Superthread for Disneyland Resort Closure and Reopening, 3/14/20 - 7/17/20: Please Post All Relevant Questions and Information Here!

[midnight star]

I have a Signature AP, with an expiration date of 6/22. I tried calling the AP line yesterday a few times, and just a got busy signal (remember those?!) I got the same busy signal several times today, but then eventually got through...but was on hold for just shy of 2 hours before anyone answered.

The CM I spoke with told me that the "partial refund" meant that I could get reimbursed from the date of closing (3/14) through April 4th only. If I chose to take a refund for those 3 weeks, then my pass would not be extended at all. In other words...I could get a refund for 3 weeks, or I could take a 3 month extension once the parks open again. This made no sense to me, and I said that I wanted the entire 3 months refunded. She said that the passes are non-refundable, so their offer of 3 weeks was quite generous. I asked her how much the 3 weeks would amount to, and she said she didn't have a calculator (?!) She suggested I talk to a supervisor, and agreed. Then she promptly disconnected the call.

Since it had already been over 2 hours at this point, I gave up. But I am curious if anyone else has been told that the refund is only for a 3 week period.

WOW that sounds horrible. I would def call back. Hopefully you get a nicer CM.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Disney (stock) Falls on Downgrades as Park Woes Offset Streaming Gains

Walt Disney was cut to neutral from buy-equivalent ratings at UBS and Credit Suisse, which said the company’s theme parks exposure to Covid-19 is now outweighing catalysts from its video-streaming foray. Shares fell 2.6% pre-market.

UBS analyst John Hodulik lowered his price target to $114 from $162, saying theme park “profitability will be impaired for a longer period of time given the lingering effects of the outbreak and now assume an opening date of Jan. 1 as our base case”.


*Well, that's an unwelcome headline on Monday morning. Important to note this analyst is not reporting "news" but rather using Jan 1st date to calculate earnings and a price target (i.e. "base case"). He shouldn't have official information because the company would have to report it if official. I'm going to choose not to agree with this one.

Not confirmed but this article suggests that DL/DW won’t open until sometime next year. I pray that isn’t true.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ikely-open-gates-2021-according-analysts.html

See the post above (posted on page 65 of this thread) which answers that speculative and unofficial article well.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I have a Signature AP, with an expiration date of 6/22. I tried calling the AP line yesterday a few times, and just a got busy signal (remember those?!) I got the same busy signal several times today, but then eventually got through...but was on hold for just shy of 2 hours before anyone answered.

The CM I spoke with told me that the "partial refund" meant that I could get reimbursed from the date of closing (3/14) through April 4th only. If I chose to take a refund for those 3 weeks, then my pass would not be extended at all. In other words...I could get a refund for 3 weeks, or I could take a 3 month extension once the parks open again. This made no sense to me, and I said that I wanted the entire 3 months refunded. She said that the passes are non-refundable, so their offer of 3 weeks was quite generous. I asked her how much the 3 weeks would amount to, and she said she didn't have a calculator (?!) She suggested I talk to a supervisor, and agreed. Then she promptly disconnected the call.

Since it had already been over 2 hours at this point, I gave up. But I am curious if anyone else has been told that the refund is only for a 3 week period.

Oh geez. If this is true, this is BAD. Really really bad. Hopefully you just received a very poor CM, such behavior is unbelievable considering you waited 2 hours to speak with someone. What a mess.

Surely that's not legal. I'm not from the States but there must be some kind of consumer protection against a company not delivering on a service they have agreed to provide and for which you have paid in advance.

WOW that sounds horrible. I would def call back. Hopefully you get a nicer CM.

It is being reported on the internet that CMs are not all familiar with the published terms of the AP partial refund/extension offer. When you call, make sure to have a print out or screen shot of the Disneyland webpage offer in front of you. Remain calm and courteous. Offer to read the offer as printed to the CM if necessary. Ask for the name and number for a lead/supervisor if necessary. Hang up and call back if necessary. Do NOT accept what you know to be false and inaccurate information. What is printed on the website and in the official AP emails from Disney is the current and correct information. Many CMs are up to date on the information, but some are tired, confused, and uninformed. Protect yourself by having all the correct information in front of you when you call. And don't waste time arguing with someone you know is wrong. Just remain calm and polite, then hang up and try again with someone else.

