Ripped off

Most people that go to Dland ARE tourists! Duh!!! The smart locals
stay at home...

You did get ripped off! You've been gypped! Where were you when they
were handing out brain cells??

I heard that this Canuck went to Dennys near Disneyland and got gas
from the Grand Slam and is no suing them. Lady stay in Canuck Land.

I've been to Disney in Florida a number of times. The secret to having
a great time? PLAN AHEAD. Do research. Find out when the least crowded
times of the year and days of the week are. With the Internet at
virtually everyone's fingertips these days it's easy to do.

NEVER go on a weekend day. EVER. Especially a holiday weekend or
anywhere near a school vacation. You are setting yourself up for
misery.

Who plans to drive three days each way and then only spend one day at
Disney? That's ridiculous. You need at least two days in the park. And
didn't it cost you more in gas, wear and tear on the car, and food
along the way than it would have if you had just flown? Not to mention
aggravation and fatigue from that kind of road trip.

I think the best thing for you is a little cheese to go with that
whine, EH !!

Let's start with your other letter first EH.
Floors are solid, hard, and normally stronger than a persons skull, if
not I'd be concerned.
Sorry your son had to endure some pain and suffering but a hotel is
hardly responsible for his falling out of bed.
I remember once falling on a sidewalk, what the heck do they make them
of anyway. EH!

As for a tourist attraction such as Disney being crowded on a sunny
afternoon, I think Walt had high hopes for that. You can't blame
Disney for wating to make money, and you can't expect Disney to set
aside days for locals.

We've visited Disney in Florida 5 times since it opened and enjoyed
each and every time. That is except for the days the weather was
humid, never thought about asking for a refund though.

Each visit we found rides to be with long lines but got around it by
going to other's that were not, and returning later to those we missed
later.

We've always managed to see most everything of interest, all we had to
do was use our heads to plan it out.
We even returned to the hotel for lunch and to relax before returning
to the park for a fun evening.

Another way is to park hop, if one park is too busy for you jump over
to another for awhile and return later.

You're going too far in requesting a refund.
You were concerned about your son, rightfully so, but you let it get
in your way of enjoying a family vacation, which many families never
get to experience.

I once went up into Canada and didn't catch all the fish I had heard
about in advertisments, You guy's keep my money and we'll keep yours.
EH !

I have been to disney several times, live right behind it actually.
you know... I have never waited an hour for a bottle of water, I just
keep moving untill I find another place selling water, usually about
20 feet away. I have never waited more than 15 minutes total to get
food and drinks. yes sometimes lines are long, thats why they post the
wait times on the rides in the center of the park. if you get to the
park early enough you can get fast pass which allows you to bypass the
extended line. the fact that you showed up around 2 doesnt help. it
doesnt matter that your kid hurt himself in the morning. you could
have done many other things instead of going into the park that day. I
assume you were staying more than one day. I mean why drive 3 days
straight for one day and then drive three days straight away. if you
did drive three days straight, you probably came from the other side
of the country. did you know there is another disney on that side of
the country too lol ? could have saved yourself some time.

Don't listen to these other posters. They just disagree with all
consumers when there is a valid complaint.

Anyway, you didn't pay $300 to stand in line all day. It borders on
false advertising. If Disney wants to charge that much and make these
people wait in line all day, this needs to be mentioned in all of
their ads. A reasonable person with common sense understands this is a
busy place and there will be a crowd and some lines. But some of these
places you can only go on 2 or 3 rides because the wait is so long.
This is unacceptable. If Disney wants to do it and people want to pay
it, that's fine. But it needs to be mentioned in all advertisements
that there is slim to none chance of you riding more than 3 rides a
day during peak times. They should just limit the amount of tickets
they sell.

I am going to have to agree with the letter writer. It's just a
nightmare to go to Disney. They make it seem so fun and magical. The
reality is that is a living hell. There is a 1 hour wait just to buy a
botted water. But like gas and milk, it's a monopoly and they get
away with charging sky high prices for something you can hardly even
enjoy. I let my brother in law and girlfriend and returned to the
hotel and just considered it lost money and returned to the hotel
after 1 hour.
But to me it was worth it just to get away from the crowd and the 90
degree weather

Have a special "tourists only" day? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh, I'm sorry, you were serious. Well
anyhow...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*snort

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That is all.

Even for local amusement parks, that are a fraction of the size and
popularity of disney, the idea of going on a saterday seems ludicrus
to me!

