Here Now & Just Back - A Place To Share Your Recent Experiences

[zackiedawg]

Just back yesterday, and didn't have most of the negative experiences mentioned in the last two pages...except one. The parks were unusually crowded for this time of year - as someone who is at Disney 4-5 times a year, and always around the last week of January or first week of February, I can directly compare to visits in previous years at the same time. On Friday evening, things were not too bad at DHS. Saturday at MK was a little more busy, but not anything unusual - I was able to standby on Peoplemover, Haunted Mansion, Pirates all in under 30 minutes each. But Sunday at Epcot and Monday at AK were among the most crowded I've ever seen either park, ANY time of year. Lines at Epcot for any standby were quite insane - the Frozen ride queue extended up to China's entry gate. Living with the Land had waits of over 40 minutes, and Soarin over an hour. Spaceship Earth was 55 min. Every food booth and restaurant had lines snaking all around for anything from a meal to a snack to a drink. AK's lines were similar - 1 30 min standby on the safari...I checked back several times during the day, and the lowest time it ever hit was 55 min.

Otherwise - parks were clean, janitorial CMs were constantly sweeping up and picking up, restrooms were all clean and being actively cleaned many of the times I walked in, transportation was pretty on time and no really long waits for busses and boats. I was at Fort Wilderness in the DVC cabins, and on arriving at noon, I was told a cabin was available - I actually requested to move to a different loop as I wanted a more 'woodsy' surroundings and outside of loop where I wasn't backed up against other cabins - so told them I didn't mind waiting for that. They let me get my golf cart and I headed to settlement for lunch - I got the text of my cabin ready by 2pm, exactly as requested in the 2800 loop.

BTW - no issues with mosquitos at all. Even in the campground, where I spent quite a bit of time evenings sitting on my porch, mornings having coffee, and down at the beach watching fireworks and electric light parade. It didn't rain any of the time I was there, was cooler on Friday and Saturday with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s, and by Sunday and Monday, highs in the mid-80s with lows in the mid-70s - ideal mosquito weather...I'm guessing they got word after the unusual rains and warm spells and got to work treating for them - it seemed to work.

 

[mm824]

We just returned from one-night stay at the Polynesian Resort. And I never want to go back.

The theming was fun, and the room was clean and seemingly great upon arrival. We dropped our luggage off and headed to the Oasis pool which was wonderful. Service/food/drinks were all great. After that, we headed back to the parks. We returned late and went right to bed.

The next morning we woke up early to head to AK but instead met a broken shower (the shower pull broke off and it would not switch from tub to shower mode), a toilet that kept clogging, the tub wouldn't drain the water it gushed out, and while trying to occupy the LO, we discovered the tv didn't work. (Part of me wondered if they accidentally gave us a room they shouldn't have as there was clearly something wrong in this room, esp with the drain line).

These are annoying mechanics that can all be fixed, albeit frustrating. So I went right to the front desk and let them know and was told they'd send maintenance right over. We waited almost an hour and no one showed up. We had park plans we didn't want to miss anything further so we headed to the park. We let the front desk know maintenance hadn't shown up yet and we were still sweaty and gross from the day before and we were disappointed as we had a family with no working bathroom. We asked if it would be possible to get a late check-out in the hope that by then it was fixed we could possibly shower when we returned, or even add another night, but were told by the front desk via ' the manager' this was not possible as the hotel was 'fully booked' and there was nothing they could do. It was suggested to call guest/resort services.

I called guest services from the bus ride, who confirmed they couldn't do anything as they were pre-arrival only and was told to reach back out to the manager, as this situation didn't sound right.

As we already were told by management there was nothing they could do, I spoke with guest relations at the park who directed me towards a GS email.

Things happen; we're well seasoned travelers. To be offered no working remedy and still be expected to pay the $900+ price tag is horribly outrageous. To be lied to though is what prompted this thread. The hotel was not sold out, surely we could have had an extension to shower or another room somewhere, anywhere, and there was inventory available. I pulled up the website and screenshot it, which showed 6 different categories available for booking that night. Instead, we left that evening with nothing, and still, no shower.

