By Caila Brown
Whether it is a birthday, graduation or true love, Disneyland and Walt Disney World have a history of promoting their parks through the idea of celebration. For 2010, Disney will be celebrating the spirit of giving through their “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program. Disney’s goal is to inspire 1 million people to volunteer a day of service in their communities.
The program is offered to residents of the United States, Puerto Rico or Canada. These residents can volunteer at a preapproved location provided by the HandsOn Network, but must sign up for these volunteer opportunities through the Disney “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” Web site.
The HandsOn Network is the volunteer branch of the Points of Light institute that focuses on inspiring, equipping and mobilizing people to take action.
After a participant signs up and completes the chosen volunteer service, they will receive a voucher for a free one-day ticket to a Disneyland or Walt Disney World Resort theme park.
The theme park ticket must be used on the same day that you redeem the voucher. The available theme parks are either Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure at the Disneyland Park in Anaheim California, Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Fla.
The ticket vouchers are not valid for admission to a Disney Water Park, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park or Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. If a volunteer participant has a valid multi-day ticket or an Annual Pass or Passport, you can turn in your voucher for a Disney’s FASTPASS Special Exchange Card for certain attractions. The FASTPASS can be used for the voucher holder and up to 5 additional people.
Volunteer opportunities change daily and are updated on the Web site by the HandsOn Network. In the Savannah area, for example, there are volunteer opportunities at the West Broad Street YMCA as a Youth Basketball Coach, the Savannah Chapter of the American Red Cross or “Meals on Wheels” Substitute for Senior Citizens, Inc. with more being added daily.
There is a limit of one free ticket per person, no matter how many eligible volunteer opportunities a person completes. Volunteer service performed prior to Jan. 1, 2010 does not count towards a theme park ticket, and registration with the Web site prior to completing your service is also required. Children are able to volunteer for certain activities and receive a free ticket, but need to be registered and accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 18.
This program will continue until the tickets are distributed but will end on Dec. 15, 2010.
There are certain “blackout” dates for both parks, which land on many of college’s spring breaks, but not SCAD’s. These dates are when tickets are not redeemable. The dates are March 29-April 8 and July 4 for Walt Disney World and March 21, June 21-22, July 4, Nov. 21 and Dec. 11-12 for Disneyland.
The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program is an incentive to do things to help the communities we live in: volunteering and helping to make them a better place. Visit their Web siteto see how you can help in your community and to find out more information.
