After all this time, I still have not changed my mind on the Year of a Million Dreams
After my last trip, I have been in Walt Disney World for well over 30 days during the famous Year of a Million Dreams sweepsta…err…celebration. And I am here to tell you that after all that time spent in the midst of this great “one of a kind” promotion I feel exactly the same way about it I did when I first heard of the plans. I think it stinks, plain and simple.
I must first admit that I have never won anything in all that time. Not a thing. No silly mouse ears, no dream fast passes, just big fat nothing. I guess you can say that my dreams have not come true. But what is worse, because I really never expected to win anything, is that I have never even seen someone else win either? What I have observed is scores of people all looking longingly at the now obvious “dream squads” as they walk by wondering what they need to do to have their dreams come true. I can see the hopeful guests loitering in the area of the dream squad hoping that if they stay close perhaps they will be there when “the dream comes true”. But, I have never seen success.
As I have said many times before, this is not a promotion or a celebration. This is a sweepstakes, nothing more and nothing less. And like nearly all sweepstakes, the goal is to get you to participate not to make sure you win. Disney has done a brilliant job promoting these sweepstakes. But they know darn well that the vast majority of those who participate by paying for a ticket to the park will go home empty handed. No dreams will come true for them. For a company who takes the word “dreams” so seriously, they have really cheapened it tremendously.
I can only hope that this nonsense will soon come to an end. The promotional decorations are getting old and you can barely even find the dream squads anymore, though I guess that is an improvement from being teased by them passing you by and you getting nothing. It is time for a celebration or a promotion that everyone who pays their hard earned money to afford the ridiculously high ticket prices can participate in and benefit from.
Bobhere said,
June 5, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
Sour Grapes! Bad Attitude and Just Plan Wrong! I have been down to Disney World about half the amount of times and my wife and I have won a Million Dreams Fast Pass in Epcot while walking into Figment Ride (Imagination Institute). You can also see lots and lots of people in many of the parks who have also won a similar prize. Maybe because your attitude sucks that your Law of Attraction Energy is causing your issue. Feel the force young Skywalker!!
tom said,
June 5, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
YOMD is a joke! Since its start, we have been to WDW about 42 days. Most of the time we don’t even see the “Dream Teams”. Those 42 days don’t even take into account mutiple parks in a day (more chances), family splitting into groups (more chances) and going with friends (3 times and more chances) and no one has won anything! zippo…nada….zilch
Bobhere said,
June 5, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
I would call you UNLUCKY…Sour Grapes Once Again Tom…need I say more…the luck is just not with you no matter how many numbers you have.
Jennifer said,
June 5, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
I still love YOMD, but then again I’ve been lucky enough to receive “dreams” on several occasions.
I will confess I got cranky, though, when I was sending in postcards for the mail-in contest. I wonder how they calculate the odds when they say that being in the parks doesn’t improve your chances of winning (as opposed to mailing in cards). I mailed cards nearly every day for 5 months, and never won anything by mail. By contrast, when I’ve been in the parks I’d say I won at least a small “dream” one day out of five, on average.
mike said,
June 5, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
I would like an actuall celebration for a change. Why gloss over Epcot’s 25th for this?
Jon said,
June 5, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
I can’t believe you’re this bitter about it. It is a sweepstakes, raffle, and a lotto. There is no skill to win. Numbers are not on your side.
Do you even understand marketing? The whole point of this was to entice people to spend more of their money in the parks with the random chance that they’d win. Its a PR move by Disney and nothing more. Your complaint is akin to someone losing a scratch off lotto ticket and losing. Nothing was promised to you or anyone else that spends money in the parks.
mike said,
June 5, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
I’m not sure how it worked. Did people really go to Disney on the off-chance they would win some stickers?
tom said,
June 6, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I never said I was bitter. I never said I expected to win anything. I said it was a joke. I enjoy my visits to WDW and not winning does not spoil that experience. How either of you can draw a conclusion that I am bitter is also a joke. Reconizing Epcot’s 25th would have been a better idea for a promotion.
Its a poorly thought out promotion, poorly implemented and doesn’t do much for the Parks, unless you count all those YOMD banners and decorations all over WDW.
WDWNT said,
June 6, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
I hate to say this, but It seems that most of the people who have spoken bad about the Year of a Million Dreams are a little bitter about not winning anything….personally, if I had not won anything I still would have loved this celebration for a few reasons. I love the Dream Along with Mickey show, the Disney Dreams Come True Parade was a great layover until Parade of Dreams comes, Woody’s Cowboy Camp and The Pirate Tutorial are cool for kids, and most of all, I really enjoyed the Pirate and Princess Parties. I think I always fondly remember this celebration, maybe not as much as the millenium, walts 100, or the 25th, but still fondly.
nhdisnut said,
June 10, 2008 @ 1:09 am
I’m not bitter about not winning anything (over 5 mostly week-long visits). Rather, I kind of resent the marketing behind the campaign. YOMD is marketed as though prizes, winners, and “dreams” happen all the time and are everywhere. In realty, they are not. Other promotions such as the Millennium, “100 Years of Magic,” and the recent 50 year worldwide celebration of Disneyland, were just that, celebrations. ALL guests could feel a part of the magic (and did, for the most part). YOMD preps you for the same experience (in the marketing), but fails to deliver at WDW.