Why is every one upset about disney ending their GAD promotion?

[eliza61]

It was a great promotion, the million vouchers were met very early and yet from the uproar you'd think some one short-sheeted the Pope.

I'm not getting it. Free dining, buy 4 get 3 free, prize patrol, pin codes they're all gimmicks used to bring people to wdw. They are not guarantees.

so why is every one calling foul?

 

[MM27]

Because for some people it had nothing to do with volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather self gain. Now they don't get, so they get mad. I don't fault Disney at all. Didn't they say while supplies last or some similar disclaimer?

 

[Handbag Lady]

I'm only mad that I was sick at the beginnning of the year and wasn't able to do it like and when I had planned.

I still do volunteering, but I wanted to donate my ticket. Ah, well.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Those other promotions are usually for a set time period... June 1st - August 31st, say.

This was not... it was a "Year 2010" thing that ended before the quarter was even up?? Most people I know volunteer willingly for charities they support. This was something different and I don't think it's greedy at all that people wanted to take advantage of it. In the grand scheme of things, how much was that ticket actually worth? It's not like I'm going to go to Disney just for one day...

If the idea was to celebrate and encourage volunteering for the whole year, they didn't do a great job.

IDK... I signed up for something and the charity never got back to me. Not Disney's fault, but definitely annoying.

 

[Heidict]

Because for some people it had nothing to do with volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather self gain. Now they don't get, so they get mad. I don't fault Disney at all. Didn't they say while supplies last or some similar disclaimer?

I agree, I think for some people they are angry that they didn't get their freebie. I read somewhere, that one woman said that her DH wasn't going to be able to join her on her volunteer activity because there were no more free tickets. Really? He couldn't volunteer otherwise? For some people it was only being done to get a free ticket, it had nothing to do with actually helping people.

Hopefully, for the majority of the people, it sparked an interest and love in volunteering in them and they will continue to do so for no other reason then to help someone, not because they are getting a free ticket to Disney.

 

[nmmom95]

I thought the ads said that they wanted to get a million people to volunteer. If they hit the million, it's done. Heidict-I saw that thread too

 

[Allison]

Because for some people it had nothing to do with volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather self gain. Now they don't get, so they get mad. I don't fault Disney at all. Didn't they say while supplies last or some similar disclaimer?

Yes, it was clear from the beginning that this was a limited promotion.

 

[Heidict]

Maybe we should also be giving Disney the benefit of the doubt here. I'm sure that they are seeing and hearing this outrage that some people are having. Seeing as how we still have almost 10 months to go in the year, I'm thinking they will come out with something else for the rest of the year.

Not only to bring in more people and money but also to quite the angry masses.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm upset--only b/c we narrowly missed rescheduling for the THIRD time and I had no idea it was that close.

We were diligent--Disney--not so much.

First event was cancelled (For the ticket)--Disney allowed the group and then changed their minds suddenly really close to the event.

Second event--required double registration. First with Disney--then I had to go to the school the event was at (notified by e-mail from the person who coordinated that) to go and put my name in the system. Did that, was told it would take 6 weeks. I was told specifically that my minor children didn't have to do that, so I didn't put them in b/c I was told not to. Was notified about 3 weeks later that I had to and unfortunately it was too close to the event to get everyone cleared in time.

Third event--we are in and hopefully will stay in unless they do something whacky and decide that event doesn't merit a ticket either.

I did my due diligence. I do not mind volunteering. But I did these specific ops through Disney for a reason and we almost missed our chance.

I couldn't sign up until January 1 (their rules)--signed up in the beginning of Janaury and it took 3 events before we got something that hopefully will pan out.

Do I give Disney the BOD? Not at all. Had they not cleared the first event and then later changed their minds--I would be on the same page as you.

I was actualy fine with not doing it at all, but when registration for event 3 wouldn't process on my account--hubby got us all signed up.

To me it was a lot of hype, a lot of fluff and for us a big PITA.

We volunteer plenty. To me the ticket is beside the point. I don't like things being a PITA.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sounds like a poor business decision.

 

[daisy2jae]

I was bummed but not mad. We're going in Sept and planned on doing the program over the next month. Oh well....we usually volunteer 5-10 hrs per month and we didn't need tickets from Disney to do that. We'll just keep volunteering. Next saturday we're putting on a kiddie carnival and movie for kids in town. Should be a blast! I hope we have a good turn out. I've put 15 hours into the planning so far.

