The yearly themed celebrations at Walt Disney World always offer something different for your trip and a perfect title for your scrapbook. From the 100 Years of Magic to the Happiest Celebration on Earth, Disney World is filled with banners ready to help you name your trip. The best in the last decade was the Year of a Million Dreams.
Its premise was simple, park guests would randomly be selected to receive free gifts, from complementary ice cream and popcorn, to Fastpasses for a day, gift cards, and a night in the newly built Cinderella suite in the castle. Imagine a sleepover in the Magic Kingdom in the most iconic symbol of the happiest place on Earth; truly this would be a dream reward that Disney could only offer.
These were some of the things going through my mind as my wife Laura and I made our first trip by ourselves to Disney World in March of 2007. Dream rewards could happen at any time, and anywhere. Who could not be excited about free stuff, especially Disney stuff?
During our first few days of wandering the parks I saw kids being rewarded with free pins, and Cast Members walking up to families stopping them as they stared up Main Street in the Magic Kingdom to give them a surprise. During the afternoon parade one car carried the lucky group that won the overnight stay in the Cinderella suite, and I was so envious.
We carried on, and by the third day in EPCOT while buying a Mickey ice cream bar the Cast Member told us we had received a dream reward, and our ice cream was free. Free ice cream, that was awesome.
A couple of days later while closing down Hollywood Studios when I jokingly refused to buy Laura her own popcorn, the Cast Member told us that she had nothing to worry about because she just received a dream reward. Free popcorn. Granted these rewards were not a special night in Cinderella Castle, but we were quite happy.
Our last reward was the best. After sleeping through our alarm, just barely making it to Magic Kingdom for early morning magic hours, and frantically racing for Frontierland against a sea of other riders, we made it to Big Thunder Mountain and walked on with no wait. Standing at the exit of the ride were two Cast Members rewarding riders like Olympic athletes with free Fastpass lanyards. Every major ride from Splash Mountain to Peter Pan was within our grasp, now we could enjoy our day.
We cruised through the Magic Kingdom with all the time in the world. Lines were not an issue because time seemed to stand still for us. When we returned to our hotel, the day was over and we were still wearing our Year of a Million Dreams Fastpass lanyard. These good for one-day rewards were retired to our suitcase to be scrap booked later.
Laura and I didn’t win the night in Cinderella Castle, but our Fastpasses were good enough. I still get excited and remember how great we felt every time I see the Fastpasses in our 2007 trip scrapbook. Beside the commemorative Fastpass is a picture of two happy dreamers.