Interesting conversation with Event Services

[Cherry]

I just got off the phone with a very nice castmember with event services. She told me that the special pins for the August pin event would not be sold the same way as the others have been. She said to try and alleviate the 4:00 a.m. lines and such, they will be posting lists throughout the day (at random times she said) of "interested parties". When your name comes up on the list, you get a wristband to buy pins. I'm not sure which pins you get to buy, whether it's all of them or just what comes out that day -- someone else will have to figure that out. I told her we were planning on leaving on Sunday morning, and was there any way to note that so that your name would not come up until after you leave. She said, no, it's all by drawing, and that if your name came up after you left nobody could pick them up for you, as you would have to have ID.

I asked how you got on the list of "interested parties," and she said if you got tickets for the Thursday morning event, you are already on the list. I'm not sure how everyone else registers, but I'm sure it won't be hard to find.

She did also say that the pre-ordered pins for the Thursday morning breakfast would be in your registration packet and you wouldn't have to stand in line to get them (except for the registration line).


That's all I know, and I might have some of it confused -- anyone else feel free to correct me if you got a different impression of their explanation.

 

[megaelch]

Hi Cherry...
this sounds quite reasonable.. there will be thousands of pintraders and small L.E. edition sizes.. so this will be the only way to balance offers and wants.. a random draw.. finally they made this step.. in a thread a few months ago i suggested to draw the names from a list using the theme park tickets to avoid people standing in line at midnight..
So everybody can sleep out ( friends with little children, too) and still has the chance to get the pins...good move.
What really did upset me on the May pin event was people with 2 year old children in their strollers at 4 a.m. in a line for the pins.. I believe the belong to their beds at this time of the day...
Stephan

 

[Cherry]

Stephan, This way sounds pretty fair to me, too. I did call back today, though, and asked how you get on the list to be in the drawing. I was hoping that you could register ahead by phone. The castmember said that you would have to register every morning to be in that day's drawing. He did say that if you're attending the breakfast, you are automatically registered for all four days and don't have to re-register daily.

The drawing still sounds like a fair way to decide how to sell the pins to me-- and I guess there just really is no way to get around the lines for registering, although it sure would be nice to be able to call ahead and do it! I'm guessing that they want you to register in person and show an ID so that you couldn't call and register under different names. It certainly seems that they are trying hard to figure out the best way to handle it.

 

[jojo_ct]

I'm not sure I'm that crazy about this set up. I never win raffles!! It sounds like only a few people will get chances and the rest of us are out of luck.

I like the concept that he/she who can endure the longest will be rewarded. I've stood in dozens of lines and never minded it for a minute.

 

[sshd]

It is my impression that you have to be at the event to register each day, which is fine. But then if the lists are to be posted throughout the day does that mean that you have to stay at the event the entire day just to see if your name comes up? Believe it or not I am going to WDW to go on the rides and see the shows. The pins are just a bonus side event for me. I will be taking my mom with me because she has never been to WDW and I won't make her spend her trip in one pavillion. I also have 6 year old twins who don't want to spend their trip in there either. Am I understanding it wrong?

 

[Cherry]

I called one more time (they are really going to get tired of talking to me). Every time I get a different castmember and every time the info is a little different. This time I was told there will not be lists posted throughout the day. This castmember sounded like she was reading from something and she said that you will have to be registered by 2:30 each day and that the lists will come out at 4 o'clock each day -- only one list. At that time, if your name is on the list, you can go and get your pins. That sounds much better than what I was told at first, because at least you wouldn't have to spend your whole day checking out the lists. I think I would like that system!

However, I'm sure the info will change many times again in the next 7 weeks as they try to find the best way to handle it.

 

[MeanLaureen]

Cherry.. Your last variation is closest to the one that I have heard. Only difference for me was the times. That sounds pretty fair though.. and gives you time to do something other than wait in line!

Watch me only make it on the lists for pins I don't like Oh well.. that's what trading is for, right??

 

[megashark]

I suspect anyone who has been to a Disneyana Convention is smiling a wry smile at the idea of them having a 'lottery' for this event, considering how many times their lottery programs have failed at a crucial time in the past.

Can anyone spell riot?

