That's really the only explanation that makes sense, for keeping people from using the MDE app from outside the US. In which case, no amount of negative feedback will change it. Hopefully the option of calling and making reservations that way will work for our international friends.
Do you know where this is confirmed? I have also read today that onsite international guests will be able to book 7 days in advance but offsite guests have to wait until they are in the US.
It annoys me that they use this excuse without saying why! About a year ago they changed the system for booking dining, and at exactly the same time UK residents (I'm not sure about the rest of the EU) lost functionality from the app and had to start using a VPN for most ADRs and dining changes on the website. There were no changes in UK law at the time, so they most have done something to make the app less compliant. It would have to be something very dodgy to make it illegal in so many countries.
As we were able to use the full functionality for so many years I'm sure they could do it again with a bit of effort.
It is part of the information being shared with travel professionals.Do you know where this is confirmed? I have also read today that onsite international guests will be able to book 7 days in advance but offsite guests have to wait until they are in the US.
It annoys me that the use this excuse without saying why! About a year ago they changed the system for booking dining, and at exactly the same time UK residents (I'm not sure about the rest of the EU) lost functionality from the app and had to start using a VPN for most ADRs and dining changes on the website. There were no changes in UK law at the time, so they most have done something to make the app less compliant. It would have to be something very dodgy to make it illegal in so many countries.
If you contact them to ask about this the advice is to ask your travel agent to book your ADRs for you! It doesn't really make much sense that a UK based travel agent can book if the system isn't legal in this country. If they give the same answer this time can I ask member services to book my LLs for me?
VPN doesn't currently work to purchase Genie+ in the app. The app doesn't care about the IP (which a VPN hides) but seems to use the smartphone location services (GPS) to determine location.
That's actually a pretty good idea.
I read it in one of the many threads about LL here on DISboards, and I got the impression that it was speculation on the poster's part, not something they had been told by Disney. Further, the speculation was that if it is due to EU law, then only EU residents should be blocked out - but for whatever reason the block is being applied to all international MDE users. I have no knowledge of the relevant technology, so now I'm speculating that it may be difficult to program the system to recognize internet access coming from the EU vs. coming from somewhere other than the EU, and the system can only determine that it's US vs not-US. I truly can't believe that Disney would intentionally do this just to spite the many international visitors they have. There has to be some reason out of their control.
There are ways (ar least with Android) to set a fake location. It is possible for the app to check this if they want to, but normally apps don't. If nothing else works, it's possible to install an emulator in a PC and use that.
It cannot be the reason. They already store a lot of my personal data just for having a MDE account and I have a credit card registered (storing CC numbers comes with additional security requirement). I cannot think of anything that booking a ride in a theme park that is more sensitive than a CC number.
Yes, I'm aware and I've done it before (with other apps). But this option is unfortunately not practical for most non-technical users.
ok, thanks.
The EU does have regulations around purchase processes as well. So it is a guess but it is plausible. It could also be about tax. California has it's own set of special data rules as well and Disney ist compliant with those. I believe it is less a problem with systems not being compliant and more a problem with Disney not wanting to restrict itself to consistently make sure that they are compliant with many international jurisdictions.
I’m definitely in the ‘non-technical’ category, but I’ve managed to find and install a gps app today which works and allows me to book Genie+ from the UK. So there’s hope. You’ve lost me with emulators though
When my wife and I go alone, we have never bought Genie +. However, when traveling with my kids/grand kids we almost always bought Genie+ as my kids want to make sure they can maximize their kids experience.
Being one of the (many) thousands of people who travel to WDW from the UK, it's not just speculation! We are regularly told that this is the reason, and also regularly told to contact our travel agent! (I have personal chats confirming this, even after explaining that my bookings are DVC). We also know when this occurred, which was when the app was changed to allow different functionality.
