The selection process is mostly random, though I will say that I have received a lot of PINS - in waves, though. Sometimes I get them one after another in the course of a year, and sometimes I get none for a long, long time. But I've been receiving PIN codes intermittently for over a decade.
I think all the names of people who stay onsite are merged into a master Disney mailing list with everyone else on every other Disney mailing list of any kind, and it's like spinning the wheel of fortune as to who receives what. Many, many people could be on the Disney Destinations list and never receive a PIN number, while some people get the PINS over and over even if they never use them. Also, some folks in California only get WDW PINS and some California people get DLR PINS. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
I've gotten PINS when I have stayed onsite several trips in a row,
and I've gotten PINS when I have not stayed onsite in many years. (I was able to figure out exactly where one of my entries came from too, like Lissame was, due to a certain mistake that was made, but I am also on the rotation under a different listing too, and that entry came from some other source; not sure where.) For a while last year, I was getting a
lot of PINS and I felt bad that I couldn't give them to anyone else to use.
It's kind of like jury duty - some people receive the darn jury form repeatedly, and others never receive it at all. You never know quite how the computer decides who to pick to receive the summons, but some people get it who have done jury duty before many times, and some people get it who have never served on a jury or have never actually gone to the courthouse before. It's very random.
The best thing to do is just to get your name and address on every possible Disney mailing list, and this is done in a variety of ways (these are
all the things I have done, and I've received a bunch of PINS in my lifetime):
1. Enter every Disney-related contest
2. Sign up for every newsletter
3. Request every Disney travel DVD or brochure
4. Request info on the
Disney Cruise Line
5. Request info on the new resort in Hawaii that Disney will be opening (is it the Aulani? I signed up but I always forget the name!!)
6. Request Adventures by Disney info
7. Request info on the Disney Vacation Club
8. Answer every Disney survey offered to you - either at DLR, on the phone, or online
9. Request info on the Disney Gift Card
10. Request info on the Chase Disney Visa card (debit or credit)
11. Purchase an Annual Pass if you can afford it
12. Stay onsite at a DLR or WDW hotel if you can swing it
13. Purchase something directly from the
Disneyland Resort website, like Hoppers or Gift Cards and create a "My Disneyland Account"
14. Purchase something from the
Disney Store website
15. Join
D23
16. Join Disney Movie Rewards
17. Start an account on all of the websites in the "Disney FOS" (Family of Websites), which include Disney Family, Family Fun magazine, ABC, local ABC affiliates, etc.
18. Even get on Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney mailing lists if you have to!!
Now doing all of this is not a guarantee that you will get a PIN or special offer - again, it is random and selected by computer. But better to be on as many lists as possible than to not be on any - otherwise, Disney has no way to find you if you don't get on a list!!
