Help! Haven't even left yet and the magic is fading!

[tink38]

Hi, all. I've been lurking on this site since December 2004, when I found out Mom and Dad were taking us to WDW from June 5th - 11th. Believe me, I am just as big a fanatic as all of you are, it's just that usually I don't feel like what I have to say will be any different than what anyone else says on here, so I keep to myself.

The krewe (as we spell it in New Orleans) is as follows:
Me (DW, 38) - DIS freak and Priority seating manager of the trip, cross referencer of 5 guides (soon to be six), and itenerary maker.

DH, 40 - Disney freak since he married me, turkey leg lover, and driver of the trip.

DS, 10 - Disney freak in training and thrill seeker.

Grandmother - reservation manager of the trip.

Gramps - financeer of the trip. (Best Dad in THE WORLD)

DS, 37 - likes Disney but really just there for her DD, 10.

DBIL, (don't know how old he is) - I think he feels the same about DW as DS.

DN, 10 - also a Disney freak in training. Loves RNRC and TOT but gets sick on Goofy's Barnstormer.

Jake, 11 (I think) - DBIL's son - good kid but picky eater.

Olivia, 7 or 8 - DBIL's DD who has been packed since before Mother's day.

This is my 1st trip report so please bear with me. We are going June 5th though 11th and staying at the Contemporary Resort. This excites me because I am a huge future/retro decor person. I also just found out that I am going to Disneyland on June 24th for a convention. What more could a girl ask for? http://www.disboards.com/images/smilies/boldpurple.gif
Anyway, Mom calls me today at work. She is SPITTING mad. Someone from Magical Gatherings staff called to confirm her reservations today. They were all wrong. She says this is her last Disney trip ever. She has never received such bad service from Disney. Keep in mind that we have been there at least a dozen times since it opened. We have gone almost every year since the kids were 3 years old. Originally we were supposed to have a tower room with a castle view. When we received our confirmations (After 3 calls lasting 15 minutes each - long distance) they said "Standard wing room". My mom called and spoke with Goldie, who said she might be able to do something better for us. This was on February 2nd. Today was the 1st callback. She spoke with Rebecca Lynne and Montana at Magical Gatherings and Montana said we had a parking lot view and there was nothing he could do for us at this point. http://www.disboards.com/images/smilies/eareek.gif What the?????

What is the point of planning ahead so far in advance if you are goingto get this kind of treatment? I realize that they cannot guarantee a room, but I do know that the request is logged in the system when they receive it. I emailed Guest Communications today and asked that they respond to me. Who knows how long that will take.

Does anyone know of any other route that I can take to resolve this matter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I respect and follow all of y'all's advice.

Thanks in advance!

Monique
<!-- / message -->

 

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

Your sweating the small stuff.. if u can get the great your room you want then thats awesome.. but your going to disney world!! Every room is great and magical.

Hopefully u get what you want.. but you should really appreciate how lucky you are to be going to Disney World in the first place. I am going in december to the Pop Century resort.. and I know I would be a little dissapointed if my 60s preferred room was somehow switched to a nonpreferred 50s room.. but it wouldnt ruin my vacation at all. I would try to fix it.. but I wouldnt let it change my opinion of disney at all.

Try to switch to Wilderness Lodge.. maybe they will let u do it since they messed up ur tower view. WL is better anyway I love that lobby!!

 

[tink38]

It's not me sweating the small stuff. It's my mom. Like I said, they pay for the trip. If they aren't happy...WE aren't happy. I could personally care less where I stay. As long as I go!!!

 

[polynesiangirl]

It is very odd to me that you would have been booked for a tower room and then get a standard - now, others here are better equipped to reply, but...

Did the price change from one "reservation" to the next? Because technically Tower vs Wing are not just veiws (in which case you'd really have no reason to complain since they can't guarantee a requested view), they are separate classes of room at the Contemporary and Tower rooms are more expensive than wings. Are they at least planning to charge you less now that they are putting you in the Wing rooms?

 

[mousecar]

Try asking again when you check in. The worst that can happen is that nothing changes. We had asked for a water view at the Boardwalk and was told none were available when we made the reservations. We asked again when we arrived and sure enough we were able to get a water view. Things can change from now to then.

My brother in law's parents were staying at Coronado Springs about 2 weeks ago. He called from PA to have something sent to their room and was told that "we don't do that anymore". They asked us to go and make arrangements in person since we live nearby and the CM told us that they didn't know why my brother in law was told that. Go figure.

Have a great trip!

 

[Sapphire]

My personal feeling is that the room doesnt matter, because how much time are you going to spend in there anyway? Plus the majority of the time you are in the room, your eyes will be closed! But I understand the frustration especially when lots of time and money is spent. My suggestion is to be proactive, dont wait for them to call you back, keep calling. Ask to speak to a Manager. (and good thinking for keeping track of the names of the people you've spoken to, use them)

Good Luck with this! I hope you have an amazing trip and that this doesnt ruin it before you've even left!

