I can't believe how mad i am!

[Bluestars]

Actually that's incorrect. I had to call Disney Reservations from the lobby at OKW and book the room at Pop. So I had paid for the reservation before I ever got there. And I checked in before I saw the concierge. But again, I do not blame the Concierge, she probably didn't look at the tickets in a detailed manner.

Well then that would be frustrating to actually pay for a reservation based on being told incorrectly that you would be able to upgrade your tickets.

I hope you were able to have a good time anyway. There is so much to do there, I hope your family has a good time.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

OK everyone I am caught up! This has been a very interesting thread for sure!!! The one about my parenting really kept me interested!

A bit of detail on why I was so frustrated. I was told to call Guest Relations by another Diser/CM and ask for a supervisor. I did. I spoke with a man that I will not name her because that would not be fair. He was absolutely the meanest most condescending person I have dealt with in a very long time. He was rude and assumed lots of information that simply was not true. I don't even think that it would be nice for me to repeat some of the things that he said. Well, I have a temper anyway and so ended up having basically a verbal altercation on the phone. I had to ask him 7 or 8 times what his bosses name was. I was FURIOUS at his comments and his attitude. At one point we got "disconnected" and I swear he hung up on me. Now, maybe he didn't, but if we were having a decent conversation I would never have questioned whether he did or didn't.

At any rate, I was MORE than a little upset last night. I have been in retail/restaurant/hospitality management for over 15 years and I know what I would have done in this situation. Not saying that Disney has to abide by MY way of thinking, and I really wasn't trying to throw out the "entitlement" vibe if that's the way it came off, but he could have at least been nice to me.

So this morning I called his boss, Dawn, and she was FANTASTIC!! And no, not because she gave me my upgrades, because she didn't. However, she was polite and she did TRY to get that done for me. When she told me she would call back in 10 minutes it was actually 30, and it took that long because she was researching what she could and couldn't do. When she did call me back she told me that unfortunately there was nothing she could do with my tickets. I told her that I understood and I appreciated her hard work for me. I told her that I hoped she had a good day and thanked her again for trying for us. I was all set to hang up when she sprinkled a little pixie dust and got us into Disney Quest! We had never been so we went for a little while today. Very busy place and I think my kids will get a lot more out of it when they are a little older. But very nice of her to do.

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions, as we are headed to the Fort tomorrow! We met 2 very nice FW people when we took another suggestion and did fireworks from the Poly beach! We have all had a very good day, thanks largely to the comments on this site. I rarely need to be talked down off a ledge, but after my altercation last night, I really just needed to let it out! Thanks for letting me, even to all of you who disagree.

NOW GET OFF MY BACK!!

Kidding, really!

 

[handinpocket]

Glad you are having a good time! My DH and DS love Disney Quest, I dare say they would rather be there than the parks.

 

[SandrA9810]

LOL... just a few days ago a user was posting about wanting to leave her DVC villa a few days early to get home to NC before the snow hit.

And next time you come to Disney, you'll realize there's so much more to it than just the parks. There's a ton of things to keep kids happy.

And at the fort, if the kids are under 48" (maybe its 42"), they can ride the ponies. And if you have any girls, they might get the chance to ride one of Cinderella's ponies. Plus the campfire with Chip and Dale at night. You can do cane pole fishing at the lake in the middle, or go for a bike ride. And lots of cool play grounds.
Since you're paying OOP for your food, Trail's end is the cheapest buffet on property. Lunch is under 20$ I think per adult, and dinner is like 23$. And there's a nice little trail between the fort and the lodge.

It's really not that unusual, especially for fort regulars, to spend more time out of the parks than they do in the parks.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Awesome Sandra! Thanks so much!

 

[SandrA9810]

Here's an interesting thread for you.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2374159

Just to give you an idea of how Dis Campers do things. Heck maybe next time you'll opt for a cabin and get the full experience of staying at the Fort. And that's when you discover how over-rated the parks can be.

 

[wdwmom2]

OK everyone I am caught up! This has been a very interesting thread for sure!!! The one about my parenting really kept me interested!

