:( Upset over reservations and upcoming trip *UPDATE POST 74 PAGE 5*

[Belle5]

Yeah, but it's not right OP should pay for them not being able to do their jobs.

I agree the Free Dining could be an issue, I forgot about that. If the child in question isn't a big eater and can still eat off plates, it might not be an issue. If not, I still think it's better to pay $100 dollars unexpectedly than $300, but you'd have to budget the meals out to see exactly if it's worth the savings.

Honestly if there is documentation where you told the CM the right age I'd call again and take it as high as you can go. Say it's expensive to go, you would have been fine if you'd known, the exact same trip as last year already cost $300 more without the extra kid's tickets, and frankly if they can't book vacations properly you'd consider taking your vacation dollars elsewhere next year. Point out what they did was wrong, their invoices were wrong, it's their fault. Maybe at least you can get some sort of deal on the messed-up ticket. It's really their screw-up and I don't think its appropriate that they shouldn't be held to the same standards as other businesses. If you're determined to do this the "legal" way, get that bit between your teeth and fight as hard as you can, I say.

I agree with this! I think I would keep calling until I found someone who would /could actually help me with documentation.

 

[carebee21]

Yeah, but it's not right OP should pay for them not being able to do their jobs.

I agree the Free Dining could be an issue, I forgot about that. If the child in question isn't a big eater and can still eat off plates, it might not be an issue. If not, I still think it's better to pay $100 dollars unexpectedly than $300, but you'd have to budget the meals out to see exactly if it's worth the savings.

Honestly if there is documentation where you told the CM the right age I'd call again and take it as high as you can go. Say it's expensive to go, you would have been fine if you'd known, the exact same trip as last year already cost $300 more without the extra kid's tickets, and frankly if they can't book vacations properly you'd consider taking your vacation dollars elsewhere next year. Point out what they did was wrong, their invoices were wrong, it's their fault. Maybe at least you can get some sort of deal on the messed-up ticket. It's really their screw-up and I don't think its appropriate that they shouldn't be held to the same standards as other businesses. If you're determined to do this the "legal" way, get that bit between your teeth and fight as hard as you can, I say.

They are held to the same standards as any other business. Try using that line at the airport. If the reservationist accidently mistyped your childs age and listed them as a lap child and you get to the airport and your childs over the lap child age, you're going to end up paying. Same thing here.

I honestly think both parties are at fault. You should do a bit of research and know how much your room rate is per night, how much tickets are ect, and then you would have known the price was off. Plus you noticed the childs age listed as two on documents months ago; instead of assuming it would change later, you should have called to verify that the information was correct. Whenever I've booked through Disney I was asked what the age of the child will be when traveling; I've never been asked his birthdate. And while I feel that the reservationist could have accidently phrased the question to what's the age of the child, I think it's also entirely possible that the OP misinterpretated the question.

Ultimately, I think you're just going to have to suck it up and pay it. Otherwise you run the risk of having to buy a parkhopper there if they question the childs age and not having your child on free dining. It will be worse having to find the money while on vacation than to rearrange your budget, pull the money out a savings acct, ect now.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Both of my kids are tall, and both were asked their ages when they were two. We did get charged for a buffet for one of them at two years old, but I brought a copy of the birth certificate and offered it to our server. No problem getting the bill fixed, but I was glad to have the BC so they didn't think I was trying to scam them.

Same here...we had a copy of her BC and showed it to the waitstaff and the bill was fixed but it was still an annoyance you would rather not deal with on vacation You are wasting valuable park minutes fixing bills

 

[bumbershoot]

I would keep calling.

Just the other week there was a case of someone realizing that the CM making their reservation had not put the other guests in their group in the right category; they had something like 4 adults in their group, but the CM had only indicated that two were adults. When you have more than two adults, you have to pay more for a room only reservation. The Dis'er kept calling, going higher and higher, because she had clearly stated to the CM that there were 4 adults, and thought that the price she was told WAS the price. Turns out, it would not have been.

She finally found someone who understood that she had done her job, and the CM hadn't, and they weren't charged the extra.

I'm sure that for future trips you'll do a bit more research online, to really know what the price should be, for NOW you did what you could. The price you were quoted was higher than the trips you have taken in the past, it sounded like the right amount higher (to account for his ticket), it seemed right to you, so you believed it had all been done correctly. Especially b/c the CM had been clearly told that you knew he would be missing out on being free (of course in this case, free means he doesn't get the meals a 3 year old would want), and you were clear that you wanted him to be 3 on the reservation.

