Pre-GO Package-Holders Unite!

[Momw/aplan]

The packages were sold prior to the announcement of the opening date. This was the language in the brochure and on the website.
Obviously the language was changed after the opening date was announced.

Nothing was misleading. Test Track opened more then a year late. Attractions at theme parks frequently open later then originally planned.

I understand most of the posters want to "vent". I suspect most of the posters will be happy when they get back.

Assume Universal knew the FB wouldn't be ready on May 28 but didn't know that until after they started selling packages.
What did you want Universal to do?

1. Open the attraction all day even if they need part of the day to work on getting the bugs out? Even if that meant the ride broke down during the day?
2. Use the fine print in the offer to say sorry, HP isn't open yet? Too bad. Does anyone remember the Griswalds?
3. Cancel your package?
4. Cancel all the HP parts of your package (breakfast, souvenir ticket etc.) and give a partial refund?
5. Do what they're doing. Make sure the package guests get at least what was promised. Understand later package guests may get more access to HP then earlier guests.

6. Send an email/letter or call pre-go pkg holders explaining that pkgs were sold before the GO date was set (or GO had to be postponed, whichever actually happened) and letting us know how that might potentially affect our upcoming vacation (ie. the area might not be open much beyond your bkfst time) and giving us the option to cancel or reschedule without penalty.

 

[black562]

Well, after alot of reading here, I've determined one thing. I'm booking a basic package at an off-site hotel (Hilton Garden Inn). This is not the Harry Potter Package, just the package with room, tickets and early entry. It specifically says one hour early to enjoy FJ, the Harry Potter Coasters and Cat in the Hat. That said, I'm making printouts of everything so if they try to tell me that only Harry Potter package holders are allowed in an hour early, I'll have documentation. It sounds like the folks at the gates are not kept in the loop as to what's going on in the rest of the park and who is allowed where. Hopefully by September, this will all be moot, but I'm not one for taking chances.

The HP package didn't seem worth it, as it was quite a bit more just for a breakfast and commemorative ticket, that was the only difference between the two in September.

 

[Lewisc]

6. Send an email/letter or call pre-go pkg holders explaining that pkgs were sold before the GO date was set (or GO had to be postponed, whichever actually happened) and letting us know how that might potentially affect our upcoming vacation (ie. the area might not be open much beyond your bkfst time) and giving us the option to cancel or reschedule without penalty.

I bolded the part of your post that was already disclosed to pkg holders prior to purchasing the package. No reason to send an email repeating something that you were already told. The question is how many hours will HP be open on a given day. No reason to send an email unless Universal has a definitive answer.

 

[Momw/aplan]

I bolded the part of your post that was already disclosed to pkg holders prior to purchasing the package. No reason to send an email repeating something that you were already told. The question is how many hours will HP be open on a given day. No reason to send an email unless Universal has a definitive answer.

What brochure exactly are you referring to?

I saw an add on TV and one on Yahoo saying: Call now to book your wizarding world vacation package!

I called now.

Nothing was said to me on the phone regarding a GO or lack thereof. The mere fact that they were advertising vacation pkgs to the WWoHP suggested the area was open for business.

AFTER I booked my pkg I received my email confirmation "noting the items selected" for my package. (I'm rereading that email now as I respond) Nowhere on that document do the words you have quoted appear.

So when was I told this information?

 

[inkkognito]

Why DOESN'T Universal keep their Customer Service Reps better informed?

Because this is the same park where we were specifically told at the rope that FJ would NOT be operating AT ALL that day. An hour later we were stepping off after our FJ ride

It's also the same park where security people were specifically telling GP one day that WWoHP would NOT soft open AT ALL that day as they walked down the path around Suessland, yet the Hp gates were wide open when they got there.

 

[damo]

Because this is the same park where we were specifically told at the rope that FJ would NOT be operating AT ALL that day. An hour later we were stepping off after our FJ ride

It's also the same park where security people were specifically telling GP one day that WWoHP would NOT soft open AT ALL that day as they walked down the path around Suessland, yet the Hp gates were wide open when they got there.

