Virtual Magic Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, also known as VMK, was a free massively multiplayer online game
run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Online. It was a virtual
representation of the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom
theme parks
, containing areas and minigames which were based on real park scenery and attractions. It was launched as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth promotional campaign to commemorate fifty years of Disney theme parks.
The beta version
opened publicly on May 23, 2005 with three virtual lands to explore: Main Street USA, Fantasyland
, and Adventureland. This "beta" designation was removed on June 27. The Tomorrowland
game area was made available on October 5, and Frontierland
opened on December 12. The rest of Tomorrowland opened on April 4, 2006, and New Orleans Square
, the final land added, opened on January 8, 2007.
VMK initially launched as an attachment to the Disneyland 50th Birthday Celebration, without long-term intentions, but it gained popularity and eventually became a long-term venture on its own. The target audience
of the game was children between the ages of 8 and 14, although VMK was designed to be enjoyed by guests of all ages. Due to the young age of the game's target users, it was patrolled by paid staff who watched out for inappropriate behaviour and language, keeping the virtual world safe. Because of the need for human monitors, the time that the game was open had to be limited; it was open to the public daily between 7:00am–10:00pm PST
(10:00am–1:00am EST
, 3:00pm–6:00am UTC
).
On May 21, 2008, the Virtual Magic Kingdom game was closed by Disney. Many fans asked Disney if VMK was going to reopen. This prompted Disney to post a message on the VMK homepage that the game was a promotion, and was closed, and that there were "no plans" to reopen VMK in any form.
The VMK homepage now redirects you to Disney.com Games.
The VMK game engine
used Adobe Shockwave, a multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to web pages, first developed by Macromedia
, released in 1995 and later acquired by Adobe Systems
, and was created by The Sulake Corporation, who also created the online multiplayer game Habbo Hotel
.
The Virtual Magic Kingdom consisted of "Disney Lands", each depicted in isometric projection
, and each with a distinct theme.
No more than 15 characters could occupy a room at any time. If a player tried to enter a guest room which already contained fifteen characters, he or she would be put into a queue to wait to enter. A player could request a free "VMK pass" if there were more than five people in the queue for a room; this allowed him or her to walk around freely in other rooms until it was his or her turn to enter. The public rooms all had multiple "instances", named after compass directions (such as the "North-East-East" instance), and each instance could have up to fifteen characters in it. When moving around the public rooms, a character would be randomly placed in an instance of a room unless the player checked the "Advanced Mode" box, in which they could select a specific instance for his or her character to enter.
During October, all the rooms along Main Street were decorated for Halloween. In 2005, the decorations were left up until December; in 2006 and 2007, Christmas décor appeared immediately after Halloween.
Players whose characters met in the same room at the same time could become "friends": one issued an invitation to the other, and if the other accepted, then each player would always be able to see when the other was online and in what game location, and would be able to jump instantly to the other character's location (unless blocked by a 'friends only' flag on the room, the presence of the friend's character within a game, or a 'special entrance' room). Either player could remove someone from his or her friends list at any time.
In-game shops sold a wide variety of items, such as posters, couches, water fountains, and rugs, which could be used to decorate guest rooms. Some of these items were sold only for a limited time, and some could only be obtained as prizes for completed quests. Pictures taken with the in-game camera could be hung on guest room walls, or put into a photo book for public view.
Players could also create games in their rooms (as long as the games followed VMK guidelines of appropriateness), and award some of their own items to players. Among the most popular of these were "Cute or Boot", best described as a beauty pageant/fashion contest, "Falling Chairs", a game where the owner of the room dropped chairs while other players raced to them, and "Don't Hit the Floor!" in which a maximum of 6 contestants stood on boxes. Two variations of "Cute or Boot" were "Dress Like Me!", a game where players tried to dress like the game's owner, and "Wear that hat!", where players wore the same hat as the owner. Another popular game was "Design a Room!", where the owner filled rooms with items that could be moved, and the object was for players to design the best room. A less popular one was "Survivor", where the owner asked a question and the first person to answer it correctly wins a point.
Guest room owners had the ability to remove ("boot") a player from their room if the player was causing problems. Players that were "booted" had to wait set period of time before returning to the room.
If a character was in his own room, then he or she could be found by the Guest Rooms "search" button (which searched on the names of room owners as well as the names of rooms). Other than this, there was no way within the game to find out whether a particular other character not on a player's friends list was online or where they were located.
In the New Orleans Square
land, there was an exclusive room based on the VIP Exclusive Disney Club, located in the real New Orleans Square, "Club 33". This room was used for staff events and open to some guests who had won the best guest room award.
Each week, VMK staff awarded a Best Guest Room Award, Best Game Room Award, and a Best Quest Award pin to the owners of guest rooms chosen to be superlative in originality and creativity. Winners of Best Guest Room not only got the Best Guest Room Award, but they also were allowed to "rent" Club 33 for a party, which a VMK host helped the winner organize. Several players earned the Best Guest Room, Best Game Room, or Best Quest award more than once; the VMK staff awarded the VIP pin to these outstanding players.
