Question: I need your help with a Disney vacation that turned out to be a disaster. My family of four joined my sister’s family and our mother at Walt Disney World recently. Even though we were on the same reservation — called a “Grand Gathering” by Disney — one of our rooms was far away from us, down the hall at the Wilderness Lodge.
Initially, we couldn’t get into the Magic Kingdom because our travel agent ordered the wrong tickets by mistake.
From there, things went from bad to worse. Our monorail broke down, making us late for a character breakfast. We had multiple problems with our dining plan, which forced us to spend hours trying to figure out the bill and leading to several embarrassing situations. The dining plan was apparently new and Disney was horribly unprepared to deal with gratuities.
All of this was complicated by problems with our hotel-issued room and park cards, which did not work multiple times at either park entrances or park restaurants.
And then there were the lines. We arrived at EPCOT, hoping to ride on Soarin’, only to find a five-hour wait for a FastPass. I expected more, and left very disappointed. I wrote a letter to Disney, but haven’t received so much as an acknowledgment after eight months. — Troy Pelias, Dallas
Answer: Disney should have answered your letter. But I think I know why it didn’t. Your initial complaint (the one I published is less than half the length of the one you sent) read like a laundry list. Companies tend to ignore those because they conclude the customer is just a whiner.
Only, you weren’t. You had several legitimate problems, including receiving the wrong tickets and having a dining plan that fizzled. I think the other problems should have been left out of your letter, because they probably lessened the effectiveness of your grievance.
For example, the room assignment problems should have been handled while you were at the Wilderness Lodge, not afterward. Think about it — there’s not much Disney can do about the inconvenience of being separated after your vacation is over. Similarly, the long wait at Soarin’ could have been addressed by showing up at the park’s opening, when the lines are at their shortest, or vacationing during the off-peak season.
And the broken down monorail? That happens. Disney shouldn’t be expected to compensate you for a technical problem.
Had you narrowed your complaints down to the two or most significant problems and offered a way for Disney to make things right, I believe this would have turned out differently. Your complaint would have been taken more seriously, and you probably wouldn’t have been subjected to an eight-month wait.
Even so, Disney was a little quick to dismiss your initial letter. A review of its promotional material for “Grand Gatherings” (defined as a group of eight people or more) sets a high bar for customer service. It promises a “one-of-a-kind” experience that’s “even more magical.” Among the special benefits: a dedicated team of “Grand Gathering Travel Planners” that will handle every detail of your itinerary.
That’s not what happened to you.
I contacted Disney on your behalf. A representative called you to apologize for your less-than-magical experience. Disney refunded the $1,030 you spent on park passes and sent you a $100 gift card that can be used on your next visit.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know that I completely agree with you about the broken monorail and other poor quality experiences, Chris. It seems that Disney should have issued tickets to another character dining experience if the people were very late to the breakfast. If it was only 10 minutes late, then maybe not. The letter doesn’t provide this detail. I don’t think a $100 credit for the fact that Disney employees didn’t change rooms and the Disney dining plan was complicated is little compensation indeed. You are right on regarding lines: It’s Disney, what do you expect? The place, like all amusement parks, are overcrowded. To me, the questions I would like you to answer are (1) How much time should be allocated to trying to fix a problem during the vacation? For example, do you spend an entire morning, 3-4 hours, trying to get the room changed or do you give up and decide to complain about it afterwards because you have just lost a huge chunk of your vacation time? And, (2) What do you do when staff are not responsive to your legitimate complaints and don’t quickly fix the problem while you are still on vacation?
I agree with Elliot here. The dining plan and ticket problems were the only real problems. The wait times are the vacationer’s fault. Here’s what I tell every going to WDW for the first time:
Treat it like a Mount Everest expedition. It requires lots of planning and research, stamina, and tons of money.
Bob
I am an advid traveler and have a severe Disney addiction. Having said that, we have had the dining plan many times never with an issue. I have never experienced a major transportation issue. I have been late to dining reservations to the tune of 10-20 minutes and they still accomodated us. Soarin is very popular. You have to plan ahead to avoid 2 hour waits let alone 5 in peak season.
Having said all of that, A) we travel in NON-PEAK times B) We plan, do research on boards and have read all of the books.
I travel 60,000 miles a year for work and take 2-3 major vacations a year. I have never found a place more accomodating than WDW. All you have to do is ASK. Anything from food allergies to room location (yes, we have said we disliked our view and were moved promptly).
This person’s travel agent should be the source of the refund for messing up the tickets. Disney went WAY above and beyond in their more than generous refund.
I agree with Lyle and am also a Disney addict. I have only found one of two situations where advising a castmember (aka Disney Employee) of the situation and a reasonable outcome did not result in a possitive. In hind sight, Disney did what they could in the other situation but there really wasn’t an ability to fix the situation.
Here’s another suggestion when it comes to Disney. They plan for everything. Odds are when something happens they have an alternative in the works just ask.
As far as the Dinning Plan, my wife and I have used it as long as its been around (years). If you simply tell your server you are on the plan at the start so they can steer you to what you can / can’t do you’ll be fine. The only time we had a problem, we forgot to tell the server from the begining.
“We had multiple problems with our dining plan, which forced us to spend hours trying to figure out the bill and leading to several embarrassing situations.”
What didn’t they get after the first problem encountered with the dining plan? The Disney dining plan is the easiest thing to figure out and Disney offers plenty of information about the whole plan (such as which restaurants participate, type of meals eligible, etc.). I agree with John – simply tell the server you are using the dining plan and the server will be glad to inform you of what’s included in it for you. Communication and common sense should have been used to avoid the “embarrassing situations”.
