disney just called;error in their system

[GoMegGo]

There was your mistake...you should NEVER cite what others have gotten or not. Doing that turns you into a difficult guest and so most likely you aren't going to get anything close to what the OP did. The difference between her and many others on this thread is that she kept her cool, empathized with the whole situation and the castmember being flung into it, and let them come up with a solution. The moment you make up your own solution is the moment you lose. You cooperate and you will get rewarded - you are difficult and you will probably stay at POP or All Star and another grateful guest will get the upgrade. I only wowed the guests that appreciated it. All others got the minimum and I am sure things haven't changed in that department. It is amazing how far being nice and not demanding gets you not only at Disney but anywhere.

I DID keep my cool. The Cast Members and I were cracking jokes about the situation and laughing (except the last guy, he was kind of a grump bucket). I simply said "I understand the situation, I know people have to be moved, but I've heard of a few cases of other people being moved to resorts other than the All Stars."

I didn't raise my voice, threaten to cancel my vacation or insist on a deluxe water view villa. I just asked politely if there were any other options. I was only on the line for a minute or two, I know they are busy making calls and I thanked them profusely for answering my questions.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I think the move to All Stars was a comparable room and the preferred was an upgrade. It was not what others got, but life is not fair. Some are in the room they paid for, some gracefully accepted a move to All Stars, some got a mod or deluxe. There will always be someone who gets a better deal, there are also those who get nothing. We will never be content if we are always expecting what someone else has.
There have been times we have had to stay at Pop because All Stars are booked. Disney is correct in saying it is an equal move--some prefer one while others prefer the other. The rooms are the same, the amenities are the same. The theme is the only difference. In our experiences the bus service is better at the All Stars and the resort is not as crowded or noisy.
As far as the other poster's nine year old crying because of the change, we all have kids and using them as a bargaining chip is teaching them wrong values. The world does not revolve around them and 9 is too old to cry to get your way.
I am glad the op got SSR if that makes her happy. We own DVC and would prefer the All Stars over it. I don't see why dining should be upgraded.
All of us on here and everyone else who goes to Disney absorbs the cost of the upgrades. I say we should get what we pay for and be content.

 

[Pats Dragon]

I really can't believe that anyone who has stayed at pop would think that a value resort is a value resort. People plan disney trips down to the tiniest detail and imagine their stay while counting down. We have had good trips at all stars but there are a lot of reasons that pop is preferable. I don't think that disney is going to win by treating guests this way. I would be furious at being put at all stars. I sometimes prefer pop over deluxe resorts. No I am not being greedy because I don't have a reservation and I never ask for an upgrade but I don't think this is tolerable. Universal is very nice!!!

 

[camlace]

Thats all nice and everything but if she wanted to stay at All Stars she would have booked there originally. Who cares about the preferred location if you are unhappy with the resort.

And to this point if she wanted to stay at a moderate or deluxe she would have booked that type of hotel. In my opinion all Disney "owes" you is a comparable room at a comparable resort and if you don't like that option, then a penalty free cancellation. Not sure why everyone feels if there is a mistake or overbooked hotel or other unforeseen condition that you are entitled to something better than what you are paying for. JMHO of course

 

[KAB1]

Why? I don't get this reasoning. Why do you deserve anything more than you paid for? You paid for a value and they are giving you a value. I agree you don't deserve less but why does everyone now think you deserve more than you paid for. I think all Disney needs to do is give you all the value you paid for and that would be any other VALUE level room OR offer to refund all your money with no penalty. If they wanted to throw in a free breakfast or souvenir that would be great and a nice gesture but not mandatory and more in line for what should be expected.

Everyone now is always trying to get more than they paid for and get one over on any business they can.

I disagree with this!!! We stay at the GF every year at Disney because we enjoy that hotel. If we had to be moved to the poly or CR I would be very upset. GF, poly, and CR are basically similiar resorts (Deluxe, monorail, etc) but with very different themes. I don't enjoy the themes at the poly or CR and that is why I would have no desire to stay there. A large part of your disney vacation is your resort.

