Over the last few months, chances are that if you called Walt Disney World in attempt to resolve some issue for your trip, you’ve probably waited some number of hours to get through to someone. An alternative to calling that many guests have used is sending an email to “guest.services@disneyworld.com”. Well, that is no longer a viable option either.
Guest experience services was the team that answered many of the emails sent to Walt Disney World. Their workload would range from random requests, to complaints regarding recent visits, to even compliments for cast members. This team would also handle recovery efforts for guest concerns. Supposedly, this team has now been absorbed into the Disney Reservation Center. With this change, those cast members will no longer be answering these emails on a regular basis.
Reportedly, email queues are growing and growing as Disney falls woefully behind in answering these guests. There were over 3,000 emails waiting for a response last month, but now there are over 4,000 messages unanswered and it is growing fast.
Currently, the Disney Reservation Center focus is going on live chat and phone calls, not on these emails.
A big part of the ongoing problems is that the Disney Reservation Center has not been able to hire enough new cast members to help, with current cast in the department stating that they are aware that more help has been hired, but it seems like that many more guests are calling, leaving no change in the situation.
Many cast members don’t last long at the Reservation Center either, given that they spend the entire day dealing with guests who are rather unpleasant after waiting for hours on the line and are then made to work mandatory overtime on a very consistent basis.
A source we spoke to said that they expect that “the four to five hour phone call waits will continue and grow worse as more guests will need to call for assistance as the email system is now the lowest priority”. Another source told WDWNT that the phone queue is consistently at about a 3 hour wait everyday right now, while live chat waits can often reach a similar length.
Haver you noticed these insanely long waits in your experiences contacting Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments below.
I have an Idea. NO MORE RESERVATIONS!!!
We’re trying to plan a trip, and have just resigned ourselves to the fact that calling to fix issues with the app or our reservations will consistently be a 4-5 hour wait. It’s awful.
This situation is patently absurd and only getting worse. There have been multiple times where, either my partner or I, have called to make a last minute hotel reservation change, only to be left on hold for hours awaiting a cast member to answer. This article blatantly leaves out the root cause for this problem, the infinite number of irritating, lonely, and idiotic guests that only call to tie up the phone lines while they they spew out their venomous bile to the cast member being forced to listen. These people lead miserable lives, Biden voters no less, and only seek to spread their misery to others. They clearly have no real business to conduct with Disney, but they call Disney anyway to tie up the cast members. Then their is the aged population, that are quite lonely and seek any form of human contact. So they call Disney, as with the miserable cretins, with no real business to conduct and drone on about their lonely and unhappy existence, and lengthen the wait time for people that do have genuine business to conduct. Unfortunately until Disney starts to do a better job screening the incoming calls this problem will only get worse.
Do you have a any examples of this occurring? Ockham’s Razor suggests your assertations are needlessly complex. It’s far more likely and reasonable that Disney’s phone lines are busy because of employee shortage (multiple causes) and high caller demand (tens of thousands of people at Disney World, etc., who can all have many valid reasons to need to call Guest Services).
Nice trolling lol. At least I hope it is, otherwise I think this person might need to talk to a therapist.
It’s been happening to me for Disneyland. We have a reservation coming up this week and there’s been multiple times where I’ll call and I hear a recorded message that there’s too many in queue and they can’t take my call right now. I’ll switch to the app to try and chat and either won’t get a response or it’ll be hours before anyone responds. It’s disheartening, that’s for sure.
Thank goodness all those ticket price increases are going to these overworked cast members!
So glad. (sad face)
I was on hold for 2 hours and 19 minutes , then the line disconnected. pay more get less , welcome to walt disney world.
I was on hold for 3 hours needing to add our oldest son to our trip package. I tried to do it online but it didn’t work. I put my earbud in at work and just waited until someone picked up. So sad. The CM was very kind and apologetic.
Was on hold for over 2 1/2 hours 3 days in a row. The Disney online site is also very confusing. I changed my reservation date.
