Confessions of a DFTW Bride To Be

[Fashionista007]

I know you're upset but most likely this was not their fault. They probably were told by DVC that they could continue with weddings but then something in the construction phase has changed that. So the Wedding Planners had no control of this what so ever.

They are not going to into your demands, they can just book someone else's wedding into you slot and move on. You also have little legal recourse because they are offering alternative wedding venues. I know this sucks, but you have to look at the bigger picture. I know your dream is to get married here, so you need to be flexible. Imagine if a hurricane came through and destroyed the Wedding Pavilion, you would be looking for a new place.

The MOST important this is the ceremony, not really the venue. You will still have our Disney dream wedding, just in a little different location. We wanted to get married at the pavilion but it was already booked for our day, so we found a location we felt in the end was even better.

Chin up girl, everything will work out.

I appreciate your point of view, Tom and I do hope that everything works out. But you have to admit this is a horrible situation and the alternatives presented to us by DFTW are both unacceptable. They did offer us 1 alternate venue but Bay Lake Tower is not listed on any DFTW pricing plan so I cannot know what the monetary value of such a venue would be. They really should have offered us some sort of monetary compensation, hotel stay and/or free dining.

I disagree completely. Does Disney leave themselves legal loopholes in their contracts? Yes, but it doesn't make it right for them to exploit them for their own gain. It doesn't make it okay to screw people over this way. Shelley's dream since she was 10 years old was never to get married on top of a hotel at WDW. It was to get married at the WP. That's what Disney offered her, that's what she paid for, that's what they accepted payment for, and that's exactly what she should receive. If a guest couldnt honor their commitments when booked to travel to Disney there's a cost to be paid. That should go both ways. This isn't about the legal garbage, this is about doing the right thing and honoring a commitment.

Construction can take an hour break. What a bunch of chumps. I worked on multi- multi- million dollar projects. Don't think for a minute they don't halt a job to have little safety award cookouts and things like that. I worked on a job where every person onsite, a couple thousand people, were brought together to stand for a picture for 1/2 an hour that was taken from a basket on a crane to get everyone in. You cannot tell me that the project management for that site weren't aware of the fact that there's a wedding pavilion adjacent to them. They should've taken that into consideration when running their schedules. This should've been planned for from the time they made the decision to build there. Poor planning on their part should not create a debacle on anyone else's. Period.

The fact that Shelley's wedding planner called her fiancé with this instead of having the balls to call her is absolute garbage. It's cowardly and, to be honest, underhanded and ty. Sending him emails trying to get him to commit to a change of venue behind Shelley's back??? I don't think they could get more unprofessional and/or low. That alone speaks volumes.

Shelley, I think you should add to your list a change of wedding planner. Someone that inconsiderate of you has no business handling anything pertaining to the biggest day/event of your life. I think that person also owes you a huge apology. Those 2 things are not options at this point. Old planner apologizes and you get a different planner.

I stand firm that if Disney can't honor their commitment they should offer you something better. I'm sorry but even according to their own pricing the order of venue quality is: resorts & other locations, Wedding Pavillion, then in the MK. I don't see how they can think BLT is a good alternative. You can still see the lagoon from there! Duh!

Another option you might offer is for them to reschedule you with them footing the expense of all penalties associated for you and all your guests. I don't think anything you listed is unreasonable. Disney gives away free perks and things all the time. The least they can do is the right thing for a life-long paying guest.

Be sure to remind them that making things right is not an option. Let 'em know you have a small army of people poised to storm the chain of command on your behalf. This will not end with them if they don't make this right so they need to make their choices carefully. This ain't no game. There won't be do-overs.

And kudos to you for rockin' the teaching yesterday! You are the woman!

I said it before & I'll say it again. I'm here. Say the word and I'll be burning up the phone lines, sending emails, and written letters shall scream outta here.

All my love, sweetie. You know that. :kiss:

Thanks Kelly, and thanks for following me over to the other forum It has really helped me so much to be able to vent over the interwebs! And you are SO right, this is NO game. This is my one and only wedding and I find it VERY shady that they sprung this on us the day the check cleared.

I tried to call DFTW this morning and surprise surprise, I had to leave a message. I doubt anyone will call me back before I have to get to my class in 2 hrs (how the HELL am I supposed to concentrate on work today???). Jason should have been given the director's direct line. The way they have treated us has been unacceptable. I emailed my wedding planner as well telling her to have the director contact me ASAP. So now I sit and wait alone in my hotel room in Vancouver at 6AM. I've been up for an hour and a half, didn't sleep very well, did not eat dinner (or hardly any breakfast or lunch yesterday), and I'm still shaking uncontrollably. I almost feel like I need to go to a medical center here in Vancouver and get myself some Xanax or something.

