Tales of a D23 Mooch

Have you heard of D23? If not put simply it is a Disney produced fan club that gets you into special events and sends you free stuff. Awesome! If you pay a fee. Not so awesome.  The fee isn’t too bad $34.99 for Silver and $74.99 for Gold. With the Gold membership you get the Disney Twenty-Three magazine, a free gift, the opportunity to go to events, and the ability to buy exclusive merchandise. With the Silver membership you get everything but the magazine.

Ok now that I’ve laid out the details let me tell you where I stand on the D23 club. I am what I affectionately refer to as a “D23 mooch”. My D23 friends are much nicer about it and call me their plus one.  Basically I have found that I can get into almost any D23 event I want if I can find a friend who is going. This is great because I can experience the events and meet other Disney fans. In fact just a week ago (February 14, 2011) I went to the Cars 2 Toy Fair event and it was a lot of fun. Michael Caine was there! What else do you need?!

I get the game. D23 is hoping that by going to the events I will be so excited about D23 that I will invest my money. The problem is that if I am going to join D23 I want the Gold membership and at this current stage in my life I cannot justify spending $75 that could be used elsewhere.  For a broke 20 something like me $75 can be a loan payment. For a crazy 20 something like me it helps pay for Disney park tickets.

“But Dragyn, what about the awesome D23 events?” Well this, Disney fans, is the real kicker as to why I won’t invest- well at least won’t invest at this moment. I live in the northeast. About a 2 hour plane ride from Disney World and a 3 day drive from Disneyland.  Most of the events, especially the really cool ones, are in Florida or California.

Don’t get me wrong D23 is trying to remedy that. I actually went to an event the day before the Cars 2 event where Becky Cline and Laura Sanchez asked us what we hoped for by way of future east coast events. Suggestions included more screenings and longer events with guest speakers. I was honest and told both Becky and Laura that I was a D23 mooch and that my main concern was paying the membership fee. They actually seemed very sympathetic to my concerns and my hope is that they were really listening.

I have one more suggestion to help D23 get people like me join the club- and you’re not gonna like it! Take away the mooching (plus one) privileges. If I can’t mooch, I can’t go. It really is that simple. Now that would be unfair. D23 husbands wouldn’t be able to bring their non-D23 wives, etc. But that’s how you get someone like me who is currently on the fence to make up their mind.

If in the future more events come my way and I can scrape up the funds then I will definitely join D23. In the meantime I will mooch and love my D23 friends who let me do so!

DragynAlly is a film student, writer, and traveler. You can catch her here, on Twitter @DragynAlly or on her on blog The Dragyn’s Lair.

Related articles

• Ready to Race at ‘D23’s Great Disney Scavenger Hunt: Walt Disney World’ (chipandco.com)
• D23′s 2nd Anniversary Member Mixer at Disneyland (chipandco.com)

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!