The year 1985 was a pivotal one for Disneyland, and it really set the stage for the following year, which the Marketing team aptly named, ?Looks Like We Started Something! Disneyland ?86?. The new Eisner-Wells team had been busy the two previous years turning on a ton of work, and a lot of it would show up in ?86. The ?GiftGiver Extraordinaire? was continued over, but this time instead of every 30th guest winning, for the next nine months every guest won something every day! The prizes ranged from free popcorn, juice bars, Disneyland Passports, Disney home movie video cassettes (this was before DVD?s), Kodak cameras, Mickey Mouse collectable watch, round-trip PSA airline ticket, 25-inch RCA TV, a collectible Mickey pin, and a 1986 Pontiac Firebird. A computer at the main entrance ticket office was programmed so that every morning, a Main Entrance Manager would enter in that days projected attendance and park hours. The computer would then randomly select which turnstile at what time would deliver a prize. For example, to award a Kodak camera at 1015 hours at turnstile number 12, the computer energized that turnstile so that whenever the turnstile paddle was turned a millisecond after that time, a ticket was printed out with the Kodak camera award printed directly on it. The Cast Member read the award, handed the ticket to the guest congratulating them. Now when the grand prize was awarded each day of the car, there would be a photo op with a Disney character, usually Mickey or Minnie. This was actually pre-staged, as the computer would show the time when the car would be awarded, so that the Character Dept would have time to schedule the characters around the park appropriately, and have the proper character available at the Main Entrance. It took us a little while before we realized how savvy our guests were getting; some of our annual Passholders had quickly figured out that if you stood just in the right spot, you could see Mickey or Minnie standing in a particular location ready to be brought onstage just as the GiftGiver machine went nuts announcing the winner of the car. We found that on average about 6 to12 Passholders were taking a chance and rushing the turnstiles in a guess as to when that time was going to be. We quickly huddled and changed tactics so that the Characters were not seen so that we stopped telegraphing when that event was going to take place. I do remember vividly one afternoon when a car was going to be given away late, sometime around 2pm, and no one had been through the turnstiles for over 30 minutes. When the time came for the car to be given away, all open turnstiles were activated, so that whoever turned the paddle first after the activation time, won the car. So here we were, the turnstiles had been activated for nearly 30 minutes, waiting to give a Pontiac Firebird away, and no guest in sight. Finally! Two young ladies came in view after purchasing tickets, walking and talking and smiling. I remember that as they both walked up, one of them motioned for the other to go first, thereby unknowingly giving her friend a new set of car keys. I also remember how excited she was for her friend, and I told her how classy she was for that moment. That year I remember as being really fun, everyone just seemed to be in a positive, upbeat mood. Not sure if it was a carry-over from the very popular and successful Los Angeles Olympic Games the year before, a strong economy, or just what it was, I only know that Disneyland began experiencing consistently high level of crowds never experienced before, and the guest were by and large really happy to be there!

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