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First winners of the 'Suite Dreams' announced
- Thread starter napnet
- Start date
Just a thought...could it be that the majority of visible prizes seem to be awarded to average families because of just that...they're average? Meaning, the majority of people in the country, and visiting Disney Parks, are your average family? Therefore, the odds are in favor of average people winning!
MickeyTigg
New Member
That day you have to use the prize....see Steve's post.
Cindy Suite Details
Yeah...I know they "say" it's totally random....I just find it incredibly odd that the "first" family fits all the marketing models.
hmmmmmm
Disneyfalcon
Well-Known Member
That is absolutely what it is!! I'm so happy for them!
By the way, if a mail in entry wins the suite, they get a gift basket equal in value to the prize. Around $600! I'm waiting for mine in the mail now that they've started awarding the prize!
MickeyTigg
New Member
By the way, if a mail in entry wins the suite, they get a gift basket equal in value to the prize. Around $600! I'm waiting for mine in the mail now that they've started awarding the prize!
If we get chosen while in the parks...can I just ask for the gift basket? Getting paraded around isn't worth it to me...no matter how nice the suite is.
Creekboy25
New Member
I think I have to agree, it would be cool to stay there, but if you are only in the parks for a short 2-4 day trip, you would probably miss out on a lot of the attractions and shows you wanted to see, especially if you get picked while in one of the parks outside the magic kingdom.
~Dawson
Enderikari
Well-Known Member
Sorry... Reality doesn't care whether or not you believe it. It was a pick chosen at random, because the class-action lawsuit wouldn't be worth it to Disney to violate the sweepstakes rules... Much less the federal fines.
daverube
Active Member
Sorry Enderikari, but your naivete is showing.....most things in this world are not random....and I, as I believe most of the folks who believe in the legacy of Walt....will not believe that a nuclear family with a daughter that is having a birthday are the RANDOM winners of the first night's stay in the most anticipated WDW hotel room, maybe, of all time.....it doesn't happened...this was planned...and it is sad....sad because some kid or adult who doesn't have a "picture perfect life" could have had an experience that changes who they are (positive or not) for the rest of their and YOUR life....
my 2 cents...
dave
Giraffe Lounge
Member
Yes, yes, consipiracy, conspiracy, blah, blah, blah...
anyone who thinks differently must be naive...
the next time NASA launches the shuttle watch for an earthquake lol :brick:
daverube
Active Member
hmmmm.......ACLU????......of course, when someone who has an opinion that differs than yours, they must be whacko.....of course....then again, I'm sure you are educated, have the 2.5 and dog.....of course.....I figure you have your brood....I wanna be like yoo-hoo-hoo.....
To tell you the truth, I wanna walk like you, talk like you, yoo hoo hoo...
my 2 cents....
dave
daverube
Active Member
And why is that......because you can use emotes????
Thanks for the "intimate" opinion.....I guess I'm too dumb to understand your meaning........I'd like you to spell it out.......if you can....
Just like before.....I wanna be like you hoo hoo....
sorry for the 2x posts, folks.....
my 2 cents....
dave
MickeyTigg
New Member
My point exactly....just let me stay there. I don't need or want all the pomp and circumstance.
First of all....is it necessary to be so snotty with your replies? Yeah...you once worked for WDW but you no longer do....you must have forgotten good guest relations.
Second...I don't really care whether you or reality cares whether I believe it or not.
Third...how can anyone with a healthy amount of skepticism not wonder how "random" the selection was for this. The family selected had the perfect demographics.
I'm not saying everyone selected for the Castle Stay will fit "the mold", but I have no doubt that any one selected for any prize that will highly promoted will fit "the mold".
See...Disney's flaw in this system is the "possible winners" are brought back stage. I have no doubt that if it's a prize that's going to be used for promotion purposes, "Ugly Betty" is getting screened out to another prize.
