DVC studios - fewer amenities

[PinkTink63]

Since I've been reading this thread, that's what I've decided also. Mugs and glasses will be coming from the restaurants during my stay. For what we've paid for BCV I personally will not tolerate styrofoam or plastic.
What's next with Disney?

Unwashed and stained comforters? Already have that! Take out the comforters!

Dark coloring in lots of rooms to hide dirty rooms? Have that too!

Disney has some of the dirtiest rooms in the hotel business. We stay in Marriott, Hyatt, Fairfield Inn, Hilton, Hampton Inn many times per year and Disney has always been consistently the dirtiest.

I feel the same way!

Last summer after leaving Disney went to The Keys where we stayed at a Marriott property and an independent hotel, both studio deluxe accomodations. The Marriott resort was beautiful and their amenties and customer service were great! Fresh baked cookies put out every afternoon in the lobby, bowls of fresh fruit setting around for you to help yourself to, high quality linens, fine body products, fridge, nice pool, glasses and mugs, and a nice supply gourmet coffee and teas.

The other hotel was lovely also and had brand new Tommy Bahama furnishings, beautiful pool, deluxe body products, fine linens, flat panel TV, fridge, microwave, European coffee, and glasses and mugs!! The point is...they were not nearly the cost of a deluxe room at Disney!

 

[toocherie]

I don't think they will remove the glassware from the other resorts, or they would have done it already.

My guess is that the other resorts already had the infrastructure to replace the glassware daily by putting them through a commercial dishwasher. I remember seeing the "carts" of glasses in deluxe resorts.

The DVC resorts did not have the same infrastructure, since the 1, 2 and 3 BR units had dishwashers, and the studios had a wetbar, where people did a hand wash. So, there isn't a system in place to remove the glasses and mugs from the rooms and send them to a central commercial dishwasher.

IMO, there has to be a better way to handle this than to just make a unilateral decision to punish members by removing glasses and mugs from studios because housekeeping isn't trusted to wash them properly.

I am a new member (and distressed that I haven't gone "home" even once and already the benefits of ownership are degrading)--can someone tell me--when someone checks out of a one or two bedroom, does Housekeeping run all of the dishes through the dishwasher cycle? When you check in where are the dishes, cups and mugs? In the cupboard or in the dishwasher? How would you know they had been cleaned if in the cupboard?

 

[PinkTink63]

Does anyone find it ironic that this just opened at Epcot?

http://www.wdwpublicaffairs.com/Con...playItem=ded7e6ae-1d51-43b3-9dcd-ddea04b0357b

And for shame!

http://corporate.disney.go.com/environmentality/enviroport/2006/fr/pri.html

This is almost laughable if it wasn't so sad!

 

[Sammie]

Personally I think we need to contact Eiger and state all of the changes that have happened recently and how if you contact DVC you get the canned response and no action on it.

Yet they continue to keep on pushing DVC and the expansion.

 

[PinkTink63]

Reading it on AllEars has made it hit home. I'm so disappointed with my DVC. We spend most of our points with larger family accomodations, but when DH and I stay, we stay in a studio, that's all we really need. A glorified motel room, maybe to some, but one that had the facilities for breakfast, some lunches and the ability to heat up leftovers. Without the dishsoap, how to clean up the little bit we have? Making fruit salad, having a watermelon gets sticky. We don't need or want a 1bedroom. I'm pretty sad right now.

Bobbi

Me too! And for the OP (you know who you are!) that thinks people who stay in studios do not use those things are gravely mistaken!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I am a new member (and distressed that I haven't gone "home" even once and already the benefits of ownership are degrading)--can someone tell me--when someone checks out of a one or two bedroom, does Housekeeping run all of the dishes through the dishwasher cycle? When you check in where are the dishes, cups and mugs? In the cupboard or in the dishwasher? How would you know they had been cleaned if in the cupboard?

They are in the cupboard. I run them through or wash them before use.

If you are new, call your guide and complain.

I think we should all wear T-shirts that say ......

I was MUGGED by DVC! on the front and
Ask me for a referral on the back

I just sent my email and Sammie if you have a way to contact Eiger, please pm me!

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I have no problem writing to anyone. As I've stated before we rarely stay in a studio. But I'm not naive enough to think these changes will stop here or won't ultimately degrade the value of the property I own.

I still enjoy my trips to WDW. We've owned for about 10 years now. I don't think it's as enjoyable overall as it was when we first joined. I'd still rather be there right now than here. But I don't think it's as good of a deal as when I got in for $60 something a point for most of my points.

I would think along with writing letters expressing disappointment with all the changes like these, that posts explaining to perspective new members who have issues some of the recent changes instead of just telling them the DVC is swell could make a difference too. We all know Disney reads here.

