First stay as member - Updated

[ferastu]

Prior to becoming members we had booked the 11/12 7-night Magic cruise. After our closing I noticed that 11/11 was a holiday. So we decided to fly out Thurs 11/10 and stay 2 nights at OKW. After all it would be nice to see what we have actually bought into! We did buy SSR, but chose OKW for this trip to save a couple of points.

Our Southwest flight left Providence at 6:20 instead of the scheduled 6:00, but the pilot managed to make up the time, landing in Orlando on schedule. Unfortunately, we had a problem with the car rental. I had booked National and setup for the Quickrent. Basically you pick the car out and drive it to the booth at the exit.

For some reason the cashier couldn't process the transaction. We were there for over 15 minutes before a supervisor came and got us squared away - in under 60 seconds.

We pull in OKW around 10:30, get our studio - 1615. We walk into the room and - it had not been cleaned! There was even a used swim diaper on one of the beds - YUCK!

I remember reading a couple of horror stories about this on the boards. Thankfully our experience went pretty well. I called front desk and the person who answered quickly said no problem we're going to get you in another room. I knew that would be fruitless, since I was certain the resort was full. Sure enough she's back on the line in a minute apologizing.

She says that they are sending over a housekeeping manager to clean the room ASAP. As she is saying this there is a knock on the door and there are 2 housekeepers at the door! The lady then gives us a free dinner at Olivia's for Friday night!

We went out for a quick bite at the McD's near Animal Kingdom and when we returned the room was spotless.

Some other notes
- Free DVD rental came in handy as the rental minivan had a DVD player and we had to make a drive to Cocoa Beach on Friday to visit family.
- Can't wait to go back and take advantage of the amenities the resort has to offer, boating, etc. Of course with the current vacation plan we have the earliest we are going back to OKW would be '08!
- My son (9) had the entire feature pool to himself at 9:30 on a Friday night! Where was everyone?
- Bus service from Downtown Disney was dissappointing. On Friday night I snuck out to check out Raglan Road, the new Irish pub at Downtown Disney. I left the pub at 1, so go to busstop at maybe 1:10. Didn't get a bus until almost 2am. All of the other resorts had at least 2 buses go by during that same time - some had 3. Is this normal?
- Dinner at Olivia's was great. Had the filet mignon since it was on Disney! Funny part is that the server remembered to take off our 10% DVC discount

 

[mom2alix]

Sorry to hear about your housekeeping experience, but it sounds like everything turned out okay. Glad to hear you had a good first trip home!

 

[spiceycat]

all wdw resorts have this problem.

the maids comes in the room and assumes since the luggage is gone that the guests have check out.

well guess what they hadn't....

these people will use the room and then leave. they don't call the front desk and tell them they are leaving.

so the room got cleaned and checked by the supervisor - problem was the key entry was not changed.

dvc and the other resorts in the area do not change the key until they get a new guest.....

as long as the wdw resorts follow this policy. This will happen again and again...

DVC is not the problem - the silly managers at WDW that say that is how everyone should be doing it.

feel for the poor maids - they did their job. but some people think they have a right to mess up a clean room.....then not tell.

the only way to stop this (without changing the key) - is to go to an early check out time - most of the resorts in Orlando now make you check out at 10:00am. that is not early enough to stop these jokers. Either WDW needs to start changing the keys as soon as a maid reports her room is clean. Or everyone needs to check out by 8 am.....

It has been suggested by many people that WDW change it policy and start changing their keys. but so far WDW is not listening.

 

[littlestar]

Somebody probably used the room AFTER check out and after the maid cleaned it. I wish they could stop this. You gotta feel for the maids. It makes them look bad.

 

[gppnj]

We pull in OKW around 10:30, get our studio - 1615. We walk into the room and - it had not been cleaned! There was even a used swim diaper on one of the beds - YUCK!

