Are you averse to the 'new' 5-day pass only? Please read and comment...

[jory29]

I just got back from my two week vacation to California. I spent 6 days at Disneyland and guess what? I did not getbto ride every ride I wanted to and I didn't get to see everything either. I'm sad because next year I only get 5 days in the parks. Thank you Disney

I'm sorry you didn't get to ride every ride you wanted to. I agree, 6 days is usually not enough. 5 days next year will feel like you are rushing around more.

Thanks for your post, stating that you found you couldn't see every attraction you wanted to - this was my point exactly in my post just prior to yours... I am sure that a lot of DISboard members and other Disney guests feel exactly the same way.

 

[jory29]

We were there last week, and also didn't get to do everything. We were there for 5 full days, and I experienced about 3/4 of the attractions in Disneyland Park, and only a 1/4 of California Adventure. I didn't get to see World of Color, fireworks, or any of the shows, but did make it to Fantasmic and saw the parades.

Disney goes through all of this time and effort to create so much, and yet they don't give you enough time to see it.

Well stated. Very well stated. I'm sorry you also missed out on so many attractions during your 5 day stay.

 

[coopersmom]

I finally got a response to my response and it is the same form letter everyone else has been receiving, just slightly different (updated) from the original form letter, I received after my initial email ...

"Thank you for your e-mail to the DISNEYLAND® Resort.

We apologize for the disappointment you mentioned in your e-mail
regarding our current, available ticket offers. Unfortunately we no
longer have the 8-day DISNEYLAND® Resort PARK HOPPER® Tickets available.
However, you may wish to consider a combination of our available
multi-day DISNEYLAND® Resort PARK HOPPER® Tickets that would best meet
your needs. Additionally, a DISNEYLAND® Resort Annual Passport, and its
additional benefits, may be a viable option.

Any change in our ticket offers is made after thorough research based on
Guest feedback, as well as the quality and price of our product versus
that of the local market. Please be assured that our Guests’
impressions are important to us and your comments will receive careful
consideration during our ongoing pricing reviews.

If you would like any further information on our available ticket
offerings. we invite you to contact us online at disneyland.com or call
(714) 781-4565.

Again, thank you for contacting us. Comments such as yours are welcomed
in that they assist us in evaluating our operation and our success in
generating happiness for our Guests. We hope you will have the
opportunity to visit the DISNEYLAND® Resort soon and that our
attractions and entertainment will delight you in every way.

Sincerely,

Michelle XXXX
DISNEYLAND® Resort
Guest Experience Services


Received date: 9/21/12



Original Message Follows:
------------------------
First Day of Visit: 10/05/2012
Length Of Stay: 7

We purchased six-day tickets for Disneyland for use on our
upcoming trip to the Disneyland resort. We will be
spending 7 nights and 8 days at the Grand Californian resort reservation
#XXX in a premium view concierge level room. We have only recently
been told that we will NOT be allowed to upgrade our tickets--despite originally being told we could--to eight-day park tickets. Huh? You
won't sell us tickets for the length of stay in your most expensive
hotel, in one of the most expensive room categories? We have also
arranged for in-room celebration (approx. $400) and Halloween party/tour tickets, as well as two other Disneyland tours during our trip. All told we are
looking at a [cost redacted] vacation a year in the planning and I'm just now finding out that we will be unable to visit the park on two of our days?!?!? This is wholly unacceptable.

Buying $600-$900 worth of additional tickets (the cost of two-day hoppers OR annual passes for our family) for two more days is also completely out of the question. And an annual pass would not serve us at all well, since we live 1,000 miles away from Disneyland with no plans, or ability, to return within the year.

[FULL NAME/ADDRESS/EMAIL REDACTED]"

... NOTE: We purchased our tickets AFTER the price increase, but before they stopped selling the six-day-hopper and upgrading tickets onsite. Any chance we'll get a different answer at the park itself?

 

[Piglet99645]

Your letter had very specific questions and concerns. That response is unacceptable.

 

[jory29]

I finally got a response to my response and it is the same form letter everyone else has been receiving, just slightly different (updated) from the original form letter, I received after my initial email ...

"Thank you for your e-mail to the DISNEYLAND® Resort.

