An open letter to Disney about mandatory room checks.

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

Having the policy may be enough to offset the possible liability. Should something bad happen, they can say that they do room checks to try to prevent it. That may mean that every room may not be checked every day. I'm sure that the checkers don't like doing room checks just as much as we don't want room checks.

Bill

You’re probably right , I would hope people don’t take it out on the people forced to do them , but instead speak to management.

 

[saskdw]

You’re probably right , I would hope people don’t take it out on the people forced to do them , but instead speak to management.

I'm curious to see how many of their managers go on stress leave in the next year or so over this.

 

[Farro]

But yet you took the time to come in this thread and comment.

Hahahhaa right ? Because that’s what goes on ...

Yes I did comment. I also read the OP's entire post. Then I chose to respond to this portion of his post - But this subject is important. Or it should be important to every person who stays at Disney.

Nice try.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...But I am reminded of what good ole Benjamin Franklin once said:

“Those who sacrifice essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

I believe, in the context of this discussion, this phrase nails the issue squarely on the head.

A version of this is engraved on the Statue of Liberty.

What Statue of Liberty is that?

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

Yes I did comment. I also read the OP's entire post. Then I chose to respond to this portion of his post - But this subject is important. Or it should be important to every person who stays at Disney.

But nice try!

Yet you said it was not important to you at all .. not sure what the “ nice try “ is about other then plain old snark .. you yourself said you didn’t find it important to you .

 

[dmaxphil]

I read the whole thing

 

[Farro]

Yet you said it was not important to you at all .. not sure what the “ nice try “ is about other then plain old snark .. you yourself said you didn’t find it important to you .

Nice try- I changed to clear to me, but you quoted before I changed. But explaining "Nice try" - I'm assuming the two of you thought I shouldn't have posted because I was being dismissive/not reading the OP. Then I explained I did indeed read the whole post and why I posted what I did - what exactly it was in reference to from original post.

My original post in question was that the topic is not important to me, at all. Again, that was in reference to the original poster's statement that this should be important to all of us. Pretty clear to me what I was posting about. And I'm not sure why you think I shouldn't have posted.

If I'm incorrect in my assumption that you both were inferring I should not have posted, then I apologize. But then I have absolutely no idea what your (and the poster you quoted) posts mean.

As for snark....nope, I did not snark at the OP.

And I changed my post back to "Nice try." since that's what it was originally.

 

[Jen1995]

I put my money on Disney and their team of lawyers

It was only 3 months ago that a monorail door remained open during transit, something that could have killed someone. Disney and their advisors doing risk analysis allowed the monorails to get to that state. Now normally they have incredible safety procedures in place, but they are not perfect and lawyers make bad calls all the time. Especially when they are too removed from the "little guy."

 

[Nancyg56]

With me personally, being "aware" of the policy in general was a far cry from experiencing how it was actually enforced. Putting eyes on the room once every 24 hours sounds reasonable enough, for a multitude of reasons. We did not have an issue with the policy, at face value. Where we had a problem was when we were interrupted, within 30 minutes of getting into the room on check in day (and we did NOT wave housekeeping) by a determined CM who insisted on having the door opened when neither occupant was presentable (and were happily pre-occupied with another activity at the time). SO yes, I have every reason for being upset over the way it was enforced, despite the fact that I knew, in general, that the new policy existed.

I hope you registered your displeasure. I honestly have no issues with the policy, however I do expect common courtesy and common sense to be in place. Any staff member who feels compelled to enter a room 30 minutes after check in is an over achiever IMO, and I guarantee you that this normally easy going person would be insisting on a huge apology.

 

[amiskell28]

Someone my DH is friends with had a child vanish at wdw (later found). I won't give away details of Disney's security apparatus, but let's just say, they are on it like you would not believe (beyond impressive, far superior to any government security), and children being targeted by bad people is very common at wdw. If your child ever gets lost/taken--- you want it to be at WDW. I will tell you that Disney told these parents the first thing an abductor does is cut your child's hair and change his/her clothes.

Wow. I'm so glad the child was ok (at least, I hope he/she was?).

 

[Jen1995]

I just can't fathom that people are really this upset over things done for your safety and the safety of others. The Orlando shooter's plans was to shoot at Disney Springs. This is a proven fact now. He didn't do it due to the presence of Police and Security. I think people need to start realizing that things are put into place for our protection. Will they be able to check every single room every single day, I doubt it. You have been warned that they might do it. When your at home you can't control someone knocking on your door while you sleep. You can't control your telephone ringing when you don't want it too. Lets start realizing that when we are visiting someone else's property we are a guest of there's and we expect certain things as a guest of there's and one of those things I expect is safety. If I don't like a places policy or don't feel safe then I don't stay there. I would rather be bothered for a second then get upset about what they deem as necessary for safety. Who am I to argue with them about there practices? If I don't like it then I won't stay there. If this policy saves one persons life from either being ill, sex trafficking, or kidnapping then its well worth it in my opinion.

Except this practice simply does not improve safety or security. I had already made our reservations before this policy was announced, but it took over a month for word to get out on how poorly it was being implemented. And Disney property is not our old college buddy offering up a place to stay out of the kindness of their heart -it is a business and we are paying money (a lot of money, above industry standards) for a service. We have every right to vote not only with our dollars but also express our opinions to change a bad policy. I have 3 teen daughters and you know what puts them at risk? Answering the door to some stranger calling himself "security from the main office" who is banging on the door demanding entry. Talk about a massive loophole for human traffickers. The likelihood of a teen girl being raped by some scumbag pretending to be security is FAR more likely than a potential mass murderer, who is staying CL at Wilderness Lodge for some reason, being dissuaded from committing his crime because some CM walked into the room (who isn't even looking in the closet or under the bed).
You know what would increase security? Simply putting more cameras in public spaces like hallways and actually paying people a decent wage to monitor the feeds for suspicious behavior. I think too many people think that posters like me are anti-Disney and you couldn't be farther from the truth. I love Disney and I don't like to see it mismanaged. I would rather stay at Disney (and pay a premium for it) than stay off site if they treated me and my family (and other families) with the respect and dignity we all deserve. I am incredibly frustrated that instead I feel that they have less than zero interest in doing that.

