For you smokers out there......

[Judique]

Originally posted by wintergreen
Goodness! After reading this thread, I think I'd better:

1) leave my smokes at home;
2) leave my unruly children at home; and
3) merely peruse the menus at the Food and Wine festival.

I wonder if anyone would be offended at my choice of shoes?

Not offended, but possibly entertained! Check out badshoe.com and see if you qualify. j/k!

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by Dean
Gail, the issue that there are multiple issues than can increase our dues is not in question. What is in question is that smoking is a defineable issue that has a significant impact on maintenance and the quality of life (not just vacations) for those that may or may not be in a room. I've gone on record as saying smoking rooms are fine with me and should be booked directly. If you don't get a smoking room, you should not be allowed to smoke in a non smoking one and/or should be charged handsomely, say $250 min.

To use the arguement that there are other, less defineable, issues that increase fees is the same as my teenagers when they say "but everyone else.....". The main differences are that smoking is a BIGGER ticket item and it's defineable. It's also a minority of people that if it's allowed to happen impacts other people's health in addition to one's own person and family. I don't care if anyone smokes but I don't want to smell it EVER and I don't want to pay in any way for the problems it causes, health or otherwise. Unfortunately at the present time, I am forced to endure both in one way or another but I'd like to minimize the impact.

Just curious..........but didn't you ever consider these things, BEFORE you bought a DVC membership in which you knew there were smoking and non smoking villas in every resort; that there was smoking allowed on all WDW balconies and all WDW pools etc.
I would think that the very real possiblity of EVER smelling smoke, etc., at a DVC villa would have entered into your decision making process; especially when considering the fact that all DVC resorts had both smoking and non smoking villas, etc., etc.,---- when you freely decided to purchase a membership!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by BWVDee
Just curious..........but didn't you ever consider these things, BEFORE you bought a DVC membership in which you knew there were smoking and non smoking villas in every resort; that there was smoking allowed on all WDW balconies and all WDW pools etc.
I would think that the very real possiblity of EVER smelling smoke, etc., at a DVC villa would have entered into your decision making process; especially when considering the fact that all DVC resorts had both smoking and non smoking villas, etc., etc.,---- when you freely decided to purchase a membership!

Absolutely, considered it at Grande Ocean also which didn't have non smoking units when I bought. They are going ALL non smoking as they redo the units this next 3 years. I assume you're going for the "if you don't like it, sell" approach, but I could be wrong. I prefer to work from the inside and hope for the best. Fortunately, things are continually moving in MY direction at the resorts I own. Besides, I stated what I hoped and wanted but realize it is not a total reality at present. However, with the political climate in FL and many places, it appears to be an attainable goal thank goodness.

Your not talking to a timeshare novice. I've been to many timeshares, owned many, bought and sold them over the past 15 years or so. I've owned as many as 10 weeks/contracts at one time with all different types of benefits and negatives. They all have negatives in one way or another. I do my homework before I buy but there are always surprises along the way.

 

[Lyndarella]

We stayed at the VWL last week, and requested a smoking 1 BR. There are just TWO smoking 1 BR units there: #2540 and #2548. We checked in on Mon. and did not get one. I said that's OK, as I know (from reading here) that smoking is allowed on the balcony, and that's good enough. The CM said she would send us up an ashtray. Before we even reached our room, she left a message on our phone that said she was mistaken, and smoking is NOT allowed even on the balcony! So while we are talking this over, we notice that there is an ashtray on the shelf in the living room. Now I am really confused. I called the front desk for clarification and was then told that NO SMOKING on the balcony is the official WDW Resorts policy, but the unofficial policy is that you can smoke on your balcony unless someone complains!! Go figure!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Kingzoo
I have always been amazed that people who smoke don't have any consideration for those around them.
- First of all, they take smoking as a license to litter - don't they know that when they throw out their butts that that is littering and they are "litter bugs" - what if I took gum out of my mouth each time I walked up to building and tossed in on the ground outside the building. Someone has to clean up after their mess.
- Second - the maintenance in the smoking rooms has to be more as walls, carpets and linens are discolored and have shorter lives.
- Third, It does reduce the quality of my vacation as I have to smell people who smoke - even if they stay inside - gues what - it still smells when they come out - as do you....Stop smoking for a few daus and get on an elevator with someone who does - you will know exactly what I mean - they stink like ash trays.