 

[shirley 38]

Sounds fair to me. Was just wondering where they are going to post the lists.????
Holy Moses I could be in Epcot and the list could be back at my hotel.
Cherry if you want to e=mail me the phone number I will call and try to find out.

Or I will try and get some different infol.
Thanks for the info. can't wait to meet. finally. shirley38

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

I was also wondering what happens if your whole party is not together when the list comes out. How long do we have to pick them up. An hour or 15 minutes?

I have my DS and his friend with me, the cost of the trip is they are helping me out a little. Do I need to have them with me at 4 when the list comes out?

If they have to be with me - well guys there are probably gonna be 4 extra pins on some days.

 

[shirley 38]

That was another question I had. What if John and I split up I am wondering if I could take our ressie form to show that there are two of us.
I could also take his annual passport with me.
John likes to fish and relax down there. To him it is a vacation to me it is pins.

 

[Dar20]

Maybe I don't quite understand this, but I'm with jojo. I'd rather stand in lines for pins I want, and not stand in lines for pins I don't want. I'd be happier to stand in a line that just chance it with a lottery system. I don't like lottery systems anyways, so I guess I'm biased. IMO, first come, first serve, the early bird catches the worm, etc. etc. Any other cheesy cliches I can use?

Dar

 

[MeanLaureen]

Dar.. I think "You snooze, You lose" fits here too

 

[n2mm]

Just think...what if your name doesn't make it to any list!! Boy, that would be a disappointment. Or even worst, my name will show up on Sunday and we have to leave the world by 5:00 PM to catch a flight out. I would rather stand in a line and take my chances for the pins I want. I would rather they limit the pins to 1 each so that more people can get them, then some people missing out. Let's hope they can come up with a fair way to do this so that we all have a good.

 

[peoplemover]

At this point we aren't going in August...and it sounds like this might be my best bet because I haven't liked much, if anything, Disney has announced that they are doing for this event. Epcot is my favorite park and I don't want to go there and take the chance that I would have any kind of negative experience that would be burned into my mind for years to come. Not getting all of the LE's would count. Yes they are just pins (if I had a dollar for every time I have heard or read that line I could buy a Plane Crazy Filmstrip), but if we spend hundreds (maybe over a thousand) of dollars to fly down to WDW, stay on-site, and use our $300+ APs to get into the park, and we don't get what we went there for...that's not my idea of a good time. If I am going to pay that kind of money just to help Disney make even more money off of us folks who will pay $8.50 for a pin that cost them way less than $1 to make...every CM down there should give me what I want with a smile on their face. There are better ways to handle things than the way they are being handled right now.

*section edited for inaccuracy; I apologize for any inconvenience*

I've heard enough horror stories about this kind of thing from other collectibles conventions, that I am very worried about how folks will handle it at WDW...people hold WDW to a standard that is way above that to which others have to conform, and when this does not turn out as happy go lucky as folks hope it will... Let's just say I have seen some pretty bad stuff go down at other conventions, and those conventions didn't even have anything to do with Disney. Here's one example. I attended a convention where they only let 50 people in the doors at a time to prevent fights and to ensure everyone got their share of limited items, and the same convention was evacuated when fights broke out + the fire marshall busted in and said there was danger present. Not a good time, LOL. I'd rather not spend my time overhearing angry pin traders yelling at CM's because they didn't make whatever list there is or couldn't get whatever wristband there is. I pity the CM's at Guest Services who have nothing to do with any of the chaos that could (most likely will) ensue! Hope they will be wearing their mental armor!

 

[ScroogesNephew]

Think the upcoming one is set in stone? I doubt it.

 

[NHMickey]

Okay guys.... Let us try and remember this... The information that is being tossed around here is from the people who are paid to take reservation.... Not from those that are running or planning the event. we have 59 days to go and as we all know Disney is very tight liped about what they do and how they are going to do it. Untill we see an official announcemt from Disney it is all speculation on our part gathered by a few phone calls to those that may not know as that is not their job. I'm also sure that disney did give them some information but I'm also sure it was kept vague as all plans are subject ot change...

The only thing we know for sure is that in 59 days Disney is going to do an event like nothing they have done before. I'm sure there will be mistakes and some ideas that just don't work... But I can bet when it's all done it will have been a blast....

The only real official word I have seen or heard so far has been for the Breakfast on the first day. And what that intails....

