Rain checks or vouchers ?

[Platinum Dragon]

I've been reading these forums since I found this site about six months ago and have found them to be very informative. I hope someone out there can help me with a question or two or at least point me in the right direction for further assistance.

I just returned from a trip to WDW (June 13-20) and guess they should replace the W for Walt with W for Water. All it did the entire trip was constantly rain. I would estimate that we had only 10 total hours of sunshine the entire time there. Normally I wouldn't even let this bother me as I can always find stuff to do at WDW (this was my 5th trip) but I took my sister's family down with me for vacation and they had a less than ideal experience for their first visit.

I know Disney doesn't usually give rainchecks (except under very narrow conditions at the water parks) but the recent rainstorms were very unusual, even for the rainy season with 4.56" of rain during our visit when the whole month averages about 7". Does anyone know if I can get a voucher, rain check, anything in compensation. I'd even be happy with partial credit towards future tickets or paying the difference to convert these to annual passes if necessary. Please don't get me wrong I don't feel that WDW "owes" me anything, I'm just checking because I spent $1700 on six length of stay tickets and simply cannot afford to do that again and I want my sister and her family to have the opportunity for a true disney experience.

I wasn't even going to worry about it at all but we were selected twice for exit surveys and both times were told to call guest services and see if they could do anything. I've called guest services and all they did was tell me to e-mail or write but I'd much rather talk to someone so that I don't just get a form letter response.

I'm sorry this post is so long. Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

[disneydudette]

Don't count on it......there excuse will be u can never predict the rain.......it was a fluke......

now if it was a hurricane u might have a case......

it was just bad luck......

Sry I can only imagine if that happened to me....sorry for ur wet vacation!

 

[Thrawn]

Its been raining down there. A lot. We know. Everyone is saying so. Next time, check weather reports before you leave.

 

[The Mom]

Originally posted by Thrawn
Its been raining down there. A lot. We know. Everyone is saying so. Next time, check weather reports before you leave.

That was harsh! And if you had non-refundable plane tickets, and a non-refundable hotel deposit, do you think you can just cancel? It's not like he could just come back another day if the weather report wasn't good!

That being said, I'm afraid he might be out of luck. Disney clearly states that they don't give rain checks. I think when they closed the parks due to an approaching hurricane, they might have given them out, but I'm not sure.

I'm afraid there would be too many people requesting them just because they weren't able to enjoy all of the amenities. What about the people who go down in the winter, and get stuck with a 30 degree cold snap (it happened to my sister-in-law) She wasn't able to be comfortable on some rides (BTM and Splash Mountain weren't a lot of fun!) and never got to go in a pool.
I'm afraid Disney really can't control the weather....sometimes it just doesn't cooperate.

 

[Thrawn]

We were in a drought here for over a year. I refuse to "feel for" anyone who is complaining about too much rain.

 

[The Mom]

I appreciated the rain, too. It just would have been nice if there had been a few hours of sun between showers!

And as people had mentioned, you can still tour the parks in the rain. It's not like when you go skiing and there's no snow!!

 

[disneydudette]

Originally posted by The Mom
And as people had mentioned, you can still tour the parks in the rain. It's not like when you go skiing and there's no snow!!

tru....but can u imagine....ur first time down and not being able to to TT, SM, and the parades and shows...thats a big bummer!

 

[Maria]

I was there when the parks closed in September 15th, 99., and as far as I know, people lost a day of parks... that´s it. It´s nobody´s fault, so why should Disney pay for it?
The only time I saw Disney giving out some sort of compensation tickets, was on summer 99 when Future World had a power failure, and what they did, was to open WSC at 10:30 (the fastest they could) and exchange those "one day" tickets to park hoppers for the day. That was it.
:animwink:

 

[TiggerDaddy]

It's ALWAYS like that in June.

 

[Platinum Dragon]

I didn't think I was complaining too badly to warrant the harshness of some of the replys posted here. Thanks to those who have stuck up for me.

I didn't mean to upset anyone, we've had our share of dry spells and water conservation measures up here in Virginia as well. I can understand where a local would welcome the rain. As far as I can tell even with the daily downpours the water table is still way below normal for the area and I even heard that sinkholes were starting to become a problem again.

Cancelling the vacation wasn't an option. It was planned and saved for over a period of time. I don't know many people who can just take six people to the park on a moments notice, most of us need to plan, research, and save, and save, and save.

I was only asking if anyone knew if they were any options open to me, thats all. I'd like to be able to take my sisters family back to enjoy the whole scope of WDW. With all the rain it was routine for the water parks, parades, most character appearances (yes, we founds the covered and inside ones) and fireworks to be cancelled. Several rides (especially Test Track) we shut down for weather as well.

