Year of a Millions Dreams

[DisneyFREAK91]

Holy wow they're going big with this!

[nicki12]

I wish I could win! Good luck to everybody!

[disney4me!]

Hi! This is my first posting! I think the best prize is being part of the DVC, but winning anything would be amazing!

[Zipadeedooda]

Sounds awesome!! 2 bad i didnt go to disney now, mayve the cast members would have given me a cool prize whrn the sawmy broken arm! lol

[ImaMouser]

Anyone have any stories about winning anything? We are going in January and my son will turn 17 while we are there. We will celebrate loud and long all week!! Hopefully that will get us something. We are probably going to MK on his birthday. Good choice for winning a prize or should we attempt it at another park or does it matter?

P.S. I don't care what we would win; Just like to win something. Like a stay in the castle, free vacations to Disney parks, cruises, etc. LOL

[albino_pygmy]

As much as we'd all love to help you get a good night's rest inside the castle (assuming you're saving a room with my name on it ) There really isn't any way of giving you advice as to where you should stand at what time, or what to say to whoever. These 'dreams' happen anywhere at anytime to anybody, it's completely random every day, and to be honest with you, it seems like they don't know what they're doing either. Instead, they're letting the magic run itself and WHOOSH there it goes and some dreams were handed out just like that. Just have yourself a good time, don't worry about trying to win anything, in fact, don't look forward to it. I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm just saying if you're not expecting it, then it becomes even more special, even if it is just a hat or a pin lanyard. Have fun in January!

[mritty]

Anyone have any stories about winning anything? We are going in January and my son will turn 17 while we are there. We will celebrate loud and long all week!! Hopefully that will get us something. We are probably going to MK on his birthday. Good choice for winning a prize or should we attempt it at another park or does it matter?

P.S. I don't care what we would win; Just like to win something. Like a stay in the castle, free vacations to Disney parks, cruises, etc. LOL

The best advice anyone can give you is do not go expecting to win, and do not go "trying" to win. First of all, there is no way to "try" to win. It's completely random. There is no set pattern and no "right" place to be. It's random. It's chosen by a computer algorithm. For example, on one of the recent WDW Today podcasts, someone who won the Castle Stay won because their kid was in the 2nd seat of the first row of the fourth car in Dinosaur at 10:39am. (Or something to that effect).

Further, there are a couple thousand people there at any given moment, and an absurdly small percentage of them are going to win anything. Do not go expecting or hoping to win. If you do, great. But if you're getting your hopes up now, the chances are that you're going to be setting yourself up for a disappointment. You're going to the Most Magical Place On Earth. Be excited about that, and happy about that. Anything else is a bonus.

[ImaMouser]

I agree with all of you. It is the best place on earth to be. And we will have a tremendous time as always. Not winning won't diminish our trip at all. Winning a prize would just be icing on the cake.
I still would like to hear from somebody who has won something. Somebody share your story!!

[mritty]

I agree with all of you. It is the best place on earth to be. And we will have a tremendous time as always. Not winning won't diminish our trip at all. Winning a prize would just be icing on the cake.
I still would like to hear from somebody who has won something. Somebody share your story!!

Okay, as long as you put it that way then... :-)

I've "won" three times in the past few trips, and been witness to several more magical moments.

First, in October 2006, my girlfriend and I rode Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. As we pulled into the unloading area, the cast member welcomed us back with "Welcome back, Expedition Everest travellers.... and congratulations!! As a part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebration, you've all won Dream Fastpasses!" The whole train cheered, and a Dream Squad CM by the exit of the platform handed out a Dream FP to each one of us. It was wonderful and we were grinning from ear to ear. It was, however, a pretty slow day at the Animal Kingdom, so we really didn't need to use the FPs at all. We still did use them, just to say we did, of course. :-)

Later on that same trip, girlfriend and I were riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad some time in the afternoon. As we got off the train, the unloading CM looked at me with my pin lanyard and said "Oh, I think you're going to like what my friend has for you...." I was a bit confused and just smiled at her as I walked out. As soon as we got to the exit, the Dream Squad was there again, handing out the pin & lanyard set to each of us. At that point, my mouth just dropped and we were speechless for a little bit. It was such an amazingly good trip, and these little extras were just remarkable.

Flash forward to March 2007. I was there with a different group of friends. The entire time, one of my friends had been hoping to be "in the right place at the right time." She was not a rollercoaster person, and so she decided to walk the Discovery Island trails while her BF and I went on Everest. As we got off the train, I heard the same announcement again, and we'd won the pin & lanyard set (for the second time for me). When we met back up with my other friend, we surprised her by presenting the pin & lanyard to her, saying she must have been at the right place at the right time.