What I do agree with is that you should not be upgraded from value to moderate or deluxe because of an error on Disney's part. What Disney should do is place you in a comparable resort and offer some type of discount towards a future vacation. That is what most airlines and cruise industries do when there is a problem.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I disagree with this!!! We stay at the GF every year at Disney because we enjoy that hotel. If we had to be moved to the poly or CR I would be very upset. GF, poly, and CR are basically similiar resorts (Deluxe, monorail, etc) but with very different themes. I don't enjoy the themes at the poly or CR and that is why I would have no desire to stay there. A large part of your disney vacation is your resort.
What I do agree with is that you should not be upgraded from value to moderate or deluxe because of an error on Disney's part. What Disney should do is place you in a comparable resort and offer some type of discount towards a future vacation. That is what most airlines and cruise industries do when there is a problem.

This is my point.
Just because a resort falls withing a *category* doesn't mean it is the *same*. If you order chocolate ice cream (which you love) and they give you strawberry (which you don't love), should you just be happy because we are lucky enough to be eating ice cream?
We are scheduled to arrive a POP in 6 days banana. We have not received a phone call about moving. If we do, then I would expect and accept a transfer to another Value. Would we be dissapointed? Absolutely!!! We have been planning on and dreaming of returning to POP for months!
Would I expect an upgrade to a Mod or Deluxe?...nope!! If I had wanted to stay at that level, I would have booked it. But honestly, it ticks me off when people say a Value, is a Value is a Value.... That simply isn't true. Each has its differences, which inspires people to book one over the other.
I wonder what this thread would look like if someone booked The Grand Floridian and 5 days before they were scheduled to arrive they were told they were moved to AKL? Same thing?...a Deluxe, is a Deluxe, is a Deluxe?

 

[sam_gordon]

Here's a question... someone posted earlier how many rooms are at the POP. Let's say there's 1000 (just for the sake of argument). Somehow, 400 extra rooms got booked. So now you have 1400 bookings for 1000 rooms. How does Disney decide who to move/offer upgrade?

Do they start with Guest #1 (based on when reservation was made), Guest #1001, pick at random, or look at the particulars for what's booked (ie: a group involving 3 rooms would help/hurt)?

 

[ElizabethB]

It does look like there is limited availability for the few dates that appear to be a problem. However, when I check the Disney website for, say, Aug. 16-20, there is no availability at any value resort. So, if they are moving people to All Stars from Pop, they must have some available rooms stashed away somewhere. If that's the case, they likely have some available rooms at other resorts stashed away, too.

Although moving someone from Pop to All Stars seems to be substantial performance of the contract, as I said in a previous post, the resentment and bad publicity being created by this problem are costly to Disney and its stockholders. Hotel occupancy was down 8% last quarter. This won't help!

I like the question posted by another poster who asked "how would it feel to be moved unwillingly from GF to AKL?" Not good! That's for sure, if GF is what you booked -- with non-stop monorail service to MK. We booked Beach Club CL last year and were asked at the last minute to move to BWI CL due to construction. We were not happy about it. However, they gave us a gorgeous 2 bedroom, 3 bath suite at BWI CL. Had I booked that level of room? No. But did it go a long way toward ameliorating the disappointment we felt at being called about a move two days before our arrival date? You bet! Would we have been angry to be moved to a regular CL room at BWI? Absolutely. We still weren't crazy about BWI (even with the suite) but we'll be back to our BC favorite soon. We're returning because we feel good about Disney. They had a problem but treated us very well in the face of that problem.

The only way to manage successfully the sort of situation Disney is facing is to dip into the coffers and come up with something more than just a room at All Stars. If that's the only place left to put people, then there should be some effort to compensate for the inconvenience. As a previous poster said, that's what companies try to do to keep their customers happy. A gift certificate worth $50 for each night of inconvenience would go a long ways to soothing angry customers and would be less costly in the long run than what they are doing now, IMO.

It seems like some executive has directed that people are to be moved to All Stars because that's where we have room (though the website doesn't show it!) and there will not be any attempt to ameliorate the inconvenience because we're trying to conserve cash as our just published-2nd quarter results weren't so hot.

Fine, but the news today was that the economic recovery is faltering. Disappointed and resentful customers won't be banging down the door to visit again soon!

What's the saying? Penny-wise and pound foolish? Seems to apply here.