 

[lecach]

I was disappointed - not mad. I was planning to do the local can food drive on March 20 to earn 4 tickets. We're flying into Orlando in April for our cruise and the only way I could talk DH into spending a half day at MK was if it's free. No way are we paying full price for a half day during spring break. Now the canned food drive will most likely not get nearly as many cans either. The school doing the event was nice enough to annouce in the paper that the deal was off. But I bet some people didnt see that article and will show up expecting to get their tickets and get mad.

 

[undertheradar]

We do a one week scout camp and were going to use the GAD to encourage more volunteers. It sickens to read on these boards where people baked 2 dozen cookies or took several items of canned goods to "earn" a voucher for a $70 ticket. I think the idea was good but the execution was flawed! The worst part of it was how poorly the information about the end of the program was distributed.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We did our work at the beginning of February because I thought they would run out early..not that early! What bothers me is that people come on these threads upset because they had problems getting in, or technical complications and they are being flamed for feeling "entitled"or are greedy. (why do Dissers LOVE using that word so much??) These people aren't feeling entitled, they are not greedy, they are just voicing disappointment in how things turned out. Why jump on them for wanting to earn the free ticket? Maybe they aren't wording their posts carefully enough to ward off critical posters. I bet those throwing around "entitled" got their tickets!

 

[C.Ann]

I thought the ads said that they wanted to get a million people to volunteer. If they hit the million, it's done. Heidict-I saw that thread too

I thought I read that somewhere as well - that the quota (cut-off) was a million free tickets.. If they reached that goal, I don't understand why people are angry about it.. It's really no different than having to work within certain guidelines (dates) for free dining; pin codes for specific resorts; etc..

 

[WaltD4Me]

I'm not mad at Disney, but I think ending the program now is short sighted of them. I think keeping the program going was a win/win situation. No matter the motive, it would keep people signing up to volunteer and it would also keep people thinking about making a trip to Disney. More than a few friends/family/aquaintances mentioned to me that they were thinking of a trip to Disney that they weren't thinking about before they heard about the free ticket. It seemed like a draw for Disney, which, you have to admit was part of the point of it. Disney is giving room discounts, package discounts, free dining and other promotions, why not continue GAD? How many people will just go for the day? Most likely people with a free ticket will add a couple more days or more and that's a good thing for Disney now.

 

[MrsPete]

It was a great promotion, the million vouchers were met very early and yet from the uproar you'd think some one short-sheeted the Pope.

I'm not getting it. Free dining, buy 4 get 3 free, prize patrol, pin codes they're all gimmicks used to bring people to wdw. They are not guarantees.

so why is every one calling foul?

Greed. Plain and simple.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm not mad at Disney, but I think ending the program now is short sighted of them. I think keeping the program going was a win/win situation. No matter the motive, it would keep people signing up to volunteer and it would also keep people thinking about making a trip to Disney. More than a few friends/family/aquaintances mentioned to me that they were thinking of a trip to Disney that they weren't thinking about before they heard about the free ticket. It seemed like a draw for Disney, which, you have to admit was part of the point of it. Disney is giving room discounts, package discounts, free dining and other promotions, why not continue GAD? How many people will just go for the day? Most likely people with a free ticket will add a couple more days or more and that's a good thing for Disney now.

I think the same thing. I don't think Disney lost a penny in giving away these tickets. If I had a free ticket -- even if I had a ticket for every member of my family -- I'd still have to pay for a hotel room (and I'd stay on site), meals (and I'd eat on site), and I'd buy more tickets -- I wouldn't drive to Florida for ONE DAY at the parks!

I suspect most people who could drive to the parks for one day (and who'd be motivated by this program) probably already have an annual pass.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Greed. Plain and simple.

People are disappointed and that is called greed? BTW, did you get your free ticket?

 

[FireDancer]

I am not upset at all. I think a lot of people were under the false impression that the yearly promotion meant that they can volunteer and get a voucher for the entire year. That was an incorrect assumption. It meant that you can volunteer up until a million vouchers are given out and have a year to use them (all of 2010). That is where the year comes in.

What they did was great and it should be commended that a million people volunteered in just over two months instead of attacked.