Not so magical vacation

[Goofy4WDW1964]

It's a FOURTEEN DAY TICKET!!
Does it SAY 15??
No, it says 14 days.

No, it was a 7 day ticket. The tickets expired 14 days from the 1st day of use.

 

[MrsNick]

I have to agree here with most of the posters...14 days = 19th.

You count hotel room stays the same way. For example, a seven night stay does not mean that you check-in on Saturday night, and stay thru the next Saturday night.

A seven night stay means Saturday night thru Friday night. I don't really get what the problem is with figuring this out, or with figuring out ticket usage.

I do understand frustration with getting inaccurate information from the CastMember, but in this day and age, this is common any where you go, not just WDW. Workers in general really are not held to the same standards they were twenty years ago, IMO. That being said, at some point, you have to let it go. She made a mistake. I'm sure she did not set out to ruin the OP's vacation.

Furthermore, I also originally felt that there were smarter ways to handle the luggage.

As one poster said, pull the car up to the lobby and load luggage there. OR, get a luggage cart. Load up luggage cart, and steer cart to car. Very easy. Also, if I was at a hotel and thought I deserved some help from an idling employee, I would have asked for it. Nicely. And then tipped the person who helped me. My last thought pertaining to luggage...If you don't want a hassle, umm, don't travel with 8 pieces of luggage. I can see how it would be difficult to drag 8 pieces of luggage around, which is why I would not, unless I had 8 family members. I didn't get the impression that the OP had seven other family members with him.

Nuf said.

 

[lucincia]

So, some people think 14 days from rule means 15 days.

So, when you measure something like "24 inches from the center", you measure 25 inches? I hate to see the carpentry works some of you come up with.

And also, if service is that good at value resorts, why would they have deluxe? Just because it's Disney, does not mean it's all Club Med. You get what you pay for.

 

[lynn71092]

It's a FOURTEEN DAY TICKET!!
Does it SAY 15??
No, it says 14 days.

No, it was a 7 day ticket. The tickets expired 14 days from the 1st day of use.

I stand corrected.
I'll have to go back and read the first part and see what day he actually first used it.

 

[LaneyJ]

In general, I agree with what's been said here... I'm really not sure what the Attorney General fuss is about. That said, I CAN see how there could be some confusion with the "14 day" expiration.

Say I use the ticket on the 6th. If the ticket expired "1 day" from the date of first use, that would be the 7th, right? So, 2 days would be the 8th... and 14 days would be the 20th. And I interpret "expiring on" a given date to mean it's good though midnight on that date. Just like if I were to measure "24 inches from the center" (as in a previous post), the center (which could be compared to the day of first use) is counted as 0, - not 1. Personally, given the possible ambiguity, I would have verified this with several people (including when I purchased the tickets) -- not just with one ticket taker. As they say, "Trust, but verify!"

So, especially given that the tickets had only expired by ONE day -- an innocent oversight, perhaps -- I could see where a polite argument could be made. But the keyword here is POLITE. Given the tone of the post, I have to wonder if the request was made politely -- or if it was more of an ugly confrontation.

As far as luggage goes, if you can't carry it, don't bring it! Disney is pretty upfront about luggage service requiring a lot of advance notice.

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

The exact wording on the ticket I am holding in my hand says

Expires 14 days from first use.

So if the 6th was his first day of use I would think that the 19th would be the 14th day.

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

So, some people think 14 days from rule means 15 days.

So, when you measure something like "24 inches from the center", you measure 25 inches? I hate to see the carpentry works some of you come up with.

I thought this was a very good way of looking to illustrate why he WOULD think the 20th. Since the ticket indicates days, not parts of days, lets look at your carpentry example assuming full inches, just like the full days on the ticket. Suppose you do need a board 24 1/2 inches long. I hope the clerk at the lumber yard would cut it at 25 inches instead of going back to the 24 inches for your sake. Perhaps it's your carpentry that we should worry about.

