Anyone else a little miffed about ROTR 2020 opening date?

Also, probably a long shot, but might be worth checking with your travel insurance company to see whether they will cover you for cancelling?
 
but if I were coming from that far away and there was no solid opening date yet, I'd wait until there was one
Yep, all good points however I will be in CA until Jan 7th so I thought I’d covered all my bases with several months of “opening later in 2019” seeming pretty solid to me. Had I organised the trip now, availability for flights and accommodation would be much more limited and much more expensive (flights are nearly $1000 more on their own right now, nearly $6000 return). That’s one reason we need to plan so early from here, particularly for a Christmas vacation which is our peak peak holiday period here through to the end of January. Everyone wants time off so we need to request vacation time from our employers know well in advance as it’s usually first come first serve at that time of year, particularly for my wife.
If your itinerary had 737-MAX or any schedule change because of it, you can probably at least change it, maybe even cancel it...
737’s don’t do long haul from Australia to the US. I’d prefer not to run out of fuel in the middle of the Pacific, that would be much worse than missing ROTR 🤭😲😬. Anyway, no point changing anything at this stage. I’m still looking forward to having a great holiday and feel very lucky to only have to worry about first world problems👌

Anyway, zero chance that I will cancel a whole trip based on one attraction, it’s just very annoying, that’s all. But a big thanks to everyone for empathising, encouragement and trying to offer solutions, that’s been great 👍👍👍 I think the solution is just to build a bridge, have a great time and rethink future vacation destinations.

All the best
 
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Oh, I’m definitely bummed out too. We started planning our October trip back in March. I’ve been on a bunch of Disney trips before, so I knew there was a risk in making reservations that early, but at that point SWGE was scheduled to open in the summer, so we figured we’d be safe enough to plan for the fall. But we were disappointed to hear it would open without one of the main attractions. I was holding out hope for October, but...alas. :(

It’s OK. I’m headed back to Anaheim next year for SW Celebration, and I’m hoping to to squeak out a WDW trip next year, so I’ll definitely get my turn on ROTR eventually.

As far as my October trip...still bummed, but it’s my first time back in DL since 2008, so there’s a ton of other ‘new’ stuff to check out (hello, Guardians of the Galaxy ride!), and it’s my mom’s first-ever trip to DL, so she’s really looking forward to it. We’ll still have a great trip.

Plus - Hyperspace Mountain will be running in October, so I get an extra Star Wars ride (sort of). I’ve never been on the Hyperspace version before, so that sounds cool.
 


Plus - Hyperspace Mountain will be running in October, so I get an extra Star Wars ride (sort of). I’ve never been on the Hyperspace version before, so that sounds cool.
Yeah Hyperspace Mountain is a great overlay, did it in 2016. Can’t wait to do Guardians myself on my farewell tour 😁

Have a great trip
 
I’m super disappointed too! There Jan 5-9 for my 50th, and this ride and SWGE were things I was really looking forward to. I want to be there on my actual birthday, and we are booked on DVC points, so can’t just move the trip.
 
I think everyone has a right to be upset about it. I'm certainly frustrated, but I'm trying not to hold it against anyone. Obviously, Disney PR jumped the gun in announcing that it would open in 2019 on both coasts. It seems to me like even they thought it would be opening sooner. They deserve some blame, but they presumably got this information from Imagineering before the delays were discovered.

I'm sure it's been discussed to death, but I would much rather have an attraction that runs smoothly and with all of the intended features than one that breaks down or is gutted just to meet a deadline. Of course, I'm from the US so it's much easier to visit. (I know, I'm spoiled).

Try to sympathize with the PR representatives you're speaking with, however. They're probably receiving a ton of messages similar to yours. I understand you wanted an apology, but an apology from a faceless PR rep isn't very meaningful and certainly won't make the attraction open any sooner.
 


Farewell tour? Are you a secret celeb?!
I wish! Just making the choice to delete Disney from my future travel plans.

I should clarify for some posters, I understand it’s not the fault of the “guest correspondence” reps I have contacted. While my messages have been direct they have not been at all rude, aggressive or abusive. I have simply outlined my concerns with the way Disney chooses to operate, my opinion that the guest experience is no longer a high priority for the company these days and that I have cancelled future plans to visit their parks, all of which I’m perfectly entitled to do.

All the best.
 
2019 was supposed to be our trip to Disneyland for our fall break in October. Family vote this weekend will determine if we cancel. My vote will be to spend our vacation dollars elsewhere, but I am not sure what the wife and kids want to do. I will have fun if we go, but I can have fun anywhere on vacation.
 
I would be annoyed, although, I don't think you can trust Disney for dates. I am waiting to go back to WDW for Tron. (and Alllll the other new stuff that will be there then) But I am going a year after their tentative dates, because its very important to me that it actually be there.
If your itinerary had 737-MAX or any schedule change because of it, you can probably at least change it, maybe even cancel it...
That's a good point.
 