To add to our Polynesian experience, we had booked a breakfast at O'hana. In 50 minutes of sitting there, we didn't see any characters, negating the price tag. Since we were already behind and had a lot left to see, we paid the check and left. In that timeframe, the tables around us sat uncleared with dishes. The busers were hustling seemingly around doing their job, but everything seemed so directionless. I'm a pretty easy going person, but it's really hard (and unhygienic and unpleasant) to eat sitting directly next to plates of half eaten food, crumbs, and pieces of half eaten food all over the floor.

In the end, my husband had to wash his hair in the sink, and we used the public bathroom because we had no choice. This is a very very wild thought for $900+ a night, that could have been fixed with just a little bit of effort. In 20+ years of travel all over the world, I've never had this experience anywhere at any level of service.

What a utterly wild disappointment.

 

[Disturbia]

We just returned from one-night stay at the Polynesian Resort. And I never want to go back.

The theming was fun, and the room was clean and seemingly great upon arrival. We dropped our luggage off and headed to the Oasis pool which was wonderful. Service/food/drinks were all great. After that, we headed back to the parks. We returned late and went right to bed.

The next morning we woke up early to head to AK but instead met a broken shower (the shower pull broke off and it would not switch from tub to shower mode), a toilet that kept clogging, the tub wouldn't drain the water it gushed out, and while trying to occupy the LO, we discovered the tv didn't work. (Part of me wondered if they accidentally gave us a room they shouldn't have as there was clearly something wrong in this room, esp with the drain line).

These are annoying mechanics that can all be fixed, albeit frustrating. So I went right to the front desk and let them know and was told they'd send maintenance right over. We waited almost an hour and no one showed up. We had park plans we didn't want to miss anything further so we headed to the park. We let the front desk know maintenance hadn't shown up yet and we were still sweaty and gross from the day before and we were disappointed as we had a family with no working bathroom. We asked if it would be possible to get a late check-out in the hope that by then it was fixed we could possibly shower when we returned, or even add another night, but were told by the front desk via ' the manager' this was not possible as the hotel was 'fully booked' and there was nothing they could do. It was suggested to call guest/resort services.

I called guest services from the bus ride, who confirmed they couldn't do anything as they were pre-arrival only and was told to reach back out to the manager, as this situation didn't sound right.

As we already were told by management there was nothing they could do, I spoke with guest relations at the park who directed me towards a GS email.

Things happen; we're well seasoned travelers. To be offered no working remedy and still be expected to pay the $900+ price tag is horribly outrageous. To be lied to though is what prompted this thread. The hotel was not sold out, surely we could have had an extension to shower or another room somewhere, anywhere, and there was inventory available. I pulled up the website and screenshot it, which showed 6 different categories available for booking that night. Instead, we left that evening with nothing, and still, no shower.

To add to our Polynesian experience, we had booked a breakfast at O'hana. In 50 minutes of sitting there, we didn't see any characters, negating the price tag. Since we were already behind and had a lot left to see, we paid the check and left. In that timeframe, the tables around us sat uncleared with dishes. The busers were hustling seemingly around doing their job, but everything seemed so directionless. I'm a pretty easy going person, but it's really hard (and unhygienic and unpleasant) to eat sitting directly next to plates of half eaten food, crumbs, and pieces of half eaten food all over the floor.

In the end, my husband had to wash his hair in the sink, and we used the public bathroom because we had no choice. This is a very very wild thought for $900+ a night, that could have been fixed with just a little bit of effort. In 20+ years of travel all over the world, I've never had this experience anywhere at any level of service.

What an utterly wild disappointment.

Our Poly stays have been stressful as well. We booked AOA-Nemo which is priced similar to the deluxe poly suite. It’s a 1 bedroom setup for about $1,000 (total cost for 5 ppl) less for a 7 night stay.

We have 2 preferred view rooms booked for Nov at the Poly but will most likely change to AOA suites.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We just returned from one-night stay at the Polynesian Resort. And I never want to go back.

The theming was fun, and the room was clean and seemingly great upon arrival. We dropped our luggage off and headed to the Oasis pool which was wonderful. Service/food/drinks were all great. After that, we headed back to the parks. We returned late and went right to bed.

The next morning we woke up early to head to AK but instead met a broken shower (the shower pull broke off and it would not switch from tub to shower mode), a toilet that kept clogging, the tub wouldn't drain the water it gushed out, and while trying to occupy the LO, we discovered the tv didn't work. (Part of me wondered if they accidentally gave us a room they shouldn't have as there was clearly something wrong in this room, esp with the drain line).