Then again...I don't think any sweepstakes that's conducted is entirely random, so why should Disney be different. These contest are used for marketing so I'm not shocked, mad or surprised that they're going after the "right people" for certain prizes...I'm just being honest with myself.
the-reason14
Well-Known Member
Wow, well congrats to the fam who won. Whether it was rigged or not, I say congrats and hope to stay there sometime this year aswell, and also have my camera.
STGRhost
Member
However, like others have already mentioned, this family probably looks like the "average, American family" because that's what the average is (at least, that's probably the "typical" family that visits WDW)!
How many thousands of people visit WDW evey day? (I should know, but I'm terrible with numbers..)
How many of those are visiting with their families?
How many of those families come close to the "average"?
How many people visiting WDW have a favorite character (and what are the odds that it's Cinderella)?
How many are celebrating a birthday? Or an anniversary? or a wedding?
Do we still think, with all the possibilities, that there are no coincidences here?
Now, what sort of trouble would Disney be in if this supposedly random drawing for prizes was found to be fixed?
How many people would have to keep it a secret, and for how long?
How high up (or low down) in the chain of command would this conspiracy have to go?
Is it worth it to Disney, either monitarily or for their reputation, to have a scam like that found out?
I look at it from both sides - being a former cast member, I know how fast stories spred though the cast grapevine, whether they're true or not. I keep in touch with a few people (some of whome work closely with VIP tours and special events) and I haven't heard any stories about any shady dealing going on with the Dream teams giving away the prizes, nor in their training for the job - pretty much what we've seen posted here is what they do - the rules they go by.
I also spent time recently as a guest. We saw the Dream Teams a number of times in the parks, but they usually knew someone in our group (some were cast memebers) and that made our group inelidgeable, no matter how "cute" we were. My husband and I were on part of our Honeymoon (and wore the pine to proove it), two other couples were there celebrating anniversaries, and my cousins little girl was with us because it was her birthday. So, in our group, sans the CMs, we would have had enough "Average" people with good stories or milstones that they could have put together a good "Royal Family Story" from us. Isn't it possible that this is how Disney is able to chose these "perfect" prizewinning families?
Do I think Disney lucked out with their First Family, in having a typical (and retatable) group chosen for this prize? Sure. I think it's sweet that the little girl liked the Cinderella commercial so much she thought of it when they won. I'm happy for her, being that it was her birthday - Good thing her brother won the prize!
The dude has a rep for knowing what he's talking about on these forums is all I'm saying. :wave:
Disneyfalcon
Well-Known Member
I know most of the "big" prize winners are taken backstage to be informed of their prize and verify that they are elligible. Even the dream squad doesn't know what big prize they are awarding.
When I read Steve's summary I thought this prize sounded different. They identify the winner and inform them. Then they are taken backstage to verify.
I could be totally wrong, that's just the way I read it.
But either way Disney has to go through some verification process backstage. For instance if a Canandian wins, they have to answer a math question correctly before they are elligible. So there's really no way around that one.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Disney wouldn't mess with the contest just to make it look nice for the cameras (which, according to the stores I've heard, they tried way back when for the one-millionth Guest or something like that, and they got called on it and really had some amends to work out)
What people aren't realizing is that Disney didn't *have* to make a big spectacle out of the first winner. Not to sugar-coat it, but if the Disney PR people didn't feel that the person who won the prize was "camera ready", they wouldn't have paraded them in front of the media. They could just award the prize following the official rules. The winner would be none the wiser because they got this great night in the castle, and the press wouldn't know about it because the Disney media would have shifted the story slightly to zoom past the point of *who* won the first night. I'd bet that all press interviews happened hours later, which gave the Disney PR people time to gauge whether to "display" the true first winners. This time they just lucked out that it was a picture-perfect family. (Though I agree with other posters who said that they could probably spin a great story out of just about ANY winner)
So, while Disney doesn't have any control over the contest (in fact, I'm sure the specific details are operated by an impartial outside firm like most contests are), they *can* control whether the winners are widely shown in the media.
-Rob