 

[spiceycat]

Here's a question... someone posted earlier how many rooms are at the POP. Let's say there's 1000 (just for the sake of argument). Somehow, 400 extra rooms got booked. So now you have 1400 bookings for 1000 rooms. How does Disney decide who to move/offer upgrade?

Do they start with Guest #1 (based on when reservation was made), Guest #1001, pick at random, or look at the particulars for what's booked (ie: a group involving 3 rooms would help/hurt)?

hey go with the last person in is the first person out. so the last reservation made should have been the first one moved.

but it looks like Disney is going another way. Or the lady who made and paid for her reservation back in April - would not have been moved.

she was. so not sure what Disney is using to move guests.

Pop has 2,800 rooms.

 

[sam_gordon]

It seems like some executive has directed that people are to be moved to All Stars because that's where we have room (though the website doesn't show it!) and there will not be any attempt to ameliorate the inconvenience because we're trying to conserve cash as our just published-2nd quarter results weren't so hot.

Sounds like you (and others) are making assumptions here. We do not know how many rooms are available at moderate, deluxe, and DVC. It's possible there are more rooms available at AS than at the others combined. Since we only have the stories of a HANDFUL (literally, the OP in this thread, a couple in another thread, and ??) of people affected, it's possible OTHERS HAVE been offered upgrades at Deluxe and Moderates, but now those rooms are gone.

I love the assumption "they have rooms stashed away somewhere"... I'm sure they do, but 400? If I counted right, there are 18 "normal" (non-DVC) resorts. But that includes POP (which we know won't work), and Swan & Dolphin (independently owned, right? so Disney doesn't have control of those rooms). Subtract the 3 AS (because they are so bad) and you have 12. That would mean they would keep more than 30 rooms open at each resort.

And again, we don't know yet if anything will be done to make up for moving people to AS. That could be done as a "surprise" at check in.

 

[sam_gordon]

hey go with the last person in is the first person out. so the last reservation made should have been the first one moved.

But is that fair to offer the last person in an upgrade (and we know upgrades HAVE been offered)? Wouldn't it be "more fair" to ask the first person who reserved to see if they want to move to CR?

Pop has 2,800 rooms.

My question still stands.

 

[spiceycat]

just last month, the bus driver asked if anyone was going to BB. no one was, so we skipped it.

hope he did not get in trouble for it!

love it,.

 

[spiceycat]

But is that fair to offer the last person in an upgrade (and we know upgrades HAVE been offered)? Wouldn't it be "more fair" to ask the first person who reserved to see if they want to move to CR?.

only if they offer upgrade - if they are just moving them to All star resort - the that is not an ungrade.

 

[jlk806]

It does look like there is limited availability for the few dates that appear to be a problem. However, when I check the Disney website for, say, Aug. 16-20, there is no availability at any value resort. So, if they are moving people to All Stars from Pop, they must have some available rooms stashed away somewhere. If that's the case, they likely have some available rooms at other resorts stashed away, too.
.

I believe that they did the "bait and switch". I dont care what anyone says, I dont believe that even if it was an error, it didnt take them this long to figure it out, they waited until everything was paid in full, airfare was booked, people have the time off of work and are packing to tell them. Why? because they knew if they told them earlier that would have left them time to change dates, airfare, make other plans to stay offsite (which I guess they still could), etc. They overbooked Pop on purpose because it was filling way faster than any of the other values so they stashed those rooms away knowing they were going to transfer 400 families at the last minute. That way, all their resorts are full, the parks are full of spending guests, etc. Very disapointed to hear this story. Hopefully, in 2 weeks when I go they did not overbook anything (which I dont think they did since their website is showing availability at all resorts for my dates). But sorry to everyone who has to deal with this, hope you still have a great vacation.

 

[maxiesmom]

Let's face it. This is not a huge news item. There is no public outcry that will have thousands of people refusing to go to WDW. This affects what comes down to a really small number of resort guests. There is no need to over-dramatize the whole thing. It is not like Disney was throwing resort guests out into the streets.

