I really blew it - Park passes!!! Help, advice needed!

[jordan13402]

let's be clear, theres a big difference between IT and software Devs....the app was designed by software developers not IT...IT SUPPORTS the app once its rolled out

 

[snoopy352]

OP chose to book all their days at Hollywood Studio- nobody forced them to. I totally disagree as OP made this problem themselves. NOT DISNEY.

And I and many others totally disagree with YOU. The now absurd Disney Park Pass system, along with boarding passes and lack of FP+, has boxed 99% of DIS planners into this situation of needing to grab park passes when in the past no one needed to. It may (or may not) have been important during the pandemic but most companies (except Disney) have emerged from the pandemic cocoon now and the need for this extra layer of handcuffing WDW visitors to a specific park without hopping available until 2:00 has become unnecessary and fraught with issues similar to the OP's plight.

There is no excuse given where things are at now for WDW to continue with pandemic policies such as this one, and others (Epcot opening at 11?!?; no hopping?; restaurant closures lingering?; Epcot/BW/other entertainment, etc.). I think DIS is penny pinching at this point and continuing to blame it on the pandemic.

 

[mom2rtk]

And I and many others totally disagree with YOU. The now absurd Disney Park Pass system, along with boarding passes and lack of FP+, has boxed 99% of DIS planners into this situation of needing to grab park passes when in the past no one needed to. It may (or may not) have been important during the pandemic but most companies (except Disney) have emerged from the pandemic cocoon now and the need for this extra layer of handcuffing WDW visitors to a specific park without hopping available until 2:00 has become unnecessary and fraught with issues similar to the OP's plight.

There is no excuse given where things are at now for WDW to continue with pandemic policies such as this one, and others (Epcot opening at 11?!?; no hopping?; restaurant closures lingering?; Epcot/BW/other entertainment, etc.). I think DIS is penny pinching at this point and continuing to blame it on the pandemic.

And they'll keep doing it until customers earn back something different.

 

[nkereina]

There was nothing wrong with OP booking DHS every day until they had their plans figured out. Its perfectly permissible under Disney's "rules" and if Disney took issue with it, there would have been some kind of systemic limitation that prevents people from doing this.

As far as reaching out to Guest Services - if you don't ask, the answer is always no. Worst case, GS says they can't help and OP is in the same position they're in now. Best case, GS pulls some strings. As long as the OP is courteous, there's absolutely nothing wrong with asking.

But, I tend to agree with PPs that park hopping to MK isn't a terrible alternative option. We went in October and did rope drop until around 3pm in the parks each day, and then we were done for the day. If hoppers had been an option for us back then, we definitely would have taken a break earlier and then hopped elsewhere later on. Crowds are more tolerable later in the day and the later in the day it gets, the better chance of getting a slight reprieve from July temperatures.

 

[monsterkitty]

OP, I would like to thank you for this thread. If you wouldn't have posted, I wouldn't have looked at the availability calendar. I was able to drop one of my 2 EPCOT days and get the MK, which had been showing no availability for our entire last minute trip. ( we were supposed to go somewhere else, but all of our tour plans were cancelled due to COVID so we changed to WDW).

 

[jimmymc]

I haven't read through everything here yet, but here is what I would do:

1. Change all the days to the parks that aren't Magic Kingdom, so you'll be left with 4 DHS, 1 EP, 1 DAK.
2. If AP reservations are available for MK, call GS and explain the situation to see if they can make reservations for all 9 of you from the AP pool. It's completely insane that they still require you call to access them, so don't feel bad about it.
3. If they can't change the 3 tickets to AP reservations, then upgrade the 3 tickets to hoppers, keep the 4 Studios reservations, and park hop to MK 3 or 4 of the studios days. I've found that bus lines are not really an issue when hopping in the middle of the day, and it gives you 4 chances for ROTR boarding passes!

And for what it's worth, Magic Kingdom at night is completely underrated and more fun than ropedrop. Every land is beautiful lit up and lines get pretty short after dinnertime.