As for checking the weather, I've yet to see an accurate forcast two weeks out let alone four months out. By the time it was apparent that rain was forcast for most of our stay it was the night before our flight (any yes, they were non-refundable tickets).

One thing that I didn't mention in my original post was that every single cast member we dealt with was fantastic. Each and every one of them went out of their way to make all of us feel special (especially my nieces and nephew). The rain may have dampened our spirits but definately not theirs.

I didn't say we had a bad time (we made the most of it all things considered) just less than the normal Disney "magic", thats all.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the positive comments.

 

[Thrawn]

Originally posted by Platinum Dragon

As for checking the weather, I've yet to see an accurate forcast two weeks out let alone four months out. By the time it was apparent that rain was forcast for most of our stay it was the night before our flight (any yes, they were non-refundable tickets).

It always rains in June and July in Florida. The farmer's almanac can tell you long range forcasts with very good accuaracy.

 

[tiggerlover1971]

like my dad always said that rain is liquid sunshine in south florida

 

[tiggerlover1971]

we were there when the hurricane closed the park and we didnt even bother to ask for compensation they opened animal kingdom at 12 noon so we only missed a half a day and night . My family made it fun they reminded me last night that we were so bored that we fell asleep watching television the hurricane never even made it to land

 

[mburk]

Originally posted by Thrawn


It always rains in June and July in Florida. The farmer's almanac can tell you long range forcasts with very good accuaracy.

Thrawn, you are still missing the original point. It rains every month in every state, but you have to agree 5 inches in one week is highly unusual. The average for Florida is approximately 7 inches for the entire month.

 

[Erika]

Originally posted by Thrawn


It always rains in June and July in Florida. The farmer's almanac can tell you long range forcasts with very good accuaracy.

Well, Platinum Dragon did quote the avaerage! I would say she (or he...sorry) did do a bit of research before going. And it WAS unusually rainy according to that average. It does stink when you are trying to show somebody the Disney magic for the first time and the weather does not cooperate. This trip obviously meant a lot to this family and nobody wants the kids to be disappointed. Luckily Disney does have a lot of indoor attractions, so that the rain is not a complete disaster.

Those of us who don't live in Florida have to plan and save for a loooooooong time to go to the World! Our next trip is in Oct and it's about a year in the making already.

It was stated in the original post that Dragon does not feel that Disney "owes" him (her?) anything-- I think the feeling here is that it just can't hurt to ask, and she (he?) is right-- it can't! Just don't get those hopes up.

 

[bearboysnc]

When I go to WDW... I PLAN for rain. Consider yourself lucky if it doesn't.

 

[Platinum Dragon]

Erika,

Just for the record.... it's he. "Platinum Dragon" is a leftover nickname from my younger days when I was into various roleplaying games and it just popped into mind when I registered on the forums months and months ago. I never expected to post but now I wish I had taken the time to be a little creative and used one more appropriate to WDW but I don't know how to change it.

 

[Maria]

Originally posted by Erika

It was stated in the original post that Dragon does not feel that Disney "owes" him (her?) anything-- I think the feeling here is that it just can't hurt to ask, and she (he?) is right-- it can't! Just don't get those hopes up.

I understood that from the beginning too. I´m sorry if my post was one of the "harsh" ones. It wasn´t intended to be! I was just stating my own experience while I worked in GR and the reasons why I know for a fact that Disney will not reimburse any money due to rain. I´m sorry it rained too much when you were there, but I guess it was just bad luck...

:animwink:

 

[The Mom]

I think we all plan for rain, especially those of us who either live here or have visited during the rainy season. However, this was an unusual circumstance....it doesn't usually rain so hard for such a prolonged period this time of year! Platinum Dragon's disappointment was not due to unrealistic expectations ...no one could possibly expect a whole week of ALL DAY rain in Florida during the summer! It just isn't normal!

It would be nice if something could be done to compensate him, and there isn't any harm in asking, but , for all of the reasons already listed, I highly doubt anything will be offered. I myself had a very wet weekend at the beach....if the hotel offered me a rain check I would be delighted, but I'm not expecting one.

 

[Becky]

For thirty four cents you can do the following:

Write to Guest Relations.

Include evidence of paying for passes. e.g. Hotel Bill, copy of passes etc.

Be very nice.

Ask.

Be reasonable.

You may get something. You may not. But you are only out thirty four cents and a little time.

I am not sure about length of stay passes, Maria can answer that one, but if you had park hoppers you could have exchanged them then for annual passes paying the difference. That would have made sence when you got there and saw what the weather was. Of course it is to late for that now, and again I do not know if you can do that with length of stay passes.

I do feel for your family. In over 20 trips to Walt Disney World we have only lost one day to weather. Of course all our luck has not been great. The first day of our first trip to Hawaii was spent in Chicago when the luggage went but our plane did not.