Have you ever experienced anything neg at WDW?

[GadgetTheInventor]

This thread will be great to show my fianceé before we go back to WDW.

We did get stares and overheard comments from some of the Brazilian teens, but it is still a big issue for a dark-skinned Latina to marry a very white European-American. We were more an interesting observation than something negative in their eyes. This was several years ago before there were serious thoughts of DOMA being struck down and we had to live in fear of being whisked away to prison at any moment for kissing...even at WDW!

I will be buying the rainbow mickey pin on my next trip though.

I have a natural ability to frame photos at a moment's notice and so I love spreading pixie dust wherever I travel. I will just go up to a family where I notice one is left out due to having to take a photo and offer my photography skills. When it comes to same-sex couples, one is often more hesitant about PDA in the photo. Hopefully wearing a rainbow Mickey pin will let them know the PDA is ok since I don't really set off a lesbian vibe.

 

[cathyb93]

I don't have a personal story, but all of your positive experiences are so heartwarming to read about. It makes me so happy that Disney does such a great job making sure everyone is welcome and included!

 

[LilyKate]

My now partner and I went to Be Our Guest to celebrate our engagement and we were both really excited. We had noted it on the reservation that we were celebrating and dressed up just a touch for the occasion (P.S worst decision - we looked a touch of a hot mess after all day in MK!).

Our waitress never said anything about it, the table didn't show any signs of the normal pixie dust, and to make it worse the service was horrible anyways. We were happy with ourselves and tried to ignore the snub because hey, we had each other to celebrate with. But Be Our Guest does have the special Grey Stuff dessert for celebrations and I thought maybe we would even get that at the end.
Nope. But we did watch a family celebrating what appeared to be an anniversary a couple of tables over get all the laughs and smiles and pixie dust we had been expecting and a big thing of the Grey Stuff. It just stung a little bit because we were so excited and had only experienced mostly good things at Disney. At the end of the mean I kind of started to wonder if there had been a mix up and the celebration not communicated so when my then fiancé and I got up to leave I sent her ahead and stopped our waitress and asked her very awkwardly if there had been anything on our reservation. She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake. I left fuming and hurt. I never told my fiancé and just let her chalk it up to mix up. Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

 

[Liberty Belle]

My now partner and I went to Be Our Guest to celebrate our engagement and we were both really excited. We had noted it on the reservation that we were celebrating and dressed up just a touch for the occasion (P.S worst decision - we looked a touch of a hot mess after all day in MK!).

Our waitress never said anything about it, the table didn't show any signs of the normal pixie dust, and to make it worse the service was horrible anyways. We were happy with ourselves and tried to ignore the snub because hey, we had each other to celebrate with. But Be Our Guest does have the special Grey Stuff dessert for celebrations and I thought maybe we would even get that at the end.
Nope. But we did watch a family celebrating what appeared to be an anniversary a couple of tables over get all the laughs and smiles and pixie dust we had been expecting and a big thing of the Grey Stuff. It just stung a little bit because we were so excited and had only experienced mostly good things at Disney. At the end of the mean I kind of started to wonder if there had been a mix up and the celebration not communicated so when my then fiancé and I got up to leave I sent her ahead and stopped our waitress and asked her very awkwardly if there had been anything on our reservation. She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake. I left fuming and hurt. I never told my fiancé and just let her chalk it up to mix up. Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

I'm sorry. That's so unfair.

 

[puertorican00676]

My now partner and I went to Be Our Guest to celebrate our engagement and we were both really excited. We had noted it on the reservation that we were celebrating and dressed up just a touch for the occasion (P.S worst decision - we looked a touch of a hot mess after all day in MK!).

Our waitress never said anything about it, the table didn't show any signs of the normal pixie dust, and to make it worse the service was horrible anyways. We were happy with ourselves and tried to ignore the snub because hey, we had each other to celebrate with. But Be Our Guest does have the special Grey Stuff dessert for celebrations and I thought maybe we would even get that at the end.
Nope. But we did watch a family celebrating what appeared to be an anniversary a couple of tables over get all the laughs and smiles and pixie dust we had been expecting and a big thing of the Grey Stuff. It just stung a little bit because we were so excited and had only experienced mostly good things at Disney. At the end of the mean I kind of started to wonder if there had been a mix up and the celebration not communicated so when my then fiancé and I got up to leave I sent her ahead and stopped our waitress and asked her very awkwardly if there had been anything on our reservation. She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake. I left fuming and hurt. I never told my fiancé and just let her chalk it up to mix up. Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

I am really sorry, maybe they should have asked when you got to the door and confirm your celebration. Hope is an unfortunate misunderstanding. So sorry to read that.

 

[DVCDan36]

Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

Though it is too late to correct your experience, it is never too late to let any company know that they should rethink and retrain on how they handle experiences. Your letter could be the difference of continous bad experiences or new programs to make every experience magical.
I remind my co-workers that every negative letter only makes us better.

