DVC giveaway at Disneyland Resort

[dvc_john]

While waiting for the 6:30pm parade on July 18th at Disneyland (California), I heard the following announcement:

'The Grand Marshall for today was randomly selected from the park guests, and is the xxx family from yyy. They have been given a membership in the Disney Vacation Club for a lifetime of vacations!'

I couldn't believe it, so I asked around a little. It truly was a membership giveaway (I would assume 160 points), and the concensus (while not verified) was that it was a 'Year of a Million Dreams' winner, and that this was a one-time event.

 

[pyrxtc]

well, congratualtions to them!! Wish it was me but oh well! I hope it was a nice family who looked like they were having a lot of fun!

 

[castleri]

While waiting for the 6:30pm parade on July 18th at Disneyland (California), I heard the following announcement:

'The Grand Marshall for today was randomly selected from the park guests, and is the xxx family from yyy. They have been given a membership in the Disney Vacation Club for a lifetime of vacations!'

I couldn't believe it, so I asked around a little. It truly was a membership giveaway (I would assume 160 points), and the concensus (while not verified) was that it was a 'Year of a Million Dreams' winner, and that this was a one-time event.

It is the grand prize for the YOAMD and not only do they get the membership they get the income taxes on the prize and all their maintenance fees for the length of the membership paid for.
What a fantastic thing for them. Hope they think so too.

 

[bwvBound]

... they get all their maintenance fees for the length of the membership paid for.

Wow -- sounds great! Except that Add-On-Itis is sure to hit ... and they may feel even more compelled than the rest of us to give in. No free ride on those future points ...

 

[jaurban]

and I beleive it is 220 points at SSR

 

[castleri]

Just found this so it looks like there may be 2 more to be given away - we can all hope that we will be in the right place at the right time. Of course maybe they have all been given away and it just hasn't been reported.


Three (3) Membership in the Disney Vacation Club prizes are available: Membership in the Disney Vacation Club includes a Vacation Ownership leasehold condominium interest in Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa or another Disney Vacation Club resort as Sponsor shall select, represented by 220 vacation points, together with associated benefits, rights, rules, regulations, privileges and responsibilities, and payment of annual dues and exchange fees... Approximate retail value ("ARV") of each Grand Prize: US $83,701, which includes (i) the conveyance of a real estate interest in Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa or other Disney Vacation Club Resort chosen by Sponsor represented by 220 vacation points at the current membership price of US$22,220; and (ii) the payment of all annual dues (excluding any special assessments) during the time that the winner owns the real estate interest, which has an estimated value of US$35,559 (based upon the 2006 annual dues of US$3.98 per Vacation Point, escalated at 5% per year and discounted at 5.6%, the current Applicable Federal Rate, over 48 years); and (iii) any exchange fees incurred by the winner during the time that the winner owns the real estate interest, in exchanging, from time to time, the winner's vacation points for other vacation destinations, which has an estimated value of US$812 (assuming the winner exchanges vacation points every three years and a current exchange fee of US$95 escalated at 2.43% per year and discounted at 5.6%, the current Applicable Federal Rate, over 48 years); and (iv) a cash prize equal to US$25,110 to help defray payment of taxes payable as a result of winning the prize. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty that the cash portion of this prize will be sufficient to pay winner's tax liability.

 

[ADP]

This is the first one I've heard of being given away. I wonder how they won it? What attraction were they on, etc?

 

[javamom]

Wow that would ROCK!! Wish that could happen to me ;-)

 

[dvc_john]

This is the first one I've heard of being given away. I wonder how they won it? What attraction were they on, etc?

They didn't really say how they were 'randomly' selected. Actually, other than the announcement before the parade, they didn't seem to make that big of a fuss about it. I would guess though that they probably had a big photo session sometime also.

They actually had two grand marshalls that day. They other won a stay at the Mickey Mouse penthouse suite at the Disneyland hotel. Talk about a prize like that being a let down compared to the other prize.

Thanks castleri for the details. That was a bigger prize than I thought!

 

[Davids-Coco]

YOMD seems to be a luck thing. I guess the CM's are told to give away X number of a price at this location and time. So it is all about being in the right place at the right time and getting lucky.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

YOMD seems to be a luck thing. I guess the CM's are told to give away X number of a price at this location and time. So it is all about being in the right place at the right time and getting lucky.

We actually spoke in depth with a "Dream-Maker" while at DL this February. She was acting as an ambassador that day and answered all the questions we had. I think we spoke with her for nearly an hour.

The actual process is very detailed as to who and where a prize will be given away. There are some smaller "dreams" that are at the Dream-Makers discretion, i.e. special seating for parades and fireworks, etc., but the "hard" prizes are all pre-determined.

Each day a "box" or "trunk" of prizes is delivered to the YOMD office. There are approximately 3 "Dream-Makers" who will wear the white vest each day and hand out dreams. The rest of the "Dream-Makers" on shift will walk around as ambassadors.

There is a list of the times that the items will be distributed. At the specific time you find the very thick black plastic bag that has that specific time on it. When you open the first layer, there will be a paper telling you where to go and what time you will distribute, or what "vehicle" you will distribute to. For example it may tell them to go to "Track 2 at BTMR at 3:12 p.m." They are to distribute to the next train that comes in on that track. They are not to open the inside bag until they get to their destination. They know quite often what it is based on the size of the bag, i.e., fast passes, lanyards, visors, etc., but for the "paper" prizes, i.e., shopping sprees, rooms at the castle, the Dream-Makers don't know what it is until they open it.

She did say that they had tried to distribute a grand prize (don't remember if it was DVC or Grand Marshal at all 5 MKs) once before at DTD. They had a 10 minute time period and were to approach the first person who sat on a specific bench. Nobody sat down during that time, so the prize was sent back to the group running the give-away to be put back into the shuffle.