Trip Report So I guess Disney thinks Canadians do not celebrate Christmas?? A Max Trip Report- COMPLETED

A big hello to all my Disney friends:

As the title suggest this is a trip report regarding our recent Christmas adventure at Walt Disney World

Why the title you ask? I will keep you guessing on that one for a few days at least

Details leading up to the departure can be found here:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-max-the-girls-and-the-boys-do-disney.951075/

This is my 6th trip report on these boards so hopefully you have read at least one before

The reason I say that is that my style might not suit all - I can probably sum it up as

1) Shoot from the hip
2) Do not pull punches
3) Definitely not PC
4) Not always PG
5) As much Seinfeld references as @Tuvalu can handle
6) Not too heavy or too light on the Pixie dust -keep it real and call it as I see it

Quick introduction will come from:

Day 1 - Travel Day towards the US but not quite beyond the comfort of home:
Friday Dec 21, 2018

The original plan was to drive from our home in Waterloo Ont Canada to Buffalo NY on Sat Dec 22.
With a 10:35 am fight a same day drive could have worked.

We switched it up to a drive on the day before and booked a hotel in Niagara Falls Canada

(our B&B in Buffalo backed out on us - @Doc Disney can try to explain how she let us down!!!)

So here we are at the Embassy Suites on Friday enjoying our homemade Mickey cookies

Me (Max, Andrew, Clarence) and Tricia

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My younger daughter Cassie and Shane (BF)
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and my older daughter Stephanie and her fiancé Jordan
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and this is all of us at the Falls ( selfies are harder with six people!!!)
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This report will chronicle Disney trip 28 for me and lucky(?) 13 to WDW.
It is also 13 to WDW for Tricia
The girls celebrate 10 trips to the world
Trip 2 for Shane (though his memory of the first is limited)

And - 1ST TIME FOR JORDAN!!!!!!

More Day 1 to follow and then off to Buffalo the next day!!!

Welcome aboard, ashore and wherever we are!!!

Max
 
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Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
View attachment 344360
OK, so first I have to ask whether this table and tablecloth bothers anyone else? It was like that in August too, but I do not recall it ever being that crooked before then?! It makes the whole table look crooked, IMO. Seems to me that this would be an easy fix, but apparently not ... :rolleyes:

As for your ticket debacle, I really don't know what to say about all of the incompetence that led to that awful crescendo of "WTH!" ... and then to be confronted with such poor customer service and flat-out apathy is just so insulting. I am having sympathy rage just reading about it!!:mad:

And I can totally relate to you second-guessing everything afterward, but from what I can tell, you handled it with total class in doing what you had to do to save the day for your family. You get huge Dad props for that. I am very impressed, as I dare say I might not have handled it all as well as you did ...

OH NO! Now I cant stop looking at the tablecloth!!!! COP ruined forever.... I hope Disney does not see this, they will close COP for 6 months to a year to fix it!!!
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
1548463709638.png

Love it
I may tease you like the little bro I never had, but yes, I got your back ;)
If you are accepting applications for the little bro position I would like to apply - we can discuss at Christmas this year

Sounds like your no Joy day was at AK and not at EPCOT. :confused:
Nice tie in - someone is truly paying attention!!

My like was in support of you, not because I liked what you were telling us! That is awful that you were treated that way! I am a little disillusioned with Disney after our trip too! I hope the rest of your trip went more smoothly!
Things did get better - thanks for the reply

Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience.
Thanks - it was challenging reading your amazing report about Disney Service training and thinking about my recent experience

Ugh, I went into this thinking that surely they fixed it for you. I am so sorry to hear that they did not. I honestly think sometimes it depends on the CM or CM’s handling it. I know we have gotten refunds that I didn’t expect but also talked to one CM that was such a not nice person, I actually canceled a trip. Ended up rebooking later, as not to cut my own nose off to spite my face, so to speak, but I did give her a horrible review because she was just a witch. 😡

