Disappointed w/YOAMD this trip

[Mischa]

I have to say dh & I were very disappointed with YOAMD this trip.

We saw the "dream team" twice (didn't know it was them at the time though) during the 8 days we were at WDW and were passed over both times.

Once at MK we were waiting for the parade to begin and these two CMs came over and looked at dh & me up and down and then turned their backs on us and gave the baby (and her family) next to us lanyards. The second time was at MGM and a smiliar thing happened - two came up to us chatted with us (asked where we were from and all) and then turned to an older couple and gave them dream hats.

We didn't plan on winning anything (we knew we wouldn't) but to be passed over twice like that really made us feel bad. We had the impression that if you were a middle aged couple you didn't count.

 

[scraptoons]

We got so lucky to talk to a dream team guy after he was off his shift on the tram and he had nothing on him. Yahoo!!!!

Now that is dissappointing. I can't believe they would issue swag to someone else in front of you after talking to you.

If I were them I would have at least moved on out of sight to give out something, or not even chat up with them unless I had every intention of giving them something.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Oh, Michelle, that stinks! I know your talking about silly little lanyards and hats, but I would have been disappointed too! Well, think of it this way, the lanyard hanging around your neck would have bee annoying and wearing the hat probably would have given you a headache! Hope your vacation was magical overall!

 

[~Brandy~]

I was also a little disappointed. Maybe it was because we made it to WDW three times during the Happiest Celebration, but to me that really seemed like something special - all the new rides, attractions, cute merchandise, etc. They didn't make a big deal out of this and like others, if I hadn't read the DIS before I left I wouldn't have made the connection between the Dream Fastpasses, cloud ears, etc. and the YOAMD.

I know every year can't be a spectacular blow-out celebration or they would lose their meaning but it seems like they hyped this up to be much more than it really is.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

I am not saying that the situation did not happen as I was not there (and I know you are a reputable poster here on the DIS), but that is NOT how the prizes are given away and if that is in fact what happened, those CM's could be FIRED (and Disney could be sued as the Florida State Sweepstakes laws are very strict and HAVE to be followed).

The Dream Squad is being audited by Ernst and Young and Creata is the company that tells them who, what, when and where the prizes are being issued... They have NO say in the matter and do not issue the "YOAMD sweepstakes prizes" the way you have described. First the prizes such as dream lanyards, dream ears and dream fastpasses are given out in bulk in a specific location at a specific time, NOT to one person here or there, whomever they like. They will get a print out (that is determined randomly by Creata) that says for example Issue 100 dream ears at the turnstile of the tea cups at 10:15am.... At exactlly 10:15am the dream squad will give out exactlly 100 dream ears to the next 100 people that walk through the turnstiles. The Dream Squad DOES have greeters that are not on the prize team that are walking around the parks talking to people, they have the black letterman bags and do not wear the White vest which signifies the Prize team). They do have things in their bags that they can give out, but they are not "official prizes" from the sweepstakes, they are beads, coloring pages, buttons (like the birthday buttons) etc. The cast Does not even have access to the prizes to be able to take some, they are all in sealed bags that can not be opened until just before the prizes are to be distributed. I am not sure what your situation was, as I said I was not there, BUT the "offical prizes" are monitored and can not be given out haphazardly, they HAVE to be issued in the manor (time, location, amount) that Creata dictats.

 

[scraptoons]

I am not saying that the situation did not happen as I was not there (and I know you are a reputable poster here on the DIS), but that is NOT how the prizes are given away and if that is in fact what happened, those CM's could be FIRED (and Disney could be sued as the Florida State Sweepstakes laws are very strict and HAVE to be followed).

The Dream Squad is being audited by Ernst and Young and Creata is the company that tells them who, what, when and where the prizes are being issued... They have NO say in the matter and do not issue the "YOAMD sweepstakes prizes" the way you have described. First the prizes such as dream lanyards, dream ears and dream fastpasses are given out in bulk in a specific location at a specific time, NOT to one person here or there, whomever they like. They will get a print out (that is determined randomly by Creata) that says for example Issue 100 dream ears at the turnstile of the tea cups at 10:15am.... At exactlly 10:15am the dream squad will give out exactlly 100 dream ears to the next 100 people that walk through the turnstiles. The Dream Squad DOES have greeters that are not on the prize team that are walking around the parks talking to people, they have the black letterman bags and do not wear the White vest which signifies the Prize team). They do have things in their bags that they can give out, but they are not "official prizes" from the sweepstakes, they are beads, coloring pages, buttons (like the birthday buttons) etc. The cast Does not even have access to the prizes to be able to take some, they are all in sealed bags that can not be opened until just before the prizes are to be distributed. I am not sure what your situation was, as I said I was not there, BUT the "offical prizes" are monitored and can not be given out haphazardly, they HAVE to be issued in the manor (time, location, amount) that Creata dictats.

