We checked in Sunday, Oct 20 and boy has it been a roller coaster so far.
The Good:
1) We're staying at All Star Music and it's ok. We've stayed at moderate and deluxe resorts in the past, but this trip is jam packed so we just wanted
a place to take a mid day break shower, and sleep.
2)We drove over to Art of Animation to eat dinner. Liked the surf and surf "burger" and the pastrami burger a lot and my daughter in law really liked the create your own pasta. Good choice.
3)Son #2 asked for a refrigerator rebate. They gave him a $25 credit until I said we were told it was $15 per nite (thanks to this site). They changed it and he got $90 for 6 nights.
4) Enjoying the Food and Wine Festival, lines were short 11-noon on Monday.
5)A cast member at HS cleaning the table areas at Fairfax Faire gave us 3 free cupcakes for no reason. They were just plain vanilla cupcakes, but we thought it was very sweet of her. We had so much food, we gave the cupcakes to a family at a nearby table.
6) Magic Bands are working well.
The Bad:
1) We asked for our 3 rooms to be ground floor and close to each other, so we wound up in the back at Broadway. Looonnnggg walk to the food court and front desk, but we don't go often. My husband actually drives up to the front to get his morning coffee.
2)Son #1 got lost 3 times just trying to get from I4 to All Star check in. Even with Tom Tom gps, the addresses I got from Google maps and the Disney site it was very confusing. Wound up in Central Casting across from Downtown Disney one time. I really wish the signs were better on property for All Stars. You have to know to follow Animal Kingdom Resorts signs until you finally see All Star Resorts.
3)Son #1 asked for his refrigerator rebate the first day. They brought him a refrigerator. All a matter of timing as they had run out before son #2 got his credit.
The Ugly:
1) I booked this week for low crowd levels based on past trips and Touring Plans site a year ago. I made trip plans from that site and worked the fastpass plus to work in everything I could. The day before we left, the crowd levels jumped significantly and everything went haywire. I have never been to WDW with this many people and I really, really don't like it.
2)It's also a lot hotter than the last time I was here in October.
3) Online check in was USELESS. Still had to stand in a long line and then give all of the information to the cm. Took about 45 minutes total, Was not what I expected.
4) Son #2 came in a day early. His room was paid in September for him and his girlfriend, but she left him 2 weeks before the trip. He was still hoping things would work out so we didn't change the reservation. As a former hotel manager, I advised him to leave it until he checked in and he would have a $50 penalty but would get the rest of the ticket money back. The CM at check in was borderline rude and said he would have to address that with whoever he booked the trip through. Huh? We booked through Disney. I told him I would straighten it out when I got here because I paid for it on my Disney Visa.
I was directed to the concierge who was very nice and said the tickets obviously hadn't been used so there shouldn't be a problem, but her supervisor said I had to call the main Disney number to get the refund. Ok, I knew that meant a long time on hold but I could handle that. After 53 minutes on hold I was told that because he had already checked in there was nothing they could do. Had he called from the parking lot and changed it, we would have no problem. Hold on - as a former hotel manager that was totally absurd to me. #1-there was never any information that it would be handled that way from reservations or the front desk cm. If it were my hotel, my staff would be trained to stop the check in to prevent irate guests.
It just about ruined the whole vacation because I got so upset. $331 might not be a lot to some people, but for a retired couple that comes to Disney only every 4-5 years...and mostly it is the principle of the matter. It was just a culmination of the downward turn of the famous Disney customer service that used to be so, so wonderful. While I was checking in there were 2 other guests in heated discussions with management about customer service.
5) I am in a wheelchair because of an acl injury. I don't expect front of the line access, I just can't walk from attraction to attraction. At MK last night we wanted to go from BTMR to Haunted Mansion, but the parade had started. A nice CM said take the riverwalk and it would be clear all the way. I remember from past trips there would be CMs periodically to keep the traffic flowing and keep people from watching the parade and blocking the path. NOPE. It was the worst zoo I have ever seen Parade watches, people pushing and shoving, strollers and wheelchairs blocked in until the parade was over. Lots of anger and nasty comments and totally horrifying because you couldn't go one way or the other. We never made it to HM, tried to get to the front for Celebrate the Magic but missed most of that until we found a spot at Sleepy Hollow where we could only see a part of the Castle. All around a very discouraging day and night.
We are trying to start out with a positive attitude and hope things get better. WE'RE AT DISNEY - LET's HAVE SOME FUN!