 

[Madisonsmom45]

I would request something more than being moved to All Star Movies.
One of the values has a family suite. You should ask for that. Or maybe some perks like fastpasses for all the days of your stay that are good for any ride.
They will be happy to give up something you might just have to be a little forceful.
Bonnie

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

I believe that they did the "bait and switch". I dont care what anyone says, I dont believe that even if it was an error, it didnt take them this long to figure it out, they waited until everything was paid in full, airfare was booked, people have the time off of work and are packing to tell them. Why? because they knew if they told them earlier that would have left them time to change dates, airfare, make other plans to stay offsite (which I guess they still could), etc. They overbooked Pop on purpose because it was filling way faster than any of the other values so they stashed those rooms away knowing they were going to transfer 400 families at the last minute. That way, all their resorts are full, the parks are full of spending guests, etc. Very disapointed to hear this story. Hopefully, in 2 weeks when I go they did not overbook anything (which I dont think they did since their website is showing availability at all resorts for my dates). But sorry to everyone who has to deal with this, hope you still have a great vacation.

I totally agree. Disney knows what they are doing. How many years has this happened in a row now?

 

[Disneymama5816]

It would be the same as buying a car and choosing a red car, when you go to pick it up they give you the exact same car only in blue, then tell you they sold too many red cars and now you have to take the blue car. I doubt many people would take the blue car without complaining. Most would want some sort of compensation or a red car the bought.

I totally agree. I don't think most people are looking for something more than what they paid for, just what they paid for. People do look forward to their vacations and do spend a lot of time planning and dreaming about them. The resort is part of that dream and the plan. Suddenly, part of that is changed, whether by accident or not, and it throws people for a loop. Are they going to have as good a vacation? That is up to the individual, BUT, they have every right to feel irritated (even angry). Especially, when at the last second, they are asked to change their resort. I'm not sure how I would feel if I were in the OP's place, as I have not stayed in a Value yet (I am staying at Pop in Dec ). BUT, I do know that if I were supposed to stay at the CR (my favorite) and I was moved to either the Poly or GF, I would not be as excited. I know they are all deluxe monorail resorts, but the CR is our "dream".
After working with Disney for over 15 years ( I am a TA) , I have yet to have them not do their very best to accommodate my clients. I am sure they will do their best for all of the guests they have to move.
I am sending LOTS of pixie dust to everyone arriving in the next week or so for a fabulous vacation!

 

[ang]

Good for you! I'm sure your positive attitide and the approach you took with Disney was to your benefit.

Did I read that your husband is heading to Iraq after this? If so, please thank him (and you too) for his service to our country. I can only imagine the toll that can take on you both.

If it's in your budget, check out the Spa. They have great treatments including manis/pedis and a nice work-out room.

I am wishing tons more Pixie Dust on you both! I really hope that you'll enjoy the heck out of staying at Saratoga!

Thanks, Really appreciate your kind words. No spa is not in our budget. but that is ok.

Check out this thread on the DVC pages

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2466719

Lots to love about SSR... maybe you will be a convert

Thanks so so much for the pictures, Loved them!

 

[ang]

You will LOVE Saratoga Springs Resort. Outside of our home resort, it is the one we love best. Good for you for being polite but firm and getting a good deal from it. I'm sure the CM appreciated your attitude, as making those phone calls cannot be fun (and no fault of the CM making them either).

Ask for the Grandstand section if possible (1st bus stop going and 1st dropping off). It also has a nice pool area and is close to the main pool and the Carriage House (front desk and restaurant area). The other nice area is the Springs. It's right adjacent to the main pool and Carriage House area. The only downside is it is the last bus stop picking up and dropping off. Seats on the bus may be at a premium picking up depending on the time of day and the park - but another should follow shortly. The Congress Park area is the area that looks across to Downtown Disney. All areas are a nice walk or boat ride to DTD.

It looks much bigger on a map (walking-wise) than it really is. If you've been to Caribbean Beach Resort - it is comparable - but in a different way. Bell Services will drive you on a golf cart to your room upon check in if you don't have a car. All buildings have elevators - so you don't have to worry about stairs when you are tired from the parks. All studios have great balconies or porches and there are some beautiful lake, golf course, pool, garden views (a few parking lot views too unfortunately). It is green and quiet and lovely. We love the selections for QSDP at Artist's Pallette. There is more than meets the eye here.

I hope you really enjoy your trip with no more unpleasant surprises along the way!

Thanks! I justing hoping to be close to any bus stop..lol

YaY glad you got something good

thanks!