No changing or cancelling ILLS

[boogienights]

I've just learned there will be no changes or cancellations allowed. Not only is this unfair to the guest who has doled out cash to ride but needs to change course (for whatever reason) but also to guests who want to buy an ILL but can't because they are gone for the day. What a load of carp

 

[luv2cheer92]

I was very, very glad to hear that personally.

 

[igrsod]

I agree with the OP, sometimes we need flexibility in the day. Someone is tired/not feeling well... something unexpected comes up.
You could put restrictions on it, such as up to an hour before, and then no changes, but the ability to change or refund something that isn't going to work should be offered.
I'm sure someone will pick up a dropped reservation, and then your guests are happy.

 

[mshanson3121]

I've just learned there will be no changes or cancellations allowed. Not only is this unfair to the guest who has doled out cash to ride but needs to change course (for whatever reason) but also to guests who want to buy an ILL but can't because they are gone for the day. What a load of carp

Yeah, so far there's nothing about this system we like. We have agreed to be done. We have a set of 1 day comp tickets that we will use when we go to Florida next spring, but our Disney trip just went from 3-4 days at Disney with park hoppers, to 1 day using free tickets.

Reasons why:

- Loss of EMH (spare me the free 30 minute cr@p)
- Loss of ME
- Loss of FP+
- Loss of actual park hours, period
- The cost/policies of GP+ and ILL
- Increased cost of food, hotels, parking and tickets

It's just not worth it.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't like the cutbacks. I don't like pay to play.

I don't agree with the OP.. No more booking on spec
Don't pay for ill until your plans are firm.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'll reserve judgment on this. Maybe it's designed to be something that you schedule as you walk up to a ride rather than schedule for later in the day. If there's adequate inventory, then it won't matter. Wait until you are ready to ride. But if there isn't adequate inventory, then it's a different story.

Of course there will be refunds though. Rides go down. Ride experiences are interrupted. And people have higher expectations when they have paid to ride. If Disney doesn't know that now, they're about to find out.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I've just learned there will be no changes or cancellations allowed. Not only is this unfair to the guest who has doled out cash to ride but needs to change course (for whatever reason) but also to guests who want to buy an ILL but can't because they are gone for the day. What a load of carp

 

[BrianL]

I don't like the cutbacks. I don't like pay to play.

I don't agree with the OP.. No more booking on spec
Don't pay for ill until your plans are firm.

Yeah, I am sure this is to prevent booking and then cancelling at the last minute. Ideally that wouldn't be necessary, but people would do it.

 

[emilymad]

They don't want people canceling once they see that the ride has a low wait time.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

They don't want people canceling once they see that the ride has a low wait time.

Exactly this!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Since these are 'day-of' decisions whether to purchase G+ or pay to ride attractions, I'm not sure I understand the complaint. If you needed to make arrangements 2 months in advance and things change, I get it. But if you buy it at 7AM the day you're going, and you still don't know your plans, don't pay for it. Stand-by is always an option.

 

[elmwyn]

Since these are 'day-of' decisions whether to purchase G+ or pay to ride attractions, I'm not sure I understand the complaint. If you needed to make arrangements 2 months in advance and things change, I get it. But if you buy it at 7AM the day you're going, and you still don't know your plans, don't pay for it. Stand-by is always an option.

It's not about not knowing "plans" it's about the fact that legitimate sh*t happens. Especially when you travel with young kids. You aren't feeling the Florida heat and now feel ill, the baby had a blowout, little Susie really wanted to ride Space Mountain until she got to the load station and now has to take a chicken exit.

It's also a terrible thing to do to frontline castmembers who now have to argue with people over very legitimate complaints when they can't ride.

 

[closetmickey]

They don't want people canceling once they see that the ride has a low wait time.

Absolutely! But I for one will be at guest services if my family has to spend over $100 to ride a ride that does not have much of a wait. I can’t believe I would be the only one. They need to realize that they’ve already received enough bad press about Genie. The least they can do is make sure it is decently worth the money (I know that’s ambiguous and personal but never the less…)

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

Since these are 'day-of' decisions whether to purchase G+ or pay to ride attractions, I'm not sure I understand the complaint. If you needed to make arrangements 2 months in advance and things change, I get it. But if you buy it at 7AM the day you're going, and you still don't know your plans, don't pay for it. Stand-by is always an option.

