Just back from ASMu

[Frito]

Just got back from Disney yesterday (1/23 - 1/27)...overall we had a great trip. This was our second stay at the ASMu, and I don't think that we will return.

My main issues are for the second time staying at the resort, I had a preferred room booked, and was told there were no rooms available, and had a standard at the rock n roll building, one of the furthest from Melody Hall. With 2 little ones, it's nice to be able to run to grab some cereal, milk, whatever and head back to room instead of fighting your way through the large crowds in the food court.

I spoke with a manager (who was very pleasant I might add, and could see & understand my frustration), and he said their policy is that reserving a preferred room is not guaranteed. Rather it is handled as a "request". If they are availble at check in, you receive the preferred room, if not, off to standard you go.

I always assummed if you reserve a room, you should be guaranteed a room. What happens if you book a MK view room at CR? Has this happened to anyone else, and do you know if this is actually the policy, or was he blowing smoke?

 

[firstfamilytrip]

I would think that paying for a preferred room at an additional charge per night would get you the room. They should have refunded your money and probably thrown in something else just for good customer service. Did you get your money back?

 

[alldiz]

this does not seem acceptable.

Did you get your money back? I would write a letter.
Kerri

 

[disneyfan2]

I would think that paying for a preferred room at an additional charge per night would get you the room. They should have refunded your money and probably thrown in something else just for good customer service. Did you get your money back?

i agree it is not a "request" because you paid the extra for preferred. We had this happen to us last year at Movies, and they told us no preferred rooms, but i did get switch to one when it opened 3 days later. We also had the furtherst bldg away. They told us, we will credit you the difference but i said, that i paid for preferred and if they are not available at the time of booking, then don't offer it. Otherwise check other values.
i was peeved too, but i did have to live out of suitcase til day 3

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I would be writing a letter.
Also, did they not offer to switch you to one the next day? They must have people checking out every day. This happened to me. I was put in the worst preferred room possible at 730pm (in fact....is 0140 at Pop even a preferred room? Didnt seem like it), and the next day they switched me to an awesome room that someone was checking out of.

To me, when you PAY for it and BOOK it, it should be available. I think what happens is people check into standard, don't like it, and they pay for an upgrade to preferred, taking them away from people who booked them.

Always always see if you can be moved the next day....

 

[Frito]

We were charged the standard rate, not the preferred. But it doesn't make sense to me how you could post availability for a preferred room, and then it's not available at check in. If guests checking in request a preferred, they should not be given until all reserved checked in guests have arrived.

The manager mentioned the only guaranteed room at ASMu are the family suites. I had written a letter when this happened 2 trips ago to ASMu, and never heard back....and obviously, nothing has changed.

There was no chance of us moving as they were all booked through the length of our stay.....I'm sure if we checked in on Friday or Saturday, we would have had a better chance of getting our reserved room.

Regardless, I tried to stay positive, and we did have a nice time, it was DD (1) first trip and my DS had a great time......so we'll return to Disney, but will try a different resort next time. Would love to have recommendations.

 

[typhoonlagooner]

Absolutely %100 unacceptable

I read that this could happen and it was a concern when we stayed preferred last September. We didn't have that issue though.

Preferred room is offered as a room category just like any other category (water view, suites, concierge). So is that to say that I could book concierge and then be told at check-in "no ma'am, we have to place you in standard"?!

I have to agree with the OP, how is it that you can offer it and it's not available at check-in?! Giving me my money back is nice, but there's a reason we book certain categories.

I think a huge issue with ASmu is due to the large amount of family suites they placed in the preferred section of the resort. Each suite takes up what would have been two preferred rooms

I'd be sure to write as many letters as possible to as many people as possible... and be sure to let them know that this has hindered your view on this resort, but also Disney policy.

