First some background- My mother in law has passed away, and she loved taking her children and grandchildren to Disneyland. My father in law worked for Kodak, and when they moved to California in 1972, Disney was his account until he retired. With their generosity, we always went to Walt's park or Downtown Disney for dinner.
My mother in law left her each of her grandchildren some money. My youngest daughter had the brilliant idea that a way to honor her grandmother would be if all of us went to Disneyland together on a separate day after all the funeral related events were done. Everyone loved the idea and began to book flights. Us, our four kids, and all the grandkids equal 17 people total. Not a bad sized group. We're coming from different parts of the country, and of course, each family wants to pay for their own group's expenses.
Because we range in age from grandparent to 2 years old and none of the youngest have been to Disneyland (all but 2 of the grandkids have been to Walt Disney World), we need to plan wisely.
I suggested the best plan of action would be for each adult to submit a "Top 5 Must-See Attractions" list so we could coordinate. They agreed, and everyone agreed that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was a must do. So everyone else's ride number one would start after that. (The Number One choice among the families? A tie between Space Mountain and Big Thunder. Then Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.)
Enter the Disneyland Resort website. I found that trying to book a group of 16 people (the two year old is free) for park reservations was impossible. Our group size was too large. Nor could I make any restaurant reservations for the same reason.
Calling Disney's Group Services, I explained our situation and the special reason we were all going. Now, I know these folks have minimal power and authority. Still, I was told to break the group up into two and make reservations for the park. No, they could not book all 16 of us for the same day. (With my extensive background in customer service for more than a couple of decades, I'm not sure I believe this. Anything can be done if you ask the right person.) Still, this was a no-go. So, I asked about meal reservations with a desire to have a small cake to commemorate our Mom / Mother in Law / Grandmother. Same answer. When I asked about where it would be easiest to gather for a meal or how best to do it, I was given a canned answer. Not even a hint of consideration or seemingly real interest or concern. So disappointing, especially coming from the guest relations experts at Disney's flagship park.
Back to the website I went. We ended up with three separate groups. Thankfully, our chosen day was available.
Since I checked on the app that Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway were using standby lines, we decided to bypass purchasing Genie+. When it's $25 a head for 17 people, you're talking about a lot of cash.
Days later, one group would decide to add on a day and take their kids to California Adventure. If you think that would be easy to do, you'd be wrong.
Spain and simple, the system is broke. Guests who want to see the best of Disney Imagineering have to go through hoop after hoop to make it happen. Doesn't matter whether it's at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. It's just so sad. Now, I know Robert Iger wants to fix the mistakes of Bob Chapek- but some of these messes came about during Bob 1.0's reign. Greed has overtaken good customer service. And that starts at the top.
(Photograph copyright Mark Taft.)
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