I have always been amazed at the people who just plain litter, smokers or non smokers.
First of all, people who litter simply don't care.
FYI, not only smokers litter. That is a very lame reason.
And, way too many people spit their gum out on the ground. It is miserable to get out of shoes. I would rather walk on butts than gum, spit or dog poop.
They factor the cost into the maintenance of the buildings. They also factor the cost of destructive children and destructive adult non smokers.
They also factor the cost of the slide.
It is all factored and we all pay for things we will not use or disaprove of.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Deemarch
Hey, isn't there a "No Smoking" rule in the parks at WDW except for the designated areas? And that's outside. It must be a cleanliness issue.

safety too.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
That is precisely why there is no alcohol allowed in the Magic Kingdom to this day.

MG

Yep, figures, the one park where a good stiff drink could help.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Lyndarella
I called the front desk for clarification and was then told that NO SMOKING on the balcony is the official WDW Resorts policy, but the unofficial policy is that you can smoke on your balcony unless someone complains!!

That was my understanding also, though I haven't seen either in writing. Disney is notorious for not enforcing their rules whether it be occupancy, smoking, etc, unfortunately. As for park smoking, I've seen many people asked by CM to go to the smoking area if they were going to smoke.

 

[jcanary]

I am dumb-founded now. Just returned from a trip to BCV. Our trip started off okay, not great. We went down with another family and would have liked to have been on the same floor, but we were one floor apart, no biggy. Our room was luckily non- smoking as I have a sever allergy and my daughter has asthma. Well as a treat for my daughter and our friends daughter I made a one night reservation in a studio and told them that because of my daughters asthma we needed a nonsmoking studio, simply because of medical reasons. Well guess what we got, a real, real bad smoking room. I opened the door and almost fell over. I immediately went to the phone in that room and called front desk, and in the 5 minutes that I talked to them on the phone in that room, my throat started closing up and I was having a hard time breathing. Luckily for us a family had just left early and they were cleaning that room and they would give it to us when it was done. so that was solved, however we never got that room until 7:30. the next day I went and asked for the manager, They brought our a lady named Desiree. She point blank told me that the request was on the reservation with the medical reason but we have to call 5 days before to verify that the non smoking request was for a real bad allergy to smoke. I could not believe it. I was also told when I checked on the room in the morning that it was nonsmoking, non handicapped, and on the same floor as us, atleast the latter two were true. I believe it was room 439. Beware!!! You may want to write, call, do anything you have to do to make sure that you will not have a vacation ruined because of a medical necessity request.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Now I'm really scared. My throat would have been closing up exactly like yours if I had been given that room. We asked for non-smoking because of allergies and they put us on the 4th floor in a smoking optional room. We were fortunate because I think the previous tennants of our room had been non-smokers like us because we didn't smell anything nor get that tight feeling like one does with the smoke/chemical residue even when you can't "smell" it. Many advised that if I put "non-smoking medical" next time as the request, I would not have to worry about it happening again. Now, I wonder what's going to happen? Calling 5 days before to verify sounds weird. Why would that be different than when you first reserved? If you get more information, please do share. Thanks for reporting.

 

[Sammie]

I am sorry to say I can't give you any encouraging info on this situation. Disney does not block nonsmoking for any reason. It is simply a request. They do their best to match the room to the request and medicals do get first dips on the NS rooms but if there are more requests than rooms you will not get one. Also we have gotten NS rooms only to find the previous guest had heavily smoked in it.

 

[zulaya]

Call Member Services and get the info from them. Then call Member Satisfaction Manager and let him/her know about what happened to you and ask how it can be avoided in the future.

 

[rocketriter]

Desiree is making up new rules. DVC does not want you calling the resorts about room requests under any circumstances, and MS doesn't want extra calls 5 days before, either. If your room is already noted as NS-Medical, this call couldn't possibly change anything. Complain to MS, say you lost a half day of your vacation dealing with this, and tell us if they offer any kind of make-good.

By the way, DVC really does have to honor a medical request. They'd be subject to lawsuit if they did not. There's nothing they can do about some bozo smoking in a non-smoking room, but if medical requests had no validity then their system would have no way of noting them as different from any other request.

