Turning on the lights on the Dream

[onecoolpilot]

I was wondering about the "put your key in to turn the lights on" feature of the Dream. Does it have to be the KTTW card, or will any card that size fit in there and turn on the juice?

Maybe an experiment for the lucky ones on the MV.

 

[tchrrx]

Would you explain this to those of us who have never cruised before. What do you mean by using a key to turn on the lights?

 

[NancyIL]

Would you explain this to those of us who have never cruised before. What do you mean by using a key to turn on the lights?

In some European hotels, in order to turn on any lights in the room, you leave your key card in a "slot" by the front door. If you leave the room and take your key with you (which is usually a good idea!), the lights go off. That is the same type of system that the Dream has. I can see a lot of people on the Dream either getting locked out of their cabins or else leaving someone in the dark in the shower when they leave the room!

 

[onecoolpilot]

This is a picture from PLS3399's trip report. There are others, but this is the one I was looking at.

As NancyIL said, when you come into the room, you put your KTTW card in the slot, which turns on the electricity to the room. When you leave, you (hopefully) take the card with you, which keeps you from leaving a bunch of lights on and thus saving electricity.

On that same trip report, PLS3399 said that the lights stay on for about 2 minutes after you remove the card. I was curious if any card would work, like can I shove my Kroger Plus card in there to turn the lights on, or does it 'read' the KTTW card somehow.

 

[maria-fan-22]

Well i don't think it really needs a ROOM key, but you may be able to put a credit card in there, or a rewards cards. Just something that small and plastic. BUt then you must remember to take your card with you.

 

[KingRichard]

Someone posted a business card would work.

 

[DMMarla07860]

well I for sure will be getting locked out at least once during the cruise, I usually forget my card at least once every cruise and get locked out

 

[CTXRover]

I don't know yet specifically for the Dream, but in general, these usually simply have a switch that the card presses on when you put it in that slot to turn on the power. In nearly any european hotel I have been in that has these, any card works. If true for the Dream, I may be bringing an older DCL card with me to keep at least the air conditioner on when we're not in the room (assuming its controlled by this power slot as well). I hate coming back after an excursion to a warm room.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

So everything goes off when the card is not in the slot? What about phone chargers, clocks, etc. And I know my DH will not be happy about coming back to a hot cabin at the end of every day.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I am not sure why more American companies don't use this technology. It would save SO much energy. And you are already coming back to warm Disney rooms since more and more of their rooms have 'motion sensing" on the AC.

 

[nlginny]

I was just thinking, won't someone steal your kttw card and charge stuff on it? There are weirdos out there.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I was just thinking, won't someone steal your kttw card and charge stuff on it? There are weirdos out there.

Unless you leave the door open, they can't steal the key. This "slot" is inside your room.

 

[turbo teacher]

I was just thinking, won't someone steal your kttw card and charge stuff on it? There are weirdos out there.

It's INSIDE your room

 

[bats]

We have a lot of these devices in Europe and I haven't found one yet that doesn't accept any card the same size etc. We use supermarket loyalty cards as if you forget it, it's no big deal, just go and get another one!

I must say though, if we're going out for longer than 30 mins or so, we don't leave a card in them as it just wastes power. The AC usually cools the room down pretty quickly once we return anyway.

 

[pearlieq]

And you are already coming back to warm Disney rooms since more and more of their rooms have 'motion sensing" on the AC.

There are ways to hack those.

I'm not out to kill the polar bears, but I sure don't want to come back to an 85 degree room either.

 

[yesmylove]

Silly question but what about the bathroom lights. If you take the key out at night to go to sleep how do you turn on the bathroom light. Are those lights seperate from the others or are they connected to the key card as well?

 

[jlwhitney]

If I remember correctly when we stayed in Barcelona, the card only allows you to turn the lights on and off, once the card is in place you can turn the lights on and off like normal.

 

[dizneyfan23]

it might be the same as the safe, you can use any card with a strip on it to lock the safe(before they changed them to numeral). So perhaps it'll work the same way.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I think it's just gonna take some time to get acclimated to 'remembering' your key when you LEAVE. I mean we're pretty used to just already wearing our lanyards or grabbing it and putting it on while getting ready to leave- (or for some- just always keeping their card in their pocket) and then used to just walking out when we leave the room. Now we'll need to remember that card- or we'll be constantly locking ourselves out of the room if we forget it. LOL

This said by the person that repeatedly forgot her lanyard when walking out and kept locking herself out of the room. Which was fine when DH was with me and could open the door back up for me to retrieve my lanyard or card... but I foresee a whole lot more people forgetting their cards when they leave with it being in that slot. LOL

 

[fla4fun]

I am not sure why more American companies don't use this technology. It would save SO much energy. And you are already coming back to warm Disney rooms since more and more of their rooms have 'motion sensing" on the AC.

A lot of times I select my WDW resort based on whether it has the motion thermostats or not. There's nothing worse than coming back to the room all hot and sweating and then having to sit there and sweat while you wait 30 minutes or more for the AC to cool the room down. The "work-around" for the motion thermostats doesn't work at every resort - you won't ever catch me in a BCV studio in warm weather again!

I would also be curious about whether it shuts down everything or just some things. If you plan to recharge electronics while you're, say, at dinner, you would need to leave a card in the slot, right? I'm new to this - just trying to plan ahead.