I hope you guys salvaged the day and still had a good time. I don’t blame you for being ticked-I would have blown a fuse, this is not the Disney Way! At all... If it was an AP, maybe I could see but it was for specific dates, how could they not tie that together? 😑
thanks for the nice words - yes - it gets much better

I am so sorry! This really stinks!!!
I have a similar ‘right hand not knowing (or caring) what the left hand is doing’ story. I still have a bad taste in my mouth!
Thanks, Do not wish this type of thing on anyone

Worst response by Disney EVER! I’m sorry that happened to you and your family.
Thanks for the reply

At that point, from the customer service stand point (in the opinion of someone who as worked several service industry jobs but never actual customer service), they should have eaten the additional fee to get the tickets switched over and sent you on your way with the correct tickets on your magic bands. What point of "Y'all sold me the tickets that I couldn't even use" did they not understand? Straight. Up. Cray.

In other words, I saw the name Drew and was like "wait... who is drew?" :oops::hilarious: But seriously, I can see the regular guest relations CM asking you to pay extra, but for the superior to come over and stand by the extra charge.... nope, not okay.
Thanks for understanding
And yes my full name is Andrew, short form Drew and Max is my nickname
Then there is the story of being named Clarence....

Sorry you had that hassle. Disney shouldn't have treated you that way, I would say something else but I think I might get censored. ;) I hope you were able to shake it off a little and still have a good time with the fam.
Thanks Amy - it took awhile to shake off - and would come back every once in awhile - eventually we tried to turn it into a joke to try to get through it

:jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop:
You can not be serious? Would you consider calling now that you are back? Or sending an email? Sometimes they listen to the squeaky wheel
I was trying to just forget but I think I want to call or email

I would definitely be calling to complain again.
I think I will

Me too, won't hijack the thread, but, our
sour taste happened at A.K as well. I'm very sorry for you.
I hope they did better for you

Brutal brutal brutal. I read a lot of trip reports (and I mean, a LOT), and I haven’t had any big run ins with customer service but from what I’ve read it seems just super inconsistent. Like @wdisney9000 could have eaten ANYWHERE on property for free because his wife couldn’t take a bath in their room :hilarious: Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just seems like that CM went totally crazy above and beyond, and your mistake was missed by so many Disney employees (and yourselves, to be fair) and it was handled so poorly. I have looked at the Canadian residents deals many many times to try and justify a trip, and have never seen anything obvious about “block out dates” - which, as you have said, is ridiculous anyways, like “we want you guys 🇨🇦 to come, but during these times we actually have enough visitors so we don’t really *need* you to come at these times that badly”.
Thanks for the reply - I like your assessment

Well said.
I agree

Sorry you had to go through that. It was their screw-up, not yours yet they made you feel like you did something wrong. That's what p8sses me off more than anything.
Thanks for the support

I was thinking about your post as I went to bed last night and I can’t help wondering if you were being « made to pay » by these CMs because they were bitter about working on 24 December? And I say this more in thinking about the way you described their demeanor, as even if they weren’t going to budge on their decision, there is still a way to give the message in a compassionate way to make it easier to hear.
Not sure if the day had anything to do with it - might have - I think the CM was not quite awake yet and honestly should stay off stage until she is ready to be on stage - the manager was probably just getting too many complaints and botched mine

I had a feeling it was not going to have a happy ending and am disappointed to learn I was right. :-( While I have met a lot of great CMs, I also have encountered a few who tried to turn their mistake back onto me.
Usually for me issues with Disney do end up well - I rarely go to Guest relations - less than a handful before this trip
Thanks for the support

That is such a shame. I think you should make contact with a manager now by email and lay it all out in writing. l understand why you would want to just pay the money at the time and just get on with your family holiday but you are home now and should let someone high up know how many mistakes were made and how poorly you were treated on the day.
Support from down under - thanks to my New Zealand friend - I think future contact will occur

I agree with Kiwiduck's response above, Max. (Actually, I agree with all the responses received regarding your experience with customer service.)

Can't add much more to what others have said, but I'm like this over your experience --

View attachment 344248
Thank you for the reply

Wow--what a shame....

