Are the Disney Hotels Under a Microscope on the DIS?

[goofy4tink]

Do we tend to expect more from Disney? Yes. Disney asks us to 'come to where the magic lives 24 hrs. a day'. So we come and spend a lot of money! Do I expect a clean room? Yes. Whether it's $79 or $279 a night, I want it cleaned! I have stayed at other hotels and if something goes wrong, they fix it. At times, Disney has (well, their employees) rolled it's eyes as if to say...' come on now...live with it.' It's almost like they know we really want to stay on-site and therefor will put up with quite a lot before we squawk. If I arrive too early, I know I may have to wait for my room. Not a problem. But, if I have to have a non-smoking room for my allergic dd, then that's what I need. Don't try to get me into another smokey room and hope that I won't notice. I try to take a lot of the bad reports here with a grain of salt. However, if the same complaint keeps cropping up, then maybe it's valid. Do I expect extra 'magic'? No. Just a clean room, decent service and the desire to remedy a problem if it arises. Anything else is, in fact, magical. This all being said... on with the planning of my next trip to the most wonderfull place in the world.

 

[Jen D]

Are Disney hotels under a microscope here? You bet. That's why we come to these boards. Personally, I see more raves than complaints, and in the long run, the close examination is good for Disney, not bad. They have a well deserved repuation for service, quality, and attention to detail, which is always noted and raved about on the boards. Anyone who thinks complants outnumber raves isn't reading all the posts. Do posts with compaints get more views and replies? Of course-- they are the aberration! And bad news is more entertaining.

But-- I think its great that these boards are here and that consumers are able to share stories. I love hearing the good, but I'm interested in the bad. And no one can deny trends. Yes-- I have been influenced. Until I start hearing better reports, I'm skipping the GF. It's a beautiful place and I've always wanted to stay there, but I always assumed that as the luxury flagship resort they also offered Ritz-Carlton-like service. Well, I've read too many reports that convince me that pleasing the customer is not a priority for too many GF staff. I know many of you still love the GF, but for me, I'm not taking the chance, maybe until they change GMs.

On the flip side, these boards have convinced me that AKL is absolutely the place to try for caring, attentive service. So it's not that I'm drawing only negative conclusions.

Personally I'm pleased to see the consumers have a little power. Anyway, with all the bandwith we spend here on the Dis convincing people to stay on-site vs off-site, Disney should still be glad we're here!

 

[Robinrs]

I take a different perspective on this.

I moderate the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board AND the Universal Hotels board.

I think as human beings we tend to expect more if we pay more. On the Orlando Board people expect more from the Gaylord than the Days Inn but there are plusses and minuses for every level hotel reviewed.

On the other hand, I see very few negative reports on the USF hotels, and they can be just as expensive as the Disney Moderates and Deluxes. I'm not sure why but I think the expectation level is much lower for Universal and when they arrive the level is so high that they're pleasantly surprised. The fact that their card key gives them the right to surpass lines is another perk many are willing to pay ANY price for (including yours truly!).

I know I approached the onsite Disney properties with a different attitude, one of THIS BETTER BE GOOD! After reading these boards and knowing what to expect, yes, I was disappointed. But I will always believe that a disappointed client will complain more than a satisfiedl client will report good news.

Should there be a microscope? I say, YES, for those who choose to look through it. But when you think of the small percentage of people who read these boards compared to the MILLIONS that go to Disney weekly, I don't think it hurts them at all.

An informed consumer is a good thing.

 

[wtg2000]

Last winter I read a review site of Caribbean resorts - mostly the 4 and 5 star places. I was amazed at the negative reviews. People moving out after the first night, horrified by the conditions and the service. And again - these were topnotch rated places and famous chains. Nothing I've read on the DIS boards compares on the negativity scale.