I am concerned because other brides have told me that the director is not a very nice person (although that is not the language they used but this is a family forum hehe). If she is in any way mean to me, I will ask to speak to her manager. In my head I am singing "We're not gonna take this...NO....we ain't gonna take this....". All I want is an acceptable resolution and I really hope that if I stay calm she and I can negotiate as mature adults. I'm hoping that she turns mean only when Bridezillas come out.

Last night Jason and I had a good talk. I want to let you all know that he has read this last page of my wedding journal and like a good groom, he did not read the other pages because he didn't want to see pictures of me in my wedding dress. All I want in the world is to marry him!! He thanks you all for your support and for helping us to figure this out. He also told me that he does not want me to hate Disney, it's the thing that brought us together 5 years ago when we met randomly in a bar. He said it's just Disney Weddings that we should be upset with, not WDW, Mickey, Minnie, or any of the other characters. The love and support we give each other is much more important than this situation. We are meant to be together and together we shall be.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Sorry haven't responded in a bit, haven't had a chance to get on here.
That is horrible that they would cancel your wedding! I saw the pictures of the construction around the pavillion and thought of you and how crappy it would be to have all that construction going on but never thought they would cancel your wedding!
I know someone else who is getting married there on Oct 3rd and I wonder if the same happened to her? I really hope that they can do something for you. And to tell you 25 days before you leave for your wedding?? That's horrible!!!!! Keep us all updated and if you need people to back you up I'll be right here! But like Jason said, it has nothing to do with the mouses or WDW as a whole, just the wedding department!

 

[Fashionista007]

Sorry haven't responded in a bit, haven't had a chance to get on here.
That is horrible that they would cancel your wedding! I saw the pictures of the construction around the pavillion and thought of you and how crappy it would be to have all that construction going on but never thought they would cancel your wedding!
I know someone else who is getting married there on Oct 3rd and I wonder if the same happened to her? I really hope that they can do something for you. And to tell you 25 days before you leave for your wedding?? That's horrible!!!!! Keep us all updated and if you need people to back you up I'll be right here! But like Jason said, it has nothing to do with the mouses or WDW as a whole, just the wedding department!

I have been telling other WP brides on other forums to contact their planners immediately to make sure they will be unaffected. From the reports I have gotten, it sounds like it's only affecting WP weddings the last 2 weeks in September so your friend should be ok but she should definitely call to check.

Ugh I was SO looking forward to a major vacation in less than a month and now I'm not sure what will happen. But rest assured, I will handle this with grace and dignity but I am NOT taking this lying down.

 

[Fashionista007]

Ugh what a morning. No resolution yet either. I called my planner multiple times and left messages. She emailed me back saying that she tried to call but she's using the wrong number. In my phone messages and emails I have provided them with the correct number and there is no excuse for the mix up.

I just got off the phone with DFTW, I finally got through the hotline and spoke to a very nice receptionist. We were on the phone for a bit trying to set up a time for me to speak to the director but my work schedule conflicts and I cannot adhere to her schedule. She should really adhere to mine. So in the end, we set up a time to speak tomorrow between noon and 3PM PST. I don't even know if I'll get to speak to her tomorrow. I don't know what to do I'm so mad. I can't miss work because of this, I signed up to teach this class this week and I need to move forward. :fork:

 

[silver1113]

I am so sorry for all your trouble. I completely agree with you. They should go above and beyond to make your day special not just to have you settle. Your DF is a keeper. Good Luck to you Honey! Prayers and good wishes.

 

[TomHendricks]

I appreciate your point of view, Tom and I do hope that everything works out. But you have to admit this is a horrible situation and the alternatives presented to us by DFTW are both unacceptable. They did offer us 1 alternate venue but Bay Lake Tower is not listed on any DFTW pricing plan so I cannot know what the monetary value of such a venue would be. They really should have offered us some sort of monetary compensation, hotel stay and/or free dining.

It is pretty crappy that this is happening, believe me I'm just as angry for you. I agree with you that this should have been handled better, more information given and better options. If there is a price difference between WP and BLT or any other location, Disney should cover that, you shouldn't have to pay for change of location when your being forced out of the location you have a contract for. However the additional demands of free hotel stay or free dining, thats a bit much. I'm not saying don't ask for them, just I don't see them ponying up for those.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It is pretty crappy that this is happening, believe me I'm just as angry for you. I agree with you that this should have been handled better, more information given and better options. If there is a price difference between WP and BLT or any other location, Disney should cover that, you shouldn't have to pay for change of location when your being forced out of the location you have a contract for. However the additional demands of free hotel stay or free dining, thats a bit much. I'm not saying don't ask for them, just I don't see them ponying up for those.

