why why why why why!!!!

[deakam]

Kind of a rant coming here.....

Our last trip February of 2013 we had 3 parties all booked at POFQ. All of us called and linked the reservations with the other 2. We requested adjoining rooms for 2 of the reservations and that the third be near by. I have some mobility issues and also called to request that we be on the ground floor or near the elevators. When we checked in we were in 3 different buildings at opposite ends of the resort and my room was on the second floor as far from the elevator as you can get. There was nothing noted on any of the reservations.

I have a trip booked for the end of September 2013. We are traveling with another party. Because of the lack of free dining rooms available at POFQ I am booked at French Quarter and the other party is booked at Riverside. No problem the resorts are within walking distance of each other. Well apparently Riverside is testing Magic Bands for September. Now my friend has "reservations" for the things she wants to do----she simply assumed that we got the same thing---and is quite excited to try this new thing. French Quarter is not testing. The thing here is that we have called and called and called about getting one or the other reservation changed so we are at the same resort. Apparently of all the phone calls we made not a single person noted anywhere on either reservation that we were traveling with a party staying at a different resort. Any advice on how to deal with half a party on magic bands and half not?

Also does anybody know if Disney has outsourced it's reservations and guest relations. The last person I spoke with had an accent that was so thick I could barely understand her. And I could not even tell you what kind of accent it was. I also would like to know if anyone here has a phone number to reach someone other than Guest Communications.

 

[minnie mum]

I have a trip booked for the end of September 2013. We are traveling with another party. Because of the lack of free dining rooms available at POFQ I am booked at French Quarter and the other party is booked at Riverside. No problem the resorts are within walking distance of each other. Well apparently Riverside is testing Magic Bands for September. Now my friend has "reservations" for the things she wants to do----she simply assumed that we got the same thing---and is quite excited to try this new thing. French Quarter is not testing. The thing here is that we have called and called and called about getting one or the other reservation changed so we are at the same resort. Apparently of all the phone calls we made not a single person noted anywhere on either reservation that we were traveling with a party staying at a different resort. Any advice on how to deal with half a party on magic bands and half not?

Also does anybody know if Disney has outsourced it's reservations and guest relations. The last person I spoke with had an accent that was so thick I could barely understand her. And I could not even tell you what kind of accent it was. I also would like to know if anyone here has a phone number to reach someone other than Guest Communications.

1. Sounds like you started out with a lack of communications between you and your friend. It's a pity that she made all of these reservations without discussing it with you first. All you can do is find out what her FP+ times are and try to pull FPs for similar times each day. Or simply split up when necessary do do those rides.

2. Why would there be a note on your reservation that you had a friend staying at a different resort? AFAIK, you can link reservations at the same resort, but not different ones. And they don't wait list in case of cancellations either, if that was what you were hoping for.

3. Central reservations has been at a call center for as long as I can remember. But I agree, some of the accents can be a little difficult to understand. The last one I spoke with had a Southern accent so thick you could cut it with a knife. Nice lady though, and very patient when I kept asking her to repeat what she was saying. Sorry, I can't think of another phone number you could try. You could try calling CRO and ask for a supervisor or manager, but I'm not sure what you think that they could do for you.

 

[DisMama3]

I'm guessing since you are within 45 days a change wouldn't be possible anyway. But I could be wrong.

You can always check online for availability at POR. Then if having the bands is important to you you can pay the cancellation fee, cancel your old reservation and make a new one.

If they have the bands they will be able to FP rides and get better seats at the parades if they choose those options. It is only 3 per day so it shouldn't have a huge impact on vacationing together.

 

[Missyrose]

Why not just switch to POR?

 

[calngavinsmom]

Why not just switch to POR?

There is availability there for the end of September.

Good luck

 

[deakam]

2. Why would there be a note on your reservation that you had a friend staying at a different resort? AFAIK, you can link reservations at the same resort, but not different ones. And they don't wait list in case of cancellations either, if that was what you were hoping for.

There would be a note on my reservation and hers because we have been speaking to them almost daily since the reservation was made trying to get her moved to French Quarter. My friend has not been to Disney in 15 years and just assumed that this thing was now the norm. Her tech savvy daughter went ahead and did the rest.

I personally don't care if I get a magic band. I really don't want to plan that much of my trip. However my friend's daughter seems to think this is a wonderful idea. Of course, the last time she was there they did not have the fastpass system in any form. In fact, I was just there in February and am only taking this trip because they asked me to go with to help them navigate. I guess they will have to give up their magic bands if they want to hang with me.

