Check your account before leaving!

[Jaime4004]

I agree @crostorfer . It was very clear that the first CM did not want to admit that it was their system that messed me up. The second CM found fault with the other CM, but never outright said, "Yeah, our system messed you up." Which it absolutely did!

You're so right @minnie mum . I was ready to get flamed for this post. I hate the new system. I have hated it every trip. We have always had at least one issue & now I can say it is NOT friendly to people in big parties. This whole process has been the worst!! I will still go to WDW, but I can absolutely be unhappy with how they are handling things while still going.

I found the same when I called after MDE canceled one of my ADRs. There was no fault. I had to repeat my story several times and would hear back, "so you canceled your ADR and want it back?" "No, again, I did NOT cancel it. YOUR system canceled it and I want it back." Etc, etc. I even asked if it was an known problem and of course no one had ever heard of it happening. However when I posted it on here, many people have had the same issue. Seriously, just admit there's a problem and then fix it...

 

[AngiTN]

This is what I truly don't understand. Do they not all receive the same training and information? I've read some wild tales on this forum when it comes to phone CMs. I've fortunately never had a major issue to resolve over the phone, but I've learned from here to be wary of any claims they make and to call back and get a different CM if they give me incorrect information.

It shouldn't be the case that a forum of enthusiasts is collectively more knowledgeable about the system than the people paid to represent it and help others navigate it. But that's where we seem to be!

OP, I'm sorry you had such a rough go of it. So glad the second CM was able to fix everything! Unreal that he saw everything you told the first CM had been in the system, but that she claimed to see none of it.

It's not just phone CMs that have issues.
We had a ticket issue on our trip last December.
We stopped at AK Guest Services and the CM there straightened it out
Went to Epcot the next day only to discover ticket issues again
Got to their Guest Services and the CM at AK screwed it up in a totally different way while trying to fix it and the Epcot CM had to fix it yet again.
He got it right, we got an extra free day out of it all, for our trouble.

No explanation as to why CMs, both in person and on the phone struggle with policy and rules but they do. I've worked on software that is supposed to make Guest Services types of issues simple by having everyone read scripts from a troubleshooting software system but clearly Disney doesn't use that method. That or their system really sucks

 

[plutoloversmom]

I ALWAYS have a hard copy of everything, including confirmation numbers. Computers are temperamental and don't always work. Make sure you have tangible proof of everything you book. The numbers often help find things that might otherwise be lost.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

That is frustrating. I take it from your parents being AP holders they have MDE accounts too?

Multiple and linked MDE accounts seem to be at the root at many issues with ADR and FP. I can't explain it but more often than not that is a common thread. I have forbidden DH from ever making an account in MDE

ITA (other than my husband would never make an MDE account). Other than the occasional FP+ suddenly disappearing from either the app or MDE (which I do nothing about because I know it will reappear) we've had no big issues with MDE, but we're only dealing with one MDE account. Everyone is in mine, I manage all of us. When our ILs joined us for a day last year, I just set them up like other family members and made all the ADRs and FP+s, etc. for them. I didn't want to have to "friend" them or link them in any way. Of course, now they exist in my MDE forever, which is a bummer. I didn't realize that you can't delete someone once they have a used ticket entitlement. Live and learn.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I'm getting sooo tired of these posts - not at all directed to the OP but the fact that these things keep happening. It's beyond ridiculous that Disney has such an unreliable system that they force folks to use to plan their "Magical Vacations". None of this seems at all magical to me.
They really need to step it up and put forward a glitch free MDE system. Or at the very least find some IT folks who can fix our issues within a reasonable time and with a positive outcome.

Note. I do not work in IT and have very limited knowledge in this partiular field. With that said it is my feeling that if these things aren't feasible Disney should not have released MDE to the public.

Rant over. Carry On.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm getting sooo tired of these posts - not at all directed to the OP but the fact that these things keep happening. It's beyond ridiculous that Disney has such an unreliable system that they force folks to use to plan their "Magical Vacations". None of this seems at all magical to me.
They really need to step it up and put forward a glitch free MDE system. Or at the very least find some IT folks who can fix our issues within a reasonable time and with a positive outcome.

Note. I do not work in IT and have very limited knowledge in this partiular field. With that said it is my feeling that if these things aren't feasible Disney should not have released MDE to the public.