A player could set his/her guest rooms so that only people on his or her friends list could enter. On January 8, 2007, "tickets" were added; a room owner was then able to sell (for 10 credits) or trade tickets to allow entry to his or her rooms. The tickets appeared as single-use pins.
In March 2007, VMK Staff began "Room Makeovers", where VMK staff would go into randomly-selected guest rooms, or guest rooms submitted by online players, and give the room a makeover if it was in need of one. Before and after pictures of the players' room were then posted each week on the VMK Newsletter.
During the Month of April, VMK Staff
Awarded a 'Best Pirate Room' award because April was 'Pirate Month.' Prizes included a "Seagull Nest Hat", a "Crow Barstool" and the seat that went with it, and a "Flaming Ransacked Window".
Some rooms were available in the Virtual Magic Kingdom from the shop button, others were available from quests, and some had limited availability built-in. Players were encouraged to get guest rooms when quests came out, because that could be the only time they would ever be available. For example, the Tron Guest Room was from a quest that was available only for a time, so players who did not finish the quest by a certain date, never received the Tron Guest Room. There were also codes for certain guest rooms.
In June 2007, "pay-to-play" guest/game rooms were disallowed because it was considered scamming, though games like "Pirates of the Caribbean" were still allowed to ask for the minimum 21 credits.
In January 2008, three new guest rooms were added to Main Street: Main Street Magic Shop in Central Plaza, Main Street Magic Shop Checkers (a new game at the Magic Shop), and the Penny Arcade on Main Street.
s were available to play throughout the lands in the Virtual Magic Kingdom:
There were also several places in Tomorrowland where credits could be earned. In Nautilus Grotto and Shipwreck Graveyard, a player could collect shells that randomly popped up under water and receive one credit for every pearl they found. This game required the Diving Suit magic pin, which could be obtained from an in-game quest. Another place to earn credits was the Autopia Space Race and the Mars race tracks. In this game, a player drove over trophies to collect them, while also driving over gas cans to keep from running out of gas. For every trophy collected, a player received one credit. This game required one of the four available Autopia car magic pins, which could be obtained from an in-game quest. It also required an Autopia Driver's License.
The following minigames were available to play in the Tomorrowland Arcade until waterpark overlay:
Credits and pins were awarded after finding certain numbers of Hidden Mickeys (a Bronze Mickey pin for finding ten, a Silver Mortimer pin for finding thirty, and a Gold Oswald pin and 500 credits for finding all fifty). Completing this hunt originally awarded a printable PDF coupon with a code for the Gold Design set of items, which could be obtained by redeeming the coupon at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom.
The locations of the Hidden Mickeys were changed on December 12, 2005. The new hunt was called "Hidden Mickey Quest Part II", and the new prize pins had "Part II" appended to their names.
) and selected the character's gender and appearance (shirt, shoes, pants, hair, hat, face, and colors for skin and hair). The player chose a name for the avatar, but until the VMK staff approved the name they requested, their name was "Guest" followed by the number of player that they are (e.g. Guest7402548). If the name was not approved, the VMK staff would let the player create another name. The player also selected a "guest room", his or her own themed area which could be decorated with furniture, posters, a boat canal, train tracks, game items, or other material. One room was provided for free, and additional rooms could be purchased later with in-game credits. The player could enter a few lines of text, known as a "signature", which were displayed in the character's publicly-visible profile. The character was then given a few tradeable items (mostly T-shirt
s), and was placed in the game.
A player could also choose from a list of randomly-selected "adjective-adjective-noun" names presented to him or her; if he or she chose one of these names, it did not need undergo staff approval.
Usually a new pin was released on weekends of a certain month in the Emporium for a limited time. These pins usually cost 500 credits and were often a part of a set. For example, during October 2006 a set of Halloween themed pins came out, and a new pin was released every weekend. However, by Monday the pin was no longer available, making it high in value. The next weekend however, a new pin in the set was be released and it started all over again.
"Magic pins" could also be worn. When activated (from the magic wand icon at the bottom of the screen, or by typing the pin's magic word), they displayed a visual effect, such as the character driving a car or turning into a snowman. Each effect had a duration of only a few seconds and had to be allowed to "recharge" for a minute or so before another use. If a player had two or more of the same kind of magic pin, they could be combined for a longer effect and shorter delay between uses. There were also single-use magic pins which disappeared after being used once (or after a specific "expiration date"). Some magic pins were very expensive and only available for a short period of time; for example, the "Turn Into Bat Magic Pin" (only available in October) was priced at 10,000 credits.
Some pins were not tradeable and could only be obtained through quests or host events. These pins included all single-use magic pins and all Tomorrowland quest pins. Any award pin, such as the best guest room award or the VIP pin, was also not tradeable. A player could check if a pin was tradeable by clicking the pin on a player's profile, which not only revealed whether a certain pin is available for trade or not, but also revealed who owned the pin and what effects (if any) the pin might have.
