Vwl never again

[River Country]

Let's just say my trip was less than magical at the VWL this past week for several reasons.

1. upon arrival we did not expect to have our 2 Villas ready since we were there early and typically they are not ready until early afternoon and it was 11AM. So we collect our box of stuff that we shipped down and get on a bus to Epcot(even though we had a car....Dont ask) We are not even off the WL property and get a text that our rooms are ready when we were specifically told they would not be ready until 3.

2. Upon return from Epcot i get my min-van with all our bags as my wife and father get the keys to the villas. I pull up in the vallet area and start to unload the car...valet comes over and says...

Valet Mgr: Only a bellman can use the luggage cart
Me: OK do you have one available?
Valet Mgr: Yes but you have to store your bags
Me: But my room is ready now and i am going directly to my room. Why would i store and check my bags when i am going directly to my room?
Valet Mgr: unfortunately that is the only way we do it here
Me: Well in NJ where i am from that is stupid, i will just do it myself

Do you know he sat there with 3 bellman and watch me and my father make 3 trips with bags. I received a White Chocolate Donald later that day wishing me a Magical experience, becasue i guess someone overheard what was going on but the damage was done. In any event i will go back only to see the beautiful christmas decorations and to eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe but i will not stay there again.

Again this is just my experience and it does not necessarily reflect the true spirit of the resort but i am going back to BWV

 

[SpaceMountain77]

Last August, during our stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we were also told that luggage carts could only be used by cast members, not guests. The policy may seem silly, but luggage carts pose a liability for the resort. Children want their parents to give them "rides." When an accident occurs, some guests pass the blame onto Disney.

It is a safety measure that surely arose from a lawsuit.

 

[wdwlover25]

We had the same thing happen at BWV over spring break. Our bags were nicely stacked on the luggage cart at bell services but we were not allowed to take the cart ourselves to the room.

 

[RescueRanger]

Last August, during our stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we were also told that luggage carts could only be used by cast members, not guests. The policy may seem silly, but luggage carts pose a liability for the resort. Children want their parents to give them "rides." When an accident occurs, some guests pass the blame onto Disney.

It is a safety measure that surely arose from a lawsuit.

He knows that. But when he asked for a bellboy to help him, the manager said that they would only help him if he stored his luggage first. They would not take it directly to the room. That is what he was miffed about. At least, that's the way I read it.

 

[sgtdisney]

He knows that. But when he asked for a bellboy to help him, the manager said that they would only help him if he stored his luggage first. They would not take it directly to the room. That is what he was miffed about. At least, that's the way I read it.

That's the way I read it too. It's not about the carts, but the lack of customer service. I think a call to member satisfaction may be needed here. They certainly could have explained and handled things differently, PLUS if they were sitting around watching you schlep bags, they must not have been too busy.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

Maybe it's just my weird way of thinking but maybe the loss of that $2 to $3 per bag tip has alot to do with it as well? I'm not comfortable having our bags handled by anyone but us so I'm researching the shortest walking path from the parking lot to the villas at VWL. Plus I have some mobility issues as well so this is important to me anyway.

 

[drusba]

The rule against allowing guests to use the luggage carts on their own is very common among hotels. Also, even if room is ready, you generally leave the luggage with the valet group. You then just tell bell services inside to have them brought to room, which they usually do very quickly. That is the result of the practice of not having the bellman and the luggage cart follow along with the guests to the room, including because they don't want the luggage cart and all the guests in the elevator at once if they can avoid it. If tipping is the issue, just remember that you are not required to tip

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It's the same at Kidani, but they let us unload the car onto the cart and then they took it inside and brought it to us roughly an hour later, maybe less!

If you really enjoy the resort and the villa was clean and well appointed, maybe after a few weeks you're experience with bell ser. will dim in comparison to the rest of your stay!

 

[bumbershoot]

Valet Mgr: Only a bellman can use the luggage cart
Me: OK do you have one available?
Valet Mgr: Yes but you have to store your bags
Me: But my room is ready now and i am going directly to my room. Why would i store and check my bags when i am going directly to my room?
Valet Mgr: unfortunately that is the only way we do it here

That's the way it has been for ALL of the resorts at WDW we have stayed at. They do not just follow you to the room. There is always a stop in the back room and a switch of people.

Has happened at Jambo, Kidani (and they took AGES to get to the room), Boardwalk... At SSR we had stored things with them (b/c we have no interest in leaving bags in a car like you did...our stuff is important to us, too important to possibly be stolen from our vehicle) so of course there was the storage stop in between.

Oh wait it wasn't so at POR, but it was around 2am and there was only one Bell Services guy on duty so he couldn't switch out to someone else.

Where else have we stayed and wanted them to follow us? Hasn't come up at OKW b/c we leave the car in the checkin lot and if the room is ready we just drive over. If not, we store the bags.


VWL was actually the best for us, because DH was getting bags checked since it was early in the morning and we had no expectation of the room being ready, and I was checking in. The room was indeed ready and I was able to contact DH. The bags were on the cart heading to the back room, but they heard what was happening and held the bag cart at the Bell desk. They still didn't physically follow us to the room, but they didn't take the bags in back, either. And they were there quickly.


I think it's a misunderstanding of what you were saying, of what they were saying, combined with the fact that their policy is to NOT follow you to the room. There's pretty much always going to be a switchover in personnel.


Happens at the Universal resorts, too, by the way.

