Aggressive Housekeeping Checks (and Singing) at Copper Creek

[iteachlit]

ETA: I’m aware that the door sign is not technically a “do not disturb sign.” I referred to it as such just because that’s what they are commonly called. I’m also aware of the security protocols following the Las Vegas incident.

We checked in to a studio at CCV on Saturday. In the time we have been here, we have had a few odd experiences with housekeeping.

1. Trash was emptied a day earlier than expected (Monday), but towels were not replaced.
2. Trash and towel came Tuesday as expected. Despite having our room occupied sign displayed, they pounded and pounded on the door until we answered.
3. On Wednesday, one of the housekeepers was playing music and singing loudly… and poorly. She “performed” on the balconies and in the hallway.
4. Wednesday afternoon, despite two straight days of trash removal, someone again knocked on the door to ask us if we needed anything. Again, the do not disturb sign was up.
5. Just a few minutes ago, housekeeping pounded on the door again. I was told that they needed to do a visual inspection of the room. I asked him to leave; I’m tired of being bothered at this point.

We have come back to the room each afternoon to recharge after spending the morning in the heat. Why is housekeeping constantly knocking? Has anyone else experienced this? It’s a first at any DVC resort for us.

Housekeeping also woke up a family staying across from us before 9 AM. I think the party has young kids. The father was not happy. To be fair, I noted that the do not disturb sign was not on that family’s door.

 

[Marionnette]

We checked in to a studio at CCV on Saturday. In the time we have been here, we have had a few odd experiences with housekeeping.

1. Trash was emptied a day earlier than expected (Monday), but towels were not replaced.
2. Trash and towel came Tuesday as expected. Despite having our room occupied sign displayed, they pounded and pounded on the door until we answered.
3. On Wednesday, one of the housekeepers was playing music and singing loudly… and poorly. She “performed” on the balconies and in the hallway.
4. Wednesday afternoon, despite two straight days of trash removal, someone again knocked on the door to ask us if we needed anything. Again, the do not disturb sign was up.
5. Just a few minutes ago, housekeeping pounded on the door again. I was told that they needed to do a visual inspection of the room. I asked him to leave; I’m tired of being bothered at this point.

We have come back to the room each afternoon to recharge after spending the morning in the heat. Why is housekeeping constantly knocking? Has anyone else experienced this? It’s a first at any DVC resort for us.

Housekeeping also woke up a family staying across from us before 9 AM. I think the party has young kids. The father was not happy. To be fair, I noted that the do not disturb sign was not on that family’s door.

Daily trash and security checks have been in effect since shortly after the Las Vegas shooting incident where the perpetrator set up an arsenal of weapons and munitions without detection.

Housekeeping will knock (repeatedly) if the "Room Occupied" sign is on the door. Note that the sign does not read "Do Not Disturb". If no sign is on the door, they will knock only once or twice and then enter to do their check.

It is not unusual for housekeeping to start knocking on doors around 8 AM if the occupants will be checking out that day. It's annoying, especially when you have no plans to vacate the room until close to check out time. From our experience, BWV housekeeping staff is the biggest offender.

 

[tjkraz]

In late 2017, DVC announced that they would begin emptying trash from villas on a daily basis. It was basically a stealth security check of the rooms, which came about after a mass shooting in the US. I don't know if Disney has ever confirmed this outright but the prevailing theory is that they were no longer comfortable leaving DVC villas unmonitored for 4+ days at a time. At the time regular hotel rooms were visited by housekeeping on a daily basis. Covid did cause some disruption in the schedule for all parties, but I guess this is part of returning to "normal."

Officially towels are still replaced only every 4 days or so, but in my experience, many housekeepers will ask if you need anything as they empty the trash.

The room checks are not optional. Hanging the sign on the door--which Disney specifically altered to read "Room Occupied" not "Do Not Disturb"--does not allow you to opt out of the check. Sounds like there could be room for more tact on the part of some housekeepers, but they also have to do their job. This directive undoubtedly came down from corporate / legal.

Best advice I can give is to make sure you remove the Room Occupied sign when you are not in the villa. In a perfect world, they'll empty the trash while you're gone. If it stays out all day, they're forced to knock on the door at some time.

 

[iteachlit]

I know why they do it. I just haven’t seen them be this aggressive about it at other resorts. We have been in the room more often on this trip because it’s so hot. Perhaps that’s why it seems more intrusive.

I’m not sure if the impromptu singing performance is part of the Las Vegas protocols. LOL.

 

[Marionnette]

I’m not sure if the impromptu singing performance is part of the Las Vegas protocols. LOL.

