Nightmare with Disney Fairy Tale Weddings

[dolphingirl47]

I am about to lose the will to live with Disney Fairy Tale weddings. I contacted them exactly a week ago trying to book our vow renewal on the Disney Wonder for October and was told a wedding consultant would be in touch within two working days. Needless to say, I still have not heard anything. I send of an email yesterday to let them know that I am still waiting for somebody to get in touch and nothing. I don't know what else I can try.

The information on their website is misleading as it advises to ring the number on there to book and yet if you ring the number all they can do is take your details and tell you that somebody will ring you.

Corinna

 

[torsie24]

Have you tried to call again?

They've always been really quick getting back to me.

Let them know you've already left messages and I'm sure they'll get back to you ASAP.

Once you've got your own consultant it's a lot easier as you have a point of contact that's an actual person

 

[dolphingirl47]

Have you tried to call again?

They've always been really quick getting back to me.

Let them know you've already left messages and I'm sure they'll get back to you ASAP.

Once you've got your own consultant it's a lot easier as you have a point of contact that's an actual person

I will try calling them again this afternoon, but at this stage I wonder if anything good will come out of this. It is ridiculous that the staff manning the number on the website can do nothing apart from taking your details.

Corinna

 

[PartofDisney'sWorld]

This happened to me when I first called, and it happens to everybody. I was also told somebody would get back to me within 2 days, and after a week nobody had called, so I called them and my coordinator called me back right away. They are very very busy in there, so just try to have a little patience.

 

[pixie921]

This happened to me when I first called, and it happens to everybody. I was also told somebody would get back to me within 2 days, and after a week nobody had called, so I called them and my coordinator called me back right away. They are very very busy in there, so just try to have a little patience.

Same thing happened to me as well. They seem to be stretched way too thin ... an immediate response almost never happens; you have to be persistent. Give them another call, and let us know how it goes!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

I am sorry this is happening Corinna. It seems to be a very common with DFTW and particularly with DCL planners. I am lucky that I do not have this issue with my planner. Patience isn't one of my virtues, and I am ashamed to admit that I would be losing it right about now!!! I hope this gets sorted for you soon!!!

 

[sambycat]

Yes it is frustrating and all the website info make things sound instantaneous. It's annoying yes, but none of this is terribly unusual and really noone taking a preliminary contact has any information of use at all. It's not till layer in the process that anything concerning any kind of detail whatsoever happens. Yuck!

You mention a cruise ceremony? Have you perused the dcl cruise wedding/renewal thread? My sense is that that us even more of a frustrating communication area and that your experience is typical?

I'm not saying it's ok, but do call again, continue to do research and I hope the nightmare ends soon!

Good luck!

 

[Belle2Be]

That doesn't really seem like a nightmare to me... I think we have been a bit spoiled with instant gratification.
Try calling again, but it really isn't that urgent, you have several months

 

[dolphingirl47]

This happened to me when I first called, and it happens to everybody. I was also told somebody would get back to me within 2 days, and after a week nobody had called, so I called them and my coordinator called me back right away. They are very very busy in there, so just try to have a little patience.

I suppose I would be a bit more patient if this saga had not been running on in one form or an other since last August. Already then I was advised that a wedding consultant would contact me and this had not happened.

Same thing happened to me as well. They seem to be stretched way too thin ... an immediate response almost never happens; you have to be persistent. Give them another call, and let us know how it goes!

I suppose in this respect I am my own worst enemy. I work in a customer service role for a big international airline and I am a firm believer in never promising anything that I cannot keep. So because this is how I do business, I assume that this how everybody else does business as well. I understand that things can go wrong and I am totally fine with this. The more honest statement would have been "We are aiming to have somebody contact you within two working days. However, if you have not heard back from us within a week (or whatever time frame they would like to suggest) then please call us back". Even a form email stating that they are busier than expected and that there will be a delay in somebody contacting me would have been totally acceptable. It is just the fact that they make promises and then just let me hang, that was upsetting me.

