WDW cancelled our castle dinner?

[J. Thaddeus Toad Esq.]

Update 2.0

My original has garnered a little more attention than I imagined.

I made the initial post in the hopes obtaining the real reason that our reservations were being canceled. I had a hunch that "operational issues" might not be it and figured that someone here would likely know the real reason.

I emailed guest experiences to express my concerns with how this was initially handled. I have not yet heard back from them. I am satisfied with the outcome that CRT provided us with and can't wait to take my girls back to the happiest place on earth in just a little over a week.

Hopefully Disney will take a closer look at the big picture before making these decisions again.

Thanks again for information and support/comments.

 

[Lisa F]

Because the OP had he other highly coveted reservation already on another day. If they hadn't wanted BOG for that day that is what they would have booked.
Is Disney legally entitled to cancel the reservation? I would assume yes that it is in their small print. Part of me wonders whether there would be a case for a prepaid booking being cancelled for something well within their control (not leaky pipes etc) I don't see it as any different than the previous posters example of a wedding venue.


Except I don't know about you but I don't have as large of a meal at lunch, tends to be a cold sandwich and a piece of fruit, dinner tends to be people's main meal of the day. And so a dinner reservation provides better value for money.

of course they are legally entitled to cancel anything at any time for any reason... as long as they give you your money back. last time I checked there was no constitutional right to eat with a princess

How does a dinner reservation provide better value for the money? it is the exact same menu, the exact same food, the exact same experience earlier in the day. It may not be your preference but that does not impact the value on an absolute scale.

 

[mummabear]

ow, many a argument can be made that it should have never happened in the first place. Of course it shouldn't have. But it did and they did what they could to make the best of the situation

But it didn't have to happen, Disney made a decision to displace people. The guests have to make the most of a bad situation but disney created the bad situation.
They have done the bare minimum to people "happy" (as happy as they can be without their first choice) and this from a company that was once famous for its exemplary customer service.

No. I think that is what is causing 2 sides in this. One side believes that Disney correcting the issue they singlehandedly created absolves them of any upheaval they created and optimistically believe they made all those 30 families perfectly happy. The other side believes it was morally repugnant for Disney to class citizens and decide families paying less are less worthy and second class and easily displaced. What they did to correct it doesn't change the attitude that made this acceptable in the powers that be's heads.

That's the way it seems to be spit in my opinion.

I think you have got the nail on the head.
If I walk up and purposely smash your windscreen then hand you money to replace it does that mean no harm no foul? Of course not.

Maybe, but see, I guess we are different than the avg poster here.
We don't get up and make ADR at 180 days. I make our ADR the day of, or maybe the day before
There isn't a thing on property that would impact my trip if I loss it
Had we had a CRT for this night and gotten a phone call I wouldn't have cared at all. We'd have taken any other slot they offered, or worked to find another option that worked.

But accept that there is for others.
How do you feel that they would guarantee anything to you? Even entry to the park one day because they have decided to have a high cost exclusive event?

But this has been my point. You and many others are assuming they cancelled those dinner ADRs just to sell higher priced tickets because of how recently the event was announced.

Correlation is not causation.

Why else do you propose they cancelled those reservations? You think it's a coincidence?

 

[mummabear]

of course they are legally entitled to cancel anything at any time for any reason... as long as they give you your money back. last time I checked there was no constitutional right to eat with a princess

How does a dinner reservation provide better value for the money? it is the exact same menu, the exact same food, the exact same experience earlier in the day. It may not be your preference but that does not impact the value on an absolute scale.

As I said difference here could be argued that is it's a prepaid service.
But airlines get away with it so I am sure they legally can.

As far as value, value is determined by the buyer, for me my lunch doesn't cost as much as my dinner as I don't eat as much, so to pay dinner price at lunch time makes it not as good value for me as dinner would be. It can be he same menu if they wish, doesn't change the fact that I would rather have a full meal at dinner which is why I would have made the dinner reservation.

 

[Lisa F]

As I said difference here could be argued that is it's a prepaid service.
But airlines get away with it so I am sure they legally can.

As far as value, value is determined by the buyer, for me my lunch doesn't cost as much as my dinner as I don't eat as much, so to pay dinner price at lunch time makes it not as good value for me as dinner would be. It can be he same menu if they wish, doesn't change the fact that I would rather have a full meal at dinner which is why I would have made the dinner reservation.

Yes but I think if you argued in a court of law that the same meal, same menu, same experience at 3pm called "lunch" as at 4pm called "dinner" was not the value in an absolute sense, not an emotional and personal sense, you would never win.

