In an interesting move that began with Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon last month, folks who volunteer to help out at runDisney races received a complimentary half-day theme park ticket (not valid until 1 pm) instead of the expected full-day ticket they’ve received for as long as I can remember.
These volunteers wake up in the middle of the night to help with set up, handing out medals, cleaning up after the race is finished, and so much more. Let’s be honest; most of us have visited Walt Disney World during a race weekend or at least have seen online photos of the size and scale of these events. They’re huge, and the amount of work involved is tremendous.
One volunteer told the Orlando Sentinel that this was a surprise, and the volunteers weren’t told about the change prior to the race.
Over and over [during the event], you hear the announcements, ‘Thank you, volunteers! We couldn’t do it without you. We depend on our volunteers.’ And then they went and changed the tickets without anybody knowing. So that was just like, you only half appreciate us now.
Michele Stone via the Orlando Sentinel
The cost to participate in any of runDisney’s races is extraordinarily expensive and knowing that these events couldn’t possibly be pulled off without the volunteers makes this half-day ticket reward seem really cheap. They don’t even sell a half-day theme park ticket to Walt Disney World.
