This Is What Dreams Should Be Made Of

Just Mickey, Minnie and you........

Family gets Disney World all to themselves

POSTED: 2:07 p.m. EDT, October 4, 2006

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) -- Walking hand-in-hand on a red carpet, Raymond and Tammy Spangler and their two children seemed unsure of their steps Wednesday at Walt Disney World.

The Magic Kingdom was eerily quiet, with only the chirping of birds, piped in orchestra music and the sound of their footsteps filling the 125-acre park. They were about halfway up the red carpet to the Cinderella Castle when all that dissolved and 1,500 mouses, maids, baseball players and princesses came streaming out of hiding to welcome them.

"There were like thousand and thousands of people in the streets all of the sudden," 13-year-old Derick Spangler said.

The Spanglers, of Randolph, Ohio, were the first to win a marquee prize in Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration. One of 50,000 online entrants, they were rewarded with a morning at the Magic Kingdom all to themselves -- and a VIP tour.

By noon the family had been on Space Mountain, to the Dumbo attraction, on a carousel filled with Disney characters and on the Jungle Cruise, where 11-year-old Ashley Spangler got to drive the boat. All were free of lines, of course.

Other prizes to be awarded in Disney's contest include a chance to be the first to stay overnight in the Cinderella Castle, trips around the world as grand marshal in the Disney parade, a membership to the Disney Vacation Club and more.

Some, like a pass allowing guests to skip lines at attractions for the day, will be awarded at random to unsuspecting guests visiting a Disney park. All the company's worldwide properties are participating, but the biggest prizes are at Disney World and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Prize values range from $3.83 to $83,701 for the vacation club package, which provides annual points that can be redeemed for stays at Disney properties.

The Spanglers had been to Disney World before, but did not plan on coming to Orlando now. They only found out three weeks ago that they had won, but said it was no trouble to get work and school off.

"The kids' principal was like, 'Well I'd pull my kids out too!"' Tammy Spangler said.

The Magic Kingdom opened to the rest of the public at 10 a.m. Wednesday, an hour later than usual. Different sections of the park were opened to all guests after the Spanglers moved through.