I had a good time on my Universal trip, obviously. However, things weren’t all pixie dust and smiles. While I won’t say that something went wrong on every trip, I do think that adult Disney fans need to ((cough put their big kid undies on and deal with it cough)) be prepared both offensively and defensively for when things go wrong.
As I have mentioned before, my flight was delayed. In my case, the best thing I could do was be ready ahead of time. I had the number of my hotel for that night at my fingertips, so I could easily call and let them know I was going to be late. Had my flight been canceled, I had the luxury of being able to go home. However, had I not had that option, I could have called and booked an airport hotel (alternately, I have heard of people booking an airport hotel room and then cancelling it if they do not need it). This brings me to another key thing you can do to be prepared: have enough money to be able to get your needs taken care of. The woman and son who sat next to me on the flight were all in a tither. The woman began grousing to the flight attendant that she had been stuck on the ground waiting for three hours and hadn’t eaten. The flight attendant respectfully pointed out that she, too, had been stuck on the ground for that long. The mother replied that she had no money to buy food for her son. The flight attendant did give her son some snacks, but yeesh. This is also an example of when travel insurance* would be helpful-the travel insurance I got through JetBlue only had benefits if I was delayed more six hours. However, I’ve (ironically) paid extra for coverage which has benefits after 3 hours from Insure My Trip.
Of course, even the best prepared traveler may come across things that put them on the defensive. Mine came in an utterly undramatic way-a taxi from the Royal Pacific to the Premium Outlets. I thought is was a little weird that the cab was going the same way as to the Prime Outlets, as they are in opposite directions. Sure enough, dude took me to the Prime Outlets. He did then take me to the Premium Outlets, but my fare had been increased by about $15. By the time we reached my destination, I had assembled my army of important information: His cab number, his cab’s telephone number, the Orlando City Taxi division and the relevant number. I handed him my credit card to pay-he informed me that if I paid in cash, he would knock $10 off the fare. He then told me that if I paid by credit card, he couldn’t do that. I knew what I wanted-to let his taxi company know about this event in addition to the correct fare, so I said I’d just pay by credit card (I wanted back up documentation of the amount I paid). The cabbie informed me that if I reported him, he would get in trouble. Golly, and he seemed so upstanding (eyeroll)). I said “That’s ok” and left the cab. I called the cab company, and left a message for his supervisor detailing the events. I said I wanted a full cash refund, while I did not think I would get it, it was a good starting point. Cash refund requests get attention because cash can be spent at a competitor’s service. I went about my day. By that afternoon, I had not heard back. I probably would have let it go if I wasn’t going home the next day. I called the manager, spoke to hm, and got my discounted fare.
The time on the phone was so not how I WANTED to spend my vacation, but it got results. How about you? How do you recover from a less than magical moment in the World?
*My household has used travel insurance twice in the past year. It really is worth it.
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1 response so far ↓
1 Gray // Sep 5, 2010 at 12:50 pm
All you can do when bad things happen on your vacation is decide whether you want the negatives to overshadow your whole vacation, or whether you want to salvage what you can of it. I tend to just mentally “move on.”
Gray´s last [type] ..Four Days in New York City
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