 

[jekjones1558]

This incident is related to the separate status of Valet (employees of BAGS, INC) and Bell Services (employees of Disney). Apparently use of luggage carts at arrival at the front door is restricted to Valet. You can carry them yourself inside and get a bell person or you can pay (tip) valet to unload onto a cart and then pay (tip) Bell Services to deliver to the room. On departure Bell Services can bring your stuff from your room all the way to your car, if it is waiting in the arrival/departure area. This setup is a pet peeve of mine. I am a good tipper and prefer to tip only once. Petty of me, I know.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[permavac]

Maybe it is different at different resorts? We stayed at BLT this past January. We drove up to the front and started loading the cart provided by Bell Services and once it was finished my DH and the bellman with the cart went directly up to the room. There was no "checking" of our luggage beforehand. Either we got lucky or things are done differently at BLT.

Terri

 

[love280mickey]

Me: Well in NJ where i am from that is stupid, i will just do it myself

Sorry you didn't enjoy your stay. We've stayed at VWL many times and love it there. I don't think you did yourself any favors by making this comment.

You're on vacation. Why do people always think things have to be done just like they are at home, wherever home is? (kinda like the "ugly American" comments from overseas travelers)

Plus, it sounds like it's the system in all the resorts now anyway, no matter where you want to stay.

 

[n2mm]

Wanted to add that this happened to us during a stay at the AKV too. We normally just bring our own luggage now and skip the whole process.

 

[Sunshine22]

When we drove to WDW and stayed at BLT, we used the luggage carts at BLT ourselves after checking in at the Contemporary. Now that there is a check in desk at BLT, I wonder if they now require the bellman to take luggage up to rooms with the luggage carts.

 

[DebbieB]

Let's just say my trip was less than magical at the VWL this past week for several reasons.

1. upon arrival we did not expect to have our 2 Villas ready since we were there early and typically they are not ready until early afternoon and it was 11AM. So we collect our box of stuff that we shipped down and get on a bus to Epcot(even though we had a car....Dont ask) We are not even off the WL property and get a text that our rooms are ready when we were specifically told they would not be ready until 3.

2. Upon return from Epcot i get my min-van with all our bags as my wife and father get the keys to the villas. I pull up in the vallet area and start to unload the car...valet comes over and says...

Valet Mgr: Only a bellman can use the luggage cart
Me: OK do you have one available?
Valet Mgr: Yes but you have to store your bags
Me: But my room is ready now and i am going directly to my room. Why would i store and check my bags when i am going directly to my room?
Valet Mgr: unfortunately that is the only way we do it here
Me: Well in NJ where i am from that is stupid, i will just do it myself

Do you know he sat there with 3 bellman and watch me and my father make 3 trips with bags. I received a White Chocolate Donald later that day wishing me a Magical experience, becasue i guess someone overheard what was going on but the damage was done. In any event i will go back only to see the beautiful christmas decorations and to eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe but i will not stay there again.

Again this is just my experience and it does not necessarily reflect the true spirit of the resort but i am going back to BWV

.

 

[RachaelA]

At BLT, they helped us load everything onto a cart and the bellboy went with us directly to our room. That's not how it's normally done???? There is no way I would leave all my random stuff from our road trip with them when our room was ready( Like plastic bags of stuff).

 

[jade1]

We use ME and they just put them in the room while we are at the parks.

If we drove I would bring them ourselves-but our kids are older etc. Not interested in games being played.

 

[DizBub]

We have never had any problem at BLT. In fact last time we stayed there we actually asked about getting a hand with our stuff and were told they would have to call someone over from the Contemporary. We just did it ourselves.

Never a problem at Kidani because of the under the building parking.

We handle our own bags at BCV. SSR and OKW, no problem at all since you can park right at your door.

BWV, Jambo House and VWL you almost NEED assistance and it does irk me to have to tip twice to be able to stay there. For the record, I don't mind tipping but the unloading/storage/calling for your bags is slightly ridiculous.

 

[lucyem]

In general they take your bags, you park car, you check in, you go to room, they bring bags.
On rare occasions i have checked in first and then dh shows up in the car. Then they have brought bags directly to the room. This has happened at a couple of different resorts. Bcv, akl & pofq come to mind. On the other hand i remember once at bc where they said the bags were coming right up, we gave them the room number, but when i called when they never showed up, they said they were unable to deliver unless i was in the room and called.

 

[benji2012]

This incident is related to the separate status of Valet (employees of BAGS, INC) and Bell Services (employees of Disney). Apparently use of luggage carts at arrival at the front door is restricted to Valet. You can carry them yourself inside and get a bell person or you can pay (tip) valet to unload onto a cart and then pay (tip) Bell Services to deliver to the room. On departure Bell Services can bring your stuff from your room all the way to your car, if it is waiting in the arrival/departure area. This setup is a pet peeve of mine. I am a good tipper and prefer to tip only once. Petty of me, I know.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

This makes the most sense to me, though I initially thought it had to do with the fact that bell services might be busy and therefore, people just arriving didn't get to skip ahead of others who were waiting for their bags for other reasons such as magical express. Another reason not to give guests carts...they keep them too long...making other guests have to wait.

While it may be frustrating, the first experience (getting the text) is not that unusual or surprising and would not impact my feeling on a resort. Front desk and housekeeping communicate but it's not constant and so the front desk gives the latest time so as to manage expectations of the guest. They probably thought they were doing a good thing for the OP.