Yomd - Barely Knew It Was Happening

[DisneyHolidayFan]

Just returned from WDW and if I wouldn't have read about YOMD, I doubt we would have noticed it was even going on. I assumed there would be a lot of signs, souvenirs, etc. about the event but really noticed hardly anything except on the outside of the monorail (nothing like Happiest Celebration). We were there eight days and never even saw one person get a fast pass. Wasn't expecting anything (did win a McFlurry) but thought Disney would have made this event a big deal. Wrong!!!!

 

[Mrs.Reese]

I have read other posters saying the same thing. I'm thinking its more of a marketing scheme than anything else. People go thinking that Disney is giving a million dreams and they get focused on the big items: trips. They start thinking "the longer I stay, the more likely I am to win." Great marketing by Disney but nothing more than marketing IMO.

 

[mickeyfan411]

We were there in October for 9 days and I saw nothing. I did hear 4 teenage boys talking about a special fast pass they had gotten, but that was it. I certainly was expecting more.

 

[hezreck]

We were just there Nov. 29 -Dec. 6. We saw quite a few people with Dream Fastpasses around their necks. My DD9 came home with 5 Magical Moment certificates, a free bus pin and the Tink Pixie Dust pin (we got two, one to keep and one to give away.) Overall, I was very pleased with the YOMD promotion. My DD really liked playing the little games to get the certificates. I didn't go to Disney hoping to get free stuff, but each little extra was a nice surprise.

 

[Vemnox]

Just look around when you're in the parks - you'll see dozens of people with the dream lanyards, dream ears, and dream Fastpasses on. And, trust me, it's no marketing scheme - there are literally hundreds of dreams given out every day.

 

[clombardi]

We just got back from 5 days. Visited all the parks and saw only 2 families with dream fastpasses and one family with the dream ears. I agree that if we hadn't read about YOAMD here, we'd have no clue it was happening.

 

[ADP]

We were there Oct. 20 - Oct 28th and won YOMD Lanyards with pins.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but the Dream Squad is very covert. They don't hang out in the open with there vests on and prize bags in hand. They hand out the prizes mainly inside attractions by sneaking in and out of back doors, announcing the prize to a group, handing the prize out, and quickly leaving.

We received our lanyards at Star Tours. As we sat down in the capsule a member of the Dream Squad came into the capsule, announced the prize, passed it out, and quickly left. I heard similar stories from other people who won prizes as well.

From what I heard from other Cast Members the Dream Squad was being followed around the parks when they were spotted at the beginning of the promotion (Oct. 1st). In order to keep this from happening the Dream Squad became more non apparent.

This is probably why most of you didn't even notice anything about the promotion. I do agree though that merchandise and signage is very limited.

One other piece of info. We noticed most prizes were being handed out early in the morning right after park opening. Dream Fast Pass, Lanyards & Pins, and even the YOMD mouse hats were being worn by guests before 11:00AM. If you want to increase your chances of winning get to the parks early and ride the attractions as much as possible.

 

[zgirl]

I agree with ADP. We had many things happen to us and everything was before noon. Our trip was so magical that we want to go back again before the YOMD is over.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

Don't go expecting to see these dream team people roaming the parks I never saw them once, my son did get a certificate and I saw people with the fastpasses, I wasn't disappointed though I was in WDW enjoying the Magic like I always do.

 

[Hanover]

We saw a few people with Dream fastpasses and YOMD cloud Mickey ears on our recent trip but would not have known they were "dreams" without reading about it on Disboards and seeing pictures previously.

Our boys did receive one YOMD certificate each on the way out of character connections at Epcot. They were just asked to sign their names on the certificate and the CM wrote down something on a clipboard with the time. He didn't say why they got it, but we thanked him.

We did see CM's with light blue shirts, dark pants and black messenger style bags with a YOMD seal on them in each park though we didn't witness any dreams being given out. The CM's also carried those metal trash collector things but I never saw one pick up trash. I wonder if they are to catch "dreams" or something??

 

[3DisneyKids]

Same here...we went in Oct. and didn't see anything. I do not think it is a marketing scam, though. Remember that dream FPs, etc. cost nothing to give out. And there will be very few "big ticket" wins.

 

[dizchick]

My boyfriend and I were the "family of the hour" at Flame Tree BBQ and won a yummy cupcake. I also saw the dream squad once at EPCOT talking to a little girl but couldn't hear what they were giving her.

 

[puddleduck]

If I hadn't heard about the promotion on these boards, I never would have known anything special was going on either. I saw some people with the special fp and I saw I think 2 pairs of the special Mickey ears, but had I not known what they were I never would have connected them with a promotion.