I kid you not...one minute late...in line...turned away!

[UpstateMick]

My family and I had some wonderful experiences during our recent February trip to The World, but there was one experience that we just can't shake. We had a FP+ for The Little Mermaid Show at DHS. We came out of One Mans Dream and stopped to use the restroom. We arrived at the FP+ entrance to Mermaid with about five families in front of us. They let the five families go, and when they got to us, the pulled the rope closed and said we were one minute late for our FP+ and that we could not come in. I thought they were joking at first, and I said something like "Well we almost made it" as a joke, thinking that the CM was just messing with us. She then repeated that we could use the FP+ for the next show, but we would not be able to attend this showing. I asked her if she was serious and she said that we had missed our time. I told her we were in line and that the other five families were let in, but she said we arrived to the line later than our time...one minute late...I kid you not...one minute late. The stand-by line was already closed, so my wife, daughter and I just stood there, mouths agape, not truly believing that they were not going to let us in...to the Little Mermaid show on a Thursday afternoon! Not Toy Story...Not seven Dwarfs Mine Train...THE LITTLE MERMAID SHOW! I was so stinking mad that I had to walk away because I did not want to be a poor role model for my daughter, and, by rule, I was wrong...nor did I want it to ruin a beautiful trip we were having...all in all, it WAS only the The Mermaid show. But, in all my years going to Disney, never, NEVER, was I turned away from a ride or a ADR for being a few minutes late. Heck, we were 25 minutes past our Test Track time on this last trip and the CM said "close enough" to us and let us through after a brief explanation. The CM at The Mermaid Show was smug and took pleasure in telling us we couldn't see the show. I don't know if it is FP+ or what, but, in my opinion, this was absolutely ludicrous! Am I off base here? Has this ever happened to you...ONE MINUTE...when I was IN LINE!?

 

[NewmanFamily6]

Wow I'm sorry that happened to your family! I have read this happening a few times. I hope you bring it to guest communications as a disappointment.

 

[perditax]

First thought: if this is a show with different show times (not an ongoing ride like HM), then they have to drop the rope for SOMEONE. Sounds like you just got unlucky.

 

[macraven]

i feel your pain.
that totally stinks you had this happen to you.

 

[soar2014]

I'm so happy for you that you took the high road and didn't show your bad side to your child. It takes a lot of fortitude in a situation like that. I don't know how badly I would have fared in your position

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That stinks. Was the standby line allowed in after you were cut off? Then one minute late should not have mattered.

We had a FP once, but since it truly was not necessary, we moved it. So I am not sure how the window works.

But I wood be livid if they blocked you and let the standby line on because that just lacks common sense.

I would definitely share my experience with Disney via the above posted email either way.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Did you wait for the next show? I hope your daughter got to see it.

 

[yooperfan]

It sounds like more a case of running out of seating. If they had already allowed people into the pre show room and only had enough seats left for the People in front of you, that would explain not letting you in. It is unfortunate, but once your return time passed, they would allow standby in, a lot of seats could have filled in that one minute you were late. It is just one of those shows with individual seat, sorry you didn't make it though.

 

[jrt1176]

I agree. There are only so many seats in the theater and, even though you had a fastpass, were just unlucky enough to be the ones that got cutoff, etc.

I think the cast member probably could have given you a better explanation... But, there wasn't anything she could do if there were no more seats.

 

[chapie1968]

you were late, it's not a "running" ride attraction. They had accounted for all the seats in the theater for that show. She was doing you a favor and still letting you use your FP for another time at the next show. I don't see what the problem is.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

This happened to me at Little Mermaid too. I wouldn't take it personally. I think it's just standard procedure for that attraction.

 

[cakebaker]

If the CM was smug and had an attitude, I would definitely have gone by guest services and complained. If indeed there was nothing she could do then her attitude should have reflected that. If they had already filled the seats, then it's just your bad luck. I know arrival times for shows are different than rides. She may have been right not to allow you to enter, but there's never a reason to be smug about it.

 

[The Hub]

UpstateMick,

I'm very sorry to read about your recent experience. This certainly shouldn't have happened, especially as we currently operate with a grace period built into the touchpoints. With that being said, I'm hoping you may be able to provide a little more information. Do you know what time the show was starting and if so, what time was at the end of your FastPass+ reservation's window? Were you given an option to tap your MagicBand or ticket media to the touchpoint? As you mentioned the standby line being closed, are you aware of any limited to no availability during that show?

I encourage you to reach out to our Guest Relations/Experiences team at wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com and provide as much information as possible, including the detailed report in your original post, the time of your FastPass+ reservation, the date and the time the show was advertised to begin.

