Their Website Can't Possibly Be This Bad, Can It?

[PrincessWithABlaster]

So apparently the Universal IT people are the ones who aren't good enough to work at Disney? OMG I think their website is the poorest website I have had the misfortune to visit in a while, and I spent countless hours on the Disney website and park blog trying to get Rivers of Light dining packages back in April so it's not like I haven't been around bad websites recently.

I have tried 4 times now to book my hotel with them. The first time it went off to a completely blank page after taking my credit card and I stalked my email and credit card account to figure out if they actually charged anything or took my reservation (they didn't). The second time it said there was already an account with my user name (I went and created it separately and went back). The last two times I have tried to book, I get all the way through entering everything (credit card, etc), I get the screen that shows that it's working on confirming my reservation and then it kicks me to a screen that says to continue my booking I need to enter my dates - it has zapped everything to the default entries and basically made me start all over without any indication on what's making it choke. I called the help line and it told me to call back during regular business ... and didn't tell me what those were. Seriously? I thought Krustyland was a ride there, not Universal's business model. How poor. And this after their website is so poorly organized that I have to go to google to search their website for anything I need to find. I filled out the survey and enjoyed marking the checkbox that said that Disney's website is much better. Universal, do you have any idea how low a bar that is?

Sorry, rant over. But if anyone has run into this and knows what causes the site to completely lose it's brain when trying to book I'd appreciate some help. I suspect that section that asks you to enter a password after you've already signed in might be a problem but it's marked with a red asterisk for required so, I don't know.

 

[imprint]

Onsite hotel? I always book online using https://uo.loewshotels.com . Never had a problem. If rates drop for my dates, I call the hotel to modify the reservation.

 

[macraven]

yea, the website in trying to find things can drive a person nuts at times.
some nights it is like a scavenger hunt......lol

once i find the sites i need, i usually sticky them in the quick access sticky.




i stopped booking rooms online years ago.
i call and book and add requests at that time.
it's easier for me to deal with a live person than the fill in the box set up online

(i tried booking online in the past but it was not worth the frustration i ran into.)

 

[imprint]

Forgot to mention, and macraven's post reminded me, when I reserve online, I do later call the hotel to add my requests (non-pet floor due to allergies and connecting rooms).

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Onsite hotel? I always book online using https://uo.loewshotels.com . Never had a problem. If rates drop for my dates, I call the hotel to modify the reservation.

That's the one. I have no idea why it's not working for me.

 

[bumbershoot]

That's the one. I have no idea why it's not working for me.

Any site can go down. And that site links to Loews Hotels' site. I wouldn't consider that to be UO's site at all.

When I book through there (https://uo.loewshotels.com/en/booking/uo specifically) the account it wants me to sign into is the Loews site (which isn't my UO login).

You could just try directly with loewshotels.com.

 

[macraven]

Forgot to mention, and macraven's post reminded me, when I reserve online, I do later call the hotel to add my requests (non-pet floor due to allergies and connecting rooms).

totally agree with you on that.
book online but give it a week and call to make sure the notes are in your reservation!
it is easier for the person that assigns the rooms see those notes
once you check into the hotel, it might not be as easy to switch rooms out.

been there, done that years back and always recheck what is noted in my reservation.

 

[damo]

I have rarely had issues with the website. I don't find it poorly organized at all. The drop down columns have everything organized. And if you can't find something, type it in their search bar. Simple.

The only thing I don't like is that when you click on annual passes, it takes you to the Florida Residents pass page first.

 

[CalKhat]

I think their website is surprisingly awful. This board has been so much better for gathering info.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

You need to make sure you are not running any ad or script blockers and you allow for cookies. The problems you've described sound like an issue with your allowances on your system or browser.

 

[Bluer101]

The phone works perfect for me.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I have rarely had issues with the website. I don't find it poorly organized at all. The drop down columns have everything organized. And if you can't find something, type it in their search bar. Simple.

The only thing I don't like is that when you click on annual passes, it takes you to the Florida Residents pass page first.

