How do you think the Dark Shadows Festivals can be improved?

Well, the Boston folks beat me to it--sort of--but why not come to Disney World. . .I mean, Orlando!  

So what if there are no authentic DS locations here. . .we still have a mouse  , and maybe our DS Stars (and some fans) would take in a day or two at the "parks," as we call them here.  I'd be thrilled to escort some of our DS stars and their families around Disney World. . .

Well, the Boston folks beat me to it--sort of--but why not come to Disney World. . .I mean, Orlando!  

So what if there are no authentic DS locations here. . .we still have a mouse  , and maybe our DS Stars (and some fans) would take in a day or two at the "parks," as we call them here.  I'd be thrilled to escort some of our DS stars and their families around Disney World. . .

Good idea including the escort service!

except ur forgetting that this years fest is being held in anaheim. theres a mouse there too and parks.

except ur forgetting that this years fest is being held in anaheim. theres a mouse there too and parks.

No offense Joe, but there is no comparison. I have been to both (the park in CA and the resort in FL) more than once and out of the two I vote DW #1.

I'm with you Vam rather go to Orlando!!!
Great suggestion!Brian

jennifer
and Nancy just curious but you were talking about the
expense Do the actors pay their way and if a lot of them
live in NY what's the big deal to come to Boston? i mean it is a big deal for a lot of us to go to LA(mouse and all)!

I'm with you Vam rather go to Orlando!!!
Great suggestion!Brian

jennifer
and Nancy just curious but you were talking about the
expense Do the actors pay their way and if a lot of them
live in NY what's the big deal to come to Boston? i mean it is a big deal for a lot of us to go to LA(mouse and all)!

No, the actors do not pay their way.     The majority of the DS actors live in LA (not New York) who attend the festivals.  Just a handful live in New York.

The festival has more than enough fans to attend the festivals on either coast and that is why the festivals will probably continue to be held on either coast.  For those living in Boston, coming to NY isn't out of the question.  

There isn't any reason why DS fans can't have mini-conventions of their own where they want them.  That has been done by a few people over the years.

Nancy

Hi!  I've had a lot of trouble trying to read the forum posts (probably because I've got such an old computer), but I finally got to read this topic tonight and I wanted to respond to the allegations of unfriendliness and/or rudeness of fans at the Fests.  I've been attending the Fests for over 10 years, and I always look forward to it so much because of the friends I've made there.  Like a few other posters have noted, there are always a few rude people no matter where you go, but that's just the way life is.  (Plus there are always a few people who don't seem to realize that -- spoiler alert! LOL -- the DS characters are just fictional, but that just keeps things interesting.)  Anyway, I just avoid the unpleasant people and hang out with my own friends.  I first came to the Fests not knowing a soul and found it surprisingly easy to make friends by using the Fest roommate service, meeting people in line, or sitting next to them at dinner.  It has been my experience that most Fest attendees are friendly and polite.  I've met some of my closest friends at the Fests, and I really don't know what I'd do without them.  Plus, we always extend the Fest trip into a big vacation and do lots of touristy stuff and have a great time.  So there's my 2 cents' worth.

Mary

The festival has more than enough fans to attend the festivals on either coast and that is why the festivals will probably continue to be held on either coast.  For those living in Boston, coming to NY isn't out of the question.  

There isn't any reason why DS fans can't have mini-conventions of their own where they want them.  That has been done by a few people over the years.

Nancy

Nancy
what about the whole country in between the two coasts i noticed that some of the actors could get to
Conn for a halloween tme it isnota good time for me to travel with two small chidren and the summer times of the fests i would think these actors would love to meet
their fans all across the country and if we have to pay our way why can't they pick up part of the cost? i thought Vam had some great suggestions!

jennifer

I don't know but a trip to Boston or Newport doesn't sound like a hardship to me for the actors.  I am sure there are things in those areas they might like to visit or revisit and combining things.  The actors a great deal of time bring their families and it might be nice to show them a different place.

The DisneyWorld thing sounded fun too.  I might even get my family to want to go again if it was there.  Actually, we will be visiting that mouse the end of May.  A last hurrah for the family.  We think the older two children won't want to vacation with the rest of us much longer.  Of course, it might be a joke on us and they will want to go with us until they are our age.  

Birdie

...I think Chicago would be more centrally located  should "da Fest" ever decide to do a midwest venue.  