These are annoying mechanics that can all be fixed, albeit frustrating. So I went right to the front desk and let them know and was told they'd send maintenance right over. We waited almost an hour and no one showed up. We had park plans we didn't want to miss anything further so we headed to the park. We let the front desk know maintenance hadn't shown up yet and we were still sweaty and gross from the day before and we were disappointed as we had a family with no working bathroom. We asked if it would be possible to get a late check-out in the hope that by then it was fixed we could possibly shower when we returned, or even add another night, but were told by the front desk via ' the manager' this was not possible as the hotel was 'fully booked' and there was nothing they could do. It was suggested to call guest/resort services.

I called guest services from the bus ride, who confirmed they couldn't do anything as they were pre-arrival only and was told to reach back out to the manager, as this situation didn't sound right.

As we already were told by management there was nothing they could do, I spoke with guest relations at the park who directed me towards a GS email.

Things happen; we're well seasoned travelers. To be offered no working remedy and still be expected to pay the $900+ price tag is horribly outrageous. To be lied to though is what prompted this thread. The hotel was not sold out, surely we could have had an extension to shower or another room somewhere, anywhere, and there was inventory available. I pulled up the website and screenshot it, which showed 6 different categories available for booking that night. Instead, we left that evening with nothing, and still, no shower.

To add to our Polynesian experience, we had booked a breakfast at O'hana. In 50 minutes of sitting there, we didn't see any characters, negating the price tag. Since we were already behind and had a lot left to see, we paid the check and left. In that timeframe, the tables around us sat uncleared with dishes. The busers were hustling seemingly around doing their job, but everything seemed so directionless. I'm a pretty easy going person, but it's really hard (and unhygienic and unpleasant) to eat sitting directly next to plates of half eaten food, crumbs, and pieces of half eaten food all over the floor.

In the end, my husband had to wash his hair in the sink, and we used the public bathroom because we had no choice. This is a very very wild thought for $900+ a night, that could have been fixed with just a little bit of effort. In 20+ years of travel all over the world, I've never had this experience anywhere at any level of service.

What a utterly wild disappointment.

Yikes, at least when I didn't have a working shower at YC for one night they provided me access to another room to shower, this is crazy!

Here is a link to FL AG's consumer complaint form. To sell a hotel room without a working toilet or shower is worth a complaint against Disney to them in my book. Do I think you'll get anything? Doubtful. But a quick Google search says they are required to respond to the complaint so at least you can see someone else justify why it was ok to charge you $900 for that excuse of a hotel room...

ETA- does Poly have showers at the pool? Too late for you but anyone else ends up in such a situation some Disney hotels have showers at the pool.

 

[Minnie1222]

Does the fitness center at the new Poly Tower have a shower? It should open 24 hours.

 

[SkyGuy]

Our Poly stays have been stressful as well. We booked AOA-Nemo which is priced similar to the deluxe poly suite. It’s a 1 bedroom setup for about $1,000 less for a 7 night stay.

We have 2 preferred view rooms booked for Nov at the Poly but will most likely change to AOA suites.

As a (once) devoted CL gal, we’ve pivoted to creating our own CL, and we love the AoA suites for this. Separate spaces, plenty of storage, great food court when we’re not partaking in the room - all for at least $1000 less and usually quite a bit more than that.

 

[mm824]

Thanks for all of the replies! I followed up with Guest Services - Here's the reply I received:

"It's disappointing to know your stay at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort wasn’t everything you hoped it would be. I am truly sorry that these experiences affected your time with us. I certainly understand how disappointing this must have been and appreciate the time you took to write to us with your concerns. It is through feedback, like yours, that we will know what we’re doing right and—most importantly—what we should continue to improve upon. I can assure you that I have personally shared your correspondence with the appropriate Leadership, along with my partners at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, so they are aware of your feedback as we continuously strive to improve our Guests' experiences.

I have reviewed this thoroughly, and would be more than happy to provide a one-time courtesy in the form of one $200.00 electronic Disney Gift Card. Should you wish to accept this consideration, please respond to this message to confirm the best email address for delivery. "

Bah.

 

[Took]

Here now. Crowds are AWFUL. End of February iis “spring brek” now.

 

[Disturbia]

Here now. Crowds are AWFUL. End of February iis “spring brek” now.

