First Haircut/Barber Shop Meltdown

[BrennaRN]

Need advice on what I should do. My sone (14 1/2 months) was scheduled to have his first haircut at the Harmony Barbershop which I scheduled two months prior to our trip. When we arrived 15 min. early as instructed we were 6th in line with four children wanting pixie dust and colored gel (which takes forever). We were told then it was first come first serve. Well, we didn't stop by when we entered the park with no one in line because we had reservations. Well, after an hour waiting we got down to 4th in line and my son proceeded to have a complete meltdown (hot, tired, teething, and a cold to boot). Well needless to say we are home now with a gy head of hair and no haircut. Why did I have to make reservations and they go through all the trouble over the phone of getting his name if I was told first come first serve despite my reservation? Should I call and complain? There's little to do about it now due to we are home, but I'm still a little heartbroken that his first haircut won't be anything special.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Who did you call to make reservations? It was their mistake for mis-informing you.

The barber shop has always been first-come, first-serve; we've been going there for years.

 

[BrennaRN]

Allears.net posted that the Disney # for recreation would do reservations. Well I called and the operator went ahead with everything including the spelling of my son's name and holding a card number. I think there is a serious miscommunication of whether it takes reservations or not!

 

[MissM]

Yeah I don't know why someone would take a reservation for you. Sorry to say it's always just a first-come, first-served situation. And lines do get very long.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Yeah I don't know why someone would take a reservation for you. Sorry to say it's always just a first-come, first-served situation. And lines do get very long.

As of this July they started accepting appointments. The OP is correct in what they did, and they should have been taken in between the walk ins.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I do see that now on the allears site at http://allears.net/tp/mk/mk_barber.htm :

"NOTE: As of July 2010, the Harmony Barber Shop began taking appointments. You can call 407-WDW-DINE, Disney Vacation Club Member Services, or the lobby concierge at your Disney Resort Hotel to make appointments."

I would email Deb or someone on her team and report your incident so they can investigate.

 

[EaglesfanNJ]

Yeah I don't know why someone would take a reservation for you. Sorry to say it's always just a first-come, first-served situation. And lines do get very long.

In the OP defense, this is what AllEars has listed:

NOTE: As of July 2010, the Harmony Barber Shop began taking appointments. You can call 407-WDW-DINE, Disney Vacation Club Member Services, or the lobby concierge at your Disney Resort Hotel to make appointments

(edit) I went back to AllEars.net and emailed Deb and her staff to see if they know anything. I will be sure to report it here if i get any response.

 

[MissM]

If they have started doing reservations that's cool. I just hadn't heard about it. Love got a haircut there a few years back just for fun and we waited quite a long time. Either way, it's unfortunate that it didn't work out. It's definitely a fun experience and shouldn't have been such a frustration.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

If they have started doing reservations that's cool. I just hadn't heard about it. Love got a haircut there a few years back just for fun and we waited quite a long time. Either way, it's unfortunate that it didn't work out. It's definitely a fun experience and shouldn't have been such a frustration.

They really need to pick one direction or another. Booking reservations and taking walkins will usually only result in a problem. If they want to go with a more organized scheduled route then they need to only do that to avoid these problems.

 

[BrennaRN]

Just emailed Deb and now talking to you all, am even more disappointed that it was a hassle and missed. Hopefully I'll get a response soon and will update this post with my response.

 

[RachelP6877]

I made a res for my sons first cut sept 27 '10 we went and he was taken before the others that were in front cause we has res. But man they are slow with paint and pixie dust. the one stylest took about 25min to put red and blue on a kids head! Slap it on people we have places to go! then a grown man was there just for reg cut im thinking go to supercuts dude unless your getting a "Disney" style why take up the seat?

 

[sshindel]

I made a res for my sons first cut sept 27 '10 we went and he was taken before the others that were in front cause we has res. But man they are slow with paint and pixie dust. the one stylest took about 25min to put red and blue on a kids head! Slap it on people we have places to go! then a grown man was there just for reg cut im thinking go to supercuts dude unless your getting a "Disney" style why take up the seat?