The only problem we found when we used the Disney dining plan was the food portions were way too huge!!
I’ve been to Disney twice on corporate events and remain UNIMPRESSED
I have been to WDW last year and when we arrived our rooms was too far to the
lobby so we requested to change which the morning manager granted.
After that we decided to move to the new room and take the rest of the days visiting the parks.
When the night manager came she was not happy with the move and called
at night to demand us to move out the new room with kids sleeping and luggages and all by ourself (You have to move yourself no one will help and in the mid of the night). She also had coming visitors sit in front of the room, and
have securities open the room without knocking.
I had a sick kid at the time and she was really threatening. I mean if the hotel
made a mistake of assigning us into a room why can we wait until morning to
straighten it out. We persist because I have a sick kid and she let us have the room, but still we had such a bad feeling about how WDW treated us especially when this is a place for kids.
May be she let us have the room not out of compassion but because when we seeked her up her office with the camera she retreated inside and let her employee dealed with us.
I agree with Chris’s advice on effective letter writing. Sure, have a specific detailed log for reference giving times, dates, names and details, but also summarize the damagess and the actions you want taken.
But Chris I disagree strongly that just because the OP didn’t write the letter the way you know how to, he deserved a fricking 8-month wait. UNacceptable!
I don’t know if this went to execs or not, but I doubt it – that delay sounds more like routine customer “disservice” and if he is anything like the cast member you profiled in the other article, not a surprise whatsoever.
I’m glad you helped him get results though in the end.
Finally Danh’s situation? That female “manager”s head would have been on a platter if she tried to force me, kids and luggage to move in the middle of the night after someone else already approved the room stay. Brilliant move with the camera, but I would have levelled her in front of the biggest crowd possible at the busiest time, lost her tons of business, and THEN called her manager demanding her firing. HOW DARE she ruin guests experience there like that making paying guests feel like criminals?!?!
Danh you should really send that story to consumerist.com with her name, her phone number and specifics. Managers who bully paying customers for no reason and cruelly should be treated in blunt instrument, direct frontal “no prisoners” style, especially at a place like Disney with a higher bar for quality.
I visited Disney in March on a very busy school vacation week, and Disney was more than happy to fix things that were presented to them.
Our room at the AKL was not what we were promised initially, but a supervisor at the front desk fixed it and gave us a credit for the trouble. It was a long check in process, but all ended well.
We used the Dining Plan and found that as long as you read the instructions on what it covered and what it didn’t, dining out at Disney was very easy. I had no trouble with gratuities the entire stay, despite that they were all put on my room card. It’s a bit unusual adding the gratuity before you pay the bill, but not horrible. People at every restaurant were also very helpful in explaining what the Dining Plan covered.
We knew Soarin would have a long wait, so we went there at Epcot’s opening and got a Fastpass for two hours later. That’s not Disney’s fault that a ride is popular, and any preparation would have shown that.
Waiting until you leave to complain at Disney makes no sense, because people are very attentive.
I’m not sure what the complaint is about “long lines” with Fastpass. The electronic system is set up such that people can set up an appointment interval and come back later without having to wait very long in line. Soarin’ is one of the most popular attractions in the park, so the Fastpass slots get used up quickly. The only way to avoid long waits is to get to the Fastpass dispenser early. Once the Fastpass ticket is in hand, one can go on other rides or just walk around.
I have been to WDW so many times, I have lost count! One of the reasons I do visit so frequently, however, is how accomodating everyone (usually) is. I have encountered very few problems but those I have, have been taken care of quickly and to my satisfaction. Several years ago, I was booked in to All Star Sports during a Pop Warner meet. It was my husband and me and 13,000 kids. I asked to be moved to a different location, but there was none (or so I was told). IChris’ advice to keep complaints simple, staright-forward and timely are right on. I feel it is also helpful to indicate what action you would like them to take. I followed up my less than great experience with a letter to Disney’s version of customer relations and got a reply prompt letter, an apology and a $100 gift card.
It would have been easier to fix his problems had they been brought up at the time they happened. Trips generally do not go perfectly, but if you don’t bring up the issues so that people can fix them, then it is a lot easier to resolve. By leaving things, the traveller became part of the problem rather than part of the solution. and yes, the travel agent should bear some responsibility – but I see no mention of him calling the travel agent either.
I’m sorry (and I know this is nearly a month old) but I’m calling BS on 1/2 of this.
What do you mean the travel agent sold tickets that the Magic Kingdom wasn’t included? IMPOSSIBLE. Disney has varying ticket media but none that universally exclude a specific park. Furthermore, FL Resident Epcot after 4 ticket wouldn’t be sold by any travel agent.
Arriving late to a Character Breakfast is also a non issue. Unless you are hours late and the breakfast is over by the time you get there, Disney will do everything possible to get you a table as quickly as possible. Yes, you may wait a bit but you won’t be turned away.
I’m not sure I even understand a “5 hour wait for fastpasses.” Your return time MAY be 5 hours in the future but I think everyone can agree that for Sorin’ that is reasonable and to be expected. Heck, in peak-season, fastpasses for Sorin’ are often GONE for the day by lunchtime.
The DDP has been around for years. Servers also ask when they first greet you if you are on the DDP. That is SOP, and again, has been for years.
Frankly, I think Disney was overly generous in their response.