 

[Debbie]

Greetings from the Westbank! Something doesn't seem right about the Garden Wing and a Tower room. There usually is a sizeable price difference. I don't know what I can offer you; but I can say that if the deposit was for a Tower room, then I would expect to get what I paid for.

 

[mousermerf]

Were you ever actually booked in the Tower?

It's time to dig out any receipts/confirmations prior to this incident. Tower is usually about twice as expensive as the wings - i'm just making sur no one was mistaken in thinking you had tower when in reality you had standard wing all along. When was the reservation made?

 

[TP2000]

Yes, there are huge price differences between a Tower room and a Garden Wing room. Something tells me your Mom isn't providing all of the information to you, or she made a big mistake when she initially booked the rooms.

They wouldn't just downgrade you to a cheaper room without warning, keep your money you originally payed for the expensive room, and then offer no apology or solution. And if that did happen then it's an old salesmens scam called "Bait And Switch" and the Florida Attorney General's office would be interested in hearing about that. There is some information missing here in this story.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

If you have any written confirmation, or credit card bills that show pricing for the more expensive Tower - then you got Disney where it hurts. If not, I'm afraid you may be struggling.
Either way, I do hope that you enjoy your trip

 

[Nansafan]

We booked 2 rooms last summer at the Contemporary, 1 Tower, 1 Wing. Each confirmation specifically stated Tower Room, Garden Wing Room. Check your paperwork.

 

[tink38]

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm a bit sketchy on the Tower thing as my mom made the reservations. It doesn't seem right to me either. I heard from a CM friend last night who gave me the manager's # at the Contemporary. I'll call them today. My husband knows the GM of the Grand Floridian. He is calling him today to get the Contemporary manager's name. I do have my confirmation in hand and will be using it when I call. I have notes on every call that I have made, but not my mom's. Next time (If there is one) I will make the arrangements myself.

 

[wannab@dis]

Next time (If there is one) I will make the arrangements myself.

I'm sorry that you're having a problem, but surely the room view is not big enough of a deal for you to stop visiting the Mouse House. Enjoy your trip and look for magic in the little things. Whether you stay in a tower room or a room at a value resort, there is still plenty of magic to make your vacation memories wonderful if you look for the positive!

 

[SnowWhite5669]

I would suggest moving to Wilderness Lodge, too! It's our favorite resort and I don't think is a bad view in the place. We have stayed on conceirge level honeymoon suite which faces the bus stop and we had an amazing view of the fireworks at Epcot. This last time a few weeks ago we had a courtyard view which allowed us to just walk out to the pool. Plus you get the best of both because we used the boat and monorail service at the Comptemporary. Also, don't be disappointed when you see the rooms at the Comptemporary- they need work. We stayed there in April of 2004 and it was nice but don't expect anything over the top. Don't sweat the small stuff because if you have a bad attitude about the trip before it starts then it's going to make the whole trip a bad experience. As somone once said "I'll take a bad day in Disney over a good day here!!! :lol: "

 

[swincha]

monique.
are you aware that one of the wings is under construction for renovation? that really could affect your choice of a room at the contemporary.

 

[swincha]

Originally we were supposed to have a tower room with a castle view. When we received our confirmations (After 3 calls lasting 15 minutes each - long distance) they said "Standard wing room". My mom called and spoke with Goldie, who said she might be able to do something better for us. This was on February 2nd. Today was the 1st callback. She spoke with Rebecca Lynne and Montana at Magical Gatherings and Montana said we had a parking lot view and there was nothing he could do for us at this point.

yep this is a big deal. this is your vacation and money and they made the mistake. call the general manager and get rooms for the same price but better quality at another resort for your inconvience.

 

[TP2000]

yep this is a big deal. this is your vacation and money and they made the mistake. call the general manager and get rooms for the same price but better quality at another resort for your inconvience.

We don't know that Disney made the mistake.

There is a great deal of information missing in this story, and even tink38 is offering us some of the information second hand from her Mom. If we are to only use the information given to us by tink38 then Disney is guilty of "Bait And Switch" sales tactics which are illegal in Florida, and all 49 of the other States. Somehow I have a hard time believing that any company wanting to stay in business for more than 90 days is going to purposely engage in Bait And Switch. And the reservations center at Walt Disney World certainly has a better track record than a used car lot having a Going Out Of Business sale.

I have an increasingly growing feeling that tink38's mother didn't actually reserve what she thought she was reserving, and/or she did not listen or read carefully the agreement to which she initially reserved.

Disney just doesn't promise a specific Tower room with a written contract, later bump people out of Tower rooms, keep the cash, and then tell them to deal with the overpriced Parking Lot rooms that they are now booked into with no other choice available. That is an illegal business practice, and yet that is what people are accusing Disney of doing with very limited information here.

What also amazes me is that not getting a certain room is perceived as a major inconvenience worthy of boycotting Disney World for the rest of eternity, regardless of how you got that room in the first place. People are starving in Africa, being oppressed in Cuba and North Korea, and tortured in a dozen other countries. And we're a bunch of fat, lazy, happy Americans (myself included here) who are getting all upset over the room you are being assigned on a Disney World vacation. There's about 4 or 5 Billion people on this planet that would trade places with any of us in a heartbeat.