We apologize for the disappointment you mentioned in your e-mail
regarding our current, available ticket offers. Unfortunately we no
longer have the 8-day DISNEYLAND® Resort PARK HOPPER® Tickets available.
However, you may wish to consider a combination of our available
multi-day DISNEYLAND® Resort PARK HOPPER® Tickets that would best meet
your needs. Additionally, a DISNEYLAND® Resort Annual Passport, and its
additional benefits, may be a viable option.

Any change in our ticket offers is made after thorough research based on
Guest feedback, as well as the quality and price of our product versus
that of the local market. Please be assured that our Guests’
impressions are important to us and your comments will receive careful
consideration during our ongoing pricing reviews.

If you would like any further information on our available ticket
offerings. we invite you to contact us online at disneyland.com or call
(714) 781-4565.

Again, thank you for contacting us. Comments such as yours are welcomed
in that they assist us in evaluating our operation and our success in
generating happiness for our Guests. We hope you will have the
opportunity to visit the DISNEYLAND® Resort soon and that our
attractions and entertainment will delight you in every way.

Sincerely,

Michelle XXXX
DISNEYLAND® Resort
Guest Experience Services


Received date: 9/21/12



Original Message Follows:
------------------------
First Day of Visit: 10/05/2012
Length Of Stay: 7

We purchased six-day tickets for Disneyland for use on our
upcoming trip to the Disneyland resort. We will be
spending 7 nights and 8 days at the Grand Californian resort reservation
#XXX in a premium view concierge level room. We have only recently
been told that we will NOT be allowed to upgrade our tickets--despite originally being told we could--to eight-day park tickets. Huh? You
won't sell us tickets for the length of stay in your most expensive
hotel, in one of the most expensive room categories? We have also
arranged for in-room celebration (approx. $400) and Halloween party/tour tickets, as well as two other Disneyland tours during our trip. All told we are
looking at a [cost redacted] vacation a year in the planning and I'm just now finding out that we will be unable to visit the park on two of our days?!?!? This is wholly unacceptable.

Buying $600-$900 worth of additional tickets (the cost of two-day hoppers OR annual passes for our family) for two more days is also completely out of the question. And an annual pass would not serve us at all well, since we live 1,000 miles away from Disneyland with no plans, or ability, to return within the year.

[FULL NAME/ADDRESS/EMAIL REDACTED]"

... NOTE: We purchased our tickets AFTER the price increase, but before they stopped selling the six-day-hopper and upgrading tickets onsite. Any chance we'll get a different answer at the park itself?

Your letter had very specific questions and concerns. That response is unacceptable.

I agree with Piglet99645, the answer is still generic ("we apologize for the disappointment"? - disappointment is putting it mildly!) The good thing though that has changed, and provides a glimmer of hope is this one:

"Please be assured that our Guests’
impressions are important to us and your comments will receive careful
consideration during our ongoing pricing reviews."

This seems a bit more promising to me, in that your comments will receive careful consideration, Coopersmom. It sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not - that sentence has a tone to it now that seems to imply that they know people have a need for longer park hopper tickets and maybe they will consider it now.

Maybe a Disney Executive did try out my suggestion of trying to fit in all of the attractions in 5 days at both parks. And then realized they simply could not do it.

All I know is that we can't give up hope. We have to stick together.

 

[coopersmom]

No one at the ticket booth, guest relations or the hotel was willing, or able, to help us extend our tickets past the six-day hopper we already had. I was even told I was "lucky" they didn't take the six-day away from me since they no longer offer them. Not good customer service AT ALL!

Though I will add that we had zero problems at the turnstiles exchanging our printed paper tickets for six-day hoppers.

 

[jory29]

No one at the ticket booth, guest relations or the hotel was willing, or able, to help us extend our tickets past the six-day hopper we already had. I was even told I was "lucky" they didn't take the six-day away from me since they no longer offer them. Not good customer service AT ALL!

Though I will add that we had zero problems at the turnstiles exchanging our printed paper tickets for six-day hoppers.

You were told you were LUCKY that something you had already purchased was not taken away from you? Disney, Disney, Disney...

I am really sorry you weren't allowed to extend your Park Hopper tickets beyond the stated number of days.

