Classiest thing Disney has EVER DONE!

[Disney DieHard]

I was reading another thread on upgrades to hotel rooms being offered and it reminded me of a FANTASTIC experience and I just had to share it with everyone!

We have NEVER experienced anything like this before or since this particular visit ... it was a complete fluke ... but it was the only time we were upgraded in a Disney hotel.

---

My family and I have never gotten an upgrade for anything related to our vacation or circumstances.

However, we got one upgrade some 4 or 5 years ago when we stayed at Polynesian. It was our first time staying at that hotel and was ALMOST our last. We had booked a standard room which, for whatever reason, wasn't ready until 5:30 as opposed to 3:00 when you're supposed to be able to check in. When we finally got into the room the rug by the bathroom and entrance way was SOAKED ... I mean you stepped on the rug and a puddle formed under your shoe!

So we were moved to another room and while this room didn't have a soaked rug the bathroom was disgusting ... which after staying on Disney property for YEARS really shocked us! I'm not talking about wet towels or ring around the bath tub I'm talking dirt and what looked like ceiling plaster in the tub as well as what looked like axle grease all over the sink and fixtures.

At this point we're all looking at each other thinking what the hell is going on??? So we called the front desk and told them the situation ... two cleaning people came up along with a manager/supervisor who made certain the bathroom was spotless before they left. The next day we were relaxing in the room watching TV when all of a sudden we heard a pop and the T.V. blew out on us!!! Called the front desk again and a maintenance guy came up and looked at the TV and said it would have to be replaced.

At that point we had enough! We went down to the front desk and asked if we could be transferred to the Contemporary which immediately raised the eyebrows of, I guess, another supervisor who was two cast members down from us ... this sharply dressed older gentleman came over and asked what the problem was and we told him the situation and that we were annoyed by what seemed to be a hotel under construction. He apologized profusely then told us to wait a minute while he went into the back room for something.

He came out and shocked us!

He told us again that they were very sorry and that he'd never seen such bad luck for one family before (Thanks ) and asked if we had stayed at the Polynesian before to which we said no this was our first time. He assured us that this was not representative of how the hotel ran. He told us to give him 1 hour ... he said he was going to transfer us to the Hawaii building which he then told us was Club Level ... he said everything would be transferred to that room ... he then led us upstairs to the Kona Kafe and sat us at an empty table then went over to a waitress/hostess and talked to her ... he pointed to us and made a few waving / motioning gestures with his hands then left. The waitress came over and told us that our lunch was going to be free and to order whatever we felt like having.

About 15 or 20 minutes later the same gentleman return and handed us 5 cards ... 4 of them were key cards to our new room and the fifth was a card with his name and number on it ... he said if you have ANY more problems with ANYTHING you call and talk to me!

After our meal and the hour was up we went to our new room. OMG! Third floor M.K. view ... every single item from our old room was moved to this one and everything was exactly where we'd left it in the old one ... even my father's handful of change that was left on the nightstand AND the contents of the safe.

We had never been so impressed by Disney before or since that stay!

And consider the fact that this was day 2 of a 16 day stay AND they didn't have to do what they did as we were all set to pack up and move to the Contemporary!

Needless to say Disney got a VERY warm letter when we returned home!!! It was one of the classiest things I'd ever seen Disney do and after that fluke we have stayed at the Polynesian every trip since and have never had anything happen like happened in those first two days.

A bad way for a hotel to introduce itself to new guests ... late check-in, soaked rugs, dirt in the bathtub, grease all over the sink, and a T.V. that blows a circuit ... but boy ... WHAT A WAY TO MAKE UP FOR IT!!!!

Frank
Disney DieHard

 

[emmysmommy]

Wow!!! What an awesome experience! That was definitely some Disney magic happening!

 

[Disney DieHard]

You have no idea! Over 20 years of going to Disney and that, BY FAR, is the shiniest Disney memory that we can all think of!!!

Frank
Disney DieHard

 

[Port Orleans fan]

Pure Disney magic.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[jesster64]

I've only had one bad thing ever happen at disney. I'm possitive I got food poisoning from clams at restaurant on top of contemporary a few years ago. After dinner there, i went back to the park and a few hrs later had all kinds of stomache problems. Went back to my room and spent the most of the next day in the bathroom. I advised disney about it, just to let them know, i didn't want anything. The woman I spoke with believed it happened before i got to the resort and they had no other complaints so it must have been my fault.

