I’ll look that gift horse in the mouth!

The “Year of a Million Dreams” is now over. Disney did a myriad of things to try and surprise people, from giving them a free fast pass to spending a night in Cinderella’s Castle.

On our last visit to Disney World my wife and I grabbed pins from guest relations showing everyone that it was our anniversary (we weren’t faking it really was our anniversary). We subjected ourselves to this embarrassment because we hoped it would increase our odds of attracting the attention of the dream squad. I didn’t work. It didn’t really do anything except make about thirty thousand cast members say “Happy Anniversary!” Some did that happily. Some seemed like they were dying inside and were doing it in case we were the happy police ready to slam the hammer down on any cast member who made eye contact and doesn’t say those magical words. Sometimes it was just uncalled for. We were exiting Epcot after Illuminations. Someone had falled down in the mad rush to exit the parks and was hurt to the point of being put on a back board. One of the cast members helping put the lady on the back board wished us a happy anniversary. I wish I was kidding.

We did have one experience with the dream squad. We boarded Star Tours, took our seats, and then some over caffeinated cast member stared squawking about getting ready for our flight. I thought it was part of the “show” but then he said he was from the dream squad. At first I was excited. I though maybe we’ll get a fast pass, a fast pass pack, or even a pin (I like free stuff)! I tried to keep the frown off of my face when he told us we were getting a VIP pass to watch the parade. OH JOY REN! I don’t like parades. Some people will send hate mail for saying this but I think most parades are stupid. I don’t know why I dislike parades but I do. My wife outright hates them. She says they bore her to death.

So that was my experience with the dream squad. Out of everything Disney gave away during the promotion I can’t think of one thing I could place lower on my list. I couldn’t help but think why not offer a choice. Some people would kill for the VIP pass, some people would die for the pin, and some would love some other cheap thing.

Just for the record, we didn’t see the parade but we do have two passes that might fetch something on Ebay in ten years.