Figures on BCV Poll by Granny

[Pa@okw95]

Using the most positive results of the poll-it looks like the condition of the rooms is the area where most are unhappy. Only 33.5 pecent of those 131 votes on this subject found there rooms to be excellent, the actual number is 44 out of 131. That is an extremely bad situation. The other two questions resulted in about the same poor results but a lot better than the room situation giving a 62.5 percent and a 64.3 percent very positive answer to the other 2 questions. So no matter how bias your views of this situation are there is no doubt that the room condition over there is the worse thing going. My big fear here is that this situation could travel to other DVC resorts. I took these figures when there were 141 votes total. Thanks Granny

 

[lovwdwalot]

Now I know that I will be flamed for this post, but here it go's. Could it be that the rooms at the BCV are in such bad shape because of how many kids are staying with their family's ? Alot of family's with young kids do want to stay at this resort because of SAB, and we all know what can happen with young kids. Just a thought.

 

[spiceycat]

okay no one flame me - please.

I think that alot of these members are new. They haven't been to that many DVC resorts.

I didn't know at first - if the room is not perfect - complaint immediately to housekeeping/engineers.

I stayed in a room 561 loved it - but it had major problems - why - because the other guests took the maintence person word that the elevators were the problem. Well I told him to go out in the hall if the elevators were the problems then he should be able to heard it.

well he couldn't. He couldn't fix it either - he called his manager - who called an outside engineer - they did fix it - but it took them a while. there is a part that is in there wrong - this is the airconditioner system - if they haven't been fixing these things - then yes BCV has a major problem.

However majority or minor - BCV can't fix it if you don't call housekeeping/engineering. They don't know what is wrong until you point it out. No the maids don't do this - few of the maids can even speak english.

if there is something wrong with your room - you need to call - first you are fixing it up for you and then the other DVC members who will have this room in the future.

I loved the room even with this problem - it was a great room - I loved looking at Spaceship Earth......

 

[DebbieB]

I joined BWV in 1999, 3 years after it opened. There were similiar complaints on this board about room conditions. Rather than it spreading to other resorts, hopefully the situation will straighten out. The main thing to do is voice your concerns to DVC management.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I have been giving a lot of thought to the reason why the rooms are not the best condition and I came up with similar thoughts-I have been reading that a lot of people are filling up these rooms at or above capacity probably with more kids then some other DVC like you say-I got that thought from reading posts about the attitude of some members regarding the capacity situation. Another reason might be that the place is so popular it gets more wear and tear. Another is that they just do not have enough maintence people working there to keep up with the demand for repairs. And of course maybe they could use a couple of more housekeepers on their staff. The problem with adding more housekeepers at any DVC resort is the very uneven check in days. I am sure an awful lot of people check in on Sunday. If you hire more to have more than enough on Sunday then what do you do with them the rest of the week-just a thought.

 

[tjkraz]

My main concern has always been the occupancy level at resorts like BCV and VWL. If those rooms are frequently at 100% occupancy (which is often the case if posts here are any indication), then the resort must rely on a refurbishment schedule determined at least 11 months ahead of time in order to take a room out of service and perform significant work.

Aside from that, housekeeping has the narrow window from 11am to 4pm to get a room (dozens of rooms, actually) into tip-top condition before the next guests arrive. IMO, it's that limited timeframe that leads to stories of carpets being wet, kitchens not being restocked, and other miscellaneous items not getting the proper attention.

On top of that, you've got departing guests that want late checkout, and arriving guests that want to get into their rooms early.

As an aggregate, I'd be surprised if the maintenance reports for BCV and VWL were any better than BWV, OKW or SSR. This is less a commentary on the housekeeping staff than it is simply common sense, if you will. More rooms means lower occupancy, which means rooms can occasionally be taken out of service for a night when sorely needed.

 

[AmyBeth68]

Just thought I'd throw this out there too....I've read reports recently from Disney veterans about issues at non-DVC resorts as well. Most recently in regard to the Polynesian and Port Orleans Riverside room conditions and housekeeping/maintenance problems. These could certainly be out of the ordinary...flukes if you will. But part of me wonders if the problem is more widespread than just BCV? Perhaps it's a staffing issue? My question would be, now that Disney is back to their normal attendance levels (pre 9/11), have they hired enough staff to accomodate the crowds? My feeling is that even if they have hired people, they wouldn't be completely up to speed yet to provide that level of customer service that Disney is known for?

If it's just a staffing issue, and Disney does the right thing, then it should only be a matter of time before they correct these problems with adequate staffing. If Disney chooses to reap the benefits of increased attendance without ramping up their staff, then these problems will continue to exist. It's just a theory...and I may be wrong LOL! But I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[jarestel]

I'd disagree with your interpretation of the results regarding the room conditions. There are 3 categories, no issues, minor issues, and major issues. I wouldn't necessary interpret the large number of responses to the minor issues category as necessarily negative any more than at any other resort where people are likely to have "minor" issues that don't negatively impact their stay at all. I think there is only one "negative" response category to this question and it's roughly 10% of the total number of room responses, so I don't think the "results" are as bad you try to make them out to be.

