The Official Disney Movie Club Blu-ray Exclusives Thread (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

Just from my experience, the tracking numbers show up very very early and are almost impossible for me to track (DMC or pretty much anyone using the USPS). My guess is some kind of COVID hold up and then it's going to magically appear on tracking.

Other people may have more insight/experience to share...

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Just from my experience, the tracking numbers show up very very early and are almost impossible for me to track (DMC or pretty much anyone using the USPS). My guess is some kind of COVID hold up and then it's going to magically appear on tracking.

Other people may have more insight/experience to share...

Yes, USPS tracking is a bizarre thing in my experience. Basically, unlike pretty much all other shipping companies that scan their packages each time it moves, USPS seems to take the approach that there is no real need to scan the package except when it is finally delivered. So, hilariously they tell you the tracking number exists and they may tell you they have received the package from the shipper but then most times they never scan it again until it is delivered. Which is fine for proof of delivery but really is not "tracking" of the shipment.

 

[BobO'Link]

What I see most often with USPS tracking is the number is generated when a product goes into shipping mode - that is, it's being pulled from the warehouse and boxed/packaged for shipping. It can then sit on the vendor's loading dock for several days before being sent to/picked up by USPS for insertion into the delivery system. That first insertion seems to take a day before it starts to move through the system and you may see nothing by way of movement until it reaches the hub closest to your house (the one that'll do the final sorting for delivery to your town for actual delivery). USPS seems to only show arrival/departure from main hubs. Your package can also sit at a hub waiting for enough material going to the next hub on its hop to you. That can mean another day or two delay for which you get no update. That's pretty much how they handle "media mail" as it's considered low priority.

Depending on just where you live and the USPS hubs between the originator and you it can mean you see no tracking outside a package being picked up from the vendor and that it's being delivered "today."

 

[jayembee]

It appears they ship from Wisconsin using the USPS. How long does it generally take to receive an order from them and do they have frequent shipping issues?

I've placed three orders with them, all this year. The first one took 7 days, the second one 5 days, and the third one 7 days. That's tracked Media Mail to New Hampshire.

 

[jayembee]

Thanks, I am assuming there are some sort of Covid 19 shipping delays. According to them they shipped on May 8 but the shipping indicates that the USPS is awaiting arrival of the package as of May 14...and from there nothing. Not that concerned yet just found the tracking info odd. Disney claims the package shipped on the 8th but the tracking number appears to have been created on the 14th with the USPS awaiting acceptance of the package. So, USPS says they don't have it, Disney says they shipped it.

That's a quirk with USPS that appears to have been exacerbated by Covid. As near as I can figure it, the vendor uses whatever application they use to create the shipping label which notifies USPS. Once this is done, the vendor considers the shipping process done, and claims to have shipped the package. But USPS doesn't typically have the package in hand at that point, so their status is "Awaiting Package".

I can't say how DMC works this during Current Events, but some smaller vendors I've dealt with tend to have someone go into the office once a week to pack the boxes, slap the already printed labels on the boxes, and take them to the Post Office (or wait for someone from the PO to come pick them up).

 

[jayembee]

Yes, USPS tracking is a bizarre thing in my experience. Basically, unlike pretty much all other shipping companies that scan their packages each time it moves, USPS seems to take the approach that there is no real need to scan the package except when it is finally delivered. So, hilariously they tell you the tracking number exists and they may tell you they have received the package from the shipper but then most times they never scan it again until it is delivered. Which is fine for proof of delivery but really is not "tracking" of the shipment.

Hunh. I very rarely see it like that. Probably 98% of the time, I see it scanned at each of the local hops at both ends. It's only the long journey in the middle where it "vanishes" for a while. For example, if I'm getting something from Southern California, I'll see an update that the label's been generated, another when it's accepted at the local PO, and another when it hits the Distribution Hub in Los Angeles. Then comes the long, non-updated travel across the continent. After an interminable passage of time, I see an update when it hits the Hub in Springfield, MA, when it departs Springfield, when it arrives in Nashua, NH, and when it departs Nashua. From Nashua, it might stop in Manchester, NH (where I see both arrival and departure updates) and then gets to my local PO. Or it comes straight to my local PO from Nashua. There are sometimes, though, when the nice folks in Nashua hold onto the package for days on end for no discernable reason, or send it off to East Lizard, Connecticut for no reason I can fathom.

There are, however, the occasional instances where I'll see an update that a package has left some hub nowhere near me, and it arrives on my porch a day or three later. But that's rare.

