My family was chosen to be the Grand Marshals in the Feb 2 parade. Actually, we were chosen for Feb 1 but the parade was rained out that day and they asked us to come back for the next day.
Here is how it happened for us.
We went to the Magic Kingdom Will Call window around 10 am to turn in our vouchers for tickets. At that time we had our i.d. checked and were given the Honorary VoluntEAR buttons. No one else was in line so we spent a few minutes chatting with the Will Call cast member. She asked us where we were from and what our volunteer project was. After we finished with her we turned around and there was another cast member standing near us who began making small talk with us. His name was Fred. Fred made some general conversation before getting around to asking us about our volunteer experience. After we shared the details with him and told him how much we enjoyed our volunteer service, he asked us if we would like to be the Grand Marshals in the parade.
We said we thought that would be fun. He got our names and cell phone number and then ran through the logistics. We needed to be in front of the Fire House to meet him at 2:30. We would be boarding a vehicle and then travel from Main Street to Splash Mountain, where we would have a special parade viewing area.
At 2:30 we met at the Fire House. There were four families all together. It had been raining off and on all day and Fred warned us that the parade might be cancelled. Sure enough, at 3 pm the parade was cancelled. Two of the families couldn't come back the next day but two of us could and we were asked to return.
The next day we met at the Fire House and cast member Dean (who is the regular volunteer coordinator for the parade) gave us an appreciation certificate with our names and a voucher for a free Photo Pass picture. It was only two families in this parade so the first family rode in the fire truck and we rode in the covered car, along with a long time Disney employee who was having his last day. A Photo Pass photographer was introduced to us and we were told to look for her along the route as she would be taking photos.
Then, we were taken behind the big door next to the Fire House and we boarded our vehicles. The trip up Main Street and then over to Splash Mountain was a lot of fun. We smiled and waved until our faces and arms were tired!
We feel incredibly fortunate that we were asked to participate, although Dean told us that it is still relatively difficult to find GAD participants because the promotion is so new. I think people going to the Magic Kingdom and using their GAD voucher early in the year will have a much better opportunity to have this wonderful experience.
I'm so glad your family was invited to do this...seems like a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. How did your picture come out?