It was princess half marathon Feb 20-24. I’m expecting our one day in April to be similar (just found out there is a 10k or something that week).

We will be going Thanksgiving week later this year. The wine & dine half marathon is last week of Oct (those crowds caused a standstill 15 mins post fireworks on Main Street Nov 23).

 

[Lsdolphin]

Uh oh we are coming next week and hoping crowds would be lower with people from race events leaving.

 

[CarolynFH]

Uh oh we are coming next week and hoping crowds would be lower with people from race events leaving.

Next Tuesday March 4 is Mardi Gras, so a lot of Louisiana folks will be there. Sorry.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Uh oh we are coming next week and hoping crowds would be lower with people from race events leaving.

That’s ok we arrive on 3/5 planning peaceful day at pool and AH at HS.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks for all of the replies! I followed up with Guest Services - Here's the reply I received:

"It's disappointing to know your stay at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort wasn’t everything you hoped it would be. I am truly sorry that these experiences affected your time with us. I certainly understand how disappointing this must have been and appreciate the time you took to write to us with your concerns. It is through feedback, like yours, that we will know what we’re doing right and—most importantly—what we should continue to improve upon. I can assure you that I have personally shared your correspondence with the appropriate Leadership, along with my partners at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, so they are aware of your feedback as we continuously strive to improve our Guests' experiences.

I have reviewed this thoroughly, and would be more than happy to provide a one-time courtesy in the form of one $200.00 electronic Disney Gift Card. Should you wish to accept this consideration, please respond to this message to confirm the best email address for delivery. "

Bah.

WOW. Normal answer is a lot of nothing and definitely no compensation.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Here now. Crowds are AWFUL. End of February iis “spring brek” now.

No. It's Mardis Gras which is crazy busy at Disney. Some kids in Louisiana get like the first half of the week off and everyone escapes to WDW.

 

[disneyseniors]

Thanks for all of the replies! I followed up with Guest Services - Here's the reply I received:

"It's disappointing to know your stay at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort wasn’t everything you hoped it would be. I am truly sorry that these experiences affected your time with us. I certainly understand how disappointing this must have been and appreciate the time you took to write to us with your concerns. It is through feedback, like yours, that we will know what we’re doing right and—most importantly—what we should continue to improve upon. I can assure you that I have personally shared your correspondence with the appropriate Leadership, along with my partners at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, so they are aware of your feedback as we continuously strive to improve our Guests' experiences.

I have reviewed this thoroughly, and would be more than happy to provide a one-time courtesy in the form of one $200.00 electronic Disney Gift Card. Should you wish to accept this consideration, please respond to this message to confirm the best email address for delivery. "

Bah.

mm824, I thought the letter was Not a form letter, and that they addressed the problems, at least the stress, that you had. A gift card of $200 is nothing to sneeze at. I hope this helps you to resolve this. I thought you would get the standard response, so this is nice (to me).

 

[denman007]

mm824, I thought the letter was Not a form letter, and that they addressed the problems, at least the stress, that you had. A gift card of $200 is nothing to sneeze at. I hope this helps you to resolve this. I thought you would get the standard response, so this is nice (to me).

For a company with net profit of 5 billion last year, and for the experience you explained, I would not accept this. I would ask for a full refund and if that doesn't work, send a complaint to the BBB and dispute the charge on the credit card.

Typically a high level manager would want to make this right. $200 doesn't justify that they ruined your stay/day(s).

That's my 2 cents.

 

[pens4821]

Just curious if anyone is there this week. We went this week in both 2022 and 2024. Both years it was crazy crowded. Hard to move through the walkways with bottlenecks everywhere. Wait times were so long. Everything was over an hour, with the more popular rides being atleast 90+ minutes. Those long waits would start just about normal opening time (early entry you could get a couple rides in quick).

I’ve been monitoring wait times and they haven’t looked bad at all this week. I’m quite jealous that our last two trips this week were so crowded and just by wait times it doesn’t seem bad at all.

 

[AndreaDM]

We just returned from one-night stay at the Polynesian Resort. And I never want to go back.

The theming was fun, and the room was clean and seemingly great upon arrival. We dropped our luggage off and headed to the Oasis pool which was wonderful. Service/food/drinks were all great. After that, we headed back to the parks. We returned late and went right to bed.