It's not a legal contract where there is breach of contract. Stuff happens all the time where things are prepaid and people are issued refunds. Hell I just signed my kid up for childcare at the Y for MLK day and they cancelled it at the last minute. I'm a single mom, I had to bring him to work with me ALL DAY. It was prepaid. They refunded my money. I'm not freaking out, life goes on and crap happens.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I AM horrified that people are coming here to defend Disney or disminish the importantance of people's feelings.
I have little to no understanding of CRT but I feel great sympathy for those affected. I do get that, because I have experienced disappointment in my life.
For those blasting those who have been affected, go get a hobby. One day you'll be in their shoes, and something that means a lot will be taken from you.

 

[mummabear]

Yes but I think if you argued in a court of law that the same meal, same menu, same experience at 3pm called "lunch" as at 4pm called "dinner" was not the value in an absolute sense, not an emotional and personal sense, you would never win.

Not sure in what scenario you would be arguing about value in court.
But to clarify they didn't have a 4pm dinner, they had a 7pm or later dinner and I personally do agree that going out for lunch is the same experience as going out for dinner, maybe it's hard to quantity but I actually don't have to, if I wanted a dinner reservation that's what I would have made, and I shouldn't have to settle for a lunch one because Disney wants to kick me out for people will to pay more.
Would I have a right to complain if I hadn't been able to make a booking at the 180 days because of this event? Possibly we would have complained at another example of Disney taking away options for the masses to cater for the super rich, but we would have just booked another night, we would have made our BBB reservations and our FP+ with that in mind, hell it may have even effected our park schedules completely if I was changing MK days based on crowd calendars hours etc not to mention any other bookings at any other parks.
There would have been lots of options at that time.
It's not asking too much from a Disney to have theirs schedules sorted (outside of the uncontrollable) at the time they are asking guests to lock themselves into plans.

 

[DCJ]

Lame, Disney.
If they had blocked out that date for reservations, ok. But the way they did this was not very sympathetic to the families that planned for the CRT reservation. They seem to be curious where that 'line' is that they can anger or disappoint people and get away with it, and at what point they damage their reputation. They decided it was worth the risk to disappoint the children..'guests' to make the cash on this deal. The little money grabs here and there.. I thought the Cabanas in MK were way too far.
What next? Wedding Pavilion? I'd hate to be the CM told to make that call.

 

[mom2rtk]

What next? Wedding Pavilion? I'd hate to be the CM told to make that call.

LOL, I can't even imagine....... Sorry, "operational issues" have caused us to reschedule your wedding..........

 

[grimley1968]

LOL, I can't even imagine....... Sorry, "operational issues" have caused us to reschedule your wedding..........

As Disney proves on an almost daily basis, everything has a price.

 

[tcufrog]

I have been booted from a dinner reservation because of a "private party" event. I think the thing that bothers me the most about it is that Disney blatantly lied about it. If they had to cancel at the last minute because of a true operational issue such as fire in the restaurant then I could understand what they initially offered as being reasonable. I have had something similar happen to me and I was furious because 1. I was lied to and 2. I was told at the last minute leaving without enough time to make decent alternate arrangements. If the offending party (airlines in my case) had told me the truth (It was actually a security issue since VP CHeney was flying out of my connecting airport and not a weatherdelay of unknown duration) as soon as possible I could have made alternate arrangements (sleeping at a friend's apartment near the airport).

 

[momandmousefan]

So glad to hear this was fixed for you. (Hopefully it was for EVERY reservation they bumped.) It's ridiculous that you would have to make multiple phone calls to sort out their error though.

 

[CT Disney]

Yours is only one, narrow hypothetical as well. My point is nobody really knows what happened behind the scenes, but chances are it was an honest screwup by average folks who happen to work for Disney, and not a nefarious plot hatched by Scrooge McDuck.

This thread has turned into a witch hunt without knowing all the facts.

You are correct; it could have been an honest mistake by average folks who work for Disney. Still...if that's the case...they could have called the $500 per plate folks and canceled their meal. Wonder why they didn't go that route?

As for lunch being a replacement for dinner...even if it's the exact same food at the exact same price, there are definitely reasons I wouldn't be happy with the switch. For example, if I had a big breakfast booked that day, lunch would be too early for another big meal. Also, many people enjoy taking a break during the afternoon, and then showering and freshening up for a nice dinner.

Fact of the matter is...Disney days are not flexible any more. You really need to book rides, meals and experiences in advance. When one piece of the puzzle is unexpectedly changed, it has a domino affect on your other plans.

