Illinois Grandparents Accidentally Buy $10K in Disney Plus Gift Cards from Sam's. Disney Allows Them to Exchange the Cards for Theme Park

A woman who wanted to take her family to Disney World had to put off her trip due to the pandemic, so the grandparents purchased $10K of Disney Plus gift cards, thinking they were for the theme park. This is the update to the story.

Disney World Florida

A family from Normal, Illinois made a blunder when the grandparents thought they were "being smart" by buying $10,000 worth of Disney plus gift cards ahead of time thinking they were good to fund a trip to Disney World.

It wasn't until the grandparents were trying to pay for the trip to the theme park online that they realized their big mistake.

41-year-old Andie Coston shared about the mishap on TikTok recently and her original video was viewed over 4 million times, giving her temporary viral video fame.

In the text overlay in the original video, it read:

"To save some money, my parents bought 10k of Disney gift cards to purchase our tickets and restaurant reservations." -Andie Coston, Disney park enthusiast

After it happened, she said:

"We were all befuddled and baffled at what had happened...The absurdity was funny but then the realization that we may not actually make it to Disney was sad ... This has always been the one big trip that I can take my kids on." -Andie Coston, Disney park enthusiast

Coston Family Realizes They Have $10K in Disney Plus Gift Cards

USA Today reported that Andie Coston's parents thought they had bought $10K in gift cards to the magical theme park in Florida from Sam's Club. When the family discovered they had accidentally purchased gift cards for the Disney Plus streaming service, they first reached out to Sam's Club and also to Disney.

Disney plus gift cards

Here's the update to her story.

Update: Disney Works to Make it Right

Andy Coston posted an update on her situation to TikTok on Thursday.

Andie Coston

In the video, she said:

"Good morning everybody. I just wanted to provide um some updates, some clarifications, uh number one...yes, Disney has contacted us. They contacted my parents Monday evening and they have been working on rectifying the situation ever since. It is a slow-going process.

My parents are having to take photos of every single one of the gift cards and email it to this poor guy named Joey in California. Joey, you have my deepest condolences and sympathies, and then Joey has to do his thing and then transfer them onto like regular like Disney Parks gift cards, so they've been working on that slowly cause you can only send so many pictures per email, right?" -Andie Coston, Disney park enthusiast

Sam's Club did reach out to them, but could not refund the cards.

Andie explains in her update video that her parents had scratched off all of the codes on the back of the gift cards, trying to enter them into the Disney Park website, but they didn't accept them at the Disney Park website, and the cards could not be returned to Sam's after the codes had been used.

Andie's video update can be seen on TikTok.

Update: The Coston Family Went to Disney World

The Coston family was still able to take their dream vacation to Disney World and has posted about it on TikTok.

The photo below was posted on Tuesday, 27 December of her family at Disney World.

Coston family

Andie wrote the following message in the description on TikTok, sharing that some of the internet fame was not all positive.

It read:

"When I was a teen, I wanted to be famous so badly. I graduated high school and joked that one day I'd be a cast member on SNL. It was really a pipe dream I never pursued because my skin isn't thick enough to handle the feedback.

This past week has felt like a month. When I woke up and saw my TikTok had hit 500k and then over the next 7 days watched it hit 4 million, I was aghast. I'm not made for fame, but better in my Therapist chair.

I've had to engage my support system and work hard to try to embrace this BANANAS experience while facing online trolling, criticism, hate, and sheer disregard for the value of human worth. So I stayed MOSTLY out of the comments." -Andie Coston, Disney park enthusiast

Thankfully, her family was still able to travel to Disney World and enjoy the theme park.

Thoughts

Now it's time for the reader to share your thoughts on this story.

• Have you ever made a mishap and purchased the wrong kind of gift or gift card for someone?
• How would you feel if you accidentally purchased Disney+ gift cards instead of Disney theme park gift cards?
• Are you surprised that Disney was willing to switch out her Disney Plus gift cards for Disney Parks gift cards?

Sources

Andie Coston on TikTok: @aofthecoast

Goh, Amanda. "Grandparents messed up and bought the family 70 years' worth of Disney+ instead of a trip to the theme park." Business Insider. 25 December 2023.

Robledo, Anthony. "70 years of Disney Plus: Family accidently spends thousands on streaming instead of trip." USA Today. 20 December 2023.

Philadelphia Police Department used 'Fantasyland' Coordinates for Years until Discovered; Now they use 'Atlantic Ocean'

For over 10 years, the Philadelphia Police Department logged the coordinates for crimes "without an exact location" to Disney World. It continued unchecked for years until a news investigation questioned the practice. They decided it would be a better practice to log these crimes into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as is the practice of other police precincts.

