YOAMD a no show

[roseprincess]

To the OP,
I didn't read all the replies. I'm sorry you didin't win anything while you were on your WDW trip. Just wanted to say coming from a family( myself, dh, and my dkids) who hardly gets to go to WDW and/or Disneyland, due to financial constraints. You and alot of you here are so fortunate to go to WDW once or twice a yr or every other yr. However often you get to go.
If you didn't win and get the "magic"at hte parks, you can always do the YOMD mail in entries, too. Doesn't hurt. I keep trying to enter all these Disney contests/sweepstakes. Haven't won anything yet, but I pray about it. If it's not meant for me to win anything, then that's ok, too.

Just a different perspective from a special needs family. Thanks for listening

 

[orljustin]

I give up. This isn't about me winning or not winning anything. I'm just telling you what I saw. We had a great time regardless of the promotion.

 

[rayelias]

I give up. This isn't about me winning or not winning anything. I'm just telling you what I saw. We had a great time regardless of the promotion.

Except that you hated Nemo. And Soarin'. And Photopass. And the stickers. And smilies. And the lack of promotion of YOAMD.

I hope you enjoyed the Food & Whine Festival, at least.

 

[DaisyD]

Well, of course they were going to be giving stuff away that day. That day was all about the giveaway. But the rest of the signage promotional bits you're describing don't mention the giveaway at all, and are perfectly valid advertising for the new parade (which is pretty catchy, btw), the new shows, etc.

I saw all that stuff, except for the large prize, given away every day during our 10 day trip. Not just on one day. DD won her thing two days after the family won the park for a morning prize. The pamphet we received upon check in, which I referred to in my last post, talked about all the prizes they were going to give out and what YOAMD was all about. I thought that was full of info. Didn't you get a pamphlet? What WDW resort were you staying at?

 

[orljustin]

I hope you enjoyed the Food & Whine Festival, at least.

Ha ha ha. Ha! I see how you worked "whine" in there for "wine". Very imaginative. Good work.

Anyhoo, it was nice to see the Yeti working on Everest this time. Much more impressive. And we caught the apple smell in Philharmagic. I don't think I've ever noticed that or caught it working before. So, as I have mentioned repeatedly, we had a great time. However, this thread was not about those things. Just the promotional activity we saw.

 

[saschab]

I'm wondering if they are holding back on full force promotion of the program until they work out the kinks; get a feel for how it's going, etc.

That or they're well aware that too much promotion might make it an expectation. Who knows?

 

[I Love Pluto]

How bout a little cheese with your whine?

I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[dizneetravelagent]

My family received Epcot Dream Fastpasses on October 1st. We felt like we had won the lottery....maybe not the 200 million Powerball....but definitely a $1000 scratch off instant winner.

 

[madge]

How many stickers does a person need? That's all we got from anyone. Stickers and more stickers. I guess they are cheap, but c'mon. The security guard at the hotel ripped off about half a roll when we came through the gate the first time. I think we pitched them in the room when we were cleaning up. My son hates stickers. I have to convince the CMs to leave him alone, since they keep wanting to push them on us.

My family got home on Friday after an 8 night stay. We were THRILLED to see stickers in the parks again.... it seems like the last few years there weren't any at all. We've been annual guests since 1998 and this yeara seemed more on par (in terms of service) with our earlier trips, which was great to see. In fact, we found that, generally speaking, the overall attitude among the CMs was higher than it has been in the past.

As far as the promotion? We were in the parks for 8 days and didn't win an official prize, nor did we witness anyone winning a prize. We saw several members of the Dream Squad and we saw people that had won prizes, so we knew they were "out there". 2 of my children took part in Magical Moment activities, which was fun... they LOVED that. Especially my daughter, who was asked to sign her autograph at the Epcot International Gateway on the way to the Princess Storybook Breakfast. The CMs working the gate made a big fuss, and since my DD had just learned to write her name at preschool before the trip, she was so proud. It made her day

I agree with the poster that mentioned working the kinks out in the early days of the promo. I do think there's some truth to that. We noticed the DS was no longere wearing their white vests after the first couple of days of our trip, Ii'm guessing to bleend in more with the other cast members. I spoke to a CM about the promo and was told that people are already complaining that they aren't winning a prize, and others are stalkling the Dream Squad. Makes me wonder what will happen when they start giviing away the night in the Castle in January.

 

[bab31]

I did not read all of this and glad I didnt. WAAAAYYY too much ...makes a person afraid to post.

I refuse to read any more of this thread. and you can flame me for stating that if you like. and I know... I dont have to read the post.

 

[Allison]

I did not read all of this and glad I didnt. WAAAAYYY too much ...makes a person afraid to post.

I refuse to read any more of this thread. and you can flame me for stating that if you like. and I know... I dont have to read the post.

If you had read all of this you would know the OP isn't afraid to post. He has defended himself just fine. I guess there is no reason to type this though since you aren't reading anymore.

