preedymtnwest
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 176
President's Week was our first trip home to VGC and I was so excited. We had a GV reserved for the first three nights and would be basically having a family reunion - us four, my DSis and family (4) and our one and only cousin and his family (4). The last four nights, we were in a 2BR with just us and my DSis and family.
Rants:
After checking in on Sunday to the Paradise Pier view GV (AWESOME!!!) and all going to DL after a dinner at Storytellers, DS (12) got lost for 1/2 an hour and then DS (9) swung off a railing outside Star Traders at 10:40 p.m. and cracked his head open, resulting in a late-night visit to UC Irvine Med Center and 5 stitches.
None of this, obviously, was Disney's fault, but after going to bed at 3:00 a.m. and getting up at 6:00 to double check DS, the jackhammer started right outside our window. I called the front desk, who said that the construction was in the park and they were the hotel and therefore couldn't do anything about it.
And I thought they were all Disney....
So when it kept going and my teeth were rattling, I called back and asked for 12 sets of ear plugs. They said they'd be right up and as my kids were sleeping in the living room, and the 8 guests on the floor above seemed to be still asleep (although I wasn't sure), I waited in the hall in my pjs so that no one else would get woken up when the CM knocked on the door.
About an hour later
the CM arrived with 2 sets of ear plugs, not 12. He showed me the note on his blackberry, which clearly said "earplugs12" but he had interpreted as "2" since how could you have 12 people behind that door?? I told him I was going to try to get back to sleep and could he please bring the other 10 sets up for the rest of the occupants in case they needed them, but just leave them on the door handle.
I finally got a couple more hours of sleep with the earplugs, but spent the next couple of days feeling like I had been drinking lots of red wine on an empty stomach and I hadn't had anything to drink at all!
The other 10 sets of earplugs never arrived. My "upstairs" guests had heard something and my DSis had to close her balcony door, but the extra 12 feet of elevation must have helped, as well as the fact that some of them already sleep with earplugs and the others snore!
On the way back to the room after a long day at the parks again, I stopped at the front desk to ask for my other 10 sets of earplugs and explained why I wanted them. The CM at the front desk said that that wasn't right that the jackhammering started that early, and I should call if it happened again. They said they'd send the earplugs right up, which arrived, but only 4 sets this time.
The next morning at 6:00, thinking I could sleep in a little, the jackhammering started again. I called the front desk and explained what the CM had said the night before, only to be told that "that was her opinion, and there's still nothing we can do about it." I'm getting a little whacked out by now from lack of sleep and the jackhammering was hitting on my last nerve. The last morning in our GV, no jackhammering.
A couple more rants before I move on to the good stuff - our 2BR was missing its iron and 2 of the 3 TV remotes. We called and had the remotes delivered but didn't bother with the iron, but shouldn't mousekeeping notice stuff like that? Also, the GFI in the second bath wasn't working and they had to come up and reset the breaker (behind a locked door). The same thing had happened in the GV, but I just used the second sink in the master.
Probably the worst, though, was on the last morning in the 2BR, as we were scrambling to pack and eat up our room food, my DH pulled the large plates out of the cupboard for the first time and found
FOOD on all of the plates. Not just "we didn't scrape them before we put them in the dishwasher" but "we ate fries and ketchup on them and then just stacked them and put them back in the cupboard." There were literally still fries on the plates! I don't fault mousekeeping necessarily, as it was not visible from the side - not until you pulled the plates down to use them - but maybe that needs to be part of their practice in the future!!!
Another small rant (especially if GCH CMs are lurking) - we had to fiddle for quite a while to get the DVD player to work in the GV and never did get it to work in the 2BR (but didn't have time to call it in and wait - we weren't there that much anyway). It would be nice if those things were working if they're going to be advertised as a "perk" of a DVC room....