 

[toocherie]

They are in the cupboard. I run them through or wash them before use.

If you are new, call your guide and complain.

I think we should all wear T-shirts that say ......

I was MUGGED by DVC! on the front and
Ask me for a referral on the back

Yes, I am planning to call him (and I had suggested earlier that everyone should be calling your guide too--whether you are new or not). The more complaints to/from different quarters the better. My guide is on vacation this week or I would have called before now.

 

[PinkTink63]

it's an absolute miracle the market isn't flooded with all the folks selling off their dirty, styrofoam infested time share interests.

I don't understand how DVC has stayed in business.

They had glasses and mugs in their studios when the sold them!

 

[PinkTink63]

See, you're being disrespectful again. We are not just "bashing DVC for doing something right" when we don't believe it is right to begin with! You are completely disrespecting our opinions and feelings and I certainly think you should take a few steps back and realize that it's not something that you agree with and walk away.

TOUCHE!

Lord, you give them eyes, but they still cannot see!

 

[PinkTink63]

Geeez that would not happen

There is a member here who told a persons to sue after a fall would not say they got the poops from improper washing of there own dishes

Lmao now that is a hoot

 

[PinkTink63]

I know I'll be throwing some plastic glassware in my suitcase. A Pleasure Island tumbler should work fine.

That's cheaper than an Owners Locker.

Maybe we should all get US mugs and carry them around and then leave them in the rooms!

 

[PinkTink63]

This is NOT DVC doing something right! It is wrong on so many levels, but some people just can't see the forest for the trees.

By replacing the mugs and glassware with plastic and paper, more trash is created. BAD for the environment and smacks of hypocrisy from a company that prides itself on being environmentally friendly. Providing reusable cups and mugs (and I feel there should be real dishes too, but that's a different thread altogether and we weren't led to believe that when we bought in) is much more environmentally friendly. I can just see the litter around the resorts now. People don't tend to take their ceramic coffee mug out of the room on the way to the parks, but I bet they start taking those styrofoam cups with them. Not only that, but the cost to constantly replace them will be passed onto us as owner/members. Anyone remember the old adage, "do as I say, not as I do"??? Must be DVC's new motto.

So what if there are no dishwashers in a studio unit. For hundreds, dare I say thousands, of years, people washed dishes by hand. There is nothing wrong with this. If Disney can't get their employees to do their jobs correctly between ressies, that's a problem they should address on that end, not by punishing those of us who bought into their vacation home away from homes. Maybe Disney should do like other hotels and swap out all glassware in the studios between ressies and take them to a commercial dishwashing area. That's what many other DELUXE hotels/resorts do. Heck, even some of the less expensive hotels/resorts do this. There isn't even an issue of cups being washed by housekeeping incorrectly, because their system is much more sanitary to begin with.

It also creates a class system within the DVC resorts that should not exist. DVC units are deluxe units. PERIOD. End of story. It shouldn't matter if you're in a studio or larger unit. Paper and styrofoam are for value accommodations, not deluxe. Say what you will about studios being the bottom of the barrel, but if I'm getting bottom-of-the-barrel amenities, I'd better be paying bottom-of-the-barrel prices and not what Disney charges to stay in a DVC studio.

Companies looking to save a dollar here or there always take away the little things because they think that people won't notice or won't care enough to complain. The problem is that when enough little things are taken away, it becomes a BIG thing and people do start to notice. For many of us, this is the "straw that broke the camel's back," and "we're mad as H-E-double-hockey sticks and just not going to take it any more."

I love Disney and have enjoyed my DVC membership/ownership for many years. However, I really am beginning to rethink the whole thing. My Disney vacation home is quickly becoming a high-priced, low-class neighborhood.

Very well stated and I hope you forwarded to DVC!

This is what I sent them today, although not as nicely written!..

To whom it may concern:

It has recently been brought to my attention that DVC has taken out the glasses and mugs in the studio units and replaced them with paper or styrofoam. I'm writing to you to express my disappointment with this decision. While it may seem to some, a small and insignificant change, but to the members it is a very import detail!

The concerns I have over this change are these:

DVC is promoted as our "home away from home" and "deluxe" accomodations! I don't drink out of paper and styrofoam at home or when I stay at any other "deluxe" resort. We are a family of three and always stay in studios and by making this change it somehow devaluates our accomodations. Although it does not list these things on our paperwork, they were there when we first stayed and were sold DVC, so I think that it is something that is inferred. I do not feel that paper and styrofoam are of the same quality as glass and ceramic.

Disney has always been held to such a high standard. They have always been the leaders in their field, because of their attention to the details! I fear that this is not a step in the right direction and would hate to see Disney go down that road. One of the reasons we come to Disney is the "special" way in which guests are treated and that was a big deciding factor to buy DVC, because it is an extension of Disney.

