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Disney ends free ticket program after 1 million volunteers sign up
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: Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Grand Opening
Before you go, be sure to check out Episode 4 of Gadling's Travel Talk TV, which features good and bad pilots, Holi, and a sofa in an aquarium!
Filed under: United States
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
marcar Mar 10th 2010 6:34PM
In no way am I diminishing Disney's generosity, they have done a wonderful thing knowing that by using their name they will motivate alot of people to volunteer whom otherwise never would of. Again, I just don't believe that people can find Obama to fault for anything going on with Disney. They did say from the begining it would be for a million volunteers and that is what they have done. I don't see anything wrong with that, BUT, apparently, Olga is one of the few people that live in this country and has obviously NEVER been affected by any type of problem in her life. Congratulations! I am very happy for you! And you have every right to your opinion, as do I. And I am of the opinion that Obama is TRYING to do the right thing, and the best that he can with what he has to work with. I must say that I have started woking since I was 16 yo, worked my way through school, no handouts, until I started staying home with my children 3 years ago. Always worked and paid taxes, yet I am one of the people greatly affected by everyhing going on in this country at this point in time. I have health issues, money issues, all of our savings have been used up, because we did have lots saved up and yet we are now faced with forclosure issues. My point is, to all, you have to live what other people are living to understand what they are going thru. We don't want handouts, but we do need a hand up. God Bless you all.
dennis Mar 10th 2010 3:58PM
We go to Disney every year at least once maybe twice and trust me the $79 does not deter anyone or any family from going the crowd is always crowed but it is some of the best service we have had at any place we have gone so the money is well worth. If you cant afford then you don't go we won't miss the freeloaders who think they are entitled.
Momofthree Mar 10th 2010 6:59PM
I can't believe you're referring about people who volunteered their time to charity as freeloaders! And, I also can't believe that someone who has no grammar skills whatsoever can afford to go anywhere except the trailer you must live in already! How does it feel to be judged by someone you don't know??
elyse Mar 10th 2010 5:53PM
My family signed up over a month ago and we did complete our volunteering. We are just waiting for our vouchers. But, a point was brought to my attention- what happens if people who signed up, never complete their volunteering? Once you sign up and confirm a date with the organization, you are counted in the 1,000,000 tickets. So, if you are confirmed but never actually volunteer, those are unused tickets could have gone to someone else who didn't get a chance to sign up. Also, it was stated that this program would end December 15, 2010 or 1 million tickets given away, whichever came first and, if you never confirmed a date with the organization, sorry, but you are out of luck.
Stephanie Mar 10th 2010 3:49PM
COCO You actually have to go back on the site and search for what places you would like to volunteer at and then that place would contact you to set up a time...Then you would be easily directed to how to get your voucher. You have to make sure you read all the emails and follow the instructions.
Michelle Mar 10th 2010 3:58PM
Do you realize how much it costs Disney to run the park each day? They have workers there 24/7, they NEVER "close". I'm sure they make the $ from their sales of merchandise, restaurants & private tours, but not the entry fees. Think of all the people they have to pay: Parking lot attendants, tram drivers, characters, food workers, janitors, store clerks, gardeners, ticket takers, security, people working the rides that you see, and the TONS of people you don't see underground running all the rides etc. Watch the behind the scenes of Disney or Disney After Dark specials to find out how much work actually goes into the park even after we all go home. Not to mention their electricity & water bills. They also constantly replant their flowers to keep them looking perfect to keep the whole "Fantasy world" alive.
We are not by any means well off, we are middle class and LOVE Disneyland!!! We sacrifice things all the time to save and try to take our kids every year. It's totally worth any sacrifice to see Disney through your kids eyes and the joy it brings them. If you know what you are doing, you can save TONS of $. We bring our own snacks & water in a small cooler, stay at a hotel that offers FREE breakfast, so you only have to buy lunch & dinner or just dinner at the park. If you go to one of the discount hotel sites and search the deals, then call the hotels directly with the prices, you can usually get a price match or an even better deal.
I think the point Jay T had was; If you work hard in America, you should be able to keep every penny you earn without worrying that you have to share it with someone else just so you are "EVEN". The whole "spread the wealth" thing is ridiculous. Disney earns every penny and should not be ridiculed that they ONLY gave away 1 MILLION tickets. The sign up started Jan 1st, we all had two whole months to sign up and volunteer. I am proud to say we did and really enjoyed it.They did not have to do anything, but they chose to step up which is amazing.
A Mar 10th 2010 4:17PM
First, this Disney issue has nothing to do with President Obama and I really wish that people would stop calling him a Marxist. It sounds stupid and ignorant. As for the spread the wealth crap: we already had that long before Obama. They're called TAXES. As Americans we pay taxes to the government so they can pay for things lilke public schools, waste management, law enforcement, public transportation, etc. That's not socialism, that's obeying the law! I really am starting to doubt that people who are using the word "socialism" really know what it means!
As for Disney: as far as I'm concerned, they are just another company making money, so I don't care what they do. If Disney wants to help, they can put more jobs in America's communities.
