Newsletter 30 April 2007

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Yavn Speaks!

The Yavn Speaks section did not get an update during this week

To see the Yavn Speaks from the previous week, please visit the 23 April 2007 Newsletter.

Community Reminder

From 13 March

Remember, it's against the VMK Values to create or open ANY type of 'relationship' room (rooms that include words like 'meet,' 'pick,' 'get,' 'find,' 'have,' 'taken,' etc.) in VMK. You'll be warned and possibly banned for opening any type of room that promotes this activity.

For more information or a reminder of what's acceptable in VMK refer to the VMK Values page.

Fantasyland 101

Note: This feature was removed on 1 May 2007 and replaced with Pirates 101

Tips for getting the most out of your visit to Fantasyland

1. How much do the Fantasyland rides cost and how do I ride them?

The rides in the Fantasyland Courtyard - Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan's Flight - cost 10 credits to ride. To ride them, go to the turnstile in front of the ride and pay the required amount of credits when prompted.

2. Where can I buy the new Fantasyland Alice and Mr. Smee outfits?

The outfits are on sale in the Emporium starting April 13th and will be sold at least through the month.

3. How do I get Sword in The Stone Magic Single Use Pin?

The only way to get the Sword in The Stone Single Use Magic Pin is to ride Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan's Flight. You will not get a Pin every time you ride. You could ride ten times in a row and not get a Pin. Or you could get one on your second ride - since the Pin is given out randomly so there is no pattern or method to how it is given out.

4. How do I use the Sword in the Stone Magic Single Use Pin?

Go to your inventory (the CHAIR icon/button at the bottom of the VMK interface window) and locate the Sword in The Stone Single Use Pin. Click the Pin and select WEAR. Now stand next to the Sword in the Stone in the Fantasyland Courtyard and click on the Magic button (the button with the Magic Wand). Select the Sword in the Stone Single Use Magic Pin or simply write 'Draw!' in message bar at the bottom of the VMK window.

Your character will now attempt to pull the Sword out of the Stone. Remember not every attempt will be successful. Once you use the Pin it will disappear from your inventory. To get another one, ride again. The Pin must be used within 24 hours from the time your receive it, after 24 hours it will dissappear from your inventory.

5. If I get disconnected during a ride will I get my credits back?

No. We cannot refund your credits if you disconnect or get disconnected.

6. Can I buy dark ride pieces?

Not yet. But some pieces will be awarded as prizes for the Dark Ride-A-Thon coming at the end of the month.

Pirates 101

Note: This feature was added to the newsletter on 1 May 2007

Raise your flag and prepare to set sail, tis time to learn the ways of the pirate.

Ahoy mateys! Ye comes seeking adventure and salty old pirates, aye? Then you've come to the proper place – it's Pirates month in VMK!

Talk like a Pirate

Not only do pirates have a mind of their own, they have their own language too! Now you can tell your own pirate tales (in pirate speak, of course) with this handy guide!

Arrgh!: An exclamation of disappointment or anger. Ex: "Arrgh! You dropped that cannonball on me little pinky toe!

Avast, Ahoy: Used as a greeting, how pirates say hello. Ex: "Avast matey! Have you seen the peg leg I lost in Tortuga?"

Shiver me timbers!: Surprise or astonishment. (Shivers were what pirates called small splinters of wood &ndash' so if a ship was being blown apart, a pirate captain might yell something like, "Shiver me timbers! He's got us cornered!") Ex: "Shiver me timbers! All the treasure be gone like the wind!"

Mate, Matey: Pirate for pal or friend. Ex: "Ahoy, matey! Charlie found the compass in the apple barrel! Now we can plot a course home!"

Pieces of Eight: These Spanish silver coins were used as currency by pirates. They got the name 'Pieces of Eight' because occasionally pirates would take one of these coins and divide or cut into eight smaller pieces. Ex: "I traded a pig for these shiny Pieces of Eight."

The Jolly Roger

The flag of Captain Jack Rackham – flown during the golden age of piracy.

When a pirate's path crosses another ship it's time to raise the black flag – the skull and crossbones that is – the flag signals the pirate's intent to board a ship. It's meant to strike fear in the hearts of weak and weary sailors and some ships will surrender at the very sight of it!

Look here each and every week for more pirate info!

Event Info

NEW! Room Makeovers Every Tuesday and Thursday

Check the Community Calendar for more events, details and event times.

