DVC temporary policy rooms now between 4pm and 6pm?

[lowlight]

Don't we all know that complainers talk far more than happy people? And when you see the complaints it's the same people. Like if you kept seeing posts here over the years about people who were able to stay in their unsatisfying room after official checkout time while having a new room cleaned and prepared for them, you might think it happened all the time. When it was actually just posts by me over the years talking about ONE experience we had (and clearly saying never ever to expect it) because my then-husband is a very VERY good hotel negotiator. You'll see repeated complaints aby the same people about the same stay. Meanwhile those of us who get our rooms at perfectly fine times don't create posts about it incessantly.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We were in the lobby by just before 4 pm and anxious to get in the room to shower and get ready for an early (5:30) dinner.

I actually agree with the other poster on this statement here. Never plan on actually needing a hotel room (wherever) by a certain time. Of course I would love to change and get my luggage up to the room so I can go out to dinner but I'm never going to pressure a hotel employee to make a room ready so I can do so. I understand wanting a shower but after first inquiring soon after subsequent inquiries and you're just going to come across as that customer and it's all because you're anxious and pressed for time and that's not at all on the hotel. I also wouldn't have cut off the employee and tried to tell her how to do her job like that. I get it you're frazzled and pressed for time but no need to get all uppty about it.

The going advice for many is to not book ADR's quickly after arriving because you never know what will happen with your flight, luggage, traffic, etc. This would certainty apply for needing a hotel room as well. I don't even care if it's 4pm or whatever being spoken about because it's more about needing a room to physically do something in it with a time crunch. It's just not a good idea and can put you in a bad mood which can def. come out at the employee.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I wouldn't call this lucky because it happens hundreds of times daily. Housekeeping is clearing rooms starting in the early morning hours, and most people have their villa before 4pm. Late room assignments do happen, but they shouldn't be viewed as the norm.

100%. It is obviously anecdotal, but in all of our years visiting Walt Disney World we have only had to wait for check in (after 4:00pm) maybe once. Almost every other time our room was ready early. I don’t think rooms being ready late is the norm. It may happen every day, but the percentage of check-ins in which it occurs it’s probably very small.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I'm not picking on your argument, I would do the same if someone said "most people aren't getting their room on time". All we have in this thread is anecdotal evidence. Do you in fact have empirical data showing that most people have their villa before 4 pm? I think it's fair to say it's a common enough complaint on the internet to say that "enough" people are not getting their room ready by 4 pm that it's worth looking into. If you have the hard data, I would love to see it.

There’s tons of marketing data that shows people are much more quick to complain than to praise. People are much more apt to share negative experiences then they are positive experiences. It’s actually one of the things I retained from my degree in marketing, lol. So the fact that some people come on here and complain about checking in late does not tell me that it is the norm. It does tell me that late check-ins to happen on occasion.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I actually agree with the other poster on this statement here. Never plan on actually needing a hotel room (wherever) by a certain time. Of course I would love to change and get my luggage up to the room so I can go out to dinner but I'm never going to pressure a hotel employee to make a room ready so I can do so. I understand wanting a shower but after first inquiring soon after subsequent inquiries and you're just going to come across as that customer and it's all because you're anxious and pressed for time and that's not at all on the hotel. I also wouldn't have cut off the employee and tried to tell her how to do her job like that. I get it you're frazzled and pressed for time but no need to get all uppty about it.

The going advice for many is to not book ADR's quickly after arriving because you never know what will happen with your flight, luggage, traffic, etc. This would certainty apply for needing a hotel room as well. I don't even care if it's 4pm or whatever being spoken about because it's more about needing a room to physically do something in it with a time crunch. It's just not a good idea and can put you in a bad mood which can def. come out at the employee.

Totally agree about scheduling dinner, and in an ideal world we wouldn't have. But in the hunger games that is dining reservations the only time we could get FF was that day at 5:30. And to be clear, I wasn't telling her how to do her job. I was giving her a head's up that if she was going to feed me a line, she should be prepared to back it up. I have a low you-know-what meter and prefer honesty to a CM making up a new rule without backing it up. And if there is a new rule, we members should know about it, and DVC sales people should be providing accurate information

 

[tjkraz]

I'm not picking on your argument, I would do the same if someone said "most people aren't getting their room on time". All we have in this thread is anecdotal evidence. Do you in fact have empirical data showing that most people have their villa before 4 pm? I think it's fair to say it's a common enough complaint on the internet to say that "enough" people are not getting their room ready by 4 pm that it's worth looking into. If you have the hard data, I would love to see it.

None of us has access to such data, but let’s take a mathematical approach.

Housekeeping begins work around 8am, cleaning rooms of early departures. From 8am to 4pm they have 8 hours to service all vacated rooms. In a perfect world, that’s enough time. However, in the event that their work stretches to 5pm, that still means that 8 of the 9 hours in the housekeeping window came before 4pm. Reasonable conclusion is that about 89% of rooms were serviced between 8-4, while the other 11% occurred from 4-5pm. If the cleaning shift stretches to 6pm, there’s every reason to believe 80% of the rooms (8 of the 10 hours) were completed prior 4pm.

