@ Boardwalk now - check in problems

[Tiger926]

So, we had a great check-in @ SSR, and as always, we were able to get our room at 9:00 am. Packages ready upon check in, and spotless room!

Switched over to Boardwalk for a 1 night Boardwalk view, and 5 nights standard view. Major problems here at Boardwalk check in:

1. Check in line was 50 - 60 mins long - 1 CM behind counter for checking in, checking out and online check in. Horribly long waits, at 10:30 am.

2. Gave us our park tickets and we went to Epcot and waited on text to tell us room was ready. By 4:00 with no text, we went back, only to have CM tell us it was our cell phone, as they texted us at 2:00. Sorry, won't buy it when the guests to the right and left of me also didn't receive their texts. Problem with texting, or, are they not texting and making guests believe they are?

3. Get our room assignment which is a Boardwalk view on the 1st floor. We had specifically requested upper floors as our toddler is a runner. We checked with MS many times to see if request was noted, and they said it was. We know that requests aren't automatic, but we always have good luck with them. Manager came over and found no record of requests for this ressie, or the standard view. Huh? She said it happens all of the time, but we had to give up our Boardwalk view and take a pool view. It worked out, but again, 30 mins of our time at check in to get that mess straightened out.

4. Wake up yesterday morn to check out of Boardwalk room, and check in to standard room. Hubby goes down at 9:00 hoping to get a room, and we are told your room isn't ready. Hubby says can you please search for any available standard room, and they say they don't do that, as we have to wait for our room. Again, huh? SSR always does this for guests who have linked/split stay ressies. I know SSR is bigger, but BWV won't even consider this. Again, another 45 mins wasted moving a few things to car, and getting Bell Services to stow luggage.

5. Waited @ DHS all day for our room text, and surprise, it never came. Obviously, BWV has major problems with texting that rooms are ready, so we make our way back at 7:30, and get our room. No wait at check-in, and so I mentioned the texting issue 2 days in a row, and she just apologized, and that was that. More people next to us in line who also didn't receive their texts either.

These problems didn't deter us from having a great time - we loved watching fireworks from our balcony last night, but the whole check in process over here @ BWV leaves a lot to be desired. We had long waits during our last check in as well. We've stayed at every resort on property, except Grand Floridian, and there are always delays here @ BWV, so not sure what the deal is? None of the CMs were very friendly either, and a few seemed bothered by guests, so perhaps they are understaffed?

Regardless, just wanted to alert people that it seems like there are issues with texting when rooms are ready, and there doesn't seem to be a very big staff working at check in here, so be prepared for some kind of wait.

Really like the renovated rooms over here as well. Absolutely love BWV! Just woke up to beautiful sunshine streaming through our windows, so life is good!

Tiger

 

[cvjw]

Last month when we were waiting for our text from Kidani that our room was ready, they texted a number that I hadn't given them. I gave them DH's cell # at check-in as the one to text when room was ready, as that was the phone we were going to have with us at the parks. They texted my cell phone which was in the car - I'm sure Disney has my cell phone in their record system, as I usually use that number for dining ADR's, but it would've been nice to know when our room was ready!

 

[Alexander]

This is the exact type of treatment we received from the Boardwalk front desk staff the first time we stayed there. I was absolutely disgusted to the point that we didn't go back to the BWV for years. The staff (the whole one person at the front desk the whole week) made us feel like we were a real PITA and a total waste of their time. We have NEVER been made to feel way that at ANY Disney resort (we've stayed at 90% of them) and was especially disgusted with the treatment at what is considered a deluxe resort and mucho dollars are being spent by guests. So much for "Welcome Home"--it was more like, "What do you want?"

However, our last two visits have been very pleasant and we had no problem receiving the text when our room was ready (we were most recently there in April).

 

[DebbieB]

Wow, that's a shame. I've never had a long wait at BWV and the cm's were always nice. When I was there last December, I did not use text because our room was ready when we arrived mid-afternoon. I did use it at Kidani last summer and it worked fine.

 

[vicki_c]

I think we have had about a half dozen resort check-ins since they started the text message thing and I find it hit or miss. We probably got the notice 4 out of the 6 times.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Sorry to hear of your experience, it probably has a lot to do with July being a very busy month. We stay at the BWV every year, usually Jun or Oct and I've been fortunate with check in, no long waits. This resort unlike all others has never had my room ready before 4-4:30pm. One thing I will say for BWV, their housekeeping staff doesn a very job and they are all pleasant!