I was dragged to disney at 15 (by the way parents, dont expect your
older teens to feel the "disney magic" at that age... either take them
at a younger age, or wait until they are 21 and can drink with you.)
in my parents defense my younger sister was 8. anyway, the weekdays
were pretty tolerable, even for spring break time, but the weekends
were VERY crowded (and hot!)

HOWEVER! that did NOT stop us from having a good time (yes, even the
rebellious 15 year old managed to have a good time, despite the
indiana jones thing being closed, my favorite movies EVERRRRR!)

yeah, im rambilng again. i guess the point is savor the moments you
have with your children now why they are still young, and dont let
something like this ruin yours (or their) memories.

She wrote the same letter to Jolly Roger Hotel.

Look at the top 20 letters and you'll see it.

You've got to be kidding, right? You didn't realize that Disneyland
(or any Disney establishment for that matter) would be that crowded
and that expensive? Have you been living under a rock for the last 20
years? Do you really think that setting up one day a week for
"tourists only" is going to make the park any less crowded. Disney is
byfar the biggest tourist attraction on the PLANET! Check those stats
out with any travel agent and they'll verify it for you. People want
to see the mouse, and because Walt Disney was not a stupid man he made
sure that it would be a trip people would want to take, albeit an
expensive one. It seems to me from this post, and the other you
posted about your hotel experience, that you came on vacation
determined to be upset with everything and anything that happened. It
makes me wonder if your family wouldn't have had a more enjoyable time
had they simply left you at home!

Try going to Disneyland on the 4th of July, then come back and
complain about a crowd. Been there, done that, twice! BTW, even though
it was crowded, I *still* had the best time of my life! You're just a
freebie troll.

I went to Disney in 2001, over March Break. I was 11 years old at the
time. I loved the trip, even though I was old enough to know that it
was costing my parents... wait... let me rephrase that, my CANADIAN
parents, a whole lot of money. My mother gets motion sickness really
easily, so she paid to get in but only went on one or two rides. That
wasn't what really mattered to her. What mattered was that my 13 year
old brother and I were having a good time that we would remember for
years to come.

To the Florida citizens who were used to the warmer climate found it
cold when the temperatures were around 85-90. To anyone who wasn't
used to such a climate would have found it extremely hot, as we all
did. But, for the experience of going to a place where most kids only
dream of going, we were willing to wait in long lines and get a little
sunburned.

I really am sorry to hear that your son required stitches. I also took
the time to read your other letter, which expands this story by
telling the story of how the requirement of stitches came about. It is
all really rather pathetic. You're giving Canadians a bad name with
this disgraceful whining about things that are OUT OF EVERYONE'S
CONTROL! Get over it, get used to it, and for the love of all things
Canadian... PUT A SOCK IN IT!

You have got to be joking? This lady can't be serious?

You are SO just trying to get a free vacation!! Are you going to
write a letter to every gas station you stopped at along the way as
well? Or maybe every restaurant you stopped at along the way to eat?
That way it can truly be a free vacation. You need help. The only
one trying to rip anyone off is YOU!

You are a piece of work Michelle. Please use your time more wisely,
such as getting the mental health help you apparently so desperately
need.

Canadians have a reputation (a generalization, sure, but a reputation
nonetheless) for being stalwart, uncomplaining, nonwhining, etc.

Nice try, Michelle. Too bad everyone sees through your lies.

I bet your children had a good time, they don't care about the rides
at that age, they just care about seeing Mickey and the Disneyland
Charactors. I think you are just trying to scam for a free trip.

I can't decide which letter I like better. Should it be Virgina
asking for compensation because a hair salon "charges too much?" Or
should it be this one, asking for compensation because Disneyworld was
crowded on a Saturday afternoon?

Hmmmm. It hurts my brain to even think about it.

Nice try.

You went to Disneyland at 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday - - what did you
expect? And your idea to set aside one day of the week for tourists
is ridiculous.

You absolutely do not deserve a refund or compensation in any form.

"Or, have one day of the week set aside for tourists only."

Um, wouldn't pretty much EVERYONE that goes to Disney be a tourist?

I can guarantee the majority of the people who go to Disney DON'T live
there.

I KNEW the letter to the other hotel was fake.

First you want compensation from your hotel, then you want
compensation from Disneyland? For what? How could you not expect
that DL would be crowded? It's a world-wide famous theme park, for
crying out loud? I'm thinking this is a huge case of buyer's remorse.
"Oh, no, we spent a lot of money we really can't afford! Let's
complain and maybe they will give us our money back!"