I suppose sometimes shooting for the stars seems like the thing to do.

Honestly, Disney should find a way to make it right by offering something better. Or foot the bill to reschedule so none of the repercussions fall upon the bride or any of her guests since it's not them who flaked.



Shel, keep us posted. I think this runaround you're getting continues to be crap. Call them back, tell the reception girl you expect a call from Cindy at a specified time and if you don't hear from her you'll be headed up the food chain. This close to your wedding there isn't time for all this BS.

 

[TomHendricks]

I don't know if this would help, but here is the email address and phone number for our Wedding Planner. She was extremely helpful and always returned phone calls and emails.

Email: diane.l.bowen@disney.com
Phone: 407-566-5594

 

[Fashionista007]

I am so sorry for all your trouble. I completely agree with you. They should go above and beyond to make your day special not just to have you settle. Your DF is a keeper. Good Luck to you Honey! Prayers and good wishes.

Thank you!! Well I haven't made much headway today but I have a meeting tomorrow with the national director of Disney Fairytale Weddings. She did try to call me and left me a pretty nice message along with an apology. So due to conflicting schedules, I will not get this resolved today and I have to wait until tomorrow. Oh well, that's life I guess.

It is pretty crappy that this is happening, believe me I'm just as angry for you. I agree with you that this should have been handled better, more information given and better options. If there is a price difference between WP and BLT or any other location, Disney should cover that, you shouldn't have to pay for change of location when your being forced out of the location you have a contract for. However the additional demands of free hotel stay or free dining, thats a bit much. I'm not saying don't ask for them, just I don't see them ponying up for those.

Oh I know full well they won't pony up for most of the stuff I'm going to request but it can't hurt to ask. I know for a fact that they are reading these threads (my wedding planner emailed me about it) so they know how upset I am and how many people are upset for me. I can only hope that they come up with some better solutions than the ones presented to Jason yesterday because this is just unacceptable.

I suppose sometimes shooting for the stars seems like the thing to do.

Honestly, Disney should find a way to make it right by offering something better. Or foot the bill to reschedule so none of the repercussions fall upon the bride or any of her guests since it's not them who flaked.



Shel, keep us posted. I think this runaround you're getting continues to be crap. Call them back, tell the reception girl you expect a call from Cindy at a specified time and if you don't hear from her you'll be headed up the food chain. This close to your wedding there isn't time for all this BS.

Thanks Kelly I am not too happy that I'm not going to get to talk to anyone today and I think that's pretty poor of them. Whatever else they have going on should take a backseat to this (at least in my mind, it's my one and only wedding!!). We'll see how it goes tomorrow but my twitter acct just got blowed up with new followers and all of my threads about this topic on the discussion boards have gotten literally thousands of views. So they will do something to make my wedding spectacular, they have to!

I don't know if this would help, but here is the email address and phone number for our Wedding Planner. She was extremely helpful and always returned phone calls and emails.

Email: diane.l.bowen@disney.com
Phone: 407-566-5594

Thanks so much Tom. I think I'm set to wait till tomorrow to talk to this national director person. I have also gotten reports from other brides who called to check on their weddings so I'm getting good information today, even though it's not from Disney. At least I can count on strangers on the internet!!

 

[djpoore94]

OMG Shelley, my heart is totally breaking for you. I can't imagine the stress you must be feeling. I so hope they are able to offer you an acceptable resolution to this mess. I can't believe that the only options they offered were change your date or BLT!

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Sorry, I'm just now catching up to this thread.

that. is. CRAP!!!! :fork::fork::fork::fork:

reason #1 I am 110% against the DVC at the GF. When/if I ever get married I'm seriously re-considering getting married at the WP because of the DVC addition!!!

I would be demanding everything right now. Rose Garden ceremony, Cindy's coach, free dining, free characters at my wedding...EVERYTHING!

 

[Ariel484]

This is entirely bizarre to me. It just doesn't sound like Disney :veryconfu I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around the whole thing.

I don't understand why they would wait so long to tell you about this. Surely this construction has been planned for awhile...it didn't just spring up overnight. Why wouldn't they have mentioned this possibility to you weeks/months ago so that you would have more than a few weeks (!) to think about an alternative venue if needed?

I've read over this portion of the thread 3 times now, and I keep thinking, "Well maybe it's not so bad"...but then I try to put myself in your place, and it makes me feel sick for you. Moving your date isn't an option - your guests are booked at the resort and most likely have booked flights and requested time away from work or school. Everything is paid for (waiting until the check clears to tell you?? SHADY ), and this thread is evidence that you have planned and looked forward to this for months.