The OP doesn't indicate what he was asking for. But, in my opinion, from a customer service standpoint, Guest Relations should have explained the tickets, apologized for the misinformation, and admitted them to the park. I would think differently if it was farther past the expiration date. But, it was only one day and he had given a valid explanation.

As far as the luggage situation, your right, your not at a deluxe resort, so you don't get luggage assistance. But, you are at a Disney resort and doesn't Disney use this to their advantage in advertising? "Stay with Disney and enjoy the magic and Disney service even after leaving the parks". There are many options to getting your luggage to your car. I know. I am the one who carries our luggage to the car. NEVER is it an option to leave an 8 and/or 10 year old alone somewhere even to go get the car and move it up. Again, the CM or the manager should have lended a helping hand. That is what Disney service USED to be. The unexpected assistance even though I didn't pay for a deluxe. That is how it used to be. That is why I didn't mind paying more for Disney.

Disney CMs work hard and many still provide this level of service. But, in the last three years, we have encountered a higher frequency of less than even good service, let alone, great service.

I don't measure great service by whether something goes wrong or not. I measure it by what they do when something goes wrong. If you take care of the problem, the customer will remember how fantastically you resolved it, not that he encountered a problem. To me this was a no brainer that Guest Relations completely messed up. Go ahead and do the math. Admitt three people to the park one day past expiry - zero dollars. Revenue for three indivuals to eat, snack, buy souvenirs - $100. Word of mouth advertising - priceless.

 

[taximomfor4]

I thought this was a very good way of looking to illustrate why he WOULD think the 20th. Since the ticket indicates days, not parts of days, lets look at your carpentry example assuming full inches, just like the full days on the ticket. Suppose you do need a board 24 1/2 inches long. I hope the clerk at the lumber yard would cut it at 25 inches instead of going back to the 24 inches for your sake. Perhaps it's your carpentry that we should worry about.
QUOTE]


What money was the OP out, by not being able to get into the park that 7th day? Isn't it about $2/ticket for that 7th day? Then he really only lost some face (embarassment at the sloppy math) and about $6. I feel bad if the kids thought they were getting to hit the parks again, and then didn't, but I would have tried to politely explain and hope for pixie dust at guest services....then, failing that, would have bribed my kids with a day in DTD. Kids like souvenirs and Goofys Candy Co!

That said, I very carefully count out our park days on a calendar so that I don't do "Quick math" that might get me in trouble. Really...last day in WDW 20th, first day 6th. If your mind's calculator goes in overdrive and thinks it out too quickly, you automatically might think: 20-6=14!

Having had an awful WDW resort experience myself in the past (which DISers were VERY supportive of, Thanks guys ), I am pretty sure the examples given in this trip report (remember, there might have been more, that was left out for brevity's sake) would NOT have caused me to make a fuss. I hope the OP gives WDW another shot. We did, we were very nervous, but we did NOT regret it!

Beth

 

[Missy1961]

I can understand why the OP thought the ticket would expire on the 20th, but think of it as a 1 day ticket. If you use a one day ticket on the 6th, it would expire at midnight of the 6th, not on the 7th. So 14 days after first use is the 19th.

Look at this from Disney's point of view. I'm sure many people are confused by that, and if they gave all of them 1 day at the parks because of the misunderstanding, they'd be giving away lots of days! And of course, there would be the occasional dishonest person. So they have to enforce the rules.

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

What money was the OP out, by not being able to get into the park that 7th day? Isn't it about $2/ticket for that 7th day? Then he really only lost some face (embarassment at the sloppy math) and about $6. I feel bad if the kids thought they were getting to hit the parks again, and then didn't, but I would have tried to politely explain and hope for pixie dust at guest services....then, failing that, would have bribed my kids with a day in DTD. Kids like souvenirs and Goofys Candy Co!