Thanks for coming back here to post about your experience, I hope this makes Disney understand how disappointed we are in the new ticket policy.

It reminds me of a large department store - what if they said, "Oh, I'm sorry, but I see you already shopped here for the past several days. We simply can not allow you to shop again today, unless you pay a higher price for the items you purchase today, as well, pay as more for the items you already purchased."

 

[coopersmom]

You were told you were LUCKY that something you had already purchased was not taken away from you? Disney, Disney, Disney...

Yeah, I didn't really like that one. At first I didn't get it and was like, 'Lucky how?' and he said, 'Because we no longer sell those.' My response was: 'If they no longer sell your couch does someone come in and take it back?' He (this was at 6th floor concierge desk at Grand Californian) said people who had purchased longer tickets in packages were having them cut back to five day tickets WITHOUT NOTICE and only finding this out at check-in. (They were refunding the up charge, but that was it.)

I had elected to print my tickets at time of purchase, so I physically had them (or, at least, the exchangeable vouchers) and, like I said before, had no problem having six-day passes spit out at the gate when they scanned the ticket sheets.

People caught in this time zone--planned trips when longer tickets were available, taking them when they're not--are really poorly served. I never, ever would have booked 7 nights at a Disney hotel if I didn't think I could upgrade and have an entry ticket for each day of our stay. That was the plan.

In the end, we had to fiddle with Halloween party tickets (didn't go in until 3 PM that day) and skip going on our departure day to make it work. I actually tried to leave on Thursday, and head to my dad's a day early, but was told that if I changed my hotel check-out date at that point (without 72 hours notice) I'd be charged a one night fee. I might have been able to fight and get that waived but, I just wasn't willing to put in the time, energy and stress that would take to MAYBE make it happen. (Who wants to fight on their vacation?) So we just tried to make the best of it.

There was lots to like about Disneyland, and we might go back someday, but if this policy remains in place, it wouldn't be for more than 3 nights (5 days).

There were plenty of things I would have liked to do that we didn't have time for at the pace we wanted to have an enjoy our vacation.

 

[Piglet99645]

I actually tried to leave on Thursday, and head to my dad's a day early, but was told that if I changed my hotel check-out date at that point (without 72 hours notice) I'd be charged a one night fee. I might have been able to fight and get that waived but, I just wasn't willing to put in the time, energy and stress that would take to MAYBE make it happen. (Who wants to fight on their vacation?) So we just tried to make the best of it.

Pardon my language but that is some piss-poor customer service right there.

I am so disappointed in how this is being handled. It is one thing to take away the hoppers, another thing entirely to give the shaft to people who bought tickets before the change.

I'm headed to WDW in 5 days, and we are getting 6 days there (not enough but all we have time for). I feel a bit guilty, honestly, supporting a corporation which is treating their customers in this manner. My next trip will be to Universal.

Hello Disney? By turning away customers now...... you are making us try other theme parks with our children which they may prefer..... and when they grow up, they will take THEIR kids to see Harry Potter instead of Dumbo. Get a clue.

 

[dcraytho]

Will Disney ever hear us?

 

[jory29]

Yeah, I didn't really like that one. At first I didn't get it and was like, 'Lucky how?' and he said, 'Because we no longer sell those.' My response was: 'If they no longer sell your couch does someone come in and take it back?' He (this was at 6th floor concierge desk at Grand Californian) said people who had purchased longer tickets in packages were having them cut back to five day tickets WITHOUT NOTICE and only finding this out at check-in. (They were refunding the up charge, but that was it.)

I had elected to print my tickets at time of purchase, so I physically had them (or, at least, the exchangeable vouchers) and, like I said before, had no problem having six-day passes spit out at the gate when they scanned the ticket sheets.

People caught in this time zone--planned trips when longer tickets were available, taking them when they're not--are really poorly served. I never, ever would have booked 7 nights at a Disney hotel if I didn't think I could upgrade and have an entry ticket for each day of our stay. That was the plan.