 

[annmarieda]

It was wonderful reading about your experience. It reminded me of my own recent stay at POR. Everything from check in problems (our entire res. was lost) to something in the room breaking (the hair dryer caught fire ) In the end we loved our stay and would go back. We didn't get an upgrade, but I can tell you when the hair dryer caught fire I had had about enough.

 

[StrwLady]

I have had a few upgrades through out my Disney history. Sometimes it was because of problems sometimes was just a surprise upgrade. My 2 biggest were at the Contemporary and the Beach Club

At the Contemporary our first night I noticed light coming through the door along the top and the side near the lock. Then I noticed a huge gap between the door frame and the door lock. I went out of the room and realized that something easily could be slipped in the gap and open the door. So I tried using a credit card and the door easily unlocked. I did not feel comfortable with this so I called the front desk. They said they would send up maintenance but I told them this was not a problem that would be quickly solved. It was like the door frame settled and the door was no longer hung correctly. Maintenance agreed and they moved us to another room. Imagine our surprise when they moved us to a tower room

The other upgrade was at the Beach Club. I was there alone with my son. I want to say he was about 5 at the time. We were booked in a standard room. Not long after getting into the room my son pointed to a box that was on the dresser and asked me what it was. It was a box of nitroglycerin patches. (It had the original prescription label on it still and was sitting in plain sight on the dresser). I freaked out. Not that my son was the type of kid that would have opened one of the patches and placed it on his skin but what if he had. What if I had been in the bathroom when he found the box and he just thought it was tape. I called down to the front desk (a bit hysterical LOL) and told them about the patches. I was completely dumbfounded how housekeeping could have left them in the room. The manager called and told me she was on her way to get them. When she arrived she had 2 new keys and a paper with a room number on it. She apologized and said that if we were willing to move she had upgraded us to Club Level.

This is one reason that Disney is our main vacation spot. Not only for how they handle big problems but how wonderful their customer service is. I know there have been some post lately about rude CM's and I do see them from time to time but for the most part Disney employees are so friendly, helpful and wonderful

 

[mrbghd]

This is a great story. I think this kind of treatment is way more common than we give Disney credit for. About 12 years ago we stayed at the Poly and had a rather rude CM check us in. I saw a manager an mentioned it to him. He apologized and gave me his card, just like happened to the OP, and told me to call if we needed anything while we were there. 3 days after that my wife and I were headed to MGM (at that time) but when we got there we realized we had left our tickets/keys at the Poly. We got back to the Poly and as we were walking through the lobby we must have looked annoyed and frazzled because that same manager saw us and came up to see if there was a problem. We told him of our stupidity and all 3 of us had a nice chuckle. He then told me to get the keys and meet him back at the lobby. He had a towncar take us to the park. It is these kind of experiences that keep us going to WDW.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

That is an awesome story! When we were at GF a few months ago, and our luggage had been lost, a wonderful CM took us down to the shops and bought us new fancy clothes for dinner at Citrico's, and then came down to the restaurant to check on us, and hooked us up with free appetizers and desserts, while he did all the work getting our luggage back.

When we got back to our room, there was a chilled bottle of champagne.

 

[RadioFanatic]

We honeymooned at POFQ in 1998. In 1999, we decided to spend a week at Vero Beach for our anniversary, but just got an inn room because it was all we could afford. When we got there, we were told for our anniversary, they upgraded us to a one bedroom suite! It made for a truly wonderful (and romantic ) first anniversary.

 

[funkbucket007]

Not quite as magical as your story but in 2003, we had booked a 10-day stay at POFQ. After we made our reservation, they decided to close the hotel for refurbishment. I read about their decision to close it here & called Disney to see what my options were. The CM asked if AKL Savannah View for the same $119 rate would be suitable. I assured them I thought that was more than fair & that's exactly what we got.

 

[Explodo]

In 2008 my DW and I took a second honeymoon to Disney. We booked a Royal Palm Concierge room with a deluxe dinning plan.

We got to the Hotel, got off the bus and without a word, was approached by a CM who said "Mr and Mrs Splodo, if you'll follow me, we have your room ready"

The CM handed us our key cards then told us to follow her. They had moved our room to one of the honeymoon suites on the second floor with a perfect view of the MK (above gasparillas and to the right). We were floored by the room...and by the honeymoonbasket they had in the room.

This was about 3pm in the afternoon, so we change our clothes and head to the monorail and into the park. Enjoyed the rides, Parades, etc, came back for our dinner Rezzies at Narcosee's at 6:30pm. Had a great dinner excellent bottle of wine.

Then we decide to go back to the MK to see the fireworks show. WE hop on the monorail....zip over to the mk...and watches wishes from Main Street. Again...everything was perfect.