 

[DisneyMarg]

We don't know that Disney made the mistake.

There is a great deal of information missing in this story, and even tink38 is offering us some of the information second hand from her Mom. If we are to only use the information given to us by tink38 then Disney is guilty of "Bait And Switch" sales tactics which are illegal in Florida, and all 49 of the other States. Somehow I have a hard time believing that any company wanting to stay in business for more than 90 days is going to purposely engage in Bait And Switch. And the reservations center at Walt Disney World certainly has a better track record than a used car lot having a Going Out Of Business sale.

I have an increasingly growing feeling that tink38's mother didn't actually reserve what she thought she was reserving, and/or she did not listen or read carefully the agreement to which she initially reserved.

Disney just doesn't promise a specific Tower room with a written contract, later bump people out of Tower rooms, keep the cash, and then tell them to deal with the overpriced Parking Lot rooms that they are now booked into with no other choice available. That is an illegal business practice, and yet that is what people are accusing Disney of doing with very limited information here.

What also amazes me is that not getting a certain room is perceived as a major inconvenience worthy of boycotting Disney World for the rest of eternity, regardless of how you got that room in the first place. People are starving in Africa, being oppressed in Cuba and North Korea, and tortured in a dozen other countries. And we're a bunch of fat, lazy, happy Americans (myself included here) who are getting all upset over the room you are being assigned on a Disney World vacation. There's about 4 or 5 Billion people on this planet that would trade places with any of us in a heartbeat.

YOU GO TP! AMEN and AMEN!

 

[Moonshadow1]

I have had problems with disney in the past about rooms. You catch more flys with honey. Be willing to compromise. The first time we compromised on which side of the contemp. we were on to get to the 12th floor. (And found out in the process that the bay lake view is just as good or better, depending on personal preferences)

The second time was last year. Our honeymoon, at the GF. Hurricane Jeanne hit on Sat. (Our beach wedding night!! We had a hurricane party!!) So I called on sun to make sure all was well. I was assured that it was. So we drive up on Mon. and go to check in. Left sitting down stairs for 20 min. They forgot to come get us for conc. check in. When we got upstairs we were told. "Just because you are on your honeymoon does not get you a honeymoon room, there is an extra charge!" Rude. So out comes the printed conformation stating HONEYMOON SUITE. "Oh let me make a call." Long story short after three room changes due to damage by Jeanne, unexceptable room size and view, and smell. (and more very rude treatment by the concerge staff) we spent the first night and every other at the Poly. Not a shinning moment for the GF.

Now in both cases Disney only charged us for the rooms we stayied in. During our stay we could not find out the price difference. As explained to us when you switch resorts like that one resort is billed by the one you stay in and the difference is sent back to you, or credited back to you Credit card.
But not until you check out. And it takes a few weeks for accounting to catch up.

Most importantly when you have a problem with disney you need to take the time out of you vacation and go see someone before you leave. I know that is the last thing you want to do, but you have to. Once you leave, your out of luck, you left. If you show up and ask for a manager he or she has to deal with you, has to make you happy. Once you leave the hotel gets your money and you are done. Case closed. We went back to the Grand on Thur. talked to the Executive manager of guest relations. His name was Danny. Who by the end of our story had to sit down he was so shocked at our treatment at the hands of his staff. We were sent a letter, just as Danny told us we would, inviting us to stay at the GF for two nights in the room we were supost to have the honeymoon suite.

So a room change is not really the end of the world. Its an opertunity. Never would have found out about the very entertaining marina view at the contemp. (boat docking 101 or the lack there of.) Never would have gotten to stay at the poly. Would not be going back again this year without two free nights. Disney is not out to cheat you. You will pay only for where you stay. And they want you to be happy. If you are not they know you will talk. So keep that in mind, you and the person you are talking to want the same thing, you to have a great vacation. A mistake was made, with your mom or when the cm made the reservation we don't know, go on from there, find the best compromise and don't let it spoil a family tradition. Disney won't miss you. You will miss them.

 

[tink38]

I appreciate all of your replies and help with this matter. I spoke with my mother yesterday and I asked her about the tower situation. She said that she requested a tower room but then found out they were much more expensive. As she is paying for three rooms, this would not work with her budget. I mean, geez....the tickets alone for the parks were 2200.00.

I called the Contemporary directly yesterday and spoke with the online rep, Glen. The manager was not there. He said his hands were tied and I needed to go through Disney reservations and ask to speak to a manager. I unfortunately was connected to the same manager that my mother spoke with the day before. He was extremely unresponsive. I will call and speak with his supervisor today.

Please let me stress that the problem is NOT with the room, but the extreme lack of customer service at Disney reservations. I am in the same field of work, and believe me, if I had acted the way these people have I would no longer be employed.

Glen at the Contemporary suggested that I bring the letter that I emailed to Guest Communications when I check in, along with any other names, etc. and ask to speak to a manager.

I'll keep y'all posted after I speak to Seafort's boss today. Again...thanks for all your help!