I wish you luck in getting this resolved to your satisfaction and let me assure you, that is not how we are expected to perform onstage.

 

[yooperfan]

I don't see where the cm did anything wrong. They were late, it has limited seating. They offered a FP for the next show. If everyone got new passes when they missed their window, the system would be a mess. I think they were actually treated well. One minute sounds silly, but that's one minute past the lasted you can arrive. I get the feeling some are blaming the cm, we have to be responsible for getting to our rides on time and if something happens and we can't, it is not the cm's fault.

 

[lauradis]

I don't see where the cm did anything wrong. They were late, it has limited seating. They offered a FP for the next show. If everyone got new passes when they missed their window, the system would be a mess. I think they were actually treated well. One minute sounds silly, but that's one minute past the lasted you can arrive. I get the feeling some are blaming the cm, we have to be responsible for getting to our rides on time and if something happens and we can't, it is not the cm's fault.

Yes and No, Op missed her time (sorry ) their fault, yes. heres the but part Guest relations are key and the CM should have been little more empathic in her manner of speaking with op and her family.

Op Disney needs feed back on this thing, so hopefully they don't happen to the next guest.

Op I hope you got to see the next showing and it didn't mess up your days plan to much.

 

[CAS239]

You weren't allowed in simply because you were one minute late. You weren't allowed in simply because the theater was full. The CMs at the little mermaid show keep track of how many guests enter due to it being a small venue so there's limited seating. With shows, generally the latest return time within your allotted time is right about when the show starts. So if you come any after that, you run the risk of the show being full already or right about to start.

There was no need for anyone to complain to guest service as shows are different than ride FPs. With rides you can enter 15 min late (sometimes later depending on CM). And it would also be a different situation if it were for a show like Indiana Jones or LMA where there's a ton of seats.

I fully understand why you'd be upset. I'd assume the CM explained that it was at capacity, but possibly you were already mad and took anything as personal.

 

[goofyernmost]

No, it's a case of the show starting at specific times. The doors close and no one is allow in through the entrance until it ends. Timing is everything in life. Live and learn. Don't wait until the last minute to get to your FP attraction. You had a whole hour to get there. Not their fault and just a happenstance for yourself. Moral: Don't wait until the last minute.

 

[davkata]

We arrived late (after our window) for our FP for The Frozen Sing a Long due to bus issues. We didn't bother giving them our "sob story" and just went through the standby line which had already been let in. For Frozen the FP window was 4:30-4:45 with a 4:55 showtime. They were seating only by ushering you to exact seats at that point. This venue also had "standing room only" viewing for some reason. I suppose we got lucky and if the theater was full we would have been in the same predicament as you, but I find it hard to believe Mermaid was that much more popular than Frozen and actually full to capacity within one minute after your FP window.

 

[livingthedream]

No, it's a case of the show starting at specific times.

OP, I can appreciate why you would not be happy about not being let in when you were under the impression that there is a grace period. However, as a few other posters here have noted, I suspect that the grace period applies more to continuous-loading rides rather than shows.

I obviously don't know exactly what circumstances occurred here, but I tend to agree with goofyernmost that the likely culprit to making the decision to cut-off admittance was the show start-time. We don't know how full the theatre was, but we can pretty much bet that there are scheduled starting times for each of the shows, and that is why I'm thinking this more than anything else impacted the CM's decision whether to let you in

Now, I also suspect that FastPass+ times for each of the shows are not directly tied to the show's start times. They are likely released every 10 or 15 minutes, or whatever the standard gap is between issuing FastPass times for every attraction (ride and shows) these days.

However, if the CM had an attitude when communicating to you that admittance was stopped, I absolutely think THAT is what you should go to Guest Services about. I believe good customer service would have been to explain in a little more depth why you were stopped. Every time a CM gives a deeper explanation, it helps the guest better understand the nuances of the system, and then apply this information elsewhere in the parks. In reality, by doing so helps out one of their fellow CMs elsewhere because the next CM won't have to explain and deal with any irritation that naturally comes when people don't understand. Good communication is "everything".!

And KUDOS to you for not losing your cool in front of your child! Absolutely that is acting as a great role model, and THAT is something that I am happy to communicate to you!

 

[nkereina]

It's my understanding that they let FP+ people in first and THEN the stand-by line. If the stand-by line was already closed, that would mean you missed the opening of the FP+ line and likely all the seats in the theater had then been filled by stand-by, with maybe a couple left for the FP people in front of you. Just bad timing that they filled it right before you and cut it off at you.