Kudos To Universal Orlando For Offering A Volunteer Vacation Package

This is pretty cool. Three nights accommodations, park hopping tickets and round trip transportation to Give Kids The World Village to help out that wonderful charity.

Wow, that is fantastic. All three of the big theme park groups in Orlando are very generous with the guests of the village, but this is easily one of the best deals I've seen for people who come here to volunteer. It's more common than you would think, the people who vacation here in part to volunteer.

By the way... there are big changes to Coasting For Kids coming this year... with opportunities for people who may not have ever participated in the event. Stay tuned!

I'm what I call thrifty and most of my friends call cheap :-) but I would be happy to pay $149 a night for 3 nights at Cabana Bay and two days in Universal's parks -- and more than happy to devote more than 4 hours to GKTW. What a great organization.

I'll post a news item for this as well, but they posted a nice video about it, with some shots from the village...

Wow. Nice.

Jeff said:

By the way... there are big changes to Coasting For Kids coming this year... with opportunities for people who may not have ever participated in the event. Stay tuned!

Unfortunately, my so-called "health" has deteriorated beyond my ability to participate in Coasting For Kids this year, ending my five year run. My financial situation is just as bad, but I hope I'll be able to help those great, caring, compassionate folks in some small way.

I'm sorry to hear that. Remember that you can always participate as a non-rider... just pick a park and signup!

Looks like a nice package, However I wonder if I can modify the package so I can spend more than 4 hours volunteering at GKTWV? The package says 4 hours but I will probably would love to give more time than that.

I'm sure they wouldn't turn you away, but I assume the transportation is on a schedule. I'm sure they could figure it out.

Just remember that if you intend to volunteer, you need to register online for the screening process well in advance.

Jeff, do you happen to know if they have picked a date yet? I'm volunteering for a different event the first weekend in June and I am fearful it's the same date this year.

We're working on it. Obviously not a lot of planning happens at the end of December. We're hoping for the first Sunday in June again, but it depends on the participating parks. Stay tuned!

If CFK ends up being the first Sunday in June, I just might have to do it at Kings Island on the way back from HoliWood Nights instead of CP... would actually be kinda nice to switch it up.

That will not likely be a participating park. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Isn't that the same weekend as CoasterMania at CP?

A quick check shows me that Coastermania is always the first Friday in June, so in 2016 it will be on 6/3, and Holiwood Nights is the same day.

CM is usually the first Friday in June and HWN is the weekend after Memorial Day, so occasionally they overlap. For the last few years, Coasting For Kids has been the Sunday after CoasterMania, but if they stick with that setup, this will be the first time it overlaps HWN. Not that it's really a concern to most participants, although I was hoping to check out Kentucky Kingdom on that day next year.

There's always the virtual rider option, which I did one year because I wasn't expecting the date switch to early June, but it's obviously a lot more fun and 'immersive' participation if you can ride!