I also have a hard time believing that a company that can come up with something like the Magicband can not link reservations between resorts. I guess the moral to this story is----never believe someone that tells you they will make a note of it.

 

[deakam]

There is availability there for the end of September.

Good luck

What we really wanted was for her to move to French Quarter. Of course either one of us can switch but the free dining is no longer available at either resort. So we would lose that and we are in our 45 day window so there is a fee for that.

I think we will just deal with it and rethink the way we do things on our next vacation.

I guess my big point here is that if you have told more than a few people at the place that you are vacationing that you are traveling with another group that maybe they should have that information somewhere so they do not offer something to part of the group that the other part can not have.

 

[OurBigTrip]

I guess my big point here is that if you have told more than a few people at the place that you are vacationing that you are traveling with another group that maybe they should have that information somewhere so they do not offer something to part of the group that the other part can not have.

As with the earlier poster who I was unhappy with the way it worked out for her and her traveling companions, I do sympathize. But are you seriously suggesting that Disney should track which guests at which various resorts are traveling together, and then only offer the lowest common service to each? That would not only be next to impossible, but poor service as well.

"Sorry, you can't use Magic Bands because you are traveling with someone who is at a resort that doesn't have them yet".

And I most likely missed it, but why didn't you both book at the same resort to begin with?

 

[Missyrose]

What we really wanted was for her to move to French Quarter. Of course either one of us can switch but the free dining is no longer available at either resort. So we would lose that and we are in our 45 day window so there is a fee for that.

I think we will just deal with it and rethink the way we do things on our next vacation.

I guess my big point here is that if you have told more than a few people at the place that you are vacationing that you are traveling with another group that maybe they should have that information somewhere so they do not offer something to part of the group that the other part can not have.

The thing to remember is you're visiting Disney at a very unusual time in this process. This will likely be the only time in the next decade in which one resort is eligible for the new system and another is not. For your upcoming trip, I'd just say that it's only 3 rides or shows per day that you would have to split up (if you can't pull FPs for a similar time) so the majority of your touring will be done together. Enjoy your trip!

And P.S. nowhere in the current resort reservation system does it allow for "travel with" notes for different resorts. The nice upgrade about the new NextGen system is it allows you to link your MDE account to theirs so you can plan together once the system is 100 percent live. You're just caught in a transition period, it had to happen sometime!

 

[LJSquishy]

I would definitely try and switch to POR if you can (that is, if it's important to you to be considered "traveling with" another group). You mentioned having the MagicBand isn't that important to you, so maybe you should see if your friend can just cancel whatever FP+ things she reserved. She can still get regular FastPasses I think and basically opt out of the FP+. Or, switch resorts and try and book the same FP+ things she did.

Either way, it won't ruin your trip and you shouldn't let it! Reservations being linked as "traveling with" really don't mean anything a lot of times. The volume of people going in & out of the resorts is so huge it's difficult to place two rooms next to (or even near) each other sometimes. In the future, I would recommend just making a single room request instead of 2 or more...so if it's most important that you have a ground floor room or be close to an elevator, I would only request that and not worry so much where the rest of your group is rooming. Obviously this time around you're staying in separate resorts. It may end up being kind of fun being in different resorts...one day you can spend time at POR and relax, the next day you can both relax at POFQ...that is, unless you stay in the parks all day! Have a great trip!

 

[maxiesmom]

I guess my big point here is that if you have told more than a few people at the place that you are vacationing that you are traveling with another group that maybe they should have that information somewhere so they do not offer something to part of the group that the other part can not have.

Why would they not offer part of the group a perk they are entitled to? Or offer it to someone who is not eligible? People travel together all of the time, it doesn't mean they are inseparable.

I get your disappointment, but Disney is not to blame. Your friend does not have to take part of the Magic Band test. If they choose to, that is up to them. Doesn't mean there is something Disney did wrong, or needs to fix.

 

[SHOREDAD]

Coming into this late, but we had a similar issue. We were at POR aug 11 to aug 21. We were traveling with 2 other parties. One was staying at POR and the other at POP. The party at POP had the bands. 1. We linked reservations as staying together with the party at POR. We were not near each other but in same building. Only in same building because we changed our requests from first floor to any floor . Had we kept the request for one floor we would have not been In The same building. CM told us when you link reservations and want to be near each other most request for location or floors will possibly not be met and can hinder ability to be near each other. 2. As for the party in POP with magic bands, they were able to switch fast pass times on their phones as we got ours, usually pretty easily, if they weren't able then we just separated. Wasn't that bad. Also they were able to use their KtW cards to also get fast passes. All in all being a little bit away from each other wasn't horrible, and separating in the park gave us all a break form each other at times.