I think the spells in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are more real than we all thought.

 

[mysteriouspnai]

I think the spells in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are more real than we all thought.

Lol. I'm gonna agree with that note, and just decide to be happy with my vacation. The wizards who worked with US to create the Wizarding World of Harry Potter decided to put enchantment spells on the land so people outside would not know what's going on. That includes CSR's, security, even US. There. Final Answer. I'm happy to go now

Good job Damo for realizing what we all hadn't xD

 

[CornishPixie]

Lol. I'm gonna agree with that note, and just decide to be happy with my vacation. The wizards who worked with US to create the Wizarding World of Harry Potter decided to put enchantment spells on the land so people outside would not know what's going on. That includes CSR's, security, even US. There. Final Answer. I'm happy to go now

Good job Damo for realizing what we all hadn't xD

I have always been one to wait and see. I refused to freak out before I left for my trip from reading the negative posts and rants. I am so glad I didn't (not just for my sake, but my kids too!) Please listen to the posts that say "don't worry" cause I just got back from my most fabulous trip!
We had tons of time to do EVERYTHING in WWOHP. We could have stayed an extra day if we wanted but my kids said they felt more than satisfied with the time they had at HP (we went three days in a row).
We rode FJ lots and shopped our thankful hearts out!!
Our trip was not just enchanted, but BLESSED!!!

 

[inkkognito]

I think everyone really will have a great time even with all the mess about the packages. I am not even a Harry Potter fan...was totally neutral about this whole thing...and came away absolutely enchanted by WWoHP. It's hard to hang on to your annoyance for too long when you're downing a frozen butterbeer or zipping madly away from dementors on your magic bench.

 

[CornishPixie]

I whole-heartedly agree!!!

 

[Indy Denise]

I'm in the same boat. We have hotel resv only for 6/12-6/17 booked in Feb. I think we are getting extremely lucky. Trust me you will not want to be there after June 18 for a while. The thing is no one purchased tickets to WWOHP you purchase tickets to IOA. It's just that WWOHP is part of IOA. I don't know how someone could spend more than 3-4 hours in one part of the park anyway. I'll take my 3 hour preview per day with less people and feel like I have won the lottery rather than fight crowds and not experience near as much as I would have after GO.

Even after they " open" the doors and let " everyone" in at 9.00am, it is still not crowded ( at least like it will be after the 18th ) If you get on FJ right away you should be able to ride it every morning 2-3 times!!
The 3-4 hour preview is great, even with the extra guests. You will have a fun time!! Send me Butterbeer please!!

 

[Momw/aplan]

Even after they " open" the doors and let " everyone" in at 9.00am, it is still not crowded ( at least like it will be after the 18th ) If you get on FJ right away you should be able to ride it every morning 2-3 times!!
The 3-4 hour preview is great, even with the extra guests. You will have a fun time!! Send me Butterbeer please!!

Thanks Indy Denise (and everyone else here too). I'm going to cross my fingers it goes great for us and all the rest of the pre-go pkg holders (and everyone else too) and I'm going to leave it at that. I don't think there are many of us Pre-GO pkg holders left on here who haven't already gone or aren't there now, but I hope we can all walk away as happy and enchanted by it as everyone else so far.

I've decided I'm done venting and debating now. I'm going to spend the last few days before my vacation trying to reclaim the excitement and anticipation that's been dampened by this whole stressful situation. I'm determined to not let it affect my trip. And hopefully I'll be able to report back about the fabulous time we had. It won't change my opinion of how things were handled but at least it will all be behind me. And I want the memories and feelings I carry forward to be positive. I don't want to feel like I need to get an attorney or someone to read through all the fine print of every major purchase I make from every reputable company I shop with just to be confident I know and understand exactly what I'm paying for. Because that's just ridiculous! (And yet that is how this whole experience has made me feel up to this point!)

