Live and direct from VMK Central, here's Yavn with a final mesage to the Kingdom...
Not Goodbye...
Well here we are, at the end of a long journey. First, I'd like to say thank you for your notes, emails and letters – they have all made their way to me. I too have many great memories, and like you, I have a great appreciation of VMK.
I wish I could list out my favorite VMK memories and moments, but there are so many it's impossible to list them all. Of course something that I get asked over and over again is what inspired you to make VMK. For each of us it started with a love of the Disney Parks, and in my case it was a book...
The Big Blue Book
I was 11 years old when I went to see a Disney stage show. I don't remember the details of the show, only that each family that attended received a big blue book. In my family, I ended up with the book and spent many, many nights reading it. Over and over again.
The book was called "Disneyland, The First Quarter Century."
The book showcased the first 25 years of the Park with a few pages of the then upcoming Big Thunder Mountain. Many of the attractions shown were still in the Park, but a few that caught my eye (Flying Saucers, Phantom Boats and Carousel of Progress) made me wish I could turn back the clock.
Yavn took inspiration for VMK from this book about Disneyland.
I spent so much time visiting and reading about Disneyland that I started to know every inch of it, past and present. But Disneyland wasn't my only passion, I was also a huge fan of video games, and I always thought it would be cool to make a computerized version of Disneyland. Of course I had no idea what that would mean until much later...
What amazes me now is the way that Disneyland found its way to the internet, and again is showing the world an exciting new frontier – a digital frontier, that lives on the internet.
Now VMK is going away. Just like several attractions at Disneyland that have come and gone, VMK was just the first step in a new age of online attractions. However unlike Disneyland, VMK was never built to run forever. VMK was just the beginning – who knows what we will imagine next!
Still we've had a great time, shared some great memories – and years from now, someone will mention VMK in a conversation and you can smile and say proudly "Yeah, I played it."
Thank You!
Finally, we'd like to give all our players 30 days of unlimited access to both Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Toontown Online. If you're interested in this offer, email us at: vmk@disneyonline.com.
Important: Please make sure you provide your VMK character name to be eligible (this is the character name you played as in VMK -- we don't need your login, password or other info, just your character name).
And Thank YOU!
It takes a great many people to create, build and run a virtual Park. I'd like to thank Team VMK, all of our friends and partners at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom – but most of all, you.
I ask one last favor of all of you – remember VMK as one step along the journey. Like I said, in the history of the Disney Parks, we've seen attractions go away to be replaced by better experiences. Still those older attractions are talked about today just as fondly as they were when they were opened (Flying Saucers, House Of The Future, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Walt Disney World, America Sings).
Let's keep a special place in our hearts and minds for VMK and remember the fun, friends and fantasy while we keep an eye toward the great things to come.
Remember this is farewell, not goodbye! After some much needed rest you'll probably catch me sailing the virtual seas in Pirates, or flying around in Pixie Hollow.
Thanks for playing VMK,
Yavn
VMK R.I.P. 05.21.08
May 21, 2008 in CONTACT NOW, HELP SAVE VMK!, PETITIONS, URGENT, Commentary, Daily Picture, Efforts to Save VMK, Fans Speak Out, Farewells, Media Coverage, Official Disney News, Stories, VMK History, VMK Room Museum, You Tube | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)