Room Makeovers

''Two lucky VMK players are selected randomly each week for a Room Makeover by our talented team of Room Designers. Join us weekly as we post their story (including before and after pictures) here in the Event Info section of the Newsletter. Submit your room for a Makeover through the Contact Us Tool.''

Winners this week are PirateMike and BeliveintheMagic, let's take a look at their rooms:

HOST_Lily

Sailing slowly through the swamp looking for a fine place to hide his treasure PirateMike fell asleep at the helm and crashed his treasure laden vessel into the Bayou Dock! So I offered to help get PirateMike back on his virtual sea legs.

It's always good to have a theme when building new rooms or making over new ones. Clearly given PirateMike's title and that Pirate Month is upon us we knew PirateMike needed a worthy ship considering his room – funny enough – was already titled PirateMike falls asleep!

When building start from the ground ..err deck up and it's a good idea to start in the rear of the room and work forward. Why? Well once you place items in certain spots they may block the area from placing other items or allowing players to walk there.

If you're new to VMK you can still get great items. Lot's of items can be found by playing some of our arcade games outside of the game. For instance, the Ship Pieces, Davy's Organ, Davy's Chest and the cursed Monkey are all items found in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game.

The Pirate Thrones on the dock have all been won by PirateMike from playing the in-game Pirates of the Caribbean game (either Capture the Flag or Last Man Standing) – they're rewards when you use the key to unlock the Treasure Chests in the Pirate Treasure Room.

One last tip: use the size of the room to your advantage. Notice I did not build the ship any taller so as not to block the view of the Gator Band. And considering where the ship is placed the cargo on the dock could have fallen out of the ship as it crashed into the port!

Before. A broken boat

After. Our grand ship is ready to set sail!

Avast mateys, I hope you've enjoyed this Room Makeover as much as I did! Stop by and say Ahoy! to PirateMike anytime!

HOST_Lily

And now another Room Makeover by HOST_Sparky… Take it away, Sparky!

HOST_Sparky

The Golden Horseshoe Review is BeliveintheMagic's favorite show at Disneyland. She wanted a virtual Golden Horseshoe so that she and her friends could also put on a great show.

Before. The café of sand.

Ye-haw! We've got a show to open so let's get going!

First we need a stage! Of course the players are the star of the show. So we put a few bear rugs down on top of Coffee Table Crates. The brown crates and the brown bear rugs match nicely! A few Expedition Lanterns are added for footlights and now the stage is set!

Next came the eatin' area. Madame Leota Tables and Barrel Chairs are great because with just two tables we're able to make enough seatin' for 16 players. And what's an eatin' area without food? A water cooler Aquarium is sandwiched between two Disneyland Retro Penny Presses and backed by a Frontierland Trophy Poster. Now that's a wild west café!

The Old Western Café opens to the public.

For the outside of the saloon a Flaming Ransacked Windows make for great walls that don't block out all the light. An Ace of Spades rug and Cow Skull Showers make a fine entrance. Saddle Seats and Water Troughs give visitin' cowboys some place to tie up and water their horses. A Wanted Poster and hidden Mickey add a rustic touch.

Thanks for lettin' me help with your room design, BelieveintheMagic. I had a boot-stompin, rip-roarin' time!

Yee-Haw!

HOST_Spark

Top 5 FAQs

This week's Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions

For more answers to other Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the VMK FAQs.

1. I clicked on a piece of furniture in my Guest Room and I noticed a new button called 'Item Info' - what does it do?

By clicking the 'ITEM INFO' button you can display additional information about the item such as item name and status of the item, like if it's tradeable.

2. I've heard guests can now move my furniture? Is this true? And what items can be moved by my guests?

Guest can ONLY move furniture if you allow them to do so by setting the option on the item. They can't take or remove anything from your room, or take any item and put it in their own inventory. Only furniture and posters that are placed in a room can be moved by guests – and then ONLY if the Room Owner has allowed that item to be moved.

By default, furniture and posters can't be moved by guests, the Room Owner must select which items he/she wishes to be moved by Guests before they can move them. (To do this make sure the box beside the words, LET GUEST MOVE THIS ITEM is checked in the 'Item Info' window.)

3. My Trading Window looks different now - what did VMK change?

To address some trading concerns, we added new features to make trading easier. Now when you click on an item, information about the item is displayed on the right hand of the window. The information displayed includes the item name, the type of item it is (Furniture, Magic Pin, Single-Use Magic Pin, Clothing, etc.), who owns the items, whether or not it's tradeable, and the magic word you need to active the item (if a Magic Pin is highlighted).

In the Trading Window you can now view additional information about the other player's item. Simply, select the item and you'll receive information about it. (Now you'll know that Dancing Inferno really has as many stars as they claim by clicking on the pin in the offer window!)

4. How do I get the Fantasyland dark ride track pieces and furniture?

We're currently working on a release schedule for dark ride track pieces and select number of furniture pieces from both rides. Check the VMK Newsletter to stay up-to-date with new item releases.

5. I've sent in a problem using Contact Us but no one has replied - why haven't I heard from anyone?

We respond to every email we get within 24 hours - but some email providers (like AOL.com, Hotmail.com, msn.com, Comcast.net, Cox.net, rr.net and Earthlink) block our responses.

If you use any of the email providers listed above, or haven't gotten a response from us, this is the reason.

Some email providers have Spam Filters that automatically block email from an unknown source and you have to tell the program (the email application) to allow email from that source. To get email from VMK, go into the preferences for your mailbox and allow mail from: [email protected]. (Please note, this email address DOES NOT receive email except via the Contact Us form.)

You also have the option to submit an alternate email address in the 'Contact Us' tool (this option is under the Send Details box) if your provider won't take our replies. We suggest setting up another email account, like yahoo.com to get our replies.

Yeti's Tips & Tricks

You've got questions, Yeti has answers.

How many friends can you have on your friends list? How do you register with VMK? The Gator Waiter's not taking your order?!? Hold on there!

I've got the answers you're seeking, plus tips on getting higher scores on the Jungle Cruise! Prepare to enter the Yeti's icy cave of tips and tricks!

Greetings! It is I, the abominable snowman - but you can call me Yeti. Did you enjoy your spring break? You must have - VMK was overflowing with players – thanks for stopping by! To get the most out of your game try some of these handy tips and tricks on for size!

Dear Mr. Yeti, how many friends can I have on my friends list?

Hey, speaking of friends, we're all friends here - so please, call me Yeti. Hmmm, let's take a look at the Yeti's friends list, yep, just as I thought, 150, that's the maximum amount of friends you can have (currently) on your friends list.

Do I have to use my real birthday when I register for VMK?

Afraid to tell the Yeti how old you are? Trust me, I can keep a secret, but you really should use your real birthday when you register for VMK or any other Disney sites and here's why:

• If you ever want to use our Contact Us tool you will need this information.
• If you ever change your email or account info, it's easier to remember your real birthday!
• Finally, don't worry, VMK (and for that matter, the Walt Disney Company) will never send you unsolicited email (also know as Spam) or sell or give your information to anyone - so it's totally safe to use your real birthday when signing up.

Contact Us can be useful, just in case you ever forget your registration info.

How do I find out what the secret word is so the Gator Waiter will serve me?

It's tough to get the busy Gator to serve you, what you need is a secret word (or words) to get his attention - there are lots of places you can find them - in fact, have you checked in with these VMK characters for clues?

Esmeralda the Fortune Teller knows all. Visit her and see if she will share her secrets!

Occasionally Jake & Haley may hold a clue to the secret word(s) – so be sure to check out their chat on the VMK webpages!

Sometimes the secret word may be even be found right here, in Yeti's Tips & Tricks or the Yavn Speaks sections of the Newsletter!

Jungle Cruising for High Scores

So when is the last time you took a lazy river boat ride for some high scores on the Jungle Cruise? Well, before you take your next trip, check out these 'Yeti Certified Tricks & Tips' for high scores!

1. Take it easy! Don't use the right arrow key on your keyboard to advance your boat. Using this key depletes your gas and takes you quicker to the next scene – while that's OK when your in a hurry, you may miss some animals and some big points!

A perfectly composed photo = big points!

2. It's much better to slowly float through the scene and use the left arrow key to stay in the area until no more animals appear. Snapping pictures of more animals = more points!

3. Center each shot and wait until the last possible moment then – SNAP – take your picture. The more centered your photo, the more likely you will get a 'flawless' score.

4. Get a co-pilot! Have a friend or your parent steer the boat and concentrate on getting the gas cans and rolls of film - while you can 'focus' on getting the best pictures. Get it? Focus - on the pictures! Ha! That joke never gets old.

Before you know it you'll be an ace explorer and your player name will be in the Jungle Cruise High Scores!

Well that's all for this week, good luck adventurers!

Push's Trash Trivia

What attraction was originally planned as a walk-through wax museum?

Know the answer?

