Has anyone ever had CM question child's age?

[palmtreegirl]

Just once but we weren't directly questioned. It was a few years ago at the International Gateway at Epcot and the women was rather rude about it. As we walked through, she looked at DS and mumbled under her breath yeh, sure he's 2, whatever. I looked her directly in the eyes and said well actually he is 2, he'll be turning 3 on September 5. She got flustered and said Oh, sorry.

 

[Bird-Mom]

We went shortly after my dd turned 2, and several times she was asked how old she was. She was a big girl, so we had a copy of her birth certificate just in case. We never showed it, but we did offer to upon saying she was 2.

 

[TikiHut33309]

Rough crowd out here!!!!!! Anyway, I think Disney charges way too much for their tickets to begin with. And they get away with the price hikes because THEY CAN. We will still herd ourselves there year after year and pay whatever they tell us to. Don't misunderstand, I love Disney too and arrive at the gates every few months gleefully spending my hard earned money to feel the magic. But, where does it end??? Will they decide that 9 is too old for a child's ticket and change the age to 5? Maybe charge pregnant women for and adult AND a childs ticket?? I know this sounds silly, but corporate America is a greedy monster and we are the mindless drones who allow it to continue. So please don't take offense at my comments, just looking at the big picture.

 

[ladysoleil]

Sorry, I have to agree with bicker. Once you found out about the rate change, you were choosing to deceive. If you know when you are handing the CM your child's ticket that he isn't eligible for a child's ticket, how is not deception? You asked what you did wrong. Well, you chose to stay quiet about your child's real age and say that your child was still 9. How is this not deception?

The TA made the initial mistake by not checking the kids' ages for the rebooking- with a significant delay like that in the original reservation and the actual trip, it's a question she probably should have thought to ask.

I'm not sure what all the wrangling is about. The 10 year old is no longer eligible for a child's ticket, but the rest of the family shouldn't pay a penalty- they booked in advance and locked in the rate. Maybe the travel agent isn't experienced with Disney enough to realize that you can upgrade a child's ticket at the parks- that's what the agent should have told the poster to do in the first place instead of thinking about messing with the entire reservation. Since many Disney tickets don't expire, I'm sure the CM's deal with ticket upgrades constantly. Kids grow up!

Denandbob- don't ask when you check in. I'd worry that it might be a change to your package and could change your rate. Go early on your first park day, bring your child's ticket the Guest relations window, and let them know that your child is now 10 so you need to upgrade to an adult admission. You'll pay the difference between the old ticket and the new ticket. You may want to play with the ticket calculator on the site to get an idea of what the ticket costs now so you can figure out the difference.

Problem solved! Enjoy your first trip!

 

[KimberlyC]

"deceive my omission".........what are you talking about? When I was getting the quote off the website, I put in his age at the time of our travel. He would be 9 on October 29-Nov 3. When I changed the dates with my TA, I just said "please change our travel dates from 10/29-11/3 to 5/6-5/13". What did I do wrong??????????? What deception are you speaking of?

Uh, with all due respect, YOU, not Disney decided to change your dates and by doing so your child's age will be changed. So the information YOU submitted (and whether its from you directly or your TA, its still from you) is no longer accurate for your time of travel. If everybody thought it was ok to do this people would book reservations the day their kid is born. 5 years later when denied FREE admission they'd say "but my baby was only a day old when I booked". You know this. You just want to overlook it because the change will increase the price of your trip. You can rationalize anyway you want to. But it seems to me that basically what you are seeking from the people on this board is approval, for lack of a better word. Personally, I don't care what others do so long as it doesn't affect me, but nonetheless I'm not going to say that I think you are right or justified. You chose to post and unfortunately for you some people think what you intend to do is deception by omission. You can choose to disagree with that characterization but the bottom line is you will be passing your 10 year old off as a child entitled to the age 3-9 price.

I've booked a DCL cruise. My DS will be a month shy of 3 when we sail, so he's free except port charges and taxes. If I have to postpone (and it would be at least a few months later because ours is the last cruise before the Med) then DS will no longer be the age I indicated when I booked. It is my responsibility to advise DCL of my DS's change of age and pay the proper fare for him if I choose to postpone my sail date. The only difference is since a cruise requires a passport (BC is ok only through December) there is no way I could conveniently fail to tell Disney about his age change.