 

[Jen1995]

Will you also be sure to let your friends know you were well aware of the checks prior to your stay? Because they are called out in the Terms and Conditions. So any complaint would have to start with how you knew about the room checks, decided to book anyway, and then were mad that they really did them.

If Disney decided that they would include in their "terms and conditions" that they have the right to point and laugh at every overweight guest, would you complain or just quietly stay somewhere else? Hey- there's no law against it. Now such a policy wouldn't affect me personally...but you bet your ascot I would complain loudly about that one too. I wouldn't say "hey- overweight people should just stay somewhere else."

A bad policy is a bad policy. It doesn't matter if they are legally allowed to do it. Not sure why any posters have a problem with other guests expressing their opinions about a policy that puts them on edge during their vacation. I find that bizarre. I wonder if there are just as many posters defending the parking fees too.

 

[Farro]

If Disney decided that they would include in their "terms and conditions" that they have the right to point and laugh at every overweight guest, would you complain or just quietly stay somewhere else? Hey- there's no law against it. Now such a policy wouldn't affect me personally...but you bet your ascot I would complain loudly about that one too. I wouldn't say "hey- overweight people should just stay somewhere else."

A bad policy is a bad policy. It doesn't matter if they are legally allowed to do it. Not sure why any posters have a problem with other guests expressing their opinions about a policy that puts them on edge during their vacation. I find that bizarre. I wonder if there are just as many posters defending the parking fees too.

But vice versa. Why do posters have problems with other posters who aren't bothered by this policy. I don't think it's necessary, I wouldn't say I support it, but it does not bother me either. That stance seems to irk some.

I agree- everyone can express their point of view in (what at least starts out as) a respectful manner.

***edited to add:

I just reread this post of mine and I annoyed myself. This board is just a place for me to daydream about upcoming trips and share people's excitement. It's not my version of The McLaughlin Group and I don't like when I let myself go down that road.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm going to be honest here. I'm not believing some of the reports of the level of some of these room checks. I know, folks will say it happened. Yeah. You can post anything you want online. Posting doesn't make it true. If you (collective) don't think people embellish stories, especially online, I've got some ocean front property here in Tennessee to sell you.

Before you ask why would someone do that there are a lot of reasons. Some are just pot stirrers. Trouble makers would be another word to use. Attention seekers. My story is worse than yours. You name it, there is someone who had posted a false story for that reason.

That and many times details are left out to twist a report to make it look way more negative than it was. I've seen it all.

I'm pretty cynical about most everything I read online anymore. Some even from legit news sources

When you start adding in indignation from folks who haven't even gone yet it's all just much ado about nothing, or at least nothing that has actually happened. How could it if you haven't gone?

 

[Shanti]

I still believe that Disney should not be intruding on our space. It just feels so darned violating... I feel violated and there apparently is nothing I can do about it.

Agreed.

 

[Shanti]

The theory I heard was because of human trafficking. I don’t think the “real” reason has ever been given, but that makes a lot more sense to me than a response to the Vegas incident. I’m sure they’ll never reveal the actual motive, but I presume it came from their legal department for one reason or another.

Yeah, I'm sure WDW is an absolute magnet for traffickers...

 

[PollyannaMom]

(Have only read pages one and eight.)

OP - Thank you for taking the time to voice your complaints to Disney management. I agree that the policy feels intrusive, and I don't think it will really bring about a higher level of safety.

What it will do, I believe, is convince more people to stay offsite. Maybe that will be bad enough for Disney's bottom line that they'll change it, or maybe they've over-estimated how many on-site privileges they can reasonably extend, and it will be a move toward equilibrium. I don't know.

So far, this policy hasn't affected me personally, as it started after my last trip. But I am still planning one more in order to stay at a particular resort. Whether this policy negatively affects that trip will likely play a big roll in any future plans.

 

[darrengs]

Will you also be sure to let your friends know you were well aware of the checks prior to your stay? Because they are called out in the Terms and Conditions. So any complaint would have to start with how you knew about the room checks, decided to book anyway, and then were mad that they really did them.

Where is this spelled out? I just went through my confirmation for last weeks stay, and it isn’t mentioned in any of the fine print. It was not mentioned at check in, I only heard about it here.

 

[BK2014]

We had a room service man in our room for a good 10 minutes helping us set up a large dinner .. we had a gun sitting out in plain sight ( we actually had to move it for him ) we would normally already have it in the safe but had just come back from the outlet malls and taken it off , nothing was said .. not a comment or anything .. now I know from 20 yrs + of trips it would have been no issue as long as we followed what we normally do but what if it had been someone that DID pose a threat ?

What is it that you would have expected the room service man to say to you about the gun? Assuming that he actually saw the gun, it would make more sense, in my opinion anyhow, for him to say nothing to you, but report it to someone else. Who knows if that was done, but I don't think saying anything to you in that moment would have done any good.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

What is it that you would have expected the room service man to say to you about the gun? Assuming that he actually saw the gun, it would make more sense, in my opinion anyhow, for him to say nothing to you, but report it to someone else. Who knows if that was done, but I don't think saying anything to you in that moment would have done any good.

Then presumably someone would have followed up with them... no...?