Should I complain? Cafe Mickey

[HappyPanda]

As I mentioned briefly in my highs & lows, we had a bit of a disappointment with our visits to Cafe Mickey.

Our first character breakfast on Wednesday was great. We saw Gepetto, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Chip & Dale. Olivia loved it so much she asked to do another one again on the Friday (in place of our planned Breakfast in DLH).

So when we went to book it we wanted to make sure that it wasn't exactly the same characters each morning. The lady on the desk confirmed twice that they never have all the same characters out within a week and that it's on a rotation basis and that we may see one or two of the same characters but definitely not all 6 the same.

So we booked another one for Friday. When we got there, my heart immediately sank There was Gepetto, Goofy and Pluto... and by then I was sure that once it was time for the characters to swap over we'd see Mickey, Chip & Dale again. Sure enough, it was them.

We had already booked a Character lunch for the same day as it was our last day and we wanted a nice character meal so that they could be there when our birthday cake was brought out. Olivia had chosen this over Auberge!

Because we had already had two meals with the same characters we asked again on leaving breakfast whether it would definitely be different characters at lunch as we didn't want to spend in excess of 100euros for Olivia to see the same 6 character a 3rd time. Once again, we were reassured that it would completely different characters at lunch than it was at breakfast.

But, as you already know it wasn't. As soon as I walked into the restaurant and saw Gepetto, Goofy and Pluto again I felt like crying. If it wasn't the fact that Olivia was so excited about getting her birthday cake I think I would have just walked out there and then. But I knew we wouldn't get anywhere else last minute

All in all we spend nearly 300euros on character meals in the hope of meeting some characters away from the scrum of the parks.. and ended up meeting the same 6 (most common!) characters each time.

I am really angry that we were misled each time by the lady on the desk and was just wondering whether it's worth making a complaint and if so, where should it be sent to?

 

[DLPDreams]

Urgh, it's heartbreaking to hear this but it does happen (look at Tinks being told Rapunzel is no more until the April celebrations and then someone else posting a photo of her in the Pavilion that same day/week!). I really wish that they would get their facts right or not promise anything at all!

If you can remember the name of the lady you spoke to then that is a good start. I have the feeling a lot of these complaints just get filed in the bin! But if nothing else, you will feel you have raised your grievance in the correct manner.

One chap on here recently complained, looked like he got a nice reply - turned out someone else had the exact same reply for something they had complained about!

I get more and more despondent with Disney's CS to be honest, the more I see and read. For a corporation like them, they should be red hot on stuff like this.

I'm not sure who to email - I'm sure someone else will know. The Guest Comms email maybe? Again though, I'm sure Tinks or someone said they ended up writing to them to get a reply....? I've emailed that email last week about something and ended up sending again as I never got a reply the first time - have got a 'holding' reply (from a person, not an automated one) so at least I know they are doing something - I hope!

Sorry not to be much more help but you have got reason not to be happy. I hope it didn't spoil Olivia's birthday treat . I've always found the service & food in CM not great but the character interaction has always been brilliant - we too have seen the same characters twice but albeit on different trips, 3 in a week is a bit much!

Let us know how you get on x

 

[giuly09]

I would write and complain as you asked a few times and were told *never the same characters*, if you would had been said the truth you might have chosen another option.
To be honest i have been there a few times and i have always seen the ones you mention so they must be the most popular, once instead of Chip and Dale it was Mr. Smee.

Keep us updated

 

[Vala]

Write and complain. Even if you don't have the name, you have the time when it happened and if that is not enough I am sure you can give a brief description of the CM.

Exactly the same happened to us - went three times during a longer stay, always saw the same characters.

A couple of them seem always there, like Mickey and Pluto, that is true.

 

[DLPDreams]

Found this address:

Guest Relations
Disneyland Resort Paris
Communication visteurs
B.P. 100
77777 Marne La Vallee Cedex 4
France

 

[scampbunny]

i do think thats sooooo bad.....
but regards to complaining, depends what u actually want to get out of it?? disney cs r know for just saying oh dear what a shame, and then hope u come back again!!

ive only complained once, about mickey mouse, when my boys queued to see him, and he just stood, one pose then turned away from them, no interaction and didnt even acknowledge the autograph books!!! obviously with this being the main character, i was no impressed, but all i got was a standard oh dear sorry, and hope u come back soon.....

it is bad tho, u wud think that they wud rotate, at the very least in one day, but maybe more often as ppl do go to cafe mickey ALOT and of course dont wanna c the same characters..... we go every trip - but just the once, and pretty much each time is the same characters.... ever hopeful of meeting stitch there.... AND minnie (which also reminds me of a time for ds1 bday, booked a cake for there, and when we arroived asked at the desk was minnie there and cud she perhaps b out with the cake?? we were told yes she was, and they wud try...... minnie didnt come out at all - so they can have no clue within a short time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

do hope olivia enjoyed it anyhow..... xxx

 

[Vala]

When I complained about lack of service in Cafe Mickey myself they did at least send me a meal voucher. That's the least I'd expect here "give us a try again, this was a one off, here's your incentive."

It took a letter (they tried to brush it off by e-mail), but when you are persistant it looks like they will give you something to make you go away.

I did get some souvenir stuff besides the voucher too, but that was a larger complaint letter. The voucher specifically was mentioned as a make up goodie for the lack of service in Cafe Mickey.

 

[jothp]

How terrible that they just lied to you. If they didn't know who would be there then they should have said that not lied to get your money. I think you should definately complain - if enough people complain they might have to do something about it - although I doubt it.

 

[jennytablina]

In all honesty I've never heard of Cafe Mickey really cycling their character roster much. When I went for my Birthday last trip, I got Goofy, Pluto, Smee, Mickey, Chip & Dale & Gepetto - I rarely see any other characters in there or photos of them.

The likes of Mickey and co will always be in the roster I think, because most kids are paying to Meet Mickey and the other Fab 5. The other characters are more swappable but it seems a rare thing.

I would focus you complaint purely on the fact CM's told you there would be other characters, they should not of said this if it was in fact not true. They should of been honest and pointed you elsewhere, though I don't know if anyone other than Inventions or Aubridge has different characters (Restaurant Des Stars has Remy but that's as different as it gets outside those 2)

DLP really could do with some more varied character experiences, a lot of them use the same sort of characters. The more rare/unusual ones seem to be relegated to appearances in Parks. If you tell them, then they can at least take your comments on board, though they don't really owe you any compensation, so take anything of that sort as a nice bonus. At least you know next time to give Cafe Mickey a rest.

 

[HappyPanda]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I think I've calmed down a bit now! I am not after any compensation from complaining - it's just that we were blatently lied to so that they could get our money, not once but twice (should have learnt my lesson the first time! ) So I want them to know this, to hopefully stop any other families having the same problem.

But given that I received no reply to the two previous emails I sent (requesting info relating to booking) I don't hold out much hope of my complaint being read, let alone investigated!

The part that annoys me the most is that the only reason we booked the lunch is because we walked past one evening and saw that for dinner they had Stitch, Hook, Smee, Eeyore and Tigger out -- so we naively hoped we'd see at least one of these at the lunch

 

[Rachie B]

oh dear maybe try another character meal venue next time

3 times in a few days,wow!

we saw all you saw plus Eeyore,Hook & Tigger on sat evening