Rant over. Carry On.

You can be sure that your suggestion is feasible. If all these other companies we use online on a regular basis can work for their customers Disney's can too.
I once read an enlightening article on why MDE (and MM+ before that) were wrought with issues. The summation is the differing departments couldn't come to agreement on things. The Imagineers didn't want anything electronic to ruin the fantasy they work so hard to build in the parks, for instance. I wish I could remember the article but it did help me understand the struggles. Doesn't explain why they couldn't get it all working and working well by any means.

 

[MissMet]

I agree with everyones posts here... especially these points:

1. I'm okay with you having IT issues (AT FIRST ROLLOUT), that's expected, however, while Disney was once known for their customer service, in this area they are seriously lacking. Look, we are an immediate party of 9 that back in December booked this week at WDW followed by a week on the DCL Fantasy all together. The immediate 9 family members that are all in a villa together & on the cruise together would have OBVIOUSLY had all the same plans & the plans would have been made at the same time. That's obvious to see even without needing too much research. I'm not trying to work a system, my dad was obviously a part of all of our plans from the beginning. If you have such an "advanced" system as you advertise there is NO REASON that you can't fix the issue and add my dad back onto everything. I'd even give them room to give me a hard time if it were one of my extended family members, who much later on, decided to join us in our plans at WDW. I could see where they might think I'm just trying to work the system, but it's painfully clear when they look at our immediate family's plans that this is not the case.

2. I also agree that by now there should be minimal IT issues. Yes, in the IT world there will always be glitches, but I feel like there has been next to no improvement in their system in all this time. And I'm sick of being made to feel like I'm the idiot when I know full well that this is not on me.

If I have to spend this kind of time on the phone with guest services only to feel left less than satisfied with the outcome & now holding my breath any time I log into MDE, something is flawed.

To answer some questions i saw...

The only other family member that has "their own" MDE account is my mom who has my dad also on there with their season passes. However, I am the one who originally setup their account and I manage their account for them. My mom doesn't even know the password. Any time they need something done with their "disney stuff" it's myself who does it. So that's how I know without question that it was not on our end, 'cause I'm literally the only one who has the login info or even knows how to go about MDE.

I had to link our family since even though we are three individual families, we're all in the same DVC villa AND we got memory maker to share between us. I hadn't linked the extended family at all & just made their accounts totally separate but picked the same timing FP+, however the second CM linked EVERYTHING & EVERYONE which I was not happy about. Fingers crossed it doesn't cause more issues, but again, just like my parent's I set up & manage my extended families accounts for them. I swear, I should charge a commission.

Thanks for all the kind words. I wish they'd just keep their "tragic bands" so they could save face but use the old system of getting FPs... the day of, in the parks, for the times you want, no limits, no advanced planning. We're traveling with two one year olds, how in the world am I supposed to know even a day ahead how the timing of our day will go??? What if my son is sound asleep during our FP+ window that I picked weeks in advanced? We miss our FP. WDW is for families & this system is anything but helpful for families with small children. While I could never stop going to WDW, I will now definitely appease my husband & go to Universal, Seaworld, etc. and go to WDW less often. Before MDE I went to WDW yearly & hadn't been to Universal since I was a kid. Since our first horrible MDE/MB experience we've ventured over to US & loved how they handled "line skipping" & have plans to go again. Tell me that this would have been the case a few years ago & I wouldn't of believed you, I was a diehard DISer that would never entertain the idea of Universal Studios. There wasn't even the thought of going anywhere else in the Orlando area. Not anymore. US may have less magic, but it also has far less stress. No ADRs needed, no FP+ reservations. It's a much better vacation experience if I'm being honest. Now that's a sad statement for someone like me to make. LOL

 

[MissMet]

I AM ON THE PHONE WITH WDW FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!! All of our FP+ are a mess AGAIN!!!!! I'm so angry!!!

 

[sunshinemelody]

*big hug* I'm so sorry that this is happening to you.

Did you happen to print off everything like others had suggested?

 

[MainMom]

I agree @crostorfer . It was very clear that the first CM did not want to admit that it was their system that messed me up. The second CM found fault with the other CM, but never outright said, "Yeah, our system messed you up." Which it absolutely did!