 

[Straughn]

I participate in several other travel related boards, especially those related to cruising (our other favorite vacation). The comments, complaining, unrealistic expectations and general griping ( I would use another word, but this is a family discussion board) on some of those boards make the comments, etc on these boards sound absolutely saintly. I find the reviews and comments here to be far more balanced than anywhere else. Unfortunately, whether it is Disney, a cruise line, a Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons hotel, guests expect the company to provide what it advertises and promotes. Disney has developed a reputation as a "happy place" where your "dreams will come true". When expectations aren't met, the nature reaction is to complain. It used to be that you complained to friends, relatives and travel agents. With the advent of the Internet and these discussion groups, people from around the world can share their opinions and experiences- good and bad! And, we see many positive comments and stories about great things that happened to people: the cast member who went out of their way to help, the character who spent extra time with a child, the acknowledgement of birthdays and anniversaries, an unexpected upgrade at a hotel. Yes, not everyone gets the same perks and special treatment as others have, but not everyone wins the lottery either. We also have to remember that the folks who participate here are a very small percentage of those who visit WDW, but probably a very representative sampling of the experiences had by all who go there. As previous posters have said, this is a Disney board and therefore all things Disney are under the microscope. But a microscope can show the positive as well as the negative and IMO, these discussions do a very good job of that.

 

[Bill3]

We are so lucky. We have stayed at a WDW resorts 14 times(I think) in 10 different resorts. We have never had a dirty room or a poor housekeeper. Sure weve had spots on rugs etc, but short of installing new carpet endlessly every hotel does.There are alot of reasons to stay on property and to us those reasons are worth what we have to pay, but if one does not want to stay go somewhere else.If your gonna dance you gotta pay the fiddler.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

I think a lot of it may be what you're used to or high expectations. DH & I only started to become "travelers" about 5 years ago. Then we went to disney and we paid what I thought was an extremely high price for our room at the Poly in 99 but we hadn't really traveled much and was comparing it to base hotel rates we saw in the paper or on the highway. Now the room greatly exceeded our expectations, clean, beautiful setting, marble bath - I thought I was in luxury and the price was justified.

So now that we're more "seasoned" so to speak I realize that part of the price is really the location. We paid over 350 a night for a room at the Grand Canyon that was clean but hadn't seen a renovation in 20 years. The fixtures and furniture were old as well as the bedding. What were we paying for - the pride of staying at a hotel in the GC nat'l park and walk out on the patio and see the GC itself!! We've also stayed in Chicago, Canada, etc. and I have a better understanding of hotel pricing. You could pay all out doors for a bad hotel room in downtown Chicago but you're downtown!

Point being, that unless you know that or have done that then I just wonder if maybe some people who aren't used to paying WDW prices anywhere else have false expectations that "for that amount of money" everything will be perfect. I think there are legitimate causes for complaints but sometimes it is too much. We've also been lucky that there haven't been any problems with the rooms we've been in.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Eyesnur /// Eisner ?! from Burbank, CA Hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[April in Disney]

We do look at disney hotels, theme parks, food,... under microscope. Look at these boards for one day and you will know most of us are addicted to disney. We take as many vacation as we can to disney, we all spend as much money on these vacations as we can afford. We spend lots of money in disney oriented products. We might get a discounted rate on a room but we make up for it by the lenght of our stay and by the money we spend in the themepark, ...
Many people in here look at disney as their home a way from home or second home. Many of us have financial interest in disney and disney's well being. So if there are people on this board that come back and talk about a bad experience they have had I look at it as they do that because they care.

 

[pointandshoot]

One perspective I try to keep in mind is that on a WDW vacation, most of my interactions are with either my family or a Disney CM. From the time you enter the gate, Disney employees are responsible for food, entertainment, safety, lodging, etc. It is like a cruise ship vacation of enormous scale. If something is not right, you naturally blame Disney.

Any inclusive "resort" has the high standard to maintain of consistent service to all guests (clean room, professional staff, etc.). With Disney's scale, that is a challenging task that they do a pretty good job. That does not mean things do not go wrong.

I like to read the boards to learn about the positives, negatives, and details about the resorts. My point is that since about everything you do is Disney related, you are bound to get negative posts. This will not keep me from visiting the mouse unless the noise is disproportionate.

