Pick a ride, any ride — Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, my personal favorite Peter Pan, or whatever else in Walt Disney’s empire floats your It’s a Small World boat.
Having a hard time picking? No worries, you can hit all of your Disney favorites for free in 2010 — yes, f-r-e-e, free.
Next year, Disney will run a “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program, which offers 1 million people a free day’s admission to either Disneyland or Disney World in exchange for one day of volunteer work. Once a person’s community service hours have been verified by an approved organization, participants will be eligible to receive a voucher for free park admission.
In an Associated Press interview, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo said, “We are trying to inspire 1 million people to volunteer in their communities, and we’re inspiring them to do that by giving them a free day at a Disney park.”
On the surface, Disney’s offer is a win-win for the world.
For the consumer, it’s a free ticket to Disneyland. That benefit goes without saying.
For the community, it’ll drum up a massive amount of man-hours at organizations in need. Much will be accomplished, many will be helped and — who knows — maybe some people will see how rewarding service can be and make a habit of volunteering.
For Disney, it’s smart business. Not only is it a primo marketing tactic to be on the side of good and decency, this promotion also brings people into its parks. And regardless of the price paid (or not paid) at the gate, people in the park means money in the bank. If you’ve been to any Disney park, you may have noticed that massively marked-up chicken tenders command colossal lines and every park gift shop does brisk business, in spite of being overpriced.
Sounds awesome across the board, right?
I’m not so sure. The tickets might be without a price, but they are not without a cost.
Veiled in the ever-potent shroud of Disney magic and its feel-good charms is a sinister ethical side plot. In fact, the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” offer could be nothing short of culturally destructive.
The program sends a troubling message to society as a whole, and particularly to excited young Mouseketeers: You have to get something to give something.
Is it really volunteering if you’re there primarily to collect a super-cool voucher? I’d say no. Such a practice is just as disingenuous as people doing court-ordered community service or high school kids volunteering in order to boost their college prospects. In every situation, something has to give — in this case, it just certainly won’t be someone working through incentive.
Don’t get me wrong; the promotion will likely accomplish some great things. But, realistically, once the incentive goes away, so too will the majority of volunteers. Disney’s plan will provide a circumstantial spike in volunteerism rather than a sustained push.
So while I truly believe this program will do plenty of good, I think that will all take place in the short term. In the long term, the offer will only further perpetuate the devastating “me first” disposition that wreaks havoc on our societal structure.
Even if it’s not intended to do so, the idea promotes selfishness over selflessness — and that is easily one of the most slippery of all slippery slopes.
After all, it shouldn’t take a high-five from Mickey to convince someone to nurse the sickly.
