Going solo and YOMD

[mousermerf]

Except for the fact that CMs are required to do a special number of them each day in order to satisfy requirements put in place to go along with the other YOMD activities. For that reason I would consider all the stuff they do a part of the promotion even though they did technically exist beforehand.

Yeah, having a CM being forced to get me to play a game "moment" is really magical. Picking up trash because custodial has to interact to give it out is "magical."

BTW, they used to fork over free Figment plush with the original Magic Moments. They were based on what guests actually wanted, not predetermined, printed out, and given out in quotas.

 

[Monty]

And i'm going to take a moment to rant about Magic Moments!

Do you know what they used to be before the YOMDs?

Same certificates on satin finish card stock, but the CMs gave out much better "moments."

What's a current one? Going to Mouse Gear, playing a match0game which Disney Uno card stuck to a white board, and having a pre-printed "Moment" and "Location" handed to you by a CM who scribble your name on the card. In the past they at least had to fill in the "moment" and "location." Whoo! Aint mass produced magic fun?

In the past.. aside from actually filling out the card... the Moments were things like backstage tours, and FP's for all the attractions in the park (yeah - well before dream FP lanyards), amoung many other actually cool and special experiences.

For YOMD's they hired a crew, a crappy one at that, to dictate the "moments" which would have to be given out by areas. They spent countless hours coming up with random things for guests to feel magical about. Real fun things like picking up trash with the custodial team, playing stupid Mouse Gear match game, and other stupid crap.

Crap. Crap-crap-crap. Mass produced unmagical crap.

Gee Merf!

Why hold back? Go ahead, tell us how you really feel!



:ROFLOL:

 

[mousermerf]

Gee Merf!

Why hold back? Go ahead, tell us how you really feel!



:ROFLOL:

It's crap

 

[coasterphil]

Yeah, having a CM being forced to get me to play a game "moment" is really magical. Picking up trash because custodial has to interact to give it out is "magical."

BTW, they used to fork over free Figment plush with the original Magic Moments. They were based on what guests actually wanted, not predetermined, printed out, and given out in quotas.

There are still places that give out something much more interesting than a lame game, like the ones I gave examples of in my post. In fact if I had to guess its likely that every attraction picks a group to skip the line every hour. I'd consider that pretty nice.

I know most of the people I've interacted with for the Magical Moments I've given out have been very pleased with it. Of course I also think ours is probably one of the best ones there are.

 

[Monty]

It's crap

:ROFLOL:

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[mousermerf]

*sigh* Tell that to the people who used to get any one item they wanted in the entire Emporium (yes, anything) or who got a personal tour of the inner working of HM or any one of the infinitely better old Magic Moments.

 

[Rob562]

Yes, it may be computer generated, but that doesn't mean the instruction to the CM couldn't be:

"Find the first family outside of the bathrooms near City hall that are wearing Disney themed clothing."

or

"Find the first family leaving Haunted Mansion at 15:31:28 and award them the castle stay."

The instructions themselves "could" specify a family. We just don't, and will never know the answer.

Ryan

Well, I like to look at the family that was the first to stay in the Castle Suite. The prize instructions gave a specific seat number in a specific row on a specific Starspeeder at Star Tours. Whoever was sitting in that particular seat at the prescribed time was the winner. It just happened to be a young girl traveling with her family.
(In actuality, though theyw ere the first to *stay* in the Suite, she was the *second* winner of the Castle Suite. The first day they went to award it, the computer randomly selected to give it to a mail-in entry. That person then got the gift-basket "equivalent prize" for winning...)

As for the people who say that they only seem to award prizes to families, I'll re-state what I said last year. It's all a matter of statistics.
*Statistically* speaking, every single person has the exact same chance of winning, of being in that precise location where they give away the Suite stay, or a Cruise, or the DVC membership, etc
But the *majority* of the daily Guests at WDW are part of a family visiting the parks. So let's say that 75% of Guests are part of a family visit. Over time, that means that 75% of all winners will be a family.
Also, by coming as a group, they automatically increase their chances of *someone* in their group winning. And because the bigger prizes are essentially "one person int he group wins, they all win", it's as if the entire family had been selected.
Let's say that there are 25,000 people in the Magic Kingdom. You visit by yourself, so your chances of being picked for any single prize in that park are 1:25,000.
Then look at a family of five. While each individual's chances of winning are exactly the same as yours (1:25,000), when taken as a group, the chances of *someone* in their family winning are 5:25,000, or 1:5000.
That's why it seems like families win more often than solo Guests. They simply have better odds.