 

[Pig Pen]

We have never had a problem at BWV. We have done split stays, late check-in (11:00 pm), early check-in (8:00 am), etc., and our room has always been ready when we arrived. Maybe we are just blessed with lots of pixie dust!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I, also, had a very bad experience with check-in the first time I went to BWV, and didn't return for several years because of it. At check-in, I specifically asked if the villa that I'd been assigned was HA and she said "Oh, no!" Well, when I got there, of course it was. If she'd at least been honest or said "Gee, I don't think so, but I'm not sure", I wouldn't have been so mad, but to be lied to! That's when I vowed also to know before I go which rooms are HA.

 

[JCerniglow]

Boardwalk has the worst cast members in the disney system. amazing that they have been consistently bad since they opened.

 

[culli]

Oh this can't be something good at SSR

I'm sorry this happened to you at BWV but I'm happy that you posted how nice things at SSR went. It seems all you hear about is how horrible SSR is and the CMs are the worse etc. We love SSR and the CMs but for some reason the general DIS public loves to bash it to death.

I don't blame you for being upset hopefully things will turn around for you. Enjoy your trip.

 

[dizfan]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

As for the text message issue, it may not be Disney's problem.

I work in the industry and despite the belief that SMS (text message) is instantaneous, that is not always the case. We've had doctors complaining that an SMS message was not received for 24 hours.

Even worse, glitches in the cell phone provider (or an SMS aggregator) can result in lost messages that never get through.

The most reliable format for a notification is the good old fashioned phone call (landline or cell phone).

 

[MinnieGirl33]

This is the exact type of treatment we received from the Boardwalk front desk staff the first time we stayed there.

Same here...

 

[VrBchJ]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience at BWV. I've always felt very welcome and have had great experiences. I hope you have written to Member Satisfaction detailing your issues so that corrective action can be taken.

 

[jekjones1558]

We rarely get our room early at BWV, but that does not surprise me because the resort operates at close to 100% occupancy year round. Once or maybe twice we got into our room after 4:00 PM, but that has happened to us at other resorts also. I expect that on those occasions previous guests did not vacate on time or left the room in such poor condition that mousekeeping had to spend extra time cleaning.
I am so sorry to hear about poor treatment by CMs. I guess pixie dust must follow us around at BWV because we have not experienced surly CMs. There was one time that we got a room next to Jellyrolls when DH had some mobility issues and we asked to change to something closer to the elevator but were told no other 1 bedroom was available. When we got to the room the toilet would not shut off and overflowed, wetting the carpet. Magically a different 1 bedroom popped up. Perhaps it was a room being saved for a late arriving guest and they instead gave it to us. Our suitcases and a few of the clothes inside were wet but the CM did not seem concerned. I think that is the worst that has happened in about 30 visits at BWV. I hope that our string of good luck doesn't come to a sudden end. We have loved our BWV stays thus far.
Sorry that you were treated shabbily, OP.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks for all responses. No worries for us, as we love BWV, but these issues did take up a lot of our precious park time. I'm not sure why they only have 1 CM working at the desk, when they have been at 100% capacity this week? This kind of stuff really ticks me off, as it means the system will surely see issues. Guests waiting 60 mins to check in, is not acceptable to me, but I guess BWV is ok with it? Not sure why...?

The whole texting thing is weird too, as we have no issues with receiving texts from other hotels - we always do lots of split stays, so we are familiar with this. As I said, it seems many guests are having issues receiving texts from BWV, so it would seem that they have some kind of issue.

We had a fab day @ Epcot today. As has been the case all week (I already started a thread about it), the crowds continue to be low. We walked on all kinds of stuff today, and Mission Space only had a 30 mins walk-on wait this morning.

We just came from dinner with Goofy and Pluto @ Garden Grove/Swan Hotel, and kids got lots of one-on-one time with characters, as restaurant was quiet.

We are waiting on fireworks to start, as we can watch from our balcony!

