My Disney Experience Mess

[Ellwood970]

I wonder how the IT dept is keeping up with all of these phone calls. Mine is all messed up to but i have been there so many times I am just going to wing it. I wonder why they cannot fix it.

 

[AngiTN]

I wonder how the IT dept is keeping up with all of these phone calls. Mine is all messed up to but i have been there so many times I am just going to wing it. I wonder why they cannot fix it.

That right there is the million dollar question. Thing is, all the issues are fixable. Why they do not fix them is flat out amazing. But they have had glitchy systems since well before MDE. Their last system didn't work right when they stopped using it and switch to MDE, which was even worse. It's mind boggling that they go backwards instead of forwards. There are some good parts and when it works it's great. But when it doesn't, it's horrid.

 

[mom2rtk]

The sooner you lower your expectations in the system, the better. Just sayin'. I'm sure it will work great in 3 years or whenever the "testing" phase is over...whichever comes first.

"Disney Parks.

Lowering expectations one guest at a time."


I really can't figure out why Disney's marketing department hasn't called me yet.

 

[Missyrose]

Something worth trying and reporting on: If you made paper printouts (print screens) of your Fastpass reservations while you still had them, would they be honored at the park? A slightly off topic comment, if Fastpass reservations are sold out before the day of, then that's bad news to begin with. Back in the old days of paper Fastpasses, when guests had to jump through more hoops (such as send a runner across the park) to get Fastpasses, the Fastpasses didn't get sold out so quickly.

When people's FP+ reservations for Anna and Elsa went missing on their first day at MK, CMs were not accepting screenshots or printouts as proof. Though the screen grab did ultimately help one blogger get guest relations to do something.

 

[dawgrif]

Biggest problem I see is when you call for support on the issue it's hard to find anyone who seems to care.

 

[mom2rtk]

Biggest problem I see is when you call for support on the issue it's hard to find anyone who seems to care.

I suppose that's what happens when you roll out a massive new system prone to glitches. When the staff deals with the same problems all day every day, I'm sure they grow weary of it.

 

[surferdave]

That right there is the million dollar question. Thing is, all the issues are fixable. Why they do not fix them is flat out amazing. But they have had glitchy systems since well before MDE. Their last system didn't work right when they stopped using it and switch to MDE, which was even worse. It's mind boggling that they go backwards instead of forwards. There are some good parts and when it works it's great. But when it doesn't, it's horrid.

MM+ is an information system that links a lot of diverse, in most cases previously existing databases (ticketing, resorts, dining, parking, fastpass, etc.) and tries to constantly perform live updates as thousands of guests and CMs are constantly making changes. When something happens like someone losing all their fastpass reservations or resort key not working, it could be because of data corruption that occurs when some of these interfaces corrupt the data.

Just as an example, what happens if you're trying to change your fastpass times for a day at the same time one of your traveling companions changes an ADR reservation time? We know the fastpass process will try to access the ADR database to at least warn the guest about conflicts. If the ADR data changes while you're in the process of changing the FP data it may corrupt one or the other. This is probably a pretty rare scenario, but there are probably plenty of similar things going on behind the scenes that guests never see (and some automatic ones that CMs never see either).

Whatever the corrupting combinations are, some people go to WDW and are fortunate enough not to encounter them. They get to come back here and post "I had a wonderful trip! FP and Magic Bands are flawless!!!!!" and get a stream of replies saying "Great Report!" "Wonderful!!" "You're the best!" . Others hit the corrupt data causing all their fastpasses to disappear, come here to report it and get "Um, ok."

Eliminating these things can be a tough nut to crack, maybe because they need to take one part of the system out of service at a time to see how it effects the system, but they've already deleted the legacy systems so they have no backup.

 

[ciera321]

That really sucks. This really cannot happen. If their IT system messes up, their IT system needs to have a means to restore lost FPs.

Totally agree. A "Sorry, you'll have to rebook those FP+ Reservations", is just not acceptable!

 

[mousekatool]

I got 99 problems but a glitch ain't one.

Random, but another Triad-er, here!

 

[AandJsMommy]

I am so nervous about this happening with our Anna and Elsa FP. I would assume that 99% of the time people get into their meet and greets just fine but I hate that there's that chance and that they won't take a screen shot as proof (though I have it screen shotted anyway just in case...).

I know their reasoning on this is that they're trying to prevent scams, but it seems like they should be able to tell if something actually is off with your account. Other people have reported that the system records when your fp is used or expires. The system forces you to sign up for 3, no more or less, so if the system shows 1 or 2 total (used, unused, and expired), something has to be wrong with the system. If it shows none...assuming the guest fabricated a screen shot is just bad customer service. Even if someone did fake a screenshot to get extra fp's, why can't the CMs just check their account and see if there are others there?

 

[gayles]

I Feel your Pain ---- I had all mine made I made one Change -- then it Dropped my grandson --- to all the FFP --- I made ----- I wrote a letter when I got back about it all ,,,,, 3 # rides not enough if your at the Park from 10 am till Midnight ...

 

[dawgrif]

Actually I work in IT for a major chemical company so I know how things can go wrong but there should be some compassion from Disney since they know they have numerous glitches with the system. The part that puzzled me more than the fast pass issue is the hard time they had to get my tickets to show back up so I could rebook the fast passes. I booked a pkg and they got the resort reservation back fairly quick. Also I had to redo my magic bands but that did not bother me since that is so easy to do.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am so nervous about this happening with our Anna and Elsa FP. I would assume that 99% of the time people get into their meet and greets just fine but I hate that there's that chance and that they won't take a screen shot as proof (though I have it screen shotted anyway just in case...).

I have to think FPs for the mine train will create the same sort of unease. With nearly every other ride, if you lose one, your odds of getting another are pretty high, even if it's not at the optimal time. But these 2 attractions will be hard to replace if they get deleted for some reason.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

That's my nightmare - especially during our Christmas trips!

I was in charge of planning the trip this year. I planned EVERYTHING and was so thorough. The FP+'s seemed to glitch every now and then - only one guest would show up with FP+s or it would leave one family member out, but we never had actual trouble.

Anyway, fast forward to two or three days after Christmas. We're in DHS and my sister and I have FP+'s for RnR. We go on and all is well. My parents don't go on rides like RnR - they do go on Buzz, TSMM, etc. So, TSMM is our family time and we all had FP+.

With the crowds being so high, I had to take advantage of the FP+ 60-day window. I knew I NEEDED FP+ for rides like TSMM, because if you don't have them, you will wait 200 minutes on standby..

So I had it for my family at 12pm. By then, the standby was at 120 minutes. Suddenly, our FP+s were gone. I flipped. My family told me it was "no big deal," but it was. I had planned everything and our one and only FP+ for the most popular ride at Disney was gone.

Around 30 minutes later it suddenly re-appeared in time for us to use it, but the morning was ruined on account of me flipping out.

 

[Jennasis]

Nobody should ever EVER have to contact the resort's IT department to go on vacation. End of story.

 

[mom2rtk]

Nobody should ever EVER have to contact the resort's IT department to go on vacation. End of story.

That pretty much covers it.

 

[CFioren317]

After all of the problems they have had in the past, I am surprised that they didn't completely clear house in the IT department, from the CIO on down, before they started the new MDE. Or maybe they did and they just suck at hiring IT people there. That's entirely possible as well. They hire fun-going nice people everywhere else in the company, but you have to hire the best person for the job when it comes to IT. Maybe their HR department simply doesn't know how to hire a talented, but crabby person LOL.