Are Days Numbered for “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day”? (YES, They Are! GAD Now CLOSED)

[WDWKOOK]

UPDATE:

GAD closed 3/9/10:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/di...ebrate/index?name=Give-A-Day-Get-A-Disney-Day


The overwhelming support we received for the "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." program has helped us reach our goal of inspiring one million people to volunteer a day of service to their communities. The program has now ended. Although you can no longer register and sign up for volunteer opportunities on this site to earn a free Disney Theme Park ticket, you can still continue to give back to your community by locating and signing up for volunteer opportunities through HandsOn Network.


http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/03/09/disneys-give-a-day-get-a-disney-day-has-closed/

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010...promotion-after-1-million-volunteers-sign-up/




Indications show that the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion, which encouraged volunteerism with the prospect of free admission to a Disney theme park, is coming to an end.

Last month, the company boasted that it had amassed more than 600,000 volunteers in the first six weeks of the program, which began Jan. 1, 2010.
“We have been overwhelmed by the response,” said Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

When the program was annouced to the public last fall, Disney said it would distribute tickets to the first 1 million to complete their service. At the volunteer celebration last month, there were no signs that the program would be extended past that mark.

Now, the HandsOn Network, which has partnered with Disney to match volunteers with volunteer opportunities, has sent an email to organization coordinators saying that it expects the program to end “very soon.”

A point of emphasis in the e-mail: “Only volunteers who have completed the registration and signed up for a specific date and time to volunteer before the program ends will get their vouchers for a Disney theme park ticket once their service has been verified.”

Disney remains mum about the cut-off date.

“We are close to our goal of inspiring 1 million people to make a difference by volunteering,” Disney World spokesman Rick Sylvain said Friday. “This spirit of volunteer is making a significant impact in communities across the country. When we reach our goal, we will be happy to share more details.”

Hmmm. More details? That doesn’t sound like “The End” does it? Stay tuned.

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/03/are-days-numbered-for-give-a-day-get-a-disney-day/

 

[doconeill]

I got an email a little while ago from an organization that they we told today that Disney has closed it - nothing official yet, as the site still looks active.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

I just registered my son and myself for an event at our local zoo. I already received the confirm from the HandsOn Network, too....

 

[doconeill]

I just registered my son and myself for an event at our local zoo. I already received the confirm from the HandsOn Network, too....

If you signed up for a task and time, and got the confirmation, you should still be all set.

Maybe this is a "Phase 1" closing

 

[WDWKOOK]

I just registered my son and myself for an event at our local zoo. I already received the confirm from the HandsOn Network, too....

You shouldn't have any problem. They won't retroactively cancel already confirmed volunteers.

If you signed up for a task and time, and got the confirmation, you should still be all set.

Maybe this is a "Phase 1" closing

Yes, baby steps on the road to cancellation...

 

[daber]

It makes sense for Disney to continue it.
A. Great PR for both them and the Non-Profits
B. OK they give a one day pass....that person isn't going to come alone. Add in food, snacks, souveniers, etc. and they still make money.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My personal thought is that Disney will decide to either raise the limit or remove it entirely.

And the timing is right; the shareholder's meeting is next Wednesday. I would expect some sort of announcment then.

 

[mamacandy3]

I heard from a non profit that they have word that it is ending soon, very soon. Possibly even tonight!!!! I got in just in time!!

 

[Andrea]

I never got an email from when we signed up and we volunteer on april 1

 

[disneydreamer12]

What ever happened to the whole thing where on your birthday you get a free trip to Disney? Was that just last year?

 

[doconeill]

What ever happened to the whole thing where on your birthday you get a free trip to Disney? Was that just last year?

It was just last year, and it wasn't a "free trip", but just a free day of admission for your actual birthday, although it had options for multi-day ticket holders similar to the GAD program.

 

[hollybud68]

I have been trying to volunteer since this started. I have had nothing but trouble unfortunately with nobody responding.
Then I finally thought that I had something with the Red Cross, but it was just when the earthquake hit in Haiti, so they put all other project on hold...rightfully so. So I lost out on that one as well.
We are going to the parks in mid April, so there is not time left for us to take advantage of the program sadly.
Oh well, guess we will just pay to get in like everybody else!

 

[bgohre]

Not trying to be mean but I wouldn't be too sad if this promo went away.

I'm happy for those that got to take advantage of it though. It just wasn't a promo that would work for me. But like I said, I'm happy for those that got to do it. And I'm sure a lot of good was done by it.

 

[CandyMandy]

As of this morning (Monday 3/8) the Disney "Give A Day/Get A Day" site is still up and appears to still be open for new volunteer applications.

I can also confirm that it was running last Friday (3/5), the supposed "closing date." Within the course of just ten minutes late Friday afternoon I was able to:

- Put in a request
- Almost immediately after that got emails from both the HandsOn Network and the particular non-profit we were asking to volunteeer for
- Used the link in the HandsOn email to go to their site and register
- Received confirmation of our registration and volunteer date

Our volunteer work date is in early May. From what I've read, we are "safe," i.e. because we are registered we are now guarranteed to get vouchers as long as we show up on the appointed date and provide the requested effort. Or put another way, if Disney is indeed putting a cap on the ultimate number of vouchers they will provide through this initiative, even including currently incoming new registrations they still haven't reached their "million" (or whatever) quota.

 

[doconeill]

There are several more up to date threads in the Disney Promotions and Celebrations--Current Promotion: Give A Day, Get A Disney Day forum.They have closed the posting of new opportunities that have a flexible/unlimited participation. They have not stopped new postings of "limited participation" opportunities yet.

 

[Orlando313]

I didn't do anything with the Hands On Network for the GAD program, but I volunteer with Disney's Sports Enthusiasts and they give you a ticket for every 16 hours you work. Just worked the Half Marathon expo this past weekend, and it was a blast! I have a few more events in May that I'm doing too. If you're close to orlando it's something to look at because it's not connected to GAD. I just give my free tickets away though because I have an AP.

 

[doconeill]

Are the days numbered? Yup. 68 of them.

The GAD program closed this evening. No more registrations.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Are the days numbered? Yup. 68 of them.

The GAD program closed this evening. No more registrations.

Thank you for posting this, doconeill. I've update the first post with links to the closure announcement.

 

[queenpatricia]

Well, we tried to get GAD back in January when it first started but there weren't any groups available in our county. There were groups which were about an hour or longer away but none closer. With the gas prices higher & bad economy we thought there should have been something in more cities where there are several charities in local neighborhoods, like food banks, habitat, ect. Asked AAA about this & they said they would look into it but never heard anything from them. Also sent a message to Disney & no reply from them either. We go to Disney every year & this was a great disappointment. Well, this time we will spend more time outside Disney, & staying at a resort off site.