What are the chances...........?

[mdelp]

First the background, then my question.

I was vacationing with the family in WDW from June 16-23. We had some car trouble on the way down and it turned out we needed our transmission rebuilt to the tune of $2971. Ouch! We were forced to cut our trip 3 days short and fly home leaving our poor car behind. Our tickets were 8 day hoppers with 6 water park visits expiring 14 days after first use, June 29. We were not able to use 3 days and 4 water visits on the three tickets. Tomorrow I am flying back to Orlando to retrieve my now repaired car and will be driving home. Since I am going to be so close and our trip was so bittersweet I would like to spend a few hours in the MK before I beging the long drive home. While I am fully prepared to drop the $70+ down for a one day one park ticket, does anyone think, in the spirit of "it never hurts to ask" a kind cast member in guest relations would allow me to use my expired ticket with 3 days remaining to enter the park for a few hours???? Or should I just buy the ticket and spare said person my tale of woe?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Either way I am looking forward to getting my car back and spending a few hours in the MK.

[Catwillow]

Well....the worst they would say is "no". I personally would show receipts for repairs, etc...and see what maybe could be done for you. You never know. Guest Relations are great about working out those kinds of issues....it is the Year of a Million Dreams.

[Mickey91]

Well, it is the Year of a Million Dreams. I guess it doesn't hurt to ask. As long as you are fully prepared for the rejection and it won't ruin your $70 magic.:blush: ( That would be a tough one for me.) And, keep in mind that you could be reminded of Vacation Ins. (I never buy it and would not appreciate the reminder) I sure am sorry that your trip was cut short. What a bummer!:( If I was a CM and had any authority at all I would give you a day in the park!:mickey:

[mdelp]

As long as you are fully prepared for the rejection and it won't ruin your $70 magic.

Oh I would never feel rejected. Disney owes me nothing. My tickets expired on June 29. I recognize that and I am going in no matter what. However there were some incredibly unfortunate, unanticipated occurences that soured our trip a bit. I only have a few hours to spare so I'm going to go ahead and ask if they might be able to accomodate me. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[snifflesmcg]

Oh no! I know (kinda) know how you feel. My starter went today and we only have until Friday to finish paying off our trip. Talk about cutting it close. Anyway, worst they can say is no. What you should have done was add the no expiration option once you knew you were leaving. It would have saved you some money and you could have used them in the future. I know it's too late now but keep that in mind if this ever happens again. Hey, just maybe they'll allow you to add that option...... Good luck.

[Lizzie]

Good luck so sorry to hear about your car problems.

[Mikey Piano 23]

That really stinks!! Like others have said it doesn't hurt to ask! Who knows! Good luck!

[yasmina]

All they can do is say no.

[McGoofy]

I feel your pain. Our radiator went not too long ago, and that is not a cheap thing!!

Anyhow, before I ever read the first response, in my head, I was thinking that it certainly won't hurt to ask, but I would take receipts to back up your story. You never know. The worst they can say is no, but you'll never know if you don't ask!:mickey:

[mainemajor]

Go for it! Disney is where dreams come true.
Good luck

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I agree with everyone else. Ask! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Who knows, you might just save yourself some money.
Sorry to hear about the transmission. That sounds like a very high price though. I'd ask a mechanic around your area a ball park figure. They might have charged more knowing that they had you over a barrel.

[mdelp]

Well here is the update on how my request was handled at Guest Services:

I am the last person that needs to be reinforced with reasons to continue to choose Disney for our vacations but I was given another one. This may get a bit long but its well worth it.

My first comment at the window was,"have you ever heard the expression it never hurts to ask?" The immediate reply from this cast member was "please ask me". I explained the details of my story which I explained at the top of this thread and that I was looking to spend a few hours in the park before the long ride back. Right away he said he did not think that would be a problem at all. I'm thinking wow, how nice. He then proceeds to ask me a series of question about my original travelling party which was me, my daughter and fiance. He then asks if I have all the tickets with me. I had 2 of them, my fiance had hers but I thought there might be some confusion and I again said it is only me here today, they are not with me. He was pecking away at the keyboard saying he was looking through the admission records to locate the ticket I did not have. Because we used our tickets at the same time he was able to find it no problem. He then proceeds to tell me, "the reason I am asking so many questions is because I am going to upgrade the tickets for your entire party to no expiration and I am not going to charge you for it. I just about fell over. We had 8 day hoppers with 6 water visits. If I had upgraded these myself during the allowed window it would have cost me $140 per ticket. To say nothing of the fact that mine were outside of that window and were worthless. Also I was only requesting to get into the MK for a few hours. Furthermore, this cast member was not trying to cover some Disney mistake. Disney had no involvement in the situation at all. I told him this was above and beyond and totally unnecessary to which he replied, "you all went through a lot and I want to make sure you guys can return and have a good time" As I stated the cost to upgrade these tickets would have been $140 x 3 but considering they were expired and worthless, he essentially issued me 3 4 day non expiring park hoppers with 4 water park visits each. The value of those if bought new is over $1000. There is more to the story but this is getting long so I'll spare you or maybe share in a new thread.
Of course I have the gentlemans name and will be thanking him again in a note from my family and notifying his supervisor about how well he treated me when he didnt owe me a thing.

