A very disappointing visit - results of my email to DLR 7/9

[sharona]

Great news OP.

(You should also put your email results post as an edit to the end of your original post so it's easier to find.)

No way, lol. Either you slog through the whole thread or you are left wondering.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

Or maybe Disney realized they really did have some serious issues that day. I highly doubt they hand out park hoppers to anyone with an email address and a gripe.

I am sure that they look back through whatever type of reporting system that they have for ride closures and breakdowns and cross check them with complaints. Or some similar system. I'm sure they get tons of false complaints from people that hope to get freebies. Good to know that they will go the distance to make it right when they need to.
OP- I am glad that Disneyland got back to you so quickly and tried to make it right. I hope you will be able to make it back some day and try again!

 

[superlarz]

OP here - I sent my email to Disney yesterday and today I received a call from someone in "Guest Experiences Services". My email included details with approximate times that we encountered the shut downs and I expressed our disappointment with so many premier rides being out of service during our visit. After a very brief conversation, he invited us back for a return visit. They will replace our 1-day PH tickets with a "Will Call letter" that we can present at the gate for 3 1-day PHs.

Highlights of the conversation for those who are interested - he advised that ride shutdowns are usually caused by loose items or slow loading guests (but you all knew that). The only questions he asked were if we had complained to anyone while in the park (no) and if I still had our tickets (yes). When I told him that we were in New England and didn't have any plans to be back in CA anytime soon he said that while the letter has a 2 year expiration, I could call to extend it if necessary.

That's it. Thanks to all who suggested that I follow through on my intention to write to them. Great customer service for them to have gotten back to me so quickly. We don't have plans to return to CA anytime soon but maybe we'll work in a west coast stopover on our next trip to Hawaii. As I said in my original post, we really wanted to love it... maybe we'll give it another try.

I had a feeling they would make things right for you. As I posted earlier, its a shame you didnt say something while still in the park so you could have actually gone and had a more enjoyable day there on your trip... but then again, you may have had things planned each day already. I hope you are able to work things out to give Disneyland another try.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

congrats I am very happy to hear it and I hope you guys will have a fun time. Good luck at a better time the second time. Might I suggest a Disney Christmas visit. Christmas time is the best time to go.

 

[HydroGuy]

OP here - I sent my email to Disney yesterday and today I received a call from someone in "Guest Experiences Services". My email included details with approximate times that we encountered the shut downs and I expressed our disappointment with so many premier rides being out of service during our visit. After a very brief conversation, he invited us back for a return visit. They will replace our 1-day PH tickets with a "Will Call letter" that we can present at the gate for 3 1-day PHs.

Highlights of the conversation for those who are interested - he advised that ride shutdowns are usually caused by loose items or slow loading guests (but you all knew that). The only questions he asked were if we had complained to anyone while in the park (no) and if I still had our tickets (yes). When I told him that we were in New England and didn't have any plans to be back in CA anytime soon he said that while the letter has a 2 year expiration, I could call to extend it if necessary.

That's it. Thanks to all who suggested that I follow through on my intention to write to them. Great customer service for them to have gotten back to me so quickly. We don't have plans to return to CA anytime soon but maybe we'll work in a west coast stopover on our next trip to Hawaii. As I said in my original post, we really wanted to love it... maybe we'll give it another try.

I am glad to see you allowed DLR to respond to your situation. They do tend to be responsive and I do hope you find a chance to use those tickets someday.

 

[HydroGuy]

Not to beat a dead horse but, for those who still don't get it, the issue was not that we couldn't accomplish everything we wanted to in 1 day. The issue was that there were multiple, lengthy, premier ride closures in both parks throughout the day and night.

Since you did bring up the WDW comparison, and in the spirit of beating dead horses , I think it is very difficult to know when a similar things happens at WDW because the rides are disbursed across parks so physically distant from each other.

I would say in my experience it is very typical at DLR to have 2-3 major rides down (between DL and DCA combined) for some significant time each day during busy season - especially when RSR is down so much. Four would not surprise me either on any given day. When you are on a day trip and have a parkhopper ticket it will be more noticeable for sure.