You're so right @minnie mum . I was ready to get flamed for this post. I hate the new system. I have hated it every trip. We have always had at least one issue & now I can say it is NOT friendly to people in big parties. This whole process has been the worst!! I will still go to WDW, but I can absolutely be unhappy with how they are handling things while still going.

I planned for 11 and had no issues. I'm sorry you did. I think they just happen with technology, but Disney should definitely not have this many issues!

 

[MissMet]

Well, I logged on this morning to update my personal itinerary with the new FP+ times since in yesterday's phone call he had to change times to get them to work. First two days we had all our FP+, they were in multiple time slots, but they overlapped so fine, whatever. Not perfect, but just happy to have them all back. Then came day 3 and on...we had two people on one ride, and four people on another ride, new FP+ that we never chose, and worst of all now only 1 person out of the 10 of us on peter pan at all........ I was so shocked. It was a jumbled mess of crazy! So I called and as soon as the poor girl answered I went through the entire story never even giving her a moment to speak. She didn't even know my name or reservation- I just unloaded. After I went through the entire thing, I was fighting tears & you could hear it in my voice, and I finally stopped speaking there was a few beats of silence & then she just said, "Ma'am, please calm down. We will fix this." LOL!! I really was at the point of tears.

So after 50 minutes on the phone we have ALL of our FP+ back with everyone on the same FP+ at the same time! They also noted our reservation on the "back end" that these are our FP+ should anything happen while we are there & have to go to guest services, so that they will know this is THEIR mistake not ours & make it right. She also apologized that the first CM made me to feel like the original "mess up" was our fault. She said that she could see it was not the case & it was their mistake. She also gave us "anytime" FP+ for most of our rides so that we could pick the time that we want to ride those specific rides. She had to work with someone else to override the system. She was super apologetic & totally owned up to the fact that this was not a human error but a MDE error. She also said how this new system is hard for her and changes the way she does disney now because she's not a planner normally and she has a little one so she could understand how upsetting this has been for me since I did everything right, but lost it all and then was made to feel like it was my fault. She was amazing & exactly what you use to expect from WDW. I am now so relieved because I know that now if it happens again I have proof on their side & ours that something in their system keeps messing us up.

Ugh!!!!! I need a vacation!

 

[pens4821]

Hope they finally got it right for you! I just booked a trip for February yesterday. One room in my name, one in my dads. When I linked it on MDE, it now has me in both rooms (with tickets assigned to me twice), and him not. The other three people are all listed correctly, and the confirmation I got from them had it correct, but somehow it got messed up when using MDE. I haven't called yet, but will be doing so soon.

 

[MissMet]

Hope they finally got it right for you! I just booked a trip for February yesterday. One room in my name, one in my dads. When I linked it on MDE, it now has me in both rooms (with tickets assigned to me twice), and him not. The other three people are all listed correctly, and the confirmation I got from them had it correct, but somehow it got messed up when using MDE. I haven't called yet, but will be doing so soon.

That's exactly how our issue started, but it happened to us after everything was booked so it REALLY messed us up. Hopefully they can fix it for you guys before it becomes a bigger issue.

 

[sunshinemelody]

I'm so very glad that the issue has been resolved. That CM has a lot of patience!

Remember to print those out before you leave! Don't want a headache on your vacation; that's never any fun at all. At least you can have some peace of mind in knowing that if something happens, you can get it fixed and those anytime FP+'s could really come in hand!

 

[AngiTN]

I swear, whoever developed MDE never dreamed that large families/groups would want to go and tour together. Linking things sends their data bases hey-wire! No reason for them at all to not realize and devise a working method for extended family plans.

 

[HopperFan]

Hope they finally got it right for you! I just booked a trip for February yesterday. One room in my name, one in my dads. When I linked it on MDE, it now has me in both rooms (with tickets assigned to me twice), and him not. The other three people are all listed correctly, and the confirmation I got from them had it correct, but somehow it got messed up when using MDE. I haven't called yet, but will be doing so soon.

That's exactly how our issue started, but it happened to us after everything was booked so it REALLY messed us up. Hopefully they can fix it for you guys before it becomes a bigger issue.

I swear, whoever developed MDE never dreamed that large families/groups would want to go and tour together. Linking things sends their data bases hey-wire! No reason for them at all to not realize and devise a working method for extended family plans.

