A not-so-magical Disney vacation

[Renysmom]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/05/01/disney.vacation/index.html

Interesting writers response as well as WDW response

 

[mrzrich]

The podcast team discussed this story on the last show. I am upset that the consumer reporter didn't do more researcgh to find out that this writer was unrealistic about their vacation. I think Disney only gave in because it was taken to the media.

 

[Kimberle]

A 5 HOUR wait for a fastpass??? Sounds like this family didn't research and wasn't prepared for their vacation. Problems happen, nothing's perfect. You just have do deal with them when they occur. Also, the dining plan is not new. WDW has had it for years. I would speculate the family didn't bother to read the information on how it worked BEFORE they started dining. Last year, we got a HUGE brochure that documented how it worked. I'd also speculate they didn't tell their servers when they ordered.

Would you go to London, Paris or Madrid without researching and/or planning?? The same is for WDW, you have to plan.....

 

[BriarRosie]

I totally think that Troy Pelias was at fault for not doing the research before the trip. You spend a lot of money for a vacation destination, you should at least do some research before you go.

Since the DIS is part of a HUGE amount of info available, not to mention guidebooks, he had no business complaining about thinks like the FastPass return time and the "hours" it took to figure out gratuities.

If his party had problems entering parks and getting their meal credits handled properly, then yes, I think there's an issue with the magnetic strip on the Key to the World cards.

But when some of his party had a room "down the hall" from the rest of the group didn't make me sympathize with his "awful" vacation one bit.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Ummm...why is it Disney's fault that his travel agent ordered the wrong tickets? I'm thinking it was a Disney agent, but it isn't worded that way, since it was a Grand Gathering though, it probably was a Disney agent? I wonder how the wrong tickets wouldn't let them in the MK though? It's not like you can buy a ticket just for Epcot, any ticket would get you into MK wouldn't it?

A five hour wait just to get a Fast Pass???? Seriously? Is that even possible?
Or does he mean his FP return time was five hours after he got the FP?

I don't have any sympathy for this guy, he clearly did no research at all, but I will say, there are people out there that honestly think they will just arrive at Disney, be sprinkled with pixie dust and everything will be magical with no effort by them at all.

Planning a trip to Disney...or any trip pretty much anywhere for that matter involves a bit of work. FUN work, but some work all the same.

 

[DisnyMama]

I booked our (just me and ds-10 at the time) first trip back in 2001 through a local travel agent because that's what my family always did and I didn't know any better. The agent new nothing of WDW and I had never heard of any of the internet sites yet let alone the DIS. I booked a package with airfare about a year in advance and as a working single mom I made a payment every month. The only research we did was watch the Disney planning video every night and read Birnbaums. We had a wonderful time and used that trip as a learning experience.

When we returned I got on the internet and soon discovered the DIS and then learned all the ways I could have saved $$, should have booked my own airfare....I mean we could have stayed for 10 nights for what I paid for that 7 nights. Live and learn!!!!

Shannon

 

[stitchlover]

I read this on CNN last Tuesday morning, I think. When I had lunch with my husband I couldn't shut about it. I had the same question as a previous poster...why would Disney reimburse them money for the tickets when the travel agent screwed up. I really had no sympathy for the person because he had done no planning whatsoever. Do a little research before you go somewhere for goodness sakes! We are going to Chicago for the first time this summer I have done a little research and will do some more as the date draw nears. This was no ones fault but his own.

 

[knewton64]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a minute.....did I READ the article CORRECTLY?

"Even so, Disney was a little quick to dismiss your initial letter. A review of its promotional material for "Grand Gatherings" (defined as a group of eight people or more) sets a high bar for customer service. It promises a "one-of-a-kind" experience that's "even more magical." Among the special benefits: a dedicated team of "Grand Gathering Travel Planners" that will handle every detail of your itinerary.
That's not what happened to you."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



.......so my question to this Whiner is why in the HECK did he hire, via Magical Gatherings," a dedicated team of Grand Gathering Travel Planners A-N-D a Travel Agent??????

#1 "Goofy" problem of the Whiner: The above sentence is tantamount to paying twice for the same service!!!

#2 answer to "Goofy" problem of the Whiner: This Whiner should have dealt strickly with Disney on this (their vacation planning). I am also wondering if this over duplication of services is what lead to the dining issues - that DUH - could have been easily taken care of at Guest Services at the hotel they stayed at.

#3 answer to "Goofy" problem of the whiner: REQUESTS ARE JUST THAT....THEY ARE NOT GUARANTEED.

#4 answer to "Goofy" problem of the whiner: Monorail breaking down? DUDE....TRY BEING STUCK ON "IT'S A SMALL WORLD RIDE".....for 10 minutes! DUDE.....machines / technology do break down every now and then. SAME WITH YOUR BODY, YOUR COMPUTER, YOUR CAR......IT'S PART OF LIFE. - just a kind suggestion here dude.

#5 answer to "Goofy" problem of the whiner- "Fastpass and having to wait 5 hrs":
Try going early in the am & you wont have as much of an issue. Yes, you will still have about up to a 2 hr wait but to flip it back to you......I take it you expect (when you check out of grocery store) everyone to just "get out of your way" just because you wanna get checked out?? Dude......either fast pass or wait in the stand by line.
It's COMMON SENSE that if you try to attempt a fp by, say approx 12 noon on, YES--- DUH - you would be looking at up to a 5 hr wait. A Magical Gathering DOESN'T give you what you were thinking/assuming. Therefore, did you bother to ask questions??? I bet not.

TIP TO THE WHINER: NEXT TIME ONLY HIRE O-N-E.....THE TA OR MAGICAL GATHERINGS....N-O-T BOTH & I JUST BETCHA YOU WON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM IN THE FUTURE.


