I know those of you on facebook have read some of what happened on our trip, but not all of it. I am going to post it once and then not say anything else since this is (technically) an AKL thread! Of course, what happened to us directly affected my ability to be at the AKL when I was supposed to be so maybe you can connect it that way.
We were at Saratoga Springs since our waitlist for Kidani never came through. This was our first stay there (probably our last) and it was the very last Disney Resort that we had not stayed in up till this point. Briefly, our accessible unit, which was guaranteed and blocked off by Member Services was not available for us when we arrived. It had been assigned to someone else. Meanwhile we had been given a villa that had "all our requests (third floor, waterview in The Paddock)." The problem with this was that no requests had been made by me or my friend who booked the room for us. Other than requiring a handicapped villa we made no requests at all! A manager was able to find another villa on the other side of Saratoga for us but it was not ready so we did not get into the room until 4:00.
Well, we didn't get into the room because the lock wouldn't open. Maintenance replaced the entire lock and door knob unit and we were finally able to use the door by 6:30 that night. The rest of the story had to do with housekeeping issues that were awful and the overall condition of the unit we were in. The accessible unit had a regular bathtub in it. There was no bath seat so Bob could not take a shower. He cannot step up and over a tub! The only things accessible about the unit were the kitchen area, a threshold ramp out onto the patio and a lower bed. When we opened the sheers on the patio door we were greeted by a naked baby doll that could not have been missed by the housekeeper if she had just opened the curtains. The sofa bed had another toy in it, as well as candy stuck inside of the bed area. The kitchen was not well-equipped at all. No measure cups of spoons, no serving utensils, no wine opener, etc. That was enough for me to decide to make a trip to the front desk to talk to a manager at some point in the next couple of days.
However, After the sofa bed broke at 11:30 on Sunday night I called the night manager and told her the whole story. She sent maintenance to repair the bed (the neighbors just LOVED the sound of drills and screwguns at midnight). She also sent a CM to retrieve the toys (he wore latex gloves to do so
) and told us she would take care of a move for us the next morning.
She did and management went out of their way to make it a better trip for us. The day manager was in tears by the time she read our file. They were financially generous as well as setting up a reserved viewing area for Illuminations for us one evening. So, they did as well as they could do, but we lost the joy of our first 2 1/2 days of vacation. That we cannot get back. BUT... overall, the trip was good and we all had a great time at the F&W Festival.
The CMs we encountered were amazing. They were kind and generous and understanding and helpful. It was as it should be at Disney. The people are what make it that way. Disney execs should be proud of their training program, because it certainly made for "good show."
)
Sad to miss the joy on the 1st few days of the trip