As for volunteering: if you really want to volunteer, then you should do so WITHOUT the incentive of a free Disney pass. I have volunteered many times and I did so without thinking about compensation. If you are doing it to get compensation (i.e. Disney pass), then it's not really volunteering. If Disney wants to give free passes, well... it's their money, but don't volunteer just to get the pass. Do it to help your communities. Now you all can get mad at me for my comments here, but that's how I feel, so there it is!
denro55 Mar 11th 2010 6:35AM
Actually, my "scam meter" is pretty accurate, and I investigated this pretty thoroughly before signing up.
My family volunteered in two different activities, and got our vouchers within the 2 week time frame. We were already planning a trip to Florida, and had other Disney tickets left over from a trip about 5 years ago. We used our vouchers for one day at MGM (now Hollywood Studios) and our old tickets for another day at Magic Kingdom and Epcot.
Mike Hunt Mar 10th 2010 4:17PM
It was a scam anyways. They had other free day promotions and most people who got a free day would go with other family members for multiple days.
You sheeple are funny.
A Mar 10th 2010 4:29PM
Listen, Michelle, Disney World is great, but it is certainly not worth sacrificing to spend money on Disney World when there are other much more important expenses to spend money on (i.e. Food, Clothing, Utilities, Rent, etc...). If you can afford it without putting yourselves or your family in financial jeopardy, then fine, go to Disney World. But if you're scraping to get by, you have to save the money you get. I'm sorry, but Disney is NOT so great that people should spend money to go there, especially with the jobs being lost everyday and many more to be lost in the coming months. You want Disney: go to your local library and rent a book or a Disney movie. And with the economy the way it is and people losing their jobs left and right (and NO ONE's job is safe these days), I would strongly urge people to prioritize, and unless you are rich, don't spend your money on Disney World. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!
Chris N. Mar 10th 2010 4:55PM
As has been previously posted, Disney wouldn't be taking much, if any, loss because of the numerous revenue streams connected with a visit besides the gate fee.
But my question is how many of these 1 million tickets will be redeemed? You are assuming that all of these people who signed up will in fact complete the work, follow up with the documentation, and complete there visit this year, working around the blackout periods. (We didn't sign up because our trip was already planned during one of the blackout weeks.)
But even if only a third of the tickets are redeemed, that's still 300,000 volunteers, plus those who do the work and don't redeem their tickets. So kudos to Disney!
Finally, from a purely business standpoint, I wouldn't want to be the Disney tax accountant who has to figure out what, if any, charitable donation can be claimed on their FY 2010 taxes!
Donna Mar 10th 2010 5:06PM
How do you define being a volunteer? Volunteers do work for free. Disney essentially paid each so called volunteer $79. So they were not a volunteers at all.
Michelle Mar 10th 2010 5:57PM
IN MY OPINION, Making memories with my family is absolutely worth sacrificing. I never said I didn't buy food & pay bills to go to Disneyland. My kids have clothes, shoes, food and everything they NEED. We just CHOOSE to not waste $ on eating out all the time (which is healthier anyway), video games, daily coffee, beauty salon trips, etc., so we can make memories with our kids. We only have 18 short summers with our kids and we really enjoy our vacation time. Everyone needs to get away sometimes and Disneyland is what makes us happy. We work hard to be able to have that special time and would never trade it for a plopping on the couch to watch a DVD. What is the point of working hard all the time to put away everything you earn and never be able to enjoy time with your family? I do agree that to many people probably slap down that credit card to make it happen, but that is their business. We save our $ to go because that is what we choose to do.
What in the world do other people loosing their jobs have to do with my family taking a vacation? That makes me think of the whole "everyone has to be even" stuff. We are creating memories with our kids. Not making people loose their jobs. Actually, we are helping the Disney and hotel staff keep their jobs by going. If everyone stayed home, ALL the people at the cruise lines, airlines, hotels, theme parks etc., would loose their jobs.
You have got to be kidding me that a book or movie could take the place of actually being at Disneyland. You either don't have kids, have never been, or just don't get it. Try to see life through a kids eyes and you will feel differently...I hope. We are not the kind of people that rent movies as our vacation family time. We choose to save up, get up and go do something big and fun as a family. Maybe it's not something you enjoy, but it works for us and we LOVE it.
And btw, by volunteering, we met some great people that we can continue to help. That is what Disney was hoping for, that this would be the "START" of everyone continuing to volunteer. It is also great for people who could not afford to go, but they were able to volunteer and get a free day.
gordo Mar 10th 2010 6:59PM
The tickets were donated by the workers, not the corporation. Each employee has a set amount of passes for their family and friends as a perk and disney coerced them into 'donating' their employee perks.
Natalie Mar 10th 2010 7:01PM
My family had signed up with an organization to make blankets. We purchased the material and were in the process of finishing them when the million ticket mark hit. We will still donate the blankets we have made but are disappointed we won't be getting free tickets to Disneyland.