To complain to Thomas Cook

[SentientCushion]

Hi Everyone, not sure if I should complain about this or not.

So me and my sister have booked a holiday to Disneyland with the Dn's through Thomas Cook. We are very excited as we've never been before as have never been able to afford it but my DG gave us the money for a trip of a lifetime.
We went to Thomas Cook and they asked which dates we wanted, we said we were flexible but it would be nice to go on my Ds's birthday, we were told it was the same price for the weeks around her birthday so we booked up for her birthday and paid in full.
Now we've discovered that the Disney half marathon is that weekend and the park is going to be completely rammed, they also have the fireworks on later (we wanted to go out of season so the park would be quieter and we could watch the fireworks and still go to bed early). Apparently there's also a fitness expo on and they are expecting 3500 more guests than normal.
None of this was mentioned at time of booking and we feel that it's going to impact our experience quite considerably.
AIBU to complain and ask them to change the dates of our booking?

I think that is the sort of thing they'd say you should have checked beforehand

As you went to Thomas cook and said your dates were flexible, it is reasonable to complain, I feel. At the VERY least, they could give you some vouchers for meals or early entry to the park or something. Good luck!

Well I nievely thought that by using a travel agent I would be warned about things like this. Disney day travel agents were told about it in October last year. I didn't think to check as I have never heard of the Disney marathon so I didnt know to look.

The funny thing about Orlando/Paris (not sure which) is that the travel agents don't know it as well as people who go. They know the flights, hotels etc but not that type of information (unless you use Specialist) and it's unreasonable to expect them to. You have not been missold it either

The other thing is there really is starting to be no off season for Disney as they build up events to keep at capacity. I went at February with a cheerleading competition

I go at Christmas (you can't get busier) and never find it causes my experience to be impacted. Careful planning means it just fine

Gosh autocorrent is horrendous on my phone sorry!

I agree with quartz - I think it would be difficult to find a weekend at Disney that doesn't have some kind of event happening. It's never spoiled it for us.

Well I've never been before, so I assumed that a travel agent would be the place to inform me about my trip.

Google. Google is the place to inform you about everything. And Facebook more and more.

Message Thomas Cook on Facebook!!!!

They completely ruined our holiday by constantly changing our flights so we ended up cancelling the whole thing. The only thing they were good at is giving my money back!

They reply very quickly on Facebook

I would have said that a travel agent such as Thomas Cook is expected to sort out your flights and accommodation; theyre not there to micromanage your trip. They serve a large number of destinations and cannot be expected to know what is happening in all of those places. If you ask them a direct question about any events that were happening during your stay, then i'm sure they could have found out for you.

The customer should take responsibility for researching whether the holiday is right for them. I wouldn't think you had grounds to complain. Especially as Disney is not known for being quiet.

Yes I said it would be nice but that we didn't mind, we looked at a couple of dates but they were about the same price so we said we may as well go on the birthday. We wouldn't have picked that date if we had known about the marathon.

I think as pp has said there's no such thing as a quiet time as Disneyworld. To me on paper Disney sounds like he'll on earth - really really hot, crowds of people, long queues - but in reality it was brilliant! You just need to plan everything with military precision and research which rides you want to prioritise. Tbh it's more of an experience than a holiday. Get there before the parks open each day and plan which rides you want to prioritise and you'll be fine.

When is it that you are supposed to go ? If it's still a while to go then you could cancel and rebook another date. You might lose some of your money depending on how long before the trip you cancel though. Or you might get lucky and they let you move the dates as a goodwill gesture.
Best to speak to someone in store.

Speaking from experience, in Disney an extra 3500 guests is nothing! You won't even notice. Go and enjoy your holiday and don't worry about events. There will always be something happening at Disney. We went one year during 'Gay Days' (which we didn't know about until after we'd booked) and were worried about extra crowds. I can honestly say we never noticed a difference to any other time we've been.

TBH OP, I don't think it's the TA responsibility to tell you, it's yours.
-Assuming you meant Disney world and going to Orlando-If you were going in October for example, you have the mickeys Halloween party nights. The nights they are not on the magic kingdom gets very very busy. Would you have expected to know about the parties? I believe you should do your own research, especially where you are going. There is nearly always something extra on

Just got off the phone with thomas cook who say it WAS there job to inform us, that Disney tell them of major events that will interfere with parktime well in advance and it's up to the travel companies inform the customers before making a booking.
I have to go into store but they will do what they can to amend my booking.

*their

It's your responsibility to check stuff like this . Travel agents aren't your freinds , they are a business . Half the time the staff have never been there or know what they are selling !!

Can work the other way too. Didn't mention there was a festival when we went to Croatia for The week we were there and it meant we got free nightly entertainment in the village square.