I would be contacting them about this one.
I am leaning that way - thanks

:( dislike
so sorry this happened.
Appreciate the reply

That's unbelievable Disney could have comped you after 27 trips. What did they think you would fly your whole family from Canada for a $500 scam?
Ok so first full disclosure I had been to WDW only 12 times previous (Yes this was not so lucky trip #13)
My other trips have been to the other parks around the world
And yes - I did not bring up the point - I just sort of felt like they thought I was trying to scam them
But this trip was north of $10K and the $485 was great to get back but I was not trying to be dishonest
My reaction to the situation was (in my opinion) an honest shock that this was happening
Maybe they thought I was a really good actor??

agree. This could’ve been handled so much better. And definitely a training experience for those CM as to the blackout dates during the holidays. Bad Disney.
thanks for the support

Man, I feel awful for you! I would have been so disappointed. We had a few issues on a trip last December and I emailed their customer relations and I feel I got a very fair outcome. I do really hope that you take the time to email them and explain the whole situation. I did not find the hotel/parks to have the best customer service, but I did feel valued and appreciated after talking to the customer relations rep that handled my case. You honestly should be refunded what extra you paid out for tickets. Other than that, I am really enjoying reading your adventures!
Thank you for replying and for the advice - I am leaning toward an email

Allow me to do some Disney rationalization (it makes me feel better about Disney even though I know they rip us off all the time)

When you initially changed the tickets you got back $485, then you had to give the mouse back $445 , all things being equal you gained 3 FPs and payed a little less for the tickets.

Does the $40 savings ( not even enough for counter service for 2) and the three FPs make up for the aggravation and time lost, now that I am typing this, I say NO!

I am sorry Disney was so uninformed about their own product that they did this to you!
Your rationalization was the same one I used to get through the rest of the trip
Tricia was ed for multiple days and would not agree with this rationalization
Thanks

Wow. Just wow.
Yup

I cannot like that at all. That was very un-Disney. I am getting ahead probably, but I hope when you got home that you emailed customer service. This was all so very wrong on their part.
Not yet but just need to figure who/how is best way

Wow that's just awful! And it seems like so many CMs just go to the automatic "here are 3 FPs" to try to solve all problems. In a lot of cases that's appropriate, but definitely not in this one.
It truly felt that way - autopilot - do not listen - just try to pacify the situation with FP

OK, so first I have to ask whether this table and tablecloth bothers anyone else? It was like that in August too, but I do not recall it ever being that crooked before then?! It makes the whole table look crooked, IMO. Seems to me that this would be an easy fix, but apparently not ... :rolleyes:

As for your ticket debacle, I really don't know what to say about all of the incompetence that led to that awful crescendo of "WTH!" ... and then to be confronted with such poor customer service and flat-out apathy is just so insulting. I am having sympathy rage just reading about it!!:mad:

And I can totally relate to you second-guessing everything afterward, but from what I can tell, you handled it with total class in doing what you had to do to save the day for your family. You get huge Dad props for that. I am very impressed, as I dare say I might not have handled it all as well as you did ...
Good observation - I did not even notice the odd angle
Your post is exactly how I feel
Again - full disclosure - I was not as calm and collected as I could have been
There was tension and I did add to it - I had 5 very upset people with me - at one point I had to ask them all to back off being I was feeding off the negativity that all were feeling

OH NO! Now I cant stop looking at the tablecloth!!!! COP ruined forever.... I hope Disney does not see this, they will close COP for 6 months to a year to fix it!!!
Funny - 6 months to fix a table cloth!!!


A big thank you to all - it feels great to know that all of my Disney Forum friends have my back

I need one last thing from someone who has done this sort of thing before (PM me please if you do not mind)
Who is the best department to contact?
Phone or email - which gets a better response?
and what number or email address to use

NOW HERE THIS - This portion of the TR is done - I want us all to move forward and start talking about happy, fun , adventurous stuff

Again - thanks for the support - we now continue with the regular scheduled programming

Max
 
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amjt660

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4
So we headed into AK and went to Pandora
Had to do a pit stop- it had been awhile since my last one

We went to Navi river ride first and used our FP we had just received (60 min wait)
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There has been a lot of negative toward this ride (@Tuvalu - I am looking at you kid) but we actually all enjoyed it

We knew it was going to be a little short so we expected it
And the AA was amazing

Also we watched Avatar a few days before we left on this trip ( Jordan has never watched it and it was a good refresh for the rest of us - except Shane who has probably seen it at least 50 times!!)

