The Year of a Million Dreams
Walt Disney World: Have you won anything?
Has anyone here had an experience with the Dream Squad? I was at WDW with my family January 3rd through January 10th, and my dad and I somehow got so lucky as to win "Dream Fastpasses" not once but TWICE while we were there. On January 5th, we were in the staging room for the Tower of Terror (you know, where they show the Twilight Zone video?) when two members of the Dream Squad came in after the movie and told us that everyone in the room won Dream Fastpasses.
Then, on the 7th, dad and I were exiting Space Mountain when a cast member was handing them out to everyone exiting with very little fanfare.
What have been your experiences?
From Tyler W.
Posted March 6, 2008 at 5:49 PM
At Mission: Space a crew member came over to us and picked us to go behind the scenes. We saw the control room and then got to cut the 1+ hour line. We said he picked us because we chose the more extreme side and we were a nice looking family. That was one of the highlights of our trip.
When we got off Space Mountain, we won special Mickey ears that had "Year of a Million Dreams" on them. Not nearly as great as Dream Fastpasses!
Just yesterday at the Magic Kingdom my family were handed dream fastpasses while exiting the Many adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride.
After waiting almost a whole year and 16 visits later since my annual pass started last March I finally got a dream fastpass. I was so happy that I actually started jumping up and down like a five year old and I hugged the lady that gave it to me. I couldnt stop smiling or kissing that pass all day, even after we moved on to the other parks. They really made my dream come true!
From Karin S
Posted March 7, 2008 at 5:15 AM
Last year, Epcot was our lucky park. The first time, I was a chaperone for my daughter's school's field trip and I approached a CM with a question. She turned out to be a member of the Dream Squad and we were "Fastpassed" to Soarin', Test Track & Nemo. She also gave us buttons and pins. On another visit, everyone waiting for Soarin' was given lanyards with pins. Since I am never at the right place at the right time, these were pretty cool experiences.
From hulk RC3
Posted March 8, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Do the dream fast passes get you on the rides all day or is it just 1 or 2 times ?
Hulk -- the Dream Fastpasses have individual removable tabs, one for each ride (in the park it was issued in) that uses the Fastpass system. You are supposed to tear off and surrender each tab (the way you would hand in a normal Fastpass when you are about to ride) but a couple of times, the cast member doing the Fastpass collection let us by without giving up our tabs, which allowed us to use them more than once.
So short answer -- technically, they're only good for one trip through the Fastpass line per ride, but in practice, some cast members allow you more, whether through generosity or ignorance of the rules.
From Ben James
Posted March 15, 2008 at 3:18 PM
I have been at Disneyland for 2 days and not received anything from this year of a million dreams campaign. I am a little miffed.
Well Ben, I was there a year ago for seven days and didn't win a thing either! Good luck, though. :)
From Ben James
Posted March 16, 2008 at 12:46 AM
I leave tomorrow... Sad to say empty handed for this program. I wonder if they only target families? As I was by myself today.
From Karin S
Posted March 16, 2008 at 8:40 AM
I was told by a CM that times are chosen randomly by a computer so it's really just a matter of being in the right place. Hope your last day's the lucky one.
I had a very nice family give me there fastpasses in Ak. they were leaving the park because there kids were getting fussy. We used them for everest and them passed them along to another family because we had to get to epcot for dinning reservations. they said they were entering the park and were picked randomly as they were walking along.
From Tracey K
Posted April 27, 2008 at 6:57 PM
We've taken three trips so far during YOAMD, ranging from 5 nights to 10 nights each. Last September DD and I were in the fastpass return queue for Test Track when we won the lanyards with pins. That's the only prize we've received. They're nice though, and DD was happy about it. We're happy to just be there, so winning something was bonus. I must admit though that I sure would have liked to win one of the big prizes. :-P
Last October, I was on the Behind the Scenes tour in Epcot, and our tour guide noticed the dream squad and everyone in our tour, including us, got dream fastpasses for the day in Epcot. It was worth it being able to use it for Soarin. :)
From James Rao
Posted April 28, 2008 at 11:07 AM
When we won our Dream Fastpasses we were just getting ready to watch the pre-movie for Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at DHS (just like what happened to Kelly!). A cast member just hopped into the room, preempted the movie and explained what we had won. I thought it was pretty cool. TZ TOT was our first ride that morning, so it was probably about 9:25 when we won...it was an excellent way to start the day!