 

[WonkaKid]

See the post above (posted on page 65 of this thread) which answers that speculative and unofficial article well.

Thank you (as always ).

 

[Geemo]

It is being reported on the internet that CMs are not all familiar with the published terms of the AP partial refund/extension offer. When you call, make sure to have a print out or screen shot of the Disneyland webpage offer in front of you. Remain calm and courteous. Offer to read the offer as printed to the CM if necessary. Ask for the name and number for a lead/supervisor if necessary. Hang up and call back if necessary. Do NOT accept what you know to be false and inaccurate information. What is printed on the website and in the official AP emails from Disney is the current and correct information. Many CMs are up to date on the information, but some are tired, confused, and uninformed. Protect yourself by having all the correct information in front of you when you call. And don't waste time arguing with someone you know is wrong. Just remain calm and polite, then hang up and try again with someone else.

This is a copy of the email I received

Disney Destinations <disneydestinations@passholder.disneydestinations.com>
Tue 4/21/2020 1:23 PM

 

[LisaT91403]

I was calm and courteous, and I read the email to the CM. She asked if the email said "March 14-April 4th" in it, and I said it did not. She seemed surprised. I think maybe I just need to call back and speak with someone else another time. Maybe I am better off waiting until my pass actually expires in June. I wonder if the refund policy will evolve as the closure continues? I guess we just don't know.

 

[mentos]

Surely that's not legal. I'm not from the States but there must be some kind of consumer protection against a company not delivering on a service they have agreed to provide and for which you have paid in advance.

The AP terms and conditions are typically stacked against the pass holder (pretty much all T&C’s are). This is taken directly from the T&C page (updated 6/26/2017):

Passports are nonrefundable, nontransferable and remain the property of Disney. Restrictions apply including, but not limited to, capacity constraints and other closures. Passports do not guarantee Theme Park admission, especially during high attendance periods.
...
Parks, services, entertainment and attractions may change operating hours, close temporarily, or may otherwise change or be discontinued without notice and without liability.

By the T&C’s every AP holder agreed to when buying, Disneyland doesn’t owe us anything. Even giving us $5 Disney Dollars and saying “see you next year” is going beyond what all parties agreed to.

Obviously, doing so would be a) bad business, b) bad optics, and c) open to legal challenges based on implied warranty.

 

[dina444444]

I was calm and courteous, and I read the email to the CM. She asked if the email said "March 14-April 4th" in it, and I said it did not. She seemed surprised. I think maybe I just need to call back and speak with someone else another time. Maybe I am better off waiting until my pass actually expires in June. I wonder if the refund policy will evolve as the closure continues? I guess we just don't know.

I think the cm was misinformed. They were refunding the payments made between those dates for the people that are choosing to not have their expiration date extended for those on the payment plan.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I was calm and courteous, and I read the email to the CM. She asked if the email said "March 14-April 4th" in it, and I said it did not. She seemed surprised. I think maybe I just need to call back and speak with someone else another time. Maybe I am better off waiting until my pass actually expires in June. I wonder if the refund policy will evolve as the closure continues? I guess we just don't know.

I agree that calling back to speak with a different (and hopefully better informed) CM would be preferable. At least you know that you're not the only passholder to go through something like this -- people on IG were reporting this, too. The refund policy might change again if the closure continues much longer (there's no way to know that now), but what is published on the Disneyland website (which agrees with what Disney has been emailing to passholders) is what we definitely do know now about the refunds and extensions. Don't let one misinformed CM confuse you. Call again and if the next CM doesn't do better, ask for a name and number for a supervisor.

 

[Kender]

Agreeing that the CM was either incredibly misinformed or misinterpreted what they were told. It says plainly that the refund will cover the entire closure period if one chooses to take it. What I'm thinking is the CM was misinterpreting as the March 14 - April 4 time frame is the refund for those on the payment plan who choose to keep their original expiration. It's a refund of any payment made during that time and all payments are waived until the parks are reopened. Those paid in full are not getting a refund as a default, they are getting an extension unless they choose a refund for the length of the closure period and to maintain their original expiration. This is literally what it says and fairly clear. We just don't know their true interpretation of that (will it be by month? day? how will block out days be handled?). We just know that regardless it will be the entire closure, not just a short three weeks. We also know for paid in full the refund won't be processed until the parks are scheduled to open.