Avatar has its flaws ( recycled story, bad acting and too much hype) but for me it did two things right

1) good theme of conservation
2) amazing visual effects

Navi represents # 1 very well and tells the story of the Navi and their beliefs

And of course FOP takes care of # 2 !!

Unpopular opinion- but hey - would expect anything less!!

Max
 

stephmax975

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
It's taken me a while to write this but Disney daughter here to chime in. This was difficult to write but I had some additional context to add.
First, I want to thank all of you for all of your messages of support! It's reassuring to read comments that confirm that the frustration and disappointment that we were all feeling wasn't an over reaction.
My dad and my mom were the ones that were actually interacting with the CMs so the rest of us were able to hear the conversation but weren't involved in the conversation.
The thing that was the most disappointing (and hard to watch part) about the experience was how my dad had to fight for every inch that he got.
First, they tried to get him to buy all new tickets in addition to the tickets that we already had.
Then, they wanted him to pay the increased rates that were changed in October (when the original tickets were bought before that).
Then, they were giving us fast passes but initially refused to give us one for the Navi River Journey although the 50 minutes of park time that we have lost would have partly been for that ride.
Now, I've had some amazing experiences with cast members at Walt Disney World. On our last trip, I unfortunately had a panic attack while we were leaving Fantasmic mainly due to the large crowds. We had to stop walking and a Cast Member noticed the situation. They asked if I needed anything and went and got me a bottle of water. They also checked on me to make sure that I was okay before we left the area and the park. We never got that Cast Member's name but we were all so thankful and I am still so thankful for the kindness that they showed myself and my family.
Unfortunately, the stress of the situation with the tickets at AK combined with the poor customer service (the way that my dad was treated) caused a similar reaction for me. It's difficult to watch that sort of customer blaming when I knew that a lot of time had been spent with my dad and sister on the phone with Disney in preparation for the trip. That Navi River fastpass? We only got that fastpass when my mom went and told them what their customer service was doing to all of us.
Mainly the experience really goes to show you that there are so many CMs that genuinely care about the experiences of their guests and others could learn from the Disney Magic that they show guests.
 

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
** WARNING - TEXT ONLY - NOT A LOT OF DISNEY LOVE - SKIP IF YOU WANT TO - I WISH I COULD HAVE!! **


Day 4 - AK - Well, now what do we do?

So we were escorted over to a good size line waiting at Guest Relations
15 min till we got to the window and then we ran into our first shining example of customer service
(note: I did not record names )

CM: No pleasantries, no expression of concern, stared at her screen , asked for all magic bands, complained that she had only started 20 min ago!!! - oh I am sorry I am being such an inconvenience !!

Then she says she has a solution and it will only cost me $157 per person ( $942 in total)
I guess prices went up and this is the best she could do

My reaction was not positive
I requested to see a supervisor

Wait, some more..

Supervisor : The website stated the tickets were not valid
Customer: I did not use the website - I talked to your CM at reservations

Zero apologies , Zero empathy, keep stating it was on the website and I should have known

Finally as the stalemate continued I decided to give up and simply said - just charge me the original price
(Even though this was not my mistake I could not stand to waste more of my vacation on their incompetence)

And yes, my MDE app has had the hotel and the ticket linked to each other since May 2018.
A misunderstanding over travel dates was not the problem

The left hand not talking to the right hand?? BINGO!!

