tkd27
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2012
Hi all, I recently experienced the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage with my family. This was our first time seeing Happily Ever After and we were excited to experience it this way. Below is the letter I sent to Disney's guest relations regarding my experience:
***
I am writing to you regarding my recent trip to Walt Disney World. I took my family on a trip earlier this month to celebrate my daughter's birthday. We decided to celebrate by splurging on the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage on her actual birthday, 5/14.
To be honest, we were disappointed by the happily Ever After fireworks show. We were so disappointed that I had a conversation with a friend recently about how bad the new show is compared to Wishes. He said he disagreed and that he felt it was even better than Wishes. He pointed out the projections and said that they made it a better experience. When I pulled up a YouTube video of Happily Ever After to see what he meant I could believe it. The new show is not just a fireworks show, but rather a whole projection based experience. On YouTube it looked fantastic. From our view with a 100% obstructed view of the castle the experience was lousy.
I cannot believe that Walt Disney World would charge $230 for a family of four to go on a premium experience when 50% of the experience is missed by the people who pay for the upgrade. What an awful, awful way to treat your most loyal guests. Frankly, Disney should be ashamed of itself and should stop selling this experience if you cannot give guests the appropriate view of the castle (to be clear - our view of the castle was completely obstructed the entrance to Magic Kingdom).
On another note: this is not something I would have bothered to write in about on its own, but since I'm already writing I will let you know. Mr. Smee was absent from our experience and only Captain Hook was there. This was disappointing as that was 50% of the character interactions inside the party room. And even further, the desserts served were EXTRAORDINARILY disappointing. We had mini cupcakes that appear to be from the supermarket, cookies (also off the supermarket shelf), and some kind of key lime cheesecake bites which were actually a decent dessert. Other than that it was grapes, carrot sticks, and corn chips. Seriously?
We were unimpressed by the overall experience before we found out that we missed half the show, but now we really feel like we got taken. We pay a premium to vacation at Disney because we believe we will be treated with respect and not taken for suckers. We know that the vacation is going to cost a lot, but the trade off is that we're doing business with a company that wants us to enjoy ourselves and come back again. For the way that this experience worked out we would have been better taking our chances with any old Orlando tourist experience.
We love Disney, but you need to do better than this. It's simply not acceptable.
Sincerely,
Matt
***
If they respond I will update the thread here. I do not think that I was too harsh with my letter, either. I honestly believe it is inexcusable to sell a premium fireworks package that obstructs your view of half of the show. It really isn't right.
On a happier note, my kids did actually enjoy themselves with the other aspects. The interactions with Captain Hook were wonderful and my daughter spent the rest of the vacation pretending to be him with a toy hook she won in one of the games aboard the ship. Our pirate guide was also wonderful (I wish I had mentioned that in my letter and I will add it if they bother to respond to me). The games and songs aboard the ship prior to and following Happily Ever After were a lot of fun. And the Meet and Greet with Peter Pan at the end was also a lot of fun.
Nonetheless, there's no way I'd ever consider this experience again, nor would I recommend it for anyone that is considering it. Even if it was a perfect view of the castle it would probably not be worth the money (but I suppose you could make the argument for it). But with the view you get, it's a complete waste of money.
***
I am writing to you regarding my recent trip to Walt Disney World. I took my family on a trip earlier this month to celebrate my daughter's birthday. We decided to celebrate by splurging on the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage on her actual birthday, 5/14.
To be honest, we were disappointed by the happily Ever After fireworks show. We were so disappointed that I had a conversation with a friend recently about how bad the new show is compared to Wishes. He said he disagreed and that he felt it was even better than Wishes. He pointed out the projections and said that they made it a better experience. When I pulled up a YouTube video of Happily Ever After to see what he meant I could believe it. The new show is not just a fireworks show, but rather a whole projection based experience. On YouTube it looked fantastic. From our view with a 100% obstructed view of the castle the experience was lousy.
I cannot believe that Walt Disney World would charge $230 for a family of four to go on a premium experience when 50% of the experience is missed by the people who pay for the upgrade. What an awful, awful way to treat your most loyal guests. Frankly, Disney should be ashamed of itself and should stop selling this experience if you cannot give guests the appropriate view of the castle (to be clear - our view of the castle was completely obstructed the entrance to Magic Kingdom).
On another note: this is not something I would have bothered to write in about on its own, but since I'm already writing I will let you know. Mr. Smee was absent from our experience and only Captain Hook was there. This was disappointing as that was 50% of the character interactions inside the party room. And even further, the desserts served were EXTRAORDINARILY disappointing. We had mini cupcakes that appear to be from the supermarket, cookies (also off the supermarket shelf), and some kind of key lime cheesecake bites which were actually a decent dessert. Other than that it was grapes, carrot sticks, and corn chips. Seriously?
We were unimpressed by the overall experience before we found out that we missed half the show, but now we really feel like we got taken. We pay a premium to vacation at Disney because we believe we will be treated with respect and not taken for suckers. We know that the vacation is going to cost a lot, but the trade off is that we're doing business with a company that wants us to enjoy ourselves and come back again. For the way that this experience worked out we would have been better taking our chances with any old Orlando tourist experience.
We love Disney, but you need to do better than this. It's simply not acceptable.
Sincerely,
Matt
***
If they respond I will update the thread here. I do not think that I was too harsh with my letter, either. I honestly believe it is inexcusable to sell a premium fireworks package that obstructs your view of half of the show. It really isn't right.
On a happier note, my kids did actually enjoy themselves with the other aspects. The interactions with Captain Hook were wonderful and my daughter spent the rest of the vacation pretending to be him with a toy hook she won in one of the games aboard the ship. Our pirate guide was also wonderful (I wish I had mentioned that in my letter and I will add it if they bother to respond to me). The games and songs aboard the ship prior to and following Happily Ever After were a lot of fun. And the Meet and Greet with Peter Pan at the end was also a lot of fun.
Nonetheless, there's no way I'd ever consider this experience again, nor would I recommend it for anyone that is considering it. Even if it was a perfect view of the castle it would probably not be worth the money (but I suppose you could make the argument for it). But with the view you get, it's a complete waste of money.