[mdelp]

Well here is the update on how my request was handled at Guest Services:

I am the last person that needs to be reinforced with reasons to continue to choose Disney for our vacations but I was given another one. This may get a bit long but its well worth it.

My first comment at the window was,"have you ever heard the expression it never hurts to ask?" The immediate reply from this cast member was "please ask me". I explained the details of my story which I explained at the top of this thread and that I was looking to spend a few hours in the park before the long ride back. Right away he said he did not think that would be a problem at all. I'm thinking wow, how nice. He then proceeds to ask me a series of question about my original travelling party which was me, my daughter and fiance. He then asks if I have all the tickets with me. I had 2 of them, my fiance had hers but I thought there might be some confusion and I again said it is only me here today, they are not with me. He was pecking away at the keyboard saying he was looking through the admission records to locate the ticket I did not have. Because we used our tickets at the same time he was able to find it no problem. He then proceeds to tell me, "the reason I am asking so many questions is because I am going to upgrade the tickets for your entire party to no expiration and I am not going to charge you for it. I just about fell over. We had 8 day hoppers with 6 water visits, only having used 4 days and 2 water visits. If I had upgraded these myself during the allowed window it would have cost me $140 per ticket. To say nothing of the fact that mine were outside of that window and were worthless. Also I was only requesting to get into the MK for a few hours. Furthermore, this cast member was not trying to cover some Disney mistake. Disney had no involvement in the situation at all. I told him this was above and beyond and totally unnecessary to which he replied, "you all went through a lot and I want to make sure you guys can return and have a good time" As I stated the cost to upgrade these tickets would have been $140 x 3 but considering they were expired and worthless, he essentially issued me 3 4 day non expiring park hoppers with 4 water park visits each. The value of those if bought new is over $1000. There is more to the story but this is getting long so I'll spare you or maybe share in a new thread.
Of course I have the gentlemans name and will be thanking him again in a note from my family and notifying his supervisor about how well he treated me when he didnt owe me a thing.

[princessjojo]

Holy cow!!! I about fell over reading it. I am so excited for you. Hope you enjoyed your day and the extra days you have coming...

Love that Disney Magic!!!!!

[cjb121879]

That is wonderful! I am so glad the cast member was able to do this for you. Just goes to show you that people are essentially good, even if we sometimes forget that out here in the real world.

[Tick-Tock]

Wow, that is so AWESOME!:joy: Be sure to mention your "dream come true" in the letter, and how you plan to come back and spend even more money...:laughing:

[DNS]

Fantastic! What a wonderful surprise. Especially since you were no doubt so disappointed over your car.

[McGoofy]

Oh that is so awesome! My eyes watered up just reading your story. Excellent customer service is what got my family hooked on Disney in the first place. They are the best! I am so glad that your story had a happy ending above and beyond what you had hoped for. Like any of us need an excuse to go back to Disney, but you certainly have a good one now!!!:mickey:

[magicofdisney]

:mickey: That's really incredible. Congratulations!

[Toodle]

Thanks for posting that update. I am so glad that everything worked out for you.
Luckily, we have always had excellent customer service from CMs at Disney. We leave for Disney tomorrow for a couple of nights - gotta get those water parks in while it is hot!

[CandleontheWater]

This is why I love Disney!!!! I'm so happy that your dream came true. Its people like that cast member that make me truly believe in magic! I hope you can take another trip soon with your whole family and enjoy your non-expiration, extra magical, tickets! :magic:

[yasmina]

Ah that wonderful Disney magic! Congratulations!

[Catwillow]

There ya go. I would say that this would certainly qualify for a 'dream'. That is so incredible...and really made my day to read this happy news. Thanks for sharing.

[tinksmom02]

That is awesome news--I'm so happy for you that you "took a shot!" What an incredible outcome for you!!!! :mickey:

[gueli]

Too cool...that is one of so many reasons to love the disney experience.
Walt himself would be proud
:mickey:
ps- tell the rest of the tale...

[ChipnDaleGal]

I love a Happy Ending, and this tale certainly had one. Congrats!! :mickey:

[little disney lovers]

Dreams really DO come true, When Disney's involved!:mickey:

[Catzle]

Wow! That is great and so nice! And your very lucky. A couple of years ago my daughter go very sick and we couldn't go back to the parks I can't remember now but we had 3 or 4 days left on 4 tickets. I went to see what we could do and I was told too bad so sad and they wouldn't do anything for us, except say you should purchase the non experiation. Well we couldn't afford to do that. So glad that they were much nicer to you and that dreams do come true.

[Marilyn Michetti]

WOW !! That is TRULY "above and beyond". I'm so happy for you.:D

The only thing that would spoil it, would be to find out that the rest of your party threw away their "worthless" tickets.:sick:

You have the tenacity I wish I had. The expression "it never hurts to ask" wasn't meant for me. I'd send DH, cause I'm a coward about such things.:blush:

[GrumpyFan]

WOW! That was a great story!
At first I was really bummed for you about having to cut your vacation short AND the $2900 to fix your car. But, then when I read "the rest of the story", I almost fell out of my chair! Way to go Disney, and congratulations to you.