Occasionally, the VMK shops sold special clothing items (or entire costumes). Some of these were seasonal, and some could only be purchased during a specific weekend. These items were usually expensive; due to this and their limited availability, they soon became valuable items in trading.
Some clothing items were only available to one gender. For example, boys could not have princess outfits (excluding the Princess Minnie hat), and girls could not have the Wildcats outfit.
Full costumes included spacesuits, princess outfits, Haunted Mansion
dress clothes, an Expedition Everest
hiking outfit, baseball uniforms, and football uniforms.
Costume items included Mickey ears, and a variety of caps including baseball caps and a Sorcerer Mickey hat.
Another popular way to amass credits was called "Nedding". It consisted of playing the Shrunken Ned's Jungle Cruise game but trying to end the game as quickly as possible by crashing repeatedly and running out of fuel. Each time the game was played it awards 20 credits, so the credits that could be gotten from this game were limited only by the length of time someone wanted to put into it.
Accounts used specifically for getting credits and items, known in other games as multi
s, were called "mules" (sometimes called "clones
"). Since the game let a player create new accounts freely, players created mules (named after the beast of burden
) to enter multi-use codes and collect credits by visiting Disney Characters. Players could buy items with a mule's credits, and then trade these items from the mules to their main characters. Players who used mules were said to be "muling", and in the game mules were called "done keys" (donkeys) due to the limited vocabulary.
Purchased items could be "sold back" for 20% of their purchase price, but some items were not able to be sold. For example, a quest kiosk could not be sold back or traded.
Clothing items that were only available for boys or girls could not be traded to the other gender. For example, a girl could not trade her princess outfit to a boy.
Some players tried to take advantage of the trading window to scam other players, but most of the trading window scams were short-circuited by game developers adding confirmation notices. VMK stated that if a person agreed to all of these notices, any issues a player might have with the trade were due to their own negligence.
A player could report a scammer with the "Report" button in the game, or by using the "Contact Us" link on the web site.
the system. Violations could result in a permanent ban, which prevented users from using VMK on the computer the violation occurred on. Despite this, attempted violations were quite common, and people attempted to get around the edited speech by formulating single words out of multiple words (e.g.: saying "I'm Tree Ears Hold").
Every player had a report button on their profile. If one player thought of something that another player did as against the VMK values, that player could report them. The report was immediately sent to the VMK staff for review, and any necessary actions were taken against that player's account. Players could also send "emergency" messages to staff without clicking the report button on another player. The main reason for this was if something was wrong with the game. (e.g.: "I logged in the morning, and all my credits were gone.") Action would be taken against a player's account for sending false or unnecessary reports. (These were usually made in an attempt to bring a VMK staff member to their room, or in an effort for revenge.)
Disney prohibited sharing personal information in the game (and its limited dictionary also added a technical obstacle to this). Disney's stated intent was to protect the safety and privacy of its members, but this also prevented members from having a legitimate way of reaching each other outside the game. Members of some Disney internet discussion forums got around this by indicating in their in-game signature a discussion board through which they could be reached.
Online petitions were created to attempt to change Disney's decision, and some players attempted to arrange a protest outside of the entrance to Disneyland, although fewer than 20 showed up. On Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, suspicion arose when emails from VMK's server were sent out saying they were testing the player's account. These emails were proved to be false. Ultimately, these actions had no effect, and VMK was shut down as scheduled. The VMK website was updated with information to quell repeated rumors that the game would be resurrected, (and at one point, provided promotional [free] subscriptions for other Disney Online games,) but was taken down entirely in November 2008; the VMK URL currently directs users to the "Games" section of Disney.com instead of the VMK homepage. Though Disney has shut its doors to the Virtual Magic Kingdom, some VMK players have made attempts to re-create elements of the virtual world on independent websites.
in The Kingdom Keepers
series, written by Ridley Pearson
. It serves as a rendezvous point for the main characters, as well as a communication device as the kids venture through the Disney parks. After VMK closed down in real life, Pearson incorporated the closing into the books.
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...
Online. It was a virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
representation of the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
theme parks
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, containing areas and minigames which were based on real park scenery and attractions. It was launched as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth promotional campaign to commemorate fifty years of Disney theme parks.
The beta version
Development stage
A software release life cycle refers to the phases of development and maturity for a piece of computer software—ranging from its initial development, to its eventual release, and updated versions of the released version to help improve software or fix bugs still present in the software.- Pre-alpha...
opened publicly on May 23, 2005 with three virtual lands to explore: Main Street USA, Fantasyland
Fantasyland
Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Each Fantasyland has a castle as well as several gentle rides themed after Disney movies...
, and Adventureland. This "beta" designation was removed on June 27. The Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...
game area was made available on October 5, and Frontierland
Frontierland
Tokyo Disneyland's instance is known as Westernland, as "frontier" does not adequately translate into the Japanese language. The Mark Twain sails this park's Rivers of America...
opened on December 12. The rest of Tomorrowland opened on April 4, 2006, and New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square is a themed land found exclusively at Disneyland, though a similarly themed area can be found within Tokyo Disneyland's Adventureland. Based on 19th-century New Orleans, it was the first new land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening. The land was opened to the...
