New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[Tha Realest]

These changes will result in slightly annoyed people in the aisles and frustrated guests making complaints at GR.

Is that better?

Now…. Maybe Disney could create a policy that avoids both of these! Win win!

“Frustrated guests at GR” should pre-clear their disability eligibility, read the new policies, and arrive with measured expectations before thinking they can (in your view, should?) creating havoc to line CMs. Disney has no obligation or duty to tailor policies to patently unreasonable people.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

creating havoc to line CMs.

Making a complaint at Guest Relations = creating havoc?

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Those are not facts.

That is literally what happens for anyone who buys event tickets and can't use them. Credits are the more common result, but guests have received refunds in the past for certain situations. I've never heard of someone saying, "I bought MNSSHP tickets, got COVID, and Disney told me I'm SOL." A credit for future tickets could have been applied to their Disneyland Magic Key renewal, at worst. The fact that Disney is saying flat out that he sold them for more than face value tells me that he did exactly that. They have no reason to lie - and every reason not to lie since he could sue them for slandering him by knowingly falsely accusing him of scalping the tickets.

 

[AEfx]

He definitely would have gotten a refund. His absolute worst case scenario was a credit.

Those are not facts.

I hesitate to weigh in on this, because it's one of those things that no, Disney does not advertise as policy, but yes, that's exactly what would have happened.

I had MVMCP party tickets last year, and spouse had a severe medical problem which was weeks in the hospital just before our trip, which we had to cancel. We had no other reservations or tickets with Disney but those party tickets (everything else was Universal). They first offered to let us pick another date, but when I said we wouldn't be coming to FL at all, they issued a full refund as a "one time courtesy". I didn't have to fight, or escalate to a supervisor, or anything. I was on the phone for less than 5 minutes.

Disney has the strict policies in place they do for hard ticket events to keep them from being scalped, not to punish people who have a legitimate issue. Of course, that's why I hesitated to even say this, because they are just going on your word - but I'm sure there is now a note on my Disney account showing this, and if I tried to do the same thing repeatedly, I'm sure the outcome would be different.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I keep hearing about how these changes will result in fistfights in the aisles, disgruntled screaming at GR CMs…

Disagreement with policies never excuses bad behavior. Those people that do those things should be trespassed, full stop.

Recognizing negative outcomes is not support for those outcomes. Banning people happens after the fact. You’ve still subjected people to harassment or an altercation.

 

[Splash4eva]

It’s funny the article says he offered them for face value and Disney says he sold them for twice the price. The truth doesn’t matter either way, Disney is in control in any event.

Disney plays hardball when it comes to this stuff.

The ONLY thing to do here was to call Disney and explain about getting COVID. I really do think he would have gotten refunds.

I was thinking same thing. Article contradicts itself and yes agreed. A phone call would have gotten his money back

 

[pdude81]

That is literally what happens for anyone who buys event tickets and can't use them. Credits are the more common result, but guests have received refunds in the past for certain situations. I've never heard of someone saying, "I bought MNSSHP tickets, got COVID, and Disney told me I'm SOL." A credit for future tickets could have been applied to their Disneyland Magic Key renewal, at worst. The fact that Disney is saying flat out that he sold them for more than face value tells me that he did exactly that. They have no reason to lie - and every reason not to lie since he could sue them for slandering him by knowingly falsely accusing him of scalping the tickets.

"offered at face value" on ebay sounds to me like starting bid was face value. I have no knowledge of this situation, but if you wanted to sell for face value it doesn't have to go on an auction site that takes a rake.

 

[Splash4eva]

"offered at face value" on ebay sounds to me like starting bid was face value. I have no knowledge of this situation, but if you wanted to sell for face value it doesn't have to go on an auction site that takes a rake.

I find it hard to believe someone who is this much a Disney person was “unaware” of their policy on re-selling tickets…

 

[phillip9698]

Those are not facts.

It’s not hard to get a refund if you call. They were giving refunds for that HS Christmas party last year just because people didn’t feel like it was worth the money anymore.

 

[nickys]

“Frustrated guests at GR” should pre-clear their disability eligibility, read the new policies, and arrive with measured expectations before thinking they can (in your view, should?) creating havoc to line CMs. Disney has no obligation or duty to tailor policies to patently unreasonable people.

Just one point.

