Disney Parks announced Tuesday that the company’s goal of recruiting 1 million people to donate their time and get a 1-day ticket to Disney in return has been reached, and the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion is ending.
Those participating in the program signed up to volunteer through the nationwide HandsOn Network. Although volunteer registration has ended, those who completed their volunteer activity still have until Dec. 15 to use their free park ticket at Walt Disney World or Disneyland.
In 2009, Disney distributed 1.2 million free tickets to anyone who went to one of their U.S. theme parks on his or her birthday. That’s about 100,000 per month. The volunteer promotion was getting 100,000 participants per week this year.
At a media event last month at Walt Disney World, Disney officials admitted they were “overwhelmed” by this response.
No word yet on what will happen to the daily “pre-parade” in the Magic Kingdom that is designed to celebrate the promotion. It was the first new use of the Muppets at Walt Disney World in several years, and I hope that the promotion’s end doesn’t relegate Miss Piggy back to her dressing room.%Gallery-86600%