Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Disney decided to have the person picked at Disneyland due to the 50th celebration. Who knows when the actual 2,000,000,000 person entered, that would be very hard to determine.>> I assumed as much, and I am sure they chose a child and family that looked good too.
Originally Posted By jomach08 The press release says that the WHOLE family got lifetime passes, that is crazy.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer DISNEY THEME PARKS WELCOME 2-BILLIONTH GUEST 12-Year Old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Receives Lifetime Pass to Disney Parks Worldwide Anaheim, Calif. (May 2, 2006) - - At 9:02am today Disneyland lived up to its reputation as “The Happiest Place on Earth†as it welcomed 12-year old Emmalee Mason of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as she became the honorary two-billionth guest to visit a Disney Park (nearly the combined populations of China and India). Amidst a blast of colorful streamers, musical fanfare and a parade of congratulatory Disney characters, Emmalee was whisked away to Disneyland’s iconic Floral Mickey for a special ceremony. Surrounded by her family and familiar Disney pals, Emmalee seemed to be in a simultaneous state of shock and delight, repeating astonished sets of “Wow!†“Wow!†“Wow!†In commenting on the day’s ceremony, Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, stated: “This is truly a highlight of our continuing global 50th anniversary celebration. The world over families use words like ‘magical,’ ‘dreams,’ ‘wonder,’ and ‘imagination’ to describe our five destination resorts around the world and now thanks to Emmalee, our honorary two-billionth guest, we can add the word “Wow!†Andrae Rivas, the 2006 Disneyland Resort Ambassador, presented Emmalee with a giant golden key and a lifetime pass to all 11 Disney Parks around the world at such distinct locales as Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Paris Resort in France and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in China (which opened in September 2005), in addition to Disneyland Resort in southern California. As an added surprise, the entire family of 10 (Emmalee, her mom and dad, Mike and Michele, five sisters, one brother, plus a baby on the way) also received lifetime passes to Disney Parks worldwide. Rivas also gave Emmalee a one-of-a-kind proclamation designating her as the honorary two-billionth guest to visit the Disney Parks over the past five decades. During her special day Emmalee received a private photo session with her family and Mickey Mouse, an exclusive tour of Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park, a special ride on the Matterhorn Bobsleds with Mickey, and was feted as Grand Marshal of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary parade. “WOW! I’m in shock . . . I’m so happy!†exclaimed Emmalee. “I am just so surprised . . . I didn’t think that I would be the 2 billionth guest . . . this kind of stuff never happens to me!†“Two-billion guests means two-billion lifetime memories that have been made and shared with friends and families at Disney Parks around the world,†said Rasulo. “A visit to a Disney theme park, whether in California, Florida, Japan, France or China, remains a vibrant and universally embraced experience passed from generation to generation.†Citing the two-billionth Disney Park guest is just one of the highlights of 2006 as the global 50th anniversary celebration of Disney Parks around the world continues. Throughout the year each Disney resort will unveil more new innovative attractions and spectacular entertainment designed to appeal to guests of all ages with immersive experiences that only Disney can provide. More information about the 50th anniversary celebration, plus vacations at the Disneyland Resort are available at www.disneyland.com, by calling (877) 700-DISNEY, or by visiting local travel agents.
Originally Posted By leemac How many more slogans can they possibly squeeze out of "The Happiest xxxx on Earth"???
Originally Posted By Darkbeer You can find the official Disney Publicity Photos of the event here... <a href="http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/gallery/1421883" target="_blank">http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/ga llery/1421883</a>
Originally Posted By leemac The first question when the family was standing in line was to ask where they came from. It was important for DLR to ensure they didn't have a local winner. Congrats to the family but these slick marketing tricks don't have a huge amount of impact anywhere. I'm sure somewhere someone at WDW, HKDLR, TDR or DLRP knows who the real 2bn guest was. DLR should spend less on this and saving turkeys and more on targeting guests coming to the parks for a reason.
Originally Posted By Disney Joy WOW ~ Oh how exciting. I wish it was me. Funny on deal or no deal last night. When they offered the man his dream Dalles season tickets, transpo and hotel ~ I immediately thought of Disney tickets, with transpo and the Grand Hotel. At that point all his big numbers were gone. I would take the Disney package. oh how sweet to dream......
Originally Posted By Darkbeer ^ How about a Club 33 Membership, with one free meal a month..... That is what Lisa thought when she saw the Cowboy ticket package.....
Originally Posted By iDisney72 I can appreciate the fact that a family of 10 won. Chances are, trips like these a few and far between, because of financial reasons. Now, they will be able to go on vacation for a much cheaper price. They will be able to appreciate a "gift" like this soo much more!
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m How did they know that the 2 billionth guest would enter Disneyland? How did they know that the 1.99 billionth wouldn't enter Disneyland, following the 2 billionth entering Epcot, or AK, or MK, or TDL, or TDS, etc etc?
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m ^^Yeah, sorry, I was only on the first page of posts when I read that.
Originally Posted By englishboy Hmm, now that I've read this fully it seems more like Disney saying, how can we squeeze even more people in to DL this summer--maybe with free advertising through wacky "news" stories.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal Every one of Disneyland's "Millionth Guest" celebrations has been estimated. In 1997 when we had the 400 Millionth Guest to Disneyland. Sure, they closed down to one turnstile for the 500 Millionth Guest but even that was preselected and the date was an estimate based on previous attendance. It would be all but impossible to know the exact visitor number for a given Guest. I think it's pretty neat that a little girl was chosen and that she has a big family. Good for her!
Originally Posted By imadisneygal Oops! I forgot to finish this sentence... In 1997 when we had the 400 Millionth Guest to Disneyland....the Guest was selected while standing the ticket booth line by Press and Publicity and then they followed her and her family as she entered the turnstiles. Interestingly enough her name was Minnie!
Originally Posted By Westsider leemac >>"The first question when the family was standing in line was to ask where they came from. It was important for DLR to ensure they didn't have a local winner."<< Isn't that an interesting thing for Disney management to do? ;-)
Originally Posted By imadisneygal The 400 Millionth Guest was from Fresno. I am not sure why they'd ask the Guest where they were from while they were in line. It seems that might have ruined the surprise? I know that for the 400 Millionth they watched what type of ticket media they purchased. Maybe they were asking lots of folks where they were from? Sort of a "Welcome to Disneyland - where are ya from?!"
Originally Posted By imadisneygal ^^^I mean that maybe they were asking lots of folks as a screening process, not just in general...
Originally Posted By dlkozy Kinda spoils the whole thing for me knowing that they had been preselected according to where they lived-etc. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
