EPCOT magic bands crashed

[KTR]

We had so many credits left over because all four of my children were sick during the week for one part or another. But we knew we would have all of those credits a few days out so we figured Epcot would be a good way to use them. We were excited about the idea of checking out the food kiosks for the art festival and that wasn't open during the week.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

If someone has 43 snacks and 9 quick service meals left on their last day, then the Dining Plan is not a value for them. If I were OP, or anyone else with a plethora of credits left at the end of their trip, I would seriously reflect on what you paid for the plan vs how much you would have actually eaten and spent if you had just let your eaten what you wanted and paid out of pocket. Then decide if you want to use the plan again next time.

depending on the number of guests on plan I could see those numbers. there were 6 of us in cabin and we had close to that at the start of our last day. we just did not use the snacks credit but we knew we probably would use all as we are not snack eaters but throw in a few character meals and a couple of more expensive dinners. we like having meals paid. as for the quick serve meals that total would have given us one meal that day and enough for a shared breakfast on departure day

 

[mrzrich]

We had so many credits left over because all four of my children were sick during the week for one part or another. But we knew we would have all of those credits a few days out so we figured Epcot would be a good way to use them. We were excited about the idea of checking out the food kiosks for the art festival and that wasn't open during the week.

Your situation is different, but I have seen many posts of people having an abundance of credits left. For those people, the plan is likely a waste of money.

 

[mrzrich]

The more I think about it the more anti dining plan it makes me. See you paid Disney months ago for food.

You had no way of controlling the fact that some of your family members would get sick, you had no control over the fact that the computers were down yesterday.

But you could have had control over your money if you hadn't have "paid for everything ahead of time"

I get that people like that pre payed feeling. But there are ways of having that feeling with out forfeiting control of your money to Disney.

You can do save the old fashioned way by setting money aside for your trip. My parents had a vacation envelope and a Christmas jar. Some people have separate bank accounts for their vacation fund.

Or you can purchase gift cards ahead of time. Any extra money on the gift cards at the end of your trip can be saved towards your next trip.

 

[wilkeliza]

It is interesting that no one had a solution when it happened across the park. Even with out a magicband the management of the quick service should have been able to manually charge to your room and tell you to have guest services or the front desk at the hotel refund and switch to DP. If it was really down for 2 hours then Disney messed up. It sound like the system went down the last 2 hours of the day so I agree the $60 probably comes from that. Disney has a formula of how many credits the typical consumer would have used so they probably did QS meals or snacks. Did you really plan to use 43 snacks and 9 QS in a 2 hour span what happened the rest of the day?

 

[bigmac5]

I was at the general store in POR and the merchandiser told me they used to do a 2 hour shopping only pass. She wasn't sure if they still do it...I didn't inquire about it because I found what I wanted on the parks app and had it delivered to our resort...may be worth looking into

 

[TwoMisfits]

We had so many credits left over because all four of my children were sick during the week for one part or another. But we knew we would have all of those credits a few days out so we figured Epcot would be a good way to use them. We were excited about the idea of checking out the food kiosks for the art festival and that wasn't open during the week.

And this is exactly the issue I wrote about on another dining plan thread. If you have a bunch of people in your party, someone is likely to get sick 1 or more days of your trip (it happens to us every 3-4 trips). It's a big reason why you should never pay for the Dining Plan if you won't be coming out way head in your plans (b/c plans never last, and you will likely regress on your savings as the trip goes).

 

[KTR]

It is interesting that no one had a solution when it happened across the park. Even with out a magicband the management of the quick service should have been able to manually charge to your room and tell you to have guest services or the front desk at the hotel refund and switch to DP. If it was really down for 2 hours then Disney messed up. It sound like the system went down the last 2 hours of the day so I agree the $60 probably comes from that. Disney has a formula of how many credits the typical consumer would have used so they probably did QS meals or snacks. Did you really plan to use 43 snacks and 9 QS in a 2 hour span what happened the rest of the day?

No, our goal was to use most of them. We were planning on buying a ton of treats from the bakery and candy shop at France and Germany to bring home as well as the kiosks. Then we needed some for breakfast the next morning and what was left would be for a handful of things from the resort. We thought we might still have enough for each kid to pick 2-3 items to take home, not nearly so many as we did.

 

[KTR]

The more I think about it the more anti dining plan it makes me. See you paid Disney months ago for food.

You had no way of controlling the fact that some of your family members would get sick, you had no control over the fact that the computers were down yesterday.

But you could have had control over your money if you hadn't have "paid for everything ahead of time"

I get that people like that pre payed feeling. But there are ways of having that feeling with out forfeiting control of your money to Disney.

You can do save the old fashioned way by setting money aside for your trip. My parents had a vacation envelope and a Christmas jar. Some people have separate bank accounts for their vacation fund.

Or you can purchase gift cards ahead of time. Any extra money on the gift cards at the end of your trip can be saved towards your next trip.

We wil derinitely never use the dining plan again. I'm undecided if we will stay on property either.

 

[elleherself]

I did the dining plan a few years ago and we saved all of our snack points for our Epcot day. It was during Food & Wine, and it was a lot of fun running around spending our snack credits. We did a mix of snack credits and paying out of pocket.

I no longer think the dining plan is a good value, but at the time it was a pretty decent deal, we saved a bit of money. Tables in Wonderland was a lot better but even that discount is hard to get a value for these days.

 

[polymerpig]

My daughter is a CM at MK and said it was also down there towards the end of the night.

 

[seashoreCM]

Suggestion only: After you get home, write a play by play narrative (story) about what you would have done that night and estimate how many credits you would have used and ask for a refund of that amount. Include a description of the days your kids were sick. No, you would not summarily ask for a refund of all the unused credits.

