Newsletter 11 December 2006

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More holiday happenings! Including info on the Give-A-Gift and Holiday Quest events!

Yavn Speaks!

Home For The Holidays!

Well, after a week plus of being on the road, I'm very happy to report the 'Yavn World Tour' is finally over and I'm back at home! It was a full week of Disney Park goodness - last week I was at Walt Disney World and on Saturday and Sunday I was at Disneyland! Very few people get to see both parks in the same week, but it always amazes me how each park is special in its own unique way. My pal Jake will tell you all about the trip and all of the cool stuff we saw (including our Winter Summerland Mini Golf rematch – not to worry I putted my way to another victory…).

Before getting into this week's news, thanks for your patience during the 'Build Your Space Mountain' Ride Competition. We took a bit longer to finish the room judging and awarding the prizes but in the end finally awarded the winners – part of reason results were delayed was because we had so many great rides to check out (it was really difficult to pick the winners), the bigger reason was that most of the team was traveling and we didn't quite get everything sorted out before we took off. And yes, I got your comments about not letting you know what the prizes were up front, sorry. In the future we will let you know what cool stuff you can win when we launch the event. All in all though, I hope everyone had fun – and again, I'm sorry for the delays.

Give and Receive!

You asked for it, so it's back for an encore this year. As promised last week here is the skinny on this year's Give–A–Gift!

Give A Gift! Do you have a friend in VMK who deserves a special gift? Maybe you're worried you won't be able to find them in the game to give them the gift, or maybe you want to give it secretly. Well, we have a special item set aside for just such an occasion. Just let us know who that special someone is and just like Santa, we'll deliver the goods. Here's how it works:

– Beginning Friday December 15, click the 'Contact Us' link and select the Give-A-Gift option.

– Tell us the name of the VMK friend you want to give a gift to. Be sure you give us their VMK character name and this is important - spell it correctly! Sorry but we can't deliver gifts to invalid names.

– You can give a gift to as many Friends as you like, but YOU MUST USE SEPARATE ENTRIES FOR EACH PERSON.

– 500 credits will be deducted from your VMK credits for each gift you give. If you don't have enough credits, your gift won't be delivered.

– Gifts are delivered anonymously - your friend won't know you gave it to them unless you tell them.

– The final date to Give-A-Gift is Sunday, December 21, 2006 and all gifts will be delivered Tuesday, December 26, 2006.

You won't know what this year's gift is until the 26th of December!

Holiday Quest

Just a quick reminder that the Holiday Quest is live on both coasts! Visit either Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and complete the Quest before January 2nd to get those Holiday cards!

The Decorative Holiday Snowman is one of three collectable Holiday cards you can get by completing the Holiday Quest.

Can't make it to the either park before the holidays are over? Then why not play the in-game Santa Clause Quest? The Quest is based on all three Santa Clause movies, just get out those DVD's, watch and you could score a Cooke Tree!

The Cookie Tree.

Holiday Goodies Galore!

Looking for more Holiday goodies to deck your virtual halls? Warm up next to the Towntoon Fireplace or satisfy your sweet tooth with the Yellow Candy Cane, both are now on sale in the Emporium - but you knew that already, right?

So who's up for a peek at next week? Check this out:

Take a seat on Santa's Chair (reindeer not included)…

Celebrate New Year – Come On!

Made any plans on ringing in the New Year? If not, join us here! VMK will be staying open an additional 3 hours so we can ring in the New Year with our friends on the West Coast at Disneyland! Yep, you heard that correct VMK will operate from 7AM PST - 1AM PST on December 31st! We're planning to ring in the New Year with special events and prizes so be sure to stop by. (A little birdie told me about a cool new hat, but that's all I can say for now...)

Aside from all that we're busily putting the finishing touches on the updates that are coming in January - I'm sure you're excited to see them, we've got lots of cool stuff, including A NEW LAND... OK, gotta get back to work, lots of cool stuff to get finished up. Keep checking the Newsletter for more details!

See you in the game, Yavn

Jake's Blog

Hey guys, I'm back with holiday happenings and park hopping info! I'm back from a tour with the VMK guys and the one and only Yavn through both Walt Disney World and Disneyland!

Jake's Blog 12/12

Epcot Ahead!

After catching some Z's on the plane to Florida I was ready to hit the ground running, we checked into our hotel, Caribbean Beach, and then I was off to Epcot to explore one of my most favorite parks! In Epcot, each country has their own way of celebrating and the holidays are no different. From decorations to shows, each land has a unique to show its holiday spirit.

While I'm eager to see all the holiday decorations, my first order of business is to do something I didn't get to do the last time I was here - ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends!

