A Bear With Very Little Publicity for Disney Debut

The shadow of war reaches all the way to the Hundred Acre Wood, leaving Pooh with no party.

On Wednesday, Walt Disney Co. canceled a festive media event scheduled for April 11 to herald the opening of Disneyland’s the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction, the first new ride at the Anaheim theme park since Autopia was rebuilt in 2000.

It seems that Disney was afraid to throw a party and have no one show up. News directors said they couldn’t commit to providing Disneyland with airtime, and tourism writers apparently have cut back on their own travel.

Tom Brocato, Disneyland Resort’s publicity director, characterized the move as a “scaling back.” He said media outlets and travel writers still plan to cover the opening next week but not in the numbers -- and without the pomp and ceremony -- the park usually sees.

“This is just a different way for us to open an attraction,” Brocato said.

Disney’s theme parks typically make a big splash of new rides, hosting hundreds of domestic and international reporters and media outlets and often staging elaborate parties. The tab, which includes putting up the television hosts, travel writers and broadcast crews at local hotels in Anaheim, can run into the millions of dollars, said John Cora, a theme park consultant and former Disneyland Resort senior executive.

When the company premiered its Aladdin stage show in January at Disney’s California Adventure, the park adjoining Disneyland, reporters from around the world attended. They were feted at an oasis-themed dinner party afterward with Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, Hollywood celebrities, live camels, belly dancers, magicians and other entertainment.

Such an approach now wouldn’t make sense, Cora said.

“It would be a waste of money to spend all those dollars to do a press event and wind up with just a small article on Page 4 of the newspaper,” Cora said.

Disney also plans to open the show “Playhouse Disney -- Live on Stage!” at Disney’s California Adventure the same day as the Pooh attraction and had hoped to leverage the media attention to pitch both of its Anaheim theme parks to a wide audience.

Now, “it looks like it will primarily be a local media event,” said Sandra Haley, spokeswoman for the parks.

Visitors to the Pooh attraction, which replaces the Country Bear Jamboree animatronic show near Splash Mountain, will enter beehive-shaped vehicles that will travel through a building decorated with scenes from Disney’s animated feature “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.”