Just back - Our Hurricane Story

[HatboxHaint]

We were there Oct 2 - 9th.

Our original plan was to stay at BLT for 5 nights then AKL for 2. I'll skip all of our trip up to Wednesday night. I left my family back at BLT and scooted to MK for EMH. I rode pirates (which broke down for 30 min, I was by the pirate trying to give the cats some rum..lol...that was a long 30 minutes). I rode HM till park close (1AM) then went to City Hall. I got a refund for our thursday MNSSHP, which was a good choice since the cancelled Friday's too. We didn't get to do that party at all. We did get our money back but lost money on the costumes we had bought. I also cancelled my star wars dessert part for friday night. The nice guy at city hall threw some FP+ into my account for Saturday.

We did AK Thursday since we still had several things there to do (not our orignal plan, but called this as a audible) and had a wonderful time (no fastpasses needed), we left around 1pm as it started to get rainy and windy and had done most of what we wanted to do. I went by the front desk of contemporary to see what we needed to do about changing resorts on Friday since by now we knew that everything was closing and there would be no transportation running. This was quite a chore but there was a wonderful CM named Amber that assured us that she would help us stay either in BLT or the Contemporary. I think by that time in the afternoon the DVC office had closed and they could not verify if we could stay in our same rooms.

So it wasn't until Friday after our checkout time that we got squared away. Amber was able to put us in a 2 bedroom villa Theme park view at BLT. It was like a dream come true! Of course the weather was not bad and the bridge between the two buildings stayed open and people were walking around outside all day. There were activities w/ characters all day at the Contemporary. We ate at Chef Mickey's sans characters with a reduced menu. Sometime earlier in the week a disney agent contacted my via text, I continued to use this text number for arrange FP+. Since I had lost my Party FP+ and Friday FP+ they were able to give me an anytime set at HS for Saturday and another set at MK for Saturday. Amber also arranged a credit $300 since we had missed dining opportunities and had left over credits. We also were credited a 1 day ticket with park hopper for the missed day. All in all it worked out ok, we were all ready for a rest by friday but it would have been nicer to lay by the pool instead.

 

[hedberg1661]

Sounds like you and Disney made the most of the unfortunate situation. I am glad they were able to help you stay at BLT and give you some freebies.

 

[hiroMYhero]

We were there Oct 2 - 9th.

Our original plan was to stay at BLT for 5 nights then AKL for 2. I'll skip all of our trip up to Wednesday night. I left my family back at BLT and scooted to MK for EMH. I rode pirates (which broke down for 30 min, I was by the pirate trying to give the cats some rum..lol...that was a long 30 minutes). I rode HM till park close (1AM) then went to City Hall. I got a refund for our thursday MNSSHP, which was a good choice since the cancelled Friday's too. We didn't get to do that party at all. We did get our money back but lost money on the costumes we had bought. I also cancelled my star wars dessert part for friday night. The nice guy at city hall threw some FP+ into my account for Saturday.

We did AK Thursday since we still had several things there to do (not our orignal plan, but called this as a audible) and had a wonderful time (no fastpasses needed), we left around 1pm as it started to get rainy and windy and had done most of what we wanted to do. I went by the front desk of contemporary to see what we needed to do about changing resorts on Friday since by now we knew that everything was closing and there would be no transportation running. This was quite a chore but there was a wonderful CM named Amber that assured us that she would help us stay either in BLT or the Contemporary. I think by that time in the afternoon the DVC office had closed and they could not verify if we could stay in our same rooms.

So it wasn't until Friday after our checkout time that we got squared away. Amber was able to put us in a 2 bedroom villa Theme park view at BLT. It was like a dream come true! Of course the weather was not bad and the bridge between the two buildings stayed open and people were walking around outside all day. There were activities w/ characters all day at the Contemporary. We ate at Chef Mickey's sans characters with a reduced menu. Sometime earlier in the week a disney agent contacted my via text, I continued to use this text number for arrange FP+. Since I had lost my Party FP+ and Friday FP+ they were able to give me an anytime set at HS for Saturday and another set at MK for Saturday. Amber also arranged a credit $300 since we had missed dining opportunities and had left over credits. We also were credited a 1 day ticket with park hopper for the missed day. All in all it worked out ok, we were all ready for a rest by friday but it would have been nicer to lay by the pool instead.