 

[David Norman]

It appears they ship from Wisconsin using the USPS. How long does it generally take to receive an order from them and do they have frequent shipping issues?

They ship directly or indirectly via USPS from Neenah, WI

Direct shipments now show tracking button that takes you to the USPS site. This is now like much Commercial Media/PArcel Select and you will not get intermediate tracking updates. Normally you see Package "awaiting pickup" and the next update will be near your house 3-7 days later at the local or regional USPS Distribution Center.

They also ship indirectly via OSM which will hand the package to USPS a few days later. Unlike in the past, the new website does not show tracking for OSM packages which is quite irritating. You can call or chat a day or two after dispatch and DMC will give you the OSM or secondary USPS number. These packages 1st scan at GLENDALE HTS, IL and then go onto a different center where they will eventually transfer to USPS -- mine usually is York, PA. If you are signed up for USPS Informed Delivery usually the tracking will show up in your Package Updates and it will progress and scan at intermediate sites like in the past. OSM packages can sit at the YORK site for 1-5 days before moving so delivery times can vary, but rarely more than 10 days.

COVID issues have been intermittent and longer delays than normal have been reported specifically for packages going through certain cities

The new EXPEDITED speed I used for the 1st time last week instead of the normal Free Shipping my account has mainly due to the fact that it was a $150 order and the expedited cost said $7.99 which was completely unexpected -- and completely messed up. There is a glitch in the site that isn't showing correct shipping cost. At checkout, everything showed normal, but when the order email showed up, the expected $30 shipping charge applied (approx $10 for 1st iten and $2ea added) which is why I never used their Priority or Exp in the past.
It took a few phone calls, but eventually they corrected that charge since they know the system isn't showing correctly.
That package was sent UPS 2nd Day Air and arrived on time.

This is also a bit different for Preorders which until COVID would often be sent 5-10 days ahead of release date, BUT had a USPS direction DONT DELIVER BEFORE xx/xx/xxxx so I'd sometimes get excited to see my package 50 miles aways Tues or Wed pre-release and the package would sit there until Sat or Mon. Virtually always it deliver by release, but until SW IX I never got one before Saturday -- I think with COVID they removed the delivery timing

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Yes

Hunh. I very rarely see it like that. Probably 98% of the time, I see it scanned at each of the local hops at both ends. It's only the long journey in the middle where it "vanishes" for a while. For example, if I'm getting something from Southern California, I'll see an update that the label's been generated, another when it's accepted at the local PO, and another when it hits the Distribution Hub in Los Angeles. Then comes the long, non-updated travel across the continent. After an interminable passage of time, I see an update when it hits the Hub in Springfield, MA, when it departs Springfield, when it arrives in Nashua, NH, and when it departs Nashua. From Nashua, it might stop in Manchester, NH (where I see both arrival and departure updates) and then gets to my local PO. Or it comes straight to my local PO from Nashua. There are sometimes, though, when the nice folks in Nashua hold onto the package for days on end for no discernable reason, or send it off to East Lizard, Connecticut for no reason I can fathom.

There are, however, the occasional instances where I'll see an update that a package has left some hub nowhere near me, and it arrives on my porch a day or three later. But that's rare.

Yes, on the USPS their tracking I would call at best random. This is both if I am getting a shipment or have sent one. The good in this would be that even though their tracking is usually lousy, they rarely lose a package. They did lose one recently that was coming to me and on that there was tracking regularly showing up...which is sort of funny. The package in fairly short time made it to a location only miles from me. So, having seen that scan, I expected that it would be arriving no later than the following day. That day came and went and no package. So, I checked the tracking and the package left the facility that was a couple miles away and went to a facility 50 miles away. Then from there it went to a facility about 10 miles away. Then it just vanished and never arrived. The shipper asked me to give it another week but to no avail, it went missing and they could not locate it.

Last week I had a couple of orders coming to me. One was The Great Escape, both were coming from the same shipper. The Great Escape shipped out first, three days ahead of the second shipment. They used USPS. The tracking showed it arrived in my town on the 11th. The second package shipped out on the 12th. Although package one showed it was in my town on the 11th, it arrived at my house on the 15th. Package two that shipped on the 12th, arrived at my house on the 13th.

Fairly random how it works.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

They ship directly or indirectly via USPS from Neenah, WI

Direct shipments now show tracking button that takes you to the USPS site. This is now like much Commercial Media/PArcel Select and you will not get intermediate tracking updates. Normally you see Package "awaiting pickup" and the next update will be near your house 3-7 days later at the local or regional USPS Distribution Center.