Plus, Disney isn't required to publicize *all* winners in photo spreads, news articles, etc. Not to sound too harsh, but if they decide that for one reason or another a particular winner isn't as photogenic or what Disney generally portrays in their advertisements, the only obligation they have to the winner is to provide the specified prize.

-Rob

 

[CleveRocks]

Let's say that there are 25,000 people in the Magic Kingdom. You visit by yourself, so your chances of being picked for any single prize in that park are 1:25,000.
Then look at a family of five. While each individual's chances of winning are exactly the same as yours (1:25,000), when taken as a group, the chances of *someone* in their family winning are 5:25,000, or 1:5000.
That's why it seems like families win more often than solo Guests. They simply have better odds.

THANK YOU for saving the me the trouble of typing all this ... if you hadn't done it, I'd be doing it right now.

I don't think I can post the link, but I invite all skeptics to read the official YOMD sweepstakes rules on the WDW website. Geeks like me (Master's degree in Statistics) enjoy reading the fine print. In our increasingly ADD society, few people bother with the details and just make emotional judgments based on the headlines.

It's never "the third family on the right." It's "the third PERSON who uses the water fountain at or after 2:01 p.m."

Or it's the entire second tram car on the Great Movie Ride ride vehicle that returns to the exit on or after 10:17 a.m. Now, if everyone else on that tram car got a prize and a "single" person was excluded, THEN come talk to me about it ....

And by the way, I haven't read the rules in a while, but I'm pretty sure I recall that it's people in the USA parks, DTD, and mail-ins. I don't believe that YOMD Dream Squads patrol the resorts.

There is only one exception to the randomness, and that is the TIMING of the Castle Suite stay. They say in the rules that that prize is awarded in the early part of the day in order for the prize to be enjoyable and practical -- how bad would it be to be awarded that prize at 10:30 p.m. while you're dragging along 2 sleepy and crabby pre-schoolers??? They give plenty of time to get someone back to their WDW resort (or off-site hotel, or mother-in-law's time share, or private home) to gather their belongings so they can stay the night, and so on.

PLEASE read the rules on the website. It's a sweepstakes regulated by law, and I don't think Disney would risk prosecution.

 

[Rob562]

The link has been posted a few times, in reference to discussions like this one, as well as info on how to submit mail-in entries.

Here it is again.
The current YOAMD rules:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/index?name=YOMDGiveAwayRules07Page

The rules that go into effect on January 1, 2008 for the new version of the promotion:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/index?name=YOMDGiveAwayRules08Page


As mentioned, Disney would be in BIG legal trouble if they didn't follow these rules exactly, both from the individuals "hurt" by not following them, and most likely also from the state of Florida and/or the federal government.

The "Magical Moments" aren't part of the official contest, and so any guidelines for distributing those are strictly up to the Cast Members and management.

I don't have any references to cite, but Disney got in some hot water back in the late-70's/early-80's when it came time to greet the "xx-millionth Guest" into the Magic Kingdom. Someone from the PR Department went out into the entering crowd, found your everyday-American photogenic family and brought them to the front of the line and conveniently inserted them into the line such that they won. I believe the woman who was cut in front of (and would have been the proper Guest had they not cut in the line) successfully argued in court that as the family was given lifetime passes and other gifts, it constituted a prize giveaway and that even though it wasn't an announced contest/promotion, it should be governed by state laws for contests for impartiality and non-interference to rig the outcome.

I'll have to see what I can dig up about that one...

-Rob

 

[Enderikari]

Rob, don't fight too hard on this, Mousermerf isn't the kind of person to let facts stand in the way of blind, non-sensical hatred. He's got that in spades.

Suffice it to say, you know, and I know that the locations chosen are specific to allow the choosing of a single person (no families, no groups, non-specific to the clothes the guests are wearing). But no matter how much truth gets presented, there is always somebody who doesn't care, and lives in their own little world

 

[rdour@techminds]

You're all probably right. My chances of winning are going to be slimmer than a family of four. I would love to get asked if I wanted to tour Haunted Mansion or any of those OmniMover attractions. However, I'd want to have the opportunity to touch some of the things in there, because normally I don't see them.

