At Disney, don't like the resort you are in - how do you switch?

[PartyOf5]

This is just a curiosity question. I've noticed in a few threads that people have said they were not satisfied with a resort they were in (for whatever reason) and decided to change resorts. Now I hope this never happens to me but would like the knowledge, just in case.

So, for those of you have switched (unplanned), how do you do it? Do you tell the front desk of where you are, do you call another front desk or do you call CRO? Also, is there any type of extra payment due? If you go to a less expensive resort, are you giving a refund of the price difference? Tell me what you know!

 

[Micca]

I haven't been in that situation, but I'd try the front desk. Dunno what you're going to get for rates though???

 

[safetymom]

When we were at CSR for a business conference in June we decided to check out.

We went to the front desk before 11 told them we were leaving. They credited my credit card for the days I had paid for but wasn't using. They asked why I was leaving and I told them that the boss thought it was better to be somewhere we could get phone calls and it wasn't my choice to move. They just said sorry to hear that.

We left CSR because we couldn't get any cell phone reception and they had us far away from the convention center and we had equipment to lug with us. Yes we could have gotten a cart ride but since CSR is a union hotel everytime someone helped you do something they expected a tip.

 

[uncle al]

The only time this happened to us was right after Dolphin & Swan became "non-Disney" hotels . We had reservations at Dolphin. We checked in & was exteremly unimpressd with service - then we request bell service assistance - again not impressed. We walked into the room - and it hit me - I am not happy. Called CRO, explained the situation, they checked & said we could move to Poly for the same rate. We hadn't even unpacked - moved over - no problems. I explained the issue - we had stayed at Dolphin right after it opened for a conference and thought it was great - in the meantime it changed hands - in any event wasn't the same. CRO listened & took care of it no problems.

 

[Kimberle]

When we stayed at the Contem., the main pool was closed for repair. We didn't mind since our dd was to young for swimming. Another family wasn't happy. They told the CM at the front desk. They moved the family to the Poly.

I think Disney wants to make your stay pleasant. If they cannot "fix" the problem, then they will move you, provided there is space.

Just my observation.

 

[WDW4us2003]

This exact situation happened to me a few years ago. We were booked at AS Sports for 8 nights. I had stayed at the CBR twice before. Anyway, we did not like it at all (it was very noisy, dirty, smelly at the time we were there). I swear I am not that picky, but it really was BAD! We went to MK as our room wasn't ready, came back, had a warm beer at the moldy table near the pool that was filled to capacity, and I cried. I did not feel like I was in Disney at all. I went to the hotel lobby phone, called CRO(never went to the front desk), very politely asked if there were other rooms available on the property, but when she asked me what the problem was, I cried again!! I never made a big, screaming, demanding deal about it at all. To make a long story even longer, she asked me to hold for about 5 minutes, and in that time got us a room at Coronado Springs, checked us out of the ASSports, and had a van literally waiting for us at the front door as the guys loaded our luggage on it. We never had to go to the front desk at all, and when we got to CS, our room was ready and the person at the front desk already knew who we were. I never paid anything additional for our new room, which, by the way, we loved.
For every horror story I hear about Disney service, I always try to remember this one.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Wow WDW4us2003.. what a story!

How did you like CS? Did you feel better when you arrived and had a chance to settle in?

>>^..^<<

 

[jante]

We have changed resorts twice - once at WDW and once at Disneyland. I always call CRO and let them know i'm unhappy and want to switch resorts. They have been very nice and helpful and tell me where they have available rooms they can move us with whatever discount we booked with . I think CRO are the only ones who can apply discounts to the room rates, so thats why I call them. At WDW we called first thing in the morning, CRO checked us out of the resort we were in and we just had to check in at the new hotel, no add'l fees from the resort we were leaving. At Disneyland it was late afternoon, so we were charged $75 for a partial day at the old hotel, but it was worth it!

Bottom line, if you're unhappy, Disney will work with you to try to fix it!

 

[PartyOf5]

This is good to know. Thanks for all the replies.

