"What Will You Celebrate?"

I feel that one of my jobs as a travel professional is to help my clients cut through some of the promotional hype that we get bombarded with on a daily basis and make sure everyone understands what they are getting for the money etc.

In the case of Disney's latest promotion announced earlier today, I want to make sure everyone knows exactly what they will get in return for what they will give. As a way of extending Disney's "What will you celebrate" promo, Disney announced a new "Give one, get one" deal. The idea is that they want you and I to be volunteers and, in return for our efforts, Disney will reward us with something. By tying it into the "Celebration" promo, you might automatically assume that the offer is somewhat the same, but that is not true. The "Celebration" deal offered guests either a free day in the park (not to be combined with any package deal), a gift card in the amount of a day's park pass to be used inside the parks etc, or a special fast pass card. Most clients and guests did not qualify for the free 1 day admission so the next best option was the gift card. I know several who used the gift card and loved it.

I was actually expecting the same offer to be applied to the "Give one, get one" deal, and was surprised to learn that it did not. Here are the options, besides a free day in the park, once you "qualify" for the promo:

• Disney's Special FASTPASS® card for certain attractions for themselves and up to five additional members of their party
• A collectible Ear Hat figurine with exclusive trading pins
• Donate their ticket to a non-profit organization designated by Disney Parks

Again...you need to know that the free day in the park will mainly apply to those who live in Florida near the parks who can drive over to spend the day and who would not normally purchase a Disney Package Vacation. So that leaves most guests with choosing between the 3 other options listed above which, as you can see, no longer includes a gift card in the amount of a one day pass.

While I love the idea of more people doing community work and volunteering, it seems that this promo leaves a little to be desired in the way of benefit to the guests as much as it gives Disney some great PR especially since they are ending the current "Birthday Treat" option (end of 2009).

I also want you to be aware that not everyone will be able to qualify for the offer. The terms and conditions will lay out a specific set of organizations that you have to volunteer with in order to qualify. After doing some research, I found that most of those organizations are only in the larger cities which will make it impossible for so many guests to qualify who live in more rural settings.

More details of the "qualifying organizations" will be coming out later this year and I will be keeping everyone up to speed as things become more clear etc. I hope this helps everyone see the true picture behind this particular promotion. And please do not think I am out to bash Disney. I love Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line, but I never want to get to the point that I over hype something just because I personally like that company or destination.

Please feel free to ask any question or leave a comment in general.