I kind of do agree it's silly that just because their response was canned that they are not going to any more Disney parks. I would have pursued it more if it is important enough to stop going again. Tho, I really would think as time goes on that will change anyway.

I would never ever make a vacation plan based on something that isn't there yet. And with NO firm date of opening. "Coming later in 2019" is not a firm date. I would not base a vacation around that.

I get being upset. I've had a few bad experiences at WDW that had me fuming and complaining to management. But I enjoy the parks and won't let a few sour moments ruin it all for me.
 
I feel for you. I am lucky enough to live 2 hours away, so even though it won't be open for our trip in November, it's just an excuse to go again next year. If I had to fly overseas and spend a fortune to get there, I'd be very disappointed. Maybe there's a bright side...maybe some people will stay away and the winter crowds won't be as bad as they've been in the past few years (I can dream, right?). I will say that while it's disappointing, there's still a lot to see and do in SWGE. If you just avoid the Critter Country side of the new land, you might not even miss it.
 
I would be annoyed, although, I don't think you can trust Disney for dates. I am waiting to go back to WDW for Tron. (and Alllll the other new stuff that will be there then) But I am going a year after their tentative dates, because its very important to me that it actually be there.

That's a good point.
Understood but I did organise the trip for some 5-6 months after they said the land would open which was announced in May 2018 as Summer 2019.

There are no 737 MAX flying in, to or from Australia but cancelling is not on the table anyway. It’s not necessary as we have plenty of great things planned for the trip so it’s all good.
All the best
 
Understood but I did organise the trip for some 5-6 months after they said the land would open which was announced in May 2018 as Summer 2019.

There are no 737 MAX flying in, to or from Australia but cancelling is not on the table anyway. It’s not necessary as we have plenty of great things planned for the trip so it’s all good.
All the best
I understand your frustration. I'm also an Aussie and have been following closely ROTR news to plan a trip.
Insiders are telling us that ROTR is currently ripped apart as they try to fix the issues in vain. The Jan 17 date has been forced upon DLR and it is not expected to be ready. On top of that it is not expected to work reliably and spend most of the day down. for a long time.
Honestly your situation could be made worse by changing your plans, watching it open and still not see it working.
The latest I read yesterday is that ROTR in both parks is not expected to work reliably at all in 2020.
 
I understand your frustration. I'm also an Aussie and have been following closely ROTR news to plan a trip.
Insiders are telling us that ROTR is currently ripped apart as they try to fix the issues in vain. The Jan 17 date has been forced upon DLR and it is not expected to be ready. On top of that it is not expected to work reliably and spend most of the day down. for a long time.
Honestly your situation could be made worse by changing your plans, watching it open and still not see it working.
The latest I read yesterday is that ROTR in both parks is not expected to work reliably at all in 2020.

Where did you get this information?
 
Look, I’ll still have a great time but like many Aussies, we have planned our Christmas trip to Disneyland well in advance. Helps to get good prices/availability on airfares (particularly over Christmas) and have plans in place so we can save up. We chose Christmas as even though it’s a lot more expensive for airfares, we (I) thought ROTR would definitely be open as all info from Disney has been saying “opening later in 2019”.

Now all of a sudden, it’s not opening until Jan 17th 2020. Well that’s not 2019 is it. So I can’t help feeling a little disappointed and not a little annoyed as plans were put in place months ago and we will miss out on seeing a complete land. It’s not a deal breaker of course because there are many other things I love but I may not have committed to such an expensive time to travel if Disney had been up front about the potential opening time. It’s also obvious all work on ROTR in Disneyland has stopped until the Florida team arrives to sort out whatever was stuffed up by the California team. Surely that’s unnecessary, work can continue with the lessons learned in Florida.

Anyway, Disney received a rather blunt message from me to which I received the expected pithy cut and paste reply suggesting I should use their calendar to check the availability of attractions for my visit. Apparently it’s a simple matter to arrange a visit to Disneyland from the other side of the world in 6 weeks, so there you go.

I wanted nothing more than a sincere apology from them like I did get last year for my poor experience at a MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom. On that occasion they even offered me free tickets to make up for it which I did not want or expect. I couldn’t use them so asked them to donate the cash value to charity or donate tickets to Give Kids the World, no idea if that happened though.

So I’m committed to this trip but I’ll cancel my plans to visit the Shanghai and Tokyo parks in 2021/22. I’ll find another holiday destination for those trips as I don’t want to continue to enable Disney by attending their parks.

Not that they will care of course as we are but 2 in 150 Million.

Rant over. Don’t be concerned, I will be able to move on with my life :)

All the best.


Make sure you bring cheese with all this whining your doing
 
If you are going over Christmas, the crowds would be my far greater concern than ROTR being open yet. I would literally rather go anytime but then, especially if I was spending so much and coming such a long way.
 

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