Bad AP renewal experience

[jenga1030]

Hello! My teenage kids and I were at Disney World for two weeks in August. During the trip I planned on renewing our Platinum Plus Annual Passes and putting our 2 day hoppers from our free dining package towards the renewal. I had read about doing this and thought it was no big deal.

The way it turned out, I renewed mine at Epcot Guest Relations and had absolutely no problem at all. The CM was even new and had a manager walk her through the steps. I told them I had 2 more APs to renew and should I do that before I go back home or could I call from home in the next month and do it. The CMs said definitely do it before you leave. Ok no problem.

My son and I were out at DS one day so I decided to just renew his there. The CM there told me I wasn’t allowed to do that and all she could do was give me a new AP with the 2 day PH. I told her I just did it at Epcot and she took all my information and went to the back with it. She came out a few minutes later and lectured me on how this is not done because they are giving me a refund on my ticket even though I knew it was non refundable when I purchased it. She said she would do it one time as a courtesy but it could never be done again. It was embarrassing because my son was right there watching me get sternly lectured and other guests could hear. She proceeded to do exactly what the Epcot CMs did and I signed the credit card slip. But she wouldn’t give me my id or APs back until she typed for about 3-5 minutes into the computer. I’m assuming she was putting it in my son’s AP file that we weren’t allowed to do this anymore and this was an exception, etc.

Our last day was at Epcot and my daughter was with me. I went to Guest Relations and explained what I needed and it took the CM about 3 minutes to complete, no lectures, no questions asked, no warnings about not doing it again, no typing for 5 minutes into my file.

I thought this was so strange. Was what I did a normal thing to do? Is it allowed typically? I know not every CM may know how to do it, but I didn’t think it was forbidden. Next year I will have the 4 day PH from our free dining package and plan on using them toward our renewal. I am kind of nervous about it now.

Wow. That is really long. I’m sorry. Thanks if you made it through all that.

 

[gatormom2tots]

I wonder if it was because you were renewing an AP instead of purchasing one initially( from a 2 day hopper)? The renewal is cheaper than the initial purchase so maybe that causes an issue in their system. I have heard of people all the time upgrading ticket to an AP, but not necessarily using it towards a renewal of an AP.

Other than that, I am not sure. Did they charge you the difference in renewal rate or new rate for an AP?

 

[jenga1030]

All three times they charged the renewal rate minus the value of the PH.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Because you manage your kids in your MDX account, you could have applied the tickets and renewed their APs at Epcot without making two additional trips to Guest Relations.

Next year, renew all APs ~ all your data is linked in your MDX account.

 

[jenga1030]

Because you manage your kids in your MDX account, you could have applied the tickets and renewed their APs at Epcot without making two additional trips to Guest Relations.

Next year, renew all APs ~ all your data is linked in your MDX account.

Good to know! Thank you. Next year they will both be over 18. Will I just have to bring their ids with me if they aren’t physically with me?

 

[hiroMYhero]

They both already have what’s considered ‘adult’ APs and their info is in your MDX account. You as the account Manager will have to have ID.

 

[HopperFan]

I wonder if it was because you were renewing an AP instead of purchasing one initially( from a 2 day hopper)? The renewal is cheaper than the initial purchase so maybe that causes an issue in their system. I have heard of people all the time upgrading ticket to an AP, but not necessarily using it towards a renewal of an AP.

Other than that, I am not sure. Did they charge you the difference in renewal rate or new rate for an AP?

Done many times as have others. If AP holders want to do Free Dining, we still have to purchase the required tickets. Then we just use those ticket values towards our AP renewals. I never had an issue.

OP if you wish to bother, send a letter with what you said here with a copy of your receipt. They'll know exactly who it was and can offer some "retraining" to them.

 

[jenga1030]

Done many times as have others. If AP holders want to do Free Dining, we still have to purchase the required tickets. Then we just use those tickets values towards our AP renewals. I never had an issue.

OP if you wish to bother, send a letter with what you said here with a copy of your receipt. They'll know exactly who it was and can offer some "retraining" to them.