If you are lucky, you may get away with it. If you aren't, you may be paying a higher price at the gate.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Uh, with all due respect, YOU, not Disney decided to change your dates and by doing so your child's age will be changed.

I think we all realize this, even the original poster. Here is the relavent part of her first post:

He turned 10 in January (after our original trip was planned for, but before our rescheduled trip). I didn't know if this would be a big deal or not, but I thought I'd better mention it. She emailed me back and said that not only would HIS ticket price (and dining plan price) increase, ALL OF THE REST OF OUR TICKETS WOULD TOO! Because Disney raised their prices in 2006, and if she changed any part of our initial reservations, then she'd have to redo the whole thing and we'd get charged the 2006 prices."

The problem she is facing is that she had theoretically locked in 2005 prices for the entire package, was assured by her TA that they could "postpone" their existing trip rather than do a whole new ressie, and now, suddenly, just by virtue of her older son being 10+ instead of 3-9, her entire package (not just her son's park pass) has to increase to 2006 rates. If this happened to me, I'd be more than happy to pay for my eldest child's ticket increase, but no way would I be willing to suddenly have to pay 2006 prices -- to the tune of $300 more than planned -- for a package I originally booked at 2005 prices with travel insurance.

I'm gonna stick with my recommendation -- seconded by another poster who "got it" -- to upgrade his admission media from 3-9 to 10+ at park Guest Relations. It won't be free, but it sure won't be $300.

 

[DISUNC]

YIKES this is a nasty thread!



Whoever is going to bring their childs Birth Certificate, I highly recommend bringing a COPY of it, and not the original. This is a legal document that will be needed throught out the childs life. And if lost...it is a huge hassle to replace.

Also, as a note...WDW has no legal right to ask you for a birth certificate or a SS #!!!!!! Not to sure about Florida law, but the odds are it is probably ILLEGAL for any CM to ask you for a copy of a childs Birth certificate!

WDW is a PARK (so have FUN), not a Government entity!!!!

 

[tjmw2727]

YIKES this is a nasty thread!



Whoever is going to bring their childs Birth Certificate, I highly recommend bringing a COPY of it, and not the original. This is a legal document that will be needed throught out the childs life. And if lost...it is a huge hassle to replace.

Also, as a note...WDW has no legal right to ask you for a birth certificate or a SS #!!!!!! Not to sure about Florida law, but the odds are it is probably ILLEGAL for any CM to ask you for a copy of a childs Birth certificate!

WDW is a PARK (so have FUN), not a Government entity!!!!

Its actually very easy and fairly inexpensive to get and or replace a birth certificate. In our MA town it takes about 5 minutes and costs $10.00, you can also send a sase and $10.00 and not even wait the 5 minutes. I do agree that a copy is a better idea.

WDW has no legal right to ask you anything but if you want to access the themepark then you have to abide by the admission guidelines. Right now the guidline is that children 3 and over need an admission ticket. If your child dosen't have an admission ticket they can ask if the child meets the guidelines and ask you for confirmation. In our case they simply asked my neice her age and that was that.

Its your choice if you want to bring proof or not, I still say better safe than sorry.

TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

I think we all realize this, even the original poster. Here is the relavent part of her first post:


The problem she is facing is that she had theoretically locked in 2005 prices for the entire package, was assured by her TA that they could "postpone" their existing trip rather than do a whole new ressie, and now, suddenly, just by virtue of her older son being 10+ instead of 3-9, her entire package (not just her son's park pass) has to increase to 2006 rates. If this happened to me, I'd be more than happy to pay for my eldest child's ticket increase, but no way would I be willing to suddenly have to pay 2006 prices -- to the tune of $300 more than planned -- for a package I originally booked at 2005 prices with travel insurance.

I'm gonna stick with my recommendation -- seconded by another poster who "got it" -- to upgrade his admission media from 3-9 to 10+ at park Guest Relations. It won't be free, but it sure won't be $300.

ITA - based on the first post and then the subsequent clarifiactions and the fact that the poster hasn't taken the trip yet. I would definately leave the package as is including checking in and getting the tickets etc.

