BEST way to communicate with Walt Disney World!

by Canadian Diva

What’s the best way to get in contact with the Walt Disney World regarding your vacation? The most popular way is probably through email here. A Cast Member will surely answer your questions, concerns and compliments in a very timely manner. However, my ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE way to communicate with the Walt Disney World is through TWITTER!

Now, Twitter may not be everyone’s favourite social medial platform yet I am a total Twitter addict because I love how instantaneous the Twitterverse is. And since the Walt Disney Company knows how to do Customer Service best, they surely are, in my opinion, the BEST at TWITTER as well.

The Walt Disney Company and Walt  Disney Theme parks has many different Twitter “handles” to address the many areas of their companies’ services and information. The official Walt Disney World Resort twitter handle is @WaltDisneyWorld where information is provided on park happenings BUT where it’s really HAPPENING is over at “official in-park Twitter feed for Walt Disney World”, which is @WDWToday. The team over at @WDWToday is constantly updating throughout the day, with what is happening in Walt Disney World as well as fun facts about the Theme Parks and Resorts.  And not only do they post very useful information that can help you while you are on your Walt Disney World Resort vacation,  they even communicate with YOU on Twitter. On their Twitter Bio, they state that if you “have a question, comment or concern…” they are “all EARS!” And they state that they are usually “most responsive” between 8:30am – 7:00pm Eastern Standard Time.

As a self-professed Twitter addict, I must say that it’s true when they say that they are “all EARS”. They are so great at quickly responding and directing someone to the right department if you have a concern or issue. And when you share a wonderful moment or share a fun answer to one of their questions, most times, they will respond with such a witty and pixie dusted answer which would evoke the spirit of Walt Disney, or cute emojis which relates to what you are tweeting. For example, If I tweeted that I love Cosmic Rays Starlight Café, they would mostly likely respond that “Cosmic Rays is out of this World” and/or tweet a Rocket Ship emoji in response. They find  really neat ways to engage with each guest, they really take “Be Our Guest” to a whole new level!

As mentioned above, Walt Disney World is on the top of the game in terms of it’s genuine Customer Service and a great way to show some love back to Walt Disney World is to give a CAST MEMBER Compliment.   You can send an email to express your gratitude to a Cast Member and the Walt Disney Resort will most likely reply back and pass your message to the Cast Member you are complimenting. BUT @WDWToday takes it one step further. When you post the hashtag #CastCompliment with the Cast Member’s name and explain how they made your experience magical, the @WDWToday twitter team usually respond, with again with a fun tweet. Sometimes, they will take your TWEET, print it out and take a photo of  the Cast Member you complimented HOLDING it, with big letters, “Thank YOU”. They will respond to the compliment that you tweeted with the photo, letting you know that they acknowledge what the special Cast Member did for you.

Here are a couple examples of #CastCompliment I tweeted with a response from the team! Isn’t this neat?

 

 

Please note that @WDWToday cannot always do the above, as they probably (and hopefully) receive thousands of Cast Member Compliments, but I’m sure they will always try to tweet a response to your tweet and let the Cast Member know how they made your vacation magical.

Many may think that @WDWToday tweets may only be “bots” (automated) when they respond but there is a REAL team of PEOPLE behind this awesome way of instant communication. AND you can MEET this team as well. Throughout the year, the @WDWToday team will TWEET that they will be at a certain location inside Walt Disney World Theme Parks and Resort. This is a chance to meet their team and receive their coveted BUTTON!

I have always wanted to meet this incredible team. And whenever I am at Walt Disney World, I am constantly checking my Twitter to see where they may be or if they are meeting with fans. I have had no such Pixie Dust, yet, BUT our very own writer Soarin’ Diva had the chance to meet them. She was at Walt Disney World one time and heard that they were at Disney Springs, handing out buttons. She was bummed that she couldn’t meet them at that time because her and her family were at Hollywood Studios and, on Twitter, she mentioned that she wish she had a chance to meet them. As they exchanged several Tweets back and forth, her wish came TRUE! The @WDWToday team was able to meet her and her family and they brought the exact number of buttons for her family, even though she never mentioned how many people were in her family. How magical is that?

And writer Disney Magic Diva and her family had the chance to meet the @WDWToday team as well. Her family met the @WDWToday twitter team a few years ago when the @WDWToday Twitter team took over Jungle Cruise to be the “Skip of the Day”. She said they were so fun to and happy to chat with her and her family. This was when The Jungle Book the Movie had just been released and they gave her whole family cinch sacks, and a Button (I’m so jealous).  As they were talking, one of the TEAM members recognized Disney Magic Diva’s Twitter Handle from her Tweets, Disney Magic Diva felt like a Rock Star. The @WDWToday always makes their fans feel special!

 

Now what happens when you have a complaint or concern?

For me, I really try to live by the motto, “Promote what you love, not bash what you hate.” If I received bad service or experienced something horrible,  I do my best not to bash any company in public and on a social forum. If a negative experienced happened, I will email or message PRIVATELY first. IF the company is being completely negligent, I may take to Twitter, however this happens rarely for me, as most of the time, issues seem to get resolved with a private message back.

There was a minor incident that did happen when we were at Walt Disney World this past summer that made one evening less than magical. We drove to Magic Kingdom and parked in the parking lot. When it was the end of the night, there was the usual mass exodus of crowds out of the park. My husband and I decided for us and our children, that it would be faster to take the ferry back to the Ticket and Transportation Centre instead of the Monorail. When we were waiting in line, the line didn’t move. There was a mass crowd waiting for the ferries and apparently, we heard that a ferry broke down. One of the lines started moving but the line we were in was not moving at all. People were getting very restless and starting to get very angry. Again, another part of the line started moving onto a ferry, our part of the line was still not moving and I was getting worried that people would not be as “Disney” anymore and start to get physical to move the line forward as I could feel tempers beginning to flare. It was very late at night and I didn’t expect a response, but I got out my smartphone and DM’d (direct message, I did not Tweet publicly) at bit of this situation to @WDWToday. I didn’t think anyone would respond but at that moment it felt like a bit of a helpless situation. I didn’t get a reply back but a few minutes later, it was like magic, a ferry all of the sudden appeared and it was our line that was moving.

I’m sure that this was probably a coincidence but it was really nice that I could tell someone on the other end what was going on. We went back to our resort and the next day we were back at Magic Kingdom for an early Lunch. I was checking my messages when all of the sudden I get a DM reply back from @WDWToday. I was so surprised. They were asking if everything is okay and if we made it back okay. I replied that we did after I DM’d them. They said they hoped we had a great vacation despite this incident. I told them we were still on our vacation and enjoying a wonderful lunch at BE OUR GUEST. They then said for me to enjoy the “GREY STUFF” and I told them I definitely will.

I think it was really touching that they messaged me to see if my family and I were okay. And that they apologized for any inconvenience. It is this type of customer service and care that makes Walt Disney World as a whole so magical, and communicating with @WDWToday that much more!

Are you ready to start planning your magical vacation, but you aren’t sure where to start? Contact our recommended travel agent, Patricia at All Dreams for Travel, and she can do all the work for you. Best of all, all of her services are FREE, all you have to do is click here to request a quote!

Thank you Soarin’ Diva and Disney Magic Diva for sharing your stories and your photos for this article.

***Disclaimer – We at Tips from the Disney Divas and Devos hope you enjoy reading our articles, and encourage you to share any you feel may be of interest to someone else. We do ask, however, if you choose to share the photographs attached to our articles, you give credit to the photographer. Thank you for your cooperation and sharing our love of Disney!