Newsletter 13 November 2006

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Turnstiles, Pins, Mountain Building & Pirates! Yavn spills the beans on it all - so put on those reading glasses and dig in!

Yavn Speaks!

Yavn Speaks 11/13

Turnstiles, Tracks, Pins and More! Oh My!

Turnstiles: The Sequel

Where to start? Well first, I've gotten lots of comments (good, bad and confused) about the new Turnstiles. Part of this is my fault for not giving you more details of exactly how they work. So to make things easier I've made this handy Turnstile FAQ to help ease the confusion:

***Turnstile FAQ***

The Epcot Turnstile

Why Turnstiles, Why???

Why use Turnstiles? When we first launched the Quest kiosks many players complained that the cost of prizes outweighed the benefit of making Quests — agreed, having good prizes is tough and costly. There was also the issue of the same player finishing the Quest multiple times using different characters. So we thought why not let players charge for their Quests? After all, wouldn't you want to be rewarded for creating cool games and rides?

How Do They Work?

Room owners set the cost of the Turnstile. There are 4 possible settings (Free, 5 Credits, 50 Credits and 100 Credits) — we're still testing if this is the right price range. Once the Turnstile is set up in the room, players can get in line and will see a menu showing the price to enter. You have 15 seconds to decide if you want to pay or not, if you don't answer in that time you'll be removed from the line and not charged. Remember before you play, you will be able to enter the room and see prior to paying what you are paying for. In the case of a Quest kiosk you can click on the kiosk and see what the prizes are before entering the Turnstile.

Do I Have To Pay?

No. You have a choice. You can either pay the entry fee or exit the Turnstile.

What Happens If I Get Booted?

You can re-enter the a room without paying for 2 hours from the time you paid. And rest assured, we'll be watching for players that charge you entry and then boot you.

Won't All Rooms Charge?

No. We believe once players understand what is worthy of a fee, you'll see the majority of rooms are still free. Do you know a player who is a great Quest maker, or a great ride builder? These are the players that should be rewarded for their hard work! At the end of the day it's you the players who will determine what is worth charging for (and how much you'll pay for it).

When Can I Buy One?

There are a few things still to work out with this new system, so we'll be testing Turnstiles over the next few months. We may sell or reward a handful of them, but they won't be on sale until we're happy that they work correctly and we can support them.

***END FAQ***

Pirates + Pins + Disney + VMK = Awesome!

You're a Pin Collector? And you play VMK too? Well have I got a surprise for you! Allow me to present the new VMK Pin Card Collection! These awesome pins will be arriving at Walt Disney World on 11/14 and at the Disneyland Resort on 12/12. Each box set contains two (2) randomly inserted Collector Pins and two VMK trading cards which include a secret code redeemable for special virtual prizes. There are a total of 10 Pins and Cards in the set and the cards and pins in the first series are based on Pirates Of The Caribbean. You may recognize a few of them as previously released Park Quest only items — but there's some pretty cool new stuff in there as well.

The pins combine VMK, Pirates Of The Caribbean and some of your favorite Disney pals.

Check out the Disney Pin Trading site for a sneak peak at the series!

Space Mountain Ride Event Preparing For Liftoff!

Announcing the 'Build Your Own Space Mountain' Competition!

Now that you've had a chance to play with the new Space Mountain tracks are you ready to show us what you can do with them? Take your friends for a ride! Imagineer your version of Space Mountain using the track pieces provided in VMK. Have fun, be creative! Build it and they will come - you may even win!

The Rules:

– It's an individual room competition, meaning one entry per player.

– Your ride may not exceed 3 rooms in length. This means you can either have 1, 2 or 3 rooms total in your ride.

– The start room for your ride MUST BE NAMED "SpaceRace YOUR PLAYER NAME" Here's an example: SpaceRaceJoeTheMouse.

10 winners and 1 Grand Prize winner from each category will be selected.

Rooms will be judged by the following guidelines: Best use of color, best theme, most creative and best overall ride experience. You are not required to keep your ride open to during judging, but we hope you will keep it open during the event weekend so other players can enjoy what you have created.

Prizes will be announced after registration has been closed. Judging will take place between Friday December 1st and Sunday December 3rd.

Registration will open Monday, November 20th and run through Sunday, November 26th. Only players that enter and follow the rules exactly as instructed will be judged. Watch future Newsletters for more info on how to enter.

***UPDATED 11/16/06***

'''Space Mountain Ride Event Now Preparing For Liftoff!'''

Announcing the 'Build Your Own Space Mountain' Competition!