WDW4us2003, I also had a "crying" episode but mine was at All Star Movies. My 3 children were younger and we were hoping our request for Toy Story would be granted. Well, it wasn't. We were put in the Herbie building. I had a terrible morning which probably added to things but as I'm trucking along to the Herbie building with all the suitcases, strollers, diaper bags, etc., I just lost it. I couldn't imagine spending an entire week walking back and forth from the bus stop, food court, getting mugs refilled, etc., with the 3 small children. I was in tears before we found our room which I swear was the furthest away from everything! Once we got in our room I really started going, the kids didn't know what to think so they just cried along with me. Poor hubby didn't know what to do, he looked around and just started to laugh which made us all laugh and he said we finally made it to Disney and everyone is crying! So then hub told me if I was that unhappy to go to the front desk and see what they could do for us. So, off I went. To make a longer story shorter, we had to stay at Herbie for 1 night and while at the parks we were switched to Toy Story the next day. It was so magical and made a HUGE difference on our trip.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

We did this twice, the first time: We were at the BWV 1br immediately after it opened and had a stay set up for 2 weeks, however we held on for about a week, and then we were about to "give up" and go home, when I talked to the front desk about checking out early, they told me I had (at the time) a magic kingdom club discount so this made it a "package" and would get stuck with the entire bill. I explained we have had 1 problem after another, and really were not interested in staying at the bw any longer especially for the rest of the trip, they said we don't care if you stay or not, your going to pay for it. Asked to speak to manager etc... and never got his call, and he was unavailable when we were at the desk.... ANYWAY: we decide to go for a walk at EPCOT and I walked into guest services and started to talk to the staff guy in there and he was like hey we can absolutely fix this where would you like to stay? gave him a couple of options, immediately got our first choice, and the annual pass discount on that room, disney did remiburse me the extra money, and we moved to the CR tower, who was wanting for us, and knew the whole saga.

2nd time, last year @ the swan, after checking in, and the room (studio suite) was not clean (bathroom) and the view was of the back of the bw, 3rd floor, no balcony as promised, we had went down and talked to desk about someone to clean room, and about a move since we would be there 10 nites and they gave me a phone # and said you can call yourself to the room assigner each day and see if he can do anything cause there is nowhere to move to today. I just don't see, how this is my job to call each day, and that something could not be set up a day or 2 down the line? Asked about move to dolphin, NO asked to talk to manager, busy, etc... I am a gold starwood member, really unacceptable behavior at the front desk, they told us we have a big convention this weekend, I asked about after the weekend.. well you get to call each day... I asked about checking out if I got a room at disney, she said go ahead, I told her I would get back with her shortly. Called CRO got a room at the BC and we were there in 45 minutes unpacking!

Remeber: you waited for this vacation, you are paying a fortune for this vacation, and so you should get what you want, or as close to what will make you happy as possible! We are never rude, yelling or sarcastic, I just smile, and keep repeating "I'm sorry this is unacceptable" and wait to see what they say next. Be persistant! And explain what you want!

MKY

 

[cmatt]

bad things have happened more than once to some people we have went every year since 1997 and have never had any bad rooms, or some of these unforunate stories, hope our luck continues going in aug

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

This happened to us twice.

Once when we went in May we were planning on staying at Dixie Landings (yes I know POR, but is DL to me) for 3 nights and then caribbean beach for 8 nights I believe.

Well we checked into DL and we just didn't like it. We were in the Mansion or Magnolia Bend Rooms, whatever they are called. It just wasn't the right feel for us and we found the interiors of the rooms to be very dark.

So my dad called about switching. We were offered a great upgrade rate to spend our next 2 nights at WL before moving onto the CBR. I believe we got WL courtyard View, 4th floor, south wing, for the price of WL standard view.

The second time it happened was 3 summers ago. We were intending to spend 2 weeks at CBR but when we got there, in our opinion it looked run down, the building seemed to have faded paint, the pools looked a bit dirty and the landscaping was overrun. Don't get me wrong, we adored CBR and still do, but we had stayed at CSR a trip or two before and loved it.

So we called about switching to CSR and got the exact same rate, standard view CBR for a waterview CSR room for the 2 weeks.