Maybe Disney is slowly bringing back entertainment in the form of singing mousekeepers? Next up: Dancing bus drivers!

 

[Her Dotness]

Housekeeping will knock (repeatedly) if the "Room Occupied" sign is on the door. Note that the sign does not read "Do Not Disturb". If no sign is on the door, they will knock only once or twice and then enter to do their check.

This is true. There is no such thing as a "do not disturb" sign at Disney resorts.

We have, however, had DVC housekeepers accept "We don't need anything today" near the end of our stay when they've done the trash thing daily prior to that. I presume they've a bit of leeway when they've seen nothing suspicious in the room previously as they simply wish us a good afternoon/evening and leave.

 

[tjkraz]

I know why they do it. I just haven’t seen them be this aggressive about it at other resorts.

Items 1, 2, 4 and 5 on your list reflect the current policy. Not having been there, can't comment on how aggressive they were. But again, they are expected to visit each room. They either knock until someone answers or knock once and just walk in.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Right now, with staffing as it is, I am pretty sure Disney would be okay with housekeepers working on their gangsta rap in the hallways so long as they were working.

 

[Gizmo74]

Thanks for writing this as I thought I was the only one with aggressive housekeeping. We were at BCV in June and had no issues. I had the room occupied on the door and they called to check on us to see if there was anything we needed. Last week we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and it was so bad I was tempted to pack up and go home a day earlier. We were sleeping and apparently did not hear the knocking, and they entered the room. Scared us all to death. I told them there was the sign on the door and they woke us up. They apologized and a few minutes later the manager knocked on the door. At this point, we were up and I turned on the lights and said come in and look if you must as you just woke up the family. The manager offered to send a fruit basket because I said we wanted to relax this trip and sleep in since we closed down the parks. Plus, two days in a row I was sent a text at 6AM on “Welcome to resort”. I mentioned sending texts that early was not necessary. So the short vacation they entered our room twice as we slept and I received two early texts. I thought maybe it was a hotel vs DVC thing since we did not have issues at BCV.

There has to be a better way for them to check on the room.

 

[CarolynFH]

Because of the heat, DH and I stayed in our SSR villa every day until after 4 PM. We did not have a Room Occupied sign and didn't ask for one. Every morning about 10:00 the housekeeper would knock, we'd open the door, he'd ask if we needed trash service, we'd say sure, come on in, he'd come in and empty the trash, then he'd leave. We expected the daily visit, of course, so we were ready for it.

 

[LYSE]

It's been fairly lax lately, generally a no thank you and shut the door works if we don't want to be disturbed or telling them when they can return is also well received (next time we'll be out)

For the bad performance I guess try making a request.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Maybe it would help the issue if understood the protocol to expect .

They must have some organization to the process .

Currently we are all over the place trying to figure this out.

Unless it really is random ! But for security I would like to know the Official hours to expect that random knock.
Begins ?
Ends?
I just read on another thread
Housekeeping 8:30-5:00
Now does anybody think the “knockers” are not housekeeping (Union Members ) and just regular cast members with lower pay scale with different operating hours?

 

[Jaydee51]

2 weeks ago I was at Jambo House with my 6 year old son in a 1 bedroom 6 days (husband met up with us following week).
Every morning around 930 am a cast member would knock for trash pick up.
On day 4 slept in and left the sign on door.. we left the room 12ish to go check out shops downstairs and Kidani then picked up quick service to eat in room. On our way to elevator saw and greeted the cast member and assumed he would go pick up trash now that we were gone.
Got back around 2ish and entered the room. When I put my stuff on kitchen Island I saw a reflection in hallway mirror and said "hello"
A male cast member then walked out quickly and said "trash pick up" smiled and walked past me as he exited the room.
Needless to say I was freaked out but didn't want my son to notice.
There was no cart outside the door or in the hallway to indicate there might be a cast member inside.
There was no sign on door.
The door was closed and looked like it normally would.
I understand security checks are required and trash pickup is important but Disney should have protocols in place that don't put family experiences at risk. There are better ways to handle situations to ensure both Disney and guests are protected.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Was he wearing a name tag?
Now I am really concerned … not to mention this could be a dangerous situation for guest and possibly for castperson.
They really should have a team of 2 , one that enters and one standing outside .
Did that person continue knocking on doors or was he “taking a break / searching and inspecting ” ???

Do you really believe Disney cares about your trash or any trash anywhere anymore?

