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Sign my petition to keep VMK alive at http://www.savevmk.com. Thank you!

Sign my petition to stop internet petitons. http://www.uselessgestureitsjustagame.jk

Now that’s funny.

Not funny at all really. Sign the petition at http://www.savevmktoday.com as well. Disney has broken multi-thousands of hearts with a single bad decision. The Disney Magic just became another corporate green machine. A decision based on greed that will affect them for many years to come. These kids and adults will not soon forget the hurt that has been caused by this announcement.

Since it’s announcement there has been a crying out from the kids and adults to allow the site to remain open. There has been an out cry from the over 250,000 active members as both young and old have bonded together in a common cause to save the site from being closed down. Online petitions have had over 6,700 signatures in the short time since the announcement. Countless e-mail and phone calls to Disney have remained unanswered or been told there is nothing that can be done. It has been said that adults have gone to CNN and tried to get them to run a short story about it but when Disney refused to comment CNN saw no point in trying to run it. Fan based sites are buzzing with activity trying every possible angle to help. There is an article written by Virtual World News http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/04/disneys- virtual.html that contains the story and also comments left by some of the members of VMK. I ask that you please take a moment of your time to read the article and comments. If the real life stories there don’t break your heart, nothing will. Disney is doing more then just simply shutting down a project. They are destroying children’s hopes and dreams. They are taking away the one place where children of all ages can be free to explore, learn, communicate, grow, imagine, heal, flourish, and DREAM.

You see VMK is more then a simple online game. VMK is a community of friends and yes even family that enjoy the magic Walt Disney inspired. Yes there are games to play but for the most part this has been an escape from the real world troubles many of us seek refuge from. Here nobody is judged for their appearance, disabilities, race, or age. We are friends all seeking support, love, and understanding. We help each other in times of need. We share in the simple joys life can bring us. We care for each other. So while yes this is a game, Disney fails to realize it has grown way beyond that. Shutting the doors is absolutely heart-wrenching for all of us.

As an adult who suffers from severe depression, anxiety attacks, and post traumatic stress this is the one true place I can forget my troubles. Here my friends unknowingly have provided the love and laughter I needed to make it through my darkest hours when I had nowhere else to turn to. When closing comes each night and we’ve danced our final dance of the day, exchanged out hugs with wishes of sweet dreams, I sit back and dream. No nightmares for me then.. I dream. Dream of what surprises await me the next day, maybe designing a new room to share some fun in with my friends, dream of the fun times we have had and more that have yet to come. Those dreams came to an end this week.

I am a mom of 2 wonderful boys who both enjoy playing VMK as much I do and have been playing a little over 2 years now. I held my oldest child tonight as he cried while saying goodbye to a long time friend I heard him say words that broke my heart to pieces. “I hate Disney. I hate them! I never want to be CEO of a place that makes kids feel like this!” My son has had one simple dream to be when he grew up. His one dream was to someday be CEO of the place he loves so very much, Disney. He has had this dream since he was 7 and now almost 6 years later, until last night, he has held fast to that dream. Gone are the days we would sit and chat about what he wanted his office to look like. Goodbye to the wonderful dreams he had to make sure every child could experience the magic that he knows is there. Farewell to our special moments we could sit and talk about things he wished to build in the parks. As I sit and hold them while they sob at each goodbye to friends they will never have a chance to talk to again I wonder why? Why is Disney doing this to all the countless children around the world. Are their hearts that cold that they don’t hear these kids screaming out? Do they not understand the anguish they are putting these kids through? So many broken hearts, so many countless tears shed, and all to blame on Disney. The one place in this world where dreams are supposed to come true. My kids dreams never included this much heartache. Tomorrow will be another day of tears and sadness. Another day of hugging them while they sob on my shoulder. All I can do is try to tell them that it will all be ok, while inside my own heart breaks in two.

Disney fails to realize the importance of this game to so many people worldwide. They fail to realize the tremendous amount of agony they are putting these kids through. They fail to realize what it is that they have done. Our family’s hearts are saddened. There is no joy here now. No buzz of excitement as a special host event time draws near. Now our home is filled with quiet dread. Each of us knows that tomorrow will bring more sadness but still we sign on to be there for our friends. To share in the last remaining few happy moments, to quietly sit with our friend knowing that they are shedding tears of heartache, to dance our last dances with dear friends we will never meet.

Disney I beg and plead of you, please change your mind. Please bring back the happiness and dreams of countless children both young in body and at heart. Don’t turn your backs on us. Cant you hear us crying?