Thank you everyone for the support (and for those who didn't support me, thanks for the debate). It's been stressful, but helpful. But at least now I've been able to sort through my emotions about the whole fiasco and get down to the essence of what I'm unhappy about. And it was good to sort through it. At the very least it allowed my formal 'customer comment' to sound less like, "You're a bunch of mean stupid heads for making us leave the area so early when you didn't tell us we'd have to," and sound a whole lot closer to, "I'm unhappy with the lack of clarity about what I was purchasing as well as the lack of communication regarding the changes that were made after the fact."

And not calling someone a mean stupid head is always a plus in my book!

I'm going to watch the 'making of' special on TV with the kids tonight. And I'm going to arrive at IOA with as fresh of an outlook as I possibly can at this point.

I want to thank the DIS for allowing me to go through all of this before hand and not during my vacation. I don't know what I would have done had I not found out about the restricted hours etc before I arrived, but I do know it wouldn't have been pretty, and it probably would've soured the whole trip. So THANK YOU!

 

[Rip]

I bolded the part of your post that was already disclosed to pkg holders prior to purchasing the package. No reason to send an email repeating something that you were already told. The question is how many hours will HP be open on a given day. No reason to send an email unless Universal has a definitive answer.

It seems I may be in minority, but when these packages were announced I called and specifically asked (having read the fine print) if the entire area would be opened. I was told by two separate TMs that "package holders will be able to experience everything promised in their package description, unfortunately, we cannot provide any additional details at this time".

Since we're AP holders, we decided to skip the package and wait until we knew everything would be up and running.

 

[Indy Denise]

Thanks Indy Denise (and everyone else here too). I'm going to cross my fingers it goes great for us and all the rest of the pre-go pkg holders (and everyone else too) and I'm going to leave it at that. I don't think there are many of us Pre-GO pkg holders left on here who haven't already gone or aren't there now, but I hope we can all walk away as happy and enchanted by it as everyone else so far.

I've decided I'm done venting and debating now. I'm going to spend the last few days before my vacation trying to reclaim the excitement and anticipation that's been dampened by this whole stressful situation. I'm determined to not let it affect my trip. And hopefully I'll be able to report back about the fabulous time we had. It won't change my opinion of how things were handled but at least it will all be behind me. And I want the memories and feelings I carry forward to be positive. I don't want to feel like I need to get an attorney or someone to read through all the fine print of every major purchase I make from every reputable company I shop with just to be confident I know and understand exactly what I'm paying for. Because that's just ridiculous! (And yet that is how this whole experience has made me feel up to this point!)

Thank you everyone for the support (and for those who didn't support me, thanks for the debate). It's been stressful, but helpful. But at least now I've been able to sort through my emotions about the whole fiasco and get down to the essence of what I'm unhappy about. And it was good to sort through it. At the very least it allowed my formal 'customer comment' to sound less like, "Your a bunch of mean stupid heads for making us leave the area so early when you didn't tell us we'd have to," and sound a whole lot closer to, "I'm unhappy with the lack of clarity about what I was purchasing as well as the lack of communication regarding the changes that were made after the fact."

And not calling someone a mean stupid head is always a plus in my book!

I'm going to watch the 'making of' special on TV with the kids tonight. And I'm going to arrive at IOA with as fresh of an outlook as I possibly can at this point.

I want to thank the DIS for allowing me to go through all of this before hand and not during my vacation. I don't know what I would have done had I not found out about the restricted hours etc before I arrived, but I do know it wouldn't have been pretty, and it probably would've soured the whole trip. So THANK YOU!

YOU are FINE!!!!!!!! You are not doing anything that us onsiters didn't do who booked pre-GO!! We all stressed!! BUT, in the end it was BETTER than I could have hoped for....the pre-view is enough time, the crowds were thin, and actually it was more than enough time to do what we wanted...we just made sure to get in at 8.00am , ride FJ, then take our picts before 9.00am....and we went each day to do it all again....