Yes it is frustrating and all the website info make things sound instantaneous. It's annoying yes, but none of this is terribly unusual and really noone taking a preliminary contact has any information of use at all. It's not till layer in the process that anything concerning any kind of detail whatsoever happens. Yuck!

You mention a cruise ceremony? Have you perused the dcl cruise wedding/renewal thread? My sense is that that us even more of a frustrating communication area and that your experience is typical?

I'm not saying it's ok, but do call again, continue to do research and I hope the nightmare ends soon!

Good luck!

I have not checked out the thread and did not know it even existed. I will go and find it now. I just wonder if this will scare me to death.

Anyway, just by the way of an update, I did call them back and initially I was advised that somebody would contact me within 2 to 3 working days from the initial contact even though I had said right at the beginning that I contacted them a week ago. She then took my email address and suddenly stated that this had been a bit longer than expected. She then offered to see if my wedding consultant was available. She was and I was then put through to her. Speaking to her gave me back some confidence. She was very friendly, seemed to know what she was talking about and confirmed that there was availability for my cruise. She said that the ceremony would most likely take place on the 2nd or 3rd day of the cruise in the late afternoon. She took my reservation number for the cruise and said that she would now get in touch with Disney Cruise Line and that once they had confirmed that they have received the booking, she would send me the planning guide by email. I am feeling I am getting somewhere now.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

That doesn't really seem like a nightmare to me... I think we have been a bit spoiled with instant gratification.
Try calling again, but it really isn't that urgent, you have several months

I suppose different people have different ideas of nightmares. Fact is that a wedding or vow renewal takes a bit of planning, especially if it is away from home and even more so if it is on a ship. People are now having to start booking their air fare to attend and they can't do this unless they know for sure when and on what ship the ceremony will take place. I had my heart set on two things: the vow renewal is to take place this year after we have postponed it for 3 years and I want it to take place on a Disney ship. I was and am willing to work with them and to compromise if necessary. Fortunately it looks like this won't be necessary now as there is availability for the cruise that we are booked on.

Corinna

 

[kjg5]

As a current DCL bride- I can honestly say that communication with the DCL planner DOES NOT improve with time. We're just over 3 months away from our CC ceremony, and it takes at least 3 weeks with multiple emails/phones calls to get a response. We waited 5 weeks for her to book our MK pictures, and although everyone else has been changed to 7:30, our planner still said ours are at 5:30. I asked her to confirm that and also when I'd hear from Disney Event Photographer, since 2 months ago she told me I'd hear from them shortly. That email was sent Jan 21. I sent 2 emails since then, and after no response by 2/14- we called DFTW to complain. Joe called back less than an hour later, confirmed that all photo sessions are indeed 7:30, and apologized for what happened. Surprise surprise, the following day I finally received a response from Shanda, who said my photos are still at 5:30, and that I can contact Disney Photography myself. At least she provided the contact info! Haha We're seriously considering switching to an Escape. The fact that they're still figuring out how to work weddings on the Dream, paired with the terrible customer service, has taken all the fun out of planning. The only thing holding me back from switching is the cruise istelf and Castaway Cay. We really wanted to see the Dream and had our hearts set on getting married there, but for $200 more, we can have an Escape which offers a lot more value (photography and annual passes included). We can't afford the cruise with the WDW ceremony, so we can't even compromise on that.

