Disappointment at the Happiest Place on Earth!

[skyman8963]

Thanks for your insights on the POP, we are going to be staying there in about a month. IF you are looking for a great place to stay here are the ones that i absolutley loved 1. wilderness lodge by far for me the best of the bunch, everything was first class 2. Yacht club for a moderate i would pick PO but those are just my favorites

this will be my first time in a value resort so i hope all goes well

Skyler

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I'm kind of shocked to find out the value resorts only change sheets upon request. I could have sworn mine got changed out each day but then again it was just me in the room.

I don't have a problem with them not changing sheets I used but I'd rather know about the policy so that if I needed them changed I would know I also needed to make a request about it. This pretty much seals the notion that I won't be staying at a value again for more than one night. I'd rather stay offsite under conditions that are much more suitable to the feeling "I'm on vacation" rather than conditions that say "I'm on the road".

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

We've decided our Value stays are over too~at least for more than one night. We have stayed at both All Star Movies and Pop Century multiple times. Never had problems with housekeeping issues, but the noise has been hard to take. The whooshing toilets practically scared my son to death! And just the overall feeling isn't quite as "magical". Yeah, I know, you get what you pay for! But we're to the point that we're willing to pay a little more. We'll be at ASMo one night in January before moving to the WL for 10 nights. And in Feb, we're staying at POR with friends.

BTW~I think it is policy at ALL the resorts that your sheets are not changed daily. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong! (I know OP was not asking for their sheets to be changed daily, but the issue did come up about daily sheet changing...)

 

[jeancbpugh]

We have never tried a value resort. Our last stay at a moderate resort was our last ever at a moderate. The service at the deluxes is much better. We found PO dirty, too. So to each their own!

 

[Frantasmic]

If something like this happens (or if any stains managed to get on the sheets), I would strip the sheets from the bed and leave a note asking for clean ones.

This is what I did at our recent POR stay. My son wet through his pullup one night and I stripped the bed, left a note with 3-4 dollars extra asking for a change of bedding.

No problem.

I don't think any hotel, Disney or otherwise, during an extended stay would inspect the sheets themselves to determine if they need to be changed.

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Sorry it was not what you expected. DH and I have been lucky because with 2 stays at POP so far, we haven't been disappointed and plan to visit again next year. DH is more picky than I am when it comes to resorts and he loves POP as much as I do. As far as suggestions for next time, for moderate I'd say Coronado Springs and for a deluxe I'd say definitely Polynesian! You could also look into those great promo rates that come out for the Swan and Dolphin. Not Disney, but a great location anyway!

 

[maxiesmom]

Don't they still have the cards out that explain their policy on changing bed linens? I seem to remember one that explains they are conserving energy by not washing the sheets daily. Is it possible that your housekeeper did not notice the stains? If we have spilled something on the bedding we have just tossed it into the bathtub with the used towels and have gotten fresh sheets.

 

[lookingforward]

They don't change the sheets every day for ecological reasons, I think. I know that if you request it they will do it. Same with towels, leave them on the floor and they take them away, at least that is what the cards say.

I just got back from the POP and was quite pleased with the place! For the price (67 per night) it was a great deal. The room was very clean, in good condition and the maid service was great. The rooms are very small but that is to be expected for a value resort. We actually liked the food court and the choices that were offered.

The main thing to do is speak up right away about any problems that you have. Disney service is customer driven so they don't know how you are feeling until you tell them. Managers would have made sure your room was done to your satisfaction if they were given the chance.

 

[jonestavern]

we spent 2 nights at POP--Fri & Sat after Thanksgiving of this year. we were in the 80's/90's Rubic cube & our room was very clean & tidy--fresh towels & trash cans emptied no slacking from the Mousekeeper, there.
all the CMs we came into contact with were pleasant. DH & DS16 will be trying out ASMu in January '06.
We found POP cheaper & 100% cleaner than our room at Holiday Inn Nikki Bird in Feb of this year--thank goodness the HI stay was brief before going on to VWL! Now we've decided for the EMH we'll do values for cash when arriving late, weekend trips or when trying to save DVC pts
Yes, we enjoy the mods & deluxes more, but so far--cross fingers--our value experience has been good. I've asked DH to pick up the phone & call if his room is dirty, right at the begining. I do like the idea of stripping the linens if you require fresh--yes, it would be decent if it was done without asking, but I can live with that--
glad your trip was a good one & let us know when you'll return & yr choice of resorts!

Jean

 

[WDWBetsy]

It seems to me many of you want to flame Landslide305 because she expected the staff to do their job and change the sheets. The people who are employed in housekeeping are trained to deal with biohazards (i.e. blood, vomit, snot and even fecal matter); this is the dirty part of their job, but they are still required to deal with it.

As a professional chef I also must deal with things I don't particularly enjoy (i.e. skinning fish, deveining frois gras and cleaning messes the create foul odors in the walk in fridge) but I still have to do these things as part of my job requirments.

If this person has to change the sheets after Landslide305 leaves the resort, why can't they change them while she is there????? Same person, same sheets!!!! She should not have to strip the bed and leave a note to have the sheets replaced. This is not being unreasonable........just expecting minimum service that is.

I'm sorry, but if an accident happens that results in blood, urine, vomit, food, beverages, etc. on hotel bedding, I would strip the bed myself - and nicely ask for fresh sheets. To me, this is reasonable and respectful to those who offer service to me as a guest.

