Just got back-awesome trip, but a little diappointed in how disney handled something

[Hound 109]

Thanks for the report, jakoky.

& thanks for the heads up on the ticket issue....good to hear the not so good along with the good so we can prepare.

When i "fast read" the bolded item below, i thought i had read that your eldest became "a mother when she turned 18"....




But on the second bolded item below.....you did mean to say Disneyland & not magic kingdom....right.



Thanks for the post, jakoky!

HI everyone, we just got back last night from an awesome 10 day trip to disneyland...we had great weather, the crowds were pretty good (best day was a thursday, almost no waits)...My oldest dd turned 18 on mothers day, and we had a blast in the parks....she got a lot of attention from the CM's while wearing her birthday button....

The hojo again, was awesome....just love that place....and cannot say enough good about it

Here is my diappointment...our last day in anaheim, we saved and made it our last disney day-our 5th in the parks....Our group of 7 started out together in magic kingdom....once in, we could NOT get fastpasses...kept saying ticket wasnt validated, or something along those lines...talked to a cm at indianna, who gave us tickets to use to get our fastpasses the rest of the day...she was awesome....Now, our group splits, and my older dd and her two friends go off on their own...we decided to hit CA around noon...as they scan our tickets, she says "sorry, all 5 days have been used" where i calmly reply, no, that is impossible...she does the right thing and calls a supervisor over and the look into it, and yep, we are right so they fix it and in we go....Well, late afternoon, we head back to find out the girls were NOT allowed in CA...told the same thing as us, except, they never called a supervisor, they just basically embarrassed the girls in the line... my daughter tried to explain, but was rudely handed her tickets back...anyways, i was very upset as they lost their last day and went down to talk to someone...they told they would "comp" the girls a t-shirt and wrote something up for 25 dollars...so off we go shirt shopping....we get to the tills with our 28 dollar shirts(as that is what almost every shirt costs) with our money out to pay the difference, and were told NO NO NO, the shirt has to be under 25....the CM tried to help us find shirts in that price but couldnt find any, so the poor girls had to go to the mens section and pick out shirts to sleep in...anyways, i was told at the gates that sometimes this happens, the computer will get the days mixed....This has me somewhat frustrated and i am just glad it happened on our last day because up until then, the trip was truly magical....

Oh, one last thing....on our fourth night we went to reenter the parks and they couldnt see our hand stamp...she told us we can NOT use hand sanitizer, sun screens or lotions once we have the stamp...Has anyone ever heard of this, because, not only is this crazy, it is impossible?????

Anyways, trying to figure out when our next trip will be....
sharon

 

[lntsmom]

to use to cover handstamps after we leave the park. I'm hoping that they will prevent anything we come in contact with from washing off the stamps.

I agree, they need to go with the fingerprinting system that WDW uses.

 

[Mugglemama]

I've seen the people at the gate get a little snippy about the hand stamps too. I can understand that there probably is a problem with people sharing admission tickets but I think that they sometimes are a little over the top in enforecement of it and a bit pushy at times.

yeah, they drive us NUTS with the darn hand stamps!

every time we go, they not only won't let us through without a friggin' handstamp, and then we walk across the plaza directly to the entrance gate for DCA, and they make us not only show our handstamps, but pull out all of our tickets again, too! my DH has probably asked 2 dozen times "what's the point of the handstamp if we have to pull the tickets back out anyway?" we were given some story about how it's the only way the parks can keep stats on people re-entering, or some fluff like that.

last visit, we refused the hand stamps, telling them "they're just going to make us drag out our tickets again ANYWAY in another 30 seconds when we get to the gates, so we don't want a handstamp!" they get pissy about it, but hey, it's MY hand!

 

[nunzia]

yeah, they drive us NUTS with the darn hand stamps!

every time we go, they not only won't let us through without a friggin' handstamp, and then we walk across the plaza directly to the entrance gate for DCA, and they make us not only show our handstamps, but pull out all of our tickets again, too! my DH has probably asked 2 dozen times "what's the point of the handstamp if we have to pull the tickets back out anyway?" we were given some story about how it's the only way the parks can keep stats on people re-entering, or some fluff like that.

last visit, we refused the hand stamps, telling them "they're just going to make us drag out our tickets again ANYWAY in another 30 seconds when we get to the gates, so we don't want a handstamp!" they get pissy about it, but hey, it's MY hand!