 

[jimmymc]

Everyone pays good money to go to Disney. OP chose to book all their days at Hollywood Studio- nobody forced them to. OP then discovers after finalizing plans that oops there is no availability at the other parks, when they decide they don't want all those days at Hollywood Studios. HOW IS THIS THE FAULT OF DISNEY? OP made the choice to book all days at Hollywood Studios in order to get a boarding group for ROTR- the OP taking all those days eliminated some group from being able to get a reservation into Hollywood Studios on any certain day that OP hoarded the reservations. Why should Disney make right because of OP's hoarding reservations only to discover OOPS there is no more park availability? Disney doesn't owe OP anything, they did nothing wrong. OP needs to watch for park availability and rectify their error on their own. What if everyone did this?

Disney does say no. People go and say they didn't get a boarding group for ROTR and Disney will not give them one. Disney can't pixie dust everyone's error. This is totally on OP, and to say Disney is in the hospitality business and should correct this- I totally disagree as OP made this problem themselves. NOT DISNEY.

Guest services exists to help guests who can't help themselves. Why is everyone so angry that OP would call Disney to get help planning a vacation?

 

[RoseGold]

I know, we leave the 17th .

I think I procrastinated/forgot/whatever dumb reason about 1 week too long to just book it the correct way.

Sorry about that. The dates worked for me! Keep stalking! They are moving availability around!!!

 

[Jason2015]

Everyone pays good money to go to Disney. OP chose to book all their days at Hollywood Studio- nobody forced them to. OP then discovers after finalizing plans that oops there is no availability at the other parks, when they decide they don't want all those days at Hollywood Studios. HOW IS THIS THE FAULT OF DISNEY? OP made the choice to book all days at Hollywood Studios in order to get a boarding group for ROTR- the OP taking all those days eliminated some group from being able to get a reservation into Hollywood Studios on any certain day that OP hoarded the reservations. Why should Disney make right because of OP's hoarding reservations only to discover OOPS there is no more park availability? Disney doesn't owe OP anything, they did nothing wrong. OP needs to watch for park availability and rectify their error on their own. What if everyone did this?

Disney does say no. People go and say they didn't get a boarding group for ROTR and Disney will not give them one. Disney can't pixie dust everyone's error. This is totally on OP, and to say Disney is in the hospitality business and should correct this- I totally disagree as OP made this problem themselves. NOT DISNEY.

The OP never said it was Disney's fault but Disney does still owe the OP; they owe OP the ability to explain the situation and to see if they can help come up with solutions. Disney doesn't owe the OP a solution if none are present and doesn't owe the OP the outcome desired. Disney's Guest Service is there to help guests with all sorts of problems. As long as OP is courteous and isn't demanding results than Disney does owe the OP an open and willing ear to help.

 

[MomOTwins]

Guest services exists to help guests who can't help themselves. Why is everyone so angry that OP would call Disney to get help planning a vacation?

Because GS can’t do anything to help OP here. Back in the days of 180 day ADRs, if someone made an ADR for dinner every day at BOG and then forgot and months later realized everywhere else was fully booked, we wouldn’t be saying “hey call guest services” because GS can’t do anything about it. Frankly, we’d all be pretty dang up in arms about the ADR hoarding too.

Here, OP can keep their rezzies and park hop, or drop them and try to get new ones, Guest services can’t “see” availability different from what’s in the calendar or modify without deleting—they would have to cancel the passes to attempt a new booking too. Or they’d have to pull from the kind of special guest services bucket used for recovery issues (e.g. guest is injured or something else really bad happens that is disney’s fault so they get a free park pass and ticket to make up for it). I think what people are getting at here is it is not appropriate to request that kind of special treatment here.

 

[jimmymc]

Because GS can’t do anything to help OP here. Back in the days of 180 day ADRs, if someone made an ADR for dinner every day at BOG and then forgot and months later realized everywhere else was fully booked, we wouldn’t be saying “hey call guest services” because GS can’t do anything about it. Frankly, we’d all be pretty dang up in arms about the ADR hoarding too.