That said, I very carefully count out our park days on a calendar so that I don't do "Quick math" that might get me in trouble. Really...last day in WDW 20th, first day 6th. If your mind's calculator goes in overdrive and thinks it out too quickly, you automatically might think: 20-6=14!

Exactly!! At about $6 a day, why not admit these people to the park? You already know that they paid for 7 day tickets. And, it isn't a matter of wrong math. There are two ways to look at the "14 days from".

1) 6th - day 1, 7th - day 2, 8th - day 3.........19th - day 14.
2) 6th - 7th (day 1), 7th - 8th (day 2), 8th - 9th (day 3)........19th - 20th (day 14).

It is almost like looking at an expiration date on a coupon. "Expires 09/20/2005" Does that mean it expires exactly after 11:59 on 09/19/2005 and can't be used on 09/20/2005? Or does it mean expires after 11:59 on 09/20/2005 and can be used on 09/20/2005? That is why stores will go ahead and accept those coupons because it isn't worth the bad customer service. And in my opinion, Disney Guest Relations dropped the ball on this one. Do you think if Guest Relations would have explained to this gentleman that his tickets did expire on the 19th, but since he was given
mis-information from a CM he was going to be allowed admittance to the park, his post would have been different?

I think that is why the OP was confused and why he asked a Disney CM to verify it. Several on here have accused him of trying to cheat the system. It doesn't read like he was trying to cheat the system. He was given incorrect information by a Disney CM. But of course that is his fault because everyone knows that no matter where you are at in the park, you should walk to Guest Relations to have your questions answered. You shouldn't rely on a park CM. And, I don't read anything in his post that he wasn't polite. He even looked into paying the extra.

I can understand why the OP thought the ticket would expire on the 20th, but think of it as a 1 day ticket. If you use a one day ticket on the 6th, it would expire at midnight of the 6th, not on the 7th. So 14 days after first use is the 19th.

Look at this from Disney's point of view. I'm sure many people are confused by that, and if they gave all of them 1 day at the parks because of the misunderstanding, they'd be giving away lots of days! And of course, there would be the occasional dishonest person. So they have to enforce the rules.

The question isn't regarding the number of days on the ticket, it is the number of days until they expire. Using a 1 day ticket as an example is simplifying this too much.

I do look at this from Disney's point of view. They blew a chance at great customer service that wouldn't have cost them a thing. Also, if many people are confused by this, then they should be looking at changing the wording. I don't care how many lawyers looked at the wording on those tickets. It's the guests opinion that is going to count the most. Disney doesn't rely on their lawyers for park revenue.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I do agree that Disney could have provided better customer service. If I had been in charge, I would have let these people in the park for the day.

But in terms of the luggage - I don't get it. I stayed at Pop in February of this year with a friend and her two daughters. I had one suitcase, they must have had ten. (She likes to pack that way, don't ask me why!)

We were told we had two luggage options - we could let them know the day before when we wanted to check out, and they'd bring all our luggage from our room down to the front so we could drive our car around and load it up. Or, if we'd prefer, we could borrow one of the luggage carts/carriers to bring our stuff down.

We chose option one, and when we got back from our meal on that last morning, our luggage had been picked up and carefully stored. We drove the car around, loaded it up and off we went. Couldn't have been much easier, really.

Teresa

 

[goofydad621]

#1 why complain here about non disney problems yes it added to the dissapointment but not Disney's fault.

#2 Even CM's are human we all have off days or make mistakes.

#3 I understand about not leaving kids alone for even a minute that is why on more then one occasion I have had my kids walk with me to get the car and then drive back to get my bags, lumber whatever it is I am loading. OP could have brought the kids to get a luggage cart and them given them a ride back to the room on it (Yes I run with scissors but I still play well with others)

#4 Sorry about the ticket confusion but being the Disney veteran that you are you should know the walk, plan and check and plan and double check before leaving home espicially when there is new ticket media or changes have taken place.