An on-duty police officer; credit: Martin Jernberg

The practice of repeatedly doing something over and over again the same way incorrectly “because that’s how we’ve always done it” is now biting the Philadelphia Police Department.

An investigative report by NBC 10 Philadelphia found that Philadelphia Police Department continued to report “location-less” crimes incorrectly for over 10 years until an investigative report prompted them to change this practice.

The Washington Post also reported on this story.

For the Philadelphia Police Department crimes without a precise GPS location, police officers were using the coordinates of “Fantasyland,” a specific area within Disney World, which is located in Florida. (Source: The Washington Times)

This type of GPS reporting was inaccurate for crimes without a specific location. The NBC 10 Philadelphia investigative team looked into this. They wanted to know why Philadelphia crimes were being reported to Fantasyland. This uncovered how long this practice has been going on within the department and prompted a change in this practice.

What Happened When Philadelphia Police Did Not Have a Precise Location?

In general, when a police officer submits a police report, they also log the GPS coordinates where the crime took place. This allows crime analysts to map out the crime data and compile statistics. It started to raise questions about why Philadelphia crimes were being reported in Disney World, a theme park in Florida.

NBC 10 Philadelphia reported:

“For more than a decade, if Philadelphia police officers made a typo or were unable to record a precise location for a crime committed in the city, the department would mark the incident with GPS coordinates inside Disney World in Florida. Specifically, the area behind Cinderella’s Castle known as ‘Fantasyland’ became the default location for inaccurate crime data.”

(Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

What is more mind-boggling is there was not any other location found inside the Philadelphia city limits with more crime than the crimes logged at Disney World, which shows how common this practice was within the police department.

According to NBC 10 Philadelphia, “over the past six years, more than 5,000 crimes — including 16 arsons, 50 homicides, and 298 auto thefts — were plotted to Disney World.”

It is obviously clear that Philadelphia crimes were not taking place in Disney World, and the GPS coordinates for the crimes should not have been reported in this manner.

The reason it was done this way, was all about the statistics.

Done This Way So it ‘Wouldn’t Skew’ the Philadelphia Crime Statistics

When NBC 10 Philadelphia news investigators brought this issue to the Philadelphia Police Department, their director of research and analysis, Kevin Thomas began to look into it, as he was “unaware” of this practice at the time he was first asked.

After looking into it, “he asked others in the department who said the choice to map certain crimes to Disney World was made more than ten years ago” and he added, “In no way was this meant to be in any way humorous.” (Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

The reason: They chose Disney World so these crimes without a location so would not affect Philadelphia crime statistics.

“It was just an innocuous location chosen within the U.S. that would obviously not have anything to do with Philadelphia whatsoever.” -Kevin Thomas, Philadelphia Police Dept. direct of research and analysis (Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

Philadelphia’s Police Reported Location-less Crime Against Industry Standards

Business Insider interviewed an expert, Christopher Herrmann, a former crime analyst supervisor from the New York Police Department.

“The practice of using a fake location for unknowns not only creates a false record, but having that option also creates an environment in which officers don’t feel they have to put in the extra effort to accurately map the incidents” -Chris Herrmann, a former crime analyst supervisor from the New York Police Department (Source: Business Insider)

According to Herrmann, “police departments should be able to accurately map at least 95% of crimes. At some departments that have been crime mapping for a long time, like the NYPD, the data can be over 99% accurate.” (Source: Business Insider)

For crimes with unknown locations, Herrmann says that it is a better practice to GPS log the crime somewhere that is clearly not the location of the crime — like the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — and not at Disney World or even the police headquarters.” (Source: Business Insider)

A Philadelphia Family Hurt by this Practice

One prime example of how this practice hurt a family is when Shineka Crawford lost her son in a shooting on the streets of Philadelphia. She found her son in the street on the 1700 block of 68th Avenue in West Oak Lane.

However, the Philadelphia Police Department marked the GPS location as Disney World.

(Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

“I can’t get that picture out of my head. The pain never goes away, and never gets better. It’s hurtful. He got murdered on the street in Philadelphia.” -Shineka Crawford (Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

Is this a Resolution or a Band-Aid to a Problem that Needs to be Corrected?