I would ask them to review the phone call (assuming they still had it) where this was discussed. Just go up until you reach someone who can make exceptions and can understand that you did the work you should have done while on the phone with the CM that made the reservation, and that the CM was the one that messed up.

 

[Fyrefly]

I would keep calling.

Just the other week there was a case of someone realizing that the CM making their reservation had not put the other guests in their group in the right category; they had something like 4 adults in their group, but the CM had only indicated that two were adults. When you have more than two adults, you have to pay more for a room only reservation. The Dis'er kept calling, going higher and higher, because she had clearly stated to the CM that there were 4 adults, and thought that the price she was told WAS the price. Turns out, it would not have been.

She finally found someone who understood that she had done her job, and the CM hadn't, and they weren't charged the extra.

I'm sure that for future trips you'll do a bit more research online, to really know what the price should be, for NOW you did what you could. The price you were quoted was higher than the trips you have taken in the past, it sounded like the right amount higher (to account for his ticket), it seemed right to you, so you believed it had all been done correctly. Especially b/c the CM had been clearly told that you knew he would be missing out on being free (of course in this case, free means he doesn't get the meals a 3 year old would want), and you were clear that you wanted him to be 3 on the reservation.

I would ask them to review the phone call (assuming they still had it) where this was discussed. Just go up until you reach someone who can make exceptions and can understand that you did the work you should have done while on the phone with the CM that made the reservation, and that the CM was the one that messed up.

This. It's not like flying on an airline seat or something else where there are individual tickets, IMHO. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 and you probably should have checked a few weeks after making the arrangements that all worked out fine. But I still don't think the burden is on you to pay for their mistake.

Disney is in the business of building package vacations. People expect, as their product, to be able to be picked up at the airport, stay in their accommodations, at this point even be shuttled around and have their meals taken care of, all by doing one reservation early on. It's not like you were buying things individually, made a mistake your park ticket and are now upset. You're upset because metaphorically you specifically made sure your new car was supposed to have a CD player, and it's come with a cassette and they now expect you to pay extra for the CD when they quoted you a price that they said would include it.

If all else fails, there are good suggestions here to save the money. But there are a bunch of us pulling for you to not have your money screwed up because of someone else's mistake. Just go in there with the right mindset (calm, collected, and let me talk to your supervisor), and we'll be pulling for you.

 

[kehlyrsmom]

If you are staying at a value with free dining and upgraded to the DDP (with 1 Table Service meal) then you would have had to pay to upgrade from QSDP to DDP this year. I think the tickets went up some from last year and hotel as well. I would not expcect it to be $300 more for this trip unless you are going at a slightly differnt time frame staying over an entire weekend vs just weekdays or if you possibly added an extra day this year.

Will your son still eat off of your plate or share with his sibiling (will he need his on meal)? If not I don't think I would worry about it since the CM is the one who messed up the reservation.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

While in theory I agree with you and yes, it is their screwup it isn't going to matter if you are at the gate and they refuse you entry because the child is 3. They will tell you "sorry about that but he needs a ticket." You can fight and show documentation until the cows come home but at the end of the day the child is 3 and requires a ticket. They are not going to give someone a 7 day parkhopper.
OP- maybe you can put it on a credit card and pay it off. I have to agree that $300 isn't a ton of money considering how much WDW costs. In the past the CMs don't come out and say "How old are you?!" They will have a conversation with the child though like this "Hello! How are you doing today? Are you going to see Mickey Mouse? Wow that sounds like a fun time! I see you are a big sister. How old are you? Wow, you must be a lot of help to Mommy. How old is your little brother?" etc. So unless you are coaching your child it is very possible that they will find out your child's age and you won't even realize they are doing it. I know this because the CMs always talk to our kids. We've always bought them tickets if they were of age but we always chuckled once we figured out what they were doing.
Don't take the chance. Buy the ticket. Have a fun trip!

I have never IRL heard about, nor ever witnessed, any CM asking for proof of age from a just turned 3-twelve-days-ago kid, except maybe on the DIS boards.

I don't know about you, but I never carried around my kids' birth certificates when they were younger to prove their age and my kid's were T A L L for their age.

I can see if a person is trying to pass off a close to 4 or a 4+ year old, but give me a break--the kid just turns 3 twelve days before he goes on the trip.

The mom was upfront and honest with the CM when she booked the trip, then called back and spoke with a CM about the situation, they told her not to worry about it, so she shouldn't worry about it!

I don't know why people even bother to ask other people's opinions about things like this, especially since they know (by reading these boards) the answer before they ask--that your kid will lead a life of crime when he grows up by cheating WDW and will most likely end up on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.