Wow, Hat. After all those months of planning, sorry to hear you were impacted but sounds like Contemporary's Guest Recovery nicely came through for your family. We also were recipients of CR's Guest Recovery the week before you. They do a nice job!

Would you like to add your post to the Hurricane Thread? I know others will appreciate hearing of your outcome:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/hurricane-matthew-closes-wdw-reopens-saturday-october-8th.3552054/

 

[Klayfish]

Sorry to hear you got stuck there, but sounds like WDW did their best to take care of you (and everyone else from what I've heard). Glad everyone was safe and now you'll have a story to share for the rest of your life!

 

[BrianL]

I rode pirates (which broke down for 30 min, I was by the pirate trying to give the cats some rum..lol...that was a long 30 minutes).

Oh man, this happened to me at DL a couple of months ago. We were stopped right by that guy and the cats and everyone in the boat was starting to lose it after a while! "Here kitty, kitty!" *CAT SCREECHING* <REPEAT> It was like being in a crazy house, said someone in the row behind me.

Anyway, I'm glad they helped you out with the issues caused by the Hurricane. It sounds like they did a nice job. The Contemporary/Bay Lake Towers sure isn't the worst place to be stuck during inclement weather!

 

[luvpooh]

Oh man, this happened to me at DL a couple of months ago. We were stopped right by that guy and the cats and everyone in the boat was starting to lose it after a while! "Here kitty, kitty!" *CAT SCREECHING* <REPEAT> It was like being in a crazy house, said someone in the row behind me.

Anyway, I'm glad they helped you out with the issues caused by the Hurricane. It sounds like they did a nice job. The Contemporary/Bay Lake Towers sure isn't the worst place to be stuck during inclement weather!

We too got stuck in the same exact spot last year for roughly the same amount of time. DS (2 at the time) deduced on his own that the pirate was drinking tea, and named the cat. I thought when we got stuck we were going to be 'that' family, but he did surprisingly well!

HH - glad to hear that you were able to get what seems to be a good resolution, given the circumstances!

 

[BurleyGirl]

Is this the same Disney who reportedly sold those way overpriced $13 boxed meals of bread and lunch meat to those stranded by the hurricane? Sounds like two totally different companies!! So glad to hear of this stellar customer service...renews my faith in the Disney I've always known -- the gold standard!

Sounds like you rolled pretty well with the punches, too!

 

[HatboxHaint]

Oh man, this happened to me at DL a couple of months ago. We were stopped right by that guy and the cats and everyone in the boat was starting to lose it after a while! "Here kitty, kitty!" *CAT SCREECHING* <REPEAT> It was like being in a crazy house, said someone in the row behind me.

Anyway, I'm glad they helped you out with the issues caused by the Hurricane. It sounds like they did a nice job. The Contemporary/Bay Lake Towers sure isn't the worst place to be stuck during inclement weather!

I took a nap and plugged my ears for a bit....plus it's right in front of the scene where everyone is chasing each other in circles, a lot of fast motion, so I was on a boat by myself surrounded by other empty boats, every time I looked back I would see a bit of motion and have to re-identify that it was the animatrocics and not a CM or something else

 

[HatboxHaint]

Is this the same Disney who reportedly sold those way overpriced $13 boxed meals of bread and lunch meat to those stranded by the hurricane? Sounds like two totally different companies!! So glad to hear of this stellar customer service...renews my faith in the Disney I've always known -- the gold standard!

Sounds like you rolled pretty well with the punches, too!

yeah...really glad we splurged a bit more this time, we have been value/moderate guests on previous trips.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Wow, Hat. After all those months of planning, sorry to hear you were impacted but sounds like Contemporary's Guest Recovery nicely came through for your family. We also were recipients of CR's Guest Recovery the week before you. They do a nice job!