Raves:
The GV was spectacular!! Especially the PP view part and WOC preview - absolutely incredible! It is going to be so hard to stay anywhere else in the future - in fact, when we moved to the 2BR, though very very nice, it was a letdown - we got spoiled! My DSis watched the big double story window from PP one night and saw light on in the GV and people moving around and said she was ticked off the they were in "our room!"
We got quite attached.
In spite of my jackhammering problem, I will say that DVC tried to make it right by refunding my first night's points - that definitely goes a long way in my book towards making me feel a bit better (I'm in one of the most expensive accommodations in the whole place and I'm getting jackhammered at 6:00 a.m.?). I don't know if it was because I became a "problem child" by calling to complain, but we were put in a 2nd floor Redwood Creek view room for our 2BR, instead of a high level PP view room like I requested (I know - requests are only that). It was nice and relatively quiet (although we still couldn't have our slider open at night - the construction goes on all night), but we sure missed our PP view and WOC preview.
Linda, the CM who checked me in, was wonderful and a DVC member herself, so I felt like she really understood the system.
The GCH, as always, is all spectacular and I love to just hang around there and soak in the ambience. My guests all had a great time, even my cousin, who's not a huge Disney person himself and hadn't been to the parks for almost 20 years, even though he lives in San Jose!
Well, a long rant/rave, I know. I've been trying to figure out for a week how to share this - I don't want to whine, but I sure feel a sense of ownership and a vested interest in having things be "right" at VGC.
I did get a sense from CMs (other than Linda) that they still don't understand the whole DVC thing at GCH. And I know that the construction is inevitable, and I knew there was construction before I came, but I never in a million years expected jackhammering that early in the morning so close to a 4-star hotel.
Last year, when I stayed at BCV, I received a written notice before my stay that Stormalong Bay would be partially down for refurb during my stay. I never received anything like that before my stay at VGC, even though 2 of the 3 pools were down for refurb (I only knew ahead of time from my wonderful friends on the DISboards). It would have been nice to be forewarned of the pool closures, as well as the possible construction noise. I think it would have made me feel like they were doing it the "Disney Way."
So, if you're going to VGC anytime soon, and hope to have a PP view (which I still highly recommend), just bring your earplugs!!
Rants:
After checking in on Sunday to the Paradise Pier view GV (AWESOME!!!) and all going to DL after a dinner at Storytellers, DS (12) got lost for 1/2 an hour and then DS (9) swung off a railing outside Star Traders at 10:40 p.m. and cracked his head open, resulting in a late-night visit to UC Irvine Med Center and 5 stitches.
None of this, obviously, was Disney's fault, but after going to bed at 3:00 a.m. and getting up at 6:00 to double check DS, the jackhammer started right outside our window. I called the front desk, who said that the construction was in the park and they were the hotel and therefore couldn't do anything about it.
And I thought they were all Disney.... So when it kept going and my teeth were rattling, I called back and asked for 12 sets of ear plugs. They said they'd be right up and as my kids were sleeping in the living room, and the 8 guests on the floor above seemed to be still asleep (although I wasn't sure), I waited in the hall in my pjs so that no one else would get woken up when the CM knocked on the door.
About an hour later
the CM arrived with 2 sets of ear plugs, not 12. He showed me the note on his blackberry, which clearly said "earplugs12" but he had interpreted as "2" since how could you have 12 people behind that door?? I told him I was going to try to get back to sleep and could he please bring the other 10 sets up for the rest of the occupants in case they needed them, but just leave them on the door handle. I finally got a couple more hours of sleep with the earplugs, but spent the next couple of days feeling like I had been drinking lots of red wine on an empty stomach and I hadn't had anything to drink at all!
The other 10 sets of earplugs never arrived. My "upstairs" guests had heard something and my DSis had to close her balcony door, but the extra 12 feet of elevation must have helped, as well as the fact that some of them already sleep with earplugs and the others snore! On the way back to the room after a long day at the parks again, I stopped at the front desk to ask for my other 10 sets of earplugs and explained why I wanted them. The CM at the front desk said that that wasn't right that the jackhammering started that early, and I should call if it happened again. They said they'd send the earplugs right up, which arrived, but only 4 sets this time.