 

[MamaBelle4]

You are correct; it could have been an honest mistake by average folks who work for Disney. Still...if that's the case...they could have called the $500 per plate folks and canceled their meal. Wonder why they didn't go that route?

As for lunch being a replacement for dinner...even if it's the exact same food at the exact same price, there are definitely reasons I wouldn't be happy with the switch. For example, if I had a big breakfast booked that day, lunch would be too early for another big meal. Also, many people enjoy taking a break during the afternoon, and then showering and freshening up for a nice dinner.

Fact of the matter is...Disney days are not flexible any more. You really need to book rides, meals and experiences in advance. When one piece of the puzzle is unexpectedly changed, it has a domino affect on your other plans.

Especially considering you're talking 30 families with plans for 6 months vs. 60 individuals with plans for 2 weeks.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

While not your preference, that does not mean that they downgraded the OP. What they offered was the same food, the same princesses, the same cost... the same everything at an earlier time. Personal preference about when your eat your biggest meal aside, they did not offer a "substandard replacement." They offered the same exact experience at a different time. Get mad at Disney for what they do that is wrong, but blowing up about something that they actually did NOT do does not help anything. It just makes people (Disney included) disregard what you are saying because what you are saying is false. Maybe the first line CM should have had the authority to give the OP anything in the world he wanted but the fact that it escalated to someone who did have that authority is not automatically a horrible handling of it. Most organizations, especially the size of Disney, have different levels of authority.

I am not following the highway in the sky thing because something like that is out of reach to me at this point in my life... so if I were to get all bent like you are, it would be more "catering to rich people" ... people with dual incomes and not working single mothers of special needs kids. There is ALWAYS someone more fortunate than you are and there is always someone less fortunate than you are. If I spend all of my life being bitter about people who can afford things that I cannot, that's a lot of wasted time. Rather I will enjoy what I can afford. I just had the trip if a lifetime with my 8 year old son, and did not feel shortchanged by any premium elite stuff I could not afford. Most of that stuff that I can't afford has no impact on me and it seems like Disney made it right when it DID have impact on someone. So no harm, no foul.

I don't feel what they offered is equal. For me dinner never equals lunch. we will just have to agree to disagree on this one. As to highway in the sky, we are not "rich people". This is a once in a lifetime for our 15th anniversary, and we were very disappointed by what amounted to a bait and switch, but it has since been fixed, because we said something.

 

[jpeden]

Reading through I gather there was an issue with the Highway in the Sky event that caused guests to email guest relations. No idea what this is about but why not just go with the flow and be flexible about that issue?

Because they cut out an entire course of the five course dinner, consolidated it into four courses, and still charged $150 a person and were content to do it without informing anyone. So no, I wasn't going to "go with the flow" when I paid $316 for two people to go on a five course progressive dinner with one course being a cheese and champagne course when the cheese and champagne course was eliminated by serving champange in plastic flutes at the Citricos Bar and the cheese was added to the dessert buffet when originally it was a cheese board presented by waiters with champagne in the GF Tea Room in crystal champagne flutes.

So yes, I complained, and yes when I was told it wasn't going to be restored I cancelled. Luckily for those who didn't enough people complained that they put the event back right.

 

[jhaig]

As Disney proves on an almost daily basis, everything has a price.

Sadly this will never stop as long as people keep on paying.

Disney has certainly done their share to fleece their guests of every penny they have, but now they are affecting regular guests that don't choose to pay extra for so-called exclusive events. They follow the money and have no qualms about screwing everyone else.

This is appalling on Disney's part, further proving that the guest experience that Disney used to pride itself on is now gone forever.

 

[Accident]

Especially considering you're talking 30 families with plans for 6 months vs. 60 individuals with plans for 2 weeks.

that are probably all locals because most travelers won't hear of new events after their fastpasses are booked and they think they are done planing.

 

[mummabear]

Especially considering you're talking 30 families with plans for 6 months vs. 60 individuals with plans for 2 weeks.

Exactly if it really was a miscommunication (as a previous poster suggested) between departments than surely you would cancel the event that a) had the least amount of people inconvenienced and b) people had had booked for the shortest amount of time. Therefore if it was an accident surely it was the $500 60 person meal that should have been cancelled

 

[ellie05]

I don't know about y'all but if I found a company morally repugnant in their actions I would never, ever go there and give them money in my life. There are a few out there that fit this category for me and you can bet I have never given them a dime.

I have not put Disney in that category... yet. But I will say that this sort of actions don't go unnoticed just reassured me that I am making the right decision by not renewing our AP and taking a long break. I honestly hardly doubt we will ever go back to WDW as often as we did. This are the times I look back and I am thankful we didn't but DVC.