Calfan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2009
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I did receive a call from Bruce at ABD and we discussed the itinerary change. I asked for permission to share his e-mail with the DISboards and he said I could. We had a very pleasant conversation and it was quite apparent he truly cares that each guest has an amazing experience and wanted to address all concerns. He plans to call/write each person who expressed disappointment over the change. Per our phone conversation, he did say that an * was indicated for a few dates that coincided with the Military Tattoo with a change to Stirling Castle for the farewell dinner. It was realized recently though, that Stirling Castle would not be a good choice logistically for a farewell dinner on day 8. We leave Inverness early that day and spend a good amount of time on coach to get to Glamis Castle and then back to Edinburgh. By the time we arrive at The Balmoral, we'd be looking at another hour and a half each way to go have dinner at Stirling Castle. Below is Bruce's e-mail.
Dear Terrie,
Greetings from sunny Burbank, California! My name is Bruce and I'm the Regional Manager for Adventures by Disney's trips in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. One of my other claims to fame is that since ABD's inception in 2005 I've had the privilege to be the trip developer for many of our trips worldwide, including Scotland. Scotland is near and dear to my heart , as I had spent time visiting the sights in Edinburgh and the fabled Highlands with my family when I was a teenager (I have Scottish heritage through my father's mother, the Drummonds of Perthshire!). A number of years later as a young man I had quite an adventure riding my bicycle around the country for several weeks. That trip happened to coincide with Heather Season. You might've heard this but there's no more stunningly beautiful place on the planet than Scotland on a sunny day with the landscape carpeted from one horizon to the other in blooming purple heather. That's when I truly became captivated by all things Scottish, it's history, people and culture as well as the unforgettable landscapes.
And that's why it was all the more exciting for me in early 2012 when I and a few others on the ABD team became engaged in the development of our new trip in Scotland. That process was initiated when we caught wind that Pixar's Brave was nearing completion and would have it's theatrical release in late June, 2012. We had one of those "Wow" moments a Pixar film themed around the life of a young woman in ancient Scotland. How cool was that? And how amazing would it be to build a trip around that concept? Well, one of the many thrills for me in bringing our trip to life was flying up to Emeryville in the Bay Area, to Pixar's headquarters, and interviewing the amazing Mark Andrews, Brave's director with his room-busting outsize personality, to get his take on all the best places to visit in Scotland, and how we could build an itinerary that would fulfill the dual goals of assuring our guests would see the classic sights of Scotland and deliver a magical experience that connected our trip in significant ways to the stories, images, fun and drama of Brave. Oh we also had to deliver ABD's fabled quality of experience from start to finish, that was critical too. Never before in ABD'S history did we have an opportunity to design an itinerary around the story lines in a movie, in fact a movie which in itself was a work of true creative genius. So this was one very fun, challenging and extraordinary experience for us. And such will it be for the fortunate guests who join us for the adventure.
In any event, because of my involvement with our Scotland trip, and also because of my role as Regional Manager, your email was forwarded to me, and, well, I will confess, it broke my heart a little bit. Mostly because I understood how upset you were, and that I was the reason behind that (I'll explain why in a minute), but also because the essential feeling expressed was one of complete disappointment with ABD, rather than expressing, well, maybe intrigue or curiosity over the choice of venue we had made for our farewell banquet. Obviously, your heartfelt concerns have grabbed my attention, and I am absolutely committed to addressing them as best as I can.
Probably the most important thing I need to mention - and this is the reason why I'm the one responsible for your being upset is that I wrote the letter you recently received that discussed the change of venue for the farewell event. I clearly see now in reaction to your concerns, and the same concerns now coming to us from other guests as well that the letter wasn't clear or specific on the vital question as to why we abandoned Stirling Castle the original venue we had selected to replace Edinburgh Castle during the period of the Tattoo and why we would instead be featuring a "library" in Edinburgh. Which fair enough at first glance doesn't sound like the least bit of an even swap. So that lack of clarity, that lack of my telling a complete and compelling story, was decidedly a critical "miss" on my part. I apologize for that.