Entertainment and travel is very competitive and Disney needs to make sure they understand and meet our expectations. Customer attitude is formed in the office, in the community, and on the internet. They need to pay attention to their brand. The ultimate negative is spending your travel dollars at other destinations.

I follow college basketball and the discussion groups are just plain mean! You hear coaches and media complain about the impact of the comments to recruits. Bottom line, it is one space where the fans have a voice and it is not going away. No matter if Disney is under a microscope or not, they must deal with this medium like every other business.

And by the way, I think DISers are the nicest people on the internet!!!!

 

[mkymouse4ever]

I believe, I started putting WDW resorts under the microscope 30 years ago as a (extremely) young girl asking my parents "why can't we stay here" as we zipped through the CR? I was told "its for rich people".

Years went by and my love for disney did not wean, so I learned it was for frugal, people who could "swing" it! (too) WDW resorts from that time on in my mind set the standard for every other resort, vacation, hotel, etc... we stayed at or did. We grew up with this instilled in our psyche.

I remember my parent's even talking about "do you think we could stay there 1 or 2 nites?" no, you have to have reservations years in advance they were told. I even remember these, conversations! It really reminded me of an exclusive club, that we could not get into! I remembered asking the local travel agent over 20 years ago about staying "on property" and she told me about the hotels of wdw ie= hotel royal plaza, cause you just can't get into the polynesian etc... I could not believe it,

Anyway, What I am trying to say is: Disney set this up 30 years ago with being elite! and they set the standard and the continue it. This was all way before anyone even envision a personal computer! or the internet, so no I don't think its all us on the DIS dissing wdw resorts because we "had a problem" yes sometimes things go wrong, and if there are problems I thank people for letting me know cause if its continually bad, trust me I don't want to spend my vacation there too! Sometimes you do have to complain and fix things and its unpleasant, but things get fixed and move on. Or if you had a great time, hooray! let us know about, that is why we are all here!

MKY

 

[Eyesnur]

Very good folks.

I reiterate though that my original intention is not to defend Disney but merely open a broad subject for discussion (which is happily happening).

A big point I touched on earlier, but not enough follow-up has ensued (IMO) though is the problem area WDW Resorts have with the way they treat complaints. Do you guys think they should just bite the bullet and give 'freebies' to virtually anyone who complains about anything? If not, how in the world do they implement a fair policy? After all an investigation would take time & think of the man power...

 

[markb]

Eyesnur,
“From those much is given... much is expected.”

You’ve heard it. You know the simple truth of this statement. You know what I mean. WDW has established a certain paradigm... a certain expectation that almost no one… in fact no company other than Disney, can actually live up to!

When my family travels anywhere, after 28 visits to WDW and DL properties, we describe perfection… that incredible hotel… that amazing host or hostess… as being “DISNEY QUALITY”!

See, when you are the best, you actually become the Icon, the measure of excellence, that others are compared to!

So to answer your original question; No, WDW has been given much… much of our money... much of our time... much of our passion.... and much of our love... much indeed…

and from those much is given, much is expected.

Mainly, Disney must continue to live up to the very lofty standards that they themselves have established as what we should expect from the finest providers of hospitality in the WORLD.

Many of us criticize because we truly love WDW… and hope that they continue to provide the very “pinnacle” of service.

 

[emuboy]

Just stop eating my people's legs... huh!

 

[bat4less]

A big point I touched on earlier, but not enough follow-up has ensued (IMO) though is the problem area WDW Resorts have with the way they treat complaints. Do you guys think they should just bite the bullet and give 'freebies' to virtually anyone who complains about anything? If not, how in the world do they implement a fair policy? After all an investigation would take time & think of the man power...

people should get what they pay for and not pay for what they dont get... if the place is messed up and the resort didnt follow through like they should have then disney should follow with making it right, no matter what they have to do. whenever we stay in other 5* resorts, we very seldom have these kinds of probs, it seems as though a little more attention from the big dogs in charge of the place and a little more hands on from them and these probs would be taken care of- man power is part of the profit equation!!