Question to ponder and not answer in the next 60 seconds: Should you ask down at the front desk to amend your dining plan on an every other day basis to get a refund (or gift cards) for unused dining credits during a prolonged illness? Take into account a parent spending a day in the room with a sick child. Yes, take into account meals that could have been purchased at the resort restaurant using dining credits and taken up to the room.

In case of tummyache you should fast until the pain is gone plus 4 hours. If, during the 4 hours you get another twinge of pain you must start the 4 hour counter from zero again.

Imagine for a moment that certain communications lines between the World and the world went down so that all ATMs and credit/debit card stations were inoperative. Would Disney deny the use of credit and debit cards Worldwide?

Vocabulary to look up (via Google or otherwise) on your own: impute, choreography.

 

[mco65]

Hind sight is 20/20..
The last time we were at WDW (<month ago) i too did not bring my wallet or CC to the parks. We also did not have the DP.. We simply charged everything to the room via our magic bands. We would have been totally scrooged had that happened to us... UGH!

Next time, me or my wife will be sure to take at least 1 cc and id..

I remember the first time we used the DP.. years ago when there was only 1 DP and you could eat at the castle for only a single credit.. we had quite a few SNACKS and a handful of CS credits left at the end of our trip. WE used most of the CS while waiting for the bus at the Resort and then wiped out all the snacks at the resort convenient store... the next time we were better at using our dining credits and the last time we exhausted every credit like clock work..

Now we don't use the DP... isn't that the way though.. as soon as you get good at something, you stop using it.. to be fair though..i really like the DP.. i think its just the idea of not having to chunk over $200 for a meal.. that hurts... on the DP, your like.. WOW, glad i have the DP! But out of pocket your like.. HOLY CRAP!!! uh.. lets don't do that again!

Anyhoot, the DP would have cost us $1,500 our last trip but we opted to NOT buy it.. instead we simply charged everything back to the room and were right around $1,500 at the end of our trip but NOT all of that was Dining.. at least $2-300 was other stuff (photos, ears, and souvenirs)... so we came out ahead NOT using the DP.. IMO, when your PAYING out of pocket, you simply spend less.. you share a morning doughnut, cup of coffee or bottled water (which you refill at the water fountain)... you share deserts... you simply eat less.. at least that is what we do..

 

[DisBuckMan]

Suggestion only: After you get home, write a play by play narrative (story) about what you would have done that night and estimate how many credits you would have used and ask for a refund of that amount. Include a description of the days your kids were sick. No, you would not summarily ask for a refund of all the unused credits.

Question to ponder and not answer in the next 60 seconds: Should you ask down at the front desk to amend your dining plan on an every other day basis to get a refund (or gift cards) for unused dining credits during a prolonged illness? Take into account a parent spending a day in the room with a sick child. Yes, take into account meals that could have been purchased at the resort restaurant using dining credits and taken up to the room.

In case of tummyache you should fast until the pain is gone plus 4 hours. If, during the 4 hours you get another twinge of pain you must start the 4 hour counter from zero again.

Disney doesn't refund DDP due to sickness*. Not a can of worms they want to open. Can you imagine the nightmare if they did? Everyone who doesn't use all of their credits would be claiming a sickness, that neither they could prove, nor Disney could disprove.

*I'm sure someone will come along and claim that they received a refund...this is not typical and very outside the ordinary.

 

[Figmentmommy]

I can't imagine making the decision to go out anywhere without my wallet/ID/cash or credit card. Yes the system issue was a Disney matter, but one that could have been adjusted by Disney after the fact without denying my family the dining we had planned for that evening.

 

[CarrieR]

I don't either, and my park bag always has another form of payment (credit/debit) and a little petty cash - a $20 and a few ones, usually.

BUT, when Disney promotes "wear our bracelet and it does everything!" they need to be willing to work with families when the systems go down. *Especially* in the case of prepaid food. OP & DH upheld their end of the bargain, Disney needs to make it right with them.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

If someone is at, say Akershus, and planned on using the dining plan when the system crashed, it would be unreasonable for them to expect the customer to suddenly come up with almost $300 (3 adults, 2 children, as our family is) in alternate payment.

I would NEVER pay that much in cash on the assumption Disney would reimburse me (and I would never have that much cash on me, anyway), and I wouldn't want to put that much on a credit card, either (assuming I had one with me) in this situation.

 

[Figmentmommy]

If someone is at, say Akershus, and planned on using the dining plan when the system crashed, it would be unreasonable for them to expect the customer to suddenly come up with almost $300 (3 adults, 2 children, as our family is) in alternate payment.

I would NEVER pay that much in cash on the assumption Disney would reimburse me (and I would never have that much cash on me, anyway), and I wouldn't want to put that much on a credit card, either (assuming I had one with me) in this situation.

It is not an assumption. Disney can, has, and will make a credit or adjustment if there is a system issue or other error on their part. This is particularly quick to rectify if the charges are made to the guest's resort account versus when the guest directly pays with his or her credit card. It can still be done but is easier when it is done on the resort folio before it hits the credit card.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

It is not an assumption. Disney can, has, and will make a credit or adjustment if there is a system issue or other error on their part. This is particularly quick to rectify if the charges are made to the guest's resort account versus when the guest directly pays with his or her credit card. It can still be done but is easier when it is done on the resort folio before it hits the credit card.

In this instance, room charging was out also. So, what if this happens during meal, and guest planned on using plan, and didn't bring a credit card? (I know guests should, but not all do).

 

[supersnoop]

In this instance, room charging was out also. So, what if this happens during meal, and guest planned on using plan, and didn't bring a credit card? (I know guests should, but not all do).

It's been earlier stated that there are manual ways to charge to the room.