 

[Simba's Mom]

On this last trip, just as we were coming back in the late afternoon, we met the housekeeper coming in, who reminded us that we were due for a full cleaning, and she was sorry she was running late. We were hot, tired, and besides, 2 of us in a 1 Bedroom? We'll be OK, and she was on her way when we politely said "No, that's OK". It couldn't have been more than a couple minutes later that DH answered the phone to a manager who wanted to know why we refused housekeeping and wouldn't let her in. DH said he sounded rather confrontational as he reminded us that we must let someone in to do a room inspection and that he would arrive shortly. A few minutes later a CM knocked on the door, came in without a word, walked around the kitchen and living room (I was sitting in the bedroom and found it odd that he didn't check there-if they were checking for safety, there could have been tons of weapons in the bedroom) and then he left without a word-no "thank you", no"have a nice day", nothing.

 

[Jaydee51]

Was he wearing a name tag?
Now I am really concerned … not to mention this could be a dangerous situation for guest and possibly for castperson.
They really should have a team of 2 , one that enters and one standing outside .
Did that person continue knocking on doors or was he “taking a break / searching and inspecting ” ???

Do you really believe Disney cares about your trash or any trash anywhere anymore?

Yes he was wearing one and I knew him from previous days but that didn't lessen the fear factor.
Let's say it was total coincidence and the 2 minutes he went in to collect trash crossed my arrival. There should have been something to alert me there was someone inside.
I have traveled to Disney many times and never once felt like I felt in that interaction.
Thankfully we transferred to Boardwalk shortly thereafter.
Again, could have been handled better and I dont blame him bc it could be lack of protocols or training on Disney's part.

 

[PinkPixel]

ETA: I’m aware that the door sign is not technically a “do not disturb sign.” I referred to it as such just because that’s what they are commonly called. I’m also aware of the security protocols following the Las Vegas incident.

We checked in to a studio at CCV on Saturday. In the time we have been here, we have had a few odd experiences with housekeeping.

1. Trash was emptied a day earlier than expected (Monday), but towels were not replaced.
2. Trash and towel came Tuesday as expected. Despite having our room occupied sign displayed, they pounded and pounded on the door until we answered.
3. On Wednesday, one of the housekeepers was playing music and singing loudly… and poorly. She “performed” on the balconies and in the hallway.
4. Wednesday afternoon, despite two straight days of trash removal, someone again knocked on the door to ask us if we needed anything. Again, the do not disturb sign was up.
5. Just a few minutes ago, housekeeping pounded on the door again. I was told that they needed to do a visual inspection of the room. I asked him to leave; I’m tired of being bothered at this point.

We have come back to the room each afternoon to recharge after spending the morning in the heat. Why is housekeeping constantly knocking? Has anyone else experienced this? It’s a first at any DVC resort for us.

Housekeeping also woke up a family staying across from us before 9 AM. I think the party has young kids. The father was not happy. To be fair, I noted that the do not disturb sign was not on that family’s door.

Did you leave the sign on your door while you were out? I also don’t bother with the sign anymore because I think the only time I used it I had more knocking. I just use the security latch when I’m in my room.

 

[Noles235]

Good idea on using the latch. I will use next trip

 

[dcfromva]

Whatever happened to the good 'ole days when the magical mousekeeping staff always seemed to know when we were gone and swiftly went into our room and completed their tasks leaving towel animals behind?

I was staying at BWV--CM came by kind of late for trash service (BTW, I had been gone all day). I said --give me 5 minutes so I could collect my things and leave the room. I left and returned over an hour later. CM had not collected the trash. He knocked on the door later on and I told him he'd have to come back tomorrow because by that time I had settled in for the night.

We had a stay at the Polynesian, staff there was like the good 'ole days- stealth trash pick up. (The only thing there was we were there for 6 nights and they never collected the used towels from trash and towel day. )

Contrast that with VGC-- when I have stayed there -they haven't done daily trash pick up there since COVID.

 

[McCrae]

Whatever happened to the good 'ole days when the magical mousekeeping staff always seemed to know when we were gone and swiftly went into our room and completed their tasks leaving towel animals behind?

I was staying at BWV--CM came by kind of late for trash service (BTW, I had been gone all day). I said --give me 5 minutes so I could collect my things and leave the room. I left and returned over an hour later. CM had not collected the trash. He knocked on the door later on and I told him he'd have to come back tomorrow because by that time I had settled in for the night.

We had a stay at the Polynesian, staff there was like the good 'ole days- stealth trash pick up. (The only thing there was we were there for 6 nights and they never collected the used towels from trash and towel day. )

Contrast that with VGC-- when I have stayed there -they haven't done daily trash pick up there since COVID.

I would be more concerned if they didn’t come and empty trash.