If you decide to go with DCL, make sure you're ok with 'winging it' throughout the planning process. I'm no where near bridezilla- I've sent 8 emails over 10 months(kept copies of the all along with her responses)- all of which were questions about the planning guide or booking MK photos. I was very aware that there was very little planning with a DCL wedding, but I did not expect my genuine questions to be ignored. My TA complained to her Disney rep as well- and told me that other people have complained about the same things. Take a look at the last few pages of DCL wedding and vow removal thread to have an idea what's going on now. If you have the time, go through the whole thing- you'll see this issues have been continuing off and on for years over several wedding planners. Sorry to be a downer, I just want to help!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

As a current DCL bride- I can honestly say that communication with the DCL planner DOES NOT improve with time. We're just over 3 months away from our CC ceremony, and it takes at least 3 weeks with multiple emails/phones calls to get a response. We waited 5 weeks for her to book our MK pictures, and although everyone else has been changed to 7:30, our planner still said ours are at 5:30. I asked her to confirm that and also when I'd hear from Disney Event Photographer, since 2 months ago she told me I'd hear from them shortly. That email was sent Jan 21. I sent 2 emails since then, and after no response by 2/14- we called DFTW to complain. Joe called back less than an hour later, confirmed that all photo sessions are indeed 7:30, and apologized for what happened. Surprise surprise, the following day I finally received a response from Shanda, who said my photos are still at 5:30, and that I can contact Disney Photography myself. At least she provided the contact info! Haha We're seriously considering switching to an Escape. The fact that they're still figuring out how to work weddings on the Dream, paired with the terrible customer service, has taken all the fun out of planning. The only thing holding me back from switching is the cruise istelf and Castaway Cay. We really wanted to see the Dream and had our hearts set on getting married there, but for $200 more, we can have an Escape which offers a lot more value (photography and annual passes included). We can't afford the cruise with the WDW ceremony, so we can't even compromise on that.

If you decide to go with DCL, make sure you're ok with 'winging it' throughout the planning process. I'm no where near bridezilla- I've sent 8 emails over 10 months(kept copies of the all along with her responses)- all of which were questions about the planning guide or booking MK photos. I was very aware that there was very little planning with a DCL wedding, but I did not expect my genuine questions to be ignored. My TA complained to her Disney rep as well- and told me that other people have complained about the same things. Take a look at the last few pages of DCL wedding and vow removal thread to have an idea what's going on now. If you have the time, go through the whole thing- you'll see this issues have been continuing off and on for years over several wedding planners. Sorry to be a downer, I just want to help!!

Thanks for the honest advice. My travel agent has refused to go anywhere near this and I should have taken the hint. She is ultra-efficient and I am sure this would drive her insane.

I am now dealing with Shanda as well. We are fairly low maintenance. Now that I know that I can have my vow renewal on the cruise that we booked about 18 months ago, they can do things at their own pace. It will be a low key event. Sure, I would like to have a say in things like cake, colours of flowers and music, but I would be happy with almost anything if this proves to be too difficult.

Corinna

 

[Goofy4Ever]

Good luck and you will need to have patience dealing with Shanda. I emailed her 2 days ago and still no response. DCL is my compromise to a Walt Disney World wedding so I really do not want to cancel. Please come and check out the forum setup as that has a lot of helpful info from past and future DCL brides. One thing that I can say besides the lack of communication i am upset about the cake choices, pretty boring and i love the Mad Hatter style, and worried the most about location space (that is why I emailed Shanda) and photography as it can be hit or miss!!!

Good luck and Congrats!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Good luck and you will need to have patience dealing with Shanda. I emailed her 2 days ago and still no response. DCL is my compromise to a Walt Disney World wedding so I really do not want to cancel. Please come and check out the forum setup as that has a lot of helpful info from past and future DCL brides. One thing that I can say besides the lack of communication i am upset about the cake choices, pretty boring and i love the Mad Hatter style, and worried the most about location space (that is why I emailed Shanda) and photography as it can be hit or miss!!!

Good luck and Congrats!!

I don't think that this will be an issue with us. We are fairly laid back and easy going and now that I have my confirmation and planning guide, I am essentially happy. I have a couple of question regarding how to request a venue and how about going about having the Palo dinner at another night, but other than that I will just quietly work on my selections and submit them by the requested day.

I have found the thread now and I am working my way through it. At the moment I am on page 41.

Corinna