Reservations did not pick up on it and sold me the Canadian Res tickets

IS did not notice (on 3 occasions) as I tried to link them to the right people
(at one point I had 12 tickets - 6 regular and 6 Canadian - but 7 of the tickets were in my name)

The Fast pass system did not pick up that my Canadian Res tickets could not be used to book FP from Dec 24 to Dec 27

The CM at the Epcot booth on Dec 22 that checked our passport did not pick up on it

Now before you say - but Drew those are different departments - how are they supposed to know?

And my response is - don't know don't care - Disney is Disney

@Matt and Kelly recently completed a training course on Disney Customer Service

This group on Dec 24 at AK needs to attend the training.


Final Result:
60 min wait at Guest Relations (longest line of the trip!!)
$445 dollars out of pocket ( a little less than original cost - she comp'd 2 days and charge new price for other 3 and it worked out to this new amount)
3 FP added to my account - one for Navi River- would not do Flight of Passage (we were going to rope drop to try to see the queue)
Probably 30 more min of straight up anger as we went through the gate and explained it all to my family
At least 2-3 days of second guessing and tying to reconcile/rationalize why I gave in and paid more money on the spot
And as of today 32 days of disappointment and disillusionment regarding the "new Disney Way"

Note: I am not naïve - even though I hang out in Trip Reports I do not snort Pixie Dust - but I have never been treated this way by Disney in any of my last 27 trips.
The blame for the mistake was being aimed back at me.
The customer was 100% wrong
I felt like they thought I was trying to scam my way in at a lower cost.
This was a low point in my history of interaction with Disney park CM

I need to go back to Cali or Tokyo or Hong Kong
I felt appreciated and welcomed.

Max
I so feel your pain! And, can not even imagine your frustration, anger and disappointment that morning. I will tell you if it helps in any way that I really appreciate you and your family's willingness to share your adventures with us here. (Realize it's not $445 of appreciation), but...

And, odd that you had such a problem with lack of empathy specifically at AK. We were there in Dec and I had to go to guest services for a lost FP, was showing on MDE. The guy was not quite rude, but working on it. He says, as he pulls them up on his computer (not visible on MDE on my phone), "they're right there", and looked at me with a "what are you complaining about lady" look. (Still not visible on MDE). I just gave up and left hoping they would indeed "magically appear" when I needed them.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
** WARNING - TEXT ONLY - NOT A LOT OF DISNEY LOVE - SKIP IF YOU WANT TO - I WISH I COULD HAVE!! **


Day 4 - AK - Well, now what do we do?

So we were escorted over to a good size line waiting at Guest Relations
15 min till we got to the window and then we ran into our first shining example of customer service
(note: I did not record names )

CM: No pleasantries, no expression of concern, stared at her screen , asked for all magic bands, complained that she had only started 20 min ago!!! - oh I am sorry I am being such an inconvenience !!

Then she says she has a solution and it will only cost me $157 per person ( $942 in total)
I guess prices went up and this is the best she could do

My reaction was not positive
I requested to see a supervisor

Wait, some more..

Supervisor : The website stated the tickets were not valid
Customer: I did not use the website - I talked to your CM at reservations

Zero apologies , Zero empathy, keep stating it was on the website and I should have known

Finally as the stalemate continued I decided to give up and simply said - just charge me the original price
(Even though this was not my mistake I could not stand to waste more of my vacation on their incompetence)

And yes, my MDE app has had the hotel and the ticket linked to each other since May 2018.
A misunderstanding over travel dates was not the problem

The left hand not talking to the right hand?? BINGO!!

Reservations did not pick up on it and sold me the Canadian Res tickets

IS did not notice (on 3 occasions) as I tried to link them to the right people
(at one point I had 12 tickets - 6 regular and 6 Canadian - but 7 of the tickets were in my name)

The Fast pass system did not pick up that my Canadian Res tickets could not be used to book FP from Dec 24 to Dec 27

The CM at the Epcot booth on Dec 22 that checked our passport did not pick up on it

Now before you say - but Drew those are different departments - how are they supposed to know?

And my response is - don't know don't care - Disney is Disney

@Matt and Kelly recently completed a training course on Disney Customer Service

This group on Dec 24 at AK needs to attend the training.


