HELP! Yacht Club Resort Issue:

[focusondisney]

First with that type of construction WDW should have closed that whole portion of the building down. Go ahead and send guest services an email, they should always hear about incidents like these. If you want to send the video of the construction noise and dust then go ahead, but the video of your son is not relevant.

I already commented that I think the OP should send the 1st video. But I also agree with you about the second video. When you start asking kids if they're scared, etc, it just looks like your're feeding them what you want them to say & also feeding into their fears. And at that point & now, I think parents should try to reassure the kids & project a confident attitude that everything will be ok. I don't think that video will do anything to help the OP's cause.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

What is your intent on sending a communication to Disney? Is it to make them aware of what it is like for guests so that they don't put any other guests in that situation? Or is it for some sort of compensation? If it is compensation, what conpensation would you consider fair?

 

[undertheradar]

HELP! Yacht Club Resort Issue:

My family and I were in Disney at the end of January and we stayed at the Yacht Club. On the 3rd to the last day of our trip, we came back from the parks to let the kids take a nap and walked into a construction site. We could not walk down the hallway because of large construction dumpsters and workers everywhere wearing masks. The rooms all around us were GONE…Completely gutted to the studs with the bathrooms removed too! When we got into our room, they were literally jackhammering in the rooms on either side of us. The whole room (walls and floors) were shaking! We took the following videos. (Click on link below.)

We were moved to the Beach Club and they gave us a few small things for the inconvenience, but the more my wife and I look back on it, the more upset we are about the whole situation. We spent a lot of money for a deluxe resort and this issue ruined/overshadowed the end of our trip. It completely threw off the last 2.5 days of our vacation and it now seems to be the only thing that our kids remember about the trip.

What does everyone think? And what can I do about it?

Exactly what are you wanting from Disney? Since this was 2 months ago, it looks like you are trying for some sort of extra compensation or free stay or combination of the 2. Looks greedy since you stated that you were relocated and given "a few small things."

 

[DVCKID]

All – Thank you for your advice. I agree that it has been a little longer than I wanted to respond to the issue. As a family with 2 full-time working parents and 2 kids under 4, things tend to be a little crazy juggling everyone’s schedules! In addition to that, my son had to have surgery 2 days after we got home. The recovery was about 2 weeks long and caused more chaos in an already crazy life. In addition, going back to work after being out for almost 3 weeks is always a task in itself. So by time my wife and I recovered for the trip, surgery, and got caught up at work, it had already been 6 weeks.


After talking to friends and family and showing them the video, and taking some time to look back at the trip, we felt that this was a bigger issue than we originally thought. I then reached out to my Dreams Unlimited agent, the Wonderful Teresa Echols. We played phone tag and then she was on vacation etc.…. After getting some advice, I decided to turn the DIS community for some help. We all help each other plan our trips to get the most out of them and I was looking for help in this situation too.


I wish this did not happen to my trip and I wish this never happens to anyone’s trip. I just felt like after planning and saving for this trip for so long, that I had a wet blanket thrown on it at the end. We did make the best of it, but still, we went to Disney to experience the “Magic” and create the childhood memories for my children that I had as a kid. I saved to book the deluxe resort experience, but felt that I did not get what I paid for after this event took place.


In summary, I don’t know what I am looking for or what to do. I didn’t make this post because I am looking for monetary compensation or to “get something out of it” as some people are implying. I was looking for advice from the DIS Team, Dreams Unlimited Travel, and the DIS Community. I feel the things that Disney did were nice, but in the end we could not get back the time we missed at the park that evening.


Calling the front desk (multiple times), waiting to talk the right person, having them verify the situation, finding us a new room, packing everything up, moving to a new room, unpacking, and then getting my family back on schedule all takes time. That eats up the whole afternoon while my kids were supposed to be napping and in January the park closes early. They are not open to midnight or 1 am. They closed at 9 or 10 pm. This situation truly did cause me to lose a part of my trip. So maybe I do feel like I should be compensated for that? And I definitely feel that I should do something so that no one else experiences this kind of disruption to their trip.


Please continue to leave your feedback and advice and I will read it. I will reach out to Disney in some capacity in the hope that this does not happen to me or anyone else again. I think that Disney is often a once in a life time trip for people and this experience should never happen to anyone else.


Thanks for the time!

Anthony

 

[kmb584]

Calling the front desk (multiple times), waiting to talk the right person, having them verify the situation, finding us a new room, packing everything up, moving to a new room, unpacking, and then getting my family back on schedule all takes time. That eats up the whole afternoon while my kids were supposed to be napping and in January the park closes early. They are not open to midnight or 1 am. They closed at 9 or 10 pm. This situation truly did cause me to lose a part of my trip. So maybe I do feel like I should be compensated for that? And I definitely feel that I should do something so that no one else experiences this kind of disruption to their trip.