Ok, thanks. I had thought about emailing Disney when I got home. But then I was afraid maybe it actually wasn’t allowed and now they will put even more notes in my file about it and I will never be able to do it again. And I didn’t want to get Epcot GR in trouble if they were doing something that wasn’t allowed.

But I knew I had read on here that many others had done it yearly with their package tickets.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Robo]

She said she would do it one time as a courtesy but it could never be done again.

I can't tell you how many times over the years in ticket upgrade discussions that
old chestnut of a line is used by CMs who don't know what the heck they are doing.
I'm not kidding.

I'm sorry you had that happen to you.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

As I've said here before, applying a ticket towards an AP renewal is not a standard procedure, not something that's in our operating guides, and not anything that any CM is trained in how to do. It's not against any rules, but there's literally no reason why any given CM should know how to do this, because we don't teach it to them and it's not an intuitive process by any means. I've figured out about three potential ways to do it and none of them are particularly simple. Some will attempt to figure it out, but many will assume because they've never been told how to do it that it's something that isn't allowed. Regardless of how many people on these boards have had it done for them, it's exceedingly rare in the grand scheme of things, as I've encountered exactly one guest in almost four years who wanted to do it.

 

[Mome Rath]

It may be rare, but didn't require a lecture, IMO. That's supposed to be part of the Disney difference and in all my trips 98% of CM's have done a fantastic job, which makes it more noticeable when they drop the ball. lol

 

[jenga1030]

As I've said here before, applying a ticket towards an AP renewal is not a standard procedure, not something that's in our operating guides, and not anything that any CM is trained in how to do. It's not against any rules, but there's literally no reason why any given CM should know how to do this, because we don't teach it to them and it's not an intuitive process by any means. I've figured out about three potential ways to do it and none of them are particularly simple. Some will attempt to figure it out, but many will assume because they've never been told how to do it that it's something that isn't allowed. Regardless of how many people on these boards have had it done for them, it's exceedingly rare in the grand scheme of things, as I've encountered exactly one guest in almost four years who wanted to do it.

I was prepared for a CM not knowing how to do it. The first one at Epcot was new and she had a manager walk her through it. But the DS CM went to the back to speak to a manager about it before she told me it was not allowed. She didn’t say she didn’t know how to do it or wasn’t familiar with it. It’s just frustrating when you get such conflicting information from one CM to the next. I just wanted to give Disney my money!!

 

[jenga1030]

It may be rare, but didn't require a lecture, IMO. That's supposed to be part of the Disney difference and in all my trips 98% of CM's have done a fantastic job, which makes it more noticeable when they drop the ball. lol

That’s how I felt. Almost every single CM I’ve ever dealt with is amazing!! She made me feel like I was trying to scam Disney or something. You’re right though. It’s so rare that you encounter that so when you do, it is so noticeable.

 

[CarolynFH]

We had a similar experience at DS Guest Services in January 2017. We had bought 2-day tickets online in October in order to make FPs for January 1 & 2 which were blocked out for our DVC Gold APs. So we wanted to apply the cost of those tickets to the renewal of our APs. We got the same “scolding” and admonition that it would be allowed only that once. Interesting that OP’s experience and ours were both at DS.

 

[Robo]

We had a similar experience at DS Guest Services in January 2017... Interesting that OP’s experience and ours were both at DS.

Just know that the location of particularly "bad" or particularly "good" CM ticket interactions is simply the luck-of-the-draw, as
personel changes can happen multiple times a month (or even various hours of the day.)

Over many, many years of tracking and helping in these kind of matters, I can tell you that absolutely ALL ticketing locations have had,
at one time or another, tales of woe (some very unfortunate) and tales of outstanding, above-and-beyond, service to guests.
Here's hoping that the "luck" of your next interaction is one of the latter.

 

[supersnoop]

I had read about doing this and thought it was no big deal.

It's not a common transaction, and certainly not something the CM's are trained to do. Anytime someone asks about it here, I have to emphasize that you should expect problems and you might have to walk away and try again at a different location. I'd say your experience is too be expected for this type of transaction; sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes it can go horribly wrong. I'm glad it worked out for you in the end.

