So just got back from my WDW vacation, and one of the reasons we decided to arrive on 1/1/11 and deal with heavy crowds (by the way, it was surprisingly busy all week) was for the Castle Dream Lights, which I have never seen and which were officially announced as being lit thru 1/3/11 (see here http://www.wdwnews.com/ViewPressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=115273). Imagine my shock when my wife and I arrive on 1/2/11 and they are not lighting the Dream Lights! I ask several Cast Members when the lights will be lit, and they all respond with "they aren't on yet?" to which I respond "no." I then go to Guest Relations to inquire, and after about 20 minutes of the CM conducting "research", he states that the lights will not be on, that the ended on 12/31/10, and that I was clearly wrong and he could not find "any announcement" that the lights were still meant to be on (again, view the website above--I wish I had brought a print-out!). He then lectured me on other holiday offerings though I was quite aware of the parade at AK. I even went to far as to show him the park map they were handing out that night, which shows the Dream Lights. I think it is very tacky to hand out a park map showing something that is not available.
So I'm more than a little frustrated about this (and at how the Guest Relations CM dealt with me). Any ideas as to why they would decide to not show the Dream Lights when they had been previously announced? Budget cuts? Trying to get the new projections set up on the Castle? Whatever the cause, I found it to be unacceptable. I understand entertainment is always subject to change, but this was clearly not an issue of a power outage or anything like that--someone made a conscious decision to go against something they had been marketing. I would not have planned to arrive on New Years Day, deal with the crowds, and pay double for a hotel room had I known they weren't going to show one of their major holiday offerings (I would have arrived on 1/3, seen the parade at AK and the Osborne lights, and moved on with my vacation).
Adding insult to the injury, the rest of the MK decorations remained up and lit the entire week with Christmas music playing on Main Street. Way to throw salt on the wound. By the way, the rest of the vacation was fantastic--beautiful weather for most of the week and we got to see the WWoHP at Islands of Adventure!
So I'm more than a little frustrated about this (and at how the Guest Relations CM dealt with me). Any ideas as to why they would decide to not show the Dream Lights when they had been previously announced? Budget cuts? Trying to get the new projections set up on the Castle? Whatever the cause, I found it to be unacceptable. I understand entertainment is always subject to change, but this was clearly not an issue of a power outage or anything like that--someone made a conscious decision to go against something they had been marketing. I would not have planned to arrive on New Years Day, deal with the crowds, and pay double for a hotel room had I known they weren't going to show one of their major holiday offerings (I would have arrived on 1/3, seen the parade at AK and the Osborne lights, and moved on with my vacation).
Adding insult to the injury, the rest of the MK decorations remained up and lit the entire week with Christmas music playing on Main Street. Way to throw salt on the wound. By the way, the rest of the vacation was fantastic--beautiful weather for most of the week and we got to see the WWoHP at Islands of Adventure!