Your frustration is understandable when you had such high expectations - but I am not sure your experience is that far from the norm.

 

[sharona]

congrats I am very happy to hear it and I hope you guys will have a fun time. Good luck at a better time the second time. Might I suggest a Disney Christmas visit. Christmas time is the best time to go.

Hmm that is a tempting idea. We've never been to Disney at Christmas time. We currently have a tentative November trip planned with some friends to Universal Orlando to see the new HP stuff so this year is unlikely. Maybe Christmas 2015. Thanks for the idea!

 

[whoever]

Send the vouchers my way if you want to be sure to not be fooled again... I'm un-fool-able.

 

[rentayenta]

Send the vouchers my way if you want to be sure to not be fooled again... I'm un-fool-able.

 

[Chrisfilm]

Send the vouchers my way if you want to be sure to not be fooled again... I'm un-fool-able.

Exactly. The OP almost sounds disappointed that Disney responded with such great service. "Well, I don't know when I'll be in CA again." Do you want them to get you time off work, fly you out, put you up in a hotel, and give you the passes? If you were truly looking for a resolution that would change your opinion on DLR, you would have talked to guest services the day of your trip and likely got your free PH tickets to use the next day (since you were thinking about extending anyway). Instead this allows you to still paint DLR as a disappointing place that 'fooled you'. Please send your tickets to someone who will appreciate them.

 

[Gisele]

Not to beat a dead horse but, for those who still don't get it, the issue was not that we couldn't accomplish everything we wanted to in 1 day. The issue was that there were multiple, lengthy, premier ride closures in both parks throughout the day and night.

It really was just a fluke of timing, coincidence that the only day you could visit happened to see different rides down at different times. Timing really can be everything. One can only plan so much, then whatever happens it's gonna happen.
If everyone complained about everything all of the time, Disney would need to hire more guest services personal, otherwise there would be a really long line, at any given time, then someone would complain about that too. I honestly receive the sense of entitlement here from your posts. And am getting tired of it.

 

[Gisele]

Wow! That was great news! It's sad that luck was not with you that day - I'm an AP holder and this spring I felt a need to be in the park. I begged a friend to go down with me. We arrived to peak crowds and after we saw what was ahead of us, we got on the train and circled the park a few times. Each pass we saw so many new details and moments we hadn't seen before! Then we found ourselves at BTMR with a short line and we rode that, then left! It's one of my favorite park days ever.

I guess I've always believed that the price of the ticket (or the AP - they're not cheap!) gets me in the gate and then what I make of my day is up to me.

Well said!

 

[Gisele]

Wow! That was great news! It's sad that luck was not with you that day - I'm an AP holder and this spring I felt a need to be in the park. I begged a friend to go down with me. We arrived to peak crowds and after we saw what was ahead of us, we got on the train and circled the park a few times. Each pass we saw so many new details and moments we hadn't seen before! Then we found ourselves at BTMR with a short line and we rode that, then left! It's one of my favorite park days ever.

I guess I've always believed that the price of the ticket (or the AP - they're not cheap!) gets me in the gate and then what I make of my day is up to me.

Well said! Perspective, p m a, and not getting down for too long is imperative, in my opinion. Sometimes, I am challenged by these factors, but that's my tissue issue.

 

[whoever]

Every time I tried to ride Matterhorn my last trip it was 101... BTMRR...101 when I wanted to ride it.. I couldn't get on any FL dark rides because the lines were through the roof..Indy was constantly 101... I had a complete and total AWESOME TIME..

 

[sharona]

Exactly. The OP almost sounds disappointed that Disney responded with such great service. "Well, I don't know when I'll be in CA again." Do you want them to get you time off work, fly you out, put you up in a hotel, and give you the passes? If you were truly looking for a resolution that would change your opinion on DLR, you would have talked to guest services the day of your trip and likely got your free PH tickets to use the next day (since you were thinking about extending anyway). Instead this allows you to still paint DLR as a disappointing place that 'fooled you'. Please send your tickets to someone who will appreciate them.