Here, OP can keep their rezzies and park hop, or drop them and try to get new ones, Guest services can’t “see” availability different from what’s in the calendar or modify without deleting—they would have to cancel the passes to attempt a new booking too. Or they’d have to pull from the kind of special guest services bucket used for recovery issues (e.g. guest is injured or something else really bad happens that is disney’s fault so they get a free park pass and ticket to make up for it). I think what people are getting at here is it is not appropriate to request that kind of special treatment here.

But that's not the case here. Right now there is Magic Kingdom availability for annual passes, which 6 of 9 guests in the party have. Disney does something very odd with park reservations. If you have an annual pass and also book a room on property, then you only have access to the resort pool of reservations online, but you can use the annual pass pool if you call. This has been confirmed many times on the boards and various Facebook groups. So there are reservations available, OP just has to call to access them. In your example, it's like saying that there are reservations available but you have to call to get one.

I'm saying it can't hurt to ask if they let the 3 ticket holders also get reservations. Worst they can do is say no. But apparently calling GS and asking for help angers the boards.

 

[MomOTwins]

But that's not the case here. Right now there is Magic Kingdom availability for annual passes, which 6 of 9 guests in the party have. Disney does something very odd with park reservations. If you have an annual pass and also book a room on property, then you only have access to the resort pool of reservations online, but you can use the annual pass pool if you call. This has been confirmed many times on the boards and various Facebook groups. So there are reservations available, OP just has to call to access them. In your example, it's like saying that there are reservations available but you have to call to get one.

I'm saying it can't hurt to ask if they let the 3 ticket holders also get reservations. Worst they can do is say no. But apparently calling GS and asking for help angers the boards.

That’s worse. I’m not an AP holder, but they are having a tough getting a fourth pass if staying offsite after using one of their three. Wouldn’t be right for GS to dip into their bucket for three non-AP guests.

 

[kylenne]

Just wanted to share in case in makes you feel better, OP- lots of people are making mistakes/not paying attention to park reservations. I was there last week at a AKV-Kidani bus stop and a woman (who had paid for a whole week at Kidani!) was shocked to hear she needed to make reservations. She had none, and was convinced they wouldn’t turn her away as long as she had a ticket. That’s the hard way to learn!

Absolutely do not feel sorry for people like this. I’ve gotten approximately 90000 emails about park reservations being required. There are signs all over the resorts saying park reservations required. App gives constant push notifications to check “know before you go” pages. Even if nobody ever planned a single thing before, this is pandemic era travel. You have to know you need to read up on changes. People do not use the sense God gave them.

 

[nkereina]

Because GS can’t do anything to help OP here. Back in the days of 180 day ADRs, if someone made an ADR for dinner every day at BOG and then forgot and months later realized everywhere else was fully booked, we wouldn’t be saying “hey call guest services” because GS can’t do anything about it. Frankly, we’d all be pretty dang up in arms about the ADR hoarding too.

Here, OP can keep their rezzies and park hop, or drop them and try to get new ones, Guest services can’t “see” availability different from what’s in the calendar or modify without deleting—they would have to cancel the passes to attempt a new booking too. Or they’d have to pull from the kind of special guest services bucket used for recovery issues (e.g. guest is injured or something else really bad happens that is disney’s fault so they get a free park pass and ticket to make up for it). I think what people are getting at here is it is not appropriate to request that kind of special treatment here.

I guess I'm not understanding why people are so opposed to OP simply calling and asking? If the answer is what you're asserting, then so be it. But at least then OP can rest assured they've exhausted all options. Perhaps GS can offer a solution that OP hasn't considered or perhaps there is something they can do with the park reservations that we don't know about - GS has the ability to manipulate ROTR boarding groups, so they do have some authority. OP isn't necessarily seeking special treatment and I'd agree the OP shouldn't be demanding or expecting anything. But its no skin off anyone's nose if OP calls, so why anyone would argue against that is beyond me.