, the final land added, opened on January 8, 2007.
VMK initially launched as an attachment to the Disneyland 50th Birthday Celebration, without long-term intentions, but it gained popularity and eventually became a long-term venture on its own. The target audience
Target audience
In marketing and advertising, a target audience, is a specific group of people within the target market at which the marketing message is aimed .....
of the game was children between the ages of 8 and 14, although VMK was designed to be enjoyed by guests of all ages. Due to the young age of the game's target users, it was patrolled by paid staff who watched out for inappropriate behaviour and language, keeping the virtual world safe. Because of the need for human monitors, the time that the game was open had to be limited; it was open to the public daily between 7:00am–10:00pm PST
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
(10:00am–1:00am EST
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, 3:00pm–6:00am UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
).
On May 21, 2008, the Virtual Magic Kingdom game was closed by Disney. Many fans asked Disney if VMK was going to reopen. This prompted Disney to post a message on the VMK homepage that the game was a promotion, and was closed, and that there were "no plans" to reopen VMK in any form.
The VMK homepage now redirects you to Disney.com Games.
The VMK game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
used Adobe Shockwave, a multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to web pages, first developed by Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
, released in 1995 and later acquired by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
, and was created by The Sulake Corporation, who also created the online multiplayer game Habbo Hotel
Habbo Hotel
Habbo is a social networking site aimed at teenagers. The website is owned and operated by Sulake Corporation. The service began in 2000 and has expanded to include 11 online communities , with users in over 150 countries. As of August 2011, over 230 million avatars have been registered...
.
Gameplay
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
, and each with a distinct theme.
No more than 15 characters could occupy a room at any time. If a player tried to enter a guest room which already contained fifteen characters, he or she would be put into a queue to wait to enter. A player could request a free "VMK pass" if there were more than five people in the queue for a room; this allowed him or her to walk around freely in other rooms until it was his or her turn to enter. The public rooms all had multiple "instances", named after compass directions (such as the "North-East-East" instance), and each instance could have up to fifteen characters in it. When moving around the public rooms, a character would be randomly placed in an instance of a room unless the player checked the "Advanced Mode" box, in which they could select a specific instance for his or her character to enter.
During October, all the rooms along Main Street were decorated for Halloween. In 2005, the decorations were left up until December; in 2006 and 2007, Christmas décor appeared immediately after Halloween.
Players whose characters met in the same room at the same time could become "friends": one issued an invitation to the other, and if the other accepted, then each player would always be able to see when the other was online and in what game location, and would be able to jump instantly to the other character's location (unless blocked by a 'friends only' flag on the room, the presence of the friend's character within a game, or a 'special entrance' room). Either player could remove someone from his or her friends list at any time.
Guest rooms and awards
When a player first created his or her character in the game, he or she was given one free "guest room", which they could name and decorate with items. If the player was creating their character in a real-life park, then they were given another room (one of each available choice), as a bonus. Several other kinds of rooms were also available; a player could purchase/get them in the game. Players could set some of their items to be movable by their guests, a feature added sometime in late 2007 or early 2008.In-game shops sold a wide variety of items, such as posters, couches, water fountains, and rugs, which could be used to decorate guest rooms. Some of these items were sold only for a limited time, and some could only be obtained as prizes for completed quests. Pictures taken with the in-game camera could be hung on guest room walls, or put into a photo book for public view.
Players could also create games in their rooms (as long as the games followed VMK guidelines of appropriateness), and award some of their own items to players. Among the most popular of these were "Cute or Boot", best described as a beauty pageant/fashion contest, "Falling Chairs", a game where the owner of the room dropped chairs while other players raced to them, and "Don't Hit the Floor!" in which a maximum of 6 contestants stood on boxes. Two variations of "Cute or Boot" were "Dress Like Me!", a game where players tried to dress like the game's owner, and "Wear that hat!", where players wore the same hat as the owner. Another popular game was "Design a Room!", where the owner filled rooms with items that could be moved, and the object was for players to design the best room. A less popular one was "Survivor", where the owner asked a question and the first person to answer it correctly wins a point.
Guest room owners had the ability to remove ("boot") a player from their room if the player was causing problems. Players that were "booted" had to wait set period of time before returning to the room.
If a character was in his own room, then he or she could be found by the Guest Rooms "search" button (which searched on the names of room owners as well as the names of rooms). Other than this, there was no way within the game to find out whether a particular other character not on a player's friends list was online or where they were located.
In the New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square is a themed land found exclusively at Disneyland, though a similarly themed area can be found within Tokyo Disneyland's Adventureland. Based on 19th-century New Orleans, it was the first new land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening. The land was opened to the...
land, there was an exclusive room based on the VIP Exclusive Disney Club, located in the real New Orleans Square, "Club 33". This room was used for staff events and open to some guests who had won the best guest room award.