So now it's time to leave, we sit and watch folks for a while, thinking to ourselves, we have time, we just have to get on the monorail....(and this is where everyting went to heck)

We mosey out to the MK monorail station to longish lines, no big deal...lines happen. we wait about 25 minutes and get on train...at this point, we sat in the station for about 10 minutes while the CM's tried to get one of the doors closed. We take off and stop about halfway to the Contemporary...we sat there for 30 minutes...The magic of the previous part of the day was dwindling....

We get to the Contemp...and sit there for 20 minutes. We leave the contemp and halfway to the TTC, the train stops again...this time for 40 minutes. Now eveyone in the car was more than a bit miffed,,,,tired kids...sweaty stinky Adults...Bored Teenagers...It was like a scene out of "Bioling Point". We finally get to the TTC, and most of the people in our car get out, there are 4 couples and us left. We leave...and it takes 15 minutes to get to the Poly....then another 10 to get to the Grand Floridian.

We get out of the train looking rather disgusted and worse for the wear...but keep reminding ourselves of how wonderful everything else was. So it was midnight or so when we wandered into the lobby, we walk down stairs to see if a bar was open and happen to run into a very well dressed man with a NAmetag (His name was William) He asked us how our day went...and i said (smiling of course)"It was wonderful until we had to sit on that friggin monorail for 2 hours"

He says "There's no way it could have taken that long", he then whips out a radio and whispered something into it. About 5 seconds later another manager type walks up and confirms there had been a breakdown and apologized to us profusely"

My wife and I both said "No Problem...thanks the apology...now Do you guys have a bar that's open?" The answer was no, not on the premisis.

Oh well thought I, and we head to our room. As my wife was showering...I get a knock on the door, there stands Will and the assistant MAnager with a 2 bottles of Champagne and chocolates on a tray.

They apologized again, and said "Maybe this can restart the magic"

It did...I can't beleive how caring and understanding these guys were, when they saw us in the lobby, we were stinky, crabby, overannoyed guests...And they still thought enough of us to try and cheer us up.

That experience turned me into a Disney Lover for the rest of my life.

 

[Jennasis]

Disney egts it right more often than not.


On our honeymoon trip back in 2005, we splurged for one night at CR in a tower room overlooking the MK. I was blown away by the room (9th floor) and it became our favorite resort in an instant. Thje next day we transferred to BC where we were booked for 5 more nights in a standard view room (and THAT was only because we'd been given the trip as a wedding gift). When we check in, I knew we had been given an upgrade to a water view room because when I got our confirmation stuff in the mail, the booking CM must have sprinkled some pixie dust and it mentioned the upgrade way back then.

So we are checking in and the CM smiles at me and says "here's your keys to room 5-something-something". I start thinking, hang-on...there are only 5 floors in this place and the 5th floor is concierge. So I look at her and say "FIFTH floor?? Are you sure??" She smiles and wishes us a happy vacation. So Now I am speechless as we ride the elevator up with our special key (DH still has no clue what's going on and syas "how come you have to use your room key to make the elevator go up?"). We get to the top and the doors open and I start crying..."Cause they upgraded us to CONCIERGE!!"

We were beyond floord. Our room (while smaller than our huge room at CR) was perfect. Facing Crescent Lake and just over the back entrance to the lobby. Just gorgeous!

A memorable trip indeed!

 

[DT83097]

Disney DieHard - you said it best - "Classy".

I'm a firm believer in 'stuff happens' because nobody is perfect - it's how they deal with it that sets them apart from the rest and Disney definitely got it right that time!

 

[Lisann]

I'm really enjoying these stories. It's nice to read about good experiences sometimes, instead of hearing all the complaints!

 

[cmcinc]

Great stuff there!

 

[megwilliams]

Aw. I love stories like this. These stories are fun. The bad C/S stories, while sometimes helpful and informative, can also be depressing.

 

[weheartdisney]

Disney Magic at it's best!

 

[skipperkim]

You all were very lucky. I had an awful room at CSR last trip wet carpet ( had to call them 2 times to get a fan to dry it), hair dryer and coffee pot broke and bottom sheet wouldn't stay on the bed because the mattress pad didn't fit. Then DBF got food poisioning from the food court. What did we get, transferred to a handicapped room. Which is why I won't stay at CSR again. Give me my POFQ any day, at least I'll always have a seat on the bus.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I'm really enjoying these stories. It's nice to read about good experiences sometimes, instead of hearing all the complaints!

I hear ya...seems like there are more and more complaints on these boards, never hear about the wonderful things that happen. I love reading everyone's stories