International guests can’t pre-clear their eligibility. The majority won’t know anything about the changes until they arrive and are handed an iPad by Guest Services.

There is no message on the website. The links to the DAS info just goes back to the homepage.

Disability Services insisted the info was there and sent me the link - which went back to the homepage. I pointed that out to them and they haven’t replied.

WDTC - the Disney travel agency - haven’t responded.

At the very least they should be telling people the accommodations have changed.At least then people could be prepared, even though cancelling now for the Summer would result in losing nearly all the cost.

And to be clear, none of this means shouting at CMs is acceptable. But Guest Services better have some tissues handy for the upset guests.

 

[AEfx]

"offered at face value" on ebay sounds to me like starting bid was face value. I have no knowledge of this situation, but if you wanted to sell for face value it doesn't have to go on an auction site that takes a rake.

Yes, the eBay part sets off a lot of alarm bells to me, as well. If someone has those kinds of APs and travels across multiple states a half dozen times a year, they are part of the "Disney community" in some way online, and listing it on an auction site wouldn't be the first way I would think one would get rid of them if that's all they wanted. The eBay details are sketchy - was it Buy It Now where they listed a price? They could have done that - but it sounds like it was an actual "whomever pays the most" auction.

If the tickets in the incident I mentioned above hadn't been refunded in our case and I was truly stuck with them, my plan was just to come here and look at the trip boards and find someone who was going to just give them to. I just wouldn't have touched reselling them with a ten-foot pole, not out of fear of Disney but mostly because they are registered to your account, and you have to change the name on your own/add someone to your party/mess with that stuff, and just didn't want the responsibility of taking money for it if it didn't work.

I find it hard to believe someone who is this much a Disney person was “unaware” of their policy on re-selling tickets…

Agreed x10.

Or even if they weren't, they are at least aware of the level of service Disney provides and would have at least attempted to get them refunded. It doesn't make sense - they knew they were not refundable, so didn't bother to try, but also didn't know they weren't transferable? Seems like if all they wanted was to break even, they would have at least tried to contact Disney.

As I said above, all it took was one quick phone call for me, I didn't have to escalate or speak with a supervisor or anything. I *think* the lovely girl I talked to may have put me on hold for like 10 seconds at one point, perhaps to get approval (my brain was so fried at the time from so many phone calls in general with what I was dealing with, that I can't totally remember), but I do know I was on the phone for less than 5 minutes and had the refund in my account like a day or two later.

I just have a very hard time believing this story, it seems much more likely to me that they probably were sick and couldn't go, but instead of just trying to get a fair refund, they decided to try to make a few bucks off of it.

 

[Splash4eva]

Yes, the eBay part sets off a lot of alarm bells to me, as well. If someone has those kinds of APs and travels across multiple states a half dozen times a year, they are part of the "Disney community" in some way online, and listing it on an auction site wouldn't be the first way I would think one would get rid of them if that's all they wanted. The eBay details are sketchy - was it Buy It Now where they listed a price? They could have done that - but it sounds like it was an actual "whomever pays the most" auction.

If the tickets in the incident I mentioned above hadn't been refunded in our case and I was truly stuck with them, my plan was just to come here and look at the trip boards and find someone who was going to just give them to. I just wouldn't have touched reselling them with a ten-foot pole, not out of fear of Disney but mostly because they are registered to your account, and you have to change the name on your own/add someone to your party/mess with that stuff, and just didn't want the responsibility of taking money for it if it didn't work.



Agreed x10.

Or even if they weren't, they are at least aware of the level of service Disney provides and would have at least attempted to get them refunded. It doesn't make sense - they knew they were not refundable, so didn't bother to try, but also didn't know they weren't transferable? Seems like if all they wanted was to break even, they would have at least tried to contact Disney.

As I said above, all it took was one quick phone call for me, I didn't have to escalate or speak with a supervisor or anything. I *think* the lovely girl I talked to may have put me on hold for like 10 seconds at one point, perhaps to get approval (my brain was so fried at the time from so many phone calls in general with what I was dealing with, that I can't totally remember), but I do know I was on the phone for less than 5 minutes and had the refund in my account like a day or two later.

I just have a very hard time believing this story, it seems much more likely to me that they probably were sick and couldn't go, but instead of just trying to get a fair refund, they decided to try to make a few bucks off of it.

