What Disney rule did you discover during your planning that is totally ridiculous!

[Ciorsdah]

I have a very small appitite, to the point where the QSDP would be far to much for me to eat, but I discovered that everyone in your party has to have the dining plan or nobody has it!

We got it free anyway so no cost to us for me to only use 25% of my dining plan!

 

[Minnesota!]

I wouldn't call a buck tool a weapon - that's just a leatherman, right? So like a pocket knife set? Straws = hard to animals. Pocket knife - no harm to animals..

 

[LegoMom3]

Just recently learned that in Disney's eyes there's no such thing as a split stay, which led to learning that the dining plan isn't available with room only packages. I wanted to do a split stay by keeping our mod resort and trying the deluxe for a couple of days and keep my tickets & dining the same. Who knew Disney wouldn't want my extra money for those additional nights? Oh, no...you have to book a separate reservation and start all over again with at least purchasing one ticket per person again to get dining plan at second resort on split stay which offsets your savings of buying multiple park day tickets from first resort. ARG!

TOTALLY with you on this one!!!! Ugh!.....

And I don't buy the excuse that the computer system "has" to handle it that way.....This is the 21st century people!!....adjust the computer system!

.

 

[Jennasis]

Let's steer this ship in a different direction, shall we...How about a little scary humor.

Mine wasn't during planning but during our first trip to AK with kids. We had to remove the straws from our juice boxes by order of the security guard-who proceeded to tell us to just use our BUCK TOOL to open them when the kids needed them, um what???

3in straw BAD
Weapon, just fine

While I think it's odd they didn't take your "weapon", the straw is not allowed at AK (any straw) as they present a choking/health hazard to the animals that live there.

 

[LovinPooh]

That my resort bus stop is always at the end at all the parks. Its like they are out to get me

I have to say, I agree with alot of these previous posts.
I do like that 6flags has the promotion every year with adults paying kids prices. Usually with a can of coke, but last year I think it was for everyone...? But 6flags is lame compared to WDW.

 

[goofyredraider]

Please .. that is just semantics .. Disney thinks of kids 3-9 and adults as 10+. Disney has kids meals for kids 3-9 and adult meals for 10 and over. Which makes the Buffett restaurants CRAZY priced once your kids reach 10 - 40 dollars for a 10 year old - ugh! I saw people in the Chef Mickey line lying about their kids ages to get the lower price ... You could tell because the Mother kept shooshing her kids .. The lady asked what ages oh they are under 9 and they were like Mom and she was "shhhh".. of course this might happen if you set the cut off to 12 as well. There is a big difference between paying 40 for your kid and paying 20 for a meal. The actual Park tickets aren't that much difference .. For a 6 day hopper on UT its like 306 compared to 287 .. like 20 dollars difference again but you are talking 6 days of tickets. The real killer is the meals.

Anyway Ages at other parks:

At Legoland kids are ages 3-12. (Better than Disney)

At Hershey park kids are 3-8. (Worse than Disney)

At Dollywood kids are 4-11 (Better than Disney)

Like PP.. Kings Dominion, Cedar Point, etc... Go by Height - 48" .. of course Kings has a good deal right now that anyone can play the Kids price - 37.99 - great park too.

(Usually the height is worse than Disney - my short daughter was 48" by the time she was 8)

YIKES! Last year at Disney, my 5 year old was almost 49" solid. I couldn't imagine him being considered an adult because he was tall.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Mine is.... anyone older than 9 years old is considered an adult! What?

Yeah, gotta back up others and say that this is neither new nor specific to Disney. I remember being 8 for a loooong time when visiting amusement parks across the country.

 

[chartle]

Yeah, gotta back up others and say that this is neither new nor specific to Disney. I remember being 8 for a loooong time when visiting amusement parks across the country.

I'm sad to say my family owes Disney I think around $2 because my father got my older sister in at the 10-17 rate. So instead of $17.50 he paid $15.50. This was in '77 when we bought a 3 day fun pass which had tickets.

I remember we splurged and bought 5 extra E tickets (90 to 1.10 a piece) so we could see Country Bears.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Where to begin? To name a few:

1. 
   [*]The DDP is only available with packages. Why not "Room-Only" too?
2. Although most places do it now a days, charging $15 to park your car for the day is ridiculous
3. In order to eat at decent restaurants, you must book an ADR 180 days in advance
4. Everyone in a MYW package has to buy the same amount of days for their tickets

I've got my flame suit on, because I know it's coming.