They also ship indirectly via OSM which will hand the package to USPS a few days later. Unlike in the past, the new website does not show tracking for OSM packages which is quite irritating. You can call or chat a day or two after dispatch and DMC will give you the OSM or secondary USPS number. These packages 1st scan at GLENDALE HTS, IL and then go onto a different center where they will eventually transfer to USPS -- mine usually is York, PA. If you are signed up for USPS Informed Delivery usually the tracking will show up in your Package Updates and it will progress and scan at intermediate sites like in the past. OSM packages can sit at the YORK site for 1-5 days before moving so delivery times can vary, but rarely more than 10 days.

COVID issues have been intermittent and longer delays than normal have been reported specifically for packages going through certain cities

The new EXPEDITED speed I used for the 1st time last week instead of the normal Free Shipping my account has mainly due to the fact that it was a $150 order and the expedited cost said $7.99 which was completely unexpected -- and completely messed up. There is a glitch in the site that isn't showing correct shipping cost. At checkout, everything showed normal, but when the order email showed up, the expected $30 shipping charge applied (approx $10 for 1st iten and $2ea added) which is why I never used their Priority or Exp in the past.
It took a few phone calls, but eventually they corrected that charge since they know the system isn't showing correctly.
That package was sent UPS 2nd Day Air and arrived on time.

This is also a bit different for Preorders which until COVID would often be sent 5-10 days ahead of release date, BUT had a USPS direction DONT DELIVER BEFORE xx/xx/xxxx so I'd sometimes get excited to see my package 50 miles aways Tues or Wed pre-release and the package would sit there until Sat or Mon. Virtually always it deliver by release, but until SW IX I never got one before Saturday -- I think with COVID they removed the delivery timing

So, I should clarify that I just joined the club. So, this is the first shipment I am getting from Disney. Perhaps this also adds to the delay. According to them they shipped my order on the 8th. If that is true then for some reason the tracking number did not appear until the 14th. My assumption there is working shorthanded maybe the packages do not go to the postal service until they have a lot of them to send. So, now 5 days later the USPS status remains that they are awaiting the package. So, that's what it says when you click the link. The tracking number exists, the order number exists. Disney's status is shipped. Essentially, 11 days have passed since they said they shipped it and 5 days since the tracking number appeared.

Disney customer service says I should be assured it is on the way and will arrive this week.

So, I am not concerned and based on how I have seen USPS tracking being something that is primarily to show proof of delivery as that is the one scan they seem to do that is accurate...well...it could be sitting at my local post office right now.

 

[David Norman]

First orders used to be notoriously slow, but most of that has been fixed in the last year.

Not sure why the Nov 8th to 14th delay -- that's unusual. The 14th "AWAITING Pickup" is usually my first message, then 3-4 days later it shows up locally. I normally get something at the regional (80 mi) or local Distribution centers (45mi), then it delivers 24 hrs later. Occasionally I haven't gotten anything until it's at my local PO for same day delivery. I have rarely just had it jump to Delivered though others have seen that happen. WIth the 14th date, I'd say to expect delivery by the end of the week UNLESS one of your intermediate PO is in the middle of the storm (seems Chicago, NY, Detroit, and lesser extent Denver) had seemed to see longer delays on non-priority packages. It's seems West Coast also adds and extra 1-2 days compared to East of Mississippi or Midwest

 

[holtge]

Would be nice, but honestly just about anything right now would be nice just to see it ain't dead.

OTOH, it's a Facebook Post so I wouldn't put it past the Cheerleaders over there to say just about anything -- hence the non-answer answer that pretty much belongs on a Magic 8 Ball. Pricscilla has been pretty good over the years, but far from the most accurate and definitely less than forthcoming on anything outside of tomorrow.

About 2 hrs will be the 1st chance at a surprise, but I'm not at all particularly optimistic for this month. June or July might be a bit more likely

Agreed. I was sure hoping for an announcement of some kind today, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Sure wish we still had access to the DMR Coming Soon page. At least that provided somewhat of a heads-up whenever something exciting was coming. This "radio silence" stance we are getting now is just no fun at all.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Sure wish we still had access to the DMR Coming Soon page.

I sure wish we had access to a lot of features removed from DMR. Like, say, Blu-rays and other physical rewards that were worth redeeming points for. Since the transition to "Insiders," it has essentially become a useless service. I keep putting in my codes when I get new releases as a habit, but there's nothing I want to redeem. I'm pretty sure I now have the largest amount of points I've ever had at any one single time, but they're not worth anything right now.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

First orders used to be notoriously slow, but most of that has been fixed in the last year.