Maybe the guy makes it a tradition to do each time he goes and had done it since he was a kid :shrug:

I'd love to see if this reservation is helps out or not. We want to take our DD to get her haircut while we are visiting MK (not her first, but she will need it cut around the time we go). I would not want to be in a first-come-first-serve line if it was going to take 1+ hours that we could spend on something else though. If I can make a ressie, I'd def call ahead!

 

[MKCP 1985]

The kid dodged a bullet . . . that's Disney magic!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I made a res for my sons first cut sept 27 '10 we went and he was taken before the others that were in front cause we has res. But man they are slow with paint and pixie dust. the one stylest took about 25min to put red and blue on a kids head! Slap it on people we have places to go! then a grown man was there just for reg cut im thinking go to supercuts dude unless your getting a "Disney" style why take up the seat?

Some people have gotten their hair cut there and use it as their regular barber shop. The prices aren't that much more than a normal place (compared to what I have in NJ), so some people definitely go that route.

 

[MissM]

then a grown man was there just for reg cut im thinking go to supercuts dude unless your getting a "Disney" style why take up the seat?

Really? Here on a board full of Disney fans, you'd honestly begrudge someone the fun and experience of getting their haircut because they're a grownup? I would think that here of all places, we'd leave the "Disney is just for kids" misconceptions behind.

Love got his haircut there a few years back. Why? Well, why not? It was fun, something different and just a cool experience all-around.

 

[MKCP 1985]

Pixie dust and goop haircuts have not always been part of a haircut on Main Street USA. When I worked there in the 80s, the barber had a pretty quiet job for most of the time. Disney wanted to have him there as part of the authentic Main Street USA , turn of the century experience, and male cast members needing to stay in compliance with the strict Disney appearance standards made up a good portion of his clientele.

funny how things can change so dramatically over time. :lol:

 

[Disneygal24]

I'm sorry you are disappointed - I would be to. My daughter had her first haircut there and it is truly a memory that I will treasure.

You should have probably complained to Guest Relations while you were down there. Sounds like there is a bit of a mis communication. And yes if I had a reservation then I would have expected for that to be kept over walk-ins.

~Amanda

 

[DecWDW]

Really? Here on a board full of Disney fans, you'd honestly begrudge someone the fun and experience of getting their haircut because they're a grownup? I would think that here of all places, we'd leave the "Disney is just for kids" misconceptions behind.

Love got his haircut there a few years back. Why? Well, why not? It was fun, something different and just a cool experience all-around.

Yes! Two years ago, my male friend had his hair cut there. It was a fun experience for all of us. He even got some paint and glitter for our amusement! :ROFLOL:

 

[rharvey78]

Different story

Just to add to the discussion, I am happy to say that my family just returned from a trip to the Magic Kingdom where our first priority was my grandson's first haircut (16 mos.). We called ahead and received an appointment for 1:00 on Monday 10/17. We arrived 20 minutes early, and only had to wait for about 5 minutes until Mike put Gavin on his chair, and covered him with Mickey stickers to occupy him while he cut his hair. It was FANTASTIC. Mike has obviously done this several times as he was able to keep Gavin occupied and laughing playing with those stickers. We received a nice certificate along with a Mouse ears hat with First Haircut embroidered on the back. When we set the appointment, they were very specific about the time, telling us what slots where still available, and even though there were 3 or 4 people in the shop at the time, we were worked in. It was the highlight of our trip. I am very sorry that the OP didn't experience the same treatment we did, but hope they can retry.

 

[RachelP6877]

Really? Here on a board full of Disney fans, you'd honestly begrudge someone the fun and experience of getting their haircut because they're a grownup? I would think that here of all places, we'd leave the "Disney is just for kids" misconceptions behind.

Love got his haircut there a few years back. Why? Well, why not? It was fun, something different and just a cool experience all-around.

Then he should have got a little pixie dust on top!