From P V
Posted May 16, 2008 at 11:09 PM
We won dream fastpasses when coming out of splash mountain early in the morning. It was awesome to use those on every ride.
Going on Wednesday and will see what I will get (if any)
I didn't get anything the last time there, but there is always this time.....
If you have any fastpass tickets that you are not going to use, give them to some random person. It will make their day. We have done that a couple of times.
From Karin S
Posted May 17, 2008 at 8:51 AM
Anthony - isn't it fun to see the look on someone's face when you hand them a fastpass? We've done it a few times, and it feels great to see how excited they get.
From Erin : )
Posted May 17, 2008 at 7:20 PM
I was at Disneyland walking by Pirates of the Caribbean and the Lagoon and I a cast member was handing out lanyards with pins. It's not the greatest prize but I felt so special!
When I was at the press event for Toy Story Midway Mania, the Disney PR people were giving all the press folks a sorta-kinda "Millions Dreams" ticket that was good to get a group of four one ride on Midway Mania (which was otherwise closed to the public that day). We were supposed to hand them to any family of four or less that we wanted to that day.
When I was finished riding, I hung out by the attraction entrance and waited for the next guests to come up and be denied entry into the ride. Then I gave them the ticket.
So I supposed I have given, though not yet received....
That's nice of you, Robert. It feels good to give that sort of stuff away and make someone's day, eh?
Honestly, I haven't been anywhere near Disney outside of Universal since '04. So, unfortunately.. no stories here. Sorry. :) Just felt like complimenting Robert!
Does the year of a millions dreams run for all of 2008? They were talking about it in December 2007, when me and my gf went to WDW. Of course, we didn't win anything, nor when we spent 3 days in Disneyland/DCA at the end of May.
I assume that dream fastpasses can be used any time for a ride, rather than having certain hours?
From DYLAN 5
Posted June 15, 2008 at 3:49 PM
You can use the fast passes whenever you want!! got mine in line for buzz lightyear at magic kingdom, and they didnt just give them to us because they were handing out boxes of them!!
Yes, the Year of A Million Dreams continues through December 31, 2008. Last year, when I went in October, we got dream fastpasses from them for EPCOT. The biggest benefit was being able to use it for Soarin'. Even better, the cast members for each of the rides let us keep it to use over and over that day (even though they are supposed to collect the ticket for that particular ride). The only one that actually collected it was the CM at Soarin'. Darn. LOL.
I was part of the Family of the Hour at Disney Hollywood Studios. It allowed us to skip the line at Tower of Terror. We also got buttons. It was great!
From Fab Sq
Posted June 27, 2008 at 6:25 AM
We won "Dream family" for Lights, Motor, Action stunt show at Hollywood Studios, got to skip the long line and got special seating up front. We also won lanyards with pins in Toontown few days later.
They were handing out boxes of them, and of course somehow we come up empty. Figures.
Im convinced they only give it to familys i have been there 3 times since they started doing it and i've never received a thing sure i've been walked past and ignored in favour of the family directly behind me and my party of adults
From Lee Mak
Posted June 30, 2008 at 11:04 AM
I watched every family with 2 kids or better all around me at one point in front of the rock-n-roller coaster get the passes handed to them. It was 20 passes if it was one they handed out.
My wife and I and one other young family that had only one kid were the ones who didn't get them. We looked at each other in disbelief as if we were invisible; I said to the father of the small family..."looks like you should of had twins" and the father said to me "looks like you shouldn't pratice safe sex". It was a riot...we both got a good laugh out of it but it still didn't make up for the fact that the cast members were clearly singling out larger groups for the passes. I guess it gives them a better chance of being visible with the passes on so that other park guests can think they are handing them out all over the place and your set is just "a cast member away"...
From Ben James
Posted June 30, 2008 at 12:58 PM
I absolutely agree with you on this. The promotion is a complete and utter rip-off. I feel that they have specific criteria about who can receive anything from this promotion.
From Tim W
Posted July 23, 2008 at 11:26 AM
two months ago on star tours we all won landyards and 2 special pins. I was just shocked to win anything!
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