The next morning we woke up early to head to AK but instead met a broken shower (the shower pull broke off and it would not switch from tub to shower mode), a toilet that kept clogging, the tub wouldn't drain the water it gushed out, and while trying to occupy the LO, we discovered the tv didn't work. (Part of me wondered if they accidentally gave us a room they shouldn't have as there was clearly something wrong in this room, esp with the drain line).

These are annoying mechanics that can all be fixed, albeit frustrating. So I went right to the front desk and let them know and was told they'd send maintenance right over. We waited almost an hour and no one showed up. We had park plans we didn't want to miss anything further so we headed to the park. We let the front desk know maintenance hadn't shown up yet and we were still sweaty and gross from the day before and we were disappointed as we had a family with no working bathroom. We asked if it would be possible to get a late check-out in the hope that by then it was fixed we could possibly shower when we returned, or even add another night, but were told by the front desk via ' the manager' this was not possible as the hotel was 'fully booked' and there was nothing they could do. It was suggested to call guest/resort services.

I called guest services from the bus ride, who confirmed they couldn't do anything as they were pre-arrival only and was told to reach back out to the manager, as this situation didn't sound right.

As we already were told by management there was nothing they could do, I spoke with guest relations at the park who directed me towards a GS email.

Things happen; we're well seasoned travelers. To be offered no working remedy and still be expected to pay the $900+ price tag is horribly outrageous. To be lied to though is what prompted this thread. The hotel was not sold out, surely we could have had an extension to shower or another room somewhere, anywhere, and there was inventory available. I pulled up the website and screenshot it, which showed 6 different categories available for booking that night. Instead, we left that evening with nothing, and still, no shower.

To add to our Polynesian experience, we had booked a breakfast at O'hana. In 50 minutes of sitting there, we didn't see any characters, negating the price tag. Since we were already behind and had a lot left to see, we paid the check and left. In that timeframe, the tables around us sat uncleared with dishes. The busers were hustling seemingly around doing their job, but everything seemed so directionless. I'm a pretty easy going person, but it's really hard (and unhygienic and unpleasant) to eat sitting directly next to plates of half eaten food, crumbs, and pieces of half eaten food all over the floor.

In the end, my husband had to wash his hair in the sink, and we used the public bathroom because we had no choice. This is a very very wild thought for $900+ a night, that could have been fixed with just a little bit of effort. In 20+ years of travel all over the world, I've never had this experience anywhere at any level of service.

What a utterly wild disappointment.

Wow, we had an almost identical experience at the Contemporary back in like 2010 or so. Reported a shower that wasn't draining and came back to our room around midnight to find the entire shower dismantled, like someone started the job and just left in the middle of it. We were hot, sweaty, exhausted and really wanted to shower before going to bed. After multiple trips to the front desk they found another room for us, about as far away as we could have been lol, so in the middle of the night with a sleeping 8 year old we drug our stuff from one room to the other. At least we DID get another room, but it was so frustrating and no offers to help us move.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Just curious if anyone is there this week. We went this week in both 2022 and 2024. Both years it was crazy crowded. Hard to move through the walkways with bottlenecks everywhere. Wait times were so long. Everything was over an hour, with the more popular rides being atleast 90+ minutes. Those long waits would start just about normal opening time (early entry you could get a couple rides in quick).

I’ve been monitoring wait times and they haven’t looked bad at all this week. I’m quite jealous that our last two trips this week were so crowded and just by wait times it doesn’t seem bad at all.

Here now and have been here since last Wednesday. We had a few chilly days but yesterday and today have been beautiful. Mostly sunny and warmer although chilly when you’re in the shade and it’s been windy. Parks have been great with lower than predicted (Touring Plans) crowds even opening days of EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival have been great and way less crowded than we expected. Yesterday it was definitely more crowded in MK than previous days but still less crowded than expected.

 

[jujubiee4]

Here now and have been here since last Wednesday. We had a few chilly days but yesterday and today have been beautiful. Mostly sunny and warmer although chilly when you’re in the shade and it’s been windy. Parks have been great with lower than predicted (Touring Plans) crowds even opening days of EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival have been great and way less crowded than we expected. Yesterday it was definitely more crowded in MK than previous days but still less crowded than expected.

Hi are you still there and how are the crowds?