 

[Epcotmaniac]

Though it is too late to correct your experience, it is never too late to let any company know that they should rethink and retrain on how they handle experiences. Your letter could be the difference of continous bad experiences or new programs to make every experience magical.
I remind my co-workers that every negative letter only makes us better.

I agree, it's always important to get a feedback. How old was the waitress? Maybe she was just to young and had no experiences. I don't think she did it out of wickedness.

 

[SullySpears]

My now partner and I went to Be Our Guest to celebrate our engagement and we were both really excited. We had noted it on the reservation that we were celebrating and dressed up just a touch for the occasion (P.S worst decision - we looked a touch of a hot mess after all day in MK!).

Our waitress never said anything about it, the table didn't show any signs of the normal pixie dust, and to make it worse the service was horrible anyways. We were happy with ourselves and tried to ignore the snub because hey, we had each other to celebrate with. But Be Our Guest does have the special Grey Stuff dessert for celebrations and I thought maybe we would even get that at the end.
Nope. But we did watch a family celebrating what appeared to be an anniversary a couple of tables over get all the laughs and smiles and pixie dust we had been expecting and a big thing of the Grey Stuff. It just stung a little bit because we were so excited and had only experienced mostly good things at Disney. At the end of the mean I kind of started to wonder if there had been a mix up and the celebration not communicated so when my then fiancé and I got up to leave I sent her ahead and stopped our waitress and asked her very awkwardly if there had been anything on our reservation. She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake. I left fuming and hurt. I never told my fiancé and just let her chalk it up to mix up. Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

I would write a letter about it. Be specific as to when this happened. It's never too late, Disney is a great company. You pay good money and deserve a quality product. Heck, thats what Disney is known for. Go for it, you have nothing to lose. Also I'm sorry you had to experience that.

- Mark

 

[old lady]

You should complain especially if it some form of discrimation or bad service.

 

[lawboy2001]

She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake.

Wow, that is disgusting.

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

My now partner and I went to Be Our Guest to celebrate our engagement and we were both really excited. We had noted it on the reservation that we were celebrating and dressed up just a touch for the occasion (P.S worst decision - we looked a touch of a hot mess after all day in MK!).

Our waitress never said anything about it, the table didn't show any signs of the normal pixie dust, and to make it worse the service was horrible anyways. We were happy with ourselves and tried to ignore the snub because hey, we had each other to celebrate with. But Be Our Guest does have the special Grey Stuff dessert for celebrations and I thought maybe we would even get that at the end.
Nope. But we did watch a family celebrating what appeared to be an anniversary a couple of tables over get all the laughs and smiles and pixie dust we had been expecting and a big thing of the Grey Stuff. It just stung a little bit because we were so excited and had only experienced mostly good things at Disney. At the end of the mean I kind of started to wonder if there had been a mix up and the celebration not communicated so when my then fiancé and I got up to leave I sent her ahead and stopped our waitress and asked her very awkwardly if there had been anything on our reservation. She replied that there had been an engagement noted but they assumed it was a mistake. I left fuming and hurt. I never told my fiancé and just let her chalk it up to mix up. Worst Disney experience ever and the worst part is I was so disgusted that I never wrote a letter to guest communications and it's probably too late now.

My family experienced a negative anniversary situation there too although ours involved my parents 40th anniversary. I had noted it on our reservation and had discussed it with the chef to make sure it was safe for my DF to eat with his food intolerances, but no grey stuff had arrived by the end of the meal. I would have gladly paid for the grey stuff with writing because most cakes cause him digestion problems and he won't take the risk of eating it while in the park. I wasn't going to let it go so I sent word back to our waiter. A bit later, he storms out and throws the plate down on our table and then rushed off. My DF is pretty clueless about everything these days and couldn't comprehend that the grey stuff was to celebrate his anniversary with his wife. Tears ensued...it was horrible. I talked to the waiter's manager about the inappropriate attitude and hopefully he got a tongue lashing and a lesson on etiquette.

While completely inappropriate that your server would assume that your engagement note was a mistake without even asking, you can be proactive in the future. Let him or her know what you are celebrating at the beginning of the meal. The CM could easily have come from an area of the country, or world, where gays don't openly celebrate engagements and life celebrations. I often have to teach CMs about my food allergies and what my mom's needs are because she is in a wheelchair and requires quite a bit more accommodation than a super-buff Iraq war veteran with a lower spinal cord injury. In my experience, CMs are generally very open to learning about the different needs of their guests if you approach the subject in a positive manner.

Writing a letter might help on some level, but I would suggest also talking to an immediate supervisor if that supervisor would have any way to correct the behavior of the problem CM in the future. I get the impression that WDW has a fairly high percentage of CMs involved with the GBLTQ community and even more that would be pretty peeved if a newly engaged couple was ignored. Is it worth taking ten minutes to inform a supervisor who has a high probability of being concerned with and able to act upon the discrimination you experienced?