When my husband passed out in the shower on our last cruise, there was blood everywhere from a cut on his head. I had to use towels to stop the bleeding and clean up. I felt bad about leaving the mess for our room steward, but I had to take DH to the medical facility onboard. I put the towels in a pile in the bathtub and left a note 1) so he didn't think I killed DH and 2) to apologize for the mess. I also followed up in person later that day. I could tell that he was appreciative of me trying to minimize what he had to clean-up, and he was genuinely concerned about my DH. If I had just left the bloody towels without a note, that would have been unreasonable in my eyes.

 

[byoung]

disneymom2one I agree with you thats why we joined DVC .

 

[Dis_Grk Grl]

We were at POP from Dec. 5-11th, and we thought the resort was a nice place to stay. Housekeeping always left towel animals for my DD when we returned from the parks at night, our room was always clean, and everyone was so friendly! As far as the OP, I can see why you would be upset about soiled sheets being left, but as others have stated, I would have stripped the bed, and left a note with an extra tip. I hope your next stay in more enjoyable!

 

[Kellywellywigwog]

I just got back from POP today and I thought it was a good experience. The food in the cafeteria wasnt that good and like all the other food in disney was expensive! But I only ate there once. The rooms were small, but from the time I got there on 12/14 til i left today, my sis and i were only in the room about 25 hours...all except maybe 3 were when we were sleeping. They left us extra towels and when they saw we took all the soaps and shampoo, they left us a ton of them. It wasn't anything spectacular, but for the amount of time we were actually in the room, it served it's purpose. I'm going again in December 2006 with my boyfriend (shh, don't tell him, it's a surprise) and I'm planning on staying at POP again.

 

[100AcreWood]

I've never stayed at POP, but we stayed at the All Star Movies soon after it opened. For a value I was impressed. Not my preference, but couldn't beat it for the buck.

We just returned from POR and I'll never go there again. I know people love it, what's wrong with me but that was the noisiest hotel I've ever stayed in including AS Movies! The grounds were beautiful but the room itself - no thanks! Everytime someone flushed a toilet above or to next to us we heard it! My dh said on day 2 I wish we tried the values again!

 

[afcgirl]

Maybe I am naive, but they really don't change sheets on a daily basis?

No, I don't do it every day at home, but I also don't have a housekeeper everyday at home picking up my towels and making my bed.

As for the review, I appreciate your honesty. The bad service may have been an aberration, but I understand why you would never stay there again. I think it is perfectly reasonable for a person who has bad service to not complain but just never stay there again. Some people would complain just to get a freebie, so good for you for not playing that card. And you shouldn't have to complain to get good service, if bookings go down at POP management will get the hint.

For people who only want to read positive reviews, they should not open reviews that have "disappointed" in the title.

 

[fabumouse]

I just got back from POP today and I thought it was a good experience. They left us extra towels and when they saw we took all the soaps and shampoo, they left us a ton of them.

And during my recent 9 day stay at the Beach Club, when they saw that we took all the soaps and shampoo . . . my husband was hollering at me from the shower to get it back out of my luggage as there was none to be found anywhere else!

Seems like the experience is very dependant on the individual staff person and their service level; and POP might usually be worth the price paid.

 

[KathyFP]

I really loved AKL, but can't fit into the budget again. Really enjoyed CSR. Will probably stay there next trip. POP was fine for a value. If we have bidget limitations, would stay there again.

I never had any of the problems OP described. My issues are DD missed the slides and I missed the hot tub, but I am happy to be at Disney.

 

[sk!mom]

We stayed at Pop in 2004- our first and last stay. We will not stay at a value again. We were uncomfortable and did not sleep well.

We have since stayed at CR and loved it! We are not currently planning any trips but we will definitly try a mod or just go ahead and book a deluxe next time.

 

[sha_lyn]

As for the review, I appreciate your honesty. The bad service may have been an aberration, but I understand why you would never stay there again. I think it is perfectly reasonable for a person who has bad service to not complain but just never stay there again. Some people would complain just to get a freebie, so good for you for not playing that card. And you shouldn't have to complain to get good service, if bookings go down at POP management will get the hint.

I'm sorry but managment is not a mind reader. Unless guest complain how are they to know there is a problem. IMHO it is selfish to not complain. It is just handing the problem down to the next guest.

 

[Diz-Mommy]

My advice? Don't stay at a value. That seems overly simplistic but we simply don't like the values. I realize many people love them but we don't. We're DVC members but on weekends we choose a moderate. There is (in my opinion) a huge jump in service and amenities between values and moderates. Moderates are resorts and values (to us) are just motels with pools. We love all the moderates but our favorite two are Riverside and Coronado (where we'll be this weekend). We are not park commandos and spend much of our day at the resort. The values just don't work for us.

I don't completley agree with this statement... We chose a moderate resort (The Carribean Beach) and we couldn't see much difference from the "All Stars" we've stayed at in the past. The pools perhaps were a little nicer and the food court was a bit nicer too I suppose, but the rooms still left much to be desired. Being petite I hated having to literally CLIMB into bed every night. Why don't they just put the darn bed on the ceiling!? My DH didn't seem to mind, but I thought our bed smelled funny too or least the pillows did. I would have thought they would have changed the sheets at least once during our week long stay. Housekeeping over all wasn't too bad though. At best they emptied the trash every day which was nice since my son is in diapers. I wish they would have given us another laundry bag when we used ours and it too would have been nice to get a fresh bag for our ice bucket. Our tub, while clean, was pretty badly stained which I thought made the room look cheap.

I was also NOT amused, being that I was 5 months pregnant and toting a 22lb. one year old, to have to climb stairs every evening to get to our room. In hind-sight I wish we would have insisted on changing our room to a ground level. Why do they have elevators at the value resorts and not at the moderate?? This makes absolutley no sense to me.