Overall, this person did not do his homework & also gets a WAAA from me as well.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[thewall2k]

I read this last week when it somehow made its way to the front page of cnn.com. I had to read it several times, I couldn't get over the shock of what the person was saying. To me it seemed as if they thought that since they paid for the trip that meant that they were the only ones who were going to be in WDW. How much research does it actually take to find out the line and the fast passes are going to be long on Soarin?

 

[darrengs]

The quote "Our monorail broke down" says it all. He needs to realize the he is not the only one on vacation believe it or not other people are there as well.

I assume the "wrong tickets" that wouldn't let him into the MK was actually that the park hopper option was missing.

 

[stitchlover]

Another quick note...on our first family vacation in 2006 I booked the trip the beginning of January and we went in March. We knew NOTHING about staying onsite, using the dining plan, tickets with more than one day, etc. But I did a little reading (Birnbaum's I think) and we went into the trip with an open mind and had an enjoyable time. Now since I found the Dis and Allears.net in January 2007 have all our trips been more enjoyable? Sure. But it doesn't mean that first trip wasn't great. But I did a little research and things that might have gone wrong or not exactly as I expected I didn't blame anyone but myself.
That first trip was over Springbreak at an All-Star resort. Cheerleader competition and Springbreak at an All-Star resort, NEVER AGAIN. But I chalked that up to I didn't know better. Now I do. Wasn't Disney's fault.

 

[wishspirit]

Disney not replying to a letter is wrong, no doubt about it, even if they guy is whining about his own lack of planning.

However, I would NEVER go on holiday ANYWHERE without doing the basic bones of research, especially when it is something as big and expensive as this. If you buy dinning plan, Disney are more than happy to explain it, as are the servers, but it will take SOME effort on your part to read the explanation!

This reminds me of an article I read:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/p...iculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/p...s-holiday-complaints-readers-suggestions.html

 

[let'sgo]

Wow, is this an eye opener! We got stuck on the monorail while on the track, and another time we wanted to use it at the Grand Floridian but it was down, and for quite a while. Did this ruin our vacation or make it any less magical? NO!! We booked two studios at DVC and they weren't next to each other. So what? At Soarin' we got fast passes in the morning to return six hours later. So we returned six hours later. Funny, all of our vacations were lots of fun and magical and none of what happened above spoiled it. If anything is wrong, there are plenty of CMs that are only too willing to help you out. Some people are only happy when they are complaining. I sure am glad that I didn't travel with these people!

 

[LeesyUD]

I really don't see anything that warrants a refund like that.

Last time I was at WDW are KTTW cards stopped working every single day even though we were keeping them in a safe place away from any other magnetic strips. We got really frustrated when we got to AL park opening and waited in line and then my fiance's ticket did not work again!

The guest service cast member could see our frustration and we politely mentioned that this was the 5th time it had happened to us. We really didn't feel like making a fuss about ti thought because we didn't want it to ruin our day. But because he knew that we had to waste more time getting the card replaced again, he gave us two fast passes each to use at any attraction. (It took us about 30 minutes or so at guest services due to the line). We were very happy that he took the initiative to do that because he had recognized the inconvenience to us. But we would never expect all of our park tickets refunded because of it! We were happy with the fast passes and even though the cards had to be replaced several more times that trip (10 day trip), we were happy that at least someone did something for us to ease the frustration.

 

[MonkeyPants]

these are people obviously had done zero research about what to expect. OMG!!!! There are other people at WDW 5 hours for a fastpass...ummm no, we all know soarin goes fast so the fastpasses were being given out for 5 hours from the time they were there, there were not so many people in line that it would take 5 hours to get a fastpass

 

[let'sgo]

Why does something like this even make the news? I mean, really, if I had a bad vacation when I went off to Colorado or somewhere, could I call the newspaper and have them write up a report for me? This is ridiculous. No day could be that slow of a news day.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

This story bothered me from the very beginning. I'm totally blown away by the arrogance and demands of this person. If I go to Hawaii and it rains, should I be compensated? No! That is similar to what is happening here. This person went to the media, got his story out there to purposely give Disney and WDW a bad name, and then got paid to hide the negative attention. I understand Disney's reasoning SOMEWHAT, but am concerned nonetheless. This sets precedent. Will every guest who has a long FP line get compensated? Will every guest who gets stuck on a ride or monorail? Will every guest who has to reinsert his park pass?

 

[Christine9125]

Maybe I should have done this to compensate me for the need to take my daughter to Urgent Care on our first day there due to a cyst on her tailbone. Just joking, come on people, is this really what this world is coming to? I did not read anything in his letter that has not happened to me, but I did not expect to be compensated for it.

 

[rsbuxt]

Hi

Like the previous posters I also am sad that the "whiner" wanted to blame everything on Disney. I am sure the refund was due to the media involvement and not the actual nature of the complaints.

I do think though, that it is easy for the 1000's of us that love the DIS and do plan our vacation to forget that we are in the minority. I am guessing that 99% of WDW travelers don't do any real planning as they are simply not aware of what is needed to do to get the best from the World. Here in the UK for example I am not aware (I am happy to be corrected) of any dedicated WDW travel agents. I meet so many people who come back from the World and say it was "too busy to enjoy". What do they expect?

Anyway, thank God I have the DIS to fuel my obsession for planning

Rich

 

[LilGMom]

That story, unfortunately, is like most of the ones where a person goes to WDW with through-the-roof expectations and think WDW owes them something if even the tiniest thing goes wrong. I don't think WDW owes this person anything and maybe next time this family should do a little research and planning if they want the "perfect" vacation. Sounds like some of the person's problems weren't WDW's anyway.

I've been when FPs for rides have been gone by lunch but never once did I think about writing WDW to complain or ask for compensation.