The Sea For Me

I don't know if you remember but this was a much different ride before Nemo moved in. Before it was called The Living Seas and you would get in a Hydrolator (an elevator that simulated a ride to the ocean floor) and get out at Sea Base Alpha where 'seacabs' would take you under the aquarium.

When it was originally built, The Seas aquarium was the biggest man-made salt-water aquarium in the world - now only one aquarium in the world is bigger. And while I miss the Hydrolator, what they've done to the building (in addition to the cutting edge effects) is pretty amazing. The whole ride is made to make you feel like you're underwater - I don't want to spoil it, but you'll think you've grown gills after riding this one. If the submarine ride with Nemo that's coming to Disneyland next summer is anything like this, sign me up now.

Port Orleans - Explored!

We also got to explore Port Orleans the next day after breakfast. Port Orleans is actually broken into two parts, the French Quarter & Riverside. This is one of the coolest places at Walt Disney World, it's got a Southern theme with waterfront shops and restaurants like you might find on the bayou. Boatwright's Dining Hall is a converted boat-builders shop, now a restaurant on the waterfront, how's the food? Just as good as the view. This resort also sports one of the cooler pools, Doubloon Lagoon is a pool with a Sea Serpent - the serpent's tongue is a slide. There are even personal watercrafts that you can take on the river (like mini-paddleboats). You can even fish with an old-school fishing pole and worm!

Jake's Top 4 - Epcot Snacks

4. Wasabi Peas - Japan
(Peas, wasabi and by the bagful!)
3. Crisp Bar - England
(Is it a cookie or a candy bar?)
2. Club Cool / Flavors Around the World - Future World
(Try Beverly from Italy... heh heh heh...)
1. Turkey Leg - America
(The snack that eats like a meal!)

You Light Up My Life

That night after the guys were done with work, I went with them over to Disney-MGM Studios to have dinner and check out the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. (No, Ozzy hasn't been hanging lights when he's not rocking out - it's not that Osbourne Family.) This light show is incredible and even then I'm under-selling it. I heard people talk about it, but you really do have to see it to believe it. I couldn't count them all, but there had to be like a gazillion lights, all of them flashing on and off in time with the music.

The crowning touch though was the snow (that's right I said snow) that showered the streets. I heard Yavn say it takes Disney months to get these lights hooked up - and that some guy in Arkansas started the show for his daughter - now that's one heck of a Christmas present!

After being blinded by the (millions of) lights we headed over to the 50's Prime Time Diner. If you can imagine what it would be like to live in an old black and white television show you can imagine what it was like to eat here. The food was really good - good home cooking. And that's makes sense since our waitress kept calling herself 'Mom.' Thinking back, I guess that was ok, cause she made me eat all my vegetables and keep my elbows off the table like my real Mom does! Of course I give high praise to any place where the desert menu is on a View-Master, if you're planning on eating here, take a tip from Jake - remember the color of the soap in the bathroom, or 'Mom' will make you go back and wash your hands again!

The next night we went over to the Magic Kingdom to check out Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and the Holiday parade later that night. It was pretty cold but we all got wacky hats to keep our heads warm! Like the Halloween Party the Magic Kingdom also throws, they close the park for this Christmas Party and you have to have a separate ticket to get in.

It's very cool though because the park's not as crowded and they even have free cookies and hot cocoa for everyone! The parade was awesome, the fireworks were awesome and of course seeing Santa himself was also pretty darn awesome!

I spotted a sign for a new attraction called the Monsters Laugh Floor! Monsters are coming to the Magic Kingdom! Next month I'll have more info on this show - it is not the same ride as DCA.

So what else did we do at Walt Disney World? Well the VMK team invited me along for a rematch of mini-golf at Winter Summerland! Then after a full week of park hopping from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios it was time to get back on a plane and head home to California - and off to more Disney Park goodness.

Disneyland Gets Decked Out

I wanted to see the holiday decorations at Disneyland so I tagged along with Yavn over the weekend for a visit there. I love the effort that all the Disney parks put into decorating for Christmas, and the holiday decorations at Disneyland don't disappoint! After checking out Main Street, I grabbed a Holiday Churro with Yavn (taste like cinnamon to me, chief) and then headed over to Santa's Reindeer Roundup at Big Thunder Ranch to see Santa (plus make sure I wasn't on the naughty list). You know it wouldn't kill those elves to give the reindeer a bath every now and then!

And of course I had to check out the Haunted Mansion Holiday in New Orleans Square. I said this in my last blog and I can't say it enough, what they've done to the haunted Mansion at Disneyland makes it feel and look like an entirely new ride! We also made our way over to it's a small world where it has was decorated for the holiday too! It's crazy what they've done there! The front of the ride has been completely covered in lights and inside everything has a Holiday theme! Man, I don't even want to think about what the electric bill will be like for Disneyland next month!

