The most magical place on Earth during the most magical time of year was almost compromised for one family of 16 after they made a colossal error in an attempt to save money.
In a clip that’s now been viewed over 3.4 million times, TikToker Andi Coston explained how in 2020, she and 16 of her extended family members were set to visit Walt Disney World for Christmas but had to reschedule for this year due to the pandemic.
Trying to be financially savvy, her 78-year-old parents purchased $10,000 worth of what they thought were park-redeemable Disney gift cards to use to purchase tickets and meals to cut costs. Some retailers will reportedly sell Disney gift cards at a discounted price.
@aofthecoast Do I have a story for you! PLEASE HELP! Note that the purchaser is not familiar with Disney Plus and did not know the difference! Honest mistake. It is not about the funding of the trip. It is about finding someone who can help us transfer the money into the correct gift card so we can make it to Disney! @Disney Parks @Disney+ @Disney #ohno #fail #disney #disneyworld #disneyplus #disneyfail #help ♬ Oh No – Kreepa
“I went home this weekend and they were having problems loading the gift cards correctly and purchasing the tickets,” she explained.
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The screen then showed viewers a photo of a massive stack of gift cards with the Disney+ logo on them — gift cards that are only redeemable through and for the streaming service.
“That’s over 70 years of Disney+,” she said. “My mom is distraught, Dad frustrated, and the kids worried we won’t get into Disney.”
Coston then asked viewers for help figuring out a way to reallocate the funds to the proper Disney services, noting that the parks were selling out of tickets quickly because of the Christmas holiday and explaining that her family was leaving six days from the time of the video being posted on Monday.
In a follow-up video, Coston explained that someone with Disney reached out to her family after the video went viral and was in the process of transferring the money on the Disney+ gift cards to the appropriate gift cards for the park.
Thank you.
“I am glad that this is resolved. I hate that this is what it took,” she told viewers, noting that she hopes to never go viral again. “It is so frustrating to think that there are other people who have done this in smaller amounts because financially, this was not a thing for my parents, but I know that there are people out there who this would have been disastrous or would have set them back.”
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Coston updated viewers on Thursday afternoon that she had, in fact, begun packing for the trip.
A Christmas miracle indeed.
Disney did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur‘s request for comment.
