WDW Magazine: Keeping Disney Print Alive
The news about Disney twenty-three magazine coming to an abrupt end this week was an unwelcome surprise to many die-hard Disney fans, myself included. After 68 issues in print, and with thousands of fan club members, it seems unfathomable that the magazine just couldn’t survive.
It’s not the first time fans have felt the sting of heading to their empty mailboxes: Disney News (later called Disney Magazine), Disney Adventures, and Star Wars Insider have all said their farewells, and live on in the memories, and bookshelves of collectors who just can’t let go. I’m one of them - copies of Disney News, and the Magic Kingdom Club magazine are on display proudly in my office while I work away on publishing my own Disney magazines - WDW Magazine and DLR Magazine. These magazines are an important part of my fandom, and as it turns out, my career trajectory.
For a kid who lived far, far away from the parks and whose family saved up for years in between trips, those print magazines were my escape to my happy place – along with VHS promotional videos of the parks, occasional glimpses of Michael Eisner on The Wonderful World of Disney, and my beloved Birnbaum’s guides. I remember one 1994 issue in particular that included a backstage look at the making of The Lion King which got me curious about how it all worked, and a feature on the — at the time — new All-Star Resorts, which filled me with wonder (I’d never seen such a cool hotel in my young life). I treasured each issue and waited months for the next to arrive. For me, physical media is a part of the Disney legacy, and by continuing to produce tangible media about the parks, resorts and ships, I can be a small part of that history.
Like many of you reading this blog, I was a Disney Adult even as a kid, long before we had words for such a thing (though my Dad’s set of Mickey-shaped desk accessories from The Disney Store may have qualified him for the title). Before blogs and podcasts and YouTubers, I had such a passion for the parks and stories but nowhere to put that energy and no idea where it could take me.
Coming of age alongside the internet, I straddled past and present, the print and digital worlds. My journey in print began doing paste-up layouts of my middle school newspaper, then learning Photoshop, Illustrator and Word to prepare the high school paper of which I was the editor. By college, I’d submit my pitches and articles by email to editors I never met in person, at local and national papers. By the time I graduated, my path moved me away from journalism as a career, but the siren song of Disney blogging called to me.
After a couple years of ghostwriting as “Dad” at dadsguidetowdw.com, the digital edition of WDW Magazine was born and eventually I jumped headfirst into making Disney publishing my full-time job. Over the years, our customers asked, begged, and pleaded for us to actually print the magazine so they could get off their tablets, share the issues with their families, and proudly display them on their coffee tables. I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think print would work for us, but to this day our customers keep voting with their wallets to keep our long-form, print edition magazine alive and thriving.
WDW Magazine has published 147 monthly issues and counting – making the transition to print and digital editions at issue 66 – and we’re still moving forward full steam ahead. While our original magazine focuses on Disney World, we’ve added a second title, DLR Magazine, which publishes quarterly, to focus on Disneyland and lean more into Walt and the history of the parks. We’ve also published 4 special edition magazines centered entirely on single attractions like The Haunted Mansion, and this year our test run of a cruise magazine sold so well it’s becoming a permanent addition to our lineup when we launch DCL Magazine next month.
Publishing a print magazine isn’t without its challenges, and it costs a lot for a small business like ours to produce a magazine of the quality our fans demand and deserve. When paper and postage go up, we feel it more than the big guys, and we have less power to negotiate discounts or command ad dollars. Actually, we keep our magazine largely ad-free on purpose because we have so much info to share each month and so little self-control; we want every page in each issue to tell a story and engage our readers.
But, the internet and Amazon make everything fast and cheap, and print is slow and pricey. Of course we have a website to report on breaking news because it would be impractical to keep up with a “live” digital edition and impossible to do so in print (our files hit the presses about a month before they arrive in mailboxes). We actually plan 80% of our issues 18 months out; which is how long it can take to secure interviews, get perfect photos, and complete rigorous editing (because there’s no “delete” button if we print an error!). By the time each issue gets to our readers, we hope they savor it, luxuriating in every word and photo, feeling transported to their happy place. Print is a long game, not a quick fade into the scroll of the screen.
After 18 months of planning per issue – and now, 18 issues produced each year – a labor of love doesn’t even begin to describe the effort and care our team puts in. For over a decade, my husband and I have worked day and night on WDW Magazine - at first, on evenings and weekends after our “normal”, non-Disney day jobs. We’d assign, write, edit, layout and publish the digital edition. For the last 5 years, we’ve both been able to make the magazine our sole focus, leaving behind our other jobs to immerse ourselves in all things Disney 24/7/365. That’s not a complaint, we are truly fortunate to have the opportunity to work on something we care so much about, and along the way build an incredibly talented and tireless team, and find our customers who are our cheerleaders and friends when we need their support the most.
We publish one or two entire magazines each month, so the process never stops, like a little conveyor belt of thoughts and words and pictures. As I type this, our writers are working on stories for the April issue, our editors on March, our designers on February, and the January issue is about to head off to the printer, while December is arriving at the doorsteps of our readers, just in time for the holidays. What I hear from them every day is that they love what they do, the team they work with, the customers we serve, and that we’re doing something to bring joy to Disney fans just like ourselves. We’re a true fan magazine, though and through - by fans, for fans.
I’m not a fool, I know that digital media is popular for good reason: it’s affordable, transportable, customizable and more environmentally friendly. We haven’t forgotten our digital roots, which is why we continue to invest in our digital platform to ensure our app includes multiple viewing and audio modes so our readers can delve into our entire back catalog instantly.
But, I love the print medium. Keeping a physical place to celebrate the art, history and details of the Disney parks, resorts, and cruise ships is something I’m incredibly proud of. Long-form content doesn’t always get the attention it deserves in the digital world and that’s why we work so hard to share stories that matter to fans - like our profile on WDW’s first Ambassador, Debby Dane Browne. Or speaking to Disney Legend and Imagineer Bob Gurr about creating the iconic Doombuggies for The Haunted Mansion. Or diving deep into every hidden pun at Big Thunder Mountain. Or our series of issues looking back on each decade at Disney World. Or even our upcoming DLR issue that’s entirely about Walt Disney himself. Because of the ongoing support of our readers who continue to invest in their memberships, we have the freedom to craft the stories Disney fans crave, the ones they are excited about, where we can share something new to even the biggest fan. No fact is too nerdy, no reference too obscure. We don’t need to rely on the algorithms to get these exclusive stories to our readers, we deliver them to their door no matter what.
We remember fondly and with great respect the other publications that have come and gone, and remain steadfast in our mission to keep producing the Disney magazines (in print!) that we want to see as fans ourselves. As long as we continue to have the support of this whimsical and wonderful Disney fan community, we’ll keep the presses running!
You can find WDW Magazine, DLR Magazine, and DCL Magazine at WDW-Magazine.com.