 

[MissyDVC]

I have never IRL heard about, nor ever witnessed, any CM asking for proof of age from a just turned 3-twelve-days-ago kid, except maybe on the DIS boards.

I don't know about you, but I never carried around my kids' birth certificates when they were younger to prove their age and my kid's were T A L L for their age.

I can see if a person is trying to pass off a close to 4 or a 4+ year old, but give me a break--the kid just turns 3 twelve days before he goes on the trip.

The mom was upfront and honest with the CM when she booked the trip, then called back and spoke with a CM about the situation, they told her not to worry about it, so she shouldn't worry about it!

I don't know why people even bother to ask other people's opinions about things like this, especially since they know (by reading these boards) the answer before they ask--that your kid will lead a life of crime when he grows up by cheating WDW and will most likely end up on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.

Or maybe they ask because they want others to justify something they feel might not be "right" Because if she (and others) really had no problem with the idea that it was a mistake by Disney, then why even ask?
**I'm not saying that she is wrong in this situation, just stating why people might ask these types of questions.

 

[ajk912]

OP, I would think 99% of the general population (not DISers) wouldn't even notice that. When I look over my reservation confirmation, I look to make sure all the people are there, I double check dates, I don't look at birthdays and all that. Since I wouldn't notice it, I wouldn't call and put up a stink to pay. Isn't the rule if they turn the new age during the trip they are counted at the old age? TBH it wouldn't even register on my radar.

 

[clanmcculloch]

OP, I suggest you speak with a manager. You made your plans in good faith and booked after being given a quote based on the honest information that you provided. You've since paid in full (I'm assuming since you're within your 45 days). IMO a manager should include your child as 3yo without charging you any more than you've already paid. You've been honest since day 1. The CM booking your vacation is the person who made the mistake. The manager should honour that price based on the CM being the person who was in the wrong. Disney typically tries to do right by their guests when CMs make mistakes. I would think they'd do the same here but it generally does require escallation for that to happen.

 

[robinb]

If you have park hoppers I would get rid of that. a 7 day base ticket for him would be $224

Right now taking park hoppers off and adding your son would cost you another $44 to your current package

I think that this is the way you should go. Your 3-year old will eat easily $44 worth of food in 6 days with no hassles and no worries. To make it work you will have to give up your park hoppers but IMO they are overrated. We have Annual Passes and I would say that we return to the same park most of the time rather than change parks even though we could. It's great to pick up a Fast Pass on your way out and then use it when you get back.

BTW, you will be able to get into the parks on 12/11 if you want to. You can pick up your park passes on a package up to 3 days early:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452684 (scroll down to the bottom and read "I. Picking up Package Tickets Prior To Start Of Package".

 

[brymolmom]

As a travel agent, I do make mistakes as we all do from time to time. So I rely on the client to verify all the reservation information that we have discussed in writing (online, email or hard copy) after our discussion and I ask for them to let me know if they see an error right away.

It is so easy to misunderstand each other on a phone call. With insurance/without/ who is what age...it is very easy to get it all confused. It was likely easy and spelled out in your mind, but obviously not so with the agent. It is an unfortunate accident.

Although I do not see you as trying to cheat anyone, I do see you as needing to make good (sounds like you're thinking about it by eliminating hoppers - sounds like a great plan to me). It is really up to you to have verified this well before now. And could have been easily cleared up quickly after the reservation was made by your verifying the data was all entered correctly.

Definitely unfortunate and definitely an accident on both sides.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Let me start this out by asking for no flaming.

My upcoming trip is 12/11/10. I made our reservations back in June. I got my price quote, my husband and I discussed it.. and then we agreed on the price. The lady that I spoke with was very friendly and we chatted for probably an hour about the reservations, Disney and my children. My DS will be 3 on 11/29/10. He misses getting in for free by 12 days. I was fully aware of this when I booked. The CM that took my reservations went on and on about how I should go before his birthday, to save money. We could not do it then, and chose to pay the extra.

Fast Forward to yesterday. I was looking at my reservations online. (after receiving a confirmation of my last payment) It has my son listed as 2!!!! My daugher's age is wrong too. She is 6 and it has her as 5. I am so upset over this. The CM even asked us for the exact birthdates. I gave month, date and year.

I called yesterday and spoke with a CM about this. They told me that I would have to pay the extra money. I do not have the extra money in my budget. After about 30 minutes of different discussions and being put on hold, she came back and told me that he is in the system right now as 2, and that I could leave it at that.. but they could not tell me what I should do.

