Im sorry for the length of this, but it's a good read.
Our first onsite trip was at POP and we had a pretty rough time of it. My kids had decided on it for the pop jets (out of order) and a few other things. I wanted to stay at POFQ or the GF myself, however the kids got to stay at the "kid hotel" they wanted.
It was a very bad stay, from the extremely rude staff, to the transportation. We had people smoking meth in the room next to us, the whole family was sick for days. We missed out on a whole day at the parks due to the kids being too sick to leave the room. Pop refused to move us or do anything about it. In the end I had to call the Orlando PD to get it worked out. Then the pop staff magically started to care when the PD questioned them. Then after a freak storm and unanticipated crowd levels at down town Disney I ended up with a broken finger and my oldest son got both his shins split from a guy that fell on us on the bus back to the hotel. The bus was over loaded by --->50<--- people. I questioned the driver and he slammed the door in my face and on my foot and started to back away with me partially stuck in the door. I got it out and banged on the door. The driver sped away.
After I got back to the hotel I was so sad and angry I had no idea my finger was broken as bad as it was (dark bus + nerve damage from my line of work), until a CM came up to me and told me to "Stop dripping blood on the floor. Or I'll have to call the cops." No joke. A person who was on the bus with me and in line at the desk had seen this transpire and had asked his teenage son to run and get me a paper towel from the restroom. I started to clean it up and as I was doing so the CM continued to threaten me, and the same kind person from the bus told her to knock it off. At this time a real hotel manager walked by, thank goodness. He wanted to know what was going on.
I explained that the first few days of our trip had been a nightmare and that I didn't feel safe at the resort, and was there in line to kindly request a refund so I could get the $#!@ out of there. He asked for all the details and after a few sentences decided he needed to pull me out of the lobby for a quiet chat somewhere more private.
He was kind and begged us to give them another chance. I said my wife was currently in our room packing and nothing would keep us at that hotel. He asked if I could just try and get some rest and he would have it fixed by morning, but if I insisted he would get us a car and book us another hotel.
I decided to wait till morning. He gave me the first aid kit they had and I had my finger taped up and went back to the room to find my wife worried and my kids sleeping. Hooray for a warm bath and some kids Tylenol for my sons hurt legs. My phone rang as I was about to talk to my wife and it was the manager asking about my finger and my sons legs. Then he asked what time I get up in the morning. He said he would be at my door with someone to move our things and help pack for us if we needed it.
The manager arrived at the time he said he would and had someone to move our bags for us. He said he was sending us to another resort the WL. He had a car waiting for us and off we went. Now I live in Colorado and every resort and Wal-Mart in the ski towns looks just like the WL. So I can't say that it was unique to me or even special, but what shocked me was how much my kids felt better in a place that was like their home. When we had gotten out of bed that morning and I told my kids we were leaving, they cried thinking they were going to get back on a bus and head to the parks. But they seemed to perk up when they saw all the pine trees and all the warm hardwoods and granite that was so much like our own house. The manager met us and told us the transportation manager asked if he could call me around 9:30am to talk about what had happened. I agreed and he showed us to our room. They had fresh fruit and snacks waiting for my kids and a bucket and shovel for each of them to play with in the sand outside.
The manager looked at my finger and my sons legs and had no idea what to say. I saw him looking a bit more upset than I thought he would, when my son hobbled up to him and thanked him for the room and snacks. He said it was the very least that should have been done and quietly left.
I went down to Roaring Forks and grabbed breakfast for the family. Afterwards my wife and kids went for a walk while I took the call from the transportation manager. This didnt go well at all. First the manager said he was sorry I was upset (ugh) and that he had no control over what happened (oof). Needless to say I ripped into this guy, first for a left handed not real apology and 2nd explained that my injury was apparently due to him being ineffective as a manager since he had no control over the service he was in charge of. He flew off the handle and yelled at me, I hung up the phone and started doing some work while I had a few minutes of free time.
Then my phone rang again. This guy if I remember right said he was a VP and had heard about what had happened from the manager that had called me. He was not happy with the manager and explained the roles of his staff and how this should have gone up the chain farther than it had. Then he did what I was looking for the whole time and still had not received at that point a simple apology. Sadly not one person, from the CMs working at the pop to the managers of either hotel to the transportation manager had offered a simple Im sorry you got hurt at our resort. He then explained what happened and why it happened with no excuses. A very large group of people had had some type of convention in Orlando and had filled all their hotels. The problem was that it was so last minute they couldnt get staff to come in help out in time. All the way from the hotel staff to bus drivers they were understaffed. The driver and station attendants were over packing the busses to get done sooner since they were tired. He said he would follow up with emails and let me know what the result was. He did follow up and the result of which I wont post here.
My kids played on the water slide and took some big naps during the day. The following day my oldest asked to go back to the parks! The kids still werent feeling well from the meth but they did okay. My oldest who had his legs hurt rode on my shoulders the whole time we were there. Our vacation ended quietly. Towards the end I got another call about getting our room paid for. I said I would pay and would even pay the extra for our room at the WL. I explained it was an issue of safety and not money, and the real thing that mattered to me (time with my kids) could not be returned. He said he understood and apologized again.
As follow up, I am happy with Disney World and I am happy with their staff. Theyre only human and we all have bad days, and we all get overworked at our jobs at some point. My wife however said she would only stay at deluxe resorts from now on. LOL
But then last year on a very last minute trip we had to stay at the all-star sports it was the only resort with available rooms. And you know what?
We loved it!