If something like this were to happen to you again, or if another issue arises on a future trip, be sure to go to the front desk. When you call the front desk, you're actually calling into a call center.

 

[undertheradar]

If something like this were to happen to you again, or if another issue arises on a future trip, be sure to go to the front desk. When you call the front desk, you're actually calling into a call center.

Sound advice!

 

[mousefan73]

They moved you guys and gave extras. What more do you want. Disney is really good as contruction when it comes to guests. Maybe your room fell thru the cracks. ****e happens. They compensated.

 

[katmatry]

Let it go!
Make a photo album of all the great memories from the trip and start focusing on that.

 

[marlynnp]

My advice: adjust your attitude and move on.
You obviously handled the situation when you were there - you were moved & otherwise compensated. The End.

Instead of remembering the fun you had on your trip you've decided to dwell on the bad. And you've been sure to tell everyone how awful your resort experience was, ensuring that everyone tries to commiserate and help you fix it. Leading to more bad feelings. In other words you have created a mountain out of a mole hill and you've sucked all the joy out of the trip.


eta - The way you acted with your kids in the second video also made me think you are prone to behaving in this way. Stop trying to get your kids worked up about stuff they don't need to worry about - it isn't healthy for them. (or you for that matter)

 

[mousefan73]

They moved you guys and gave extras. What more do you want. Disney is really good as contruction when it comes to guests. Maybe your room fell thru the cracks. ****e happens. They compensated.

After thinking about this. Maybe get the resort managers name and write anletter to them or email with link. Honestly they dropped the ball. Noise that loud they need to block or move rooms. Maybe they need more feedaback to pull more inventory.

 

[Monykalyn]

Sure send the first vid in to guest service- with the construction constantly going on around the resorts they SHOULD be aware of jus how disruptive it can be. Disney tends to get a pass on stuff like this because it's "Disney", but Unless they are made aware and held accountable then more stuff like this happens. Then- deep breath- move on and do let it go. If nothing ore comes of this than a standard "thanks for your concern" form letter so be it. Vote with your vacation dollar and move on to a different place to spend those dollars. Disney does a great job convincing people they are only place for magical vacation memories but magical vacation me memories are what YOU make.

 

[Roxyfire]

I feel like the priority should be informing Guest Communications that this happened so it can never happen to anyone else again. I think it should be emphasized how useless calling the front desk was for you. Most people do not think to go down to the front desk. They think to phone and there's a button so in their mind, that's the right thing to do. Over and over again I see stories where the OP calls the "front desk" and other posters say it's useless. This is treating a symptom, not the disease, so to speak. I think people need to complain more about this stuff. And only OP knows what, if anything, will fix the problem so far after the fact. Sometimes it does take a while to reflect on what happens. Debrief the kids, ask them what they liked about the trip, would they want to go again? Try to focus on the positives. Be realistic about the incident, explain to them that sometimes in the real world mistakes happen but you need to speak up, and so on. Good luck, if you do contact guest services, I for one am curious what comes of it.

 

[wilkeliza]

I feel like the priority should be informing Guest Communications that this happened so it can never happen to anyone else again. I think it should be emphasized how useless calling the front desk was for you. Most people do not think to go down to the front desk. They think to phone and there's a button so in their mind, that's the right thing to do. Over and over again I see stories where the OP calls the "front desk" and other posters say it's useless. This is treating a symptom, not the disease, so to speak. I think people need to complain more about this stuff. And only OP knows what, if anything, will fix the problem so far after the fact. Sometimes it does take a while to reflect on what happens. Debrief the kids, ask them what they liked about the trip, would they want to go again? Try to focus on the positives. Be realistic about the incident, explain to them that sometimes in the real world mistakes happen but you need to speak up, and so on. Good luck, if you do contact guest services, I for one am curious what comes of it.

The front desk button has just as much right and information as the actual front desk. The front desk button both times I used it to request moves has worked. Sure it isn't always the best but it isn't as doom and gloom as people here make it. OP was moved and compensated even though they say it was small (they never actually said what the additional compensation was) so I feel like yeah packing and moving stinks but they did get a different room as soon as they alerted the hotel to their displeasure.

 

[ErinsMommy]

As others have mentioned the video of you asking your kid about the noise I think wasn't productive for anyone -- kids tend to roll with the tide and usually only become upset when they see mom/dad upset.

In the future as others have said as well -going down to the front desk and asking for a manager would be your best bet - esp with the first video listening to the jack hammering etc. and while a manager worked on relocating you and your family maybe you could've hung out in the lobby or gone swimming or hung by the pool (not the best place for a kid to nap but seems like that ship had sailed anyway). Maybe even grabbed some ice creams at Beaches and Cream and made a stressful situation maybe not as stressful as you made it. Saying your whole trip was ruined due to one afternoon seems a bit over the top.