The venue DOES matter. Clearly the WP means something to you, and I'm assuming that Bay Lake Tower does not. You paid for a wedding at the WP and you and DFTW worked out the contract...you should not have to settle for less than what was agreed to and what you have already paid for. DFTW knows how much planning goes into weddings and how much having a perfect day means to the couples. How did they think you would react?

The more I think about this, the angrier it makes me for you. They absolutely owe you more than an apology, and I agree with Kelly that IF you do need to reschedule, Disney needs to foot the bill for everything, including any cancellation fees, dining, etc. Even better, I hope you can keep your date, get your venue upgraded, and get a vow renewal free of charge in the WP sometime in the future. It's the least they can do. I hope they make this right for you.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Still thinking of you, Shelley! :wave:

It's amazing how your thread on that other site has gone all but viral. Thousands of hits! The word is out, girl! Maybe that's why all the hullabaloo in getting back to you...they're getting the sun, moon, & stars aligned for you! Honestly, they owe you nothing less at this point.

Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you! :wave:

 

[Fashionista007]

OMG Shelley, my heart is totally breaking for you. I can't imagine the stress you must be feeling. I so hope they are able to offer you an acceptable resolution to this mess. I can't believe that the only options they offered were change your date or BLT!

Thank you so much. Seriously this is more stress than one person should be able to handle. I'm in a strange country all alone and all I want to do is come home and deal with this. But I am a professional and the show must go on. So I'm staying here in Vancouver until Friday as we had planned. See I don't let people down, I stick to my plans!!! :fork:

Sorry, I'm just now catching up to this thread.

that. is. CRAP!!!! :fork::fork::fork::fork:

reason #1 I am 110% against the DVC at the GF. When/if I ever get married I'm seriously re-considering getting married at the WP because of the DVC addition!!!

I would be demanding everything right now. Rose Garden ceremony, Cindy's coach, free dining, free characters at my wedding...EVERYTHING!

I am appalled at the bad management at DVC lately. First Aulani and now this?? What is going on over there??

This is entirely bizarre to me. It just doesn't sound like Disney :veryconfu I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around the whole thing.

I don't understand why they would wait so long to tell you about this. Surely this construction has been planned for awhile...it didn't just spring up overnight. Why wouldn't they have mentioned this possibility to you weeks/months ago so that you would have more than a few weeks (!) to think about an alternative venue if needed?

I've read over this portion of the thread 3 times now, and I keep thinking, "Well maybe it's not so bad"...but then I try to put myself in your place, and it makes me feel sick for you. Moving your date isn't an option - your guests are booked at the resort and most likely have booked flights and requested time away from work or school. Everything is paid for (waiting until the check clears to tell you?? SHADY ), and this thread is evidence that you have planned and looked forward to this for months.

The venue DOES matter. Clearly the WP means something to you, and I'm assuming that Bay Lake Tower does not. You paid for a wedding at the WP and you and DFTW worked out the contract...you should not have to settle for less than what was agreed to and what you have already paid for. DFTW knows how much planning goes into weddings and how much having a perfect day means to the couples. How did they think you would react?

The more I think about this, the angrier it makes me for you. They absolutely owe you more than an apology, and I agree with Kelly that IF you do need to reschedule, Disney needs to foot the bill for everything, including any cancellation fees, dining, etc. Even better, I hope you can keep your date, get your venue upgraded, and get a vow renewal free of charge in the WP sometime in the future. It's the least they can do. I hope they make this right for you.

Jason did say that Cindy was incredibly apologetic when she talked to him and I hope she is the same with me today. I know that I have made them mad by actively posting about this on the internet and I think it's awesome that they found out on their own and not by me I love technology!!!

Still thinking of you, Shelley! :wave:

It's amazing how your thread on that other site has gone all but viral. Thousands of hits! The word is out, girl! Maybe that's why all the hullabaloo in getting back to you...they're getting the sun, moon, & stars aligned for you! Honestly, they owe you nothing less at this point.

Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you! :wave:

OMG my thread on the other site has over 6k hits now. Plus my friends and family have begun reposting my story on Facebook and Twitter. If you want to add me to Facebook, my username is the same, Fashionista007.

Hugs for all who are supporting me in my time of need. I'm bringing in my father and Jason on the conference call today. The showdown begins at 12PM PST/ 3PM EST.