I use the FP+, ADR, resort booking etc options all with ease ............... but I do believe the LINKING part of the system is the root of much evil both on Disney's side and the guests. We had it once initially, got it fixed for a trip, then once home deleted accounts and now myself and kids have our own accounts since they each travel on their own. We are NOT linked and never will be. We just coordinate our stuff. Too many cooks in the kitchen is never a good thing.

Have heard horror stories of families losing coveted dinner reservations because a member of their extended party decided to go in an make some changes to their stuff, or they didn't want to go so just cancelled thinking it only affected them and screwed everyone up.

I'm thinking this is one reason they are testing a "grand gathering" type of service again. It may be they need to do this in a different way than linking. There must be a way to mutually join a different type window that all this can be done without too much damage to individuals. Like you must agree or disagree to be joined or unjoined to a reservation without it impacting the rest of your party, and neither the system or the member coordinating having access to tickets (and names) etc.

The software just has some pockets in there with the LINKED that seem to hiccup, doing crazy things.

 

[Mikie]

I use the FP+, ADR, resort booking etc options all with ease ............... but I do believe the LINKING part of the system is the root of much evil both on Disney's side and the guests. We had it once initially, got it fixed for a trip, then once home deleted accounts and now myself and kids have our own accounts since they each travel on their own. We are NOT linked and never will be. We just coordinate our stuff. Too many cooks in the kitchen is never a good thing.

Have heard horror stories of families losing coveted dinner reservations because a member of their extended party decided to go in an make some changes to their stuff, or they didn't want to go so just cancelled thinking it only affected them and screwed everyone up.

I'm thinking this is one reason they are testing a "grand gathering" type of service again. It may be they need to do this in a different way than linking. There must be a way to mutually join a different type window that all this can be done without too much damage to individuals. Like you must agree or disagree to be joined or unjoined to a reservation without it impacting the rest of your party, and neither the system or the member coordinating having access to tickets (and names) etc.

The software just has some pockets in there with the LINKED that seem to hiccup, doing crazy things.

I also used FP+, ADRs, resort reservations, etc. with an extended family group with success, even though each room in our group had at least 1 MDE account and we were linked together.

I definitely believe all the horror stories and that linking is often to blame, and I know I'm lucky I didn't have those issues.

Prior to my trip, I called IT about something else, but while I had them on the phone, I asked explained my family group and how many rooms, who was in charge, the fact that we were sharing memory maker and asekd them to just review and make sure everything was linked properly. There was a LOT of keyboard clicking and about 10 minutes of work before she said that were were now set up right and everything was good to go.

I had done lots of research prior to booking, thought we were all set up right, and had no reason to think anything was out of place. Yet I still had a lucky conversation with IT that apparently fixed some problems I didn't even know I had and possibly prevented issues on my trip. This should NOT be necessary when a company has made such a huge push for everyone to use their fancy new tech.

 

[HopperFan]

I also used FP+, ADRs, resort reservations, etc. with an extended family group with success, even though each room in our group had at least 1 MDE account and we were linked together.

I definitely believe all the horror stories and that linking is often to blame, and I know I'm lucky I didn't have those issues.

Prior to my trip, I called IT about something else, but while I had them on the phone, I asked explained my family group and how many rooms, who was in charge, the fact that we were sharing memory maker and asekd them to just review and make sure everything was linked properly. There was a LOT of keyboard clicking and about 10 minutes of work before she said that were were now set up right and everything was good to go.

I had done lots of research prior to booking, thought we were all set up right, and had no reason to think anything was out of place. Yet I still had a lucky conversation with IT that apparently fixed some problems I didn't even know I had and possibly prevented issues on my trip. This should NOT be necessary when a company has made such a huge push for everyone to use their fancy new tech.

Sounds like you dodged one. I agree there shouldn't be all these issues with linking but .... when you have so many variables and I think one issue is that MDE is non-expiring so while I may travel with the Smith cousins this trip, it might be my parents the next and our friends the next. ALL of these people linking to your account ... I just see trouble. I have so many folks listed on my MDE because I booked dinner with them, bought them MNSSHP tickets, booked an event with them .... and everything I do they still come up. Maybe I can delete them but it isn't obvious. It doesn't mess me up any but just think no good can come from mixing up folks accounts.