Point being it was an afternoon gone to waste - but not necessarily all at the fault of Disney.

 

[Minniemoo15]

I think it's only over shadowing your vacation because you're letting it, which it turn affects how your kids remember the trip. It obviously could have been handled better by Resort and is not acceptable, but they did move you and provide you with some form of compensation so I don't think you can ask for much more than that.

I don't think any trip is 100% perfect... on this last trip our luggage took 10 hours to get to our room (causing us to miss most of a park day) and we came back to the airport to -30C weather and a flat tire. Life happens, but at the end of the day we were at Disney World so life overall is pretty good. Focus on the positive and try to reflect back on the happy moments you and your family had.

 

[Roxyfire]

The front desk button has just as much right and information as the actual front desk. The front desk button both times I used it to request moves has worked. Sure it isn't always the best but it isn't as doom and gloom as people here make it. OP was moved and compensated even though they say it was small (they never actually said what the additional compensation was) so I feel like yeah packing and moving stinks but they did get a different room as soon as they alerted the hotel to their displeasure.

I'm really looking at this from a safety and training perspective, and not from compensation. I agree with another poster who said the whole portion of the building should've been shut down. There's only so much someone in a call centre can do. Sometimes incidents happen and it's not a bad idea to follow up and say something else just so it doesn't happen again.

 

[AngiTN]

You were moved. What more do you want?
Honestly, it's time to move on.
Only you can stop it from ruining your trip.
Had they not moved you that would be one thing
They even went beyond moving you, so there is your extra for the inconvenience.
You can send the video to let them know but honestly, I'm fairly sure they do know.
They were not unaware of the construction and what was going on.

In hindsight they should have just removed that room. They may have not expected it to be quite so intense. Had a guest that spent the entire day in the park been in there they may have never even known it was going on. It was unfortunate that you had little ones that needed a nap.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

While I agree it's not healthy to let this sour your memories of the trip or dwell on it too much, I think it's incredibly important for you to reach out to Disney and let them know about your experience. Likely, the only people who knew about what happened were those at the front desk that you spoke to. Higher ups definitely need to know that this happened so they can take steps to ensure it doesn't happen to others in the future. This can be done through emailing the address posted earlier in the thread. I wouldn't necessarily say that you are expecting additional compensation, but definitely tell them specifically what you dealt with that caused issues. Mention the lost time at parks, lost time on the phone, lost time packing up, moving, and unpacking, kids not able to nap, the added stress, any plans that had to be cancelled or revised. If they do offer further compensation, don't feel guilty taking it, but try not to be too upset if they don't offer it. At this point, I think the important thing is making them aware of what you put up with and I imagine that just telling them your story and getting an acknowledgement from them that they are sorry will probably make you feel a little better.

If you are worried about emailing them since it's been 2 months, just explain to them exactly what you told us: there were major family issues that took precedence and you were trying to communicate with your TA about the best course of action.

I definitely understand why this is eating at you and your situation is why I refused to stay at CBR after the construction was announced. You never know what can happen. Obviously, different people react to things like this differently, but it doesn't mean anyone has a right to tell you how you should feel. I hope you do get some resolution from this.

 

[pangyal]

As someone who has had their share of Disney construction zones, some of which I too was unaware of prior to arrival, I certainly feel for you and your family and can appreciate the emotional roller coaster that occurs when you are not expecting this kind of wrench in your plans (to coin a phrase).

However, I agree 100% with prior posters who advised that writing to Disney in any capacity other than simply stating that you don't wish for further compensation, only to inform them of this situation so they can try to avoid it in the future, seems greedy and unwarranted.

You stated that you saved for months for a Deluxe experience. While you did lose an afternoon, you were given compensation for that time. You were also moved to another Deluxe resort. They didn't move you to a Value or even to a Moderate resort. It was an even one-for-one trade. I also wonder whether having an afternoon rained out would have caused the same strife and ruined memories for you two months after the fact, as that also would have upended your plans and lost an afternoon at the parks. I'm not trying to sound harsh, but really, having to move to another Deluxe while receiving compensation does not in any way warrant complaining to Disney two months later with what would appear to them as simply fishing for further freebies or compensation, especially as you agreed to the compensation and resort move they offered you at the time.

People get sick at Disney during their "once in a lifetime trips", and they also encounter rude guests, construction, dirty bathrooms, general issues with the room, and ride breakdowns. These are great opportunities to teach your children how to accept that life doesn't always turn out as expected, but to appreciate that ultimately, they not only went to Disneyworld, but also stayed at Deluxe resorts, two things that are truly inaccessible to a majority of the world's population. Just to give some perspective.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

There's a huge difference between a vacation being disrupted by weather or illness (things that can't be prevented or foreseen) and construction which Disney plans far in advance and has full control over.