Disney World locates its first sister city — Swindon, England
Dewayne Bevil, News — By Dewayne Bevil on December 8, 2009 at 5:06 pm
The Mouse asked Brits to nominate their hometowns to be "twin towns" with Walt Disney World.
Magic Kingdom, meet Magic Roundabout.
When Disney World held a contest to find a sister city in the United Kingdom, the winner was the city of Swindon, England, home of a famously complicated intersection with six roundabouts.
Rebecca Warren, who nominated Swindon in a video, made another roundabout connection with the Magic Kingdom’s Mad Tea Party ride.
“The tea cups are my favorite ride, I say this without a doubt,” she says in the video. “You twist and turn again and again, just like our famous Magic Roundabout.”
The competition caused considerable buzz in the U.K., a key market for Disney World, especially after Swindon was announced as Disney World’s first-ever sister city — or “twin town” as the Brits say. It’s a railway town 80 miles west of London with a population of 180,000 and not the most glamourous locale in the country.
In a way, it’s the Peoria of England. Demographically speaking, it’s typical.
“Lots of national surveys are conducted here because it seems archetypal,” said Neil Young, news editor of the Swindon Advertiser newspaper.
Comments about the twin city designation were mixed on the Advertiser Web site. “There are absolutely NO similarities with Swindon and WDW, whether that be cultural, climatically, or what ever,” said one post, while another pointed out the value of a little bit of global publicity.
Warren, a 20-year-old mortgage advisor, sold Disney executives with the tone of her one-minute video, one of 500 entries.
“What was particularly fun about her submission was that she really took some time and effort over it,” said Hugh Wood, managing director of Disney Destinations in the United Kingdom and one of the judges.
“She understood our brand, and she drew some quirky and fun parallels between the magic of Swindon and the magic of Disney World in Orlando.”
Among Swindon’s magic were the city’s steam trains, pubs, zoo and football team.
While the sister-city designation is largely ceremonial, Disney has invited Warren and the mayor of Swindon to a “twinning” ceremony early next year at Epcot, where a plaque revealing the connection will be placed. There will be related activities in the English town, Wood said, and Disney’s Imagineers are designing a sign that could be placed there.
Tags: Disney Destinations, Disney World, England, Mad Tea Party
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19 Comments
Have you ever been there? Swindon is a horrible city, it’s squalid and doesn’t have a single appealing feature. They would have done much better looking at one of the other towns (Warwick, Poole, York) that actually have something to offer.
Swindon is indeed a very drab. There are far more deserving places; Oxford, Cambridge, Shrewsbury, York, Chester etc. I could go on and on.
Oh, by the way, Swindon is a Town not a City.
Swindon – what a dump
i’d say its more of an embarassment to Disney that anything why would anybody want to be connected with Swindon????
I agree far more beautiful places in the UK, Warwick, Kenilworth, York, ……. think Swindon wouldn’t have even made anybodies list that lives in the UK
Want a German city, too? I nominate Giessen, my childhood hometown. It is located about 40 miles north of Frankfurt where Germany’s principal airport is located, and anyone can land in Frankfurt, make his/her way to the central railroad station, and then catch a train to Giessen. Of course, you can also rent a car and thenh make it to Giessen via the autobahn.
This story reminds me of Jasper Fforde’s _Thursday Next_ books, which are set in an alternate reality Swindon.
Hey – Swindon Native and now Orlando Resident will admit the town is a tad industrial – it grew from very little as a railway center. There’s plenty to do and enjoy, great local cultural and pub/club scene and more to visit very close by in the cotswolds and cities like Oxford, Bath, Stratford and Salisbury. Give it a try!
Walt Disney World, and whatever executive who made the decision, has become a laughing stock over here in Britain for twinning with Swindon.
The news programmes and comics are having a field day with it and who can blame them. Swindon as a place to visit is as appealing as being poked in the eye with a sharp stick. Rebecca Warren (who made the video to enter in the competition) must be a natural P.R. person to pull off such a scam on Disney, they should employ her straight away to convince us that their increases in admission ticket prices and parking fees are justified.
I couldn`t believe it when Swindon was amnnounced–what a dump!! We have some beautiful places. Well done Rebecca your presentation must have been well thought out!!!
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I know absolutely nothing about Swindon but this is interesting news to me. It also makes me optimistic for Epcot because a plaque (probably in the U.K. pavilion of course) would be a nice addition to a cultural pavilion that’s currently only a bunch of quaint shops and a pub. The pavilion needs something and this is just once step closer to enhancing it. I read elsewhere that there will be an exhibit. I’m curious about where Disney would put it in the U.K. pavilion…there aren’t any gallery rooms there. Maybe in one of the shops?
It’s paybacks for going with Randy Newman instead of Swindon’s own Andy Partridge (of XTC) for the “James and the Giant Peach” soundtrack!
Wow this is amazing news.
I wonder if the British will care much have to disney:)
The best memory of childhood, I have of that magical place.
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