It's good that Disney handled the situation satisfactorily and professionally when you called aobut it. However, I can't understand why this happens at all. I'm sure these situations are a small minority of all check-ins, but even so, you do hear about them here pretty regularly. A room either has been cleaned, or it hasn't. It's not a subjective thing. How can so many people be assigned dirty rooms?

(And by the way, the guests before you were pigs for leaving a dirty diaper on a bed. They should be ashamed of themsleves.)

 

[mamatojon]

all wdw resorts have this problem.

the maids comes in the room and assumes since the luggage is gone that the guests have check out.

well guess what they hadn't....

these people will use the room and then leave. they don't call the front desk and tell them they are leaving.

so the room got cleaned and checked by the supervisor - problem was the key entry was not changed.

dvc and the other resorts in the area do not change the key until they get a new guest.....

as long as the wdw resorts follow this policy. This will happen again and again...

DVC is not the problem - the silly managers at WDW that say that is how everyone should be doing it.

feel for the poor maids - they did their job. but some people think they have a right to mess up a clean room.....then not tell.

the only way to stop this (without changing the key) - is to go to an early check out time - most of the resorts in Orlando now make you check out at 10:00am. that is not early enough to stop these jokers. Either WDW needs to start changing the keys as soon as a maid reports her room is clean. Or everyone needs to check out by 8 am.....

It has been suggested by many people that WDW change it policy and start changing their keys. but so far WDW is not listening.

This makes so much sense now! I had never thought of this scenario. I can totally see how this would happen, especially at a hotel in WDW where people are coming and going all day long, they may have even cleaned the room prior to check out time and the family came back to the room when it was still "theirs". That does not excuse leaving a used diaper anywhere where somebody else has to touch it. That is just gross!

 

[spiceycat]

I think messing up a room when you know it was cleaned for someone is pretty sad.

but at WDW there are people who do this.

If wdw would just start changing the locks after the maid cleaned the rooms this problem would go away.

of course then the new problem WDW kicked me out of my room before 11:00am....

 

[pmcpmc]

since the introduction of the room ready policy as the maids are knocking on your door from 8:00am even with notices on the door.
I have recently found it necessary to bolt the door and safety lock it to keep them out or maybe it just me

 

[paults]

Disney needs to go back to the old way. Make all guests check out at the front desk again. That way HK will know the room is empty and then the keys can be changed.

 

[ferastu]

The guest who has removed their luggage, but not checked out makes sense.

I was thinking that the root of the problem may be that since the rooms don't get cleaned every day, one slips through the cracks now and again.

If they don't want to deactivate the previous guests cards then they should move to a system where the housekeeping supervisor has to log on the computer what time they inspect the room. Anytime there is room access after the supervisor's inspection - they need to go out again.

In any event the cards should be inactivated at 11am or whatever the checkout time is.

 

[mamatojon]

I think messing up a room when you know it was cleaned for someone is pretty sad.

but at WDW there are people who do this.

If wdw would just start changing the locks after the maid cleaned the rooms this problem would go away.

of course then the new problem WDW kicked me out of my room before 11:00am....

I agree, I guess what I was thinking was more along the lines of this: family packs up things, puts luggage in car. Decides to go to the pool since their flight doesn't leave until 2pm and they have the room until 11am. Comes back from the pool to change, use the restroom, get a drink of water, etc - finds it cleaned - uses the room anyways and leaves. What this family should have done is call housekeeping and say "hey, we used the room and it needs to be tidied up a bit before someone else checks in." If they don't then they are indeed inconsiderate - however I have to wonder with the language barrier how much is said yet not understood completely. Nothing against housekeeping, but I know I've asked for things at WDW and DL and in both places had to really try hard to explain myself.

Obviously, this doesn't excuse the dirty swim diaper. Again - yuck!!!

 

[mamatojon]

Disney needs to go back to the old way. Make all guests check out at the front desk again. That way HK will know the room is empty and then the keys can be changed.

That, or they could do a TV or phone checkout so you don't have to go to the front desk, yet there would be an actual check out time recorded.