In the end, we had to fiddle with Halloween party tickets (didn't go in until 3 PM that day) and skip going on our departure day to make it work. I actually tried to leave on Thursday, and head to my dad's a day early, but was told that if I changed my hotel check-out date at that point (without 72 hours notice) I'd be charged a one night fee. I might have been able to fight and get that waived but, I just wasn't willing to put in the time, energy and stress that would take to MAYBE make it happen. (Who wants to fight on their vacation?) So we just tried to make the best of it.

There was lots to like about Disneyland, and we might go back someday, but if this policy remains in place, it wouldn't be for more than 3 nights (5 days).

There were plenty of things I would have liked to do that we didn't have time for at the pace we wanted to have an enjoy our vacation.

Your couch comment was a good one! They really can't take something away once you already purchased it, and I am shocked others were partially refunded and cut back to 5 days.

Since it costs us so much money to get out to CA, I think we may have to start consider looking toward other vacation options that will be more cost effective. Not sure when we will next get back there, and hoping the policies change before then.

Pardon my language but that is some piss-poor customer service right there.

I am so disappointed in how this is being handled. It is one thing to take away the hoppers, another thing entirely to give the shaft to people who bought tickets before the change.

I'm headed to WDW in 5 days, and we are getting 6 days there (not enough but all we have time for). I feel a bit guilty, honestly, supporting a corporation which is treating their customers in this manner. My next trip will be to Universal.

Hello Disney? By turning away customers now...... you are making us try other theme parks with our children which they may prefer..... and when they grow up, they will take THEIR kids to see Harry Potter instead of Dumbo. Get a clue.

I still don't understand Disney's ridiculous new ticket policies. It is so ridiculous.

Will Disney ever hear us?

So far, no good - but maybe they will make some changes soon. We just can't give up hope, we have to keep believing in some Disney magic.

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

 

[sgrap]

I have e-mailed Disney and received the same basic response as others have quoted. Today I wrote a letter and sent it snail mail to Disney's Guest Relations: Disneyland
Guest Relations
1313 Harbor Blvd. P.O. Box 3232
Anaheim, CA 92803-6161

Has anyone else tried this?

Anyone have other suggestions?

 

[jory29]

I have e-mailed Disney and received the same basic response as others have quoted. Today I wrote a letter and sent it snail mail to Disney's Guest Relations: Disneyland
Guest Relations
1313 Harbor Blvd. P.O. Box 3232
Anaheim, CA 92803-6161

Has anyone else tried this?

Anyone have other suggestions?

For a DISer 'earning your ears', you are doing a great job!!
Thank you SO Much for submitting a snail mail to Disney.
I for one are on board with this, (I will mail my letter tomorrow) and numerous others will be on board, too.

Sending written letters by mail can only help.

So...Who's on board this Mark Twain steamboat with us???

Thanks, Sgrap, good idea to kick this back into gear. Game on!

 

[jory29]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3012794

I am reading this now - looks like they are changing things up - I will comment when finished reading the thread...

Here's my input.
Kudos to Coopersmom, who is ever-present on these boards - she totally rocks! Thanks!!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46550073&posted=1#post46550073

 

[Shawn]

We generally visit every 2 years, so i just found out about this when I was on the DL resort site trying to book our next vacation and could not find the 6-7 day passes! Thanks for this community for informing me of this fiasco.

Our modus operandi has been Saturday - Friday trips to Disneyland -- Occasionally Saturday - Saturday. We come down from Oregon, and thus are at the hotel usually by 1:00 or so. We have enjoyed visiting the park 'just a bit' that night as a preview of sorts of the entire trip.

That is, we generally visit the park Saturday -Thursday or Friday, and valued the 6-7 day hopper passes. As others have pointed out, spending the big bucks for an extra 1 day pass is ludricious. Going to non-DL sites would be an option for others, but we are Disneyphiles, we don't even get a car when we go down there, we take the shuttle, don't drive, and just relax for the week.

We hit the park in the mornings and evenings, and relax at the hotel during the crazy busy hours of the afternoon. I know that many, many folks do that. That is, this is a VACATION resort, and it's not a vacation to me to spend dusk-to-dawn in the park without a break.

Thus, yes, it really does take 6-7 days to leisurely see all that I want to see and do all that I want to do at DL and DCA (which I love btw, but I guess I am one of the few there).