 

[PrincessJasmine]

Just dropping in to say that I hate smilies too. They're up there with stickers, ugh!

 

[famsen]

Except that you hated Nemo. And Soarin'. And Photopass. And the stickers. And smilies. And the lack of promotion of YOAMD.

I hope you enjoyed the Food & Whine Festival, at least.

Oooh, I just have to jump in here since I just returned from WDW less than 48 hours ago.
I didn't see Nemo. I did not care for Soarin' at all but I loved Photopass.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Food and WINE Fest but I also enjoy a little whine with fava beans every now and then.

 

[kaytieeldr]

50 people exiting Sounds Dangerous? Man oh man. Now that is wishful thinking! (I know it was just a random example, I just thought the attraction you chose was funny!)

Well, you're right. My choice of examples was twofold - first, as you pointed out, it's absurd but second, just in case - it may entice some future Guests to experience Sounds Dangerous; in all fairness, we really DON'T know where or when the Dream Squad will strike...

Well, of course they were going to be giving stuff away that day. That day was all about the giveaway. But the rest of the signage promotional bits you're describing don't mention the giveaway at all, and are perfectly valid advertising for the new parade (which is pretty catchy, btw), the new shows, etc.

But the television ads, while promoting "Year of a Million Dreams", ALSO do not make any mention of the sweepstakes.

I'm wondering if they are holding back on full force promotion of the program until they work out the kinks; get a feel for how it's going, etc.

The 'giveaway', also known as the Year of a Million Dreams Sweepstakes, is administered by an entirely independent agency. Remember, they're giving away an average of 1,551 prizes per day (see contest rules for exact prizes/amounts, link available in various posts on the DIS as well as via the sweepstakes link at disneyworld.com, at allearsnet.com and via other means), spread out among six 'major' Disney parks, two water parks, Downtown Disney, via drawings, and possibly at other locations.
The six major parks had a total attendance of 63,100,000 Guests last year. Assuming attendance stays flat, that's an average of 172,876 Guests per day. EVEN IF all prizes were awarded 'live' - which they won't be - that means LESS THAN 1% of ALL park visitors on any given day will win a YoaMD prize.

 

[saschab]

I'm wondering if they are holding back on full force promotion of the program until they work out the kinks; get a feel for how it's going, etc.

The 'giveaway', also known as the Year of a Million Dreams Sweepstakes, is administered by an entirely independent agency. Remember, they're giving away an average of 1,551 prizes per day (see contest rules for exact prizes/amounts, link available in various posts on the DIS as well as via the sweepstakes link at disneyworld.com, at allearsnet.com and via other means), spread out among six 'major' Disney parks, two water parks, Downtown Disney, via drawings, and possibly at other locations.
The six major parks had a total attendance of 63,100,000 Guests last year. Assuming attendance stays flat, that's an average of 172,876 Guests per day. EVEN IF all prizes were awarded 'live' - which they won't be - that means LESS THAN 1% of ALL park visitors on any given day will win a YoaMD prize.

I was referring to OP's statement that the giveaway was not heavily advertised, as in announcements, detailed commercials, etc. I'm not following your point, but then again, I haven't had my coffee I.V. yet!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Coffee I.V.? Do you need a prescription for that? Can I please get a referral to YOUR doctor????
My point is - I didn't read your post the way you wrote it. I thought you were referring to the actual AWARDING of the prizes, that maybe Disney was holding back on THAT until they worked out kinks, etc. I didn't understand that you were writing about the PROMOTION itself, and NOT the actual prizes.

NOW - where do I sign up for that I.V. coffee?

 

[Pineapple Princess]

I am with the newish person who is scared to post, see my post numbers? Yet I feel like I want to chime in.
I think the OP just wanted to bring us back to reality. I will admit that when I went to the parks on Sunday I was expecting to see mouse ears, magic fast passes, and just...people with prizes and the dream team. Why? Well because I have been reading the treads on the DIS that made it sound like YOAMD stuff was everywhere!
Now I did still have a good time, but I did feel kinda let down. It isn't because I was expecting to win, or I really wanted to, but I like watching others. But to see no one at AK with anything, and no one at MK...after being there for several hours. Well it was a let down.
I'll be there again next weekend, hopefully I will see someone with a special laynard or <i> something. </i>

 

[krissy2803]

We just got back from 8 great days at WDW. We did see many Dream ears and fastpasses and the pin lanyards. We never received any. No complaints here! The Dream Teams were out and about in every park.
We just made our own magic. Passed out light sticks and "gasp" stickers to kids. So much fun!

 

[CheshireVal]

From the day they announced YOAMD, I knew it was going to be a horrible idea, because people were inevitably going to start griping when they didn't win a prize.

Of course, since people gripe about not getting towel animals and not getting extra special surprises during their husband's cousin's son's roommate's daughter's kindergarten graduation celebration, it's really not all that surprising.

 

[deltachi8]

One time, I bought a lottery ticket and didn't win anything, but someone else did...i think i shoul dget my money back.