Entered this contest with the expectation like every other contest that I would not win.
Well, I won.
I didnt believe it at first. When the email came, I quickly just skimmed over the email as my first thought it was a scam, cause, its more likely I would get a scam email about winning a trip to Disney as compared to an actual email saying I won a trip to Disney.
But the email looked pretty legit. Legit enough for another read. So I did. It started out
"Hi John
You recently participated in the “shopDisney Now More Summer Fun Than Ever Sweepstakes”. This is an official notification that you have been selected as a potential Grand Prize winner."
-this was true. It had ended the day before. So I read the rules of the contest. It said that they would draw for the prize the day after the contest was over and contact the winner.
Ok, so this looked pretty darn legit ( or scammers have taken it to the next level!) The email continued with the Grand Prize with a listing of the rules and regulations which included 4 nights at a deluxe resort hotel for 4 people, 4 disney tickets for 5 days, 4 flights, a VIP tour for 8 hours, $500 gift card, a signature dining experience.
The next part was this "YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ABIDE BY THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTACT US BEFORE THE DEADLINE IN ORDER TO REMAIN ELIGIBLE FOR THE GRAND PRIZE. ATTACHED DOCUMENTS: The following documents are attached for your review:1) Affidavit of Eligibility and Release (for winner), 2) W-9 Form (for winner), 3) Guest Travel Release (for guests) and 4) the Official Rules for the Sweepstakes. We will presume that you have received these documents the date they are sent. "
-By now, Im at this point, wanting to really believe but still a bit skeptical. My wife was with me in the kitchen, I said " I think we won a trip to Disney World, but Im not sure", of course she said "WHAT?"
I got her to read the email. I then google searched the company that was in charge of the contest. Looked for the guy that sent me the email and crossreferenced the guy that emailed me and the email on the website. It matched!!!! So I ended up phoning the number on the companies website to just see what it was all about. And sure enough, I was the potential grand prize winner. All I had to do was send in those documents within 3 days. Oh and because I am from Canada, I had to answer a skill testing question. 6+4-2. I answered the skill testing question correctly and got the documents sent within the day. I was officially the Grand Prize Winner. I was then told I would be contacted by someone from Disney within the next couple of weeks. It ended up being over a month, but I was finally contacted last week.
So being a family of 7, wife, myself, 4 daughters ages 10, 9, 7, 1.5 and a boy 4, I picked the 3 oldest children as my guests in the prize package. The wife will come with the two younger ones but we will have to pay for that.
In our questionairre we asked for 3 additional nights and also asked if we could upgrade to a room that will house the whole family. I said we would pay for the upgrades but understood if this would not work. We were fine to "downgrade" from a deluxe resort to a moderate if that would work. Our 3 dates we picked are in Jan and Feb 2020 as it would nice to go somewhere warm when its -30 to -40 here in Canada. I just sent this, so Im not sure what to expect back.
Kids are totally pumped, family and friends are super excited for us.
Well, I won.
I didnt believe it at first. When the email came, I quickly just skimmed over the email as my first thought it was a scam, cause, its more likely I would get a scam email about winning a trip to Disney as compared to an actual email saying I won a trip to Disney.
But the email looked pretty legit. Legit enough for another read. So I did. It started out
"Hi John
You recently participated in the “shopDisney Now More Summer Fun Than Ever Sweepstakes”. This is an official notification that you have been selected as a potential Grand Prize winner."
-this was true. It had ended the day before. So I read the rules of the contest. It said that they would draw for the prize the day after the contest was over and contact the winner.
Ok, so this looked pretty darn legit ( or scammers have taken it to the next level!) The email continued with the Grand Prize with a listing of the rules and regulations which included 4 nights at a deluxe resort hotel for 4 people, 4 disney tickets for 5 days, 4 flights, a VIP tour for 8 hours, $500 gift card, a signature dining experience.
The next part was this "YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ABIDE BY THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTACT US BEFORE THE DEADLINE IN ORDER TO REMAIN ELIGIBLE FOR THE GRAND PRIZE. ATTACHED DOCUMENTS: The following documents are attached for your review:1) Affidavit of Eligibility and Release (for winner), 2) W-9 Form (for winner), 3) Guest Travel Release (for guests) and 4) the Official Rules for the Sweepstakes. We will presume that you have received these documents the date they are sent. "
-By now, Im at this point, wanting to really believe but still a bit skeptical. My wife was with me in the kitchen, I said " I think we won a trip to Disney World, but Im not sure", of course she said "WHAT?"
I got her to read the email. I then google searched the company that was in charge of the contest. Looked for the guy that sent me the email and crossreferenced the guy that emailed me and the email on the website. It matched!!!! So I ended up phoning the number on the companies website to just see what it was all about. And sure enough, I was the potential grand prize winner. All I had to do was send in those documents within 3 days. Oh and because I am from Canada, I had to answer a skill testing question. 6+4-2. I answered the skill testing question correctly and got the documents sent within the day. I was officially the Grand Prize Winner. I was then told I would be contacted by someone from Disney within the next couple of weeks. It ended up being over a month, but I was finally contacted last week.
So being a family of 7, wife, myself, 4 daughters ages 10, 9, 7, 1.5 and a boy 4, I picked the 3 oldest children as my guests in the prize package. The wife will come with the two younger ones but we will have to pay for that.
In our questionairre we asked for 3 additional nights and also asked if we could upgrade to a room that will house the whole family. I said we would pay for the upgrades but understood if this would not work. We were fine to "downgrade" from a deluxe resort to a moderate if that would work. Our 3 dates we picked are in Jan and Feb 2020 as it would nice to go somewhere warm when its -30 to -40 here in Canada. I just sent this, so Im not sure what to expect back.
Kids are totally pumped, family and friends are super excited for us.