So with this restriction, it seems that the best option for us is to basically save money by booking 1 less night at the Grand Californian or the Disneyland Hotel (the only hotels we like to stay at down there), and 'make do" with the 5 day pass. I'm thinking that we'll modify our trips to be Sunday - Friday, not visit the park on that last Friday morning, and pocket the difference in the hotel cost.

So I did a quick calculation at the DL site and here is the difference:

GC: Sat-Fri is $4467, Sun-Fri is $3824 -- so I guess I'd save $643.
DH: Sat-Fri is $3723, Sun-Fri is $3204 - so I'll save $519.

The point of this is that I generally pay that extra chunk of cash since I can visit the park if I want, but it's not worth it to be forced to just hang around the hotel. Disney is also missing an extra days worth of food for 5 people, so this move either saves me $750 on my next trip or costs disney $750 on the trip, depending on ones point of view.

Perhaps the hotels are so full, that Disney Resorts does not care, they'll just rent my extra day to the next person. I don't know.

-Shawn Dawson - 40 year veteran of Disneyland and current DVC member - and still a Disneyphile, who is scratching his head over this silly ticket change.

 

[jory29]

We generally visit every 2 years, so i just found out about this when I was on the DL resort site trying to book our next vacation and could not find the 6-7 day passes! Thanks for this community for informing me of this fiasco.

Our modus operandi has been Saturday - Friday trips to Disneyland -- Occasionally Saturday - Saturday. We come down from Oregon, and thus are at the hotel usually by 1:00 or so. We have enjoyed visiting the park 'just a bit' that night as a preview of sorts of the entire trip.

That is, we generally visit the park Saturday -Thursday or Friday, and valued the 6-7 day hopper passes. As others have pointed out, spending the big bucks for an extra 1 day pass is ludricious. Going to non-DL sites would be an option for others, but we are Disneyphiles, we don't even get a car when we go down there, we take the shuttle, don't drive, and just relax for the week.

We hit the park in the mornings and evenings, and relax at the hotel during the crazy busy hours of the afternoon. I know that many, many folks do that. That is, this is a VACATION resort, and it's not a vacation to me to spend dusk-to-dawn in the park without a break.

Thus, yes, it really does take 6-7 days to leisurely see all that I want to see and do all that I want to do at DL and DCA (which I love btw, but I guess I am one of the few there).

So with this restriction, it seems that the best option for us is to basically save money by booking 1 less night at the Grand Californian or the Disneyland Hotel (the only hotels we like to stay at down there), and 'make do" with the 5 day pass. I'm thinking that we'll modify our trips to be Sunday - Friday, not visit the park on that last Friday morning, and pocket the difference in the hotel cost.

So I did a quick calculation at the DL site and here is the difference:

GC: Sat-Fri is $4467, Sun-Fri is $3824 -- so I guess I'd save $643.
DH: Sat-Fri is $3723, Sun-Fri is $3204 - so I'll save $519.

The point of this is that I generally pay that extra chunk of cash since I can visit the park if I want, but it's not worth it to be forced to just hang around the hotel. Disney is also missing an extra days worth of food for 5 people, so this move either saves me $750 on my next trip or costs disney $750 on the trip, depending on ones point of view.

Perhaps the hotels are so full, that Disney Resorts does not care, they'll just rent my extra day to the next person. I don't know.

-Shawn Dawson - 40 year veteran of Disneyland and current DVC member - and still a Disneyphile, who is scratching his head over this silly ticket change.

Thank you for a very well written post that expresses in detail how disappointed you are in this change, and valid reasons for why Disney should bring back the 6 and 7 day Park Hoppers. I hope you will send this in to Disney, though I am sure they keep track of things on this board.

Disney.... Are you listening? If you can't hear us, please put on your Dumbo ears. Thanks!!

 

[sgrap]

We generally visit every 2 years, so i just found out about this when I was on the DL resort site trying to book our next vacation and could not find the 6-7 day passes! Thanks for this community for informing me of this fiasco.

Our modus operandi has been Saturday - Friday trips to Disneyland -- Occasionally Saturday - Saturday. We come down from Oregon, and thus are at the hotel usually by 1:00 or so. We have enjoyed visiting the park 'just a bit' that night as a preview of sorts of the entire trip.