Put another way, I see no reason to believe that housekeeping can only clean 49% of vacated rooms from 8am - 4pm, while the other 51% are completed from 4-6pm. For that reason, I feel confident in concluding that “most” rooms are completed before 4pm.

At worst, I’d speculate that 20% of rooms are completed after 4pm using the logic above, but even that seems like a stretch. I doubt housekeeping is working at full capacity until 6pm daily. More likely, it‘s a case of a handful of straggler rooms being addressed in those later hours.

If 20% of arriving guests aren’t getting their rooms until 6pm, look for a pretty angry mob in the lobby on a daily basis.

 

[Sandisw]

Sandi, you're one of the more knowledgeable people on this matter. Is sending feedback about bad experiences the only way we can voice our displeasure? That seems a little too "screaming into the void" for me.

It is all we can do but i don’t think it hurts for them to know when the experiences happen.

At the very least, they can’t claim they don’t know or can at least attempt to find ways to help make it better.

Again, rooms not being ready until 4:15 ish is much different than people reporting waiting until after 6 pm or even later.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wasn't telling her how to do her job. I was giving her a head's up that if she was going to feed me a line, she should be prepared to back it up.

Your below comment was patronizing to say the least.

I cut her off and said, that's interesting. Let's walk over to that little DVC desk and see what he has to say, because I can assure you he isn't telling people that check in is after 4.

She wasn't embarrassed it's more likely she was holding her tongue when faced with an unpleasant customer who is barking at her when things are out of her control. There's nothing for her to be embarrassed about anyways.

and in an ideal world we wouldn't have. But in the hunger games that is dining reservations the only time we could get FF was that day at 5:30.

I'm just saying alternatives were available to you. Don't make a dinner reservation (regardless of a perceived must go to this place and it's the only available time) that requires a room that you don't already have (i.e. been in) or be willing to go to that dinner reservation the way you were. I totally get wanting to eat where you want to eat and that was the only time you saw available but that becomes something on you to deal with not getting frustrated with the employee.

I'm with others on the frustration level of understanding should my expectations be later than 4 or not, that's just different than your story IMO. You had more control over your situation than that employee did. Don't mistake my comments to mean I don't get how you must have felt in that moment, I get it, but there were things in your control to prevent that. Obviously all of this is in the past now

 

[CraigInPA]

How to deal with your room not ready at 4pm:
Bring your children into the lobby and let everyone see them melting down.
Bring your elderly parents in their scooters into the lobby with their hearing aids turned off, and have them request to be taken to the room for a pee and a nap (at the top of their lungs).
Have your spouse cry at the check-in counter about how she/he has been travelling all day, how this is her/his birthday, and the state of airplane travel, and the reservation was made 11 months ago, how two previous trips were cancelled due to the pandemic, dead relatives who couldn't come with us, special first trip for the 5 year old niece, etc...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How to deal with your room not ready at 4pm:
Bring your children into the lobby and let everyone see them melting down.
Bring your elderly parents in their scooters into the lobby with their hearing aids turned off, and have them request to be taken to the room for a pee and a nap (at the top of their lungs).
Have your spouse cry at the check-in counter about how she/he has been travelling all day, how this is her/his birthday, and the state of airplane travel, and the reservation was made 11 months ago, how two previous trips were cancelled due to the pandemic, dead relatives who couldn't come with us, special first trip for the 5 year old niece, etc...

Talk about embarrassing. I'd be embarrassed at how awful people would have to be to do those things. To use people's passing like that wow.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

How to deal with your room not ready at 4pm:
Bring your children into the lobby and let everyone see them melting down.
Bring your elderly parents in their scooters into the lobby with their hearing aids turned off, and have them request to be taken to the room for a pee and a nap (at the top of their lungs).
Have your spouse cry at the check-in counter about how she/he has been travelling all day, how this is her/his birthday, and the state of airplane travel, and the reservation was made 11 months ago, how two previous trips were cancelled due to the pandemic, dead relatives who couldn't come with us, special first trip for the 5 year old niece, etc...

Or people could just do what we do. Pack swimsuits in a backpack. Then enjoy the pool until the room is ready. Like others have said, the CMs at the front desk can't control how quickly the room is cleaned and prepared. I personally would find it difficult to hammer someone for something that is out of their control. They know you are there and waiting for a room. Just enjoy the the pool and nice weather...and have a cocktail.

 

[Boopuff]

Anyone not do the online check-in, and wait until you’re physically at the hotel? Just wondering if there’s any difference in room readiness going that route.

 

[CarolynFH]

Anyone not do the online check-in, and wait until you’re physically at the hotel? Just wondering if there’s any difference in room readiness going that route.

I routinely do online checkin, and I usually get a text around our estimated time of arrival telling me either that the room isn't ready yet (most of the time) or giving me the room number (occasionally). And then we've gotten the room-ready text later - generally within 60-90 minutes of our estimated arrival times. If you don't do online checkin, they have no idea when you might get there; how that affects your room-ready time, I have no idea.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Anyone not do the online check-in, and wait until you’re physically at the hotel? Just wondering if there’s any difference in room readiness going that route.