BTW, I used to be a SoCal resident, and I went to DL. The locals rate
isn't really all that special. Oh, did I mention that when I went I
was wearing a full-size leg immobilizer and was in a lot of pain
because I had wrenched my knee the night before? Hey, add some
painkillers and a rented electric scooter and I still had a blast!

People like you make me sick. I hope your children don't learn such
deplorable freebie grab behavior.

Give me a break!

You're doing nothing but running a scam for freebies.

Welcome to Disneyland! It's like that almost all the time when the
weather warms up. I've been a season passholder for many years and
there have been times where I have left the park after only a couple
of hours because of the fact that it was too crowded. Not the park's
fault- just my prefrence. If you had indeed been planning this trip
for YEARS then perhaps you should have done some research as when the
off season was and planned your trip for that time. It's not Disney's
fault that you were unprepared and failed to plan properly. For future
reference the park is usually less crowded around the first two weeks
of Nov. and the first two weeks of Dec as well as pretty much any time
in Jan or Feb.

two letters to two different companies about the same incident for
which neither parties are responsible? ridiculous. it's nobody's
fault what happened to your son. why should disneyland or the hotel
comp you for something they had NOTHING to do with?

ok, your other "gimme gimme" letter said you were in bed at 6AM after
a three day non-stop ride. now Disney World was your first stop? So,
when did you son fall out of bed? If you are trolling for free stuff,
at least get the times, dates, and problem straight before begging.
Please, go to another place next vacation - Disney would be HAPPY to
not see you again. BTW - my son went to college in Orlando, and Disney
gives residentsa small discount for having to put up with people like
you invading their city. And, for your information, the resident
discount is around $25.00 a ticket - HARDLY making it anymore
affordable for them.

are you serious. i read your other letter and i'm sorry that your son
got hurt, but it was an ACCIDENT. the bed didn't break, he fell, on
his own. now you complain because it was too crowded. um, it is always
crowded and you got there at 2pm. what do you expect. there are ways
you can bypass some of the lines. they have the fast pass option for
some rides. i don't understand how you have the balls to ask for
refunds when things don't go fairy-tale perfect for you.

You could have avoided all of this if you had spoken to ANYONE who has
ever dealt with Disney parks or gone on a trip there. You could have
tried going to the website to see the calendar and then phoned them to
discuss it with them beforehand. They are incredibly helpful and could
have arranged for you the best hours to be there, the best times, and
what parks to avoid on what days and hours also. They would make
recommendations that you would never have thought of and even made
appointments or reservations for you if need be. It sounds like you
went there completely blind and winged it. That is where you get into
trouble there, is by going uninformed.

You ma'am, are an idiot. I went easy on you with your last letter
about your kid falling out of bed at the hotel. Now, it's obvious
that you want your entire trip comped. You are an idiot, and you
should jump back into your car and go back from whence you came,
promising to never return again.

Here's hoping that the next time you lay your head down in a hotel,
YOU fall out of bed head first. Perhaps that might knock some sense
into you. I doubt it, but at least I'll take great pleasure in
knowing that you got what you deserved.

Idiot.

Wow Wow Wow... Who takes one freshly injured child to Disneyland the
same day and puts them on two and a half rides? So very NICE to
mention that in THIS letter. Do you think it will help Disneyland's
Compensation Department make an unbiased decision?

I'm not accusing or "stirring the pot", but I seriously see a pattern
here..as if someone wants to make a windfall bonaza or at least get
this trainwreck dream vacation paid for in US funds.

As an aside, the locals don't get a break. But I think that's
something Disney SHOULD look into.

Is there a Sequel coming?

Instead of focusing on the negative, how about some gratitude for the
ability to provide that kind of experience for your little ones? I
think that it is awful that your child was injured but it was an
unfortunate accident. This entire vacation would have been the perfect
opportunity to teach your children the fundamentals of patience
acceptance and grace. Instead you teach them how to to be an
opportunist by taking advantage of the situation.

The sad thing is that Disneyland will probably give her the
freebies...a couple of years back my sister and I went to Disneyland
on a day when it was raining off/on the whole day, but we still had a
great time. We got home and I helped her write a letter to Disneyland
about the great time we had, all of the park people who were so nice,
all of the characters she still got to meet even though it was raining
Disneyland found all of these indoor/under cover dry places for them
to meet kids (my sister was about 8/9 years old at the time), how she
liked the parade when she got to dance with such and such character,
etc. I was trying to show her to write compliment letters when you get
good stuff, not just complaint letters for bad stuff.