That is, we generally visit the park Saturday -Thursday or Friday, and valued the 6-7 day hopper passes. As others have pointed out, spending the big bucks for an extra 1 day pass is ludricious. Going to non-DL sites would be an option for others, but we are Disneyphiles, we don't even get a car when we go down there, we take the shuttle, don't drive, and just relax for the week.

We hit the park in the mornings and evenings, and relax at the hotel during the crazy busy hours of the afternoon. I know that many, many folks do that. That is, this is a VACATION resort, and it's not a vacation to me to spend dusk-to-dawn in the park without a break.

Thus, yes, it really does take 6-7 days to leisurely see all that I want to see and do all that I want to do at DL and DCA (which I love btw, but I guess I am one of the few there).

So with this restriction, it seems that the best option for us is to basically save money by booking 1 less night at the Grand Californian or the Disneyland Hotel (the only hotels we like to stay at down there), and 'make do" with the 5 day pass. I'm thinking that we'll modify our trips to be Sunday - Friday, not visit the park on that last Friday morning, and pocket the difference in the hotel cost.

So I did a quick calculation at the DL site and here is the difference:

GC: Sat-Fri is $4467, Sun-Fri is $3824 -- so I guess I'd save $643.
DH: Sat-Fri is $3723, Sun-Fri is $3204 - so I'll save $519.

The point of this is that I generally pay that extra chunk of cash since I can visit the park if I want, but it's not worth it to be forced to just hang around the hotel. Disney is also missing an extra days worth of food for 5 people, so this move either saves me $750 on my next trip or costs disney $750 on the trip, depending on ones point of view.

Perhaps the hotels are so full, that Disney Resorts does not care, they'll just rent my extra day to the next person. I don't know.

-Shawn Dawson - 40 year veteran of Disneyland and current DVC member - and still a Disneyphile, who is scratching his head over this silly ticket change.

So true, you make your points very well. We have also spent anywhere from 5-8 nights at a DLR hotel and enjoyed every minute of our hopper passes that we could squeeze out! I know my kids (me too!) are going to be so disappointed to arrive at DLR and have to wait until morning to go into the park!

Please express your thoughts to Disney via both e-mail and snail mail. The addresses have been posted in this thread. I'd be happy to find them again if you don't want to dig through them. The more people who write, the better!

 

[sgrap]

I received a phone call today from Disneyland in response to the snail mail letter I sent regarding the discontinuation of 6+ day hopper passes. I didn't get much more than a thank you for writing, that they do read and take into account what people write. The change is in response to all the ticket 'sharing' that she said was "out of control." She did say that Disneyland is working on a new system (I gather the separate turnstiles, but she didn't elaborate), but they did not know if they would be bringing the 6+ day hoppers back. She suggested the AP, but understood how that wasn't a good option for us living far away and not going to Disneyland often.

She then said that she would be sending us "back door passes" which are good for 6 people on each pass to help 'make up' for the lost time we would have on our trip. Does anyone know what that means? I am gathering it is a separate entry?

I hope more people will take the time to e-mail and also snail mail.

 

[jory29]

I received a phone call today from Disneyland in response to the snail mail letter I sent regarding the discontinuation of 6+ day hopper passes. I didn't get much more than a thank you for writing, that they do read and take into account what people write. The change is in response to all the ticket 'sharing' that she said was "out of control." She did say that Disneyland is working on a new system (I gather the separate turnstiles, but she didn't elaborate), but they did not know if they would be bringing the 6+ day hoppers back. She suggested the AP, but understood how that wasn't a good option for us living far away and not going to Disneyland often.

She then said that she would be sending us "back door passes" which are good for 6 people on each pass to help 'make up' for the lost time we would have on our trip. Does anyone know what that means? I am gathering it is a separate entry?

I hope more people will take the time to e-mail and also snail mail.

Thank you for your post, Sgrap! My guess on the backdoor pass is that it may be a one time fastpass for up to 6 people, but I could be wrong. Can anyone else offer any input as to what these passes might be? Thanks!

 

[lurpee]

Just thinking aloud here but could it be like a VIP--not have to wait in lines as long? Maybe it's a back door to the rides to reduce on their lost time in the park.