When I checked in, they didn’t have it in their system
I’m waiting for, and looking forward to, the implosion of paycheck’s reign.
Try and use the chat feature in My Disney Experience App. No “chatting” going on there either. I sent a message on 11/21 and only got back an auto reply letting me know they are very busy.
Well this explains it. Thank you for the honest reporting as well. There are many that appreciate the real true side news of this company and not all the fantasy and the fakeness of what they are saying ! So sad but needs to be addressed.
This article is spot on…..the calls literally take hours….if you plan to make a call, prepare for at least an entire morning or afternoon
I only waited 25 minutes today!
Maybe instead of flaming the hard working CMs at DRC, you could take into consideration the shitty situation they’re in and not add fuel to the fire?
Where is this article saying anyone answering you call isn’t trying hard? The article, if anything, is explaining why the waits are so long and defending the cast answering the phones.
The wait times are really crazy. I can’t believe that they haven’t figured out how to migrate things to a call back feature like so many other companies have. Seems like an easy way to make the experience less painful for all.
I’ve used the chat feature multiple times. Only once was the cast member unable to help me, as it had to do with my monthly payment plan. Otherwise, very helpful. Yes, the wait can be a few hours, but its much better than waiting on hold. You can go about your day and just keep periodically checking if they’ve responded. They let you know if it’s been too long without a follow up question or response from you and they are going to close out the chat (one cast member waited 30 minutes before closing the chat without a response from me). I say, use the chat if it isn’t an emergency situation, that way you can go about your day.
Yes I did have to wait 4 hours to make my dining reservations for Christmas 2021 but the person I ended up speaking to was very nice and very helpful and we worked really well together because I was prepared ahead of time as to where I wanted to go, what days, and what time which made everything go more quickly.
Training new hires takes weeks. Very complex environment. So, no easy fix. In the 80s, long waiting times was also the normal. But they would let the phone ringing in order to avoid long distance cost for the guest.
Give me a job I would gladly relocate from the UK
Needed tto make a late change to a dining reservation Sunday 11/28 @ 130pm. Estimated wait: 90 minutes.
Empty employee cubicles? Disney is saving their money to give Bob Paycheck more raises.
I’ve run call centers for 30 years. I’d have been fired if any of my operations had reached this level of service. If nothing else Disney could institute a “save your place in line” callback. This has got to be hell for these cast members.
This poor customer service is simply the norm today across all large companies. Just another proof that Disney’s just another bloated media giant now. The magic went out the window a long time ago and will never return.
“We got their money, what are the going to do?” – Bob C.
During planning/preparation for a visit to WDW this October 2021 I regularly experienced 2-3 hour waits for phone service. I found if you call exactly when they open, the waits tend to be lesser, on the order of 30 minutes. During our stay on campus (Yacht Club) we did find that the hotel front desk representative was great, and able to resolve issues in a professional and efficient manner. Overall telephone guest services is becoming an oxymoron, which is disappointing as a 20 year DVC member.
Everytime I called to get an app issue sorted out, the wait was 3+ hours. Initially, I decided to hang up and email. After 20 days with no response, I tried chatting through the app. After an entire day of waiting, I got a message that they were no longer taking chats for the day and that my request was closed and considered resolved. I called the next day with a 3+ hour wait, put my phone on speaker, and did chores around the house while waiting. Thankfully I only ended up waiting about 2.5 hours. I assume this was due to people hanging up or getting disconnected. Everyone I have talked with was nothing but pleasant. Don’t take your frustration out on the people working, it will only make your wait time longer when people quit!
I called to upgrade my tickets to an Annual Pass a couple weeks ago. (Yes, just days before they stopped selling Annual Passes. Close call.) I had emailed Disney about an upgrade about a month before and they replied with a number to call. I called the number Disney provided in the email. After 30 minutes on hold I spoke with a Cast Member (super nice) for about 5-10 minutes when they told me they would have to forward me to another number. I got forwarded and I was on hold for 2 hours and 20 minutes. It took about 30 minutes to get my pass updated, reservations moved over, and park reservations moved as well. The Cast Member was *extremely* kind and helpful.