 

[motherof5]

I’m releasing them (actually all of our non DHS days are released now, and there were only 3 of them - 1 day we did AK and one day for Epcot, and the day that should have been MK but I changed to Epcot) not holding them and not using them, so now someone else can get (got) them. I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s that bad . It’s all part of the game you have to play, and I didn’t want to close the door on DHS before we had our plans set in stone. Heck, at that point we had 3 people who were still deciding if they wanted to come down for a weekend or not. So now I have all of our actual
Days set, including ADRs, but missed out on the MK. Also, you maybe noticed I didn’t blame Disney, I blamed myself. I didn’t ask how they could fix it, I asked the best way I could try to get the MK. So maybe you can feel smug that karma got me, and I’ll work on the best way to fix it for our plans. Like I’ve said before on here, I always seem to learn lessons the hard way . My fault for not changing things the day after I got our ADRs amd our entire party was set.

Ignore the negative people. You didn't take anything away from anyone else. I was there during spring break in April and friends were able to get MK the day before. Keep checking and even ask when your at the hotel if staying on property. Not sure if it's true but heard that the hotels have a advance search and see availability before the general public.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

I guess I'm not understanding why people are so opposed to OP simply calling and asking? If the answer is what you're asserting, then so be it. But at least then OP can rest assured they've exhausted all options. Perhaps GS can offer a solution that OP hasn't considered or perhaps there is something they can do with the park reservations that we don't know about - GS has the ability to manipulate ROTR boarding groups, so they do have some authority. OP isn't necessarily seeking special treatment and I'd agree the OP shouldn't be demanding or expecting anything. But its no skin off anyone's nose if OP calls, so why anyone would argue against that is beyond me.

Yes, exactly on point!

 

[jimmymc]

That’s worse. I’m not an AP holder, but they are having a tough getting a fourth pass if staying offsite after using one of their three. Wouldn’t be right for GS to dip into their bucket for three non-AP guests.

I guess that doesn't bother me. Part of the premium of staying on-site should be easier park access, and Disney clearly has the capacity for it.

 

[MomOTwins]

I guess that doesn't bother me. Part of the premium of staying on-site should be easier park access, and Disney clearly has the capacity for it.

And why should OP jump ahead of all the other non-AP guests who are locked out of MK? If Disney decides to reallocate passes from the AP bucket to the resort/ticket bucket then everyone will get a fair chance to grab one first-come, first-serve.

It's all a bit moot anyway. There are so many people who want park passes, Disney is not going to start letting people get a special exception by calling in. If they did that, someone would post on disboards or social media to call GS if you can't get a park pass and they'll get you in, and that would open the floodgates and GS would be overwhelmed.

 

[jimmymc]

And why should OP jump ahead of all the other non-AP guests who are locked out of MK? If Disney decides to reallocate passes from the AP bucket to the resort/ticket bucket then everyone will get a fair chance to grab one first-come, first-serve.

It's all a bit moot anyway. There are so many people who want park passes, Disney is not going to start letting people get a special exception by calling in. If they did that, someone would post on disboards or social media to call GS if you can't get a park pass and they'll get you in, and that would open the floodgates and GS would be overwhelmed.

Because Disney realizes that letting 6 out of 9 guests into the park is pretty poor customer service and they want people to come back.

I think you're still missing the point. I have no idea if Disney would do that, but what is the harm in calling to ask? That was my original comment, call and ask to see if they can help you.

 

[pigletliz]

Because Disney realizes that letting 6 out of 9 guests into the park is pretty poor customer service and they want people to come back.

I think you're still missing the point. I have no idea if Disney would do that, but what is the harm in calling to ask? That was my original comment, call and ask to see if they can help you.

It isn't really poor customer service. This entire issue was due to the guest hedging their bets. They had the same exact opportunity as everyone else. If the CM can't let them into the park, that does not mean Disney or guests services didn't do a good job. Six guests or not, the OP isn't any different than any other random person trying to get into a closed park on that particular day.