I also played the Holiday Quest at both parks, and that was cool - now I have both snowmen - the gold one from Disneyland and the white one from World. Speaking of Holiday Quest, I've seen where some of you guys are posting the Quest answers online - come on guys, that is so NOT COOL! I (and practically everyone else) want the fun of completing the Quest myself, so do me a favor - stop spoiling it for everybody.

Thanks to Yavn for letting me hang out with him so much, getting to do that and check out all the holiday stuff in the parks made it like the best week ever. Can't wait to go again! OK, gotta run, next time I'll have a backstage tour of Disneyland and talk about some cool things happening there. Have fun out there people!

Jake out!

Tips

Tips, Tricks Hints and How To's

Get Creative In Your Rooms

With the ride competition quickly approaching, remember, VMK Staff loves to see creative uses of ride pieces when judging rooms.

Did you know you can combine the different ride tracks? You can connect them together in your rooms to make it look like players are going through different environments. Try hiding the transition pieces behind furniture or trees to create the illusion that the ride is going into a different area. What's better than leaving the cold tundra of Everest then sliding down a waterpark slide in sunny, warm VMK?

Try experimenting with drops. All of your pieces don't have to line up perfectly height-wise. You can link uphill pieces to take you up high, then have a sudden drop down to a lower level piece. This looks neat when you alternate the ups and downs to give the riders a bouncing effect.

Dear Yeti

You've Got Questions, Yeti Has Answers

My family just got back from visiting Walt Disney World in Florida. We stayed at the Grand Floridian - where in the lobby they have a huge life-sized gingerbread house! Is it real? And how do they make such a huge gingerbread house?

- Percius

Dear 'Sweet Tooth' Percius,

I am happy to report that the gingerbread house in the main lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is indeed real, and real tasty too I might add! How do they make such a massive sugar shack? Well, a team of pastry chefs work for weeks crafting the house. In all, they spend over 400 hours baking the thousands of pounds of ingredients, including 35 pounds of spices, 1,050 pounds of honey, 800 pounds of flour, 600 pounds of sugar, 140 pints of egg whites and 180 pounds of apricot glaze. The house is so big, it even has its own shop inside that sells, gingerbread houses.

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

What President declared December 5th as Walt Disney Recognition Day?

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: The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights present by SYLVANIA is a special holiday event held at Disney-MGM Studios featuring millions of dancing lights synchronized to beautiful holiday music.

On which famous US city "street" does this spectacle take place?

A: ''New York Street.

Did you know: Almost 80% of the lights in Osborne of Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights are from the original Osborne collection. Jennings Osborne started the tradition when his daughter asked to have the family home in Little Rock, Arkansas covered in lights for Christmas, way back in 1986.

Every year the light show continued to grow with the family even purchasing the home next door to expand their every growing light show. By 1994 what started as a 1,000 light display had grown to more than 3 million! Local officials and traffic jams brought the show to end in Little Rock, but just a year later in 1995, Walt Disney World invited the Osborne Family to bring their holiday magic to Disney-MGM studios and share it with the rest of the world.

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

starpanda
Dark_Pegasus
Capn.Bones

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

Spend Christmas is Town Square with See.low! Take a drive around this little snowbound town nestled into the hills of VMK. Pass the little homes and tree lined streets surrounding the beautiful holiday display in Town Square!

Come and have a seat in a Winter Wonder land with Phillip and his little buddy TheMetal. Come and chat with this gentle giant robot in his holiday retreat.

Best Game Rooms

Can you collect all of your Christmas presents in time? Spin the generators to get your Present Delivery the quickest. The first to collect three presents gets a great prize from sportobssed.

Best Player Quests

Come visit Urakan and his I Task Quest. It seems easy enough but is it? Follow the clues and uncover hidden items as you jump from teleporter to teleporter. Collect all the items in record time and win an excellent prize!

Celebrate the season with LadyDooley and her Christmas in VMK Quest. Deck the halls and jingle those bells on an exciting quest through the merriest virtual kingdom of all!

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

Reporting Problems to VMK Staff

When you have a problem with something or someone in the game, make sure your report to us includes as many details as possible regarding the situation. Our staff wants to help you, but to do that, we need to understand the situation clearly and what you want to have resolved.

Having as much information as you can provide will help the staff take care of the issue quickly and effectively. Likewise, if we don't have all the information and have to go back and research what happened it will take us MUCH longer to answer you concern and fix the problem.

When you're reporting any problem, include the players name and location, the time and date, and most importantly, clearly explain what happened. If you're telling us about a chat that took place or a ban inquiry, you can repeat the conversation or instance. Just be sure to include who said what (using a specific player name) - and before you get into talking about the actual chat make a note that you're about to relay a conversation that has already taken place.

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.)