... (I)n lieu of an extension on their annual Passports, Passholders who have paid in full may choose to receive a partial refund for the theme park closure period.

The closure period is not March 14 to April 4. It's already been longer than that.

It only mentions the date here (in the monthly payments section):

"We will also retroactively refund payments made between March 14, 2020 and April 4, 2020."

These dates are only for those on a monthly payment plan who do not want the extension. If anyone encounters this again, be sure to mention this fact as well. This does not apply to those who paid in full.

I luckily got a very knowledgeable CM who seemed to be reading the options from a script so it does confuse me how any of them could still be making mistakes... But hey, some things never change

Reminding me of trying to deal with CMs that didn't think they could honor unexpired Premium vouchers as anything but face value after the pass was discontinued a few years ago and many were getting different answers what would happen (it was officially to be honored as a Sig+, but many missed the memo). It should all work out, but it definitely could take talking to a different CM. So sorry to hear someone waited two hours to get blatantly the wrong answer

 

[cruisehopeful]

Had a disappointing response on Twitter.
Mentioned I was a FlexPass holder based in the UK and wanted to take refund for the closure period. I asked - "Is there any way I can do this without calling. It is prohibitively expensive for me to do so unfortunately so emailing (or receiving a callback) would be preferable"

If you have a smart phone, you may want to check out the Signal app. I don't pay anything for my Signal app and it includes free international calls.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

@Peachy0118 nice to see a fellow Albertan.

 

[Peachy0118]

@Peachy0118 nice to see a fellow Albertan.

Woohoo! Yay! And likewise

 

[jacandjan]

...
Well according to this article construction continues at Universal Studios Hollywood so I would assume Disney could also be doing things now if they choose to.

https://www.micechat.com/257858-why-construction-continues-at-universal-but-not-disney/

 

[Corpsebride]

Yup, here in Hollywood, Ca. Construction is going strong around town.

 

[Lkem]

Has there been any mention of Disney extending the expiration dates of normal park hopper tickets? I have already purchased 6 5-day park hoppers, which expire in January 2021. I'm a teacher, so my last day to use theses tickets would be in August. I *think* I can try to get refunded through LMTC...but if there's a chance Disney is doing to extend the expiration dates, I could just hang on to them until next summer.... -It'd be nice to keep them, because they were purchased before the price increase...at the same time, it's kind of stressful knowing that my window to use them is closing...

 

[Winnowill]

Has there been any mention of Disney extending the expiration dates of normal park hopper tickets? I have already purchased 6 5-day park hoppers, which expire in January 2021. I'm a teacher, so my last day to use theses tickets would be in August. I *think* I can try to get refunded through LMTC...but if there's a chance Disney is doing to extend the expiration dates, I could just hang on to them until next summer.... -It'd be nice to keep them, because they were purchased before the price increase...at the same time, it's kind of stressful knowing that my window to use them is closing...

Well, they will retain their value, even if they expire. I'm in the same boat, and I deliberately bought mine in January to AVOID the price increase. If I wind up having to pay the increase anyway due to having to pay the difference for new tickets, I'll be peeved.

 

[mentos]

Whew, Disney *finally* released guidance for all the DVC members that have been in limbo since this started. I'll spare this board the minutiae about DVC points, but consensus on that board is that the compromise was equitable.

Full confidence that tickets and passes, if adjusted further, will be equitable also.

 

[Lkem]

Well, they will retain their value, even if they expire. I'm in the same boat, and I deliberately bought mine in January to AVOID the price increase. If I wind up having to pay the increase anyway due to having to pay the difference for new tickets, I'll be peeved.

So, what do you mean, they'll retain their value? I can turn the old ones in to Disney and just pay the difference for new ones? Do I do this through Disney or does it need to be through who I purchased the tickets from (LMTC)?

 

[hiroMYhero]

I can turn the old ones in to Disney and just pay the difference for new ones?

Yes. It can be done at a Ticket Booth.