Protesters plan silent flash mob event at Disney plaza.

[MegaDisney]

From the OC Register:

"Protesters plan silent flash mob event at Disney plaza

July 29th, 2009, 3:46 pm

posted by Sarah Tully

Internet organizers are rallying demonstrators to stage a silent protest, called a flash mob, against the Iran election in the plaza between Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure.

In this flash mob, participants are asked to show up at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and freeze for two minutes. The protesters are expected to blend in with the crowd before stopping.

Disney officials are aware of the expected protest and plan to have security guards available to monitor the situation, said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland spokeswoman. But Disney is expecting to have little interruption to business, if any, Brown said.

A Web site called “The Silent Wave,” is organizing protests at Disney and elsewhere Thursday. The group is using social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, to get the word out because of restrictions by Iranian authorities, the Web site states.

“The silence is in memory of those killed in the protests or during imprisonment that have taken place across Iran,” states the Web site.

The local organizer is a Twitter member who calls himself @greenthumbnails. He is a Norwalk man named John, who works in Costa Mesa, he said in a Twitter message. John said he is not affiliated with a group, but just wanted to do something."

Funny they don't seem to give a date.

[NotaGeek]

MODERATOR NOTE

The discussion of politics is a forbidden topic on INTERCOT. Please tread lightly ... this post is being allowed because the protest is happening on Disney property, or, allegedly happening since there's no date listed.

No political discussion is allowed.

[broadway315]

I have no interest in the politics, I would just like to point out that as the date on the article is July 29th (a Wednesday), then I think it is easy and safe to say that the Thursday at 6:30pm they are referring to is today, Thursday July 30th.

[MegaDisney]

I would just like to point out that as the date on the article is July 29th (a Wednesday), then I think it is easy and safe to say that the Thursday at 6:30pm they are referring to is today, Thursday July 30th.

Good eye. I read it so fast I didn't even catch that! I am sure it will be all over the web tonight then.

[MegaDisney]

From OC Weekly:

"Iran Election Protest Flash Mob at Disneyland Plaza Not-So-Mob-Like

Thursday, Jul. 30 2009 @ 9:30PM
By Vickie Chang in Dishney, Politics

​

Though word was spread far via Twitter, this evening's planned flash mob "freeze" protest at Disneyland Plaza in support of the continued controversy over the Iran election managed to draw, by our count, no more than 10 total participants.

Organized by Twitter user @greenthumbnails, the planned flash mob was announced, as we reported previously, late Tuesday night. At 6:30 p.m. precisely, all participants (who were supposed to blend in with the tourists and crowd beforehand) froze in place. One woman stood stationary with her hands held out in double peace signs, while two other females in not too far away pointed and stared at the same spot on the ground in the space between the Disney's California Adventure entrance gates and the Disneyland entrance gates. Though signs were discouraged, green is always in vogue--not that we saw much of the color anyway. (Also? By our watch--or, er, BlackBerry--the freeze started four minutes too soon.)

On their Twitter account, greenthumbnails admitted to "bad planning on my part: relying on everyone to freeze without a cue" at 5:30 p.m. Although greenthumbnails estimated 30-50 participants, we were there and we saw more like, uh, six to eight."

Well it seemed like a strange place to protest things happening in Iran anyway.

[Melanie]

This whole story/idea/plan/outcome made me laugh out loud!

[Lakin]

I do not get the point of protesting Iran problems at Disney. Not like it's Disney's fault.

[greenthumbnails]

hello, im the person that organized this event...it was yesterday.

i will heed the warning about treading carefully here.

every report will be different, but what matters is this, people came out (sure, it could have been more) to either participate, or to watch us win or fail. the media was there, articles have been written, posts have been made. if just one person became (or becomes) a little more aware because of this, then i call it a success.

disneyland plaza was chosen because, as the happiest place on earth, it seemed the perfect place to reflect on just how much freedom we enjoy.

i have always been a big fan of disney, even more so after seeing how they chose to handle this.

its a small world after all.

[magicofdisney]

hello, im the person that organized this event...it was yesterday.

What was the significance of Thursday at 6:30? It seems that if you'd given more notice you wouldn't have had such a humble turnout.

[MegaDisney]

hello, im the person that organized this event...it was yesterday.

i will heed the warning about treading carefully here.

every report will be different, but what matters is this, people came out (sure, it could have been more) to either participate, or to watch us win or fail. the media was there, articles have been written, posts have been made. if just one person became (or becomes) a little more aware because of this, then i call it a success.

disneyland plaza was chosen because, as the happiest place on earth, it seemed the perfect place to reflect on just how much freedom we enjoy.

i have always been a big fan of disney, even more so after seeing how they chose to handle this.

its a small world after all.

Thanks for taking the time to post here, and your respect for the site is appreciated.

Your protest was certainly discussed all over the web and media, which clearly raises awareness.

How exactly did Disney handle this?

Again thanks for posting!

[greenthumbnails]

hi again,

thank you for being so kind with regard to my previous post...most of the replies i leave are in less friendly environments.

with regard to why such short notice: it was part of a global effort to show support, the date had historical signifigance, but i think we better not go too far with that subject. there is a post on the event website explaining the details to anyone who would like to know more...

a lot of what we're doing happens with very little time for planning, often in response to events on the other side of the world...

one of my friends on twitter was promoting a 'global wave of silence', asking people to take two minutes on july 30th at both 1100am and 630pm (in their respective timezones). sort of like doing the wave at a sporting event...i thought it was an excellent idea, and offered to help her.

i had suggested that we might want to try to organize flash mob freeze events- in an effort to put a more public face on it...

i tried making contact with people in the flash mob community in an effort to get them on board with the project (i had never been to one, let alone organized one), but eventually i just threw up my hands and said ok fine! i will do it.

a minute later i announced 'disneyland plaza 630pm'

they say the best way to get anything done is to start doing it.

and so i did. at the last minute.

that was a longer answer than i had planned, i hope i didnt steer too far off track.

park security had uniformed agents on hand around the perimeter, more than a normal day ...but they did not seem interested in intimidating or harassing anyone, it felt like they were just there in case something took a wrong turn.
(*a normal guest would not have noticed them. i was unsure about what was going to happen, so i was extra paranoid)

quite a few manager types in business clothes were much closer to the ticket booth areas...it looked like they had come down from administration areas to check out the action.

it was a valuable learning experience for me, and i gained a lot of insight that i had not anticipated. people are really protective of disneyland.

thanks for listening
-john

[BluewaterBrad]

hello, im the person that organized this event...it was yesterday.

i will heed the warning about treading carefully here.

every report will be different, but what matters is this, people came out (sure, it could have been more) to either participate, or to watch us win or fail. the media was there, articles have been written, posts have been made. if just one person became (or becomes) a little more aware because of this, then i call it a success.

disneyland plaza was chosen because, as the happiest place on earth, it seemed the perfect place to reflect on just how much freedom we enjoy.

i have always been a big fan of disney, even more so after seeing how they chose to handle this.

its a small world after all.

Does NOT belong at Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NotaGeek]

Thanks everyone ... this has been answered. Any further discussion about particulars should be moved to private message.