If you need more information please see the links below to some of the many fan based web sites and petitions.
Dis Boards - http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.phps=86a0c1644c1d9d4ccc8fbabb37c30b1e&f=95
VMKMagic - http://vmkmagic.com/vbulletin/
VMKForums - http://www.vmkforums.com/
Save VMK Today Petition - http://savevmktoday.com/main.html
Save VMK Petition - http://savevmk.com/phpPETITION/results.php

Dear Mr. Iger,

I am writing to tell you about a magical place. A place where young and old can gather to play, learn and enjoy the Disney Magic. A place envisioned by an amazing man who dreamed of places where families could gather and have fun leaving behind the real world when they entered. A place that only the magic and creativity of Disney could build.

Where is this place you may ask? It sounds magical and fun. The first thought you may have of course is that it is Disneyland- but this is not the place I speak of. It is a form of Disneyland in a different technological age. The place I speak of is Virtual Magic Kingdom.

VMK started out as what Disney thought would be a promotion for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. So they built this amazing virtual world to replicate Walt’s amazing Disneyland.

They threw open the gates and invited us in. We came slowly at first but once word spread we grew. VMK did not become an online park where we entered for a while then left. It became a community built by its players. A community of young and old, sick and well, and people of all races from near to far off distant countries. Here we found a place that evoked the Disney spirit in all of us. We played, danced, built rooms and formed friendships in the spirit of the man himself Walt Disney.

VMK was growing and becoming more popular so that when the promotion ended the gates were left open and our community flourished. There is no place like it on the Web where children and adults can play in a safe controlled atmosphere. I personally found a place where I and my 13 year old son could be together. We shared in this wonderful kingdom built only as Disney can do-amazing graphics, fun games, a sense of being part of the parks and much pixie dust.

They created our characters to look lifelike, like little people. We named them, dressed them, and formed their personalities. They became part of us. We look forward and enjoy seeing our little people everyday.

Suddenly on April 7th we were hit with an unbelievable devastating blow. On May 21, 2008 our kingdom, our community will cease to exist. The shock that took over was beyond belief. I felt numb, weak, and sick to my stomach, like I had been hit by a bat. How can this happen? How can a company as compassionate as Disney allow the doors of our Kingdom to close?

The news crushed my 15 year old son (slinkyman). VMK has become part of his life, part of his daily routine. A day is not complete without seeing his little person who he created to look like himself. After a few moments the shock and reality sank in and the tears started to flow. WE hugged and just cried asking how, why, how can they?

You see VMK is not just a mere game to us. Six months after slinkyman started playing VMK he was diagnosed with cancer. A shocking blow to any family made worst it being a child. I found my strength to get him through this, and then an amazing thing happened. Thanks to the spirit of Disney he took refuge in his Kingdom. In VMK he was not sick. He was a normal kid that still had hair and he had many friends. He had a support team in this community that was not available elsewhere. Cancer scares many people and our family pulled back-offering no support or visits. Here in VMK slinkyman and I have a community of amazing friends. They talked, listened, comforted us, prayed for us and sent mountains of pixie dust our way.

Through out his treatment whenever we were at the hospital slinkyman would take along the laptop with him. During these painful and scary days of treatment he would play VMK as the poisons to kill the cancer were pumped into his body. Doctors and nurses would ask him what he was playing and he would passionately tell them of a place only envisioned in dreams. VMK became an instrumental tool in his recovery. We have made life long friends and have wonderful support thanks to the magic of Disney. So to us it is so much more then a mere game. It is in our soul.
I had a friend tell me the other day the VMK is in slinkyman’s DNA- they could not be more right. I was able to save my son from cancer but I fear I will not be able to save little “slinkyman” from the darkness that is about to be bestowed upon us.

Please I beg you to reconsider this decision. Please hear the cries of young and old and let our little people live. I can not imagine a day without seeing the face of my little person. I like may others are then willing to pay to keep this community of ours alive. Please consider this option. Please show compassion and Disney spirit and show the children you care. After all in VMK the minds of our young a being filled with Disney and they will grow into adults that spend much money on anything and everything Disney.

In this Year of a Million Dreams I ask you to please dry a Million tears and let our dreams come true.

Sincerely,
Bugdozer

http://www.savevmktoday.com

As a teacher and Disney fan, I found a way to connect with my students through VMK. We often “meet” on VMK after school for some Disney fun. This bond I have worked hard to build is being torn away. My students are disheartened, as if in some way they are losing a part of their teacher. I am hoping Disney will do the right thing and leave VMK alone. There are so many ways Disney could capitalize on marketing VMK, it seems foolish from a financial stand point to pull the plug on a successful venture. But what do I know? I’m just a consumer, family member, teacher, friend, traveler, and role model to hundreds of children.