Tiger

 

[delaneyc52]

We rarely get our room early at BWV, but that does not surprise me because the resort operates at close to 100% occupancy year round. Once or maybe twice we got into our room after 4:00 PM, but that has happened to us at other resorts also. I expect that on those occasions previous guests did not vacate on time or left the room in such poor condition that mousekeeping had to spend extra time cleaning.
I am so sorry to hear about poor treatment by CMs. I guess pixie dust must follow us around at BWV because we have not experienced surly CMs. There was one time that we got a room next to Jellyrolls when DH had some mobility issues and we asked to change to something closer to the elevator but were told no other 1 bedroom was available. When we got to the room the toilet would not shut off and overflowed, wetting the carpet. Magically a different 1 bedroom popped up. Perhaps it was a room being saved for a late arriving guest and they instead gave it to us. Our suitcases and a few of the clothes inside were wet but the CM did not seem concerned. I think that is the worst that has happened in about 30 visits at BWV. I hope that our string of good luck doesn't come to a sudden end. We have loved our BWV stays thus far.
Sorry that you were treated shabbily, OP.

I agree Jean. We are BWV groupies also and have been there almost as much as you guys -- 25 visits. Admittedly, we've had to wait for rooms .. but only maybe two times. The text thing did not work once for us, but we were busy in the parks anyway and by the time we were back the room was ready. Only once did we have a housekeeping issue which was resolved quickly. I have to point out that (although no excuse for any bad service), all our trips are off season and a bit less chaotic. I feel so badly OP that you were treated this way! I love BWV so much I hate to see anyone unhappy with it!

 

[Alexander]

You know, the one bad time we had was in the summer July or August, I can't remember. Maybe they have a lot of people taking vacations, or the overwhelming heat starts to get to the CMs. Nevertheless there seems to be a pattern here with grumpy CMs, few CMs, and poor customer service in the summer months....No college kids maybe at this time of the year?

 

[jekjones1558]

I am REALLY shocked to hear about only 1 CM at the front desk. Maybe during overnight hours but during the day? No excuse for that. I have never seen that. We have never waited for more than a few minutes to check in. There have always been multiple CMs at the desk, at least 3 or 4. I think we have been there every month except July and August. I wonder if there is starting to be a rebound in occupancy across all onsite resorts and Disney has not caught up with hiring. Whatever the problem, I certainly hope that it gets fixed. OP has every right to be upset. Our dues should fund more than 1 front desk person at a time.

 

[hlyntunstl]

Sorry it affected your stay but glad you still enjoyed yourself.

We stayed at VWL in May and requested a text message for room confirmation. At around 12:30, I received a blank text message. When we returned to the hotel around 7, I asked at the desk and was told that a text had been sent. I asked what time and the time matched the "mystery blank text". In the future, I'll still request a text but will also make sure I have the contact information so I can call just in case.

 

[Tiger926]

I am REALLY shocked to hear about only 1 CM at the front desk. Maybe during overnight hours but during the day? No excuse for that. I have never seen that. We have never waited for more than a few minutes to check in. There have always been multiple CMs at the desk, at least 3 or 4. I think we have been there every month except July and August. I wonder if there is starting to be a rebound in occupancy across all onsite resorts and Disney has not caught up with hiring. Whatever the problem, I certainly hope that it gets fixed. OP has every right to be upset. Our dues should fund more than 1 front desk person at a time.

Well we've passed by the front desk many times over the past few days, at all different times, and the most we've seen at the Front Desk is 2 people. They are really slow at the Front Desk too. The parks are at lower capacity than normal, and I know SSR had empty rooms, and I don't see BWV as being packed either. But, they told us that they were at full capacity this week, so perhaps the cash room side is packed, and not DVC?

We are July experts as we've been coming for 2 weeks each July for 10 years, and have stayed everywhere (except GF) as I said, and so we know heat and crowds, and this week has seen cooler temps and lower crowds, so not sure what the deal is? We don't really ask for anything and keep our villas spotless, but for first time DVC families, I'm not sure if this would be the best experience to have to wait for excessively long periods, as well as deal with room issues and missing info from Member Services. We can handle pretty much anything as we've BTDT many times, but for some guests, it might not be so good.

At any rate, not an abundance of staff, nor an abundance of friendly attitudes over from management, bell services (she was very rude), front desk, pool/pool bar and Screen Door.

Went to bed last night after watching Illuminations from our balcony, and awoke this morning to brilliant sunshine streaming through our windows, so life is good!

Tiger