 

[ferastu]

Received a postcard in the mail today from Disney. It was to take an online survey regarding my recent stay at OKW. So at the very least this problem is going to reflect negatively on their satisfaction rating. I made sure to keep all my comments as constructive and non-attacking as possible. About the worse thing I said was 'there is no excuse for a resort of this caliber having a guest walk into an uncleaned room at 10:30pm'

After all the rack rate for the room we had was around $350 a night.

 

[DebbieB]

Disney needs to go back to the old way. Make all guests check out at the front desk again. That way HK will know the room is empty and then the keys can be changed.

Many of the WDW resorts are so spread out, it would be inconvenient to go back to the front desk to checkout. Also, can you imagine the lines? I think they should give a notice at check-in and put a card by the phone requesting that you call when checking out. Not everyone would do it but at least they could get a jump on cleaning some rooms before 11:00.

 

[mark&sue]

Sorry to hear of your problem on getting to your room. Glad you enjoyed the rest of the stay.

Can you let us know what the new pub is like as we are hoping to take our friends with us when we go in October. (one of whom is Irish)

Many thanks



Susan

 

[Poohs Pal]

The way I look at it is if I have a room until 11am I have a room until 11am. Unless I have went to the front desk and checked out leave my room alone. There have been times when I've had bell service's pick up my luggage except for my carry on and then went to a early breakfast, came back to the room to freshen up before leaving. Even if I hadn't checked out I would never leave a diaper on the bed . That one reason I never sit on the bedding bare butt . Susan

 

[Chuck S]

That, or they could do a TV or phone checkout so you don't have to go to the front desk, yet there would be an actual check out time recorded.

About a year and a half ago, there was such thing at OKW. I think it was in the "newpaper" you get at check-in listing all the resort amenities. You called a number on the room phone, waited for a tone, then hung-up. I'm thinking folks either did NOT call, or would call then "change their minds" so it was discontinued. I looked for it the last couple of trips and it wasn't listed anymore. I only saw it that one time.

 

[ferastu]

Can you let us know what the new pub is like as we are hoping to take our friends with us when we go in October. (one of whom is Irish)

The atmosphere and beer are great. I didn't have any of the food since I filled up at Olivia's

They had a live band playing the night I was there. Very reminiscent of The Chieftains. One song during every set a young lady was getting up on stage and doing a Riverdance style number.

No doubt I'll be there anytime I'm staying at OKW or SSR.

 

[littlestar]

Maybe Disney needs to start charging people for another day if they mess up a clean room after check-out. That would stop it.

Isn't it a shame how inconsiderate some people are anymore?

I do have to say I have walked into a room that had the beds stripped and was halfway done by the maids before, too. I just think that was a mistake or bad communication between the front desk and housekeeping. All I did when that happened was call the front desk and let them know. I didn't have to wait long for them to finish up. One time right before hurricane Jeanne hit, I even offered to clean the room myself (I knew they were short staffed as it was around 6:30 p.m.). The front desk just laughed and said, no, we'll get it. I meant it, I would have cleaned it. Desperate circumstances - I'll help anyway I can I pictured all these poor employees trying to get their homes ready for a hurricane and worrying about work, too.

 

[ferastu]

One time right before hurricane Jeanne hit, I even offered to clean the room myself (I knew they were short staffed as it was around 6:30 p.m.). The front desk just laughed and said, no, we'll get it. I meant it, I would have cleaned it. Desperate circumstances - I'll help anyway I can I pictured all these poor employees trying to get their homes ready for a hurricane and worrying about work, too.

Funny we were there during Hurricane Jeanne as well. We were staying at All Star Movies from Sun-Sat and were scheduled to stay at Cocoa Beach the Fri-Sat prior to that. We were lucky enough to change those 2 nights to Pop Century. But on Sunday we needed to switch from Pop to ASM right after the storm went through. I was fully expecting to get a dirty room, instead it was near perfect.