There could still be reasons to change. Maybe someone in your group (especially children) could be too tired or not feeling well and need to go back to the room to rest. Maybe you miss your reservation (how long do you have to use it?) because you get stuck on a ride that breaks down, or there was a long wait before you were let into your dining reservation. Or maybe you get up to the ride and your kids realize they are too scared to ride.

 

[Lewisc]

You have the option of purchasing ills or deciding to wait in line. You shouldn't have the option to buy ills at.7am on spec but make your final decision after looking at wait times.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

There could still be reasons to change. Maybe someone in your group (especially children) could be too tired or not feeling well and need to go back to the room to rest. Maybe you miss your reservation (how long do you have to use it?) because you get stuck on a ride that breaks down, or there was a long wait before you were let into your dining reservation. Or maybe you get up to the ride and your kids realize they are too scared to ride.

I understand what you're saying. I really do. But those reasons have always existed, and they exist at other parks, too. We've previously purchased Express Pass at Universal for the primary purpose of riding Spider Man. The ride was down much of the day and we never did get to to ride it. We didn't expect to get our money back.

There were always complaints in the past regarding FP+ and people unable to get slots because they were gone. The complaint was always around those who grabbed the passes and then never used or cancelled them because 'things came up'. There are always 2/3/4 sides to these concerns, and there is no perfect solution. If there was, these theme parks would be using it. But since G+ and IAS are 'day of' decisions, it's as good as it gets to knowing what your plans will be for that day. But things certainly can happen during the day that might have people miss an attraction. That's been true for awhile.

 

[Marionnette]

You have the option of purchasing ills or deciding to wait in line. You shouldn't have the option to buy ills at.7am on spec but make your final decision after looking at wait times.

How is that strategy going to work when all the boarding groups for Remi fill up at 7 AM and guests start booking ILL$? That's going to happen with TRON and Guardians and all the new attractions that will be either VQ or ILL$.

 

[persnickity]

How is that strategy going to work when all the boarding groups for Remi fill up at 7 AM and guests start booking ILL$? That's going to happen with TRON and Guardians and all the new attractions that will be either VQ or ILL$.

I'm just not sure there IS a way to make getting a ride on a brand new, high demand ride super convenient, especially if you want to keep some level of fairness to others that also would like to ride.

If I want to ride something new that everyone else also wants to ride, I am going to have to pay for it in some combination of $$, inconvenience, and/or time.

 

[Marionnette]

I'm just not sure there IS a way to make getting a ride on a brand new, high demand ride super convenient, especially if you want to keep some level of fairness to others that also would like to ride.

If I want to ride something new that everyone else also wants to ride, I am going to have to pay for it in some combination of $$, inconvenience, and/or time.

I'm referring to the "wait to book until you've seen the standby times" strategy that the PP suggested. There are no standby times for VQ attractions. So if you feel that you want to ride one, you'll pretty much have to make your ILL$ purchase early on. Then, if life throws you a curveball, there are no refunds.

 

[PaladinButters]

Then, if life throws you a curveball, there are no refunds.

But there ARE refunds if the ride actually goes down and you can't be rescheduled. So all you have to do is find a way to sneak backstage and take the ride down for the day!

How is that strategy going to work when all the boarding groups for Remi fill up at 7 AM and guests start booking ILL$? That's going to happen with TRON and Guardians and all the new attractions that will be either VQ or ILL$.

Nightmare - gamble on the free VQ, miss out, click over and ILL$ is sold out already. There's no standby - skipping the gamble and just paying up front looking mighty tempting (as intended) and it's going to work. The 'what if' is going to be too huge. I already know it's going to work and I don't even know when Tron is opening yet!

A huge thank you to all the genie-pigs that are able to report back on these things to help the rest of us out. Honestly, where would we all be right now without the community here reporting from the ground?