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

1546644042766.png

My younger daughter Cassie and Shane (BF)
1546644075148.png

and my older daughter Stephanie and her fiancé Jordan
1546644098857.png

and this is all of us at the Falls ( selfies are harder with six people!!!)
1546644121013.png


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
 
Last edited:
Day 4 - ROL
So after our FOP ride we decided to go to the second showing of rivers of light (yes I got to finally see it!)
We walked in about 20 min before it started and go amazing seats down low(@Tuvalu made this seemingly innocent recommendation)

We were right beside where the floats come out!

Here are a few pictures

View attachment 348324View attachment 348325View attachment 348326View attachment 348327View attachment 348328View attachment 348329

So what was my opinion?

Loved it!
Very moving and classy
And probably because it wasn’t all Disneyfied

One of my two favourite FW shows is Illuminations - love the artistry and the music

Is ROL that good - no - but it is now the only nighttime show that is well themed to its park AND not filled with all the same characters and music that is in all the other FW and shows.

Don’t get me wrong..

Magic Kingdom should have HEA or Wishes

DHS should have movie themed shows like Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar , Disney,

But Epcot and Animal Kingdom should embrace their base theme and showcase it in their entertaiment

I know I am standing (almost) alone with this view and I do not care if it is unpopular

I should not walk into every shop and see the exact same merchandise

I should not go to every park and ride the same rides

And I should not see the same rehashed night time show at every park

Will I see ROL again - you betcha!!

Well that is it for day 4 - next up Christmas at Epcot!!

Max
We saw ROL feb 17 soon after it opened. I agree. it was unique to AK. And in a way it was calming and refreshing. It didn’t blow you away, but it took you away on a different journey. Great finish to a day at AK.
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/disney-world/
** 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

Max, that is not right, we had a little trouble on our last trip and we reached out to these contacts, they not only got back to us within 48 hours, but they made things right as well. Ask to speak with John Raley, he works for Jim MacPhee, John is the gentleman that reached out to me after our letter, he is outstanding and understands what Disney is all about


wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Jim MacPhee
Senior Vice President of Next Generation Experiences and Walt Disney World Parks
P.O. Box 10000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 560-2960
james.d.macphee@disney.com
 

amjt660

Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 5 cont’d
Getting caught up with the photo pass pictures

Stitch in Morocco
349546

Our camel PP photographer
349547

The wreath that Sahne was looking for ( on his own?)
349548

Pretty fountain
349549

PP photographer #2!!
349550

On to Japan

Tori gate (similar to my avatar!)
349551

Pagoda!!
349552

Wreath
349553

More Photopass adventures in the next post

Max
 

amjt660

Premium Member
Original Poster
So if you were paying attention you are now saying:
But Max - what do you mean PP photographer #2 in Morocco ?

Where here they are …..
Steph and Jordan tried to get one
349559


And the it is "Revenge of the Shane"
349560


and Cassie got into the picture - but Shane was not done!!
349561


So they let him into the foreground of the picture
349562


We finally got a group shot (all seven of us)

349566
349567


And then Max wanted some solo shots
349564

349565


Next up - Fun photo pass in Japan

Max
 
Last edited:

amjt660

Premium Member
Original Poster
We saw ROL feb 17 soon after it opened. I agree. it was unique to AK. And in a way it was calming and refreshing. It didn’t blow you away, but it took you away on a different journey. Great finish to a day at AK.
Thanks for following and I agree with your assessment - calming and refreshing
Not in your face!!

Shouldn't that be "Stitchhiking"?
Yes!! - you made me literally LOL on this one!!

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/disney-world/

Max, that is not right, we had a little trouble on our last trip and we reached out to these contacts, they not only got back to us within 48 hours, but they made things right as well. Ask to speak with John Raley, he works for Jim MacPhee, John is the gentleman that reached out to me after our letter, he is outstanding and understands what Disney is all about
Appreciate the advice and thanks for replying and following!
If I take this route I will let you know

Max
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
You should be a ROL spokesperson. There are a few of us that agree 100% with you. I love that the show isn't like the others, I love the music, the flow. Disney movies are the best and I have seen them all multiple times but I don't want to see them in an AK nighttime show. I love that at one point all 4 parks had their own theme or identity but I'm afraid they are starting to slowly blend together. Whoa where did that come from...that's a whole different conversation.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
So if you were paying attention you are now saying:
But Max - what do you mean PP photographer #2 in Morocco ?

Where here they are …..
Steph and Jordan tried to get one
View attachment 349559

And the it is "Revenge of the Shane"
View attachment 349560

and Cassie got into the picture - but Shane was not done!!
View attachment 349561

So they let him into the foreground of the picture
View attachment 349562

We finally got a group shot (all seven of us)

View attachment 349566View attachment 349567

And then Max wanted some solo shots
View attachment 349564
View attachment 349565

Next up - Fun photo pass in Japan

Max

Love these!
 

amjt660

Premium Member
Original Poster
You may have wanted a solo shot, but....

View attachment 349611
Nice catch!!

You should be a ROL spokesperson. There are a few of us that agree 100% with you. I love that the show isn't like the others, I love the music, the flow. Disney movies are the best and I have seen them all multiple times but I don't want to see them in an AK nighttime show. I love that at one point all 4 parks had their own theme or identity but I'm afraid they are starting to slowly blend together. Whoa where did that come from...that's a whole different conversation.
Flattery will get you ever where young lady!!!

Love these!
I aim to please - as I was using everything I could think off to help pose Stitch I was thinking about your creative choices for taking pictures.

Max
 

stephmax975

Well-Known Member
On to Italy and more Photo Pass fun

Steph did a solo shot
View attachment 349776
She walked away so I jumped in
View attachment 349777
Then I was joined by others
View attachment 349778View attachment 349779View attachment 349780View attachment 349781
Tricia was upset that she did not get in on this one so that was the end of the challenge

Germany was all Jordan
View attachment 349782View attachment 349783View attachment 349784


Max

Correction: I walked up and saw the four of them taking pictures at Italy so I decided I wanted a picture by myself! 🆒
 

amjt660

Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 5 cont’d
After a quick stop in Germany we continued our search for the hidden wreaths

Next stop was China
350155

At this point some people were looking , laughing and pointing as I was prepping Stitch for his photo shoot
350156

It was a beautiful sunny day- temps up around 73 and sunny so...
350157

It did not fit well so he gave his hat to someone else

Much better!
350158

This one was very tricky - I took awhile for Cassie to find it
350159


On to Norway
350160


Meeting new friends
350161

No time for ride buddy - we have a wreath to find
350162


Grass covered roof - check!
350163

Another friend
350164



Max
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom