Wilderness Lodge Mess

[sharibrat]

Just curious, for those of you who were told they are NOT offering $50/night credit at WL…..were any of you brave enough to say "well, I know several people who HAVE gotten that offer?"….. and what the response was?

 

[mckelvey72]

My TA was told that and she talked to 3 different people and had to get a little nasty. I ended up with 37.50 a night off. I took it cause I wasn't planning to move anyway so anything helped. I think what is happening is that they would have gladly helped anyone who called in and had concerns. But now that people are posting on publics forums EVERYONE is calling so they are getting tons of phone calls and are pushing back now.

 

[OfTheWind]

Just curious, for those of you who were told they are NOT offering $50/night credit at WL…..were any of you brave enough to say "well, I know several people who HAVE gotten that offer?"….. and what the response was?

Yes. The response was disbelief, as if it were the first time they'd heard of it. If you really want the credit or $50 off you're going to have to call a few times and send an email or two.

My TA was told that and she talked to 3 different people and had to get a little nasty. I ended up with 37.50 a night off. I took it cause I wasn't planning to move anyway so anything helped. I think what is happening is that they would have gladly helped anyone who called in and had concerns. But now that people are posting on publics forums EVERYONE is calling so they are getting tons of phone calls and are pushing back now.

It's sad on Disney's part that your TA even had to get nasty. If they didn't want to give out credits and $50 off per night they never should have started. You can't give a credit to 2 people when 50 are affected. Oh well, maybe next time they'll do a better job of informing guests about their renovations. I'm having a difficult time feeling sorry for Disney.

Oh and I also think more people are calling because the discounts haven't been good for the fall and winter. To pay rack rate and not even get $50 off per night is unacceptable for some people.

 

[sharibrat]

Yes. The response was disbelief, as if it were the first time they'd heard of it. If you really want the credit or $50 off you're going to have to call a few times and send an email or two.

So are they keeping track of how many times I call and ask? And then at some point go "oh, she's called 4 times, we'll give it to her?". Or are you saying that just because you have to keep calling with hopes of getting the 'right' guest services person? Does anybody have the email address to send to?

We are staying the same dates as past years at the same resort, but paying almost $2,000 more this trip (only way to get WL with free dining was to stay Club Level, everything else was sold out for free dining). IT would be nice to get a little of that back, or even for them to offer to give me a standard room with free dining because of the construction…. I'll try again, but it's really hard to call them when kids are home for the summer and it's a surprise trip!

 

[gwynne]

So are they keeping track of how many times I call and ask? And then at some point go "oh, she's called 4 times, we'll give it to her?". Or are you saying that just because you have to keep calling with hopes of getting the 'right' guest services person? Does anybody have the email address to send to?

We are staying the same dates as past years at the same resort, but paying almost $2,000 more this trip (only way to get WL with free dining was to stay Club Level, everything else was sold out for free dining). IT would be nice to get a little of that back, or even for them to offer to give me a standard room with free dining because of the construction…. I'll try again, but it's really hard to call them when kids are home for the summer and it's a surprise trip!

WDW does keep track of how many times you call. I think there are usually notes. I am kind of surprised this isn't mentioned more on the boards. I don't know how many years they go back.
I don't really know why they think this is helpful, I think it's kind of odd and weird.

 

[mckelvey72]

I already had a bounceback offer of 35% off so think that could be why they were hesitant to give me the full 50.00 per night. I think they would have been better off just automatically giving the 50.00 per night credit. People would have been much happier to be given something and not have to call. Plus sure the call center would have been happier haha!!

 

[OfTheWind]

So are they keeping track of how many times I call and ask? And then at some point go "oh, she's called 4 times, we'll give it to her?". Or are you saying that just because you have to keep calling with hopes of getting the 'right' guest services person? Does anybody have the email address to send to?

We are staying the same dates as past years at the same resort, but paying almost $2,000 more this trip (only way to get WL with free dining was to stay Club Level, everything else was sold out for free dining). IT would be nice to get a little of that back, or even for them to offer to give me a standard room with free dining because of the construction…. I'll try again, but it's really hard to call them when kids are home for the summer and it's a surprise trip!

Yes they keep track of your calls and who you speak to. The email is wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. It may take a week for them to get back to you. It really is about finding the right person.

WDW does keep track of how many times you call. I think there are usually notes. I am kind of surprised this isn't mentioned more on the boards. I don't know how many years they go back.
I don't really know why they think this is helpful, I think it's kind of odd and weird.

I think it's odd as well. You really can't have a private conversation through Disney because everything is documented. Oh well.

I already had a bounceback offer of 35% off so think that could be why they were hesitant to give me the full 50.00 per night. I think they would have been better off just automatically giving the 50.00 per night credit. People would have been much happier to be given something and not have to call. Plus sure the call center would have been happier haha!!

I agree. Yes as someone in another thread reminded me Disney is a successful company but they're successful because of their reputation, which wasn't earned overnight. It was earned through years of great customer service.

 

[sharibrat]

Called a second time after some of your urgings today….and got the $50 per night credit!

I think for me, there were NO other hotels in MK area (which I said we wanted to stay in) with availability for free dining. So they really had no other options to give me as far as moving. So THEY transferred me to guest services (I didn't have to ask to be) and she offered the nightly credit!

thanks for the info everybody!

 

[Three cats]

The email is wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. It may take a week for them to get back to you. It really is about finding the right person.

Exactly this. I had resigned myself to moving to Coronado Springs with the free dining on my own after stalking the website waiting for a moderate to open up. The more and more I thought about it the more it bothered me as I know how much my husband looks forward to having a room with a balcony.

I ended up sending a (very nice) email explaining my situation and our disappointment. 6 days later I got a phone call from the nicest woman at Guest Services offering to move us to the Yacht Club for the same price we had originally booked Wilderness Lodge for.

Would the Yacht Club have been my first choice? No. But I am very grateful that we will still be staying at a deluxe and am actually really looking forward to the boat transportation to Epcot and HS.

 

[DebbieB]

Has anyone been able to get the $50 through hotels dot com, or expedia (same company)?

I booked through hotels dot com. I contacted them via e-mail and eventually got the response I posted here earlier, telling me everything was fine and there would still be 2 pools!

I replied specifically asking them to negotiate with Disney for the $50 credit. That was over a week ago and despite chasing it up with 2 further e-mails, I haven't had the courtesy of any response. I just tried phoning their customer service but had difficulty making myself understood or understanding the agent as it was obviously a call centre in Asia. It was very noisy in the background and from what I could hear, I suspect it is a call centre for more than the one organisation. The agent did eventually say that she would get someone to call me back within the next 24 to 48 hours, but I'm afraid I don't have any faith in that. They say the same about replying to e-mails, but then simply don't reply at all.

It looks like I'm out of luck with this. I can't afford to cancel altogether and start from scratch at this late stage, with the difference in prices. (There's no availability for my dates on the 30% offer.) Disney won't discuss the reservation with me because I didn't make it direct with them. And my TA is as good as useless. (Note to self: next time, book direct with Disney!)

So I just wondered if anyone had managed to negotiate anything for a booking made through hotels dot com.

I can't see them doing that. They have a contract with Disney for certain rates, they are not going to start negotiating discounts for individuals. They are large companies with probably thousands of hotels, they are not a local travel agent with a few clients.

 

[OfTheWind]

Called a second time after some of your urgings today….and got the $50 per night credit!

I think for me, there were NO other hotels in MK area (which I said we wanted to stay in) with availability for free dining. So they really had no other options to give me as far as moving. So THEY transferred me to guest services (I didn't have to ask to be) and she offered the nightly credit!

thanks for the info everybody!

I'm so happy it worked out for you!

Exactly this. I had resigned myself to moving to Coronado Springs with the free dining on my own after stalking the website waiting for a moderate to open up. The more and more I thought about it the more it bothered me as I know how much my husband looks forward to having a room with a balcony.

I ended up sending a (very nice) email explaining my situation and our disappointment. 6 days later I got a phone call from the nicest woman at Guest Services offering to move us to the Yacht Club for the same price we had originally booked Wilderness Lodge for.

Would the Yacht Club have been my first choice? No. But I am very grateful that we will still be staying at a deluxe and am actually really looking forward to the boat transportation to Epcot and HS.

I'm happy for you as well but this whole situation still bothers me, as well as all of the construction and the canned responses from Disney. Like someone said earlier, if they'd automatically left a $50 per night credit on the WL reservations during the construction it would have made a bigger impression than the begging and pleading most guests had to do in order to be compensated. Yes those who received their credits are happy but I think some will pause before they book an onsite stay again.

 

[Three cats]

I'm happy for you as well but this whole situation still bothers me, as well as all of the construction and the canned responses from Disney. Like someone said earlier, if they'd automatically left a $50 per night credit on the WL reservations during the construction it would have made a bigger impression than the begging and pleading most guests had to do in order to be compensated. Yes those who received their credits are happy but I think some will pause before they book an onsite stay again.

Totally agree with you. I honestly wasn't even going to bother calling or emailing because I didn't think it would get me anywhere and it would have just added insult to injury to be told "sorry, nothing we can do for you". In the end I took my chances because the whole situation was bothering me so much.

 

[plumsiren]

Exactly this. I had resigned myself to moving to Coronado Springs with the free dining on my own after stalking the website waiting for a moderate to open up. The more and more I thought about it the more it bothered me as I know how much my husband looks forward to having a room with a balcony.

I ended up sending a (very nice) email explaining my situation and our disappointment. 6 days later I got a phone call from the nicest woman at Guest Services offering to move us to the Yacht Club for the same price we had originally booked Wilderness Lodge for.

Would the Yacht Club have been my first choice? No. But I am very grateful that we will still be staying at a deluxe and am actually really looking forward to the boat transportation to Epcot and HS.

That's amazing! Congrats!!

 

[Three cats]

That's amazing! Congrats!!

Thank you

 

[nannette]

Hmmm... very interesting conversation on this thread! I wish everyone good luck getting satisfaction with their reservations. I just moved my reservation from CR cl to WL Honeymoon suite w/cl for 2 of our nights! I am a very happy customer because I just saved about $800 switching resorts!! I was told that the pool would be closed if that mattered to me (which is does not)... I was on the fence about CR cl anyway so making the move and saving $$$ makes me happy!! We'll be there for 2 nights (11/1-11/3) and then off to the YC cl (I'll wait to use the pool at that resort!).

I'm very excited to try this new resort!! Can anyone tell me do you take a boat to Fort Wilderness to get to the Archery Experience?? DH really wanted to do this so I have it booked and just wondered about getting there!!

~N

 

[giginator]

Just got off the phone with Disney. First agent I got offered nothing as a comp, politely I asked for guest services. The woman I got offered us a 50 dollar credit on our magicbands that we can use anywhere on Disney property. We are only staying the one night(room only) before we move for our package to start for the rest of our stay. I thought that was fair enough. I did have to mention that I knew several people had gotten a discount before anything was offered, thanks to these boards!

 

[Marlyn]

I'm very excited to try this new resort!! Can anyone tell me do you take a boat to Fort Wilderness to get to the Archery Experience?? DH really wanted to do this so I have it booked and just wondered about getting there!!

~N

There is a boat from WL to FW

 

[nannette]

There is a boat from WL to FW

Awesome! Thanks Marlyn! I thought so but wasn't 100%

~N

 

[wilecoyote]

question is anyone getting the $50 credit on free dining?

 

[teambeaman]

question is anyone getting the $50 credit on free dining?

I was offered it, but we decided to change resorts.