International travellers post July 24th

[UKdisneydad]

I appreciate this is probably a US heavy site but it would be good to get as many views on this as possible.

I’m a real planner when my family and I visit Disney. We are fortunate to be able to stay onsite and do so to get the benefits relating to getting better access to the rides. Having already paid for a trip later in the year, I’m really worried that I’ve been screwed by Disney here (as have every other international traveller) as we won’t be able to book our rides in advance and when we do arrive, pretty much everything decent will be gone. Trying to put aside my anger towards Disney, I’m trying to work out my options.

Anyone here have any ideas? I’ve obviously thought about VPN but I read a couple of times this wouldn’t work for some reason (not sure why). Any helpful ideas would be very much appreciated.

 

[BrianL]

I appreciate this is probably a US heavy site but it would be good to get as many views on this as possible.

I’m a real planner when my family and I visit Disney. We are fortunate to be able to stay onsite and do so to get the benefits relating to getting better access to the rides. Having already paid for a trip later in the year, I’m really worried that I’ve been screwed by Disney here (as have every other international traveller) as we won’t be able to book our rides in advance and when we do arrive, pretty much everything decent will be gone. Trying to put aside my anger towards Disney, I’m trying to work out my options.

Anyone here have any ideas? I’ve obviously thought about VPN but I read a couple of times this wouldn’t work for some reason (not sure why). Any helpful ideas would be very much appreciated.

I recommend checking out this thread on TPAS: https://www.disboards.com/threads/why-is-disney-doing-this-with-international-guest.3948926/

They are keeping a close eye on it. Do note that there is some debate in early posts and possibly some incorrect information.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I appreciate this is probably a US heavy site but it would be good to get as many views on this as possible.

I’m a real planner when my family and I visit Disney. We are fortunate to be able to stay onsite and do so to get the benefits relating to getting better access to the rides. Having already paid for a trip later in the year, I’m really worried that I’ve been screwed by Disney here (as have every other international traveller) as we won’t be able to book our rides in advance and when we do arrive, pretty much everything decent will be gone. Trying to put aside my anger towards Disney, I’m trying to work out my options.

Anyone here have any ideas? I’ve obviously thought about VPN but I read a couple of times this wouldn’t work for some reason (not sure why). Any helpful ideas would be very much appreciated.

Normally when you are using your computer browsing a website, your location is based on your IP address. A VPN will spoof your IP address to a different location and make the site think you are in a different country.

However your mobile phone has another way of tracking your location which is your GPS. A VPN will not change what the GPS says. The hypothesis is that the app uses the GPS to determine your location and therefore a VPN would not make a difference. So you would need a program that alters your GPS data rather than an VPN. However it’s all speculation currently.

 

[wendlle]

your VPN doesn't work on the phone GPS, you can spoof your GPS but it can be hit and miss with certain apps.

I for one think this is absolutely stupid on Disney's part and will now just spend my first part of my vacation at Universal, where I will also be spending more time because it is a lot cheaper too.

 

[Cyberc1978]

There are programs available to spoof your GPS too.
However why not just disable GPS data for the MDE app - that way the app won’t know where you are based on that and MAYBE it will just use your IP.
Otherwise I assume international travelers will start to do some testing on what works and what doesn’t.

 

[walt34]

There are programs available to spoof your GPS too.
However why not just disable GPS data for the MDE app - that way the app won’t know where you are based on that and MAYBE it will just use your IP.
Otherwise I assume international travelers will start to do some testing on what works and what doesn’t.

It doesn’t work for me with Genie+ either way. VPN doesn’t make a difference and neither does switching off GPS. It just tells me that I’m not in the US or Canada. I don’t know whether it checks home address or remembers a previous location or just does not work with location services switched off. I have not yet tried a clean install.

It doesn’t seem that there will be an easy workaround if multipass is sold in the same way. This wasn’t a problem until now but is a huge problem now. I do hope Disney fixes this.

 

[leeleemurph]

I have my honeymoon booked for WDW this Oct and in all honesty I'm so annoyed and disappointed by this given the sheer cost we have already outlayed. It puts international guests at a real disadvantage as what are the chances of many selections even being available when you arrive in the country.

There's been a lot of talk about VPN which I have used for the US version of the website but it doesn't work on the MDE app. At least for us. We did a test yesterday and changed all addresses and regions on the account, turned off all location services, used the VPN etc and kept constantly getting kicked to the .co.uk. site. No matter what we tried it knew we weren't in the US.

I hope this situation gets rectified as otherwise there is no incentive to go back to WDW if your only option is standby queue.

 

[deedubb]

This definitely screws international guests, many of whom spend a long time at Disney on each trip, on property. The inability to book in advance means you will be left with the crappy rides that nobody wants. I remember the days of FP+ and the difficulty getting some tier 1 rides unless you were staying on-site. Hopefully someone will figure out a workaround, otherwise I can see some guests spending their hard-earned money elsewhere.

 

[walt34]

Hopefully someone will figure out a workaround, otherwise I can see some guests spending their hard-earned money elsewhere.

I don't want a workaround. Hopefull Disney will fix this. Otherwise I'll enjoy Universal next year for a week (giving me enough time to reserve my rides) followed by a few days at Disney. Maybe Disney wants us to enjoy Epic Universe more?

 

[wendlle]

I don't want a workaround. Hopefull Disney will fix this. Otherwise I'll enjoy Universal next year for a week (giving me enough time to reserve my rides) followed by a few days at Disney. Maybe Disney wants us to enjoy Epic Universe more?

same, we are already beginning to spend more time at Universal so this just gives us more reason to do more things before our WDW days

 

[varsityboyz]

Normally when you are using your computer browsing a website, your location is based on your IP address. A VPN will spoof your IP address to a different location and make the site think you are in a different country.

However your mobile phone has another way of tracking your location which is your GPS. A VPN will not change what the GPS says. The hypothesis is that the app uses the GPS to determine your location and therefore a VPN would not make a difference. So you would need a program that alters your GPS data rather than an VPN. However it’s all speculation currently.

There are definitely hacks to spoof the location too. It's easier on Android.