One thing I noticed right away: They never mentioned they would take some inspiration from the submitted design, or acknowledge any specific detail. So they can't get sued for IP infringement later, if they ever build a ride that shares any design details with the "Quadroupler"
I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
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Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#52I did a similar thing with a car design for Mercedes-Benz when I was around the same age. I had all the car drawing books and really thought I was going to be a car designer. Much to my surprise, they responded with enthusiasm and even sent me a Mercedes-Benz keychain :)
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#53I just love everything about this. I love that kids could be left alone in their home and would burn plastic over a gas stove to create models of roller coasters. I love that Disney would respond to him and not even forget the typo in quadrupuler. I love that he kept all that and thought of it as a foundational part of his personality (I think probably he was already like that)
makes me sad nowadays kids just want to watch short form video instead of create
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#54When I was young I wrote to the Formula 1 team McLaren to ask if they could hire me for a student job. I didn't expect to get a reply, but I got one. The answer was negative, but I was happy. I never reflected about it until now, but maybe it learned me that asking doesn't cost anything, and that the worst thing that can happen is getting a negative answer? Not sure that was the turning point, but this is indeed my a…
>The answer was negative, but I was happy. For sure it was a nice experience, I would have done the same, imagine that kid you wrote back gets inspired, goes to study engineering then they come work for you instead of the competition. But nowadays is getting super rare to get human written rejection emails anymore, let alone to kids. >but maybe it learned me that asking doesn't cost anything, and that the worst thing…
You're right of course. I hadn't thought of the negatives when this self-restraint is absent.
I only sent one letter to one team because I was a fan. The restraining factor was being a fan. Remove that, and it can indeed rapidly go out of hands....
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#55When I was 8 I sent a letter to LEGO about a line of toys that slid down on stair bannister's. I gave it to my mom to send to them but apparently she betrayed me and kept it for herself because she thought it was "cute". Thanks to her I don't work for LEGO :(
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#56These letters matter a lot to kids. I sent my video game idea to Nintendo as a little kid and I had the same reaction seeing that envelope from Nintendo in the mailbox addressed to me. I think it was also a bit more special pre-internet as these companies felt a bit more magical and mysterious. You can only read about them through video game magazines and see their names in the credit scenes at the end of the games.…
A lot of companies and organizations actually reply to letters/emails of any kind. Often very appropriately and not just with some boilerplate text. I guess they have to deal with so many annoying complaints, so they are really happy if there is something joyful once in a while.
Probably a smart move. Writing and mailing a letter takes a lot more time and effort than a phone call or comment online. If a person took the time to write a letter, they're probably worth taking the time to respond to.
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#57At age 13 I pitched a candy idea to Mars Bars as part of a school project to write business letters. I loved Snickers at the time but was tired of unwrapping so many fun-size ones from Halloween. I told them something like - “you should just put the fun-size candies in a big resealable bag, so people can eat as much as they want without dealing with the wrappers. You can call them unwrapped minis. All you have to do…
I pitched a "crit Doritos" idea to Pepsi just recently, but sadly they haven't implemented it :-)
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#58At age 13 I pitched a candy idea to Mars Bars as part of a school project to write business letters. I loved Snickers at the time but was tired of unwrapping so many fun-size ones from Halloween. I told them something like - “you should just put the fun-size candies in a big resealable bag, so people can eat as much as they want without dealing with the wrappers. You can call them unwrapped minis. All you have to do…
8 months later sounds too short to have taken your idea, I'm guessing launching a product at Mars scale takes like 2 years. This is probably why the always say they cannot take ideas sent by external people... but on the other hand if this came from the CEO, probably could be fast tracked. So 80/20.
Do you remember who was the CEO?
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#59I wonder how much of a role parents played here. Surely there must have been some help involved with resources, encouragement, and at least getting the letters sent?
I applaud parents who encourage kids to do stuff like this when they have the innate drive for it.
Re: I pitched a roller coaster to Disneyland at age 10 in 1978
#60When I was 8 I sent a letter to LEGO about a line of toys that slid down on stair bannister's. I gave it to my mom to send to them but apparently she betrayed me and kept it for herself because she thought it was "cute". Thanks to her I don't work for LEGO :(
She should have sent it! The first person to disrespect a child is the loser, and shouldn’t be the child’s parent.