I’m in an online Disney group and I’ve seen reports of others being on hold for anywhere between 3 and 6 hours. I know a bunch of us called on the first day of Candlelight Processional reservations (what. a. mess.) and Disney wasn’t even taking calls then and just had their automated message to call later. Cast Members are clearly doing their best under the current circumstances and they are all super helpful. However it’s just as clear that Disney is not willing to provide a top-of-the-line Customer Experience that they’ve built their brand and parks upon. Each of us has a line when the pain points outweigh the benefits and magic. This Christmas I’m going to Disney, but I’m already planning to go to Universal instead next Christmas, and getting an Annual Pass there after my Disney one expires next year. I’m way more excited about the upcoming Epic Universe than nearly anything that Disney has announced for the next several years.
People have no idea the abuse those agents go through. They have a system that evaluates all calls and that’s why when you call Disney they ask you a thousands of questions and if they don’t ask all those questions or even if they interrupt you while you’re talking they don’t approve that call and the agent loose their commission. They’ve been working mandatory overtime for months.
yes. In years past before the “website” was as good as it gets, the typical wait was 30 minutes. And that’s how it was. And stop trying to get free stuff. I’ve seen people do it all the time. If you came in and your room was dirty or not to your “private maid” service standards, ask for a new room but not an upgrade. If Fred the cast member didn’t say have a “magical day” get over it. Too many people go to Disney and try to “cheat” the system. These people are just horrible humans.
It’s almost like no one wants to work for a company that is going opposite of the original design by Roy and walt. Putting the money /stockholders first and uses their employees like slaves and demands they act like robots.
After waiting 1 hour on hold my call was dropped and spent another 30 minutes on hold when I called back only to have to be transferred.
I waited 5 days for a video chat with DAS at Disney. I sent an email on 11/10 that was finally answered 11/28. After 5 days of 7 am-10 pm I got through. It was still an hour wait from a response to our actual video call. I have an email in now for a problem we had while on property. I expect at least a 2 week wait
Is this another Chapek budget cut to save the Disney company money? It’s extremely poor customer service. No wonder people are quitting! They’re tired of putting up with irate customers! I don’t blame them either! I also don’t blame the irate customers. I’d be too if I were on hold for over three + hours & unanswered emails! Do better Disney!
It seems as though the guest is no longer a priority to Disney anymore which given its size is a real shame.
its bloated size is WHY its so bad. It can never be the way it was. Too expensive for the shareholders etc. Bigger is almost never better re the customer–ANY big company.
I get frustrated with DIsney when they don’t answer your question or they are really evasive. I have found that to be true about their nanny state mask rules and trying to find out a season and year of the opening of Tron Lightcycle run.
I think what is ticking people off is Bob Cheapskate.
Yea their disability access service is probably in violation of the ADA at this point. Good luck trying to get a reasonable accommodation. There is nothing reasonable about a 5 hour wait sitting next to your browser opened to a blank Disney chat….
I’m on hold right now to see if they’ve received my email
I spent hours on the phone a few weeks ago. All I was trying to do was change the date of my tickets, which you should be able to do on the website, but the site was having trouble as well. I finally gave in and downloaded the app, which fixed the issue but I should not have had to do that.
Disney is currently a mess. Magic gone. Frustrations high. Just got back from 9 days at WDW. Been a loyal multi-year, annual visitor since 1987. DVC owner. Annual pass holder. Lover of all things Disney. Until now. Must be fixed soon. Chapek is a disaster! Price increases. Additional charges to simply qualify to get on certain attractions. Slave to the APP. Planning, planning, planning. Robbed us of fun time. Park hopping was ponderous. Nearly impossible to do anything spontaneously. Will give it one more visit to maximize AP, and if not fixed, will dump DVC points and avoid WDW. Very sad!!!