 

[kamynv]

After reading about your experience, I guess we were lucky that I discovered all our links were messed up when I went to make our FP+ when our 60-day window opened up back in Aug. I was in such a panic about it & it was late at night so absolutely nothing I could do at the time. At least ours got messed up before making the FP's & not after - it was bad enough as it was!

We have a party of 7 (groups of 3 & 4) at 2 different hotels. All the MDE stuff is being done only in my Dad's account though, and only he, my sister & I have accounts, but don't do any of the reservations or FP+ in them. I handle all of that myself, through my Dad's account only. We have 7 park hopper passes & 7 Halloween tickets in the account. At one point everything was peachy and all were linked to each individual. I noticed the first problem when I had called to give them my flight info & check on some other stuff back in early Aug. Only my sister's park hopper was showing up but not her husband & 2 kids in our MDE now. I asked the CM & he had no idea why, but he said not to worry because on his end he could clearly see that each person had a ticket linked to them. Ha! I'm so naïve.

Then about a week later, I went to start making the FP+ and it only showed being able to make FP for 4 of us (mom & dad, myself & sister). As I should have expected, BIL & nephews nowhere to be found. Figured maybe my dad had done something funky & that the tickets were no longer linked & I'd just do it manually (I had to mentally apologize to my dad for thinking he had something to do with it all, when in reality I knew no one else had touched the account - they were too afraid to mess up anything I was doing!). That was when I discovered my BIL's profile was gone & couldn't be added back due to "error." Because of that my sister now had 2 Halloween tix linked to her. But, was more interesting was when my sister went to check her account, she had totally different information. She had two of her admission tickets showing up instead of just the one we had (but still not all 4). And she could make FP reservations for 6 of us instead of the 4 in my dad's account. One of the kids was missing on hers.

Anyway, because the reservation was under my Dad's name, had him call the next day & he was on the phone with them for about an hour. They claimed it had something to do with when he first set up MDE that he added my nephews manually? Still didn't explain why my BIL disappeared completely, the fact that my sister had different incorrect info in her account or why it had all been in there correctly for months up until that point. But in any case, IT said it was a common problem & got it all fixed & we thought we were back on track. Got all the FP's made at least.

Couple of weeks ago, noticed our Halloween tickets had disappeared, all but one, for my BIL. Waited a few days to see if it was just a glitch & lo and behold about a week later I got an email saying my Halloween ticket was now linked. Huh? Went to check the MDE & everything was back to normal again. When they sent our MB's, I asked my parents if they had gotten the Halloween tickets too, because I was still worried there was a problem. Turns out, there was. They didn't get the Halloween tickets with the bands, so they had already called about it. In the last couple weeks, Disney had dropped those tickets from our account. They claimed it was because way back from the spring when we changed from 7 day passes to 8 day passes, it caused them to have confusion about what we were changing & thought we cancelled them in April. Really? Then why were they still on our account in Sept & one was still there? After my parents pointed this out & they had never been credited back either, then the CM said they showed they had already shipped them to us - CM's seem to have no problem giving contradictory info, why would they have shipped when they just said they had been cancelled? Anything to avoid admitting a mistake I guess. Regardless, my mom said the CM stayed polite through the process & since they had in fact paid for them, she got them added back in & then expedited getting them shipped out so we would get them a couple days later.

Needless to say, now I'm totally paranoid & since our trip is next week, I keep going in to check that everything is still okay. I'm sure that there will be more glitches - we're checking in/out at different times, have one MM package for the whole group, using different credit cards linked to different bands. All of which are opportunities for challenges to arise. But as they say, being forewarned is being forearmed & have just lowered my expectations that it will all go smoothly, so I don't get too annoyed when it doesn't (and can be pleasantly surprised if by some small miracle it does)!

 

[MissMet]

@kamynv I totally understand the paranoia & checking. Would you believe I logged in again yesterday & on one of our days two of the three FP+ are now only for 1 person!!! I'm not calling again. I feel like all I'm doing is calling, they fix it, and then it messes up again. We check in on Friday- I'll deal with it then. I'm not making any more phone calls cause they're obviously pointless. I'm SO frustrated with this system!