Surprise! 3/11-15/07 {Yr of a Million Dreams Win w/pics}

[deletedpenguin]

Very cool, congrats!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

Wow! I'm really excited for you! What a great experience and memory for your family. Thanks for all the good pictures. That is really awesome!

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Thanks for posting your story! I've been waiting to read about a win at Disneyland. I've read several about people staying in the castle at Disney World, but your's is the first from Disneyland! I'll be at Disneyland in November. Maybe I'll win something cool!

 

[daisy_77]

Great trip report! Congrats on winning all those wonderful dreams!

 

[Sleeping Becca]

I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm kind of confused...

So at DL its ok for one member of a family to get online, then have the rest of the family join 15-30 mins later? And this isn't consider cutting, or annoying anyone else in line waiting? All I could think when i read your report was how the people behind you must of been really mad considering if your family didn't cut in the line they would have won. Unless Im wrong in how I understand this went down.

I agree with the above poster.

So your family line jumped and you got a fabulous prize?

I'm glad your family had such a wonderful time, but it does sound like you cheated.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I agree with the above poster.

So your family line jumped and you got a fabulous prize?

I'm glad your family had such a wonderful time, but it does sound like you cheated.

It doesn't sound like she cheated at all. She waited in line and she was there first, before the people behind her. That's the way the world works, the people behind her should have been a few seconds quicker getting in line then! Her family DID NOT cut in line, they just joined there party!

Andrea

 

[MATTERHORN]

Plus I am sure neither of you would be complaining if her family getting in line with her had made you the winner instead of the people behind you!

Andrea

 

[ibouncetoo]

Of COURSE you can hold a place in line for your family! What if someone had to stop at the bathroom for goodness sakes! I can see if one person was 'holding' a spot for a large party it would be pretty rude and annoying or if someone in line saw a family they knew and offerd them 'cuts'....but please, get real people. I'm sure a bajillion times a day people say things like, "I'll get in line while you get the popcorn."

Plenty of things could have happend so that they wouldn't have been the prize winners. If the ride broke down or was delayed in loading, someone else would have been getting off the ride at award time or if someone in line ahead of them chose to bail out. If a party of six decided to split into three ride vehicles instead of two...whatever.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I've only been to DL once so far, but my impression from my one trip and from being here on the DIS is that guests don't seem to regard it as cutting unless it's an obvious abuse of others' good nature. Like having a party of 8 join in, or a group of teenagers claiming a friend of theirs is up front (but no one is.)

People seem very OK with a spouse joining someone in line, or spouse and kids, especially if the kids are young and need to be occupied during such long waits. Or, as someone else said, make a sudden potty run!

Snoodledoo, thanks so much for posting your awesome experience! What a fabulous time you had, and what a memory for your kids!

 

[Plantlady]

Wow, congratulations on the wonderful prize!

I'm glad you had a wonderful time on your trip. That penthouse would of been very hard to leave.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

My last comment on this. It wasn't a last minute potty run, snoodledoo's kids aren't really small, nobody was grabbing a quick snack, her family was riding another ride.

 

[noryglory]

How amazing for your family! It is so fun to get an "inside view" of something special like this. That suite was cool! Any idea what its nightly price is if you purchase the stay?

Don't let the naysayers about your line-waiting get you down. Actually I'm glad they complained....you made the other post about it, otherwise I wouldn't have tracked this one down!!

 

[RDS912]

You people make such a big deal about nothing. If someone from a family is waiting in line while the other parent is taking kids on rides, then they "catch up" so what. I never have a problem letting families catch up. The way I look at it is that I am an adult, let the kids enjoy Disney. That parent standing in line is not having fun like the rest of the family, so relax its just a line. Now if a group cut in that had no one in line different story. As for cheating to get the prize, the winner would first have to know when and where the prize was to be handed out, then manipulate the line in order to get that prize to be called a cheater. It is random. get over it. What if there was one extra single rider, or two more people joined a family up front, or a family left the line before they got on for whatever reason, or a disabled person was loading or unloading so it slowed the ride down and changed the outcome? would all these people be cheaters also? Think about it

 

[diznylnd]

So we get to the penthouse and are given the tour. It was amazing. (Glad it was our last night there and we didn't have to go back to HoJo!) There were 2.5 bathrooms, a master suite, a kid's suite, a living room, dining room, and kitchen/bar area.
The master bath was huge. It had a walk-in shower with jets from the walls, a huge jacuzzi tub and the best feature...a tv in the mirror so I could watch tv while in the tub.