Honestly, I'd pay for that experience. I'm very curious about the Figments in JII, and COP. I love the music and dialog, and even the smells. But I would love the chance to see some of the animatronics up close.

When I took the Backstage Magic tour, our tour guide and some other CMs were very nice, and let me check out some of the characters from American Adventure. Since one of the stages was within feet of my group, they were cool with me walking around escorted on the stage, I'd hate to step on something and break the show. Heck, I would wear grungy clothes just in case I ended up with a bit of hydro fluid on me or something. I'm sure these things are mostly rubber skin and such, but it would give me a better idea of the level of detail everyone else seems to really enjoy.

Ryan

 

[Phonedave]

It's never "the third family on the right." It's "the third PERSON who uses the water fountain at or after 2:01 p.m."

Oh lord, do you know the kind of trouble they would be in if they said "FAMILY".

The government cannot consistently define family

Insurance companies cannot consistently define family

What makes people think Disney can

Are a husband and wife with no kids a family?
What about a kid with their aunt and uncle?
What about 2 gay people?
What about me - Divorced and at WDW with my two girls 2 or 3 times a year?


Way way waaaay too many legal problems and PR pitfalls to go awarding things to "families" - much better to be to "people" and whoever they want to drag along with them.


-dave

 

[Master Yoda]

Its seems as if they target familys.... at least thats been my experience in the past year (from what I have seen) IMO. I have not won jack. Yet... when my sister and her husband went a couple of weeks ago with their friends and their kids.... they won 3 things in a weeks time.

Now I know folks are gonna come in and jump on me and say it completely random, computer generated... yadda yadda yadda... yes I know. I'm just saying what I have witnessed in the past year. :shrug:

Let me know if ya win anything. Good luck. :wave:

I'll jump.... I have been to WDW with my family for at least 20 days since YOAMD started and we have not won jack either. So either it is truly random or you need to stop stalking me and my family and spreading your bad luck to us.:lol:

 

[Master Yoda]

The one thing i regret not doing is going into the trashcan in tomorrowland after a Dream Squad CM opened his envelope.

He read it, tossed it, and waited for another squad person to show. I watched him, he did nothing for a little bit, but was looking around - like looking for someone. Then, from up on the TTA I saw him escorting a family (parents, tween boy, young girl) toward Main Street (and rpesumably wherever the super secret prize place is) along with more squad members.

I really really wish i had the nerve to stick my hand into the trash can outside of Monster Inc Laugh Floor and see exactly what that note said.

To note - of all the prizes i;ve seen award and folks photographed for publicity stuff, I have NEVER seen a non-family win prizes bgigger then hats and lanyards.

I ran into a very non family (just a bunch of friends) that won the stay in the castle suite so just because you have not seen it it does not mean that it does not happen.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

And i'm going to take a moment to rant about Magic Moments!

Do you know what they used to be before the YOMDs?

Same certificates on satin finish card stock, but the CMs gave out much better "moments."

What's a current one? Going to Mouse Gear, playing a match0game which Disney Uno card stuck to a white board, and having a pre-printed "Moment" and "Location" handed to you by a CM who scribble your name on the card. In the past they at least had to fill in the "moment" and "location." Whoo! Aint mass produced magic fun?

In the past.. aside from actually filling out the card... the Moments were things like backstage tours, and FP's for all the attractions in the park (yeah - well before dream FP lanyards), amoung many other actually cool and special experiences.

For YOMD's they hired a crew, a crappy one at that, to dictate the "moments" which would have to be given out by areas. They spent countless hours coming up with random things for guests to feel magical about. Real fun things like picking up trash with the custodial team, playing stupid Mouse Gear match game, and other stupid crap.

Crap. Crap-crap-crap. Mass produced unmagical crap.

Not the one I got on my B-day.In AA I had a big announcement and a certifcate all signed and everything.

*sigh* Tell that to the people who used to get any one item they wanted in the entire Emporium (yes, anything) or who got a personal tour of the inner working of HM or any one of the infinitely better old Magic Moments.

WOW...I wish they still did that. A free figment would have been nice LOL.