I had a trip cancelled where i had party tickets purchased they refunded me completely didnt even try abd offer a credit. Ive also had to switch party nights due to travel issues and they obliged there as well. Heck a couple years ago we were at a party weather impacted almost everything we still had fun stayed entire night. CMs mentioned that we could go to city hall for another night. They offered us a night we couldnt go. They literally handed me a gc for the amount of the 3 tickets… We can criticize Disney plenty but when it comes to this i will say they are still top notch.

 

[pdude81]

They would always say there are no refunds and no transfers, even though they often will refund if you ask nicely due to a real hardship. But it's also the case that they allow you to transfer these tickets to friends and family. In MDE the tickets alwasy had a reassign option.

So I have been in a situation where I had to cancel a trip and didn't know I could get my money back. In that case I went to a facebook group for people who were hoping to find a ticket to the party and transferred for face value to someone whose mom was coming along on the trip at the last minute. Subsequently on a different trip we had one member of our party fall ill, and then went to GS to ask if they could refund the one ticket, which they did. Now I understand that this is possible, so there is no need to look for someone to take the ticket off my hands.

But in no way would I be going on ebay to try to double my money for a sold out event. IMO everybody should know that would be a problem.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

It’s been my experience that they are always willing to try and resolve things in some satisfactory way if you approach them calmly and with kindness. We’ve had dining cancellation fees waived, ILLs moved to future days, and a need for a park reservation overrode, all when unforeseen circumstances forced a change in plans.

To bring it back to the taking out frustrations on the CM thing from before, that is probably one of the worst things to do if you’re hoping for some resolution and not just to get your anger out.

 

[networkpro]

It’s not hard to get a refund if you call. They were giving refunds for that HS Christmas party last year just because people didn’t feel like it was worth the money anymore.

It wasnt

 

[AEfx]

To bring it back to the taking out frustrations on the CM thing from before, that is probably one of the worst things to do if you’re hoping for some resolution and not just to get your anger out.

This is just true...everywhere.

That's why on the rare occasion when something really is bad enough to be upset about, the first thing I say is, "Please forgive my frustration, I completely understand this is not your fault...but something is really wrong here, what can I do?"

In my 20's I did a lot of phone/CS work, and I can also tell you - at most companies, every time you have ever called in is logged, notes are taken, and recorded - and if you are nasty to one person, the next person you call in and talk to is going to know it. And if you really are a dip-crap, your call may well be passed around and people are laughing at you for being such a terrible person who can't control themselves.

(That's also why - well, another reason why, besides the obvious - you shouldn't lie or exaggerate when you talk to someone on the phone - even just a "small" one like "I've been on hold for 45 minutes!" when it's actually been like 7, because they can see exactly how long it's been. It just sets the whole call off on a bad foot. I used to say "I'm sorry, the record states it's only been 7 minutes - let's make sure you are dialing in to the correct number for next time..." LOL.)

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

That's why on the rare occasion when something really is bad enough to be upset about, the first thing I say is, "Please forgive my frustration, I completely understand this is not your fault...but something is really wrong here, what can I do?"

When I was working at a tourist attraction I would always tell them that I completely agreed with them but that nobody listened or cared what I thought. I said they should leave a review on TripAdvisor cause that’s the only thing management seems to care about.

 

[Ayla]

It’s funny the article says he offered them for face value and Disney says he sold them for twice the price. The truth doesn’t matter either way, Disney is in control in any event.

Disney plays hardball when it comes to this stuff.

The ONLY thing to do here was to call Disney and explain about getting COVID. I really do think he would have gotten refunds.

The fact he resold them is enough to have his AP yanked.

 

[natatomic]

When I was working at a tourist attraction I would always tell them that I completely agreed with them but that nobody listened or cared what I thought. I said they should leave a review on TripAdvisor cause that’s the only thing management seems to care about.

Hah, I honestly used to tell that to guests when I was a CM too!

 

[jaklgreen]

This is what I think as well because faking a doctor's letter is forgery which can mean not just a permanent ban but also prison. How ironic would it be for a cheater to save a couple of hours standing in line and then end up getting 3-10 years for forgery plus a fine?

I think that it is more likely that your doctor is willing to fudge the truth themselves. Is Disney going to ask your doctor for proof that what they said was true? We have all seen others say that their doctors have voluntarily said that they would right them a note without the patient even asking for one.