A bit of detail on why I was so frustrated. I was told to call Guest Relations by another Diser/CM and ask for a supervisor. I did. I spoke with a man that I will not name her because that would not be fair. He was absolutely the meanest most condescending person I have dealt with in a very long time. He was rude and assumed lots of information that simply was not true. I don't even think that it would be nice for me to repeat some of the things that he said. Well, I have a temper anyway and so ended up having basically a verbal altercation on the phone. I had to ask him 7 or 8 times what his bosses name was. I was FURIOUS at his comments and his attitude. At one point we got "disconnected" and I swear he hung up on me. Now, maybe he didn't, but if we were having a decent conversation I would never have questioned whether he did or didn't.

At any rate, I was MORE than a little upset last night. I have been in retail/restaurant/hospitality management for over 15 years and I know what I would have done in this situation. Not saying that Disney has to abide by MY way of thinking, and I really wasn't trying to throw out the "entitlement" vibe if that's the way it came off, but he could have at least been nice to me.

So this morning I called his boss, Dawn, and she was FANTASTIC!! And no, not because she gave me my upgrades, because she didn't. However, she was polite and she did TRY to get that done for me. When she told me she would call back in 10 minutes it was actually 30, and it took that long because she was researching what she could and couldn't do. When she did call me back she told me that unfortunately there was nothing she could do with my tickets. I told her that I understood and I appreciated her hard work for me. I told her that I hoped she had a good day and thanked her again for trying for us. I was all set to hang up when she sprinkled a little pixie dust and got us into Disney Quest! We had never been so we went for a little while today. Very busy place and I think my kids will get a lot more out of it when they are a little older. But very nice of her to do.

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions, as we are headed to the Fort tomorrow! We met 2 very nice FW people when we took another suggestion and did fireworks from the Poly beach! We have all had a very good day, thanks largely to the comments on this site. I rarely need to be talked down off a ledge, but after my altercation last night, I really just needed to let it out! Thanks for letting me, even to all of you who disagree.

NOW GET OFF MY BACK!!

Kidding, really!

See, you did make lemonade after all!!!! Glad you had a great time. The people of the DIS always come through.

Right now it is 9 degrees here. Right now I would kill for nothing to do under a swaying palm tree

 

[Mkrop]

OP I hope you had fun yesterday and have fun today and can make the most out of your situation

I must have missed where the CM was nasty and rude bc to me that is uncalled for, no matter what the situation and I am glad his supervisor was able to help. I still agree that if your tickets were discounted you should not get the upgrade, rules are rules.

The point I was making about the OP being stranded along her route was not so much a discount on lodging (although when I have been stuck we were lucky to get a room at all let alone a discounted one) was that at least she was somewhere that she could find something to do with her family vs being stuck in the middle of no where with drained pool and a fuzzy TV

And I know you were speaking out of frustartion OP but when you mentioned how upset your kids were going to be being so close to a theme park and not being able to go in, I thought what a great teachable moment for your kids bc that is what I would do with mine. No matter what the ages, I would explain that life doesnt always go as planned but we can still have fun, let's make this an adventure. Which it sounds like you did, which is terrific!!!!!!

I hope your Disney trip was full of memories and now two days more of memories

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

OP, we've been in snowed-in at Disney before (and thunderstormed in too!) and you're right, it's not everything it's cracked up to be. Extra expenses at WDW, increased kennel costs, missed work/school, etc.

Glad to hear you're having a good time.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'm so glad you are having a good time! Let us know how you like the Fort!

One of the things I think is so neat to see there is the old Huck Finn water park area you can see from the boat ride over. I bet it was great in it's hay day! I don't know what it was called for real, but I think it looks so cool, right near the water. I wish they could refurbish it and reopen. It's funny, we rode near it a bunch of times, but never knew what it was till a CM told us about it.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Well, i'm not sure anyone will want to read it after this thread, but I will be starting my first TR tomorrow!! I was gonna name it "I just met the guy from the Matrix". But now I think it will be "Snowed in with the guy from the Matrix!"

You will have to read it to see which guy it is!!

 

[Disney Doll]

OP, we've been in snowed-in at Disney before (and thunderstormed in too!) and you're right, it's not everything it's cracked up to be. Extra expenses at WDW, increased kennel costs, missed work/school, etc.