Then you can simply take your sons ticket to Guest Relations and have it upgraded from a 3-9 ticket to a 10+. This way your package price dosen't change but your son has the ticket he needs.

HTH
TJ

 

[Ardenne]

I think we all realize this, even the original poster. Here is the relavent part of her first post:


The problem she is facing is that she had theoretically locked in 2005 prices for the entire package, was assured by her TA that they could "postpone" their existing trip rather than do a whole new ressie, and now, suddenly, just by virtue of her older son being 10+ instead of 3-9, her entire package (not just her son's park pass) has to increase to 2006 rates. If this happened to me, I'd be more than happy to pay for my eldest child's ticket increase, but no way would I be willing to suddenly have to pay 2006 prices -- to the tune of $300 more than planned -- for a package I originally booked at 2005 prices with travel insurance.

I'm gonna stick with my recommendation -- seconded by another poster who "got it" -- to upgrade his admission media from 3-9 to 10+ at park Guest Relations. It won't be free, but it sure won't be $300.

I agree with this 100%. It just makes sense to pay the 10-year-old price *for that ticket*, but not to have to pay more for the rest of the vacation package. I'm fairly sure that if she just takes the child's ticket to the gate and explains the situation, that's what the CMs would say as well. They'd probably appreciate the honesty and take care of it with minimal fuss.

 

[denanbob]

If I have to postpone (and it would be at least a few months later because ours is the last cruise before the Med) then DS will no longer be the age I indicated when I booked. It is my responsibility to advise DCL of my DS's change of age and pay the proper fare for him if I choose to postpone my sail date. The only difference is since a cruise requires a passport (BC is ok only through December) there is no way I could conveniently fail to tell Disney about his age change.

Ok, AGAIN............I didn't KNOW his age change meant anything at all. I didn't KNOW that 10 year olds are considered adults. I've never been to Disney before. All I KNOW is a couple weeks ago, I was sent a final confirmation (after I paid in full) and I noticed my boys' ages were wrong (one said 9 and one said 7....they are 10 and 8 now). I emailed her back and said "the boys are 10, and 8 now, but that's the only error I see". That's when she emailed me back and told me what was entailed if we messed with the reservation now after all is said and done. I did NOT deceive anyone intentionally. Or, I guess I should say I haven't deceived anyone "YET" since the minute I hand the CM my son's "child" ticket as my 10 year walks through the gate that would be considered deception. I'm still trying to figure out how to correct his ticket without ruining the rest of our ticket prices. I've got some excellent advice on this board and I reallllllllllly appreciate it. The few that didn't berate me were very helpful and I will take their advice and go to Guest Relations at the park when we arrive. TRUCE????????????????

 

[denanbob]

P.S. Sorry to hijack your thread PreppyPolyMom! )

 

[daisyduck123]

A CM once questioned my DD (then 9yo) at Blizzard Beach once.

She was playing in the kids area on the icebergs that you walk across.
He asked her twice that afternoon her age.
Both times she replied "nine".
Both times, he just shook his head at her.

She did look over 12 back then.
Now she's 11 & people have mistaken her for 15. (she's 5 ft. 5 in.).

 

[denanbob]

She was playing in the kids area on the icebergs that you walk across.
He asked her twice that afternoon her age.
Both times she replied "nine".
Both times, he just shook his head at her.

That is SO rude (the shaking of the head).

 

[Evil Queen]

A CM once questioned my DD (then 9yo) at Blizzard Beach once.

She was playing in the kids area on the icebergs that you walk across.
He asked her twice that afternoon her age.
Both times she replied "nine".
Both times, he just shook his head at her.

She did look over 12 back then.
Now she's 11 & people have mistaken her for 15. (she's 5 ft. 5 in.).

I understand that. My DS10 is 5'4", maybe a bit taller we haven't measured in a few months.

He looks older, but believe me he acts 10 (maybe younger at times).

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

When my DD was 2-1/2, they asked her how old she was checking in at POP. She told them 2 and I actually corrected her and told them she's 2-1/2. They commented about how well she speaks and was surprised she was so young.

 

[scoolover]

I took my son when he was 3 yrs and 2 months. Nobody ever asked for anything.