Final Result:
60 min wait at Guest Relations (longest line of the trip!!)
$445 dollars out of pocket ( a little less than original cost - she comp'd 2 days and charge new price for other 3 and it worked out to this new amount)
3 FP added to my account - one for Navi River- would not do Flight of Passage (we were going to rope drop to try to see the queue)
Probably 30 more min of straight up anger as we went through the gate and explained it all to my family
At least 2-3 days of second guessing and tying to reconcile/rationalize why I gave in and paid more money on the spot
And as of today 32 days of disappointment and disillusionment regarding the "new Disney Way"

Note: I am not naïve - even though I hang out in Trip Reports I do not snort Pixie Dust - but I have never been treated this way by Disney in any of my last 27 trips.
The blame for the mistake was being aimed back at me.
The customer was 100% wrong
I felt like they thought I was trying to scam my way in at a lower cost.
This was a low point in my history of interaction with Disney park CM

I need to go back to Cali or Tokyo or Hong Kong
I felt appreciated and welcomed.

Max
Sympathy like. That sounds like it must have been so disappointing!! Did you write to Disney? I've heard some people say when things went terribly wrong and it wasn't handled, that they wrote to the corporate office to let them know what happened so they can prevent it happening to someone else. I would bet you aren't the only Canadians to encounter this problem. It may not help YOU to write, but it might help the next person.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Day 4
So we headed into AK and went to Pandora
Had to do a pit stop- it had been awhile since my last one

We went to Navi river ride first and used our FP we had just received (60 min wait)
View attachment 344420View attachment 344423View attachment 344424View attachment 344425View attachment 344426View attachment 344428View attachment 344429

There has been a lot of negative toward this ride (@Tuvalu - I am looking at you kid) but we actually all enjoyed it

We knew it was going to be a little short so we expected it
And the AA was amazing

Also we watched Avatar a few days before we left on this trip ( Jordan has never watched it and it was a good refresh for the rest of us - except Shane who has probably seen it at least 50 times!!)

Avatar has its flaws ( recycled story, bad acting and too much hype) but for me it did two things right

1) good theme of conservation
2) amazing visual effects

Navi represents # 1 very well and tells the story of the Navi and their beliefs

And of course FOP takes care of # 2 !!

Unpopular opinion- but hey - would expect anything less!!

Max
I'm sorry....what is AA? I know people don't really like Navi River, but I'm really looking forward to seeing it this Summer. I watched the movie, so I think I should be able to follow it, but I am excited to see Pandora in person!!
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 contd
With Navi complete we explored Pandora for the first time
(Insert obligatory first timer shots here)
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FOP was already up to 3 hours ( a common situation) so we headed out to Asia

We did standby for Everest ( we had no choice - I was wearing the hat you know!!)
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Everyone enjoyed the ride - especially the younger crowd
I will add PP pics later

Max
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
** WARNING - TEXT ONLY - NOT A LOT OF DISNEY LOVE - SKIP IF YOU WANT TO - I WISH I COULD HAVE!! **


Day 4 - AK - Well, now what do we do?

So we were escorted over to a good size line waiting at Guest Relations
15 min till we got to the window and then we ran into our first shining example of customer service
(note: I did not record names )

CM: No pleasantries, no expression of concern, stared at her screen , asked for all magic bands, complained that she had only started 20 min ago!!! - oh I am sorry I am being such an inconvenience !!

Then she says she has a solution and it will only cost me $157 per person ( $942 in total)
I guess prices went up and this is the best she could do

My reaction was not positive
I requested to see a supervisor

Wait, some more..

Supervisor : The website stated the tickets were not valid
Customer: I did not use the website - I talked to your CM at reservations

Zero apologies , Zero empathy, keep stating it was on the website and I should have known

Finally as the stalemate continued I decided to give up and simply said - just charge me the original price
(Even though this was not my mistake I could not stand to waste more of my vacation on their incompetence)

And yes, my MDE app has had the hotel and the ticket linked to each other since May 2018.
A misunderstanding over travel dates was not the problem

The left hand not talking to the right hand?? BINGO!!