Its not hard at all, You call the front desk and they will put You in touch with somebody who can make the switch.

 

[twinmomplus2]

We did this on our last rip, I was not happy at Coronado. We had checked in at about 4pm. At about eleven I simply called CRO, and asked to be moved to another property. Did they have availability at AKL or Poly?They said indeed they did have an AP rate available at both, I requested AKL, gave a credit card deposit for the next pm. And then they said what I had paid at Coronado would be credited over to AKL, They did not put it back on the card, but, rather remanded it over to The AKL. It was easy and painless no problem. CRO... didn't ask other than out of curiosity why I wanted to move. And I just said I would be happier somewhere else. It was fine.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Similar but not quite the same question...

Has anyone who was booked on a split stay between 2 Disney Resorts decided to stay at the 1st one and not leave.

Any idea what happens in that case?

I habe BC for 7 nights then AKL for 3 nights and I was thinking.. sheesh.. what if we LOVE beach Club and want to stay there to whole time?

Thanx

>>^..^<<

 

[Gemm01]

Last summer hubby and I took one last trip to WDW before our AP's expired. Since we were celebrating our anniversary we decided to splurge and stay at the Dolphin. I can't tell you how disappointed I was with the Dolphin. It just seemed so cold and unfriendly, so un-Disney like. The room we had just didn't seem up to standard for the amount of money we were paying. I called CRO the next morning and explained that we were not happy. We were able to set a new reservation with an AP discount at ASMu. I realize we dropped from a "deluxe" to a value resort, but we could not have been happier. We used the money we saved on the room and bought something special for each other.

 

[Brier Rose]

Originally posted by >>^..^<<
Similar but not quite the same question...

Has anyone who was booked on a split stay between 2 Disney Resorts decided to stay at the 1st one and not leave.

Any idea what happens in that case?

I habe BC for 7 nights then AKL for 3 nights and I was thinking.. sheesh.. what if we LOVE beach Club and want to stay there to whole time?

Thanx

>>^..^<<

This happened to us last Christmas. We were booked for a split stay between the GF and the Poly. We decided that we did not want to leave GF and go to the Poly, but we were out of luck.
The front desk said there was nothing they could do. I wish I would have known I could have called CRO, and maybe they could have helped.
We moved over to the Poly, and wound up hating the last 3 days of our trip, that had been wonderful up till that point.
Not because we were sour because we had to move, but because we just had one problem after the other, on top of finding out that we're just not Poly people. (No offense to those that love the Poly)
Needless to say that is the trip that we realized we would never try and do a split stay again either!

 

[MinniMama]

We did this we were at ASM and my husband was caustrophibic in the tiny rooms he was miserable to deal with so we went to front desk and got an awesome upgrade to BC! we loved it! great price too!! I would call CRO after you try the front desk they can do discounts or did for us!

 

[luckytso]

In 2000, we had a split stay between CR and BC. We really liked CR and I called front desk and asked if I can extend our stay there for another night by shortening one night at BC. The CR front desk took care of it and we actually got a better rate for that night than what we originally booked.

 

[nanalisa]

We stayed at CSR right after it opened and there were several things wrong with our room - (one was that our toilet kept erupting every few minutes) and they could not move us. We called CRO and they moved out remaining days to WL, pool view for the same price we were paying at CSR and gave us new WL mugs. Last summer we were supposed to stay at POR for 12 nights. They were painting the building next to us, no problem. Then they power washed our building, ruined the locks so that we couldn't get in our room - the whole lock had to be replaced - still no problem but then they started painting our building and it was a pain so we transfered our remaining week to the Poly. This time we had to pay a lot more, but we did get the AP rate. Still love POR, going back in a few weeks.

 

[PamNC]

It wasn't that we didn't like our resort, but we liked another resort better. We usually stay at YC or BC but we tried the Grand Floridian. Which was lovely but we missed the Epcot resort area. So what we did was call CRO and see if BC was available and it was! They put it in the system so when we checked out we simply went to the GF front desk and it was all in there.

Easy as pie. And, we got some money back!

PamNC