Lastly, and a really big concern, is the affect this will have on the environment. I know that Disney prides itself on being "Green" and has received awards for doing so, but I must say, "This decision cannot be good for the environment!"

Our upcoming trip to WDW will be this summer and we will be spending 15 days at DVC. It will be very disappointing to find paper and styrofoam replacing our usual glass and ceramic. We do consider this our "home away from home" as do many other members. Please keep that in mind when making decisions that affect our membership.

Thank you,

 

[PinkTink63]

They can't really be washed even if we did still have dish soap and a sponge. They won't have been taken out of their sleeves by a food service worker but put out by someone who may have just cleaned...well.....

I made this exact point earlier in these threads. They are only as sanitary as the person handling them, regardless if they are styrofoam, glass or ceramic! At least we could wash our own if they are glass and ceramic! Well, some of us!

 

[Longhairbear]

Personally I think we need to contact Eiger and state all of the changes that have happened recently and how if you contact DVC you get the canned response and no action on it.

Yet they continue to keep on pushing DVC and the expansion.

I have written to Disney Files, quoting their spin on recycling, and then informed them of DVC's new policy, and that some of those cups may end up in the Savannah at AKV.

 

[alldiz]

Sorry. I should have said that housekeeping was not permitted to deliver mugs and glasses to our studio, not that we couldn't bring our own. We stayed at a studio at SS in January and had not only mugs and glasses, but also 2 wine glasses and a corkskrew.

they won't even bring it to you if you request it.....Is this true

No dishwashers so no mugs? That's interesting. I've never stayed in the Grand Floridian. I never knew those de-luxe rooms each had their own dishwasher.

At OKW, there is already a warning in the rooms that the dishes are not sanitized to some specification. Don't recall the exact verbage. Why can't Disney change it in the studios to say something similar, that the dishes should be re-washed or whatever?

You know, Dborges, you asked about Kingdom Tower.. Frankly if they never build it or never turn it over to DVC it wouldn't bother me. I have no intention of buying there, and probably will never stay there. But I am not the only member of the DVC. Plus, I didn't buy at Kindgom Tower, I bought at OKW where the studios had glassware in the models when I toured them 16 years ago, and they have been available in the room for the last 16 years.

We know you don't care about the glasses, we know you only stay in 1 bedrooms or larger. It doesn't affect you, we get that. But it does affect some, and really if you look at the larger picture, it does affect every member when the management company decides to do things to the owners "Leased" resort that aren't wanted or asked for. Today it's mugs, yesterday it was plates and towels. Who knows what it will be tomorrow. Maybe take away the ability to book at other resorts. Or some other feature that was sold either implicitly or explicitly. Honestly, I don't stay in studios very often either, but this is very disconcerting to me.

Ultimately, people here have a right to be concerned about this, and if this is such a moot point to you, you can simply ignore this thread. Can't you?

Very well said.....for the record I haven't stayed in a studio yet......which
does not change my opinion. this is ridiculous.

And in truth, it wouldn't be overly expensive to add the dishwashers at OKW, they'd simply need to install one in the maids' supply rooms to every 3rd or 4th building or so. And buy enough glasses and cups to do the switchouts, and since the rooms are not serviced daily, they wouldn't need a lot of switch out inventory.

If they are really that concerned about dishwashering facilities they could put one in each of the studios too. They make those 1/2 sized dishwashers, they should fit there under the counter. How much can they cost in bulk about 200.00 a unit spread out over what, about 100000 members now? That would be a dollar or two per member. Much cheaper than buying 60 cups per room, per stay.

I think we have some winners
Kerri

 

[BusterCat]

We stay almost exclusively in studios and this does impact the quality of our stay.

Would I sell because of this cheap, cheesy action? Of course not.

That said, it does raise the probability that I will not add on more points with DVC. It’s clear that the satisfaction of existing members is not a priority. The degradation of customer service has reached a pivot point with me. I’m finally beginning to feel like a second class citizen.

Money spent on an add-on might be better spent with Marriott.

 

[starwood]

It's not very environmentally friendly. It's always best to use items that are reusable than disposable.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Are they going to open the KTV studios with styrofoam and plastic? For their upscale building?
This is pathetic.

 

[WalterYensid]

Hello Disney !!
It's been 88 hours since this thread started and there is now 500 posts. While this might not be a record for total posts or posts/hr, I think that you can see that this is a contentious issue. Your "guests" upon which you pride yourself for "great customer service" are not happy.

Styrofoam and paper in a deluxe resort, you can't be serious.
Hire a few more "Customer Service Specialists" instead of more "Bean Counters" or you won't have any beans to count!

Wake up and do something about this.