 

[kweaver]

I agree that a lot of families with small children stay at BCV specifically because of the pool and access to the parks.

However, I don't think that is necessarily the cause of the room problems. It's obvious that the rooms at BCV are not being kept up as well as the other resorts in general. They have the same amount of time to get the rooms cleaned and maintained as the other resorts. I can only assume the ratios for their housekeeping staff is basically the same as well.

I still think it is a problem that includes management, housekeeping and maintenance.

Management and Staff - Some of the stories we've read here indicate managers and front desk CMs with an attitude. Acting like a snob, making snide comments to guests and just being generally rude are attributes that tend to carry through...past the inital customer experience and on to the other aspects of their job. Can you imagine how someone who treats guests like this treats their employees? There was a time not so long ago when ONE grumpy CM was one too many.

Housekeeping - Proper cleaning seems like it has always been a slight problem at this resort. I'd like to see them switch housekeeping managers with another resort and see what happens. I suppose it's not their job to report maintenance issues, but maybe it should be! How difficult would that be? Room 151 - leaky faucet. Check.

Maintenance - The maintenance crews seem to do a good job at fixing problems when they are told about them. However, we see the same problems crop up over and over again. When you've dealt with your 20th leaky dishwasher, at what point does the lightbulb come on where they say to themselves, "Hmmm...maybe we need to inspect all of the dishwashers for this problem and fix it ahead of time."? Doing this might save them a few bucks in the long run too!

The light bulb issue cracks me up. Burned out light bulbs really don't bother me that much. I don't have a problem calling to ask for new bulbs. The thing is...why not just use better light bulbs? How many labor dollars are spent replacing bulbs? There were bulbs at my old house that never burned out...and we were there for NINE years. When we walked into our SSR villa, the flourescent in the bathroom was already flickering and the one in the hall went out during our stay.

FWIW - we haven't stayed at BCV yet. We plan to....and we're not terribly picky so I'm sure the room will be fine. However, it sounds as if it won't live up to the pristine room at SSR we had in June!

 

[SoCalKDG]

Only 33.5 pecent of those 131 votes on this subject found there rooms to be excellent, the actual number is 44 out of 131.

Then again you could look at this way. Only 16 out of 135(11.8%) thought that "Room condition has been unacceptable at least once". The rest felt is was very good, with some of them having some minor problems.

Additionally, someone voting in this catagory may have had a good room 6 times, and a bad one twice, which would actually mean they had a bad room only 25% of the time, but the poll lists their vote as a bad room 100% of the time.

Now even saying this, even if a bad room only pops up 5-7% of the time, this is too much for a resort of this caliber. Notifying maintanence and DVC management should always be the priority.

 

[kweaver]

Originally posted by jarestel
I'd disagree with your interpretation of the results regarding the room conditions. There are 3 categories, no issues, minor issues, and major issues. I wouldn't necessary interpret the large number of responses to the minor issues category as necessarily negative any more than at any other resort where people are likely to have "minor" issues that don't negatively impact their stay at all. I think there is only one "negative" response category to this question and it's roughly 10% of the total number of room responses, so I don't think the "results" are as bad you try to make them out to be.

Do you think Walt would have been happy with only 33% of his BCV guests rating their room quality/cleanliness as excellent?

FWIW, I would have removed the "very" from the "very good with some minor issues" option. The current choices are basically excellent, very good and unacceptable. That doesn't leave much room for anything in between. Please don't take that as a criticism, Granny...I appreciate you taking the time to create this poll. I was just thinking of ways to make it a little more accurate.

 

[Granny]

I think these results point out the unscientific nature of polls, and how they can be interpreted differently.

For instance, with 146 votes in, one could say:

Only 62.5% of the time have CM's always been nice (85/136).

Or one could say:

90.4% of the time the CM's are usually very nice with few exceptions! (123/136).


I think the last three measures are really the most important ones....regarding visitor satisfaction. With that, we could say:

64% of the BCV visitors find BCV to provide outstanding satisfaction. (88/137)

or


85% of the BCV visitors find BCV to be satisfactory with no major issues.



Frankly, I think the last interpretation is a pretty good one since the word "outstanding" is pretty subjective. Even so, I would expect a higher overall satisfaction rating than 85% for BCV.


What it kind of means to me, without being scientific, is that BCV could use some additional attention from DVD management. However, the problems, while real, are still not very bad the vast majority of the time.


Like I said, this is mostly grist for the mill, and to generate discussion. Not meant to flame a resort, or defend it.

 

[donmil723]

kweaver-can you tell me what kind of light bulb you used in your house that lasted for 9 years? I sure could use some of those.

Thanks!

Donna

 

[rinkwide]

Originally posted by kweaver
Do you think Walt would have been happy with only 33% of his BCV guests rating their room quality/cleanliness as excellent?