I think the bolded make sense. If you aren't getting your tickets through them then you are getting them somewhere else at a discount so why offer that guest another?
Parking fee cuts down on people driving in and space. Why drive when you could use the transportation provide and help the environment.

The other two I agree though the dining plan is the reason you have to book so far in advance.

 

[sbell111]

Let's steer this ship in a different direction, shall we...How about a little scary humor.

Mine wasn't during planning but during our first trip to AK with kids. We had to remove the straws from our juice boxes by order of the security guard-who proceeded to tell us to just use our BUCK TOOL to open them when the kids needed them, um what???

3in straw BAD
Weapon, just fine

The birds were not going to eat your discarded buck tool and die.

 

[Wiloughby1]

I'm enjoying all the back and forth over kids pricing. This is why-

We have, since we've had children, Skipped Universal, because the kids price is so close to the adult price, yet there are SO FEW attractions that don't have a height restriction. My DS4 and DD2 continue to be shorties, so even when they hit that magic adult age, they likely still won't be able to ride everything. The cost/attraction value isn't there.

At Disney, there are many many attractions that are targeted specifically for smaller children and MOST attractions are accessible to all. The cost/attraction value is spread more evenly. And by 9, most children (maybe not mine) will now be able to access all attractions. The cost should be related to accessibility: what you are allowed to do based on your height, etc. Overall, I think Disney is very fair on that front. Universal is just a waste for the cost of our kids tix (I know, DD is still free for now)

Food is another story. It's nice that DD2 is free at buffets, and she eats 3x more than DS4. I can imagine a parent of a light eating tiny 10 year old really feels it. But, there a lot more hungry tween boys that out-eat adults, so that pricing makes some sense to me as well. Ah, the conundrum of a buffet. We actually wish more character meals were a la carte, but I know that wouldn't benefit Disney as much because people could just order drinks or desserts to meet the characters.

I think this thread was really about what's annoying, not whether or not the annoying things are legitimate. you can still be annoyed by things you completely accept as necessary.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think the bolded make sense. If you aren't getting your tickets through them then you are getting them somewhere else at a discount so why offer that guest another?
Parking fee cuts down on people driving in and space. Why drive when you could use the transportation provide and help the environment.

Just to be clear, I don't have an issue with the parking fee (it's more at Six Flags & the locker fee there is $18 ). But, I did purchase my tickets through Disney, but am not staying onsite. So, I will be charged a parking fee. And even if you purchased them somewhere else, that someone else has a "deal" with Disney to be able to sell those tickets.

 

[DISHoppy]

I will add this as my nit to pick of choice: ticket upgrade rules. Enough to drive you insane.

-Kevin

 

[JetsetJAK]

My group of 5 was booked to be staying in one of the family suites at the All-Star Music resort, and were surprised to learn when the dining plan was announced and we went to add it to our package that we couldn't, since the dining plan was simply not an option if you were staying in a suite. We had been planning on adding the dining plan since we started planning this trip months earlier, so in order to get it, we had to give up the suite and split our 5-person package into a 3-person and a 2-person in two adjoining rooms.

It's not a huge deal. I know that the family suites are basically just two rooms that they knocked a wall out of, so really all we're losing is the little kitchen area (which I doubt we'd be using much anyways). But still, it's kinda disappointing since I had gotten used to the idea of staying in a suite, lol. Plus I think it's kind of an odd rule that everybody staying at the resort gets the option of adding the dining plan UNLESS you're in one of the suites? But oh well. Just booked our first ADR today and can't wait!!!

 

[Berlioz70]

Certainly no flames - as I can see why most of these are frustrating - just offering another perspective:

Where to begin? To name a few:

1. The DDP is only available with packages. Why not "Room-Only" too?

1. 
   
   When you purchase Rooms-Only, you are purchasing the room directly from WDW. As soon as you add something else to is (tickets, dining, etc) you are now purchasing from WDTC (Walt Disney Travel Company). True, this is a branch of the Walt Disney Company, but it's an entirely different area from the resorts; that's why the two cannot be mixed. It's also why you must pay anything through WDTC in advance, but you can pay your rooms-only package once you check-in.
   