Glad to hear you're having a good time.

Generally I don't travel when my budget is so tight that an unexpected delay would cause financial difficulty. I work under the presumption that "stuff happens" and if I am planning to spend "X" amount of $$ on my vacation, I have "Y" amount of $$ more as a back-up just in case of a delay which necessitates extra expenses.

As far as missing work...wouldn't be a blip on my radar. If the delay is true & easily "provable" (ie-weather related and airlines could verify that this flight was cancelled and another flight wasn't available for a day or two), then missing work wouldn't faze me a bit. As a matter-of-fact, I pray for a snowstorm back home on our "leaving" weekend when we are at WDW in January just so I can squeeze out another day or two that are "beyond my control".

 

[wdwmom2]

Well, i'm not sure anyone will want to read it after this thread, but I will be starting my first TR tomorrow!! I was gonna name it "I just met the guy from the Matrix". But now I think it will be "Snowed in with the guy from the Matrix!"

You will have to read it to see which guy it is!!

I am looking forward to it!!!!

 

[robinb]

OP, I'm glad that you had a good time!

 

[lillygator]

OK everyone I am caught up! This has been a very interesting thread for sure!!! The one about my parenting really kept me interested!

A bit of detail on why I was so frustrated. I was told to call Guest Relations by another Diser/CM and ask for a supervisor. I did. I spoke with a man that I will not name her because that would not be fair. He was absolutely the meanest most condescending person I have dealt with in a very long time. He was rude and assumed lots of information that simply was not true. I don't even think that it would be nice for me to repeat some of the things that he said. Well, I have a temper anyway and so ended up having basically a verbal altercation on the phone. I had to ask him 7 or 8 times what his bosses name was. I was FURIOUS at his comments and his attitude. At one point we got "disconnected" and I swear he hung up on me. Now, maybe he didn't, but if we were having a decent conversation I would never have questioned whether he did or didn't.

At any rate, I was MORE than a little upset last night. I have been in retail/restaurant/hospitality management for over 15 years and I know what I would have done in this situation. Not saying that Disney has to abide by MY way of thinking, and I really wasn't trying to throw out the "entitlement" vibe if that's the way it came off, but he could have at least been nice to me.

So this morning I called his boss, Dawn, and she was FANTASTIC!! And no, not because she gave me my upgrades, because she didn't. However, she was polite and she did TRY to get that done for me. When she told me she would call back in 10 minutes it was actually 30, and it took that long because she was researching what she could and couldn't do. When she did call me back she told me that unfortunately there was nothing she could do with my tickets. I told her that I understood and I appreciated her hard work for me. I told her that I hoped she had a good day and thanked her again for trying for us. I was all set to hang up when she sprinkled a little pixie dust and got us into Disney Quest! We had never been so we went for a little while today. Very busy place and I think my kids will get a lot more out of it when they are a little older. But very nice of her to do.

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions, as we are headed to the Fort tomorrow! We met 2 very nice FW people when we took another suggestion and did fireworks from the Poly beach! We have all had a very good day, thanks largely to the comments on this site. I rarely need to be talked down off a ledge, but after my altercation last night, I really just needed to let it out! Thanks for letting me, even to all of you who disagree.

NOW GET OFF MY BACK!!

Kidding, really!

how you would have handled it (being in whatever backgroud) is different as it it YOU in the situation.

Generally I don't travel when my budget is so tight that an unexpected delay would cause financial difficulty. I work under the presumption that "stuff happens" and if I am planning to spend "X" amount of $$ on my vacation, I have "Y" amount of $$ more as a back-up just in case of a delay which necessitates extra expenses.

As far as missing work...wouldn't be a blip on my radar. If the delay is true & easily "provable" (ie-weather related and airlines could verify that this flight was cancelled and another flight wasn't available for a day or two), then missing work wouldn't faze me a bit. As a matter-of-fact, I pray for a snowstorm back home on our "leaving" weekend when we are at WDW in January just so I can squeeze out another day or two that are "beyond my control".

 

[AC7179]

Glad it ended up working out....sorry you had a rude CM!