You're right. You weren't there.
I personally saw people last week being issued stuff like this, as the OP witnessed it. It wasn't always as described as above. It was basically a little of everything.

Pixie Dust everywhere, I tell ya. There may have been some official business as described, but then also CM were doing their everyday pixie dust as well.

 

[HumphreytheBear]

I personally saw people last week being issued stuff like this, as the OP witnessed it. It wasn't always as described as above. It was basically a little of everything.

Pixie Dust everywhere, I tell ya. There may have been some official business as described, but then also CM were doing their everyday pixie dust as well.

Yes, things are being given out in the fashion the OP mentioned, but they are not the "official Prizes" that are listed for the sweepstakes. The "Where Dreams Come True" campaign has amped up the CM interaction and lots of little things are being given away (free cookie at the bake shop, Pixie Dust Pins, etc) but the prizes that are associated with "Year of a Million Dreams" the official sweepstakes are not given out that way, by law the prizes that are included in the sweepstakes itself can not discriminate, they have to be issued in the exact way that is written. There are a few Dream Squad CM's on the boards and they have written about how those prizes are issued, the "Tea Cup" scenario above was exactlly the way the true YOAMD sweepstakes prizes were explained. A lot of people have been getting confused with the Year of a Million Dreams Sweepstakes (which are only the prizes listed in the official rules) and the Magical Moments that are taking place as a part of the "Where Dreams Come True" Campagin.

 

[scraptoons]

Yes, things are being given out in the fashion the OP mentioned, but they are not the "official Prizes" that are listed for the sweepstakes. The "Where Dreams Come True" campaign has amped up the CM interaction and lots of little things are being given away (free cookie at the bake shop, Pixie Dust Pins, etc) but the prizes that are associated with "Year of a Million Dreams" the official sweepstakes are not given out that way, by law the prizes that are included in the sweepstakes itself can not discriminate, they have to be issued in the exact way that is written. There are a few Dream Squad CM's on the boards and they have written about how those prizes are issued, the "Tea Cup" scenario above was exactlly the way the true YOAMD sweepstakes prizes were explained. A lot of people have been getting confused with the Year of a Million Dreams Sweepstakes (which are only the prizes listed in the official rules) and the Magical Moments that are taking place as a part of the "Where Dreams Come True" Campagin.

Whatever it was definately confusing and frustrating just as the OP stated. Most people don't even know the difference.
Can you imagine how much more confusing it can be for those first timers who are standing in Epcot and asking where the castle is?

 

[jeni1072]

From what I've heard they are to give away the prizes at a very precise and predetermined time, spot, etc., and maybe you just weren't in that spot at that exact second? (I'm grasping here!)

When we were leaving the gift shop after getting off EE, there was a group of about 5 dream team folks having a hard time with a time and space issue. They were arguing about how at the exact time there was a sudden group of people exiting the ride and "things got really crazy in there" and how were they to determine who the right person was? I don't know what the outcome was, but I'm curious to hear how things like that pan out.

 

[DisNae]

First the prizes such as dream lanyards, dream ears and dream fastpasses are given out in bulk in a specific location at a specific time, NOT to one person here or there, whomever they like.

Ha. Apparently someone's not following the rules, then. DH saw this happen--he was waiting outside Space Mountain for me when we were there a couple weeks ago, we were doing the child-swap. He was sitting on the little low wall by the FastPass return area along with a few other people there, and a Dream Team member approached the wall and handed out 2 Dream FastPasses to the 2 people sitting right next to DH. They did not do a "mass distribution" or anything like that at all, just handed over only the 2 Dream FastPasses and no more to anyone anywhere else in the vicinity.

DH had no idea this was "rule-breaking" (nor did I), he was just miffed that maybe if he'd chosen to sit a little further to the left, he'd have been the one they gave the fastpasses to!

 

[scraptoons]

Ha. Apparently someone's not following the rules, then. DH saw this happen--he was waiting outside Space Mountain for me when we were there a couple weeks ago, we were doing the child-swap. He was sitting on the little low wall by the FastPass return area along with a few other people there, and a Dream Team member approached the wall and handed out 2 Dream FastPasses to the 2 people sitting right next to DH. They did not do a "mass distribution" or anything like that at all, just handed over only the 2 Dream FastPasses and no more to anyone anywhere else in the vicinity.