Not sure why the Nov 8th to 14th delay -- that's unusual. The 14th "AWAITING Pickup" is usually my first message, then 3-4 days later it shows up locally. I normally get something at the regional (80 mi) or local Distribution centers (45mi), then it delivers 24 hrs later. Occasionally I haven't gotten anything until it's at my local PO for same day delivery. I have rarely just had it jump to Delivered though others have seen that happen. WIth the 14th date, I'd say to expect delivery by the end of the week UNLESS one of your intermediate PO is in the middle of the storm (seems Chicago, NY, Detroit, and lesser extent Denver) had seemed to see longer delays on non-priority packages. It's seems West Coast also adds and extra 1-2 days compared to East of Mississippi or Midwest

No clue what is happening, Disney still says it was shipped, customer service says it was shipped, the USPS tracking number created on the 14th still says they are awaiting the package as of today...

May 14, 2020 at 9:05 am
Your package is on its way to a USPS facility.
Package Acceptance Pending
MENASHA, WI 54952

I assume that status means Disney created the shipping order, which generated the tracking number, and then they are supposed to hand-off the package to a USPS facility. However, nothing but that message has appeared on the USPS tracking site since the 14th. That seems to indicate USPS does not have the package.

Again, my experience with USPS tracking is typically the only scan they always do correctly is the last one when the package is delivered. Every other scan in their tracking process seems to be optional. But if you ask the post office what the scan above means, they say it means they have not yet received the package from the shipper.

Disney customer service says I should expect the package to arrive this week...if it does, I think it will be through some sort of fairy magic they have access to, ha...

EDIT: My obvious question is if the USPS do not believe the package has yet entered their pipeline based on what that scan from the 14th says, can the package even be making it's way through their system to me? They don't believe it has arrived at a USPS facility yet, so can it get onto a vehicle to begin the process of making its way to Massachusetts? No clue, these are the mysteries of USPS tracking...

 

[David Norman]

Over the last 6-9 months all packages shipped directly by USPS at DMC (not via OSM first) tend to do this -- not specifically a USPS thing, but I've noticed a number of commercial Bulk rate have been doing this over the last 15 months and at places like Hamilton Book for as long as I've ordered from them. They scan Awaiting Pickup, then the next scan is near your house the day before or day of delivery usually 4-7 business days later depending on which half of the country you;re in. There just are no intermediate scans. A Thursday package could even have been picked up as late as Monday.

Later than 7-8 would be unusual, but with COVID shipping has been even more irregular. Usually if it's not received in 14 days DMC will re-ship the whole thing. I say give it until next Wednesday and contact them again.

 

[MatthewA]

Agreed. I was sure hoping for an announcement of some kind today, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Sure wish we still had access to the DMR Coming Soon page. At least that provided somewhat of a heads-up whenever something exciting was coming. This "radio silence" stance we are getting now is just no fun at all.

I agree, but it's still better than getting premature or false leads that don't come to fruition. That's the way it is with a lot of parks projects, too. That's just how Disney rolls.

 

[Jason_V]

New Featured Title: Call of the Wild.

As much as I liked the movie in the theater, I don't need to own it, so I'm passing.

 

[LouA]

I'd just like to mention that the most recent Disney Movie Club mailing was another disappointment . Lots of recent stuff, Twenthieth Century Fox stuff , Marvel , and Star Wars but no new pre-1970 Walt- era Blurays . Maybe we've seen the last of them .

 

[Jake Lipson]

I no new pre-1970 Walt- era Blurays . Maybe we've seen the last of them .

Perhaps.

Or maybe there's a pandemic going on and the studio is bleeding money so they haven't had the time or resources to devote to that kind of niche product right now?

 

[jayembee]

Or maybe there's a pandemic going on and the studio is bleeding money so they haven't had the time or resources to devote to that kind of niche product right now?

Maybe. But they didn't offer any in the last few pre-Covid months, either. The last Blu-ray exclusive from the DMC was The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, which was released last October. I don't know when it was announced, as I wasn't a member of the Club at that point. But they never announced/released any BD exclusives for November 2019 through March 2020.

That might not mean much, but it might mean something.

 

[Jake Lipson]

November was the launch of Disney+, and all of Disney's resources were going into getting that activated. That doesn't mean they'll never release catalog Blu-rays again, but it's clear that their home entertainment focus for now is on the streaming service. Still, I would think the pandemic is part of the equation too. If Disney thinks they have a title that can sell more than they would spend to produce the disc, they'd probably do it. Right now, it just doesn't seem like it's a priority.