My experience is of a non-DVC room and it was in 2017 but it was during hurricane Irma (so sorta a chaotic time maybe somewhat comparable to the pandemic). Disney advises normal hotels are 3pm check in. I did online check in. I can't remember if I did any requests. We were at Universal and hadn't gotten our room assignment in MDE yet so I called via MDE. I knew it was a call center, anywho the rep looked into it and said they were working on getting me the info. About 5 mins later my room assignment popped up in MDE. I took a screenshot of that and according to my unfinished trip report ( ) that was at 5:34pm the screenshot was taken. I know people have argued that a room should be ready at 4pm with DVC but ours wasn't ready by 3pm on the normal hotel side it popped up on my MDE account 2 1/2 hours after check in starts. It's possible it was already ready but had not yet been input into the system as assigned to me in particular.

FWIW we took the first flight out, though delayed an hour due to MCO shutting down arrivals in favor of departures. We had been there for a long time but just spent our day over at Universal. For us we knew once the hurricane was happening that we would be swapping our arrival day that was supposed to be a relax day into a Universal day (because we knew from the DIS the parks likely would be closed for 2 days). If it had been a relax day I don't know that we would have gone to the hotel first vs just waiting for the room text, room assignment to come in. I didn't receive a room ready text just an assignment in MDE (which meant we could go straight to the room).

I'm not sure of the processes nowadays.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I've been following this thread with interest. There are many folks who have polar opposite perceptions on this topic.

I don't care if you call it a hotel, timeshare, squatters cabin, commune, hostel, or linen closet. DVC is supposed to be deluxe accommodations. Disney is sitting on nearly $60K of my hard-earned dollars and gets another $2,500 a year in dues from me. I don't think it an unreasonable expectation to have the doggone room, that I had to reserve 11-months out from my arrival, ready for me at 4:00 PM as indicated. And I ain't buying all the wishy-washy lawyer language saying that 4:00 doesn't really mean 4:00. Nonsense.

Whew! I feel much better after getting that out.

Yup, absolutely!

 

[New Mouse]

Or people could just do what we do. Pack swimsuits in a backpack. Then enjoy the pool until the room is ready. Like others have said, the CMs at the front desk can't control how quickly the room is cleaned and prepared. I personally would find it difficult to hammer someone and for something that is out of their control. They know you are there and waiting for a room. Just enjoy the the pool and nice weather...and have a cocktail.

So ask to speak to a housekeeping manager rather than accepting mediocre.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

So ask to speak to a housekeeping manager rather than accepting mediocre.

Well, yeah. If my room wasn't ready after 4:00pm and I had an issue with it I would speak to the manager. But the suggestion of throwing a temper tantrum to the front desk CM, IMO, isn't the way to go. But like I said, we don't sit around the lobby anxiously waiting for the room. We enjoy ourselves...we are on vacation after all! We are either at the pool or we are in a park (if we are checking in on the 2nd leg of a split stay). If we got to the point where we really needed to get into the room after 4:00pm and it wasn't ready yet, to your point, I would ask to speak to the manager.

 

[New Mouse]

Or people could just do what we do. Pack swimsuits in a backpack. Then enjoy the pool until the room is ready. Like others have said, the CMs at the front desk can't control how quickly the room is cleaned and prepared. I personally would find it difficult to hammer someone and for something that is out of their control. They know you are there and waiting for a room. Just enjoy the the pool and nice weather...and have a cocktail.

So ask to speak to a housekeeping manager rather than accepting mediocre.

Talk about embarrassing. I'd be embarrassed at how awful people would have to be to do those things. To use people's passing like that wow.

Meh Disney would do pretty much anything to make an extra buck these days.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Meh Disney would do pretty much anything to make an extra buck these days.

Apologies not following you here. The PP comment was about what they would do as a guest if their room wasn't ready by 4pm. What part of that and my response has to do with your above comment?

If Disney was advocating for people to do what the person suggested (which could be in jest but was distasteful none the less) I would have the same reaction. And why would it somehow make it acceptable to employ tactics like that by rationalizing it saying Disney will make an extra buck these days by doing pretty much anything? Like that makes it okay? Not following you here.

 

[New Mouse]

Well, yeah. If my room wasn't ready after 4:00pm and I had an issue with it I would speak to the manager. But the suggestion of throwing a temper tantrum to the front desk CM, IMO, isn't the way to go. But like I said, we don't sit around the lobby anxiously waiting for the room. We enjoy ourselves...we are on vacation after all! We are either at the pool or we are in a park (if we are checking in on the 2nd leg of a split stay). If we got to the point where we really needed to get into the room after 4:00pm and it wasn't ready yet, to your point, I would ask to speak to the manager.

Not criticizing your personal vacation habits as many people will just be ok with it, but the more people that choose to accept it without a peep, the less likely Disney will fix it in the future.

It's not just housekeeping, happens all the time. They like to see how far they can push the lack of service and the price all at the same time.

At the end of the day Disney doesn't care if housekeeping is late so long as it doesn't cost them $.