic Kingdom." I'm not saying that this event will automatically cause Kingdom Hearts to have a presence at the Magic Kingdom overnight, but it will be a step in that direction. Who knows? The future could hold just about anything as far as KH and Disney are concerned.

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"--Walt Disney. I chose this quotation as the tagline for PROJECT: Magic Kingdom Hearts because I think it's very applicable. Because KH isn't as popular as some other Disney-owned franchises, getting more of it into the parks seems kinda "impossible." But Walt did some pretty "impossible" stuff, himself, and if he can do it, I think we can too.

Thanks for your feedback, Patman! You brought up some really good points here. :)

Disneyland has had some Kingdom Hearts presence as well. During the Wreck-It Ralph meet-and-greet, attendees reported hearing Hikari playing over the loudspeakers. There have been Kingdom Hearts pins reported in the Disneyland Sci-Fi store as well, though they were extremely limited to 500 units.

I would love for Disneyland to get more Kingdom Hearts presence too, but this particular event would be for the Magic Kingdom in Florida. If somebody else living in CA would be interested in hosting a similar event in Disneyland at the same time, that would be awesome! Unfortunately, I couldn't be in both places at once.

Someone invent a cloning machine, quick! O.o[DOUBLEPOST=1353542873][/DOUBLEPOST]

Thanks Cynosure! :) It would be excellent if you could make it. Feel free to "turn up" if you happen to be in the area. I'll be creating a quick website soon with event dates, sign up, etc. Stay in touch :D

 

This sounds like an awesome idea!
Like Cynosure, i'm aussie too, but i don't have any plans to go overseas currently. If you can get this event going, this very well might change! :) got my full support on this one! I don't have any kh merchandise or anything due to it being scarce in aus or at least the area i'm in, but i'm sure i could come up with something.

 

If it's next year during October, maybe I'll get lucky enough for it to be on the 8th, my birthday, and be able to turn up!

It'd be great to get a chance to meet you all and for once not be surrounded by idiots who call themselves "gamers" and do nothing except Nazi Zombies on CoD (I know it's fun, but only playing that doesn't make you a gamer)

 

Love to have you come, Dr_Wigglz! :) I'll keep you udated. Thanks for your support! It would actually make a pretty big statement if people came all the way from overseas, just to show their love for the series at this event.

I'm not sure exactly what date we'll be having the event yet, as Disney hasn't released a list of the event days at this time. I was originally aiming at the Friday before Halloween (25th), but we'll see what works best for everyone. Hope you get to attend! :) It would be a pretty amazing birthday for you if it were on the 8th, though.

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Btw, do any of you already have a Kingdom Hearts cosplay that you could wear to the event, or would you have to make one? (or, alternatively, wear KH T-shirts, necklaces, etc.) I think we should have a good mixure of both. Cosplay draws attention, and there'd be a lot of repetition (black coats, Keyblades, crown necklaces, etc) that people couldn't help but notice and grow curious about. T-shirts with the characters and the game logo on them would complement the cosplay well, due to the fact that they would help to explain who the characters are and what series they're from.

People were really curious about my costume when I attended Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween. When I went into a restaurant to eat, a couple of the workers asked me who I was, simply because they thought my costume was cool. I was able to explain what Kingdom Hearts was. As I sat eating--coincidentally--another two KH cosplayers walked right into the same line and started talking to the same employees. I couldn't help thinking: what if Disney employees and attendees kept seeing this pattern of cosplay? They'd either grow so curious that they'd have to ask about it, or--if they already knew about KH--they'd likely be super impressed by the fan presence in the Magic Kingdom. Either way, we'd be accomplishing our mission and raising awareness for the series in the Magic Kingdom. I'm sure that if we got the attention of the staff, they would bring it up to other staff. Who knows? Maybe news of our event would travel up to management and beyond.

I say we shoot for "infinity and beyond" with this event. :)

 

Me has Xion cosplay :3

Maybe the date should be around Christmas vacation cuz many people do not like going places during school times (my family)

 

I wish I could schedule it around a vacation time, but unfortunately, Disney doesn't allow costumes in the park unless it's during the Mickey's Not So Scary halloween event. That's the main reason that we'd have to do it in October 2013.

Xion cosplay, eh? Awesome! ^^ I'd love to see it.