DH had no idea this was "rule-breaking" (nor did I), he was just miffed that maybe if he'd chosen to sit a little further to the left, he'd have been the one they gave the fastpasses to!

I saw the same with 3 lanyards being handed out to a small group, right there in my path. Had to stop suddenly to avoid running into them.
The CM passing them out looked official.

Another time was a special "Dumbo Rider" announcement. We were in line for Dumbo, a guy in the official gear picked a little girl and her mother from the end of the short line, announced to the rest of us that it was her special moment, then stuck them at the gate. They got on at the same time as us, and we waited the same amount of time. It was confusing and lame.

 

[Mischa]

I don't know if the two incidents I mentioned in my original post were "legal" or not but that is what we saw.

We also saw lots of CMs giving away coins to children waiting for the parade to begin at MK. No adults were given coins, just kids. Not sure what the coin was though. I tried to ask one of the kids (about 7 years old) if I could just see the coin (because I was curious) and she pitched a fit like I was trying to steal it from her (which was FAR from the truth) and the mother was just as bad so I just left them alone.

I do think - and this is just my opinion here - this whole YOAMD thing is being so hyped up so that folks will visit Disney in hopes of winning something. I'm not saying that everyone who will visit Disney in the next year is doing that (going only in the hopes of winning something); but I think the execs of Disney are banking on that in order to make more money. Again this is just MY opinion and do not wish to start a debate on this. Besides I've already have plans to go back in May of '07.

 

[Tracks N Slabs]

I do think - and this is just my opinion here - this whole YOAMD thing is being so hyped up so that folks will visit Disney in hopes of winning something. I'm not saying that everyone who will visit Disney in the next year is doing that (going only in the hopes of winning something); but I think the execs of Disney are banking on that in order to make more money. Again this is just MY opinion and do not wish to start a debate on this. Besides I've already have plans to go back in May of '07.

You are absolutely right. No debate here on that, but isn't that what buisness' do... Run a promotion that you may or may not win in order to get more buisness at their establishment. I mean honestly, people go all nuts for McDonald's Monopoly game pieces for the "chance" to win, even though they know the chances are not in their favor.

Someone else posted a while ago and this stuck with me... The offical rules state that approx 1551 prizes (from the sweepstakes itself) will be awarded daily. If you really think about that your chances of even seeing a prize being awarded are slim, let alone win one. The prizes are being given out at MK, AK, MGM, Epcot, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach and Downtown Disney. If you figure that MK alone would have 45,000 people (plus) in the park and only roughly 300 of those people are going to get a prize in one day, chance of being one of the 300 in the right place are well... Pure LUCK.

I think that just being able to go to Disney is a Dream in itself for a lot of people. There are many people that don't have that luxury. I am not saying that your feelings of being jilted by the Dream Team are not relevant, cause if I were in your situation and I felt I was skipped over, I would be really upset, but given what I have seen on the boards and read on how the prizes from the actually sweepstakes are awarded, I would not be too upset, you probably just missed out on some little trinket that would have ended up in the bottom of the suitcase and not a GOOD prize like a trip around the world (although I would love to have the Dream Ears, those are cool)...

Have fun in May when you go back. I wish you luck with the prizes upon your return!

 

[Vickie46]

we never saw them being given away.. just people wearing them!!! oh well.. maybe next time.

 

[MomofCKJ]

We were there 12/15-12/22 and saw people wearing Dream Fastpasses quite a bunch of times. We saw the Dream Team numerous times as well but never got picked to receive anything.

On 12/16 at about 10:15 we got on the train in Toontown to ride over to FrontierLand. As the train pulled away I saw one of the Dream Team CMs giving a Dream FP to a man walking into the queue.

Earlier on the same day, Sat 12/16, we entered IASW around 9:30am. There was a DreamTeam CM at the entrance. We said hello, kept walking and got on the ride. The family behind us was selecte and their little girl got to go up into the booth and wave to the boats as they started the ride.

We did have a Magical Moments experience. We were in the Brier Patch store waiting for our Splash FP time and the CM there invited my 4y DS to play a game. He had to toss small stuffed bunnies into a black pot. She then gave him a Magical Moments certificate. He said "What does this do?" and she said "Not much!" Cute souvie though for the scrapbook.

Allyson