Disney World locates its first sister city — Swindon, England
Dewayne Bevil, News — By Dewayne Bevil on December 8, 2009 at 5:06 pm
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.
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