Advice, please. TA says we won't get FP until 10 days before arrival.

[Lisa loves Pooh]

OP--I am sorry you are having trouble. With this FP+, they really should have a new system in place that allows those who utilize TA's to be able to have access to the benefits
Their admission ticket provides them be it 30 or 60 day booking windows.

Would be worth an email to Disney to express your displeasure.

I think the debate started when you started calling the TA incompetent without any information to support your claim.

I thought the OP said she was underwhelmed and unimpressed.

 

[itchin2go]

I thought the OP said she was underwhelmed and unimpressed.

This *could* be the result of incompetence. It could also just be that when a travel agency is servicing a large group, you are not going to get the kind of specialized attention we all want.

As I said, I've had to take a few of these group competition trips (not Disney), and my lack of control over things drove me to a near nervous breakdown, and multiple verbal confrontations with the (horrible) woman in charge of the whole thing. To say that they just don't work the way normal trips do is an understatement. What I learned (and hopefully it will help the OP) is to control what you can and let go of the rest. Or else (like me) you'll drive yourself insane.

 

[bumbershoot]

FWIW - I think many, many tour groups are handled this way ... and have always been.

Exactly. And many people just don't know how it is handled. they think there's a big choice in TAs, when there isn't, and when the TAs are not given options from Disney Sports.

It wasn't through sports. It was a choral group who performed at Disney. The trip was through Performing Art/Disney Onstage but I didn't book it or handle any part of it.

Alas, that means it might have been through a normal TA or it might not have been. Or the band situation is different than sporting situations. Drat.

 

[Astridia]

OP--I am sorry you are having trouble. With this FP+, they really should have a new system in place that allows those who utilize TA's to be able to have access to the benefits
Their admission ticket provides them be it 30 or 60 day booking windows.

Would be worth an email to Disney to express your displeasure.



I thought the OP said she was underwhelmed and unimpressed.

I think it's a pretty far leap from underwhelmed and unimpressed to incompetant. I never saw the OP make this type of a statement. Do you know for a fact that the TA is to blame for the situation? Do you know for a fact that this person is incompetent? I certainly don't.

I do not like seeing anyone making undfounded accusations.

 

[cakebaker]

Sounds more like the byproduct of an incompetent travel agent than the system to me.

"Sounds like" is not a declaration of fact, nor is it a smug comment nor is it an unfounded accusation. It is a comparison of which scenario I find more likely to be the case. Given that the OP had objections to their TA, I think it's a reasonable POSSIBILITY. You can agree or not, but it's nothing more than that.

If Disney is at fault, it's Disney and not the FP+ system itself and a really simple fix. Release tickets sooner. It didn't matter before, it does now. Simple fix, but hardly a reason to declare FP+ a inherently flawed system.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm sorry, My comment was not intended as an attack, nor was I in a "tizzy" . Please accept my apologies.

No problem at all.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

 

[gunderda]

I have a friend who went to Disney for her daughter's cheerleading group and I remember her telling someone that they specifically did not book through the group so that they wouldn't have to deal with stuff like this. They booked on their own.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

This *could* be the result of incompetence. It could also just be that when a travel agency is servicing a large group, you are not going to get the kind of specialized attention we all want.

As I said, I've had to take a few of these group competition trips (not Disney), and my lack of control over things drove me to a near nervous breakdown, and multiple verbal confrontations with the (horrible) woman in charge of the whole thing. To say that they just don't work the way normal trips do is an understatement. What I learned (and hopefully it will help the OP) is to control what you can and let go of the rest. Or else (like me) you'll drive yourself insane.

I don't use TA's if I can help it.

But I suppose I would feel the same as OP if they were just doing the motions I could do myself. But regarding this ticket issue--full disclosure would be nice. It would not occur to me that I would be shut out of my Fast pass window because of when they decide to order the tickets in order to get then before they can get them to me. I would expect a TA to have the competence to understand that their client is using them for a reason and to fully disclose things that would impact my ability to plan. Within the current system, that is at best Inconsiderate and unacceptable.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think it's a pretty far leap from underwhelmed and unimpressed to incompetant. I never saw the OP make this type of a statement. Do you know for a fact that the TA is to blame for the situation? Do you know for a fact that this person is incompetent? I certainly don't.

I do not like seeing anyone making undfounded accusations.

For me--if the TA was privvy to information that would impact my trip, I *would* consider that incompetence. At best, it was inconsiderate. The information was not given to the OP until she asked and had she known this ahead of time, she could have made an informed decision to proceed or to purchase her tickets elsewhere.

I can understand giving the benefit of the doubt. I don't understand getting upset because other people have different observations of the situation.