It had hardwood floors in the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms.

There were 5 plasma tvs (3 in the living room and 1 in each bedroom). The back 'wall' was all window (floor to ceiling). It is on the 11th floor, and you can see DCA, DL & Downtown Disney. There is a private elevator to that floor.

The kids room had a dvd player & PS2 and several games & dvd's to choose from. There was a huge beanbag that DS chose as his bed. The kids bath had a walk-in shower.

Oh, and there's a 'magic mirror' that Mickey appears in and talks with you. He played a 'guess what number I'm thinking of' game with DS, but it didn't work very well.

We had only been there an hour when we remembered that for our Blue Bayou reservation at 4:30, we were supposed to get there at 4:15! Time to put on the running shoes! We made it at 4:25. (It was a long walk all the way thru DTD & DL!) They had given us some sample menus of items we could order to stay within our $40/person limit. The kids & I got the Prime Rib and DH got the salmon. For some reason, DS chose to be very ornery and it made for an unpleasant dinner. (I had thoughts of throwing him to the gators in the Bayou but then I might not get to go back to Mickey's penthouse!) I won't comment much on the food because it was a generous gift and I don't want to speak badly of it. Dessert was decent. I don't remember the name but it was a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and had a pirate theme. Our waitress was very nice.

We had a little time before we had to meet our CM at the Partners statue (6:30). We used our dream fastpass for Buzz. So we headed over to Partners and there was another group there as well. A little girl had won one of 2 "Quest for the West" vacation packages, which was a bigger prize than ours, but did not include the grand marshal duties. So they got a separate car and rode behind us.

{Side note: The winning of prizes is very interesting. I asked a Dream Squad member about how people are chosen. She said that a computer program tells them the exact time, place and prize. For example, for us, the program told them that the winner of our prize would be the one who gets off the Peter Pan ride at the exact time we did and that the winner would be the one sitting on the inside seat. With all our paperwork, we got a list of all the possible prizes and their value. I've skimmed thru a little bit of it since being home and I find it interesting. There was a guest book in the penthouse that we were encouaged to sign about our experience. I read thru some of the previous winners' entries (I was also encourage to do this), and some mentioned how they had won, and it was very similar to our experience. Some were just sitting on a bench, but it was the exact bench at the exact time. Anyhow, if you have any questions about it, just post them in this thread and I'll post the answer if I know it.}

So we walk back to the parade starting point (to the side of It's a Small World) and go "backstage". We met some characters, dd got some autographs, we took some pics and then we got into our firetruck.

My name was on the signs (even though it should've been dd). We gave our camera to the CM and he took photos for us. And off we go to start the parade. At the end of Main St we get out of the fire truck and are taken to our private viewing area (above the Main St @ the railroad station).

We stayed and watched the rest of the parade then DH took the kids back to the penthouse and I went and got a double-dole whip for the walk back. (Did you know that they will not sell you a double? They will sell you 2 and you have to combine them yourself. Whatever.) So I put them into the 'float' cup and I left DL for the final time on this trip. I browsed WoD on the way back.

Back at the penthouse, they had delivered milk & cookies to the room; the kids each took a bath, I took a bath (and watched tv!) then DH took a shower. Also, in the concierge lounge there were bedtime snacks - I got a rice krispie treat (darn - I should've gotten a picture) it was so cute - a mickey head with the ears dipped in chocolate - like mouse ears.


That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!

OMG I am so jealous! I wish that would happen to me! How cool. Your pics are great. What an amazing trip for you! Congrats.

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

What a neat surprise! Thanks for sharing.

 

[tink too]

What a great end to your holiday! Congratulations!

 

[shyboy72]

those are some cool pictures..

 

[Tink33]

Thanks for sharing your trip and your pictures of the Mickey Penthouse. I love seeing pictures behind the scenes.

 

[beckanoah]

What an amazing win~

 

[Creekermom]

Congrats! It looked very impressive, What a surprise for your family!