No, not happy. But I think he would have understood.

Major problems within the Disney Parks & Resorts have been there since Day 1. It's pretty well publicized that on Disneyland's opening day Walt was so far behind schedule that he had to choose between working water fountains or working toilets. Fortunately he choose the later. Additionally, the pavement on Main Street hadn't had enough time to set and, being that it was a hot summer day, women's heels were getting stuck in the asphalt. The Autopia ended up with only one car running at the end of the day and there were countless other problems as well.

I think if the internet community had been around back then they would have labeled the whole thing a "disaster".

Anyway, I'm sure he wasn't happy about it but that stuff didn't really bother Walt. He certainly didn't just sit around and gripe about it. He continued to work toward his vision, knowing that perfection was not possible, knowing there would be more problems ahead, knowing criticism would come, but working toward it none-the-less.

I would hope that that "vision" doesn't have to be Walt's or The Walt Disney Company's alone. Whatever your feelings about WDW (or DVC) I think "vision" is something we, as guests, can all share and display in the constructive way we handle the challenges that come our way.

 

[jarestel]

Originally posted by kweaver
Do you think Walt would have been happy with only 33% of his BCV guests rating their room quality/cleanliness as excellent?

I'm not saying things couldn't be improved, just pointing out the reality of today's WDW. Walt was great, but his time is gone and we live in a different world today, a world governed more by the bottom line than anything else. Check out the resorts board sometime and you'll find the same sorts of CM and room issues being discussed there. It's not an issue confined to DVC.

Minor issues can be found at ANY resort, anywhere. A chip on the furniture, a burned out light bulb, a CM who doesn't burst into "Welcome homes" at the sight of a DVC member... I don't feel lumping the minor issues into the negative category necessarily represents an accurate picture of any resort.

 

[kweaver]

Originally posted by donmil723
kweaver-can you tell me what kind of light bulb you used in your house that lasted for 9 years? I sure could use some of those.

Thanks!

Donna

Believe it or not, three of the four flourescent bulbs in the bedroom closets (plus the laundry room) never had to be replaced while we lived there. I'm sure they were cheap, builder grade bulbs. Many of those globe type bulbs above the bathroom mirrors were never replaced (a few were).

We've lived in our current home for three years and I've only had to replace two bulbs in the fixtures...the flourescent in the pantry and one of the large overhead lamps in the kitchen. Oh...make that three...one of the garage ceiling lights (15 feet high...not fun) burned out as well.

 

[kweaver]

Originally posted by rinkwide
No, not happy. But I think he would have understood.

See, I think he would have understood...AND done something about it. I'm certainly not an expert on this history of Walt or the parks, though.

Originally posted by rinkwide
Anyway, I'm sure he wasn't happy about it but that stuff didn't really bother Walt. He certainly didn't just sit around and gripe about it. He continued to work toward his vision, knowing that perfection was not possible, knowing there would be more problems ahead, knowing criticism would come, but working toward it none-the-less.

Perfection, no. Up to Disney standards, yes. Up to the standards of the rest of the DVC resorts as well. I don't think anyone here is sitting around griping about it. I think the folks who have had bad experiences have contacted the appropriate individuals to make sure they are aware of the problem. The rest of us are putting in our 2 cents and staying aware of the potential pitfalls, while trying to make sure that we get the most value possible from our purchase (investment).

Originally posted by rinkwide I would hope that that "vision" doesn't have to be Walt's or The Walt Disney Company's alone. Whatever your feelings about WDW (or DVC) I think "vision" is something we, as guests, can all share and display in the constructive way we handle the challenges that come our way.

I agree.

 

[manning]

they had a bad room only 25% of the time

Believe it or not,...... that's high!!

How difficult is it to change a light bulb BEFORE a guest checks in. You will be surprised how much the little things count.

 

[lovwdwalot]

One more thing that forgot about our last stay at the BCV. when we had called the maintenance for a light bulb, the person looked to me like she had been running around alot. so I had asked her if she was that busy and her reply was " you will not belive how busy I'm"! And that changing the light bulb was her one job today that was easy to do. Now looking back at that statement I think that it just shows how under staffed they are in the maintenance dept.

 

[BillPA]

We have been members for over 11 years and have 3 WDW home resorts. We have many stays at all the on site resorts except only 1 at SSR so far. And IMHO BCV is no better or worse than any of the other resorts for room condition. Sometimes you hit a room with a problem, though that is very rare. And a call to HK will usually resolve the issue in a short time.

Things break around my regular home, light bulbs burn out, everything shows ware as it gets older, why do you expect any DVC to be different. They can't fix it if they don't know about it, so don't just post your problems here, let the resort know.

Just be happy we are members and can go as often as we do. If you see a problem call and get it fixed so you and the next visitor don't have to complain about it here.

WE ARE the OWNERS, we have to assume some of the responsibility for the conditions there also.

JMHO Have a nice day.