 

[mickeysshoes]

Shelley, I have been following you off and on....WOW I cant beleive what I have just read. This is very poor planing on the construction side of Disney. I would venture to say that your wedding was planned long before they started DVC planing at GF. Cant see how the top of BL would cost the same as the WP. Not a equal option. I am sure they will not give in to any of your demands but you have to aim high so you will be some what happy with something in the middle. My heart goes out to you and Jason right now and wish you the best of luck in getting to the bootom of this. I am sure it will all work out somehow. Also very proud of you for the way your dealing and handling this while not at home and all by yourself. We are all here for you and Jason. :wave: Hang in there!!!

 

[HollyBelle]

Oh wow. I'm absolutely shocked, appalled, and sickened by this Shelley. I've been reading your threads all morning... and I don't know that there's anything I can say that hasn't been said already. I know for a fact that if I was told a month prior to our wedding that we couldn't get married on Sunset Pointe, no other venue would've been a suitable replacement. That being said, from a customer service standpoint when you make a mistake, you always offer an upgrade to help calm the waters, not something lesser. It's like checking into a Moderate for your vacation and finding out they've overbooked. If you find out by way of an offer to stay at a Deluxe resort, then you may not be too upset. But if they try to move you to a Value resort and don't do anything to compensate for your loss, you'll be livid.

I'm holding out hope that this generates enough media hype for Disney to step up and do the right thing. Sad as it is though, they'll be "doing the right thing" for their own sake and not simply because it is the right thing to do. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but Brett sent me the following link: http://thedisneyblog.com/2011/08/31/grand-floridian-dvc-construction-forcing-weddings-to-move/ Good to see your story is getting out there. It's great that the forums are generating so many hits, but I think blogs, newspapers, and other media will go further in "motivating" DFTW to do the right thing!

I was just on the phone with Brett telling him that if this had happened to us and we had to sign a confidentiality agreement, it wouldn't matter how great the offer was, I would still be absolutely distraught. To not be able to write about our wedding and share it would've wrecked me. And I'm sure that's important to you as well. I'm just sick over what they've done. If there is anything at all I can do for you, please please let me know.

 

[Fashionista007]

We have about 40 minutes to go until our conference call. I am a bundle of nerves right now. Luckily my boss is awesome and he's taking over my class for the rest of the day. The hard part is over, I made it through 2.5 days of public speaking even in the face of all of this wedding nonsense. I am SO relieved!!

 

[HollyBelle]

It's 3pm EST... sending positive vibes your way. Stay strong!

 

[BigRedDad]

I just read parts of this post. I am shocked to say the least.

In the end, there are going to be 2 things that come into play: the contract and the threat of a civil suit. The contract is bound by laws in the State. It is highly unlikely that WDW legal machine would not have wording in it for issues like this. Second, WDW does not want to face a very public suit of a multi-billion dollar company stomping the dreams of a bride-to-be.

Keep at them and tell them your demands. There are going to be two bars: yours and theirs. Eventually, there will be compromises to make it right. There are places within the MK that a wedding can take place. It would be a scheduling nightmare, but a small price to pay.

I hope it all works out because this is not something a bride should have to worry about. I had to deal with WDW for our honeymoon when they lost our reservation. The key is assertive escalation. Don't be combative and ask to speak to the next manager immediately if an acceptable resolution cannot be made. Continue this until you are satisfied. Do not let them say "we will call you back". Tell them you will wait.

 

[Fashionista007]

Thanks for your replies everyone! I'm sorry I cannot respond to all of them, I need to get back to work here.

So far I am not happy. She had the audacity to offer us alternate locations that are not as expensive as the Wedding Pavilion and we have already paid. I began my case by stating a story I heard from a bride in a similar situation who is from the UK, she leaves in just 7 days now, and she was asked to change her date. 7 DAYS??? Once I said that and began my list of ridiculous requests, she offered to see if there was any possibility of us having our wedding at the wedding pavilion during our original travel dates. I asked for monetary compensation and it was shot down. I am shocked that I was not offered any sort of upgrade or compensation in any way. They owe me for all of the heartache and tears they have caused me and my family so close to my wedding. I have been contacted by Orlando news stations and I am willing to bet once she gets wind of that, she will concede. Disney does not want bad press over this and at this point, my story is viral.

This is David and Goliath people!! I really appreciate all of your help and good wishes during this horrible time. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

CASE IN POINT: I learned a very hard lesson today. You should always read the fine print of any contract before you sign your name to it. Our contract actually has a clause in there about the GF construction so they knew about it a year ago and didn't tell us verbally. I had to find out this way and that shows VERY poor management skills on the part of Disney Fairytale Weddings. It is a sad day for Disney fans all over. Walt would roll over in his grave (or ice cube). He created a company so that families would have entertainment that they could share together. This is definitely NOT a magical day.