It should be noted that after NBC 10 Philadelphia investigated this story, the Philadelphia Police Department changed its policy, and "will now plot inaccurate crimes in the Atlantic Ocean." (Source: NBC 10 Philadelphia)

Perhaps an even better solution is for the crime reporting software to have an "exact location unknown" option so police departments do not have to inaccurately attribute crime to places it didn’t happen (including the Atlantic Ocean). The crime reporting software needs an update, so police officers don't continually have to find a workaround.

Sources

Freeman, Danny. “For Years, Philly Police Dumped Crime Data at Disney World.” NBC 10 Philadelphia. Published September 22, 2022. Updated on September 23, 2022

Matthews, Brad. “Philadelphia police logged crime data at Disney World for years.” The Washington Times. 24 September 2022.

Orecchio-Egresitz, Haven. “How Disney World’s Fantasyland was turned into an apparent crime hotspot by Philly police.” Business Insider. 23 September 2022.

Which Four NBA Players will form a Superteam in the Disney World Bubble?

NBA Superstars Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard

The world wants to know, which four NBA superstar players will form a superteam because of playing and living so close in Disney World during the 2020 season?

More specifically: Which four NBA players will be in the Orlando Four?

A Complex article on July 24 discussed how agents and executives are "concerned" the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida could lead to NBA players getting together to form superteams, much like the Miami Heat with Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dewayne Wade from 2010 to 2014. They won back-to-back championships in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The NBA season is expected to resume on July 30, 2020 in the Walt Disney World sports complex, which is located in Orlando, FL At the time that this article is written, the NBA teams have been scrimmaging each other in Orlando, Florida.

The Orlando Four could be formed from different combinations of NBA Players.

It is all up for speculation right now, but it is fun to speculate who could be the four superstars.

A Complex article on July 24 discussed how agents and executives are "concerned" the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida could lead to NBA players getting together to form superteams, much like the Miami Heat with Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dewayne Wade from 2010 to 2014. They won back-to-back championships in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

2021 Free Agents that could form a Superteam 'Orlando Four' in the NBA Bubble

The 2021 free agents include:

• Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
• Chris Paul, Oklahoma Thunder
• DeMar DeRozan, San Antonio Spurs
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics
• LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
• Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers
• Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans
• Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers
• Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
• Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers

2020 and 2021 NBA Players (free agents) listed by team here.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst was quoted on the show Get UP! saying, "I have heard on more than four occasions, agents or executives complaining about how in a year or two...next year, when we have a loaded 2021 free agent class, whether bonds have been formed in this bubble, with teams that are clustered together, will, you know, play out."

.@WindhorstESPN is hearing from multiple league executives and agents that they're concerned about the formation of the next NBA super team in the bubble.

"In a year will we be talking about the formation of the Orlando Four?" pic.twitter.com/5UCq34EJsT

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 24, 2020

Some of the obvious teams that already have the formings of a NBA superteam:
Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis, LeBron James
Los Angeles Clippers: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George
Houston Rockets: James Harden, Russell Westbrook
Dallas Mavericks: Seth Curry, Luka Doncic

Indiana Jones Versus Pirates of the Caribbean: Should There Be a Fifth Movie?

Recently, a friend posted on Facebook about his dislike for the Pirates franchise, and how they better not be making a 5th movie. I replied to the effect that the same should hold true to the Indiana Jones franchise. I thought the last Indiana Jones movie was not only horrible, but it also stole the plot from Stargate: SG1.

To read more about this, see my earlier blog post, found here.

Basically, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a let down, because it used some cheesy jeep driving-on-the-edge-of-the-cliff CGI, Indy jumping into a lead fridge to survive a nuke, and had to incorporate aliens into the movie, rather than have Indiana Jones go on a real adventure. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with using aliens, if done right. Stargate: SG-1 did a good job with aliens.

 A Crystal Skull, like in Indiana Jones 4

Indiana Jones 4 did not stay true to the franchise, and did not convince me that it is worthy of a 5th movie.

Now, to be fair, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was my least favorite movie of this franchise, because it had the giant CGI Calypso wreaking havoc while the two ships fought while spinning inside of a whirlpool. It was not believable, and definitely not cool.



Pirate ships swirling around in Calypso's bathwater

So, opinions aside, let's let the numbers do the talking. I did this side-by-side comparison of the two franchises, and guess which franchise wins when you compare the ticket sales at the box office?

Pirates of the Caribbean, hands down.

Indiana Jones vs. Pirates of the Caribbean franchise statistics

I am not against Disney making a Pirates of the Caribbean Part 5. But I am totally against a 5th Indiana Jones movie. Yes, the last one was that bad.

If you want to know the real problem with Hollywood and movie sequels these days, read my Yahoo! Voices article, found here.