I asked that too and they told me something (confused a little here) to explain that you really did need both..because the ticket would show you had entered already and if you didn't have a stamp it would look like you were sharing a ticket..can't remember why they had to see the ticket again since it seems like the stamp is actually more important....

 

[FireflyJar]

deleted

 

[Desert Dwellers]

Good idea, Firefly Jar. I think I'll ask them to do this for our trip in July. It will be great for the kids to stamp at the wrist, because I am big on hand washing.

My husband's furry. Can you just get the stamp on the inside of the wrist?

 

[jakoky]

No to the inside of the wrist, we tried it on the first day...that would have be our number 1 choice Although, with another cm you never know, might be worth a try

 

[ThisLittleLightShine]

HI everyone, we just got back last night from an awesome 10 day trip to disneyland...we had great weather, the crowds were pretty good (best day was a thursday, almost no waits)...My oldest dd turned 18 on mothers day, and we had a blast in the parks....she got a lot of attention from the CM's while wearing her birthday button....

The hojo again, was awesome....just love that place....and cannot say enough good about it


Here is my diappointment...our last day in anaheim, we saved and made it our last disney day-our 5th in the parks....Our group of 7 started out together in magic kingdom....once in, we could NOT get fastpasses...kept saying ticket wasnt validated, or something along those lines...talked to a cm at indianna, who gave us tickets to use to get our fastpasses the rest of the day...she was awesome....Now, our group splits, and my older dd and her two friends go off on their own...we decided to hit CA around noon...as they scan our tickets, she says "sorry, all 5 days have been used" where i calmly reply, no, that is impossible...she does the right thing and calls a supervisor over and the look into it, and yep, we are right so they fix it and in we go....Well, late afternoon, we head back to find out the girls were NOT allowed in CA...told the same thing as us, except, they never called a supervisor, they just basically embarrassed the girls in the line... my daughter tried to explain, but was rudely handed her tickets back...anyways, i was very upset as they lost their last day and went down to talk to someone...they told they would "comp" the girls a t-shirt and wrote something up for 25 dollars...so off we go shirt shopping....we get to the tills with our 28 dollar shirts(as that is what almost every shirt costs) with our money out to pay the difference, and were told NO NO NO, the shirt has to be under 25....the CM tried to help us find shirts in that price but couldnt find any, so the poor girls had to go to the mens section and pick out shirts to sleep in...anyways, i was told at the gates that sometimes this happens, the computer will get the days mixed....This has me somewhat frustrated and i am just glad it happened on our last day because up until then, the trip was truly magical....

Oh, one last thing....on our fourth night we went to reenter the parks and they couldnt see our hand stamp...she told us we can NOT use hand sanitizer, sun screens or lotions once we have the stamp...Has anyone ever heard of this, because, not only is this crazy, it is impossible?????

Anyways, trying to figure out when our next trip will be....
sharon

I had the same thing happen to our tickets on our last day, they seem to know what was going on ad fix it, but it was troubling to say the least.....sorry $25 bucks won't buy lost time in the park. I understand your frustration. This last visit we encountered a few rude cast members especially at the GC hotel entrance. I won't be in a hurry to return to Disneyland. When you spend that kind of money one expects excellent customer service. I guess I have been spoiled by their cruise line.

 

[FireflyJar]

deleted

 

[pixiewings71]

yeah, they drive us NUTS with the darn hand stamps!

every time we go, they not only won't let us through without a friggin' handstamp, and then we walk across the plaza directly to the entrance gate for DCA, and they make us not only show our handstamps, but pull out all of our tickets again, too! my DH has probably asked 2 dozen times "what's the point of the handstamp if we have to pull the tickets back out anyway?" we were given some story about how it's the only way the parks can keep stats on people re-entering, or some fluff like that.

last visit, we refused the hand stamps, telling them "they're just going to make us drag out our tickets again ANYWAY in another 30 seconds when we get to the gates, so we don't want a handstamp!" they get pissy about it, but hey, it's MY hand!

The point of the ticket is to have admission to the parks, the point of the handstamp is to help prove that the ticket you have in hand that was just used at DL is your ticket and not someone else's. You are not doing anything but creating more problems (and being rude) by refusing to get out your tickets or get your hand stamp. Just be nice and follow park rules, get your handstamp and have your tickets ready at the next park for entry. It's not that dramatic or inconvenient to do either, it's a simple stamp and pulling tickets out of your pocket to prove you've paid to get in. Be aware that Disney can (and I've seen them do it) refuse you readmission to either park if you do not have a hand stamp.