   

   Please .. that is just semantics .. Disney thinks of kids 3-9 and adults as 10+.

   
   Not entirely true. There are several things Guests under 16, 18, 21 cannot due based on age.
   
   Plus there are things Guests older than 12 cannot participate in.
   
   

   I don't mind having the "adult" ticket price for 10+ but I do think being charged as an adult on the DDP starting at age 10 is ridiculous. I think there should be a "junior" age group for DDP, maybe ages 10-13?

   
   I agree with a Junior idea for sure!
   
   But I also wanted to point out that there are Guests that also lie about their child's age to make them OLDER, so that their children under 10 can eat from the adult menu. The adult menu offers a greater variety of food options, and some kids get tired of the same menu everywhere.
   
   

   And I don't buy the excuse that the computer system "has" to handle it that way.....This is the 21st century people!!....adjust the computer system!

   
   LOL!!!
   
   They did - the current system is less than 2 years old. And truly, it cannot compute split stays. Trust me, Disney would LOVE it if it could!

 

[chartle]

My group of 5 was booked to be staying in one of the family suites at the All-Star Music resort, and were surprised to learn when the dining plan was announced and we went to add it to our package that we couldn't, since the dining plan was simply not an option if you were staying in a suite. We had been planning on adding the dining plan since we started planning this trip months earlier, so in order to get it, we had to give up the suite and split our 5-person package into a 3-person and a 2-person in two adjoining rooms.

It's not a huge deal. I know that the family suites are basically just two rooms that they knocked a wall out of, so really all we're losing is the little kitchen area (which I doubt we'd be using much anyways). But still, it's kinda disappointing since I had gotten used to the idea of staying in a suite, lol. Plus I think it's kind of an odd rule that everybody staying at the resort gets the option of adding the dining plan UNLESS you're in one of the suites? But oh well. Just booked our first ADR today and can't wait!!!

Are you talking about Free Dining? Because if you are, FD is to push people to certain resorts and or room types.

If suites are booking OK there is no need to give a discount. They also limit the number of each room type in each resort so they may have sold out the FD suites before you found out..

Free Dining is a marketing tool to get heads in beds, not a "right"*.

* I know too strong of a word but I couldn't think of a better one.

 

[revdon64]

I recently stayed at a hotel where the overnight parking charge was $57.

Flyers/Devils game in Newark, NJ = $30 to park. $15 for all day is a bargain in comparison, and who needs to bring a car if you stay on property?

 

[doclegler]

Never mind....

 

[revdon64]

My group of 5 was booked to be staying in one of the family suites at the All-Star Music resort, and were surprised to learn when the dining plan was announced and we went to add it to our package that we couldn't, since the dining plan was simply not an option if you were staying in a suite. We had been planning on adding the dining plan since we started planning this trip months earlier, so in order to get it, we had to give up the suite and split our 5-person package into a 3-person and a 2-person in two adjoining rooms.

It's not a huge deal. I know that the family suites are basically just two rooms that they knocked a wall out of, so really all we're losing is the little kitchen area (which I doubt we'd be using much anyways). But still, it's kinda disappointing since I had gotten used to the idea of staying in a suite, lol. Plus I think it's kind of an odd rule that everybody staying at the resort gets the option of adding the dining plan UNLESS you're in one of the suites? But oh well. Just booked our first ADR today and can't wait!!!

????

We were there last May, stayed in a family suite in ASM and had the regular dining plan. Perhaps as the PP said, you're looking for free dining and it wasn't available with that resort at that time?

 

[peachygreen]

Let's steer this ship in a different direction, shall we...How about a little scary humor.

Mine wasn't during planning but during our first trip to AK with kids. We had to remove the straws from our juice boxes by order of the security guard-who proceeded to tell us to just use our BUCK TOOL to open them when the kids needed them, um what???

3in straw BAD
Weapon, just fine

The no straw things make me laugh. I understand why they have it to "protect the animals" from lost or dropped straws but I went to the zoo once and I had to throw out my drink lid and straw before entering (I could keep the drink) only to walk into the park and them sell juice boxes and capri suns with straws.