 

[Bird-Mom]

However, our lovely TA said we could just "postpone" until DH had some vacation and change the dates so that we didn't lose our trip insurance and we could just transfer over the deposit. This was a wonderful idea and even though I was sad our trip was being postponed, at least it wasn't officially cancelled........yet. As it turned out, it was a good thing that happened because my DS7 broke his leg in September and we could not have gone anyway. So our trip was postponed until May 6th, 2006... So as I went back to an old email to see how much I owed on the balance, I noticed she still had my DS listed as being 9. He turned 10 in January (after our original trip was planned for, but before our rescheduled trip). I didn't know if this would be a big deal or not, but I thought I'd better mention it. She emailed me back and said that not only would HIS ticket price (and dining plan price) increase, ALL OF THE REST OF OUR TICKETS WOULD TOO! Because Disney raised their prices in 2006, and if she changed any part of our initial reservations, then she'd have to redo the whole thing and we'd get charged the 2006 prices. This was going to end up being a $300 difference at least. Well, I could NOT afford that (mind you, I could BARELY afford the trip before). She said since it was an honest mistake/oversight and that nobody was trying to cheat anybody out of anything, we could just leave it alone (she knew it could possibly ruin our trip). Here's why I don't feel bad about it:

1). He will ride the same rides he would have ridden because it goes by height, not age so they aren't losing anything there.

2). Because he is "9" on the dining plan, he will be ordering from the childrens menu when we go so they will not be losing any money there.

3). I didn't intentionally scam anyone or try to get around paying my way.

Plus, if I can't afford the extra $300, I would possibly have had to cancel the trip so they would be losing ALOT of money. So they are benefitting from this too.

And yes, if anyone is wondering, I talk too much and I can never just get to the point............ If you're still with me, thanks for reading! And please don't tell me I'm going to H-E-double toothpicks because of this, ok?

Peace!

You are rationalizing.

The bold is mine. I am confused as to why your rates are the same for different years of travel. Before children, I was a travel agent for many years. You are not eligible for 2005 rates on a 2006 package. Perhaps your agent was eating the price difference b/c she wanted to keep the sale? Regardless of when you booked, you are responsible for updating age info, just as you would update your address and phone number. Consequently, you are responsible for the price difference. Saying you didn't know (ie ignorance) is not an excuse.

I have, however, had clients reschedule in different years and keep the original booking to keep the same insurance. It seems obvious as the nose on my face that rates would not be the same-or am I missing something?

In my opinion, that's what my trip insurance was for (to lock in my rate incase of a change of plans). I paid $90 for that insurance.

This is not what travel insurance is for. I was the top travel insurance seller in my office for many quarters. It is for emergency, death, fire, flood, call to jury duty...not because you changed your mind or you couldn't get vacation. For example, your ds broke his leg the night before you were scheduled to leave, the insurance would cover the cancellation fees since he would not be able to go. I am genuinely interested in what type of insurance you got that qualifies you for locking in your rate.

 

[Lizzybee]

My son was stopped at the Epcot turnstile when he was 10 yrs old. He is very small for his age so they thought he was trying to use someone else's ticket. I did bring the kids' Military IDs just in case. Most of the time, if my son thinks age will come up (ie restaurants), he tells his age before anyone has a chance to ask. "I am 11 yrs old and I would like an adult's menu since your child's menu is 9 and under." I think he does that because it bothers him when people call him small. We stayed at a casino hotel in Mississippi on our way to see family (we stay there because it's luxury and has a pool and the rooms are cheap...it's a great deal since we don't gamble). One of my cousin's lived close by and came to have dinner with us at the casino buffet. The hostess made a HUGE deal about "OMG he is SOOOO LITTLE FOR HIS AGE", yelling, and calling over other employees to see how little he was for his age. He was so mad there was a service survey on the table and he gave almost perfect marks to everthing except that hostess, he scored her as low as possible and wrote a note he'd score her lower if he could because she called him "small".

 

[Cor44432]

"Why should Disney NOT require proof a child is under 3?"

Show me where, when booking a vacation, Disney says proof of age (birth
certificate) is required for admission for those guests under 3. If there is.....
I'll take my crow deep fried

On my 8 yr.olds AP, it does say "ID" required for admission, but she has never
been questioned.