We don't need hand stamps as we have APs and our faces pop up on the screen when we come in every day but we never had any issues with our stamps, even after repeated use of sunscreen or swimming.

 

[Hound 109]

The point of the ticket is to have admission to the parks, the point of the handstamp is to help prove that the ticket you have in hand that was just used at DL is your ticket and not someone else's. You are not doing anything but creating more problems (and being rude) by refusing to get out your tickets or get your hand stamp. Just be nice and follow park rules, get your handstamp and have your tickets ready at the next park for entry. It's not that dramatic or inconvenient to do either, it's a simple stamp and pulling tickets out of your pocket to prove you've paid to get in. Be aware that Disney can (and I've seen them do it) refuse you readmission to either park if you do not have a hand stamp.

We don't need hand stamps as we have APs and our faces pop up on the screen when we come in every day but we never had any issues with our stamps, even after repeated use of sunscreen or swimming.

I completely agree.


It reminds me of the occasional request to see a Drivers License when i pay with a credit card. Some see it as an annoyance.....I see it as they're protecting me (& keeping my costs down) & i thank them for asking.

If the CMs keep folks out of DL (or DCA) who don't belong....by using this process, then it keeps the costs down &/or keeps the line shorter for me & my family.

hound <----has his park tickets out & his hand extended as he happily park hops at DLR.

 

[bumbershoot]

We don't need hand stamps as we have APs and our faces pop up on the screen when we come in every day but we never had any issues with our stamps, even after repeated use of sunscreen or swimming.

Since you're going on the holiday weekend, just in case it's super-busy, you might be required to have the stamp. In early March on the ladies trip, they were requiring everyone to get stamped, even APs, because they were anticipating such crowds. So if they have you get a stamp, do it!

 

[daisy2jae]

I would have expected a pass for another day. WDW Aug 2008...last day of our trip hurricane was coming on shore and gossip said parks were going to be closed the next or two day. We were at MK. The bridge next to the castle was closed so we had to go by Crystal Palace's bridge. It's apx 8:30PM and the fireworks are going off. My DD 3 was in my arms. My DH and DD8 were behind us apx 20 feet but DD8 was walking with him. We got to the bridge and OMG the people were crazy. The walking path has been very crowded but once we got to the bridge...omg crazy packed but no other bridge to use. I get to the middle (pushed most of the way). Most of the crowd has stopped to watch fireworks but the others want off the bridge. People are yelling and using every word you can think of. Things I would NEVER say in front of a child. A CM is standing on the end of the bridge I need to get to so I can keep moving to Main Street to leave. (After all we have to be up at 2AM to get to the transportation from Disney for the airport). After a lady tells me to get f*****g moving...This has been going on for 15 minutes. I'm soaked in sweat and my 3 year old is scared/digging her nails into my arm to stay on my hip! I'm crying asking the CM to help guide the crowd to get me out of there. He looked at me and said too bad just wait until the fireworks are over. Ya right...the group behind me was not giving up. I tried to explain to people behind me watch is going on the lady ends up hitting my 3 yr old in the nose and she starts bleeding. Finally it's now 9:30PM and I make it to the end of Main Street to guest services. I've lost my DH and DD8. Affraid they may be seperated and cleaning off the blood on my DD3's face. I'm crying to guest services. Another man starts telling them the story as he was also stuck on this bridge. We call my DH's cell no answer. After all is said they want to give me a $25.00 coupon to go to the store across the street. Are you kidding me! You think $25.00 is going to fix this! All the CM's needed to do was prepare like they do for every show! split the bridge...left go one way and the right goes the other. I have seen them do this doing every parade or show going on. What in the world were they thinking. I was not leaving with a $25 coupon. They ended up giving us (4) 2 days park hopper passes that exp in 2030. Plus...the $25 coupon we had the same issue. Must be something under $25 we couldn't pay the rest so of course we ended up buying with our own money the doll she found for $28 and then had our DD8 buy something with the coupon. Plus the entire day was filled with issues from CM's and rides not working. Overall the trip was great if we don't talk about the last day!

 

[pixiewings71]

I completely agree.


