Open the park??

[Woodcourt]

I have read people talk about opening the park. How do you get picked and what do you do at each park?

 

[Woodcourt]

Thanks in advance!

 

[trypnotic]

My understanding that all of the YOAMD prizes are given randomly.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I got to help open DisneyLand last year. I got to the turnstiles about an hour and a half before the park opened (then had to go back through security with everyone else, but still made it to the front of a line) and told EVERY Cast Member who came by, starting with the one polishing the ticket reader) that it was my 50th birthday and how badly I wanted to be the first one in the park and where else would one spend one's 50th birthday but DisneyLand which was also fifty... about 9:28, another CM came over to 'my' gate and let me in. Along with a RANDOMLY-CHOSEN family, the six of us counted down from inside the gates, along with the thousands of people still waiting to enter.

Oh, so my point is - for the most part, it's ENTIRELY random.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

At TL we select a "Big Kahuna" who opens the park. Normally the greeters will chat with people on the lines before we open. About 15 minutes prior to opening one of the Lifeguards will come out and we may direct the lifeguard to a particular child or one is chosen at random. A bit of a fuss is made announcing the selection.

The Big Kahuna gets a medal on a ribbon, everyone in the family gets a special button and admission before anyone else. They get a free locker and first choice of where they want to set up, and other fun benefits.

Usually it is a child between five and ten years old. But they have to be there before we open the gates. This past year we had morning EMH seven days a week, so our selection really was limited to people staying at a Disney Resort.