 

[wdwgreg]

Does anyone know if same sex marriages from other countries (UK especially) are noted/recognised in Florida??

 

[wcpamotm]

I think you can count on it being the case that they do not. Florida does not even recognize such marriages from other states.

 

[disneykin]

In the week after Gay Days, 2013, I was twice (in one day) publicly targeted and ridiculed by CM's for wearing a red shirt.
The incidents happened at the Pirate Tutorial and Monsters' Inc. Laugh Floor.
Being a high introvert, I would have been uncomfortable at any singling-out, but the deliberate targeting of the shirt made me suspicious as well as uncomfortable.

 

[UbIwerks]

My husband and I had some less than stellar service from a particular cast member on the concierge level at the Yacht Club Resort on our last WDW trip. I'm convinced it was because we are a same sex couple. We are West Coasters and have Disneyland Annual passes. Nothing but smiles there. Disneyland even did our wedding.

 

[dramadrew]

I am hoping to have a positive experience when I go on my honeymoon with my soon to be husband. On tumblr, I liked a Disney confessions blog and one of them mentioned a lesbian meeting Jasmine, who asked her if she had a prince. When the woman answered she had a princess, Jasmine smirked and said she just needed to meet the right prince to take care of that. I was horrified reading that story. However, I saw a youtube video of a Disneyland gay proposal and they told some of the characters they just got engaged and it was all smiles and congratulations!

For gay couples who have honeymooned at Disney World, did you happen to buy two bride Mickey ears or two groom Mickey ears? Do you think that would draw more attention from others and/or get a lot of people asking men, "Where's your bride," and vise versa to women?

 

[alansfantasyland]

I've only had positive things happen at WDW. August of 2011 my sister, her girlfriend and I all went to Earl of Sandwiches. Clearly you can tell we are all "family" because of the rainbow mickey pin we were all wearing. We ordered our sandwiches, picked our dessert, and got drinks. When we were at the register ready to pay for all of our food.....the cashier only charged us for only one sandwich. He apparently got the memo that the key to my heart was food. I was a shy 18 year old so I never gotten myself together enough to ask him for his number. Free food is the best food!!!

 

[EK4636]

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences at Yacht Club and for getting singled out at Gay Days! That's horrible My fiance and I have stayed at the Yacht Club before and we've never gotten any issue - in fact, they went above and beyond and helped us re-calculate our meals as we goofed during our split stay.

We just got back from WDW less than a month ago for our engagement trip and got nothing but superb service:

- We stayed at Poly. The concierge desk didn't even blink when they saw that I was there to celebrate an engagement. She even said, "Oh, and is this your husband-to-be?! You guys are such a great couple!"

- We purchased two groom mickey ears hats. The CM engraved both of them, then when we put them away, he INSISTED that we put them on and that we should celebrate!

- We went to Narcoossee's for dinner and had asked for a nice table as it was our post-engagement celebration. The CM arranged for us to have the table at the window - prime seat for the fireworks celebration.

- On our cruise, we had such a great service there, too. We arranged for a photo session on Castaway Cay - no problem. We wanted a nice quiet table for Remy's - no problem (they actually put us in the private table in the wine room). We took a mixology class and the entire class (about 16 people) and the CMs did a toast for our engagement.

The only brief negative thing we got was when we attended our trail ride at the Wilderness Lodge. The guide asked if we were brothers, and when we told him that we were actually engaged, he just said, "Oh" and then stopped talking for about 10 seconds. Then he came back and said, "Sorry about that. I wasn't ready for that response, and I haven't met a lot of same sex couple." Then he proceeded to talk to us the entire time during the ride (about 45 minutes) - cracking jokes, telling stories, etc. So even when it was awkward, it was for only a short period.

 

[shellstar]

The guide asked if we were brothers, and when we told him that we were actually engaged, he just said, "Oh" and then stopped talking for about 10 seconds. Then he came back and said, "Sorry about that. I wasn't ready for that response, and I haven't met a lot of same sex couple." Then he proceeded to talk to us the entire time during the ride (about 45 minutes) - cracking jokes, telling stories, etc. So even when it was awkward, it was for only a short period.

At least the guide was compassionate enough to not only apologize, but to get over the surprise and move on with things. Honesty and compassion can go a long way with things. I bet he was mortified.

So happy to hear everything else went well- I'm excited to go with my Dgf, and showing her this thread is making her relax about the entire thing.

 

[beDONce]

This was actually something I've been a little worried about - I've never come across any problems before, but the fiancé and I are having our wedding there in November 2015, and I'm worried about other guests while we walk around in our "Groom" and "Groom" shirts.