The next morning at 6:00, thinking I could sleep in a little, the jackhammering started again. I called the front desk and explained what the CM had said the night before, only to be told that "that was her opinion, and there's still nothing we can do about it." I'm getting a little whacked out by now from lack of sleep and the jackhammering was hitting on my last nerve. The last morning in our GV, no jackhammering.
A couple more rants before I move on to the good stuff - our 2BR was missing its iron and 2 of the 3 TV remotes. We called and had the remotes delivered but didn't bother with the iron, but shouldn't mousekeeping notice stuff like that? Also, the GFI in the second bath wasn't working and they had to come up and reset the breaker (behind a locked door). The same thing had happened in the GV, but I just used the second sink in the master.
Probably the worst, though, was on the last morning in the 2BR, as we were scrambling to pack and eat up our room food, my DH pulled the large plates out of the cupboard for the first time and found
FOOD on all of the plates. Not just "we didn't scrape them before we put them in the dishwasher" but "we ate fries and ketchup on them and then just stacked them and put them back in the cupboard." There were literally still fries on the plates! I don't fault mousekeeping necessarily, as it was not visible from the side - not until you pulled the plates down to use them - but maybe that needs to be part of their practice in the future!!!Another small rant (especially if GCH CMs are lurking) - we had to fiddle for quite a while to get the DVD player to work in the GV and never did get it to work in the 2BR (but didn't have time to call it in and wait - we weren't there that much anyway). It would be nice if those things were working if they're going to be advertised as a "perk" of a DVC room....
Raves:
The GV was spectacular!! Especially the PP view part and WOC preview - absolutely incredible! It is going to be so hard to stay anywhere else in the future - in fact, when we moved to the 2BR, though very very nice, it was a letdown - we got spoiled! My DSis watched the big double story window from PP one night and saw light on in the GV and people moving around and said she was ticked off the they were in "our room!"
We got quite attached. In spite of my jackhammering problem, I will say that DVC tried to make it right by refunding my first night's points - that definitely goes a long way in my book towards making me feel a bit better (I'm in one of the most expensive accommodations in the whole place and I'm getting jackhammered at 6:00 a.m.?). I don't know if it was because I became a "problem child" by calling to complain, but we were put in a 2nd floor Redwood Creek view room for our 2BR, instead of a high level PP view room like I requested (I know - requests are only that). It was nice and relatively quiet (although we still couldn't have our slider open at night - the construction goes on all night), but we sure missed our PP view and WOC preview.
Linda, the CM who checked me in, was wonderful and a DVC member herself, so I felt like she really understood the system.
The GCH, as always, is all spectacular and I love to just hang around there and soak in the ambience. My guests all had a great time, even my cousin, who's not a huge Disney person himself and hadn't been to the parks for almost 20 years, even though he lives in San Jose!
Well, a long rant/rave, I know. I've been trying to figure out for a week how to share this - I don't want to whine, but I sure feel a sense of ownership and a vested interest in having things be "right" at VGC.
I did get a sense from CMs (other than Linda) that they still don't understand the whole DVC thing at GCH. And I know that the construction is inevitable, and I knew there was construction before I came, but I never in a million years expected jackhammering that early in the morning so close to a 4-star hotel.
Last year, when I stayed at BCV, I received a written notice before my stay that Stormalong Bay would be partially down for refurb during my stay. I never received anything like that before my stay at VGC, even though 2 of the 3 pools were down for refurb (I only knew ahead of time from my wonderful friends on the DISboards). It would have been nice to be forewarned of the pool closures, as well as the possible construction noise. I think it would have made me feel like they were doing it the "Disney Way."
So, if you're going to VGC anytime soon, and hope to have a PP view (which I still highly recommend), just bring your earplugs!!
