by jkrachtus
- 8 months ago
“In November of 2010 during Thanksgiving week, my family and I spent 7 days at Disneyworld. This has been a 5 year Family Reunion tradition since 1995. In years prior we have visited both Disneyland and Disneyworld numerous times. In 1995 we all camped at Camp Fort Wilderness, the experience was fantastic!! In 2000 we stayed at the cabins at Camp Fort Wilderness, again we felt special and had a fantastic time .In 2005 we also stayed at the cabins, and this was during Christmas and New Years. Although the crowds were large our trip was memorable. In 2005 for the first time we joined Disney’s Grand Gatherings option. We had a total of 19 men, woman, and kids. The events we signed up for were Disney’s character breakfast and the Safari ride and African dinner, both at Animal Kingdom. We also signed up for dinner and a Christmas concert at Epcot. Every event went smoothly and was very enjoyable. We decided as a group to join Grand Gatherings again in 2010. In 2010 there would be 19 family members staying in 5 rooms at the Disney All-Star Music and 2 rooms at the Military’s Shades of Green Resort. When booking our reservations, we were very disappointed to find out our military family members were not allowed to use Disney Magical Express from the airport. Not even at a discounted rate. They were active Military and purchased 8 day Park Hoppers and most meals at the Parks, but were not allowed to ride the bus. We all arrived together at the airport, but they had to take the time to find alternate transportation. This was our first disappointment!
When booking our 5 rooms at the Resort all parties requested rooms in close proximity of the other. When we arrived Monday November 22nd we were informed that we had been put into 3 different units, 1 not even close to the others. One of our eldest family members (80 yrs old) was put into the far back portion of the Resort. We could not switch any of our rooms with her, since ours were all upstairs. We were informed that it was the best they could do, which is frustrating since we had made reservations a year in advance. To add insult to injury, we had not been informed, until the very last day that the Resort would have come to get her each morning with a wheel chair, so she wouldn’t have to walk the whole distance. Our second disappointment!
While we are there, we enjoy the Resort early and late hours and utilize these to the fullest .On our first early hour expedition to Epcot Center we arrived at the bus pick up outside the hotel at 7:50 am. The bus did not arrive until 8:55 am, we along with all the other Resort guests completely missed the early hour. When employees were questioned about the buses, no one could give an answer. Our 3rd disappointment!
In 2005 our Grand Gatherings character breakfast was in the Animal Kingdom. On our 2010 reservations there was no park location, so we assumed it was still there. When we arrived at the gate that morning, we were told the character breakfast was at the Tusker House. When the Tusker House checked for reservations, we were told we had none. I immediately called the Grand Gatherings number, and was told we were in the wrong park; we needed to be in the Magic Kingdom. There was no way now that we could make it .I asked if there was any way they could change it to this location for us, or change dates. I was told that was not possible. I then requested a refund, since we prepaid approximately $450.00. I was informed that since it was our fault there would be no refund or reschedule. I explained how there was no location listed on the confirmation sheet, when I refused to just drop it the woman became very agitated and disrespectful. I then requested to talk to someone higher up. The next woman I talked to agreed to present the case to the owner and call me back on my cell phone. When I finally heard back (4 hours later) I was in formed that if they refunded our money, they would be losing money. I was totally horrified with that remark, we have been coming here since Disneyworld opened and since we began doing family reunions here we spend between $17,000.00 and $25,000.00 as a group per visit, to be told they would lose money if they reimbursed us was beyond belief. A very large fourth disappointment!
I must also point out the good and positive guest treatment we did receive. Our children were very upset about missing the character breakfast, so the Tusker House managed to get our entire group in for the character breakfast, and took great care of us. It was tough for the adults to know our $450.00 was now a $700.00 breakfast. Another positive was that that evening we went to the All-Star Music help desk and explained our situation to the two women that were working. Wendy and Abigail took great effort in attempting to help us. They personally called the Grand Gatherings and were very surprised at how rudely and abruptly they were treated. They looked at our confirmation form and could not find a location either. They were both totally embarrassed by the situation and talked to there manager who then offered us a partial reimbursement of $200.00 through the hotel to compensate for our loss. We deeply appreciated and accepted their offer. We felt something was better than nothing.
The next day we participated in the Grand Gatherings Safari ride and African dinner. In 2005 it was fantastic, there was a bird show to begin the event, then the Safari ride and then the family style African meal with dancers and music. In 2010 the bird show was eliminated and the dinner was now a buffet with predominately Americanized foods and very little exotic African dishes. The experience we came to enjoy was being able to sit with family enjoying exotic foods while relaxing and watching the dancers. After waiting in lines all day we did not enjoy having to wait in a buffet line to eat mainly fast foods. A fifth Major disappointment!
We have been huge Disney supporters and fans. We have always told people how wonderful the Disneyworld experience has been for us, Disneyworld more so than Disneyland has always been special to us, we have always been treated like Kings and Queens. In 2015 we will be enjoying another family reunion, I am sad to say that the group is now torn on returning to Disneyworld. Times are hard for everyone financially and the thought of leaving there disappointed again weighs heavy. I know for sure we will never participate in Grand Gatherings option again. I am not sure what changed between 2005 and 2010, but as flawless and as enjoyable 2005 was 2010 was a disaster.
In conclusion I realize it has been almost a year since our trip, and I expect no compensations, but I do believe that there were enough negative events that I needed to address in hopes it will save someone else from going through it.
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