Won't be doing the Frozen Ever After dessert party again

Queen of the WDW Scene

It's only MY opinion, YOU decided to quote it.
Joined
Aug 24, 2016
Did it last night. Purposefully did not ride the attraction since I was going to be able to ride it after Illuminations.
When Illuminations was over they told us the ride was down and they weren't going to try to fix it for us.
The alternatives were unacceptable in my opinion so today after arriving home I emailed Disney.
Just wanted to share my experience.
 
Soarin which I went on 3 times yesterday it Frozen today. I left this morning so that wasnt possible. Spoke to guest relations was dissatisfied so I accepted nothing and chose to email as soon as I got home.
 


What did you want as an alternative? If the attraction is down there is not a lot that can be done if you are not able to go on it a different day. A FP for Soarin is a good alternative, but you already went on several times, so not a sweet. Did Disney offer any other choices?

If you want money back, how much would you consider an attraction worth? Disney usually does not discount tickets if attractions go down, so I don't see any money returned due to Frozen going down and you refusing Soarin, so I wonder what would have made you happy. I am not asking to be snippy, just curious.
 
I would be irritated too. I know that nothing is promised and that rides do go down, but it is called the Frozen Dessert Party for a reason.
Yes, they did mostly all they could to find an acceptable alternative, but if none legitimately worked, I would ask for 50% of the party cost back. It's not like it actually cost them that money to host the party, so they are not taking a loss.
 
Oh this is good to keep in mind. We spent a lot of money on Ultimate Nights Of Adventure at AK specifically to ride and skip having to go to Navi and FoP earlier in the day. Now I wonder if we need to rethink that. It’s on our last day and we’ve not been to Pandora.
 


Soarin which I went on 3 times yesterday it Frozen today. I left this morning so that wasnt possible. Spoke to guest relations was dissatisfied so I accepted nothing and chose to email as soon as I got home.

It's disappointing for sure. But we all know, rides are unpredictable and can go down at any time. I think FEA goes down a lot. I'm assuming all the other rides are closed after Illuminations?

Soarin sounds like a reasonable alternative to me. You just don't like it cause you already rode it 3 times. I get it. But nothing is guaranteed. What kind of resolution are you looking for?

And since this was posted in the restaurant forum, how were the food and drinks?
 
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To me, the value in the party is the food... they don't even guarantee the fireworks will go off, and the ride is just an extra little bonus, so as long as they replaced it with a comparable tier 1 I do not think that you have a right to money back.

Generally Disney will fix this stuff with a fastpass for a later time (also allowing preferred viewing of fireworks on a later date). It's unfortunate that the ride was down but they gave you a comparable experience and I think that their fine print allows for that.
 
Trust me we all understood that rides go down and none of us blamed anyone in particular.
The party was held inside that night so to me when that happens its probably a good idea to allow guests to ride prior to Illuminations especially since there is a lot of extra walking involved when you go to check in at one place and they tell you to go all the way over to Norway then you have to go all the way back over to view Illuminations and then go all the way back over to Norway
But I guess that's besides the point anyways.

There were many that took the alternatives and there were many that were outwardly upset and did not.
I think the lateness and how cold it was definitely got the better of some.
I'm not sure if anyone else decided to reach out to Disney after.

I don't feel like the ride is at all a "bonus".
You are paying for the ride.
Prior to the addition of the Frozen theme the Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party cost $49 per adult. With the addition of the attraction the price went up to $79 per adult.
Clearly Disney feels that riding the attraction is worth another $30 per adult.
So in my email I requested compensation in that amount by either receiving a refund in that amount to my credit card or a gift card.
I have not heard back yet but will update when I do.

I'm not generally one to have much to complain about on my Disney trips but this was just quite disappointing for the additional amount of money I paid.
Its not like say MVMCP where if one piece of the party cannot go on as planned its a small piece of the total.
With this dessert party there are 3 pieces all of which were not as planned although the alternatives for where its held and having to stand for Illuminations were made quite clear in advance so I have no issues with those pieces.

Next trip I'm staying CL and purchasing FP+ so I'll definitely be using one for FEA heck maybe even 2 to make up for not being able to ride this time.
 
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Bummer. Since one of the major reasons to do that party is the ride, the ride being down is a massive downgrade. I would say reasonable compensation would be a Fastpass good for any ride in any park on any future date for each party attendee.
 
Did it last night. Purposefully did not ride the attraction since I was going to be able to ride it after Illuminations.
When Illuminations was over they told us the ride was down and they weren't going to try to fix it for us.
The alternatives were unacceptable in my opinion so today after arriving home I emailed Disney.
Just wanted to share my experience.
Not even an Anytime-FP+?

Hhmmmm.

I agree, Disney could have 'fixed it'.
 
Prior to the addition of the Frozen theme the Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party cost $49 per adult. With the addition of the attraction the price went up to $79 per adult. Clearly Disney feels that riding the attraction is worth another $30 per adult.
Beer, wine and some mixed drinks were added. Seating was added. The dessert offerings were expanded and a Nitro station was added.
 
What happens if FEA or other popular fp rides you've specifically purchased fp's for are down. Do you get your money back? Curious.

Its a bit different in my opinion.
The dessert party was FEA specific and essentially I paid $30 ffor one ride.
I'll be booking my FP+ in such a way that would allow for some wiggle room if the ride does go down.
AKA I will not make it at 10pm on my last night. You know if the ride went down at 10am it would have been fixed.
And having a designated place to contact (DSS) with any issues that arise I'm betting I'd get a quick and reasonable solution.
 
I think Disney does usually try to make things right. We did the FEA dessert party just a couple weeks ago and felt that it was a great event from the dessert selection, beverages and uncrowded viewing area. That alone made it worth it. Unlike HEA which we did not care for. The ride was a motivator to book this event so i can see being disappointed with the ride being down - unfortunately out of anyone's control.

Not everything runs perfectly despite it being WDW. We also attended the toy story early morning magic - well wouldn't you know it slinky dog was down the whole time. So they did what they could and gave people 2 FP to ride SDD later and also had other rides in the park open which we could ride prior to the RD crowd entering. I could have complained but i felt that they did the best that they could to provide an acceptable resolution.

I'll be interested to hear what they come back with and i think if you are asking for a refund of $30 pp that is reasonable considering you did enjoy a good portion of the event.
 
Not even an Anytime-FP+?

Hhmmmm.

I agree, Disney could have 'fixed it'.
They did. The OP just didn't like the fix.

The dessert party was FEA specific and essentially I paid $30 ffor one ride.
That appears not to be how WDWand some visitors consider the price 'breakdown':
Beer, wine and some mixed drinks were added. Seating was added. The dessert offerings were expanded and a Nitro station was added.

AKA I will not make it at 10pm on my last night. You know if the ride went down at 10am it would have been fixed.
Do you know absolutely that it wasn't being worked on but could not be fixed before the park closed? Or were you all actually told Disney was refusing to do any repair work?
 
They did. The OP just didn't like the fix.

That appears not to be how WDWand some visitors consider the price 'breakdown':


Do you know absolutely that it wasn't being worked on but could not be fixed before the park closed? Or were you all actually told Disney was refusing to do any repair work?

We were specifically told that "Because sometimes it can take a little while to fix they were not going to work on it since the park had already closed".
 
We were specifically told that "Because sometimes it can take a little while to fix they were not going to work on it since the park had already closed".


Which I would take as "The fix is going to take quite a while, and we don't want you waiting around for hours and hours".

I would be upset too, but as we all well know, everything is subject to availability. Stuff breaks. Hopefully someone from Disney will give you a call back and talk over with you what they could have done better.
 

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