Those were the "official" prizes. Some magical moments:

In October, my girlfriend struck up a conversation with a cast member in Norway, as is her personable nature. Before leaving, the cast member (Katrina?) presented her with a small Magical Moment prize - two Tinkerbell pins on a piece of cardboard that could be broken in two, with the instructions saying "You've helped to make my day special, now please help me to make someone else's special. Keep one of these pins for yourself, and give the other to another guest!". I thought she was going to cry it made her so happy. She later gave the second pin to the 12 year old in our party.

Later on that trip, we took the Behind the Seeds tour, and our tourguide asked my gf to help feed the fish, which of course she obliged. When we were done with the tour, he asked us to wait a moment, while he went behind a counter and filled out a Magical Moment certificate, and presented it to her for being an "Excellent Fish Feeder." Hah.

On the March trip, my friend was the recipient of the Tinkerbell pins twice. First while waiting for the rope drop at Epcot, we struck up a conversation with a MIssion Space cast member. When we went to Mission Space about an hour later, we saw that cast member, and my friend waved at her and smiled. The cast member *ran* over to a podium, and then *ran* over to us just as the pre-show doors were closing, to give her the pins to thank her for being so friendly. My friend was very surprised and didn't quite know how to approach someone to give them the other pin, so I took the responsibility for her. When we got out of Test Track, I saw a little girl and her mother in line, and growing up with young siblings, I knew the telltale signs of a meltdown in progress. I went over to the little girl, and addressed her directly, after smiling and saying hello to the mother. I said to her: "Hi there. Earlier today, a cast member gave me these two pins, and she said I should give one of them to someone who looks like they could use some cheering up. Can I please give this to you?" The little girl's eyes widened with shock, and said thank you. The mother thanked us profusely, and as we were leaving, we turned back and saw the little girl smiling and laughing with her mother. Melt down averted. :-)

On our very last day on the March trip, we had breakfast reservations at Boatwright's in Port Orleans. We were one of the few parties there right at opening, and so the manager had come to our table just to ask how we were doing. By this point, we all had a sizable collection of pins around our necks, and he once again presented my friend with the Tinkerbell pins. This time, she decided to give one of them to me, and when we went to MGM later that day, took it upon herself to go up to a random child and say "This is for you!". The little girl had apparently not seen pins before, and replied "What is it?" My friend explained it to her, and said that even if she didn't like Tinkerbell, she could trade it with any Cast Member for any pin they were wearing. The girl took it gratefully, and we saw her immediately start looking around for cast members. :-)


.... wow. That took longer to type up than I was expecting. But thanks for helping me relive the memories. :-)

[Chrissy&Tayen]

i finally won in the mailings.. and i got a lanyard and 2 pins.. i was extremely happy and surprised.. when i go next week i'm going to be having so much fun theres no way i'll be thinking of winning anything.. i'll proably forget all about it in all the magic around me

[ImaMouser]

That's pretty cool how we as guests can help share and spread the dreams to other guests, especially little kids. i think my 14 year old daughter would love to see the excitement in a kid's eyes if she could give a pin to him or her. Thanks for sharing your story mritty. That gives me a whole new perspective on the YOAMD celebration.

[stitch918]

Last year when my family and I were getting off of Soarin', we were delightfully surprpised with Epcot dream fastpasses which were particularly useful that day. . . As for the new prizes this year, I'd love to win the Imagineer for a day prize because you not only get to go behind the scenes at Walt Disney Imagineering but they also take you through all the developmental plans for a new ride they're working on

[nicki12]

I don't care which one I win.

[Cinderella2]

I have to share this little bit...
Last year I took my sister (she's 33) for her first trip. She had broken her ankle so I had to push her in a wheelchair. I told her she had to experience Soarin'. So, I pushed her down there and we headed toward the fastpass machines. They were all passed out. The line was an hour and a half long and we had dinner reservations back in Italy. I told her, "I guess you aren't going to get to experience Soarin' after all." We must have looked really sad because a young girl walked up to my sister and asked her if there were only 2 of us. She said yes, and the little girl handed us 2 fastpasses that were good right at that moment. I almost burst into tears! I love the random kindness of strangers- that was probably one of the best "prizes" we have ever gotten.

[nicki12]

That is so kind!