#5 Sorry man but attitude is everything, Sour things happen at Disney as they do in the rest of the real world but the MISERY IS OPTIONAL

Let it go and enjoy the mouse

 

[headoflife]

. I went immediately to guest relations and informed them and inquired about paying additionally to make our tickets non expiring. We still had extra days but were told that our tickets expired that day and it would cost an additional 200.00 to upgrade. After 4 years in a row and thousands of dollars spent I am being treated like this....???? In the Happiest place on earth ???? I thought it was a mistake on the girls part so I tried to resolve it at Coronado Springs and was told the same thing ( Pay more or throw your tickets away ) Basically ..... "It's not our problem"
QUOTE]

I try not to get involved in these sorts of discussions, but this one just pulled me in! It appears to me that the OP had more than 1 day left on his passes when he went to the park on the 20th. He said he went to Guest Relations both to complain about the parking CM and to check on the non expiring option. In that case, I really don't see what the complaint is, unless it was that he was willing to waste the other leftover days but wanted to get in the park that day. I am actually suprised that he was offered the option to upgrade expired tickets. I thought his issue was going to be that he wanted to upgrade, and was told that since tha tickets had expired the prior day, he couldn't.

This seems like a no brainer. If you want to upgrade the ticket, you have to pay the cost of the upgrade, even if it seems outrageous to you.

 

[jckdisneybound]

<<$200 is the going price for an upgrade on a family ticket>> THEN WHY DID IT COST ME $400 TO UPGRADE MY FAMILY'S TIX TO NON-EXPIRY?! it was $100 (plus $5 tax or something) *PER* ticket?

He had a 7 day ticket, being $55 to upgrade to a non-expire/ticket, I'm going with the assumption that you had purchased a 10-day ticket. If you bought a 7 day, then you were grossly overcharged.

As for the Original poster, I can see where his frustration is and maybe all the little things going wrong starting at the beginning just set a bad tone for his trip. He seemed very irate in his post, so I'm going to "assume" he wasn't very diplomatic w/ the CM's and such, and another "assumption" was probably somewhat demanding. For me who works in customer service, a customer/guest who is was genuinly mistaken, and talks to me calmly and w/ common curtesy, I'm more willing to help vice the person who is damanding, irrate and probably rude. JMO.

 

[tlbwriter]

Bummer you had a bad experience could be worse, you could have lost everything in a hurricane? Hmm - ponder that one.

That's really uncalled for. Using that logic, no one has the right to ever complain about anything, because someone else always has it worse.

 

[Roveer]

Seen the type a million times. He will most certinly drop the initial point of the arguement (since it seems pretty straight forward), and turn the whole matter into what the CM said. Based on that will continue to harrass WDW until he gets satisfaction. Wasted lots of his time, and now as it appears to be also the states time over his decision to ask an important question to a ticket taker. Some people are dead set in getting what they want whether it's fair or not. They will tread on all that is good for their own benefit, blaim everyone else for their mistakes and (here's the good part), do it with a straight face. Yup, seen the type a million times.

His day will come because folks like this carry themselves in such a way that it's easy to see them coming. They walk among us...

We go to WDW every year, and yes, we've had some bad stuff happen, but I really didn't have to sue anyone over it.

Just think how much hostility is built up inside this guy. He must do this all the time. Sorry to come on so strong, but I deal with these types all the time and it's always the same thing with them (me, me me...) Good luck.

Roveer

 

[Teresa Pitman]

This just made me think of an incident I witnessed last year. I was riding on the Winnie the Pooh ride, and in front of me was a family - two parents and a little boy who looked about 4 or 5. The parents had put the boy in one "hunny pot" by himself, and the two of them were in the one behind it (and I was behind them). When we got to the bouncy part, the little boy was kind of hanging over the edge of his pot, and he bumped his face on the edge as it bounced. No blood or anything, but by the time we got off at the end he definitely had a swollen lip and some tears.