Each week, VMK staff awarded a Best Guest Room Award, Best Game Room Award, and a Best Quest Award pin to the owners of guest rooms chosen to be superlative in originality and creativity. Winners of Best Guest Room not only got the Best Guest Room Award, but they also were allowed to "rent" Club 33 for a party, which a VMK host helped the winner organize. Several players earned the Best Guest Room, Best Game Room, or Best Quest award more than once; the VMK staff awarded the VIP pin to these outstanding players.
A player could set his/her guest rooms so that only people on his or her friends list could enter. On January 8, 2007, "tickets" were added; a room owner was then able to sell (for 10 credits) or trade tickets to allow entry to his or her rooms. The tickets appeared as single-use pins.
In March 2007, VMK Staff began "Room Makeovers", where VMK staff would go into randomly-selected guest rooms, or guest rooms submitted by online players, and give the room a makeover if it was in need of one. Before and after pictures of the players' room were then posted each week on the VMK Newsletter.
During the Month of April, VMK Staff
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
Awarded a 'Best Pirate Room' award because April was 'Pirate Month.' Prizes included a "Seagull Nest Hat", a "Crow Barstool" and the seat that went with it, and a "Flaming Ransacked Window".
Some rooms were available in the Virtual Magic Kingdom from the shop button, others were available from quests, and some had limited availability built-in. Players were encouraged to get guest rooms when quests came out, because that could be the only time they would ever be available. For example, the Tron Guest Room was from a quest that was available only for a time, so players who did not finish the quest by a certain date, never received the Tron Guest Room. There were also codes for certain guest rooms.
In June 2007, "pay-to-play" guest/game rooms were disallowed because it was considered scamming, though games like "Pirates of the Caribbean" were still allowed to ask for the minimum 21 credits.
In January 2008, three new guest rooms were added to Main Street: Main Street Magic Shop in Central Plaza, Main Street Magic Shop Checkers (a new game at the Magic Shop), and the Penny Arcade on Main Street.
Mini-games
The following minigameMinigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s were available to play throughout the lands in the Virtual Magic Kingdom:
- Magic Checkers: Revealed to the VMK public in January 2008, this game was essentially checkers and was playable by two players at a time per room. Like most other games in VMK, Magic Checkers offered a reward of credits and items. The amount of credits awarded by this game increased depending on the amounts won. You were also able to buy single use Magic Pins for this game to get an advantage to the other player.
- Pirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
: Two to eight players, on two teams, either played a game of "Ship Battle" where one team must sink the other, or a game of "Capture the Flag" where one team must bring the opposing team's flag to their base before the other team. Once the game was over, both teams were rewarded with credits for their efforts. After every three wins on one level, a player received a treasure chest magic key that would open a chest corresponding to the level on which the player won the key. The prizes the player was awarded were from a list of randomly-chosen pirate-related prizes that corresponded to the level the key was awarded in. - Castle Fireworks Remixed: Fireworks were launched into the sky and the player had to click on each one with the correct symbol to detonate it. Pins and credits were awarded based on a player's performance.
- Jungle CruiseJungle CruiseThe Jungle Cruise is an attraction located in Adventureland at many Disney Parks, including Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the attraction is named Jungle River Cruise...
Photo Safari: The player piloted a safari boat and took photos of animals while avoiding obstacles. After the first time playing the game, 20 credits are awarded per game, no matter what the player's score. - Street Party Music Game/Monorail Music Game: A player could sequenceSequenceIn mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...
music loopMusic loopIn electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
s into a song for characters to dance to. Credits were awarded for editing songs and for playing them. - The Haunted Mansion Game: The Purple team and the Green team, with up to four players each, competed to capture ghosts in the mansion.
- The VMK Trading Card Game: The basic version of the VMK Trading Card Game was released August 17, 2007. In this version, the player began with a random deck of cards and played a computer opponent in a sort of Rock, Paper, ScissorsRock, Paper, ScissorsRock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....
game. Other versions, along with customizable decks and rewards for winning, were released later as time went on. But the game was never fully released due to technical issues and the game closing.
There were also several places in Tomorrowland where credits could be earned. In Nautilus Grotto and Shipwreck Graveyard, a player could collect shells that randomly popped up under water and receive one credit for every pearl they found. This game required the Diving Suit magic pin, which could be obtained from an in-game quest. Another place to earn credits was the Autopia Space Race and the Mars race tracks. In this game, a player drove over trophies to collect them, while also driving over gas cans to keep from running out of gas. For every trophy collected, a player received one credit. This game required one of the four available Autopia car magic pins, which could be obtained from an in-game quest. It also required an Autopia Driver's License.
The following minigames were available to play in the Tomorrowland Arcade until waterpark overlay:
- Airlock Escape: A puzzle game with some similarity to ChuChu Rocket!ChuChu Rocket!is a puzzle video game for Dreamcast developed by Sonic Team. The game was the first popular game with online mode support for any major video game console...
