A family’s dream Christmas vacation, which had been planned since 2020, was seriously compromised after the grandparents in charge of the planning confused Disney tickets with Disney Plus streaming service gift cards.
Taking to her TikTok page, 41-year-old social worker Andie Coston shared a now-viral video, which has been viewed 3.2 million times, where she revealed how her Christmas vacation had been put in serious jeopardy.
“In 2020 my parents were planning a big family trip but the pandemic happened,” she started the video.
Andie Coston shared a now-viral video, which has been viewed 3.2 million times, revealing her parents bought $10k Disney Plus gift cards instead of Disney park tickets
Image credits: aofthecoast
Andie further explained: “We finally planned for this Christmas. All 16 of our family members are going. To save some money, my parents bought 10k of Disney gift cards to purchase our tickets and restaurant reservations.”
Upon going home to her 78-year-old parents last weekend, Andie realized that they were having problems loading the gift cards correctly and purchasing the tickets for the Disney parks in Florida, US.
Image credits: Bastien Nvs
The social worker went on to cut the TikTok to a shot showing a huge stack of Disney Plus cards worth $100 each. “Yup. We have 10k of Disney Plus streaming services,” Andie noted. “That’s over 70 years of Disney Plus,” she added.
Disney Plus is an American subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming media service owned and operated by Disney Streaming. Gift cards to use the streaming service are therefore not the same as the tickets to venture into the physical Disney theme parks.
“We finally planned for this Christmas. All 16 of our family members are going," Andie explained, as she'd been waiting since 2020 for this holiday
Image credits: aofthecoast
Andie pleaded: “We need help. It’s not about the money! It’s about getting the money in the right form. We leave in six days and the parks are selling out of tickets because it’s Christmas.
“My mom is distraught, dad frustrated, and the kids worried we won’t get to go to Disney. Anyone know of someone who can help?!”
The worried mom went on to criticize Disney’s marketing designs as she noted: “Your gift cards need redesigning to be more clearly differentiated.”
Image credits: aofthecoast
Upon going home to her 78-year-old parents last weekend, Andie realized that they were having problems loading the gift cards correctly
Image credits: aofthecoast
People had mixed reactions to Andie’s TikTok video, as a user commented: “Redesign the gift card? It clearly says Disney+, and it even says the word 'stream'.”
Another person joked: “Kids: Mom can we go to Disney? You forever: we have Disney at home.”
An additional TikTok user tried to help: “Call the number on the back of the gift card and they will transfer it. This happened to someone else in a Disney planning group I’m in and everything worked out just fine! Good luck.”
Image credits: aofthecoast
Meanwhile, a separate individual was left confused by the whole situation: “Who the hell allowed them to buy all of those?! You would think that would raise some retail red flags at checkout.”
Throughout this week, Andie went on to update her situation, providing daily follow-ups, and answering questions she was getting from commenters.
She clarified that the mix-up was not a scam and that her parents really did get confused as they “don’t use streaming services”. She added: "It was an honest mistake”.
Disney Plus is an American subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming media service owned and operated by Disney Streaming
Image credits: aofthecoast
Image credits: aofthecoast
In another update, Andie revealed that she and her husband were both social workers who had loans and mortgages to pay off and therefore couldn’t afford to splurge again on Disney park tickets.
“We won't be able to take our kids to Disney. This is our one shot,” the distraught mother revealed.
But there is a happy ending to all this stressful situation, as two days ago (Tuesday, December 19), Andie provided an update revealing that her family was finally able to turn the $10,000 Disney Plus gift cards into “10k Disney parks gift cards.”
Gift cards to use the streaming service are not the same as the tickets to venture into the physical Disney theme parks
Image credits: aofthecoast
You can watch the viral video below
Andie provided an update revealing that her family was finally able to turn the Disney Plus gift cards into “10k Disney parks gift cards"
Image credits: Marques Kaspbrak
The family is now looking forward to enjoying their long-awaited trip. Speaking to People, Andie said: "I am so glad we were able to get it resolved, especially for my parents' sake. It was also good to hear that my parents are not the only ones who have experienced this.
"I received many messages and comments from people telling me that they or someone they know have had similar experiences. I hope that this story makes more people aware of the card difference so no one else experiences this."
Viewers were left confused, while others thought the whole situation was rather funny