 

[Slippy]

I honestly cannot believe how much attention this thread has received. Looking at the title and the original post, I feel the frustration of the OP. I, myself, have been "mad at the world" when things didn't go my way.

I will say that these forums are populated by saints, who took their time and offered up all sorts of great suggestions instead of commenting. I think I should plan a "park-less" Disney trip just to take advantage of all of these!

Now, just so I'm clear, no one here really honestly believes that Disney owes anybody anything because of bad weather in North Carolina, right?

 

[disney1990]

We took our granddaughters on a Disney Cruise Jan 17-21. (The girls 9 & 11 have been to Disney on 3 previous occasions.) On Thursday, Jan 21st, we met up with friends at Downtown Disney. The girls spent time going into stores, eating at Earl of Sandwich and playing in the fountains. Later on in the evening, we went to the hotel and played in the pool. On Thursday night we broke the news to the girls that they were going to get to go to the "Magic Kingdom" on Friday. What did the 9 year old say, "we get to go to Disney again tomorrow." She had a blast at Downtown Disney and counted that as a day at Disney.

I think adults are more stressed out in these situations than the kids are. Ride the monorail, watch the fireworks from outside of Magic Kingdom, ride the boat transportation. Just let them play and be kids and have fun.

When you get lemons, make lemonade.

If you think things are rough, when we boarded the Disney Cruise last Sunday, we quickly found out that we had left a suitcase in the car. It contained all of our 11 year old granddaughters clothes. She was devastated. She had coordinated her outfits for the evenings and coordinated them with her sister and now she had NO clothes. In addition, a few of her sister's clothes were also in that suitcase. We quickly took her to the store on the ship and found a couple discounted outfits for her. The second day, we hit a store in Nassau for a few more items. Life happens and you just have to roll with it.

 

[DMRick]

It's not only, IMO, about someone being wrong in what they tell you, but in how they tell you. I think that was why the OP was so frustrated. Yes, the person didn't have the discounted tickets to look at, but still, not only could she have been nice, but there is always something that can be done in this instance. We've been stuck at Disney because of a storm and we were handled much differently than the OP.

We took a bump on Southwest once, only because I asked if the voucher they were giving me could be used on (at the time) ATA..an airline that was affiliated with Southwest that flew from CA to HI. We had hoped to take a cruise there, and that would certainly be a big help (it was a $450 voucher), plus we flew free home). Absolutely we were told. Any rewards or vouchers from SW could be used that way. Once home, I attempted to use the vouchers and the gal from SW was so nice. She explained it was a mistake, she apologized several times, and then extended our vouchers so we could use them on a trip to Disney we planned on taking over a year later (they originally were only good for a year). She was so nice, she made me understand that stuff happens. About an hour later my phone rang, and the gal I had talked to had talked to her supervisor. She was refunding my last two trips on SW for credit on ATA, which would cover our two fares, and booked me on ATA with it. She only asked that I send the voucher back. Was I expecting that? Nope. She had already been so nice on the phone that she already had me happy. Will I forever be faithful to Southwest for the extra (that I recognize they could not do in every situation)? You betcha. She was truly the correct person to have on the consumer phones.
Most people would not even have asked Disney about extending the tickets (and extending the tickets is a service, not an item, so rather than be out money, most likely the OP would have spent money in the parks, eating, etc), so again IMO, it's not like Disney would have had to do it for everyone. Customer service is so very important. The OP is now very happy, because someone else did take the reins and gave something a little extra, which ended with the OP happy.

 

[Bluestars]

I'm not saying that Disney should have or would have accommodated the OP. But she admitted that she has a temper and had a verbal altercation with them on the phone. Maybe she was very nice at first, I don't know. I do know that I would not have lost my temper if I was asking for something. I'm as sweet as sugar when I talk to service people. I have gotten a few extras when I have been very nice.

But I know that probably nothing would have worked in the OP's situation. However, if someone was being rude to her, it might have been best to continue being polite back and then spoken to that person's supervisor. Once you bring yourself down to their level, I don't think anything will be accomplished. I have never seen it end well when the person asking for something is rude back to the service person.

I am glad the OP and her family is having a great time.