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ldsguy
06-07-2002, 10:03 PM
Ok, I am not sure if the is the right place to put this or not, if it isn't., I am sure that those that know more than I will move it there.....anyway I have Annual Passes at the following parks:
Disneyland
San Diego Wild Animal Park/San Diego Zoo
Sea World

I have been noticing major differences in how the diffrent parks treat thier annual pass holders and I would say Disneyland is by far the worst in the manner in which they treat thier pass holders......I was just wondering what everyone else's expirences have been.

To give an example, the equivelant of Disney's Premium pass at Sea World would be thier Platinum pass, which gives you free prefered parking.....ahh, don't we miss those good old days?......10% off food (Including ODV, except with the people walkiing up and down the shows selling stuff).....20% off of mechandise....note for the discounts there is no minimum....one free admission ticket to bring a friend, as well as one free reserved seating pass for the friend you bring.....you always get reserved seating at all of the shows and a front of the line pass to thier 3-D show.....free liscense plate frame, pin, lanyard and decal; for your car window...free admission to all but one of the theme parks that they own.....and 30% of any additional tickets that you may want to buy to bring someone, also 30% off tours and such.

But beyond this, when an Anuual Pass holder says that something is not right it is taken care of on the spot.....as an example, this happened both at the Disneyland Resort and at Sea World, let's look at the difference:

I had waited in line for about 30 minutes for my food, because I wanted something that they were "working on".......well, I ended up leaving and going to guest relations to compalin, heres the oputcome at each of the parks:

Disneyland:
First question: Are you an Annual Pass holder?
Of course I said yes
The response: I'm sorry you had that expierence, but there isn't much we can do besides contact the management.

Sea World:
First question: Would you like a free ride on either the Sky Tower or Sky ride (Note these normally cost extra, but my pass includes them as well)
My response was I have the platinum pass, so that won't do me much good.
Thier response to that was, well, then how about I take you to go and get a free meal anywhere that you'd like in the park?
Please note that thise was thier parks general food manager and I did not have to wait in line to get the food, and I got my main dish, a desert and a large soda for free as a result!


I think it's obvious where I feel I have had the better expierence overall, but I am curious as to what everyone else's expirences have been?

Nigel2
06-07-2002, 10:49 PM
Well I would say this is apropriate for the fourm, but disney also gives is WDW Ap holders (it's a temp/seasonal thing) have a lounge at EPCOT. But I could imagine that SW treats their holders better because they may not come as often or something like that.:confused:

HBTiggerFan
06-07-2002, 10:58 PM
Disneyland APs have general a reputation with CMs there as rude, obnixious complainers who want eveyrthing perfect all teh time. They also have a reputation there as harrassing CMs, other guests, demanding "priviledges" that are in no way theres and other things such as these...Most APs aren't like this but the few that are spoil the bunch.

That said Its no wonder that DL didn't wnat to do anything for you once they found out your an AP.

That said, if this incident happened at both parks, did you do this to intentionaly see what would happen as a comparsion?

What I would have done is after 5 minutes ask politely if they had an eta on my order (assuming its a small non-complicated order, most food at DL is mass produced), then after 5 more minutes asked to speak with the Lead, and then if it wasn't resolved I would have asked for a refund and took my order to another restruant. If at that point they refused to refund my money I would have gone to city hall and explained the situation and asked them for a refund.

A refund is all your truely entitled too, not a free meal+drink+desert anywhere you want. That was nice of Sea World to do that though. It is good guest service to offer some sort of extra compensation, but not maditory.

cstephens
06-08-2002, 08:43 AM
Originally posted by ldsguy
Ok, I am not sure if the is the right place to put this or not, if it isn't., I am sure that those that know more than I will move it there.....anyway I have Annual Passes at the following parks:
Disneyland
San Diego Wild Animal Park/San Diego Zoo
Sea World

I have APs to DLR and Sea World, and yes, I'll agree that on the whole, Sea World treats their APs better, but having said that, I also think it's because they have to. While I personally love Sea World, it's not necessarily a destination spot, and they have to do a lot to make it a place that more people want to visit. With Disney's history, it's not as hard to convince people to spend large amounts of money there.

I like the fact that Sea World's platinum pass includes admission to most other Busch parks, and I've taken advantage of that once, but the cost between the platinum and the regular isn't all that different, and even without that particular perk, the cost difference is made up for with the other perks. For Disney, I can't imagine how much they'd have to charge if one AP was good for all other parks, even just DLR and WDW, never mind the international parks. The cost would, I think, be so prohibitive that not enough people would buy that.

As for your example of how you were treated, I don't see how being an AP has anything to do with how they should have reacted. They should not have done more or less for you because you were an AP. You were simply a dissatisfied customer. That's all that should have mattered. Being an AP or not being an AP should not factor into the situation. As an AP, I don't expect more than what either park offers their customers except for what they've told me to expect that's more.

Nigel2
06-08-2002, 08:30 PM
Well I am guessing that the Guest Relations Cm's at DLR assume that the AP is probably blowing it out of proportion, or they don't care because odds are the AP will be back to the parks anyway.

ldsguy
06-09-2002, 02:33 AM
Well, as for the question did I do it inetentionally....no, of course not.....but things happen, I know that, but as for the order at Disneyland, well, it was the chicken fusili, or whatever it's called at the Piza Port and I did ask how long it would be....the answer was "I don't know"......incidently I got that answer from those cooking it at both parks, but I just felt Sea World's handling of it was much better.

As for the thing about Sea World not being a destination spot.....according to those that work at each of the parks.....at Disneyland APs provide about 80% of the revenue......at Sea World APs provide about 60%.......these figures come from guest relations and are post Sept. 11th.

As for why I was treated differently at Sea World because I;m an AP is simply that thier first solution wouldn't have done anything for me.......at Disneyland, it should have never even been asked, but it was and not only that it was thier first question.....although you'd think they'd know that, since I go in on a regular basis, not to complain, but to give compliments (Not trying to brag, but to make a point, that when I do complain, it is something that I feel is legitement and it still takes a lot before I go and complain).......maybe someone that I hadn't talked to before or didn't recognise me, but still.

Disney Nick
06-09-2002, 07:50 AM
at Disneyland APs provide about 80% of the revenue
You've got to be kidding right? Now I know not to listen to any figures/predictions this guy gives...

Maximus
06-10-2002, 12:11 PM
Originally posted by NMoreles

You've got to be kidding right? Now I know not to listen to any figures/predictions this guy gives...

No kidding! That is a pretty bold statement.

ldsguy: please cite your source for this one.

hbquikcomjamesl
06-10-2002, 12:51 PM
...anyway I have Annual Passes at the following parks:
Disneyland
San Diego Wild Animal Park/San Diego Zoo
Sea World


Of course, there's one drawback to being a card-carrying member of the Zoo (which I am, too): once a year, they put me "on-exhibit." They stick me in a cage on Primate Mesa, with a "please do not feed the geek!" sign on it, right next door to a howler monkey whose big trick is doing X-rated things with itself in public (and howling like only a howler can, the whole time).

Nigel2
06-11-2002, 03:53 PM
Originally posted by NMoreles

You've got to be kidding right? Now I know not to listen to any figures/predictions this guy gives...
I believe Kevin Yee (or mabey not:)) had an approximate number to this, but it would take a whole lot of digging to find it.:)