 

[Cherry]

Maybe this is a thread that I shouldn't have started. If so, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to "toss around" information that is unofficial. I knew anything I posted was subject to change, as I'm sure everyone else does -- but I thought others might be as interested as I am in which direction the plans seem to be moving.
I really am looking forward to the event, no matter how they handle the pins, and I'm sure they'll do a great job. Meeting all my fellow DISers is what I'm really looking forward to anyway! I know I'm gonna have a fantastic time, no matter which way it goes.

I will wait quietly now until we get information from an official source.

 

[pintrader]

and in defense of several key CMs that they *ARE* actually trying to think a plan all the way through from start to finish before implementing it.

I know for an absolute fact that I have seen one certain individual each and every morning (earlier and earlier I might add) at every single event. He walks the lines, He chats with us. No matter how he is feeling. He has observed EVERY SINGLE one of the events. Each event has been somewhat different. a slight variations here and there.



I am none too please at a lottery approach either. I feel as if I paid the price and made my sacrifices when my son was little and now his is an adult, I can do crazy things like get up at 2 drive until 4 to wait in line with new found friends to get something I depreived myself of 20 years ago. I consider the poster who said this to be a friend and I would like to qualify that I am respectfully approaching her concerns.

All the posts that I've
read on this board containing information for the August event have been followed
by endless questions, and the questions are very valid...I just wonder why no one
down there has bothered to consider these concerns that the guests will obviously
have.

If EPCOT Managemnt told all of us how they plan to do something 8 weeks in advance , that would give certain people who think the rules don't apply to them the opportunity (and the time) to figure out how to circumvent the system. They are trying to put this system in place so all of us have a fair chance. I feel like JoJo and Dar, I would rather get in line early talk laught, trade and have a memory that will comfort me in my older years. I don't have a Woodstock or a anti-establishment sit-in rally to remember when I'm old. These lines in 2000/2001 are one of the things I will forever reflect upon in my declining years. The people I have met through this board and come to care for and about. The ones that I drove all the way to Orlando just to get to meet once, or maybe more than once.

My friend, I'd rather not spend my time overhearing angry pin traders yelling at CM's because they didn't make whatever list there is or couldn't get whatever wristband there is., either, but I must swim upstream this time and say that I know for a fact that Mr Jim Matthews has been to *EVERY event on property, walked the lines, talked with us, listened to our suggestions and is doing *ALL* that he can to make the experience at his park, EPCOT, the one of a lifetime. Somtimes in our disappointment over how badly things *seem* to be going we forget there are real human beings reading theses posts and they may be the person who made that decision. They don't get the opportunity to defend their decision with all the other factors they had to weigh to make the decision that seems so unjust.

I want *ALL* the pins coming out for the event also. It doesn't sound as if I shall get them though. The one thing we haven't been able to get Disney merchandising to understand is that when they make this small an edition size of something it often does *NOT* get traded. It however, finds it's way to ebay when *we* feel like *we* shoud have gotten that pin. We paid to get there. We took time off work, We paid for the hotel rooms and for the overinflated prices for food and beverage while waiting in the line we got up at 2 a.m. to stand in. 1000 of anything is too small an edition size with all the publicity that this event has gotten.

Sorry to stand so firm in my conviction I have been to ALL of these events and I KNOW in my heart that there are people trying.

Good luck to us all. I shall likely stand in line either way, as I now look forward to this little ritual that I have chosen to view as fun and entertaining and and as a break from the mudane day-to-day rest of my dull little life.

 

[MeanLaureen]

Coming from the other side of the fence, after having worked for a retailer that sold Beanie Babies during their heyday.. there is never a method of selling something in demand that works 100%. I'm sure the people in charge at Disney are doing what they can to make it as fair as possible to everyone.

If I don't get all the pins I want I might be disappointed but I'm going to this event knowing that this will be the largest amount of pintraders ever assembled in one park. I know competition will be stiff. There really is no way to guarantee I can get everything.

I'm keeping my expectations of my "pin haul" low... that way I can't be disappointed. Should I get everything I want.. bonus!

Just don't forget, you are also getting the chance to meet and trade with hundreds of other people... who knows, you might just find your holy grail while you are there!!

Plus you aren't at work and you are at Disney World.. how could that ever be a bad thing