RULES AND REGISTRATION

The 'Build Your Own Space Mountain' Competition is coming to VMK! This is an individual room competition. The objective of the competition? Make the best Space Mountain ride you can.

Your ride does not have to be modeled after any of the real Space Mountains but you must use only the new Space Mountain Track pieces (that can be purchased from the Inner-Space Shop).

Have fun and be creative - you can decorate it or build it however you like, but again remember, you must use the new Space Mountain Ride Tracks. Registration for the 'Build Your Own Space Mountain Ride' Competition starts today (11/20) and ends on Sunday (11/26). Here are the rules:

• Your ride cannot exceed 3 rooms in length. This means you can either have 1, 2 or 3 rooms total for your ride.

• The Start Room for your ride must be named in the following way: SpaceRace PLAYER NAME.

Here's an example: SpaceRace JoetheMouse.

Rides will be judged on the following categories, so keep these in mind when you're building your mountain: Best use of color, best theme, most creative and finally best overall ride experience.

10 winners and 1 Grand Prize winner will be chosen from each category.

Registration will be open Monday November 20th through Sunday November 26th. Only players that register exactly as instructed will be judged. Prizes will be announced after registrations have been closed and awarded after the competition has ened.

To register use the Contact Us Form. Please INCLUDE ONLY your Player Name and on the next line, the title of your Start Room. Only the first registration will be accepted and multiple registrations from the same player will not be allowed. You WILL NOT receive a confirmation email about your registration and only registered players will be judged.

Give the following information, putting each item on a NEW LINE:

1. Player Name 2. Name of Start Room

PLEASE NOTE: Your room name must begin with 'Space Race followed by your player name. Again, here's a correct example to register. Only registrations following this format will be accepted:

ShrunkenNed SpaceRaceShrunkenNed

Judging will take place between Friday December 1st and Sunday December 3rd. You are not required to keep your ride open during judging, but we hope you will keep it open during the event weekend so other Players can enjoy what you have created.

Now that you've had a chance to play with the new Space Mountain tracks are you ready to show us what you can do with them? Take your friends for a ride! Imagineer your version of Space Mountain using the track pieces provided in VMK. Have fun, be creative! Build it and they will come - you may even win!

***END UPDATE***

Watch Disney DVD's - Get Rewarded

Check Disneymovierewards.com and see how you can win this awesome VMK Home Theater. The good news is that the cost for the item package has dropped from 750 Points to 500 points!

The VMK Home Theater is ONLY available through Disney's movie rewards program.

Well, I hope this column helped shed some light on our upcoming events... as well as those Turnstiles. ;-) Now I've got to get back to work, let's see, have to make sure everything is ready for Thanksgiving. We won't be having turkey but we've got something better. You'll have to wait until next week for a sneak peek at that.

Enjoy the game,

Yavn

Jake's Blog

Same as last week

Tips

Tips, Tricks Hints and How To's

Gear Up For Space Travel

Tron items are still available in the Tomorrowland Arcade. Stop by the Arcade and play the games to win these cool prizes.

Space Mountain Ride Tracks are available in the Tomrrowland Inner-Space Shop. To get to the Inner-Space Shop you have to complete these Quest in this order: Ships and Shipwrecks Quest, Lights, Camera, Engines! Quest and the Adventure Through Inner-Space Quest (for the Space Pin) to get access to the Inner-Space Shop. After you finish the Quests and visit the shop, you will able to buy the tracks from anywhere in VMK.

Dear Yeti

You've Got Questions, Yeti Has Answers

Dear Yeti

My favorite ride at Walt Disney World is Space Mountain - can you tell me more about it? Are there any differences between it and the one at Disneyland in California?

- Slinkyman

Slinkyman, Walt Disney World's Space Mountain was completed in 1975 - making it the very first Space Mountain in any Disney park - but the main difference WDW's Space Mountain has from Disneyland's Space Mountain is that the one at WDW has two separate tracks. In fact, the track layout is almost identical to the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Walt Disney World's Space Mountain has another distinction -- it's the world's first roller coaster to be completely controlled and operated by a computer.

Dear Yeti,

Me and my family just got back from Walt Disney World! I really liked visiting EPCOT, but what I'd like to know is does the word EPCOT actually mean anything?

- MousefanMikey

Dear MousefanMikey,

It sure does, EPCOT stands for 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow' - Walt Disney's vision of a futuristic city of tomorrow. The EPCOT we know today is much different than the way Walt envisioned it - as an ideal neighborhood where residents would solve the challenges of a community, like transportation and communication. You may have even seen a model of 'Progress City' (as it was called) if you hopped on the Tomorrowland Transport Authority in the Magic kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Do you have a question for me?