The thing I find frustrating with navigation is that the top/bottom and left menus do not have the topics I'm looking for (ride descriptions for example) other than very high level vague description pages. So I would expect to find ride descriptions to be something I can navigate to from parks or maybe even hours. I go to parks it tells me there are two with lists of rides but no links. Thanks. I go to google, search rides and universal and up comes a different universal official page with different URL and different theming. I would like to just get there from their home page. Some of this may be because I'm mostly on their mobile site and there is no obvious search function on their mobile site.

I called today and got the room reserved that way.

 

[damo]

The thing I find frustrating with navigation is that the top/bottom and left menus do not have the topics I'm looking for (ride descriptions for example) other than very high level vague description pages. So I would expect to find ride descriptions to be something I can navigate to from parks or maybe even hours. I go to parks it tells me there are two with lists of rides but no links. Thanks. I go to google, search rides and universal and up comes a different universal official page with different URL and different theming. I would like to just get there from their home page. Some of this may be because I'm mostly on their mobile site and there is no obvious search function on their mobile site.

I called today and got the room reserved that way.

Why wouldn't you just go straight to rides on the universal website if you are trying to investigate rides? There is a ride tab. It will take you to the list rides where the Simpsons ride is listed with photos.

I know nothing about the mobile site. That may be the issue. I use the website on my laptop.

 

[macraven]

i never had issues with obtaining the basic things such as hotels, rides, eateries, park set up, bookings, etc.
they come up good for me.

the problems i encountered with the website is the search button.
trying to find phone numbers for answering questions here and specific info that is not basic general knowledge.

it drives me more nuts than i already am when the "search" leads to something else .....

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Why wouldn't you just go straight to rides on the universal website if you are trying to investigate rides? There is a ride tab. It will take you to the list rides where the Simpsons ride is listed with photos.

I know nothing about the mobile site. That may be the issue. I use the website on my laptop.

Yeah, no rides tab or menu selection or search feature on the mobile site. In thinking about it, Google is probably getting me to the full site when I click a link that doesn't have a corresponding mobile site to get autorouted to. That would explain some of what I'm seeing. So I need to amend to say that their mobile site is awful.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

Just above the bottom tabs on the mobile site it states "For a full list of rides, attractions and much more, download The Official Universal Orlando Resort App". The mobile site serves as a basic overview.

 

[keishashadow]

So apparently the Universal IT people are the ones who aren't good enough to work at Disney? OMG I think their website is the poorest website I have had the misfortune to visit in a while, and I spent countless hours on the Disney website and park blog trying to get Rivers of Light dining packages back in April so it's not like I haven't been around bad websites recently.

I have tried 4 times now to book my hotel with them. The first time it went off to a completely blank page after taking my credit card and I stalked my email and credit card account to figure out if they actually charged anything or took my reservation (they didn't). The second time it said there was already an account with my user name (I went and created it separately and went back). The last two times I have tried to book, I get all the way through entering everything (credit card, etc), I get the screen that shows that it's working on confirming my reservation and then it kicks me to a screen that says to continue my booking I need to enter my dates - it has zapped everything to the default entries and basically made me start all over without any indication on what's making it choke. I called the help line and it told me to call back during regular business ... and didn't tell me what those were. Seriously? I thought Krustyland was a ride there, not Universal's business model. How poor. And this after their website is so poorly organized that I have to go to google to search their website for anything I need to find. I filled out the survey and enjoyed marking the checkbox that said that Disney's website is much better. Universal, do you have any idea how low a bar that is?

Sorry, rant over. But if anyone has run into this and knows what causes the site to completely lose it's brain when trying to book I'd appreciate some help. I suspect that section that asks you to enter a password after you've already signed in might be a problem but it's marked with a red asterisk for required so, I don't know.

It could be that the site is overwhelmed with HHN coming into play. That section of site was truly a mess, not sure if they've updated everything. Don't understand why the rush to slap something together and then go back & tweak it. Why not do the proofreading before it hits the web

I book over the phone too, youfirst members basically need to in order to get some upgrades guaranteed.

It's a given that WDW's website is truly awful, might have something to do with firing their IT dept and outsourcing...perhaps U has followed suit to try and save a buck.

Likely, they feel die-hards will persist to make their reservations, whether they run into online snags or not...no need to spend the extra $ to have it run smoothly.