Would you like to add your post to the Hurricane Thread? I know others will appreciate hearing of your outcome:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/hurricane-matthew-closes-wdw-reopens-saturday-october-8th.3552054/

A LOT of planning went into this trip. I was at first upset that it was all going sideways...but I enjoyed calling the audibles and we kept the party going.

 

[megster1123]

Just wanted to throw in my 0.02 about our trip last week. I posted this in the Matthew thread as well, hadn't seen this one prior to.

We arrived at Poly on Monday the 3rd and got some amazing pixie dust and were upgraded to Club Level Hawaii
Tuesday we did EMM and it was amazing. Worth every penny. Rode 7DMT 4 times, Peter Pan, WtP, then 7DMT 4 more times...awesome morning.
Wednesday we were at RD and basically had Adventureland & Frontierland to ourselves for almost 2 hours. Knocked out our whole touring plan and then some by 11am. BOG dinner was great, Wishes Dessert party was great, and the Garden Plaza viewing put us in an amazing spot for MSEP. Had the entire grassy area to ourselves for the parade.
Thursday had a PPO CRT, hopped on 7DMT 2x again, had a great morning....and then...

I'll try to keep it brief. On Tuesday morning we had a feeling the weather was turning and seeing as though we had MNSSHP tickets for Thursday, I approached concierge with the ask of moving our tickets to Tuesday. They said no. In hindsight, I should have just outright bought the Tuesday MNSHPP tickets. But we thought if the Thursday party ended up being a go, we would have been on the hook for 2 parties and that's a lot of cash. While we were on the boat back to Poly after Wishes on Wednesday, we got the notice that the Thursday party was cancelled. We spent Thursday morning the park as planned, kids rocked their halloween costumers anyway, and after seeing them in costume, a CM mentioned they were offering the option of moving the party tickets to Friday night. After checking my email, I saw there was a notice there about rescheduling as well. So around 12pm I got in line at City Hall and after waiting in line for about 45 minutes, was told that party was cancelled as well. Everything else is A-OK they say, nothing else has been affected. Hopped on the boat back to Poly, checked with the front desk about an item we had lost (mind you it's about 1:30 now) and they say, everything else is just fine, no need to worry about anything else changing. So we got on the monorail to Epcot (which of course got stuck along the way) and when we got there around 2pm were informed the park closed at 5:00pm. I honestly don't remember when we heard about Friday.

So we take the bus to AoA (mind you we were in the midst of a split stay and it was to be our first night at AoA) and walked in to the biggest cluster I have ever seen - the complete breakdown of any sense of organization and sensibility which was the food court. Granted, people were courteous and generally in good spirits, but I had never even seen the food court before and I couldn't even decipher where the line started, ended, turned, where the drinks were, the coolers, anything. I basically just stood idle for a few minutes, sent my family on their way and then spent the next hour and a half slowly shuffling forward in what started out to be the pasta line but someone ended up being the pizza line. So we hunkered down in the room and waited for our luggage. Which had been somehow lost in transit between the two resorts and didn't make it to our room until after 9pm. All told we lost MNSSHP, a PPO Akershus, all of our F&W time and the SW dessert party.

We did rebound nicely on Saturday by taking a voluntary bump from Delta and extending our stay by a night, so we were able to put most of the trip back together, except for the parties. All in all I can't really complain, as the weather wasn't anyone's fault. But the communication was what got me. We burned through so much valuable time waiting in line on Thursday and park hopping when the park closed at 5. Not having luggage until 9pm sucked, because it took over an hour to get through to anyone on the phone. We've already been credited for the parties, I'm in the midst of waiting to hear back about our unused tickets. The kids are still happy with everything - they're bummed about the party and now sing "It's a hurricane" instead of "this is Halloween" so at least they're in good spirits.

Maybe we'll try again next year....? I just need to de-Disney my brain for a while and recover from watching my plans get completely trashed.