2 restaurant owner
8 internet sites owner

42 employees

if something goes wrong- its free in my companies- regardless of what goes wrong and whos fault it is. i take the blame for the mistake happening- its worked for successfully for over 11 yrs now

 

[Eyesnur]

bat4, I can dig it. But in a restaurant if you suddenly get a rash of people 'planting bugs' in their soup and demanding compensation when (at what point) will you take other measures and what will those measures be?

If Disney starts comping everybody for every issue brought up, how long until those unscroupulous guests start 'messing' with their own rooms upon entry and demanding an upgrade in compensation? (this has happened, btw).

 

[Gabrielle]

It's a matter of perception but I don't think there's a lot of unnecessary complaining on these boards about the resorts. I think the favorable comments still outnumber the negative and even those who have had negative experiences, continue to use the resorts.

WDW marketers invite us into a fantasy world. The cold reality of indifferent service and substandard cleanliness intrudes on that fantasy and impacts the whole package. You start to feel "taken in" or manipulated when you're expected to tolerate poor conditions.

"Freebies" should be extended to guests who have a legitimate gripe. Not all customer complaints should be handled the same way in the interest of some misguided "fairness" standard. Managers get paid to make decisions - they should be able to assess the problem - determine if the customer has a reasonable complaint - and then, take care of the situation.

 

[lolatuck]

There are some people who will not be happy no matter what you do for them. Every thing could be perfect and they would still find fault with something.

Let's face it...everyone has their own opinion. What may be completely unacceptable to one person may be no big deal to another.

I have travelled a good bit across this country and stayed in a variety of different accommodations, from budget to luxury. I have never had a bad experience. Mainly because I refuse to let little things bring me down. If there is a problem with the room, I contact the proper authority and kindly ask them to fix it. Attitude has a lot to do with it, I believe. If you ask nicely, you will get a better (and often swifter) response. You never know, a good attitude may even get you that upgrade, etc. I know I am more likely to go the extra mile for someone who doesn't chew my head off.

All this being said....

Disney charges much more for attraction tickets, more for hotel rooms, more for food.....I spent much more on our 6 night stay in 2001 than I have ever spent on a vacation before.

People are willing to spend that money because a Disney Vacation is a dream come true for many of them. Whether it is their first visit or their 20th. And I know that it costs a lot to maintain a property and a business as big as Disney. But....they cannot continue to ask people to pay more for a trip to Disney, yet deliver less on the service end of it. The service at WDW has deteriorated substantially over the last few years, yet the prices continue to rise. Whenever they make cut-backs it is always at the consumers expense.

IMHO- they should worry less about expanding and creating bigger and better rides, and concentrate on getting back that old "Disney Magic" that got lost somewhere in all the expansion.

Lola

 

[jdkdorn]

We just stayed at CSR and had a bad experience. This does not mean that I will not stay on property again it just means I may not stay at CSR. I believe that Disney want to be considered the best place to vacation so they need to hire the best people to run their resorts. I found out that they are starting to outsource some of the resort extras and when you take the employees away from Disney you also take away quality control.

We all know that people from Disney read these boards. Maybe they will see the complaints and wonder what is going on, or maybe they just don't care as long as the money rolls in. I hope it is the first not the second. I have always loved WDW and always will. IWe are already planning our next trip to the Beach club. The decision to stay there cam from one thing. It may sound silly, but it was the towel in the public restrooms. They had acvtual cloth towels to dry your hand. For a resort to have that detail means the managment is doing a great job. I have stayed in other deluxe WDW resorts and have never seen this before. Everything was clean and friendly, just what I would expect it to be for $250 -500 a night.

 

[Bottlejet]

The travel and hotel industries have some of the highest markups in any business. Having read this entire thread, I am amazed that some folks are still willing to pay top dollar for rooms at WDW when we all know that WDW currently has about 5,000 rooms that they wish they had never built! Have you ever looked at the little sign posted on the back of every hotel room in Florida? It shows the maximum amount that the state (by law) allows to be charged for that room. In the greater Orlando, FL area, if you paid more than 40% of the price on that sign then you paid too much. Discounts abound at WDW since 9/11. Sure, you have to look around a little but the discounts are ubiquitous.