The Good:
1) We're staying at All Star Music and it's ok. We've stayed at moderate and deluxe resorts in the past, but this trip is jam packed so we just wanted
a place to take a mid day break shower, and sleep.
2)We drove over to Art of Animation to eat dinner. Liked the surf and surf "burger" and the pastrami burger a lot and my daughter in law really liked the create your own pasta. Good choice.
3)Son #2 asked for a refrigerator rebate. They gave him a $25 credit until I said we were told it was $15 per nite (thanks to this site). They changed it and he got $90 for 6 nights.
4) Enjoying the Food and Wine Festival, lines were short 11-noon on Monday.
5)A cast member at HS cleaning the table areas at Fairfax Faire gave us 3 free cupcakes for no reason. They were just plain vanilla cupcakes, but we thought it was very sweet of her. We had so much food, we gave the cupcakes to a family at a nearby table.
6) Magic Bands are working well.
The Bad:
1) We asked for our 3 rooms to be ground floor and close to each other, so we wound up in the back at Broadway. Looonnnggg walk to the food court and front desk, but we don't go often. My husband actually drives up to the front to get his morning coffee.
2)Son #1 got lost 3 times just trying to get from I4 to All Star check in. Even with Tom Tom gps, the addresses I got from Google maps and the Disney site it was very confusing. Wound up in Central Casting across from Downtown Disney one time. I really wish the signs were better on property for All Stars. You have to know to follow Animal Kingdom Resorts signs until you finally see All Star Resorts.
3)Son #1 asked for his refrigerator rebate the first day. They brought him a refrigerator. All a matter of timing as they had run out before son #2 got his credit.
The Ugly:
1) I booked this week for low crowd levels based on past trips and Touring Plans site a year ago. I made trip plans from that site and worked the fastpass plus to work in everything I could. The day before we left, the crowd levels jumped significantly and everything went haywire. I have never been to WDW with this many people and I really, really don't like it.
2)It's also a lot hotter than the last time I was here in October.
3) Online check in was USELESS. Still had to stand in a long line and then give all of the information to the cm. Took about 45 minutes total, Was not what I expected.
4) Son #2 came in a day early. His room was paid in September for him and his girlfriend, but she left him 2 weeks before the trip. He was still hoping things would work out so we didn't change the reservation. As a former hotel manager, I advised him to leave it until he checked in and he would have a $50 penalty but would get the rest of the ticket money back. The CM at check in was borderline rude and said he would have to address that with whoever he booked the trip through. Huh? We booked through Disney. I told him I would straighten it out when I got here because I paid for it on my Disney Visa.
I was directed to the concierge who was very nice and said the tickets obviously hadn't been used so there shouldn't be a problem, but her supervisor said I had to call the main Disney number to get the refund. Ok, I knew that meant a long time on hold but I could handle that. After 53 minutes on hold I was told that because he had already checked in there was nothing they could do. Had he called from the parking lot and changed it, we would have no problem. Hold on - as a former hotel manager that was totally absurd to me. #1-there was never any information that it would be handled that way from reservations or the front desk cm. If it were my hotel, my staff would be trained to stop the check in to prevent irate guests.
It just about ruined the whole vacation because I got so upset. $331 might not be a lot to some people, but for a retired couple that comes to Disney only every 4-5 years...and mostly it is the principle of the matter. It was just a culmination of the downward turn of the famous Disney customer service that used to be so, so wonderful. While I was checking in there were 2 other guests in heated discussions with management about customer service.
5) I am in a wheelchair because of an acl injury. I don't expect front of the line access, I just can't walk from attraction to attraction. At MK last night we wanted to go from BTMR to Haunted Mansion, but the parade had started. A nice CM said take the riverwalk and it would be clear all the way. I remember from past trips there would be CMs periodically to keep the traffic flowing and keep people from watching the parade and blocking the path. NOPE. It was the worst zoo I have ever seen Parade watches, people pushing and shoving, strollers and wheelchairs blocked in until the parade was over. Lots of anger and nasty comments and totally horrifying because you couldn't go one way or the other. We never made it to HM, tried to get to the front for Celebrate the Magic but missed most of that until we found a spot at Sleepy Hollow where we could only see a part of the Castle. All around a very discouraging day and night.
We are trying to start out with a positive attitude and hope things get better. WE'RE AT DISNEY - LET's HAVE SOME FUN!
