ANAHEIM, California — Food by theme? check. Special drink? check. Exclusive product? check. Big and small limited edition entertainment? Check and confirm.
Specially themed festivals at theme parks offer guests a unique experience, often at no additional cost beyond park admission (except for snacks and t-shirts, of course).
And for advisors selling theme parks, limited-run festivals and events not only provide an opportunity to collect and publish new marketing content that appeals to specific groups of travelers, but can also be the final piece that closes a sale.
Festivals come in many forms and can vary from year to year. Some of the most popular festivals, such as the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival at Walt Disney World Resort, are held annually, while others are held sporadically. Most recently, the Disneyland Resort there debuted Pixar Fest for the first time since its launch in 2018.
Brew-Wing Lab's Pickle Milkshake and Impossible Buffalo Chicken Tenders at the 2023 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Photo credit: Jamie Biesiada
“We love giving our trade partners something new to share with their guests, especially when it’s a limited-time offer or event,” said Lynn Clark, vice president of sales and service at Disneyland Resort. He said.
Before Pixar Fest officially began, we invited a number of our trade partners to gather content to share with our customers and prospects. Disney also provides travel advisor content for use in marketing and social media, and Clark said the company hosts a group of agents on social media family travel.
Disneyland Resort took a different strategy this year. A calendar of events has been provided to trading partners in early 2024 to help agencies plan their marketing initiatives.
“They could also have sold more in advance,” Clark said. “It was really, really well received.”
Susanne Hays, owner and president of Fairytale Journeys Travel in Alexander City, Alabama, said it was helpful to have a calendar in advance. Pixar Fest, in particular, gives Disneyland a unique selling point. Hays predicted this will help change the situation for customers who live on the East Coast and more commonly choose to spend their summer vacations at Walt Disney World in Orlando. A festival centered around these popular movies and characters might be enough to draw them to the West Coast.
She said Fairytale Journeys allows advisors to pull from a central directory of content collected at events like Pixar Fest. While her content features the agency logo, advisors can often personalize her relevant messages with links to their own quote forms, etc.
“Not everyone can do all this,” Hays said. “This is one of the great things about our agents: We’re keen to share content with our advisors, and they’re great at sharing content with us. It’s a win-win for both.”
At Small World Vacations in Washington Township, N.J. (No. 61 on Travel Weekly's Power List), trip reports are also shared among advisors, said Sue Pisaturo, president and founder.
Pisaturo will be sharing reports from Pixar Fest, and although it is not required for agents to share their travel reports throughout the institution, they often do. And content often has legs.
For example, the video of Small World flying during the “Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular” show at the Pixar Fest of Buzz Lightyear garnered more than 1 million views.
Marketing Tools for Advisors
Adam Duckworth, president and founder of Fort Lauderdale-based Travelmation (No. 55 on the Travel Weekly Power List), said that in addition to boosting marketing, special festivals can attract niche groups to the park.
“I think anything that can be put into the hands of a travel advisor as an additional marketing resource or marketing collateral is beneficial,” he said.
Woody from “Toy Story” in the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration Parade at Disney California Adventure Park. Photo credit: Jamie Biesiada
Festival-related marketing can grab the attention of others. Garden and decorating fans might want to visit the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in the spring, while Pixar fans might be drawn to Disneyland events, he said.
Festivals can also help close sales. “It can be a definite selling point when you’re talking about people on the fence,” Duckworth said.
For Pixar Fest, for example, you may have children in your family who are fans of the “Toy Story” movies or “The Incredibles.” Both characters appear in various forms at Pixar Fest. Disneyland is currently hosting Season of the Force, which features special Star Wars-themed offerings such as a nighttime experience at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
“The Disney fan base has now established a niche in what they like. [intellectual property]“It presents a variety of opportunities,” Duckworth said.
He said this is also a strategy that Disney Cruise Line has applied to its ships, with themed cruises such as Marvel Day at Sea, Pixar Day at Sea, and Star Wars Day at Sea. He added that they are presenting .