A couple of weeks later we get a letter from Disneyland- inside are
two free passes to come back to the park, to apologize for the weather
during our first visit. Which was such a nice surprise, but so NOT the
point of our letter. :)

Lookie lookie lookie. Why am I not suprised?!

Here is a thought. Next time do a little research before you plan the
vacation of a lifetime.

Please go back to Canada and stay there. Disney is going to be
crowded ESPECIALLY during a week that many American children are on
spring break. You picked a bad week to go. Oh yeah, also, April 21st
was a Saturday, probably their busiest day of the week. If you wanted
to go to Disney when it's not so busy, you should have called ahead
and asked when they are usually least busy. Your fault, not theirs.
If you've been planning this trip for years, you sure did a bad job at
it.

Why would they refund you a credit if you're going to boycott them?

This has got to be the most ridiculous letter I've ever read on here.
You have got to be kidding blaming... first the hotel for your child
falling out of bed, and now Disney for being busy. Are you kidding
me??!!

you had to wait at a popular park, and that is THEIR fault? Maybe you
need to find a park in Oh Canada to go to if we "rip you off" that
much. I agree with the other posts.. get a life.

Guess your next letter will be to demand a refund for the gas you had
to purchase to drive to your vacation.

You are pathetic.

I think someone's angling for some serious violins. You go to
Disneyland in spring, it's going to be crowded. It does not take a
rocket scientist to figure that one out.
Some people, apparently, just want something for nothing.

In a previous letter you want a refund for the hotel becasue your kids
fell out of bed. Not the falut of the hotel, no refund due.

Now, you want Disney to refund your money because it was crowded??

Something smells.......

"Well after paying $242.00 American (which is A LOT in Canadian
dollars, approx $300)..."

What does this have to do with anything? Again because you're Canadian
you think you're more entitled to something? Why should Canadians be
held on a higher rank than US citizens?

Quite honestly, it's Disney World. It's going to be crowded. Why?
Because it's Disney World.

If wait times were too long, I suggest that you should have made use
of the Fast Pass machines. You should have been prepared for the heat
with proper hats, lots of water, and sunscreen. A day only for
tourists is insane. Most people there are tourists.

I always say that if your kids are too young, don't bring them to
Disney until they're older. The days are long, and most young children
just can't handle it.

Also, was it your son who broke his nose on the floor? And you brought
him to WDW the day after? Sheesh... My parents at least waited two and
a half months after my liver transplant to take me.

Why don't you just write to President Bush and tell him how your
entire vacation to the US was a bust and ask him for a complete
refund? Stop trying to scam these various business' for a refund.

You went to a popular amusement part on a Saturday for goodness sakes,
why would you think it would not be crowded. A people counter! If
they had that, you'd be writing a letter because you got turned away.


A day for tourists only? How do you suggest they prove that?

Grow up and stop taking vacations you can't afford!

Michelle,

Having now read three letters from you, I sympathize (particularly
about your child getting hurt). I'd like to help out. If you'd send
me your address (you can e-mail me at jeffreypf@lycos.com), I'd be
happy to send you some travel books. It appears that you're unaware
that Disney is a super-crowded place, for example. I have several
books (but I'll even buy you a new one) that very clearly spell this
out. They give tips on the best times of year to go. They also
remind us that Disney is not cheap.

Late April is prime-time at the parks. Although there is a slowdown
after Spring Break (don't know what the Canadian school calendar is
like), a weekend in April is going to be be busy-busy-busy.

If you don't want extensive lines or crowds, go on a weekday in late
September, for example. The locals are at work. The tourists aren't
there because the kids just went back to school.

Hope this helps.

I'm trying to figure out if this is a joke.
More than likely not, but one has to wonder with such...colorful
demands.

1) No one cares how long it took you to get there. You aren't the only
one who traveled by car at great length.
2) Mentioning your son had to get stitches for a nose injury really
has no place here except to illicit undue sympathy.
3) You didn't realize that the park would be EXTREMELY crowded in May?
Sounds like you already like in a fantasy world.
4) A refund. Didn't see that coming. And I doubt you'll see it coming
either. Ever. At all.
5) The last paragraph almost gave me a stroke from trying to stifle
the laughter. A day for tourists only?! A PEOPLE COUNTER?

Okay, maybe this IS a joke.