So I can only go by the situation presented and this posted situation tells me that group ticketing isn't worth the discount if I could not have access to my tickets until long past the 30 days. It also makes me happy they I don't use a TA.

 

[itchin2go]

I don't use TA's if I can help it.

But I suppose I would feel the same as OP if they were just doing the motions I could do myself. But regarding this ticket issue--full disclosure would be nice. It would not occur to me that I would be shut out of my Fast pass window because of when they decide to order the tickets in order to get then before they can get them to me. I would expect a TA to have the competence to understand that their client is using them for a reason and to fully disclose things that would impact my ability to plan. Within the current system, that is at best Inconsiderate and unacceptable.

I 100% agree, and I'm impressed with how calm the OP's post is because I would be going bananas if it were me.

Having done something like this before (twice), what I learned between the 1st competition and the 2nd was to let go as much as humanly possible, because I was only making myself crazy. I kind of think these kinds of bookings are like herding cattle, and the TAs have no intention of providing the level of customer service we expect. And right or wrong (probably wrong), I don't think there's much to be done to change it.

The OP is not wrong to expect things to be different or to wish things would be different. However, I think this may be a case of "it is what it is", and rolling with it -- making the best of it -- *may* be the best thing to do in this case.

 

[itchin2go]

Simple fix, but hardly a reason to declare FP+ a inherently flawed system.

I didn't see anyone say this. I saw someone say, "That's really an unfortunate byproduct of this new system." And I *thought* the point was to point out that it is one of those aspects of WDW planning where things are different now than they were then. With legacy FP, this wouldn't even be a blip in the road. Now, it is. Interesting commentary, and something we have to learn to work with.

Every system has flaws. The old system had flaws ... or as I euphemistically called them before "blind spots". What I mean by that is aspects of the system that you have to work around, a way in which maybe the system is clunky or doesn't work for this situation, something to watch out for or be aware of.

Just because there are "blind spots" in the system (and come on ... it is not perfect! NOTHING is!) doesn't mean it doesn't have its good points or utility. If we don't examine where the issues are, how can we work around them?

I feel like every time someone says something negative about FP+, it is taken as a personal affront. I don't think it is. I don't think that's what it's meant to be. I think we're all learning to work with a new system and if we can't talk about the issues we're having, how can we learn to use it better?

Edited to say: To be clear, I thought FP+ was going AWFUL, and I came back from my last trip thinking differently. However, I educated myself on things that could go wrong and tried to handle the new challenges strategically. One of the best things about these boards is how much we can learn.

 

[itchin2go]

I don't use TA's if I can help it.

But I suppose I would feel the same as OP if they were just doing the motions I could do myself.

By the way, the one time I used AAA to book a trip, it drove me crazy. I couldn't look up my reservation or anything. I just had to trust them that everything was booked. Even the info they provided me showing the booking looked wrong, and Disney wouldn't even have a conversation with me about it because it wasn't my reservation - it was AAA's. BTW - I don't know if they still do things like that - this was back in 2008.

The TA was actually knowledgable and nice as anything, but I was still jumping out of my skin! I learned that I am clearly not cut out to have a middle man ... where I can help it!

 

[cakebaker]

I didn't see anyone say this.

The point of my post wasn't to dissect what the person I responded to said. It was to show what I actually said rather than what you chose to label as a "smug pronouncement" or Astridia who labeled it a "unfounded accusation".

 

[itchin2go]

OP - I know you said you plan on calling the TA every few days. I think this is your best strategy. Be sweet as anything, but relentless. They may get you what you need just to get you to stop calling!

 

[momof2n2]

OP - this seriously stinks. I would be fuming.

And I'm not going to argue with anyone, but it is absolutely obvious that this situation (tix held hostage) was non-issue with FP-.

But , hey... If you like people mover and COP, you're golden.

 

[Astridia]

OP - this seriously stinks. I would be fuming.

And I'm not going to argue with anyone, but it is absolutely obvious that this situation (tix held hostage) was non-issue with FP-.

But , hey... If you like people mover and COP, you're golden.

thanks for the laugh

 

[itchin2go]

OP - this seriously stinks. I would be fuming.

And I'm not going to argue with anyone, but it is absolutely obvious that this situation (tix held hostage) was non-issue with FP-.

But , hey... If you like people mover and COP, you're golden.

You know, I've never done either of those attractions. I guess I'm not missing much?

 

[Astridia]

You know, I've never done either of those attractions. I guess I'm not missing much?

People mover is a favorite of our family. So I would strongly suggest you try it.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

to OP how soon will you or do you already know times your child is competing? if not how do you plan to make FP+ ressies?