It reminds me of the occasional request to see a Drivers License when i pay with a credit card. Some see it as an annoyance.....I see it as they're protecting me (& keeping my costs down) & i thank them for asking.

If the CMs keep folks out of DL (or DCA) who don't belong....by using this process, then it keeps the costs down &/or keeps the line shorter for me & my family.

hound <----has his park tickets out & his hand extended as he happily park hops at DLR.

Woo Hoo I got a Hound Stamp of Approval!!! Woo Hoo! I feel the same about my credit cards, I'd much rather the cashier make sure I am using a card that's mine but it rarely happens.

Since you're going on the holiday weekend, just in case it's super-busy, you might be required to have the stamp. In early March on the ladies trip, they were requiring everyone to get stamped, even APs, because they were anticipating such crowds. So if they have you get a stamp, do it!

I was there that weekend Molly, they never asked us to get our hands stamped. But thanks for the head's up, if they need us to get them we will for sure.

I would have expected a pass for another day. WDW Aug 2008...last day of our trip hurricane was coming on shore and gossip said parks were going to be closed the next or two day. We were at MK. The bridge next to the castle was closed so we had to go by Crystal Palace's bridge. It's apx 8:30PM and the fireworks are going off. My DD 3 was in my arms. My DH and DD8 were behind us apx 20 feet but DD8 was walking with him. We got to the bridge and OMG the people were crazy. The walking path has been very crowded but once we got to the bridge...omg crazy packed but no other bridge to use. I get to the middle (pushed most of the way). Most of the crowd has stopped to watch fireworks but the others want off the bridge. People are yelling and using every word you can think of. Things I would NEVER say in front of a child. A CM is standing on the end of the bridge I need to get to so I can keep moving to Main Street to leave. (After all we have to be up at 2AM to get to the transportation from Disney for the airport). After a lady tells me to get f*****g moving...This has been going on for 15 minutes. I'm soaked in sweat and my 3 year old is scared/digging her nails into my arm to stay on my hip! I'm crying asking the CM to help guide the crowd to get me out of there. He looked at me and said too bad just wait until the fireworks are over. Ya right...the group behind me was not giving up. I tried to explain to people behind me watch is going on the lady ends up hitting my 3 yr old in the nose and she starts bleeding. Finally it's now 9:30PM and I make it to the end of Main Street to guest services. I've lost my DH and DD8. Affraid they may be seperated and cleaning off the blood on my DD3's face. I'm crying to guest services. Another man starts telling them the story as he was also stuck on this bridge. We call my DH's cell no answer. After all is said they want to give me a $25.00 coupon to go to the store across the street. Are you kidding me! You think $25.00 is going to fix this! All the CM's needed to do was prepare like they do for every show! split the bridge...left go one way and the right goes the other. I have seen them do this doing every parade or show going on. What in the world were they thinking. I was not leaving with a $25 coupon. They ended up giving us (4) 2 days park hopper passes that exp in 2030. Plus...the $25 coupon we had the same issue. Must be something under $25 we couldn't pay the rest so of course we ended up buying with our own money the doll she found for $28 and then had our DD8 buy something with the coupon. Plus the entire day was filled with issues from CM's and rides not working. Overall the trip was great if we don't talk about the last day!

How insane!!!! I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience and woo hoo to Disney for finally making it right for you!

 

[Buttercup26]

Just returned from 5 day trip and they were really checking the handstamps. Overhead one CM explaining to someone w/o handstamp that they have had problems with people sharing tickets and are more stringent with the handstamp requirement.

We were in and out several times each day and had to show tickets and handstamp each time.

We had no problem with handstamp and swam, used hand sanitizer, sunscreen, etc the whole time. In fact I couldn't get mine off, in one of the dark rides I could see three different stamps under black lights.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I completely agree.
It reminds me of the occasional request to see a Drivers License when i pay with a credit card. Some see it as an annoyance.....I see it as they're protecting me (& keeping my costs down) & i thank them for asking.
If the CMs keep folks out of DL (or DCA) who don't belong....by using this process, then it keeps the costs down &/or keeps the line shorter for me & my family.
hound <----has his park tickets out & his hand extended as he happily park hops at DLR.

I agree w/ you 100% and do the same when asked for ID w/ credit card. (I thank them for asking.) It doesn't make sense w/ all the fraud happening nowadays that any company wouldn't ask for ID.