 

[jenga1030]

It's not a common transaction, and certainly not something the CM's are trained to do. Anytime someone asks about it here, I have to emphasize that you should expect problems and you might have to walk away and try again at a different location. I'd say your experience is too be expected for this type of transaction; sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes it can go horribly wrong. I'm glad it worked out for you in the end.

I guess I’d never read comments like that on here. I have gone for free dining every year and have read many comments regarding AP holders getting free dining and there were always several people telling them to just use their package ticket towards renewing their AP. So that’s what I was going off of.

Also, I worked in banking many years and there were definitely rare transactions that I only did once or twice during my career, but if it was ok to do, then there was someone around who could tell you how to do it. She flat told me, after consulting her manager, that it was not allowed. A previous poster said the same thing happened to them.

I don’t think it’s too much to ask for a corporation like Disney to be able to give you consistent answers from location to location. I understand not all CMs know how how to do it. But for Epcot to say it is allowed and DS to say it isn’t is just strange. I know I’m not the only AP holder who gets free dining and uses the tickets towards my renewal. After DS hearing that other locations are doing it, no manager ever thinks to get together with other location managers and ask what the official policy is? I don’t think this is too much to ask.

 

[Kaarup]

Last year as hurricane Irma approached, and we had just gone through Harvey here in Texas, we decided to drive out of Orlando early. I had 10 day Non Exp tickets. Yes I know the rules, but I asked at POP Century if there was any way to save the 4 days left on those tickets. I got the "expires after 14 days" speech. And said "thank you" as we were headed to Epcot. I figured I'd ask someone with a bit more "power".. while we were waiting for the bus, the CM came out and found us and said " i talked to my supervisor" and they added 4 one day tickets to our MDE. If you don't like the first answer, don't be rude.. just go ask someone else who may know how to override.

 

[dsanner106]

Hello! My teenage kids and I were at Disney World for two weeks in August. During the trip I planned on renewing our Platinum Plus Annual Passes and putting our 2 day hoppers from our free dining package towards the renewal. I had read about doing this and thought it was no big deal.

The way it turned out, I renewed mine at Epcot Guest Relations and had absolutely no problem at all. The CM was even new and had a manager walk her through the steps. I told them I had 2 more APs to renew and should I do that before I go back home or could I call from home in the next month and do it. The CMs said definitely do it before you leave. Ok no problem.

My son and I were out at DS one day so I decided to just renew his there. The CM there told me I wasn’t allowed to do that and all she could do was give me a new AP with the 2 day PH. I told her I just did it at Epcot and she took all my information and went to the back with it. She came out a few minutes later and lectured me on how this is not done because they are giving me a refund on my ticket even though I knew it was non refundable when I purchased it. She said she would do it one time as a courtesy but it could never be done again. It was embarrassing because my son was right there watching me get sternly lectured and other guests could hear. She proceeded to do exactly what the Epcot CMs did and I signed the credit card slip. But she wouldn’t give me my id or APs back until she typed for about 3-5 minutes into the computer. I’m assuming she was putting it in my son’s AP file that we weren’t allowed to do this anymore and this was an exception, etc.

Our last day was at Epcot and my daughter was with me. I went to Guest Relations and explained what I needed and it took the CM about 3 minutes to complete, no lectures, no questions asked, no warnings about not doing it again, no typing for 5 minutes into my file.

I thought this was so strange. Was what I did a normal thing to do? Is it allowed typically? I know not every CM may know how to do it, but I didn’t think it was forbidden. Next year I will have the 4 day PH from our free dining package and plan on using them toward our renewal. I am kind of nervous about it now.

Wow. That is really long. I’m sorry. Thanks if you made it through all that.

I have done this several times and never had a problem. It would seem to me that you got a cast member that was determined to find something wrong with the procedure. No idea what the need was for the lecture though

 

[DisneyOma]

I find it very interesting, and generous, of Disney to allow you to use another park ticket to renew an AP. They are losing money on the deal, and it really negates the 'must buy a ticket' clause of free dining. I wonder if they are supposed to do it, or not? Could be that they are not supposed to do it, but management at EPCOT has things mixed up?