 

[cgcw]

Originally posted by Sammie
I am sorry to say I can't give you any encouraging info on this situation. Disney does not block nonsmoking for any reason. It is simply a request. They do their best to match the room to the request and medicals do get first dips on the NS rooms but if there are more requests than rooms you will not get one. Also we have gotten NS rooms only to find the previous guest had heavily smoked in it.

This was our experience. We checked into BWV. My confirmation showed non-smoking for medical reasons. The CM told me that because we were the last family to check in that day (about 2pm) with this request, there were no more non-smoking rooms available and we would be assigned a smoking optional room. I said this was unacceptable.

The manager came along and said another manager was on her way up to the room as we spoke to verify that even though the room was smoking optional, there was no smoke smell to the room. The manager then came back and said he thought we should be fine in the room, if we'd be willing to take accept the room. Again, I stressed we needed non-smoking for medical reasons. The manager then said if we got to the room and there was a problem, they would "figure something out".

As it turned out, it must have been a LONG time since someone smoked in the room because we had no problems.

 

[colleen costello]

It ticks me off that these managers don't seem to believe that respiratory problems are legitimate medical conditions. They seem to think that "if it doesn't stink TOO badly then you can take the room." My Mom has severe asthma and goes through a lot just to GET to Florida. Why should she risk a hospitalization just because the front desk mis-managed "who got what room?" If you tell them "medical reasons" then they darn sure need to save a smoke- free room. They certainly wouldn't tell a wheelchair guest "Sorry but all we have is upstairs and there is no elevator." Furthermore (and I know I risk attack here) I don't think ANY nonsmoking guest should EVER be shoved into a smoking room. If Disney wants to continue to offer smoking rooms, FINE -- that is their decision. But don't expect nonsmoking guests to suffer as a result. I would not accept a room that had a 2-foot pile of dog poop in the corner, would you? THAT is what a smoking room smells like to non-smokers! How about a dead cat under the bed? Now there's a nice smell... If I check in and they tell me, "Well, it's a dead cat room, but the dead cat hasn't been in there for a week, it doesn't smell THAT bad..." HELLO? No one wants to start thier vacation by fighting with a manager about why nonsmokers need nonsmoking rooms. If Holiday Inn Express and Quality Inn and Motel 6 can GUARANTEE nonsmoking rooms, how can DVC NOT? It's simply unacceptable.

 

[rocketriter]

Make your feelings known to MS, and anybody they suggest that you also contact.

 

[DebbieB]

WDW in general needs to come up with some way of reserving smoking/non-smoking rooms. With the current system, if they have 20 people checking in one day with non-smoking requests and the rooms available are 15 non-smoking and 5 smoking, 5 people are going to get stuck. There's no way out of it, they can't create 5 more non-smoking rooms no matter how much you complain at the front desk. All they could do is offer to move you to another resort.

jcanary - I too suggest calling MS tomorrow and ask to speak to the member satisfaction manager. They specifically said they don't want members calling or faxing the front desk, this manager is telling you something else.

 

[Patty3]

I to have asthma. We have been DVC members since 1998. When I make my room requests I always tell them that I need a non-smoking room because of my asthma. Maybe, I have been lucky on this because I have always received a non-smoking room. I was told by MS that if there is a medical reason for requesting a non-smoking room, you will get one. I was told this is the only request they can guarantee.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I think one of the biggest problems is that so many people are quick to claim they have asthma to try and insure a non-smoking room (this is not a reflection on anyone responding to this thread -- so please don't take it the wrong way).

For the people that really do have severe asthma, I wonder if a person could actually send a letter or even prescription from their doctor to MS indicating they must have a non-smoking room.

Perhaps that would cut down on the number of rooms given out to people that use the term for their own convenience. It would also give MS some documentation that maybe more rooms should be converted to non-smoking.

My own DD has been treated for severe asthma almost since birth so I may try this with our ressie in October.

 

[shelbyjosh]

Every year when we make our ressies for OKW we let them know that DD is asthmatic. We have never been given a room that was a smoking room. Thank goodness because I would really have to make a stink (no pun intended) about it!!