Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs "You're out of the Pepperoni Bagel Bites??????? All you have left is cheese????! IT'S NOOOOOT FAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! My birthday is RUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Don't worry dear, we can still get you that free birthday steak dinner at Denny's!"
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Actually, her birthday celebrations have never been the same since Hickory Farms closed most of their retail locations...<< LOL!
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Jinx! Btw, I'm actually going to DL for my 30th birthday, buuuuuuut, because of the costs and plans my family already made for other things, we'll be going to DL sometime in the fall...
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Speaking of Denny's, I wonder if they tried to get a free meal out of that Free Grand Slam last month... "You're charging me for juice and coffee??? It's supposed to be free!!! It's nooooooooooot faaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiir!!!"
Originally Posted By DlandDug I just checked out the rest of the comments on the original article. Every single comment states that the MacDonalds were wrong on this one. With the exception of this comment, from the wife (she of the tears-in-the-eyes): >>Birthday gal, Nancy, here. I just want to say thanks to my husband, Brady, for defending my honor. You should all be as lucky as I am. As for the money: my plan is to give my $69 gift card (real value of $29) to our daughter, Hannah, on June 26. On that day, she turns 9 on a non-blackout day. She’ll have $138 (real value of $98)to spend as she pleases. She will be the happiest kid in the world. So, in advance, I’d like to say, “Thank you Disneyland.” I just hope someone at Disneyland wishes Hannah Happy Birthday.<< So see-- we are all being just that mean! It was all being done to benefit their nine-year-old daughter! But we still get a back-handed jibe at the end: "I just hope someone at Disneyland wishes Hannah Happy Birthday." But Birthday Gal Nancy-- no one at Disneyland ever had the opportunity to wish you a happy birthday, since you never intended to go to Disneyland on your birthday. You and clueless travel writer hubby were just there to pick up GIFT CARD #2 for the child! I don't want to be mean, but it just seems like we really do have some world class scamming going on here. And when the scammers were foiled, they didn't just complain to their friends, or whine on a discussion board somewhere. They wrote it up as an article for the LA Times. Yikes!
Originally Posted By mele The whole story pretty much sums up the attitude that we all spend so much time complaining about. These are the kind of people who are helping to ruin the whole Disneyland experience. Sadly, I'm afraid that poor little Hannah is most likely being raised with the same sense of entitlement.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Yep - proof that the AP programme, just like Fast Pass, ruins the Disney experience and should be transformed into something else.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains WHAT? How in the world does a woman trying to cheat the system make teh AP program ruining the Disney Experience??? That makes no sense!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I kind of was tongue in cheek. But there does seem to be a lot of abuse - people using DL as a babysitter, entitled behaviours etc. I really think they should increase the APs to make the 20 day mark a break even. It would thin crowds a little, and raise revenues. Then maybe offer discounts for bulk buys to make it more accessable for families (if the overall cost is a concern).
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>And when the scammers were foiled, they didn't just complain to their friends, or whine on a discussion board somewhere. They wrote it up as an article for the LA Times.<< Yep. But at least they had the article "fact checked" first. (eye roll)
Originally Posted By cstephens Lucky enough to have a husband like that? Maybe I'd also be lucky enough to be hit by a flaming asteroid. "Oh, it's ok that I tried to bilk Disney out of $69 because it was all for my daughter!" Dad's telling the daughter they're grateful and lucky that Disney offers something free for a birthday. Mom is going to tell daughter the actual retail value of the gift card, explaining how Disney really gypped mommy out of more money. Poor kid. /cs
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones They should get rid of every AP level other than the premium pass and jack the price up to $700. Then they should lower the price of a 1-day 1-park ticket to $50. I think that would do a lot of good for the average guest experience. And this is coming from someone who has never had a premium pass.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt >>“So, just because my birthday falls on a blackout day, I don’t get the gift card?” said Nancy, on the verge of tears. “That’s unfair.”<< That made me laugh out loud. Gimme a break.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains <<They should get rid of every AP level other than the premium pass and jack the price up to $700. Then they should lower the price of a 1-day 1-park ticket to $50. I think that would do a lot of good for the average guest experience.>> This might work for the guests who go once every couple years - but for locals - or those of us willing to drive 6 hours... it would price it out of our reach (I buy 5 AP's a year). So in the long run that would have a negative effect on Disneyland. While I pay $379 for unlimited access and my kids all have deluxe with 50 blocked days... we may pay less over all to get into the parks over the year - we spend money while there. We eat, stay in hotels, buy suvinears.... If the priced them out of reach they would lose much of their AP base and many of us would spend our money closer to home.
Originally Posted By Mickeyfan1 Let's all wish Hannah a Happy Birthday right now so she won't say LP ruined her looking forward to her birthday. Happy Birthday Hannah...now do what Mommy did and throw a tantrum and cry your little eyes out until Disneyland gives you what you want. But remember we here at LP wished you a "Happy Birthday". Life's tough kiddo, get use to it.
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "Later, he took Nancy out for her traditional birthday lunch on the town at Costco, eating free Bagel Bite samples." << I'm sure many tears were shed when they were told about the requirement for a Costco membership. -Jeff
Originally Posted By TP2000 It turns out that Nancy Luna, the teary eyed wife, is also a journalist. She is the Food Writer for the OC Register, and has her own blog over on the Register website. Seriously, you just can't help feeling embarassed for them. And those poor CM's who had to deal with them at the Guest Relations windows out by the lockers! I'm sure he huffed and puffed and made a scene. If a supervisor had to be called out to the window to re-explain the policy on the gift cards to him, it must have been quite an ordeal for the CM's involved. God help us if the CM's ignore the childs free birthday button when they return to cash in all their free gift cards! I can only imagine the outrage that will be expressed via Mr. MacDonald's personal LA Times blog then. YIKES!
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "So in the long run that would have a negative effect on Disneyland." Well, that's how they do it at TDR and they seem to be doing just as well as Disneyland.