; successful completion of all fifteen levels rewarded the player with Deep Sea Diving Boots, Deep Sea Diving Jacket, and Deep Sea Diving Trousers (Deep Sea Diving Helmet could be purchased in the Inner-Space store). - Blast in Space: An action gameAction gameAction game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
similar to Asteroids; the player piloted a spaceship to shoot rocks, and then received awards for passing all sixteen levels. - Hyperspace Mountain: An action game where the player collected six "modules" throughout nine sectors. Obtaining all six modules won rewards.
Events
The Virtual Magic Kingdom occasionally held special events at which prizes were given out. Special events included:- Parade and Scavenger Hunt (beta period): Players were told to gather on Main Street and "parade" along its length. Some parade "leaders" were awarded the Dancing Inferno Magic pin, later considered rare to other players. Then a few staff members "hid" themselves in some rooms in the game, and the first people to find each of them were awarded prizes.
- Room Decorating Event: Players were told to decorate their rooms to be judged for prizes. For a Celebration theme, players commemorated Disneyland's 50th anniversary. For a Space theme, players offered an interpretation of what "space" meant to them. Prizes were also given for answering trivia questions.
- Dreams Month (September 2007): Hosts would be randomly walking around the park including guest rooms and handing out prizes. Some of these prizes included the Dreams room, which looks like Sleeping Beauty's castle, dream ears, dream pin, and many other items. Hosts would randomly walk around and players waiting in one room all day had difficulty finding them, therefore, players were encouraged to play VMK as they would normally to possibly win a prize.
- Haunted Maze Event (October 2005): An easy maze, a medium maze, and a difficult maze were available for players to find their way through. Successfully completing the maze would award a prize. However, the event was plagued by server problems, resulting in queues of half an hour or more to get into the mazes, and some players were not able to enter the mazes at all or were bumped offline in the middle of them.
- Gift-Giving Event (December 2005): A player could spend 500 credits to purchase a mystery gift which was given (in the game) to someone of his or her choosing on December 24. The gift turned out to be a green holiday wreath.
- Yeti Quest (February 2006): Players could visit designated rooms to find photos; by stringing together the first letter of each pictured item, a player could spell the location where the Yeti was hiding, and submit the location for prizes. The answer was "Injun Joe's Cave", and everyone who sent in a correct answer won a snow carpet.
- Ride-A-Thons: VMK staff occasionally hosted "Ride-A-Thons", in which they prepared rides for players to enjoy. When a player reached the end of a ride, he was given a ride piece with which to create his own ride. Several rides usually ran at the same time to handle capacity. The more a player rode, the more of a single prize a player would receive, depending on the event.
- Make-A-Room: VMK staff occasionally hosted "Make A Ride Rooms", which allowed players to go into a certain teleporter and design a room. The player with the best design got a prize, and soon many other players started the same game. A blue flag would be placed in the room once the ride was judged.
- Gingerbread Room Competition (December 2007): Players constructed a room using furniture items released during the month of December. The rooms were judged and the winners were given prizes that included a new shirt and hat that are different on boys than on girls.
- Captain Blackheart's Treasure Hunt Quest (March 29 - April 1, 2008): The biggest VMK quest ever. The quest consisted of 75 different tasks, and required the player to navigate VMK, answer Disney Pirate's of the Caribbean-related questions, and play games. The prize awarded was 75,000 credits and some items that were not immediately obtainable. There was also a smaller version of the quest, called Captain Blackheart's Mini Treasure Hunt Quest. The smaller quest awarded 1000 credits. Captain Blackheart, as he is called, also hosted a small quest, but still quite large with the prize of 56,000 credits and many valuable items.
In-game
In-game quests involved a series of tasks for a player, such as finding a specific room or an item in the room, changing one's outfit, saying a specific word, or winning a certain number of points in a minigame. There were two types of in-game quests: 'Q Button' quests, which players could start from anywhere in the game by pressing a button marked 'Q' on the game's taskbar; and kiosk quests, which were linked to a 'quest kiosk' item owned by a particular player or staff member. Successful completion of a quest usually awarded a prize. Each character could only complete each quest once.In-park
For the first two years of the game, there was an in-park quest program which permitted players to earn special in-game prizes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts. These quests were mostly eliminated in mid-2007, with the exception of an activity sheet and quest which was handed out to guests waiting in line at the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction at Disneyland until around January 2008.Hidden Mickeys
There were fifty Hidden Mickeys in the game, appearing as mouse-eared logos embossed onto scenery in rooms. Hunting for Hidden Mickeys could be a difficult task, as they were faint and rather difficult to see, and it could take time to earn enough credits to buy film to photograph the hidden Mickeys in-game. Almost every room had at least one, and some contained two.Credits and pins were awarded after finding certain numbers of Hidden Mickeys (a Bronze Mickey pin for finding ten, a Silver Mortimer pin for finding thirty, and a Gold Oswald pin and 500 credits for finding all fifty). Completing this hunt originally awarded a printable PDF coupon with a code for the Gold Design set of items, which could be obtained by redeeming the coupon at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom.