With that said, I want to reassure you that our commitment to our guests' experiences on our adventures is without question a world class commitment. It's one that I believe we deliver almost without fail in destinations across the globe. First of all, we are part of the Walt Disney Company, with its brand promise of heritage, traditions, safety, fun, family values and Magical Moments. At ABD we have an inherent commitment to delivering on everything TWDC stands for, and we are very clear what that is. But even beyond that, we are Adventures by Disney, which has since our very beginning, when we only operated two trips, in Hawaii and Wyoming, garnered the highest accolades from our tens of thousands of guests, many of whom have enjoyed a host of other Disney experiences against which they compare our "product" - and consistently find us to be the Best, and their Favorite Disney experience of all. I trust you will believe me when I say that ABD's unwavering goal is to always exceed our guests already high expectations. This is not an idle boast, it's not an easy plateau to reach, and I'm not saying we do this 100% without fail, but I will say we are pretty doggone good at it.
All of which is to say that we would not ever consciously take away something wonderful for example, a gala dinner in a real castle in Scotland - and offer a pathetic substitute that is woefully inadequate compared to the original promise of an extraordinary experience. This commitment to "always exceeding our guests expectations" also applies to the case of the Military Tattoo, the Castles and the Signet Library.
I would be delighted to have an opportunity to discuss all this with you further if you would care to do so. I would love to share the story behind our choice of the Signet, and describe for you why the Signet is in fact a wonderful, an amazing, a perfectly suitable choice for our farewell banquet. Let me put it this way: there are "libraries" and then there is The Signet Library. This is without question a Disney-suitable, ABD-sanctioned, first class venue, and one that's fully worthy of the promise of ABD's Scotland trip in all regards.
Please let me know a good time to reach you.
Thanks Terrie, and I'm looking forward to discussing ABD's Scotland: a Brave Adventure with you!
PS Before we chat, please imagine having dinner in this rather exclusive, magical setting. There is somebody quite famous who had a posh luncheon there with 80 or so of her closest friends and family not so long agao. Her name is Elizabeth II, Queen of England. She hosts this luncheon in the Signet Library every year, as she spends the first two weeks of June in Edinburgh every season - staying at her home there, Holyroodhouse Palace, which we will be taking you to see along with other sights in Edinburgh. Among many other interesting things, we'll be sharing the engaging story of the Order of the Thistle, and what that means for Scottish history, and for the noble and royal families of Scotland. And the role played in this by the Signet Library as the venue for the Royal Gathering of the Order of the Thistle. We (ABD) have engaged the same chef and catering service for our event. I assure you this is quite exclusive and, well maybe even on a par with dining in a castle (our dining venue in Edinburgh Castle, while sumptuous, is not nearly so posh as this, although it is, admittedly, in a castle).
And here is Elizabeth, all Pomp & Circumstance, exiting the Signet Library on her way into St. Giles Cathedral (13th century Gothic masterpiece, which stands next to the Signet Library, which is connected to Scotland's original Parliament building, so it's all terribly dripping with Scottish history in the most prime spot on Edinburgh's fabled Royal Mileto attend a ceremony commemorating the ancient Order of the Thistle, in the company of her husband Prince Phillip, her grandson Prince William and sister Princess Anne. You too will be walking in this very spot. I love the plumed hats! And note the astroturf style Red Carpet, well done!
A final observation: we will be taking you to see Edinburgh Castle on a privately guided tour, in the afternoon of Day 2 of the ABD trip, following our activity at Dovecot Studios.
Cheers, -Bruce
I, for one, am very impressed with Bruce's email: both the thoughtfulness and his clear passion for ABD and the traveler experience.
Without the travel hacking blogs and forums we would have never had enough miles either. But, then again that was part of the strategic plan to get DH to agree to this trip when we hadn't budgeted for it. We'll probably be in "steerage" for our flight to the 
His courteous and eloquent response toned me down a few notches right off the bat 
Once we spoke and he explained everything I was perfectly ok. I thanked him very much for the time he took to write such a nice e-mail and follow up with a phone call. To me, that goes a long way. 
To be fair, I know I am not the only one who expressed disappointment. They have received calls and e-mails from others about the same issue so that may be a factor. I initially called and spoke with someone who did not really address the issue other than to confirm there was a change and did not really seem to care much about my concerns. When I asked if I could be referred to someone else to express my concerns I was told that they would pass on the message. Naturally, I found that unacceptable and sent out an e-mail to ABD, messaged their FB page and then e-mailed the Senior VP. Regardless, I agree that someone at ABD should have responded to you at least in the name of courtesy.
To me, a tablet is something used to write on or something like an iPad 
Since neither of those are edible I've been calling it "coffee and surprise."
Thanks for sharing, it sounds tasty!
