Give A Day, Get A Disney Day

Disney's newest promotion for next year (because they always have to have one now. :) ) is the Give a Day, Get A Disney Day celebration.

All of next year, if you volunteer with select organizations (can be found through the HandsOn Network), you will get a free, one day ticket to any one Disney theme park.

So how will all of this work? Well, starting January 1st, you will have to sign up with Disney and the HandsOn Network. (more information on how will be released closer to January 1st). From there, you will be able to search volunteer opportunities close to you to participate in, that are affiliated with the participating organizations. Once you have completed your service and the HandsOn Network has verified it, you will be sent an email telling you how to print and redeem your Disney Theme Park Ticket.

Tickets will be valid at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure. No other locations are valid in this promotion.

Eligibility is only available for residents of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Participants must be at least 6 years of age, with an adult accompanying them if they are between the ages of 6 and 17. However, you must be 18 or older to sign up. And you will only receive 1 ticket per person, no matter how many hours you have volunteered. Also, you may only sign up a maximum of 8 additional members of your household.

There are limited quantities of tickets available...so the promotion is slated to run until tickets run out OR Dec. 15th...whichever comes first.

If you already have theme park admission, there are a few options that are available to you. (Much like there were with last year's Birthday Celebration). First, there is the FastPass option. This is where you will receive a special FastPass cards for certain attractions that will allow for you and up to 5 additional members of your party to automatically FastPass said attraction and get right on with little to no wait at that specific time. Another option is the collectible Ear Hat figurine with exclusive trading pins. Finally (and this is the one that I really like the most, if you can't take advantage of the tickets) you can donate your ticket to a non-profit organization that has been designated by Disney, therefore spreading your good deeds around even more.

So, those are the nuts and bolts of this new, great promotion by Disney.

The one thing I like the most about this promotion is that you aren't limited to only going around your birthday. If you have a trip in Sept. and your birthday is in July and you couldn't make it in July, you don't get penalized.

That part, to me, is huge. This opens this promotion up to be utilized by way more people...which I like, because you have to do something great for your community in order to receive the ticket in the first place...and volunteering is such a wonderful and amazing thing that far too few people do. I love that you aren't limited to a specific time of the year to take advantage...and I also love that the whole family can participate as well. It allows for good family bonding time together.

For more information about my feelings about this "celebration" please, listen to http://www.beourguestpodcast.com/ this Friday as we discuss this topic in more detail.

And please, this next year...volunteer. It will help out in ways you can't even imagine. And trust me, when I say, nothing feels better than giving your time to someone or something in need.