Send it to me through the Contact Us section at the bottom of this page. Be sure to have your VMK registration info with you (the email and information you registered with) and select "Dear Yeti" from the drop down menu. Each week I'll answer a question or two here in the Newsletter.

Push's Trash Trivia

Name the artist who composed the music that you hear now when you ride Disneyland's Space Mountain?

Know the answer?

Send your answer using Contact Us at the bottom of this or the main VMK webpage. Be sure to have your VMK registration info with you and select Push's Trash Trivia from the drop down menu. Out of all the correct answers, three players will be randomly drawn as the winners and sent a cool prize. But hurry! Only entries submitted by the close of game on Friday will be accepted.

Here's the answer to last weeks Trash Trivia question:

Q: Space Mountain at Disneyland was part of a new Tomorrowland project scheduled to open in 1967, what was that project called?

A: SpacePort. Walt Disney wanted a more futuristic feel in Tomorrowland from the very beginning - one that included a spaceport. Eventually this idea of a space age transportation hub would come to life with Star Tours, which takes off from the Star Tours Tomorrowland Spaceport.

Did you know: Each Space Mountain is different! For instance, Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris has two upside-down parts and isn't even located in Tomorrowland - it's in Discoveryland!

In all there are five different Space Mountains: the first took flight at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in 1975 while Disneyland's version opened in 1977, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland also feature the futuristic ride.

Congratulations to the 3 lucky (and randomly picked) players that sent in the correct answer for last week's question!

piratetrav
SharkNStar
Dewberry

Your prize is on its way!

Top Players

What makes a Guest Room award-worthy?

Guest or Game Rooms that stand out show originality in concept and design. It could be a use of conventional furniture in unconventional ways, the use of a theme or color, or humor. Game rooms that get the nod offer a new game idea or a new twist on an old favorite. In all rooms we look for room owners who welcome everyone with a smile and show a willingness to answer questions about their room.

Check out this week's Best Guest Rooms and Best Game Rooms.

Best Guest Rooms

Awesomeaquablue would like you to visit her A Q U A Castle!! Come ride the water slide through the castle! Talk with friends and have a blast.

Come set sail on the Biggest Pirate Ship on VMK! waters! PyrateTony has decorated the ship for Christmas and all are welcome aboard.

Best Game Rooms

Slinkyman shouts GO! in his Outer Space Rainbow Racers room. Come race across a rainbow of rockets! First to the top will win.

Waterrush is upset because a Villain took all his candy. Fill it up by filling the scoreboards and quick!

Best Player Quests

CL_RobertSDCA leads you on an adventure through his rooms and VMK on his VMK Quest. Every player should get a prize! Pins, credits, hats and more! Join him on this quest and explore.

Players who have been previously recognized for their design talents will receive the VIP award.

VMK Cards

Have you ever wondered what cards you are missing in your collection. Well there is now a great new way to discover all the cards for VMK. Check it out!

Scam Alert

Trading!

When trading, make sure that you get a fair deal by double checking the trade window. You can see what you are giving and what you are getting. Always make sure what you are trading for is in the trade window. If you think a trade isn't fair, please don't trade. There are plenty of opportunities to find what you need.

Safety Corner

Watch Your Pirate Chat

When playing the Pirates of the Carribean game, be friendly to all those playing the game with you. It's never nice to call someone names - even if they sink your ship. Be ye warned, we review chat and may ban you for this. Arrh, remember we're all here to have fun.

Quests

In-Park Quests! Going to Disneyland® Park or Magic Kingdom® Park? Play the in-Park Quests! Learn more here.

<strong>High School Musical Quest</strong>! Watch the movie, visit the Parks and answer all the questions to win cool stuff!

Get the <strong>Thrill Seekers Ques</strong>t for the Walt Disney World® Resort here!

The Tomorrowland Quest is still available: Download it here.

Contact Us Tips

Problems? Contact Us!

When you use Contact Us to ask a question or report an issue, please be aware of the following:

If you use AOL or EarthLink for e-mail, you won't receive our response, as AOL e-mail filters block our replies. Please provide an alternative e-mail in the Contact Us form where it asks for your e-mail address.

Some Spam Filters will automatically block e-mail from an unknown source unless you tell the program to allow it: To get email from VMK, allow mail from [email protected]. (Please note this email address does not receive e-mail except via the Contact Us form.)