Why did they cancel my fastpass?

[KPM Disney]

I spoke with someone today at Disney customer service who said, "I just had an email come through on this, let me get it so I can get all the details right." Then he said that SM will be closed from 4/20-4/23 and reopen from refurbishment on Friday, April 24th. I ask what are they doing to the ride and he said "refurbishing it"...so whatever that means. It could open up early, so just be checking on the ride's status that Thursday.

 

[Luckybee]

No. To be very clear, your post was in direct response to a poster who referred to conflicting information, but who also got an extra FP out of the deal. You are willing to overlook the conflicting information and complete lack of coordination by Disney as long as the guests get a freebie. That is what I was referring to. Posts #200 and #202 tell the story.

Yes that was obviously accurate !

 

[cakebaker]

Yes that was obviously accurate !

Perhaps rather than continue to clog this thread with posts debating, it would be best to leave it to those who are actually affected by this and trying to get information.

 

[Cormoran]

I spoke with someone today at Disney customer service who said, "I just had an email come through on this, let me get it so I can get all the details right." Then he said that SM will be closed from 4/20-4/23 and reopen from refurbishment on Friday, April 24th. I ask what are they doing to the ride and he said "refurbishing it"...so whatever that means. It could open up early, so just be checking on the ride's status that Thursday.

Well, you got this information from one CM. But hpriamson has called 4 different times and received different information from each CM. So what information is correct?

 

[sharona]

Company wide announcement emails certainly will reach some recipients before others. Also, not everyone checks their email with the same diligence. I would assume that the email referenced by KPM's CSR will make its way to the others at some point today. Having once worked as a CSR for a very large company, I can say with certainty that the front line troops are almost always the last to know about these things. Poor customer service, training issues, lack of empowerment for the CMs to make it right, poor communication between organizations or cluster at the top - whatever you want to call it - it happens everywhere, including Disney.

 

[Figment&Piglet]

We have FP+ for 4/24...it's by far our daughter's favorite ride. We haven't received an email about any cancellation, so the reports of refurb 4/20-4/23 are so far holding true. It's the last day of our trip, and we have special DVC one park, one day 4-day tix, so rearranging the trip to another day would not work. Crossing my fingers!

 

[hpriamson]

Update: Space Mountain is now listed as "Closed for Refurbishment" on the Disney website, for April 20, 21, 22, and 23. It will open again on April 24. So it appears KPM Disney did find the lucky CM who had correct information.

BTW, to find what rides are open/closed on the Disney website, go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/ and select a date in the upper right corner. It will show operating hours for all rides, as well as what's closed for refurb. You can check also other parks by clicking on the "Magic Kingdom Park" menu and picking a different park. Heaven forbid they just have a web page listing what's closed on what date - you have to click through each date one at a time to see how long a ride is closed for.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Glad to hear they finally made the information public!

 

[hpriamson]

Indeed, it only took a week from when they first started cancelling everyone's Fastpasses!

 

[kaetra]

Yesterday I was able to get a Space Mountain FP for 4/18, the day we arrive. I'm very happy we'll be able to ride it this trip

 

[sharona]

Glad to know it is supposed to be open for our 4/24 visit. It will be interesting to see if we can get a FP+ for it in advance.

 

[hpriamson]

4/24 was showing up as "Fastpass distribution has ended for this day" for Space Mountain when I tried to move my FPs there this morning. I suspect a bunch of people who got bumped from 4/20-23 switched over to 4/24 already.

 

[sharona]

Rats, I had a feeling we'd run into that. I guess we'll be heading there first at RD instead our original plan to FP 7DMT, Space and PP and RD Frontierland...

 

[WriterGina]

I'm hoping we can get one for 4/19...staying off-property so a couple days to wait yet!

 

[MarkF0wle]

I think they must have moved something forward in the schedule. When I was trying to get FP+ for this in mid May last week I couldn't get any, but yesterday they opened up for my dates. Suggests they were planning to close it mid May but have brought it forward.

 

[LilyWDW]

Company wide announcement emails certainly will reach some recipients before others. Also, not everyone checks their email with the same diligence. I would assume that the email referenced by KPM's CSR will make its way to the others at some point today. Having once worked as a CSR for a very large company, I can say with certainty that the front line troops are almost always the last to know about these things. Poor customer service, training issues, lack of empowerment for the CMs to make it right, poor communication between organizations or cluster at the top - whatever you want to call it - it happens everywhere, including Disney.

On top of that I know from experience that no matter WHAT you do, some employees just will ignore and/or forget important information. I could sit them down, tell them personally to their face, give them a written version of what I am telling them, have it posted by the computers, and they would STILL have no idea what is going on. Now, those employees did not last long, but it was still a hassle when it happened.

 

[gdrj]

I'll throw my two cents in.
1- Yes it stinks that you had a FP and planned your day and had it "locked in" (I've learned so much about "locked in" being concrete and the true definition of it.)

2- I would be disappointed as well.

3- I would be happy that I had advance notice. Yes it would have been nice if they did it outside the 60 day FP window but it didn't. Email Disney World from the website to voice your (IMO) valid concern.

4- Keep an eye on FP's sometimes add'l ones will open up as you get closer to the date. If you were switched to something that doesn't work for you maybe something else will open up.

5- Yes Disney could and should communicate better and all CM's that answer the phones should know everything about every question you have. For the most part with rare exception the world doesn't work this way. We would like to have the right answer every time, and a consistent message to its guests or customers. I don't know of a business out there that has everything together. I know my employer doesn't, and most don't. I would imagine the potential quantity of emails and other pieces of communication internally can almost be paralyzing. There probably is a process prior to communication going out and who it goes out to which delays it going out. Should we expect accurate information sure, is it going to happen all the time, probably not. There are numerous studies on effective internal and external business communication; each one probably giving a different answer.

6- If you want to use this as the sky is falling and FP+ is the equivalent to the end of mankind and Disney will never be the same and Walt wouldn't let this happen, CM's don't care, mgt doesn't care, and its all greed, and President Putin is behind it and so on no one is stopping you.

7- If you think it will ruin your trip or your day, I can pretty much gtd it will. If you can let it go you'll probably still have a little bit of fun

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If the ride is going to be closed, then it's not locked in. You can't ride a closed ride.

 

[SPSRAS]

Ive seen many other discussions and threads about this - most are saying it will be closed 22nd -24th or maybe 27th?? Although it is not listed as a planned closure anywhere???

 

[Angel Ariel]

Ive seen many other discussions and threads about this - most are saying it will be closed 22nd -24th or maybe 27th?? Although it is not listed as a planned closure anywhere???

if you go to the Space Mtn attraction page on WDW's site and click on the calendar icon where it says "hours" - when you click on April 20-23rd, it says "no times available.". On April 19th and April 24th, it lists 9:00a-11:00pm and 9a-12a respectively...so it is technically posted now. Hopefully it won't take long for places like here, touring plans, and allears to update their refub info.