Most of the crowd has stopped to watch fireworks but the others want off the bridge. People are yelling and using every word you can think of. Things I would NEVER say in front of a child. A CM is standing on the end of the bridge I need to get to so I can keep moving to Main Street to leave. (After all we have to be up at 2AM to get to the transportation from Disney for the airport). After a lady tells me to get f*****g moving...This has been going on for 15 minutes. I'm soaked in sweat and my 3 year old is scared/digging her nails into my arm to stay on my hip! I'm crying asking the CM to help guide the crowd to get me out of there. He looked at me and said too bad just wait until the fireworks are over. Ya right...the group behind me was not giving up. I tried to explain to people behind me watch is going on the lady ends up hitting my 3 yr old in the nose and she starts bleeding. Finally it's now 9:30PM and I make it to the end of Main Street to guest services. I've lost my DH and DD8. Affraid they may be seperated and cleaning off the blood on my DD3's face. I'm crying to guest services. Another man starts telling them the story as he was also stuck on this bridge. We call my DH's cell no answer. After all is said they want to give me a $25.00 coupon to go to the store across the street. Are you kidding me! You think $25.00 is going to fix this! All the CM's needed to do was prepare like they do for every show! split the bridge...left go one way and the right goes the other. I have seen them do this doing every parade or show going on. What in the world were they thinking. I was not leaving with a $25 coupon. They ended up giving us (4) 2 days park hopper passes that exp in 2030. Plus...the $25 coupon we had the same issue. Must be something under $25 we couldn't pay the rest so of course we ended up buying with our own money the doll she found for $28 and then had our DD8 buy something with the coupon. Plus the entire day was filled with issues from CM's and rides not working. Overall the trip was great if we don't talk about the last day!

What a nightmare! And good for you standing up for yourself and not taking the first thing they offer. Honestly though, I bet they only gave you more than the standard $25 coupon becase of a fear of liability since your daughter got hit and was bleeding, especially if the CMs weren't directing the traffic like they normally do. OTOH, a lot of companies nowadays won't give anything because they fear it's an admission of guilt/liability.

We had no problem with handstamp and swam, used hand sanitizer, sunscreen, etc the whole time. In fact I couldn't get mine off, in one of the dark rides I could see three different stamps under black lights.

We've hand the same experience. Three days after getting a handstamp I could still see the stamp on my hand in the dark rides and under black lights.

 

[Albort]

yeah, handstamps... i use soap trying to scrub the handstamps off and they just wont come off. :\

I ended up having to wash it like 20 time before it comes all off. :\

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Hmm I always use hand sanitizer and I have never had a problem with it at Disneyland. But I do know what you mean about the tickets that are scanned not being scanned properly.

Twice now they bling us in and we hear that magical "BLING" and yet when we go to get fast passes it says the cards havent been activated yet. So we have had to go to Guest Relations and have them correct it.

Then on our last trip we once again heard the "Bling" but it didnt dock a day off our pass which was fantastic. But since we had to head home to a different country we ended up giving waiting guests at the ticket booth our last day ticket and they were thrilled and got in just fine.

If you heard the Bling how did you know they didn't dock the days off your pass? I'm just curious. I kind of wondered about this as well before ever posted this info. I especially wondered when they had to reissue DH's PHs. So how does one know if they aren't docking a day off your pass?

 

[pixiewings71]

If you heard the Bling how did you know they didn't dock the days off your pass? I'm just curious. I kind of wondered about this as well before ever posted this info. I especially wondered when they had to reissue DH's PHs. So how does one know if they aren't docking a day off your pass?

When you get to the FP machine it doesn't accept your ticket/AP, it prints up a FP that says "you do not have valid park admission please see a cast member for assistance". It happened to DBF too but it didn't bling, it did the donk noise instead, he tried to tell the CM but she wasn't listening or maybe she wasn't understanding what he was saying and she waved him thru. We went to get Indy FP and the CM there OK what the machine gave him so we could use it later but she told him to get his AP rescanned ASAP so we did, we just hopped to DCA and it worked that time.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've never heard a donk noise! Just the bling and the wee-woo whistle (which, by the way, is the whistle I use to get DS to stop running when we're taking a walk and he's gone too far ahead of me).

And I've had my AP not "take" for FP purposes, even though I heard the right noise, saw my pic flash on their screen, and they even greeted me by name...seemed to "take" then, but invalid by the time I got to a FP machine. Harumph.