The locations of the Hidden Mickeys were changed on December 12, 2005. The new hunt was called "Hidden Mickey Quest Part II", and the new prize pins had "Part II" appended to their names.
Character profiles
A new player began by registering an account at the VMK website. The player then set up a character (an avatarAvatar (virtual reality)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
) and selected the character's gender and appearance (shirt, shoes, pants, hair, hat, face, and colors for skin and hair). The player chose a name for the avatar, but until the VMK staff approved the name they requested, their name was "Guest" followed by the number of player that they are (e.g. Guest7402548). If the name was not approved, the VMK staff would let the player create another name. The player also selected a "guest room", his or her own themed area which could be decorated with furniture, posters, a boat canal, train tracks, game items, or other material. One room was provided for free, and additional rooms could be purchased later with in-game credits. The player could enter a few lines of text, known as a "signature", which were displayed in the character's publicly-visible profile. The character was then given a few tradeable items (mostly T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s), and was placed in the game.
A player could also choose from a list of randomly-selected "adjective-adjective-noun" names presented to him or her; if he or she chose one of these names, it did not need undergo staff approval.
Items
There were many items. There were in-game items which were buyables. Other could be won or gained from the parks. These items included furniture,clothing,and pins. Most were tradeable, some were not.Badges
Badges were icons that appeared at the top of a player's information window and were visible to other players. Badges could not be traded.- Born In Park: given to a character created at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom. This was a green badge with a cutout silhouette of the Disneyland castle (this was also the symbol of VMK).
- VIP: given via a prize card's code; the card was given after completing the in-park quests to become eligible for the special park tour. This badge was sometimes received by winning a mini-game or Host event. (Note that this is different from the VIP pin, which was given the second time a player won a Best Guest Room or Best Game Room award.) The badge was purple with white VIP lettering in the middle.
- Here from Day 1: given to a character created during the "beta" stage (prior to June 27, 2005). This was a gold badge with a prominent "1" displayed in the middle.
- VMK Staff: paid employees who helped safeguard players and/or hosted VMK games and events; see Staff above. This badge was the quintessential smiling Mickey Mouse face as seen at the start of the old cartoons.
- Testers: VMK staff that tested out items, and were seen around with their name as "QA_". Testers also held the VMK Staff badge.
- Community Leader: volunteers who helped with the game; their names began with "CL_" (Discontinued on October 24, 2007). This badge was a blue badge with Mickey's sorcerer hat. After it was discontinued, former community leaders did not have the badge or the CL_ at the beginning of their title.
Pins
A character could "wear" up to fifteen pins so that other players could see them in his or her profile. Some pins could be purchased from shops in the game; others could only be obtained by completing in-park or in-game quests, by winning host games, or from a Non-Playable Character (NPC) such as Esmeralda.Usually a new pin was released on weekends of a certain month in the Emporium for a limited time. These pins usually cost 500 credits and were often a part of a set. For example, during October 2006 a set of Halloween themed pins came out, and a new pin was released every weekend. However, by Monday the pin was no longer available, making it high in value. The next weekend however, a new pin in the set was be released and it started all over again.
"Magic pins" could also be worn. When activated (from the magic wand icon at the bottom of the screen, or by typing the pin's magic word), they displayed a visual effect, such as the character driving a car or turning into a snowman. Each effect had a duration of only a few seconds and had to be allowed to "recharge" for a minute or so before another use. If a player had two or more of the same kind of magic pin, they could be combined for a longer effect and shorter delay between uses. There were also single-use magic pins which disappeared after being used once (or after a specific "expiration date"). Some magic pins were very expensive and only available for a short period of time; for example, the "Turn Into Bat Magic Pin" (only available in October) was priced at 10,000 credits.
Some pins were not tradeable and could only be obtained through quests or host events. These pins included all single-use magic pins and all Tomorrowland quest pins. Any award pin, such as the best guest room award or the VIP pin, was also not tradeable. A player could check if a pin was tradeable by clicking the pin on a player's profile, which not only revealed whether a certain pin is available for trade or not, but also revealed who owned the pin and what effects (if any) the pin might have.
Clothing
When a player joined the kingdom, he or she received a pack of clothing along with a room and some furniture. Players that signed up at a Disney park sometimes received extra rewards.Occasionally, the VMK shops sold special clothing items (or entire costumes). Some of these were seasonal, and some could only be purchased during a specific weekend. These items were usually expensive; due to this and their limited availability, they soon became valuable items in trading.
Some clothing items were only available to one gender. For example, boys could not have princess outfits (excluding the Princess Minnie hat), and girls could not have the Wildcats outfit.
Full costumes included spacesuits, princess outfits, Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride located at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. A significantly re-imagined incarnation of the ride, known as Phantom Manor, is located in Disneyland Paris...
dress clothes, an Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a roller coaster attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando...
hiking outfit, baseball uniforms, and football uniforms.
Costume items included Mickey ears, and a variety of caps including baseball caps and a Sorcerer Mickey hat.
