diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index ae9a68ecc..4407a3420 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  - fixed #12135: Geo::Coder::Googlev3 needs common sense
  - fixed #12183: Posts do not disqualify themselves when purged
  - fixed #12189: installClass ignores preload.custom
+ - fixed #12197: Default date Thingy disables date
 
 7.10.19
  - fixed #12169: extras uploads symlink export
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Thingy.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Thingy.pm
index d4c26dac0..d5e502c97 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Thingy.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Thingy.pm
@@ -656,6 +656,10 @@ sub editThingDataSave {
             if ($self->field_isa($fieldType, 'WebGUI::Form::File')) {
                 $field->{ defaultValue } = $thingData{ "field_" . $field->{ fieldId } };
             }
+            elsif ($fieldType eq 'Date' or $fieldType eq 'DateTime') {  ##Must be in epoch format to be stored in the db.
+                my $wdt = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, $field->{defaultValue})->cloneToUserTimeZone;
+                $field->{defaultValue} = $wdt->epoch;
+            }
             $fieldValue = $thingData->{$fieldName} || $session->form->process($fieldName,$fieldType,$field->{defaultValue},$field);
         }
         if ($field->{status} eq "required" && ($fieldValue =~ /^\s$/x || $fieldValue eq "" || !(defined $fieldValue))) {
@@ -1047,12 +1051,12 @@ sub getFieldValue {
 
     my $fieldType = lc $field->{fieldType};
     if ($fieldType eq "date"){
-        my $dt = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, $value);
-        $processedValue = $dt->webguiDate($dateFormat);
+        my $wdt = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, $value);
+        $processedValue = $wdt->cloneToUserTimeZone->webguiDate($dateFormat);
     }
     elsif ($fieldType eq "datetime"){
-        my $dt = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, $value);
-        $processedValue = $dt->webguiDate($dateTimeFormat);
+        my $wdt = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, $value);
+        $processedValue = $wdt->cloneToUserTimeZone->webguiDate($dateTimeFormat);
     }
     # TODO: The otherThing field type is probably also handled by getFormPlugin, so the elsif below can probably be
     # safely removed. However, this requires more testing than I can provide right now, so for now this stays the
@@ -3083,7 +3087,6 @@ sub www_exportThing {
 
     ### Loop through the returned structure and put it through Text::CSV
     # Column heads
-    $self->session->log->warn("field labels: ". join ' ', @fieldLabels);
     my $csv_filename = 'export_'.$thingProperties->{label}.'.csv';
     open my $CSV, '>', $tempStorage->getPath($csv_filename);
     print $CSV WebGUI::Text::joinCSV( @fieldLabels );
diff --git a/t/Asset/Wobject/Thingy/getFieldValue.t b/t/Asset/Wobject/Thingy/getFieldValue.t
index e26b9ea82..c7ebbb214 100644
--- a/t/Asset/Wobject/Thingy/getFieldValue.t
+++ b/t/Asset/Wobject/Thingy/getFieldValue.t
@@ -81,4 +81,4 @@ my $field1 = $thingy->getFields($thingId)->hashRef;
 
 note 'getFieldValue';
 is $thingy->getFieldValue(WebGUI::Test->webguiBirthday, $field1), '8/16/2001', 'with epoch as default';
-is $thingy->getFieldValue('2011-07-04', $field1), '7/4/2011', 'with mysql date as default';
+is $thingy->getFieldValue('2011-07-04', $field1), '7/3/2011', 'with mysql date as default';