Reservations did not pick up on it and sold me the Canadian Res tickets

IS did not notice (on 3 occasions) as I tried to link them to the right people
(at one point I had 12 tickets - 6 regular and 6 Canadian - but 7 of the tickets were in my name)

The Fast pass system did not pick up that my Canadian Res tickets could not be used to book FP from Dec 24 to Dec 27

The CM at the Epcot booth on Dec 22 that checked our passport did not pick up on it

Now before you say - but Drew those are different departments - how are they supposed to know?

And my response is - don't know don't care - Disney is Disney

@Matt and Kelly recently completed a training course on Disney Customer Service

This group on Dec 24 at AK needs to attend the training.


Final Result:
60 min wait at Guest Relations (longest line of the trip!!)
$445 dollars out of pocket ( a little less than original cost - she comp'd 2 days and charge new price for other 3 and it worked out to this new amount)
3 FP added to my account - one for Navi River- would not do Flight of Passage (we were going to rope drop to try to see the queue)
Probably 30 more min of straight up anger as we went through the gate and explained it all to my family
At least 2-3 days of second guessing and tying to reconcile/rationalize why I gave in and paid more money on the spot
And as of today 32 days of disappointment and disillusionment regarding the "new Disney Way"

Note: I am not naïve - even though I hang out in Trip Reports I do not snort Pixie Dust - but I have never been treated this way by Disney in any of my last 27 trips.
The blame for the mistake was being aimed back at me.
The customer was 100% wrong
I felt like they thought I was trying to scam my way in at a lower cost.
This was a low point in my history of interaction with Disney park CM

I need to go back to Cali or Tokyo or Hong Kong
I felt appreciated and welcomed.

Max

This is certainly not the Disney I would expect. I would have been super disappointed too especially as you had plans (which didn’t include queuing or being made to feel like you were in the wrong) I hope the rest of the trip was better.
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hello everyone,
It's taken me a while to write this but Disney daughter here to chime in. This was difficult to write but I had some additional context to add.
First, I want to thank all of you for all of your messages of support! It's reassuring to read comments that confirm that the frustration and disappointment that we were all feeling wasn't an over reaction.
Thanks Steph - well put and from the heart

I really appreciate you and your family's willingness to share your adventures with us here. (Realize it's not $445 of appreciation), but...
Good idea - maybe I will start a GoFundMe page!!
Just kidding - do not do it!!!

I just gave up and left hoping they would indeed "magically appear" when I needed them.
I wonder if they consider that a victory at Guest Relations

Sympathy like. That sounds like it must have been so disappointing!!
Thank you for the kind words

This is certainly not the Disney I would expect. I would have been super disappointed too especially as you had plans (which didn’t include queuing or being made to feel like you were in the wrong) I hope the rest of the trip was better.
Thank you for the reply - it will get better very soon!!

And now a couple of Photo Pass pics from our first Everest ride

Not sure what Shane was doing - raising his hand to ask a question???
AK_EXPEDITIONEVERESTRIDE_20181224_415030296992.jpg


Home Alone!!
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It was pretty cold on this expedition
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Mom, you said this would be fun!!
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Max
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 cont’d
After our safari and walk we went to the Festival of the Lion King
We wanted the boys to see one show and this one won out over Nemo
No pics of the performance but look who is back!!
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We walked back out to the TOL and took a few pics and did the photo pass thing ( I will add a post tonight)
8BF67EF9-69AD-48F3-A7BE-36680EFDCAD5.jpeg
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The plan was to head back to the hotel and chill
But why follow a plan when you can do this
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Libations all around ( everyone was of age on this trip - shane just turned 21 in mid December)
E391AC4D-E259-4E4A-BD12-7BD127B7C401.jpeg
D4A4FBE0-DC59-42C9-9E8E-9D5FC898A37F.jpeg

My stomach was not feeling so well at this point so I tried to lie back and relax ( while still enjoying a cocktail of course)
45C1D37E-B961-47E8-AE13-9BD759D879A8.jpeg


Max
 
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