Credits
A player could earn credits, purchase them in one of Disney's Parks (the game's currency)also by visiting the Disney Characters (see Disney Characters above) or by playing minigames.Another popular way to amass credits was called "Nedding". It consisted of playing the Shrunken Ned's Jungle Cruise game but trying to end the game as quickly as possible by crashing repeatedly and running out of fuel. Each time the game was played it awards 20 credits, so the credits that could be gotten from this game were limited only by the length of time someone wanted to put into it.
Accounts used specifically for getting credits and items, known in other games as multi
Alternate character
An alternate character, often referred to in slang as alt, alt char, or less commonly multi, is a character in addition to one's "primary" or "Main" player character...
s, were called "mules" (sometimes called "clones
Clones
Clones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the 'border area' of the Republic of Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation...
"). Since the game let a player create new accounts freely, players created mules (named after the beast of burden
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
) to enter multi-use codes and collect credits by visiting Disney Characters. Players could buy items with a mule's credits, and then trade these items from the mules to their main characters. Players who used mules were said to be "muling", and in the game mules were called "done keys" (donkeys) due to the limited vocabulary.
Purchased items could be "sold back" for 20% of their purchase price, but some items were not able to be sold. For example, a quest kiosk could not be sold back or traded.
Trading
Players could trade various items. Each player could put a maximum of fifteen items into a trade.Clothing items that were only available for boys or girls could not be traded to the other gender. For example, a girl could not trade her princess outfit to a boy.
Some players tried to take advantage of the trading window to scam other players, but most of the trading window scams were short-circuited by game developers adding confirmation notices. VMK stated that if a person agreed to all of these notices, any issues a player might have with the trade were due to their own negligence.
A player could report a scammer with the "Report" button in the game, or by using the "Contact Us" link on the web site.
Safety
The game's rules were posted on the VMK web site as "VMK Values", which were intended to help the game stay "a safe, non-threatening environment" for the many players between the ages of eight and fourteen. The rules prohibited sexual or racist language, harassment, divulging personal information, and attempts to hackBlack hat
A black hat is the villain or bad guy, especially in a western movie in which such a character would stereotypically wear a black hat in contrast to the hero's white hat, especially in black and white movies....
the system. Violations could result in a permanent ban, which prevented users from using VMK on the computer the violation occurred on. Despite this, attempted violations were quite common, and people attempted to get around the edited speech by formulating single words out of multiple words (e.g.: saying "I'm Tree Ears Hold").
Every player had a report button on their profile. If one player thought of something that another player did as against the VMK values, that player could report them. The report was immediately sent to the VMK staff for review, and any necessary actions were taken against that player's account. Players could also send "emergency" messages to staff without clicking the report button on another player. The main reason for this was if something was wrong with the game. (e.g.: "I logged in the morning, and all my credits were gone.") Action would be taken against a player's account for sending false or unnecessary reports. (These were usually made in an attempt to bring a VMK staff member to their room, or in an effort for revenge.)
Disney prohibited sharing personal information in the game (and its limited dictionary also added a technical obstacle to this). Disney's stated intent was to protect the safety and privacy of its members, but this also prevented members from having a legitimate way of reaching each other outside the game. Members of some Disney internet discussion forums got around this by indicating in their in-game signature a discussion board through which they could be reached.
Closure
On April 7, 2008, Disney announced that VMK would close on May 21, 2008, at 1:00 AM EST. Immediately after the press release, changes were made to prevent the creation of any new accounts.Online petitions were created to attempt to change Disney's decision, and some players attempted to arrange a protest outside of the entrance to Disneyland, although fewer than 20 showed up. On Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, suspicion arose when emails from VMK's server were sent out saying they were testing the player's account. These emails were proved to be false. Ultimately, these actions had no effect, and VMK was shut down as scheduled. The VMK website was updated with information to quell repeated rumors that the game would be resurrected, (and at one point, provided promotional [free] subscriptions for other Disney Online games,) but was taken down entirely in November 2008; the VMK URL currently directs users to the "Games" section of Disney.com instead of the VMK homepage. Though Disney has shut its doors to the Virtual Magic Kingdom, some VMK players have made attempts to re-create elements of the virtual world on independent websites.
In modern culture
VMK has been a frequently used devicePlot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
in The Kingdom Keepers
The Kingdom Keepers
The Kingdom Keepers is a series of novels for young readers, written by Ridley Pearson and published by Disney Hyperion. The first novel, Disney After Dark, was published in 2006, and the second, Disney at Dawn, was released on August 26, 2008, and the third, Disney In Shadow was released on...
series, written by Ridley Pearson
Ridley Pearson
Ridley Pearson, born on March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York, is an American writer. Pearson has historically written suspense and thriller novels for an adult audience, but has also begun branching out by writing adventure books for children....
. It serves as a rendezvous point for the main characters, as well as a communication device as the kids venture through the Disney parks. After VMK closed down in real life, Pearson incorporated the closing into the books.
External links
- Official website: Link now redirects to Disney.com Games
- VMK at Disney's Online Worlds Wiki
- VMKRevisited a walk-through recreation of VMK