Wow. You are misinterpreting the tone of my posts. Sorry that I didn't use any smiley face things to make it more benign. I don't know when we'll be in CA again is just a factual statement. We live in Boston and with the long flight and the time change, and dds school schedule and my work schedule, and our existing travel plans, planning another visit to the west coast within the next 2 years is not so easy.

People seem most upset about that fooled comment and I feel you are making much more of it than how it was meant. I felt a fool for paying a premium for 1 day PHs when so many things were down when we got to them and was thinking of that saying about fool me once....

Accepting that type of day as the norm may be ok for some of you but I respectfully disagree and I don't think that makes me "squeaky". The guest services gentleman stated that they were happy to receive the feedback because if they don't hear anything they don't know things aren't right.

 

[whoever]

Accepting that type of day as the norm may be ok for some of you but I respectfully disagree and I don't think that makes me "squeaky". The guest services gentleman stated that they were happy to receive the feedback because if they don't hear anything they don't know things aren't right.

They placated you with some no-cost-to-them passes which you may or may not use which you will undoubtedly spend $ in the parks. Don't think it was altruistic in any regard. They'd gladly replace you with another multi-day visitor who stays onsite. Disney is a business and they did what every GOOD business does which encourages repeat business. You were unhappy with your experience, which is actually quite common. We have family friends who did the same thing as you, BUT they only did DL, not hoppers, and they had a miserable experience. We (speaking of me and my family) love the heck out of the place, knows how to optimize, and even when CRAZY crowds are present makes the best of it. You need to adjust expectations and deal accordingly. If you can't, you'll have a miserable second visit, whereas if we went same day, same amount would have a blast.

 

[BARBARAL26]

OP here - I sent my email to Disney yesterday and today I received a call from someone in "Guest Experiences Services". My email included details with approximate times that we encountered the shut downs and I expressed our disappointment with so many premier rides being out of service during our visit. After a very brief conversation, he invited us back for a return visit. They will replace our 1-day PH tickets with a "Will Call letter" that we can present at the gate for 3 1-day PHs. Highlights of the conversation for those who are interested - he advised that ride shutdowns are usually caused by loose items or slow loading guests (but you all knew that). The only questions he asked were if we had complained to anyone while in the park (no) and if I still had our tickets (yes). When I told him that we were in New England and didn't have any plans to be back in CA anytime soon he said that while the letter has a 2 year expiration, I could call to extend it if necessary. That's it. Thanks to all who suggested that I follow through on my intention to write to them. Great customer service for them to have gotten back to me so quickly. We don't have plans to return to CA anytime soon but maybe we'll work in a west coast stopover on our next trip to Hawaii. As I said in my original post, we really wanted to love it... maybe we'll give it another try.

We had a similar experience happened to us awhile back. We also wrote an email, (2 couples) we were given 2 1 night stays at the grand and 4 1 day park hopper tkts. Let me back up a bit, We were staying at the Grand, during checking in they gave us a standard room, we had reserved a deluxe Downtown view. Our first day was when OSHA had shut down a bunch of rides. So that was another issue, something else happened which I can't remember at this time. So we wrote an email and they replied with a 1 night each room, also 4 1 day park hopper tickets. So we returned this last May upon our arrival they knew when we arrived pulled us to the side to check in, fast and efficient. Our room was ready by 10am and would you believe we were given firework view rooms. Also that night each room received a tray of cookies and milk. I need the recipe for those cookies. We had a wonderful time and I did write another email full of praises. Have a great time.

 

[DDhunter]

Not to beat a dead horse but, for those who still don't get it, the issue was not that we couldn't accomplish everything we wanted to in 1 day. The issue was that there were multiple, lengthy, premier ride closures in both parks throughout the day and night.

LOL, oh I definitely "got it." I stand by my original statement, Disney went well above and beyond customer service in this situation.

 

[ILUVALASKA]

I am a DL local, and RSR is ALWAYS down. Ludicrous.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Good to hear that Disney is making an effort to take care of you and I really hope you can find a way to get back and give the parks another chance, there are a lot of us here that absolutely love DLR and it's disappointing to hear that you didn't experience the same magic we experience.