 

[Momw/aplan]

YOU are FINE!!!!!!!! You are not doing anything that us onsiters didn't do who booked pre-GO!! We all stressed!! BUT, in the end it was BETTER than I could have hoped for....the pre-view is enough time, the crowds were thin, and actually it was more than enough time to do what we wanted...we just made sure to get in at 8.00am , ride FJ, then take our picts before 9.00am....and we went each day to do it all again....

Thanks!

 

[black562]

Well I'm booked in at the Hilton Garden Inn with a basic hotel+ticket package (not the HP package). I've printed all the paperwork, which says one hour early access to Harry Potter and all the rides therein. The only real difference I could see with the HP package was breakfast and the commemorative ticket.

Needless to say, that paperwork is coming to the gate with me and I'm getting there at least a half hour before I'm allowed in, just in case anyone gives me trouble.

 

[Indy Denise]

Thanks!

I have to say that there were some very entertaining people who try to get early access ( or any access ) into WWoHP. One person from England tried to use a vacation ad she tore from a magazine ..saying she was with the Virgin tour. She didn't get to enter.

Some people had old room keys from onsite hotels. They didn't get in, they check the dates.

Some acted like they couldn't speak English and didn't understand. They didn't get in.

Some acted like they were package people from other hotels who" forgot" their " red envelope" ( not sure what that was ) . They were told to go back and get it.

Some just didn't say or do anything and snuck quietly in the line before the ticket takers opened...but once there the TM's doubled checked everything again, so they didn't get in.

 

[Momw/aplan]

Well I'm booked in at the Hilton Garden Inn with a basic hotel+ticket package (not the HP package). I've printed all the paperwork, which says one hour early access to Harry Potter and all the rides therein. The only real difference I could see with the HP package was breakfast and the commemorative ticket.

Needless to say, that paperwork is coming to the gate with me and I'm getting there at least a half hour before I'm allowed in, just in case anyone gives me trouble.

Sounds smart to me! Good luck on your trip. I hope you have a blast!

I have to say that there were some very entertaining people who try to get early access ( or any access ) into WWoHP. One person from England tried to use a vacation ad she tore from a magazine ..saying she was with the Virgin tour. She didn't get to enter.

Some people had old room keys from onsite hotels. They didn't get in, they check the dates.

Some acted like they couldn't speak English and didn't understand. They didn't get in.

Some acted like they were package people from other hotels who" forgot" their " red envelope" ( not sure what that was ) . They were told to go back and get it.

Some just didn't say or do anything and snuck quietly in the line before the ticket takers opened...but once there the TM's doubled checked everything again, so they didn't get in.

Wow. This should be interesting to say the least!

 

[IzzyB]

I understand everyone's issues with lack of communication, but I can't blame Universal. Mainly because they don't know what kind of vacation you will get. As we move closer to go live date things will change. For example, Sunday no GP was let in. FJ was not running correctly, so they never let the GP in, so that hotel and package guests could enjoy everything better. I expect at some point it will be open all day, but I don't think they know which days these will be. They could open it all day today and everything work fine and stick with that schedule from here on, or they could have all kinds of issues and decide tomorrow that they will do a half day to fix all the issues found today. They just don't know and feel that as long as they can deliver a great time to their package holders, why freak them out before their vacation begins. It would cause people to cancel their vacation when there really is no need to. As you can see, people are having a great time.

I understand many of you were planning on spending all your time in there, but honestly, even if it was fully open I don't think you would have done that. As some point your kids would have gotten bored and wanted to do other things. There is just not enough in there to spend two full days in that one part of the park. You are going to want to experience other parts of he park.

So I understand you wish you were communicated to prior to your vacation, but I think in Uni's mind they didn't want to freak people out for no reason. They feel as long as they can deliver everything promised and give you a great experience, what is the harm? In my experience, I kind of agree with them.

 

[IzzyB]

I came back here after all this time, just to see how their vacation plans went, and I see she never came back here and did a review. My guess is no review, means all went well. I hope it did, as I expected it would. I think by the time they went, the park started to open later and later in the day. Which would be good for her.