I really don't know what to do. I don't have the extra money (with the trip coming up and Christmas) I had planned on paying for him being a three year old. ..I agreed on a price quote, but was giving the wrong information. I don't know what the extra amount would be, but I am guessing $300+.

ETA: I also want to add that it is about $300 dollars more this year than our trip last year. This is why I didn't think anything about it. We are going the same exact week, and the same value resort.

Why didn't you receive a receipt in June? If you booked through Disney and or a TA a receipt would have been provided and and reiterated when you made a payment.

 

[shortbun]

Since you've called and tried to fix their problem and they told you they basically didn't care....I think you are in the clear. It's going to be busy because of Mickey's Christmas so no one is going to get petty and ask about the age of your youngest. Next time check all the details. The travel industry is infamous for screw ups. Disney is not exempt from that.

 

[disfan07]

I'm just curious as to how you dont notice this until this close to the trip?

We always look over the emails we get right after we make the reservation and than check again on the Disney website to make sure everything is right.

I'm not saying Disney didnt make a mistake, but I'm curious as to how you didnt notice this before?

 

[Cinderella's slipper]

My two cents worth of advice is that given the lines and time it takes to switch parks, park hopper tickets are just not worth what yo u have to pay. If the park is less crowded and the lines shorter it generally takes no less than 45 minutes to get from one park to the next, and that isn't counting any delays. The 45 minutes is just to get from one park to the next, then you have to stand in line go through the turnstyles and into the next parks entrance. Ughh - We often take mid day breaks but plan our schedule carefully so that we get the most out of each day possible.

Good luck to you.

 

[disneychic2]

I read with interest all of the posts and it is clear there are two factions weighing in here. One is the "what's it going to hurt, they made a mistake, they owe you" way of thinking. The other one is, "in your heart, you know what is the right thing to do and here are some suggestions to make it possible" camp. It sounds to me from your comments that you feel strongly that doing the "right" thing is what you need to do to feel alright about this. I applaud you for this all to rare way of thinking and encourage you to be true to yourself. Just because a lot of people say something, doesn't make it right. You seem like a wonderful mother who wants to teach her children by example. Good for you! How many times have we all been given too much change at the cash register or been undercharged for something? A mistake by an employee, right? So we should keep quiet about? Wrong. Doing what is right when someone is looking is what most everyone does. Doing what is right when no one would know the difference...that's a thing of beauty. I pray you have a magical vacation with your 3 and 6 year old!

 

[bumbershoot]

I read with interest all of the posts and it is clear there are two factions weighing in here. One is the "what's it going to hurt, they made a mistake, they owe you" way of thinking. The other one is, "in your heart, you know what is the right thing to do and here are some suggestions to make it possible" camp.

And there are a few of us who say "the CM messed up (or did something naughty on purpose b/c that's what she thought the OP should do), this isn't what they asked for, and the CMs need to FIX THIS, preferably without charging more, since the OP was quite clear with the initial CM and thought the CM gave her what she asked for".

 

[dclfun]

Guests are responsible for checking their confirmations. Since the OP had, in writing, the age of her child listed as 2 on the ressie she made, then that error should have been corrected long ago. Not everyone does, but we should all be checking our confirmations. It's up to the OP to decide what to do at this point and she has a wide range of opinions from others. If the correct dob was entered, (which she can see on the confirmation) and her child is still listed in error as being 2, then I'd go with that as the dob IS correct. If the dob is incorrect, then I'd call to have it fixed and feel better about my entire trip. I'd rather have the free dining credits and pay for the ticket. At the turnstiles, in order to get a child in for free, she will have to tell the person in that area that her child is 2 so that he can go underneath the bars vs. putting in a ticket. What do you think he'll say? Still, I don't feel like my opinion is important. The OP will need to do what SHE feels is best for her family and child.----Kathy

 

[squirrel]

I had the same problem two years ago when I booked my 2009 trip. I was going to take my younger niece who was 2 at the time. I repeated a few times that she would be 3 by the time we took the trip in October 2009. Free dining and I wanted her on the dining plan.

When I got the price from the CM it seemed rather low compared to the 2008 trip. When I received the online confirmation information I knew why it was so low. The CM had my niece listed as 2. I left it for a while as I was trying to find out from my sister if I could take the older niece one more time before taking the younger niece. The older one is lactose intollerant and she had so much fun getting to eat whatever she wanted. I also knew the younger one loves rides and would want to do some of the 40" rides and wasn't sure she would be tall enough. I was given the okay to take the older niece again so I just took the younger one off the reservation and added the older one.