Doorway To Dreams Member Holiday Event - Never Again

[donaldjack]

After giving us the "discount plus today's special" for prices at VAKL, we exited to the small "reception" area. The "reception" consisted of a few cupcakes (think of kids at an elementary school) and coffee, soda, or water. There was no music. There was no entertainment. There was NO mention or HINT of anything resembling HOLIDAYS. It was - in my opinion - a rather ridiculous SALES PITCH to current members. We wasted the better part of the day traveling to the mall and waiting on line to get in. I didn't expect a Merry Member Mixer, but I did expect SOMETHING more than what they had.

 

[mwmuntz]

After giving us the "discount plus today's special" for prices at VAKL, we exited to the small "reception" area. The "reception" consisted of a few cupcakes (think of kids at an elementary school) and coffee, soda, or water. There was no music. There was no entertainment. There was NO mention or HINT of anything resembling HOLIDAYS. It was - in my opinion - a rather ridiculous SALES PITCH to current members. We wasted the better part of the day traveling to the mall and waiting on line to get in. I didn't expect a Merry Member Mixer, but I did expect SOMETHING more than what they had.

This is word for word from the 1st post in this thread. Not sure why you copied it with no explainantion...

 

[quirty30]

This is word for word from the 1st post in this thread. Not sure why you copied it with no explainantion...

LOL. No wonder I thought it sounded strangely familiar

 

[FigmentLady]

I know everybody is entitiled to their opinion, but this thread really ticks me off. Yes, the event was crowded (Disney? Crowds? GASP!), yes you had to wait on line (again, GASP!), but to actually come on a public forum and compare a Crumbs gourmet cupcake to an elementary school birthday party cupcake? Come on! Or as another poster did, complain that you got more free stuff than you thought you would, but not as much as someone else??? Really??? (BTW, did you go on a tour, or were just there for the freebies? I think that only those that toured got additiional items.)

To anyone reading this thread, please take the earlier complaints with a grain of salt. This was a very nice FREE event. They had fun entertainment and great snacks, plus the ornaments. I was actually very surprised on how low key, and brief, the sales pitch was. People complaining either were just having a bad day or have a huge sense of entitlement. I just hope it was the former.

To anyone from Disney monitoring these boards (and we know you do! ) Thank you for having these special events, please don't let a few negative comments stop you from having them in the future. I don't know of any other timeshare company that does this. This is one of the things that makes Disney special.

Well said! I am shocked by a lot of what I have read today about this event. Free Crumbs cupcakes !!! I would have gone just for those lol

 

[FigmentLady]

Just curious - what was in the coveted gift bags?

Lanyards, a water bottle, a clear Vinylmation and stickers. Oh and an Aulani button that you can get by stopping by the kiosk any day of the week and an ABC family air freshener with a listing of the holiday specials they air during their 25 days if Christmas. It was nice, but nothing I would complain about not getting especially if I didn't sit through the tour to get it.

And for what it's worth, since it was mentioned in another comment, some people (like me) think Crumbs cupcakes are delicious and a luxury. I don't like them bc they are expensive, I love them bc they are yummy.

 

[limace]

Man, it is always so surprising to me how upset some folks get on these boards about any Disney criticism. I don't live anywhere near any of the events, but is be pretty crabby, too, if I dragged my kids out, thinking we had reservations, only to spend a huge amount of time waiting in lines for a sales event. Disney has absolutely no excuse for this-no one does crowd control or event planning better.

 

[tjkraz]

Man, it is always so surprising to me how upset some folks get on these boards about any Disney criticism. I don't live anywhere near any of the events, but is be pretty crabby, too, if I dragged my kids out, thinking we had reservations, only to spend a huge amount of time waiting in lines for a sales event. Disney has absolutely no excuse for this-no one does crowd control or event planning better.

"Upset" about Disney criticism? Of course not.

IMO, it's interesting to see how people have such inappropriately lofty expectations for Disney's capabilities. Yes Disney has crowd control down to a science....at their theme parks. I really don't know why anyone would think that trait would apply to a mall environment where Disney has very limited control over their surroundings.

Both Doorway to Dreams locations are 1200 miles away from any Disney park. Do you really think any of the employees at DtD have experience with crowd control???

And anyone who thought they had "reservations" was mistaken. The event was a day-long open house. Disney couldn't control when or how many people would show up anymore than they can control how many people want to ride Space Mountain on Easter Sunday.

 

[mlholster]

Disney does a lot of things right, and these events are usually one of them. I went to the Chicago DTD event too. The crowds were horrible and we arrived early. I think for us safety was a main concern.
Been to events when we had "reservations" and those move along smoothly. This event was more of an open call, everyone and their aunt and uncle showed up.
The problem arises when security can't control the lines. Security with worried faces walking the ever growing line. Calling in back up from other areas of the mall. Calling in Disney managers from the store to help control the line.
Problems being on the second floor of the mall and constantly being pushed by security to the side of the walkway that overlooks the interior of the mall. Little kids with half walls made of glass windows not a good mix. Many families waited more than an hour just to reach the doorway.
Problems for all the other stores in the immediate area because we are blocking their entrance and windows. Shoppers didn't want to go near the lines. This is the start of the holiday shopping time, big crowds anyway.

Safety was a concern for all of these reasons for us. We were a little surprised by the disorganization. Yes, these people don't work the lines like cm's at the parks but to put out an open call at holiday time you really need a better plan than what we experienced. Just saying form a line doesn't work.

Now as far as sales pitch it was very soft. We watched a video of Aulani. We were also told of the specials they had now at AKL & Aulani.
Then we had some wonderful treats. Little squares of cheesecake, brownie and macaroon cake. We had our choice of water or coke products. This was very nice. Then we had Mickey all to ourselves for pictures. This was so sweet and unexpected. Mickey looked very cute in his holiday attire!
We love all these events and have gone to a lot of them. This is our Disney fix between trips. We will definitely go to another event if they take reservations. They really do great events and are so accommodating when they have control.

 

[Judique]

Disney will ditch these sales events when the marketing department decides that they aren't making them money.

Bill

Exactly!

Or they will be reborn in another form...such as welcome home wednesdays are nothing like the older version of sales pitch that they used to hold at OKW.. continental breakfast with trivia and prizes as opposed to a ticket for a box of cracker jacks and a free hat.