Give A Day possibly reaching limits tomorrow...NOW CLOSED! UPDATE #43

[doconeill]

Multiple volunteers are reportedly receiving emails from various organizations that Disney is notifying them that they are almost at 1 million volunteers, and may close down the program tomorrow...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2411869

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Multiple volunteers are reportedly receiving emails from various organizations that Disney is notifying them that they are almost at 1 million volunteers, and may close down the program tomorrow...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2411869

Can they really shut this thing down just over 2 months in without there being a huge backlash??

 

[doconeill]

Can they really shut this thing down just over 2 months in without there being a huge backlash??

What backlash could there be, really? They aren't going to stop redeeming the vouchers for tickets. If you signed up for a specific opportunity on a specific date, supposedly you are already guaranteed a voucher (assuming you complete the service).

At best, there would likely be complaints from those who never saw reasonable opportunities become available in their area.

But who knows what Disney may do...they may decide to extend it after a bit. They may transform it into a different offer (perhaps FP only). But it seems that Disney may at least halt registrations.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

What backlash could there be, really? They aren't going to stop redeeming the vouchers for tickets. If you signed up for a specific opportunity on a specific date, supposedly you are already guaranteed a voucher (assuming you complete the service).

At best, there would likely be complaints from those who never saw reasonable opportunities become available in their area.

But who knows what Disney may do...they may decide to extend it after a bit. They may transform it into a different offer (perhaps FP only). But it seems that Disney may at least halt registrations.

Maybe backlash is the wrong word. Disappointment?

They plan a year-long promotion around this, and cut it off in March?

 

[Madi100]

Thanks for that. I had my project picked out, just hadn't filled out the information. The girls and I are signed up. We are doing Project Linus, although I did find that I can do Big Brothers, Big Sisters here locally and help with a fundraiser. I'm going to help anyway, but get credit for the blankets.

 

[doconeill]

Maybe backlash is the wrong word. Disappointment?

They plan a year-long promotion around this, and cut it off in March?

True...but they are accepting the vouchers for (nearly) a year. They announced that they were looking to get a million volunteers, and apparently they are meeting that goal a LOT faster than they expected. Regardless, what the press will latch on to is that Disney had the power to mobilize 1 million people into volunteering in just over 2 months. That is a HUGE thing.

 

[Madi100]

Maybe backlash is the wrong word. Disappointment?

They plan a year-long promotion around this, and cut it off in March?

No, I think that they say how amazing that it is that 1 million people volunteered to help out in their community in just over 3 months.

 

[WaltD4Me]

No, I think that they say how amazing that it is that 1 million people volunteered to help out in their community in just over 3 months.

I'm a little confused. Are they only closing the registrations? And if you are already registered, you are still good to get your ticket?

It's a shame if they cut it off. 1,000,000 registrations isn't going to equal 1,000,000 tickets given out. There are going to people that register and then don't/can't complete their volunteer time and others who do register and do their project, but then don't make it to Disney in time to claim their ticket. I bet Disney has a pretty good guesstimate of what the percentage of this will be, why not extend the registration a little?

 

[doconeill]

I'm a little confused. Are they only closing the registrations? And if you are already registered, you are still good to get your ticket?

It's a shame if they cut it off. 1,000,000 registrations isn't going to equal 1,000,000 tickets given out. There are going to people that register and then don't/can't complete their volunteer time and others who do register and do their project, but then don't make it to Disney in time to claim their ticket. I bet Disney has a pretty good guesstimate of what the percentage of this will be, why not extend the registration a little?

If you are registered with a specific volunteer opportunity and date, you are supposed to be safe.

The goal was 1 million volunteers, which is basically tracked by registrations. I think Disney expects that some percentage will not redeem their vouchers. They may already be taking that into account, but the goal was never necessarily stated as giving away 1 million free tickets...

 

[safetymom]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/03/04/disney-volunteer-program-nearing-1-million-volunteers/

 

[jessrose18]

I would be surprised if they didn't extend it...but hey what do I know. It would be nice if they let people keep volunteering for the fast passes instead of free tickets. We volunteered on Saturday and there were almost 200 volunteers at our event and a lot were there for the Disney ticket. They did a good job of promoting GAD!

 

[FireDancer]

I think there are two way to look at the promotion as a year long. The first is you can volunteer for the year and get a voucher. The second is you can be one of the first million volunteers and you can use the voucher for the whole year. Disney is probably going with the second.

I was signed up for an opportunity and never heard from the organization so I choose another just yesterday and already sent my paperwork in to them. I'm glad I did now.

I do think they will extend it but I don't think they have to and I doubt it will be extended to fill the whole year. I do think they should from a business side. Sure, I have a free ticket to a park now but I will be staying in an on property hotel and will be eating in the parks and spending money I may not have. I am also coming down for only one day. I imagine a lot of people will us this ticket to extend their trip one day or use the money they would have spent on the ticket somewhere else in the park.

That being said it is great that so many people have signed up to help someone else out.

 

[Poohbug]

I think it is a great idea to extend the program for fastpasses only. I know those people that must visit the parks in the summer would still volunteer for the chance at the fastpass.

 

[mikelan6]

The promotion is called "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" ... where does it say that they have to do this for the whole year? I think once they hit their limit, they should stop offering the vouchers.

 

[natale1980]

I guess this answers my question on the podcast a few weeks ago. Seems like they are giving out one million vouchers, not a million tickets.
We are signed up for an event on March 20th.
I'm going to do it no matter what. I hope we get our Free Disney Day, but whatever happens I'm going to show up and participate.

-nat

 

[doconeill]

I guess this answers my question on the podcast a few weeks ago. Seems like they are giving out one million vouchers, not a million tickets.
We are signed up for an event on March 20th.
I'm going to do it no matter what. I hope we get our Free Disney Day, but whatever happens I'm going to show up and participate.

-nat

It was generally understood that vouchers were going to be the limiting factor. But it actually is a bit short of that - they are cutting it off based on confirmed registrations - volunteers signed up on the Disney site and confirmed for a particular opportunity and date, who are essentially guaranteed a voucher IF they complete their opportunity. I'm betting they don't cut it off mid-registration for people...they'll probably turn it off in the early AM the day after they reach their goal, so it will likely be somewhere over 1 million.

So, if there turns out to be a large number of no-shows, they could conceivably allow more registrations...but that could be more trouble than its worth as it would take several weeks to sort it all out, decide what to do, etc.

 

[PolynesianLily]

I guess it would be alright for me to say that Disney should have thought this through. Clearly people will do stuff to get things for free, especially things that typically cost $74.00.

Who knows what they will do.

 

[kaligal]

If it is true, I feel badly for people who wanted to do this, planned to do it, procrastinated a little and now are out of luck.

YOAMD went for...what? 18 months? GADGAD is over in 3.

 

[mainegal]

Well, I finally signed up for a volunteer event.

Helping the American Lung Association with the Trek Across Maine, a 180 mile, three day bike ride. One of the overnights is at Colby College, a half mile from where I live. They need 750 volunteers, so I knew there would be an opportunity for me.

I really do hope I still get a free Disney Day. But in any case, it will be fun to be supporting the riders raising money.

 

[doconeill]

I haven't seen anything official yet, but I just got the following email from the coordinator of an organization:

Unfortunately, I am writing to tell you that we learned just a few short hours ago that Disney has officially ended the Give A Day. Get A Day program and will not be issuing any vouchers because they have reached their 1 millionth volunteer mark.

So, it looks like Disney did in fact close down the program earlier today, although the site still looks live...