Denied Entry into DL

[Kdbruin]

Two weeks ago my family and I arrived at DL. I had a bad cold and the flight made it worse. I decided to stay in the hotel and get some rest while my husband and young son went to the parks for the evening. I provided my husband with the voucher from Getaway Today for the tickets. The CM at the ticket counter refused to let them in because I wasn't there and it was my name on the voucher. My husband and I have the same last name (and it isn't common) and he even offered to FaceTime me so I could show ID and how sick I was. The CM still said no. My husband was upset and my son devastated.
The next morning I pulled myself together and headed to the parks. I first spoke with guest services and they were no help. I wanted them to know the situation and that we were out money for two tickets that we could have used but didn't because they were refused entry. Luckly, I had a wonderful experience with a CM Nancy at the ticket counter and she downgraded our tickets and was so sorry. I sounded like death warmed over. I could see if none of us had shown up and we wanted a refund but because an attempt was made, I felt it was Disney's responsibility to try to do the right thing.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You aren't going to like my response but I guess you wouldn't have posted if you weren't looking for opinions so I'll give you my honest take...

It's nice that Disney did the right thing, but it was NOT their responsibility to do so. We all know the risks when booking trips. Once you buy tickets they are bought, it is not Disney's or the travel agency's fault you got sick. You could die and Disney doesn't have to refund a dime. (And you bought through a third party so that adds an extra layer of "who is responsible" complexity.) But if they all wrote their disclosures properly the only person responsible is you. Now after your experience others here know for sure if the Getaway Today voucher is in somebody else's name it can't be redeemed by anyone else so thank you for sharing that.

 

[FCDub]

Yeah, sounds like they were following policy by only letting the purchaser pick up the tickets. I don't know whether that's actual policy or not, but it would be for protection against a voucher being stolen and someone wandering up to a ticket booth with it. In a situation like that, I'd probably have taken Uber/Lyft over, picked up the tickets and sent them on their way.

Sorry you were sick. Hope you were still able to have some fun.

 

[3monkeys4me]

I'm sorry that put a damper on your trip but I agree with the above posters that it is likely policy to avoid theft. We ran into a similar problem on a non Disney vacation several months ago. I do wish when you purchase tickets to events/tours/etc... that they gave an option for an alternate pick up person.

I hope that the rest of your trip was smoother, being sick on vacation is no fun!

 

[Kdbruin]

I'm sorry that put a damper on your trip but I agree with the above posters that it is likely policy to avoid theft. We ran into a similar problem on a non Disney vacation several months ago. I do wish when you purchase tickets to events/tours/etc... that they gave an option for an alternate pick up person.

I hope that the rest of your trip was smoother, being sick on vacation is no fun!

Or like When you purchase airline tickets, put the names of each person on the voucher.

 

[corrie563]

Or like When you purchase airline tickets, put the names of each person on the voucher.

That makes sense, I just bought tickets to some theme parks in australia and each ticket wanted name, gender and birthdate...

 

[kylie71]

Can you ask for "hard ticket" sent through the mail with GAT? I have bought tickets through them many times, and they issued my Hard Tickets... just exp dates, no names.......

--Lori

 

[Chelsea B]

Can you ask for "hard ticket" sent through the mail with GAT? I have bought tickets through them many times, and they issued my Hard Tickets... just exp dates, no names.......

--Lori

Anybody else know about getting a 'hard ticket' ? From what I can tell, prices are better through Getaway than purchasing on your own, but I admit having an actual ticket would make me feel better...

 

[kylie71]

Anybody else know about getting a 'hard ticket' ? From what I can tell, prices are better through Getaway than purchasing on your own, but I admit having an actual ticket would make me feel better...

Call GAT and ask if they are available at this time.

--Lori

 

[eeyoresmom]

I literally just got off the phone with another ticket broker about this issue. My DD is planning our first DL trip and she researched which broker had the best prices for our tickets. I had DH charge them on a credit card in his name because it gives us 3x rewards points. DH forwarded me the email so I could print out the ticket vouchers and it says" purchaser must be present for pick up" I had to call and have them change the name on the voucher to mine but it's a good thing I printed out the voucher since DD obviously didn't read the fine print

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Yes- Disney should make it easy - like being able to put other names on the vouchers. It happened to us and we were buying through Disney. I was buying APs for all of us but our 18 year old DD was going to go to the parks before us and was told she could not pick up her AP because I purchased it - this was several years ago so maybe they changed it but I thought it was weird too - as long as it was in her name.