I had to modify my reservation. I tried to do it online and on the app. I wasn’t able to do it that way so I called Disney. I was on hold for 2 hours. When I did finally talk to a cast member he couldn’t change my reservation without talking to some other department. He put me on hold for another 30 minutes. So, something that literally would take 5 minutes to change took 2.5 hours. I feel sorry for the cast member and sorry for the customers. In the past it was so easy just to pop on the chat and have questions answered within minutes. Now you better hope you don’t have to make any changes that can’t be done on the app.
Love this article. Tomorrow will be our 4th trip since last December. It seems like using the Disney Experience App isn’t always easy. I thought by now that I’d be a pro. NOT! November 7, 2021, I wanted to upgrade a MK day to The Very Merriest after hours event. Disney made it impossible to just make a simple transaction through the My Experience App, so I had to call. All I can say is, 3:19:13 was my actual wait time to speak to a real living, breathing human being. Thankfully, they have the Disney tunes playing while on hold and I simply found myself tapping my feet, singing and even making my own hand gestures to go with the music. While on hold, I had another device and played games all the whole bee bopping to Disney’s music. Can’t seem to get the Main Street USA tune out of my head. I got a really nice cast member. Because I worked in a customer service call center for a major bank, I know exactly what these Cast members are dealing with. Thankfully I had no plans the day that I called, but I knew from our previous three visits that there is a wait everywhere in Disney. She did apologize for the long wait, but we both got a chuckle over my comments about the music. I did take a screenshot of my phone with Disney’s phone number and actual time. I think that Disney should reward their guests for some kind of discount for a 3 hour wait. Maybe 10% off a park ticket or 20% of merch. That’s a drop in the bucket for Disney. In any call center, a hold time for over an hour is really unacceptable.
Disney’s IT is really pathetic. Having an automatic call back feature for a call center is simple and effective.
Disney is becoming the worst place to visit for vacation. No parades, little or no entertainment, park hours constantly being changed, rides braking down like never before, limited service and price gouaging by Disney management.
Disney is becoming less and less the most magical place. Now that you have to schedule everything you want to do. We have to schedule r life everyday. It’s doesn’t sound so enjoyable or customer driven if you ask me.
An email that I sent back in early October was finally answered at the end of November. Don’t give up hope!
A number of times now. I have spent over 14 hours total on hold in the past few months dealing with AP issues and an upcoming reservation. The phones are frustrating, as I’ve been on hold and 1) been hung up on as the phone was finally answered after hours on hold 2) had the call rerouted to the wrong department who couldn’t help with my issue 3) been on a silent hold unsure whether the line was dead or would ever be answered. Having spent thousands for AP’s for the family and more for the upcoming trips, you would think Disney would find a way to answer the phones and provide some Magical customer service.
I had family that worked at DRC. They quit when they job shifted over from sales to guest services. They were no longer getting sale commissions and were always working mandatory overtime. They once told me it would get to where there were over 1400 calls in queue on any given day. They were now getting yelled at for the long waits, changes in Disney policy, most of the time unable to help anyway and the calls getting escalated to a supervisor.
It had become the worst job they had ever had and quit than to work one more day for Disney.
Another Disney fail. Here’s an idea – take the $11 million paid as a bonus to the CFO (who was the one who made comments about overweight guests) and offer a truly competitive wage and total value package for service agents!
I was on HOLD yesterday for almost 3 1/2 hours before I finally hung up.
As I read this, I’m on hold with an expected wait time of 2.5 hours in order to book a fireworks cruise for our January trip…. Would love to be able to book it online, but unfortunately that option was not available. I’ll be sure to be extra kind to the poor soul who has to answer the phone, cant imagine the abuse they are subject to…..
I called a few weeks ago regarding restaurant reservations as the website was down, and waited 3.5 hours for someone to pick up! If the website worked properly, consistently, there would be far less phone calls.
The hold times are ridiculous!
We’ve been calling for 4 days and holding for up to 4 hours with no answer. We have to cancel our trip due to Covid but can’t.
Is this a plan on Disney’s part to frustrate customers and keep their money!! Probably
I have currently been on hold for over two hours. This is ridiculous. I mean hire some more work from home people for goodness sake.