Biggest prize you have won?

[teacherlisa1978]

In 1993 when I was a freshman in high school my best friend and I went to the Disney Store and entered the Disney Channel 10th Anniversary sweepstakes. We entered in all our family's names and she showed me her "fold over" technique for the slips you write your information on.

Months went by and we forgot all about it. Then we started getting paperwork in my dad's name about this contest and some prize we had won. We weren't too optimistic and figured it might have been a beach towel or something. Finally, after lots of back and forth, we found out that it was...
A trip to EuroDisney!!!! Well, now it's Disneyland Paris. It was for about 5 nights and we were able to add on a couple extra days to see a bit of Paris. We had a driver pick us up at the airport, got to stay at the Hotel New York (where I felt like an American idiot walking through the lobby in my gym shorts over my swimming suit), and park passes. I don't think there was food money included because I remember my mom worrying about how much everything cost at restaurants.
It was an AMAZING trip that we never would have taken. My friend who showed me how to fold the slip "just right" is still jealous!

 

[Starbrite]

My friend who showed me how to fold the slip "just right" is still jealous!

Care to share the winning technique?

 

[jldixon62]

Two airline tickets at a charity event. Before this I had never won anything, and as they were calling my name I was talking and saying I never win anything, they had to call my name twice.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

Care to share the winning technique?

Just a simple fold of one or two corners-her theory is it makes it more "grabbable". Hasn't worked since but it sure worked that time!

 

[Nancy F]

$10,000.00 at Bally's in AC. That's how I started collecting Disney Art. I can't begin to tell you how much that $10,000.00 has cost me in the last 20 years. LOL
Nancy

 

[MKCP1984]

I won a Playstaion3 in a Best Buy raffle!! We use it mostly as a blue-ray player, and I'm still learning about all of it's features.
But it's very cool.

 

[Planogirl]

I won $250 from AOL just before Christmas one year. It was the year we were really struggling after DH got sick and lost his job and I had lost mine previously. Everything we had went to just paying the bills but this little bit of money made it possible to have a Christmas that year. I'm still so grateful.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I won a $500.00 gift card from Macy's. First and only thing I ever won. I spent all month, every day looking for deals. The kids loved Christmas this year. I'm lucky they are older and clothes were A-ok for them! I even got myself a George Foreman grill. I never buy myself anything. It was tons of fun shopping.

 

[Happiest mommy]

about 3 yrs ago I won $5000 in one of those scratch off games boy I was jumping for joy

 

[WeLuvDiznee]

WOW!! Alot of great wins!! The motto in our house is, If we didn't have bad luck,we wouldn't have any luck at all! LOL!

 

[Carlyzmom]

Won all kinds of stuff at work:

HUGE teddy bear
Rod and reel
Surround sound system

Also won $500 in a slot machine. Never gambled again, I figured I used up all my good luck.

Amusement park tickets on the radio.

Water Park park tickets on the radio.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I won a cruise from a school drawing it paid for everything including taxes, port fees and the tips.

 

[mrs06chris]

I won a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas and while there we went to Atlantis... where I won $2500 in the casino!

 

[queenbetsey]

I do alot of sweepstakes. It is a hobby of mine. I also use sweepstakestoday.com as mentioned by a previous poster. great site. I have been doing this for about 4 years regularly. the internet makes it easy. I have won everything from screensavers to tshirts, books, disneyland tickets a few times (we live about an hour away from the house of mouse)
last year i also won the 250 dollars from kelloggs (that got dd her letterman's jackt) It is wayyyyy worth the effort. won many best buy cards from coke site and quite a few cash cards too.
My biggest win was the america's funniest videos dream vacation sweep. we were watching the show in 2009 and I told my husband after they announced the sweepstakes "I'm going to enter that real quick right before we go up to bed" he just rolled his eyes and said "of course you are" I told hime to be nice or I won;t take you when I win. he rolled his eyes again (he was kidding) and sure enough i got a call a few weeks later while at work. It was really cool.
3years of dvc points and cash to help defray the taxes we will get our last year's allotment in may. we have stayed at beach club and boardwalk and at saratoga springs. we have also stayed at the grand cal club level for the nigh dvc unit at grand cal disneyland hotel and paradise pier. all for free! I could never afford to stay at those places.
a few of the disneyland stays were when we had won disneyland tickets from the local radio stations so kind of a 2for.
this week alone I have won a 25 disney gc from the verizon pirates sweep movie cash from the cars instant win sweep, 20 snap fish prints, and more movie cash from another sweep.
love to win the movie tickets as prices are so high anymore.
There are still a few days left on the verizon pirates sweep the grand prize is a trip to disneyland to see the premere and there are also random instant win prizes of disney gift cards too good luck!

 

[JB2K]

During the 2004 Christmas holidays when I was stationed in Korea, I won a round-trip ticket from Northwest Airlines at a holiday party they helped sponsor -- the ticket was from Seoul to JFK and back to Seoul. It had a retail value of about $1,500.

 

[sceavis]

Not sure if this is considered winning something.I went to see Celine Dion in concert I could not afford good seats.So I bought some in the upper balcony just to be there.When I arrived they told me they had to use my seats for cameras and sent me to the first row.

 

[SFWife]

I won a weeks' stay at a hotel in London several years ago, so when I cashed it in, my round trip airfare and hotel for a week stay cost me 300.00 round trip.

Last December I won tickets to Bill OReilly/Glenn Beck's Bold Fresh Tour, which were 125.00/ea. from our local radio station.

I enter giveaways on lots of DIY and craft blogs and I've won probably about 300 worth of fabric and craft items in the last year.

 

[bowne90]

I entered a Fresh Express salad contest and won free salad for a year. They sent me 52 coupons for a free bag of salad.

 

[goofystitchfan]

I have to admit that I am a contest junkie! I listen to all the radio stations and have charts as to the current contest. In the past 4-5 years I have been VERY fortunate. I have won tons of small prizes - cd's, gift cards, etc. Large prizes have been: Kenny Chesney cruise, Disney cruise, trip to Miami Beach (5 days for 4), trip to Tampa to see the Police (sold the concert tix via ebay) and enjoyed some extra spending cash, trip to Atlanta to see Brooks and Dunn, 2 trips to Universal, trip for 4 to Hollywood for the red carpet opening of Shrek (movie stars galore) TONS of cash!

 

[tweetylori]

My dog just won second place in a photo contest. He won a 5-day pass to doggie daycare worth $140.

Many many years ago, I convinced my company to give us employees a chance to win a cruise, as we were giving away cruises on air (I work for a radio station). So they reserved one for employees to try for. They decided we could enter as many times as we wanted. Well, I was working third shift at the time and had a lot of extra time on my hands. I would take the extra AP paper (news wire), cut it up and sign my name to enter. I ended up entering over 52,000 times. I won! I will say that it ended up costing me about as much in taxes to win as it would have cost to get the trip at a discount, because the tax value is based on the maximum price value of the prize, not the possible discount value.

Moral of this story? Any win over $500 you have to pay taxes on, so either win something worth less, or make sure you win cash too to cover the taxes on your winnings.

TIP: Be sure to check your local radio station websites for contests. We have many contests that end up on our website that isn't even mentioned on air. Your odds can be very good.