Send your answer in using Contact Us. Be sure to have your VMK registration info with you and select Push's Trash Trivia from the drop down menu.

From the correct answers we randomly select three players as the winners and send them a cool prize. Hurry – only entries submitted by the close of game on Friday will be accepted.

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

Question: In the animated classic, Pinocchio, this character played a key role, however in the literary version of this story he didn't make it to the final scene. Who is the character?

Answer: Jiminy Cricket.

Did you know: In the literary version of Pinocchio (written by Carlo Collodi), Jiminy doesn't quite make it to the last chapter. However, for the feature film Walt Disney thought Jiminy Cricket should play a much more prominent role - in fact, Jiminy had such an impact on audiences that the little cricket went on to star in many more films and even television.

After Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket served to host cartoon segments of the Walt Disney classic 'Fun and Fancy Free.'

Jiminy's most important role recently is as the spokesperson for Disney's Environmentality Challenge. The Evironmentality Challenge asks teachers to help teach their students ways to be more environmentally aware. Check out the Environmentality Activity Center for more fun ways to help the environment.

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

You've won a limited edition Push Trivia Pin!

koolbeenz

SuperWeirdTomato

OhGee

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.

GPDOT wins top honors this week in the Best Guest Room category.

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

It's time to check out a giant Mickey! GPDOT has created The Giant Mickey room. Can you spot the Mickey?

Best Game Rooms

Quest_King is the host of the great game – Safari Traffic Jam!. Players get on the ride area and when the host says sit – the first team to all get back wins!

Best Player Quests

Do you have what it takes to be a pirate? Find out in MageDragonBeta's How To Be A Pirate Quest.

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

VMK Cards

The first card from Series 3 is here!

Get the Animation Viewer by playing the Animation Quest at Disneyland or Walt Disney World – redeem the code on your card for this cool virtual prize.

Check out the VMK Rewards Card Checklist and make sure you have all the VMK bling! What cards do you have in your collection?

Scam Alert

Scamming of any kind will get you BANNED!

It's great to have a popular room in VMK, but it's not OK to get players into your room by scamming them.

Saying you have an item that you don't have in order to get players to come into your room is considered a scam and will get you BANNED! Also trading with players and booting them from your room before you finish a trade fairly can also get you banned.

DO NOT loan out your items

Even if you think you can really trust another player in VMK, it's not a good idea to loan people your items – since some people won't give them back!

If someone asks you if they can borrow one of your items – just say no. If you decide to trade an item and it isn't given back, we can't help you recover it, because you knowingly entered into the trade. Remember, you're responsible for your character's actions in the game – no matter what.

VMK Email Scam

If you get an email from anyone claiming to be from VMK Player Support asking for your VMK user information, such as your character name, password, birthday, etc., DO NOT REPLY to the email. This is a scam to get your login info.

VMK will NEVER send unsolicited email asking for your password or user information.

The only time you would get an email from VMK regarding this information is if you are having a login problem and have already sent us an email requesting help with this problem through Contact Us link on the website.

''Any email from VMK will include your original email in the reply. Remember your login and password information should never be shared with anyone.''

Safety Corner

Mentioning illegal activity in VMK will get you BANNED.

Mentioning any sort of illegal activity, such as breaking the law, stealing, or threatening physical harm is against VMK Values and will get you BANNED.

Please review the VMK Values if you are unsure of what is and isn't allowed.

Follow the VMK Rules for reporting someone!

Please make sure to follow the VMK Rules when reporting someone. Someone cutting in line or asking you to be their friend is not grounds for reporting. Use the Call for Help system wisely.

VMK Staff need to spend their time helping people are who are seriously in need of assistance. However, if a player keeps doing something to annoy other players (repeating words to fill up the screen, blocking, etc) please use Contact Us on the website to report your issue – don't forget to include the details (the harasser's name and when the event took place) when writing in.

Get Help!

To get emergency help at any time while you're playing the game, simply Call for VMK Staff by clicking on HELP in the bottom right of the game window. VMK Staff will then either send you a message or come and see you.

VMK 911

The Call for VMK Staff option is VMK's 911 service, so please only use it in emergencies – if another Player is hassling you or making you feel uncomfortable. For general questions about the game, take a look at the FAQs.

Quests

In-Park Quests!

PLAY THE DISNEY ANIMATION QUEST!

Play the latest VMK In-Park Quest now at The Magic Kingdom® and Disneyland® - put your knowledge of Disney animated films to the test!

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.)