Well, those parents just went ballistic on the CM at the unloading area. They said they were going to sue Disney, their child was injured, the ride was dangerous, the CM's weren't doing their jobs, on and on. I couldn't believe the way they were carrying on. (I could not get past them to get off so I was forced to listen to this.)

I actually began to suspect later that they were hoping for some kind of "perk" like a free day's pass or something - couldn't believe they would really sue over a swollen lip. But who knows? They sure made the afternoon miserable for the poor CM they were berating - like it was his fault!

Teresa

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

Seen the type a million times. He will most certinly drop the initial point of the arguement (since it seems pretty straight forward), and turn the whole matter into what the CM said. Based on that will continue to harrass WDW until he gets satisfaction. Wasted lots of his time, and now as it appears to be also the states time over his decision to ask an important question to a ticket taker. Some people are dead set in getting what they want whether it's fair or not. They will tread on all that is good for their own benefit, blaim everyone else for their mistakes and (here's the good part), do it with a straight face. Yup, seen the type a million times.

His day will come because folks like this carry themselves in such a way that it's easy to see them coming. They walk among us...

We go to WDW every year, and yes, we've had some bad stuff happen, but I really didn't have to sue anyone over it.

Just think how much hostility is built up inside this guy. He must do this all the time. Sorry to come on so strong, but I deal with these types all the time and it's always the same thing with them (me, me me...) Good luck.

Roveer

My, how insightful you are. I went back a re-read the post and I didn't get the hostility. So, I went further and checked out his other posts in the past. Check for yourself. They are just chuck full of venom.

Contacting the State's Attorney is not sueing anyone. It is one avenue of pursuing a problem. In the state of Illinois, you go through the State's Attorney' office for various things including telemarketers and unresolved issues with a purchased vehicle. I don't know how it works in Ohio. But then again, I am not blindly accusing him of anything either.

Since several people have criticized this poster for asking a ticket taker a question about a ticket. Who should you ask before getting to the park? We've already heard the suggestion of Guest Relations. But aren't they inside the park? Wouldn't that be a little late for his question? The ticket taker is the first person we encounter when going to the park. Maybe Disney should make sure that TICKET Takers are well trained on the tickets. Oh there we go again, expecting too much. If it was so easy for this family to have known that the 14th day would have been the 19th, not the 20th, why is it then too hard of a question for the ticket taker?

 

[LoveWDW]

...

Since several people have criticized this poster for asking a ticket taker a question about a ticket. Who should you ask before getting to the park? We've already heard the suggestion of Guest Relations. But aren't they inside the park? Wouldn't that be a little late for his question? The ticket taker is the first person we encounter when going to the park. Maybe Disney should make sure that TICKET Takers are well trained on the tickets. Oh there we go again, expecting too much. If it was so easy for this family to have known that the 14th day would have been the 19th, not the 20th, why is it then too hard of a question for the ticket taker?

I wondered about this also. Did the OP check in to his hotel first? He could have asked the CM there, or called guest services. If he had no way to contact anybody before he encountered the ticket taker, it is too bad that the ticket taker couldn't or didn't call someone over to answer the question while the ticket taker kept the line moving.

 

[Donna]

I have two words: ANNUAL PASS!!!!!!!

He stated that he comes on an annual basis and if he bought a 7 day ticket, an AP pays for itself if you're there 8 days or more, it could easily be planned to make that next annual trip within the 12 mos (before expiration). It wouldn't be that much more and that would solve the ticket problem and in the long run, he'd actually save money over the two trips in the year. For the kind of money he already spent, may as well go for the premium AP! or better yet, put that money towards DVC, since he liked Saratoga Springs.
I have a feeling it just wasn't a well-planned, thought-out trip and he probably just felt bad for the kids missing out on the last day and is just kicking himself over it all. The downtown disney suggestion was a good one! Lots to see and do down there. Kids can spend half a day in that lego store! Sometimes you just have to make the best of a situation and move on.