Chicago! Great idea Bobubas ¢â‚¬¦not to mention that it would guarantee a really inexpensive jaunt for me ha!  (I also love the idea of having the convention in Boston or Newport.)  

Stuart's idea about the option of having professionally done photo ops would be great too.  It would sure beat having to rely on someone to NOT cut your head off as they took a quick snap .  Easy to justify the cost too if a portion of the $ would go to charity.

As to the ticket lines, my thoughts are that it might be nice to have the option to have them sent to you ahead of time provided you don't live overseas or pre-register too late.  That might not completely eliminate the line but it could cut down on the amount of people in it .  At the very least it would be good to have the banquet ticket given to you when you check in the first day.

And last but not least the rudeness issue : we experienced that to some degree too.  One guy in particular thought he was being really slick and tried to cut into the autograph line and make it look like he'd just stepped away for a while by making "witty" conversation with the people in our area    .  He didn't fool anyone but after standing there for about two hours straight if I'd had the energy I might have been tempted to slap him across the room. I don't see how all of that kind of thing could be avoided but it would be nice if it could be.  As a first time attendee I have to say that overall it was a really fun time and positive experience.

Orlando and Chicago sound great, too, as long as the organizers could find a centrally located hotel at a special rate - the way they did last year in NY, which is, of course, easy enough to get to for us northeasterners.  And you can hardly beat NY for excitement!

Another suggestion is to choose a hotel or convention center that doesn't assume that everyone will be bringing or renting a car.  A venue that can be reached via public transportation or possibly a shuttle bus would be best.  (Yes, Virginia, there are still a few of us left who choose not to own cars!  Or, the "ball and chain" as I like to think of it, but let's not go there ...)  

There are some great suggestions floating about here.  Are there any DS convention organizers on this forum?  

Now, can someone tell me how you get those wonderfully goofy emoticons?  This inquiring mind wants to know!  

Happybat, check out "Testing 1-2-3" on the Home Page...Mysterious Benefactor and Midnite have several postings of explanations on there.....I know, because I was one of the people who needed it explained to me several times over!!!
Raineypark

Thank you, Raineypark!  



Yahoo, it works!

-Happybat in Boston

Wow Happybat!!!!....you sure caught on a h*ll of a lot faster than I did!!!

You're very welcome  
Raineypark

Jennifer wrote:
<<Nancy
what about the whole country in between the two coasts i noticed that some of the actors could get to
Conn for a halloween tme it isnota good time for me to travel with two small chidren and the summer times of the fests i would think these actors would love to meet
their fans all across the country and if we have to pay our way why can't they pick up part of the cost? i thought Vam had some great suggestions!>>

Jennifer, I understand your frustration but you are assuming that the DS actors have more money than you do.  I think that is a false assumption for the most part.  As an actor, you only get paid when you work or you have a commercial running.  Otherwise, you find other ways to earn money.  You will note that many of these DS actors (from the original show) who come to the fesivals and other fan events don't even act anymore.  They have other jobs that I dont' see as paying a fabulous sum of money.   These actors have families and/or spouses and it would be incredibly rude to ask any of them to spend their own money to go entertain other people.   It's like saying, we want you to come and entertain and be with us, but you aren't worth paying for.  It would be sad if any of the actors could not attend an event simply because they couldn't afford to come no matter how much they wanted to.

The Halloween event you mentioned was a fan event, and not a DS Festival spnonsored function.  As far as I know, the actors were flown in and taken care of by the organizer.  That is traditionally how it's done.

It should be pointed out that the the DS actors, unlike other actors who attend these other fan functions such as Star Trek, etc., were not paid for their appearance at the festival.  The actors from Star Trek, etc. charge a hefty fee and in other case charge $10.00 to sign an autograph per person.  To my knowledge, the DS actors don't do that and some of them could demand to be paid because they are draws.  I know, for example, that Jonathan Frid (according to the festival organizers is the biggest festival draw) didn't charge fees for his appearance even though he would have been entitled to given the drawing power he had.  All of these actors give quite a bit of their personal time and to ask them to pay their own way, or even part of it, isn't  expressing much appreciation for the enjoyment fans presumbly get from them not only now but over the years.

The actors are free to do events with whomever they wish.  I very much doubt they would be crazy about  having to spring for half or all of the expense getting to a fan convention.  Anyone is free to ask them to do so. :-/

Nancy