 

[SAKPEG99OKW]

As per the second post the OP posted, they had said they paid for standtard not preferred??? You should only get preferred when you pay for preferred. We have always paid the preferred rate and have had no problems with preferred views at any resort. You basically get what you pay for. I agree that if you pay the rate and don't get it, than basically you could absolutely make a fuss of it, but if you pay for standard and get standard, you can't expect to get preferred just because you ask for it and not pay the extra cost.

 

[minnie61650]

So sorry you did not get a preferred room.

It could have happened at any of Disney's resorts. Yes, Disney conciders it a request. Preferred rooms, connecting rooms, certain views, even conceierge rooms and resorts are concidered as requests and Disney reserves the right to put guests in a different room type even a different resort than the one they booked.





From this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22815652#post22815652

Nothing is "guaranteed" -- it's not even guaranteed you'll stay at the resort you booked.

Grand Gatherings do get priority for connecting rooms.

1) True, on both statements !
2) People can get surprised when they are moved to a different resort.
3) Usually they go at the same room type or better.
4) But, it can still be quite a let down if you planned for a certain resort.

 

[maxiesmom]

Just got back from Disney yesterday (1/23 - 1/27)...overall we had a great trip. This was our second stay at the ASMu, and I don't think that we will return.

My main issues are for the second time staying at the resort, I had a preferred room booked, and was told there were no rooms available, and had a standard at the rock n roll building, one of the furthest from Melody Hall. With 2 little ones, it's nice to be able to run to grab some cereal, milk, whatever and head back to room instead of fighting your way through the large crowds in the food court.

I spoke with a manager (who was very pleasant I might add, and could see & understand my frustration), and he said their policy is that reserving a preferred room is not guaranteed. Rather it is handled as a "request". If they are availble at check in, you receive the preferred room, if not, off to standard you go.

I always assummed if you reserve a room, you should be guaranteed a room. What happens if you book a MK view room at CR? Has this happened to anyone else, and do you know if this is actually the policy, or was he blowing smoke?

This is exactly what happened to us a few years ago, and the reason we will never go back to ASMU! I think if you reserve a room catagory that you have to pay extra for, you should get that room! Not be placed way back in the boonies, which is what happened to us too! Add to that that my mom had had some minor surgery done, and we were trying to limit her walking whenever possible. Gosh it has been a few years, and it still makes me angry to think about it. Apparently Disney thinks it is no biggie if they are still doing it. Please write and let us know if you get any response.

 

[Frito]

SAKPEG99OKW...I was charged the standard rate when I checked in because my booked/reserved preferred room was not available. I did not book a standard and then requested a preferred upon check in.

Thanks for all the posts....they're all very helpful.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

OP you paid for the room upon check in correct? If you had received a package and prepaid for it, Im sure you would have gotten the preferred room but because it was a reservation room only, you are subject to availability...

 

[jenpan]

This doesn't sound too good!!! I'm staying at the movies 2/2 - 2/9. I booked my room only in April of 07 and booked a preferred room. If they can't honor what they let me book as being available then I guess they should just take a reservation for you and not allow any "special" classifications for reservations. I won't be very happy if I am not in a preferred room which I have planned on staying in for the past 10 1/2 months!!!!!!! Somebody send me some pixey dust and fast!!!!!!!!

 

[Frito]

Quick update...I wrote a letter and received a call back from Disney Executive offices. The CM informed me that there was a request on my reservation for second story room....I NEVER MADE THAT REQUEST. IMHO someone placed that request on my reservation to justify moving me out of my preferred reservation.

I know this may sound foolish, but this is starting to irk me. I explained to the CM that if I knew ahead of time preferred would not have been available, in no way would we have stayed at the resort. This practice by Disney to treat booking a preferred room is "bait & switch" in my opinion. You book a room category at a resort, then you check in and, sorry you've been downgraded to the boonies! Should guests then spend then next day trying to find alternate lodging if they do not like the accommodations?

Lesson learned, choose your resort wisely and expect to be placed in the worst possible location when making your reservation. Going forward resort layouts will definately determine where I stay, if I stay on property.

I have forwarded my reservation confirmation to the CM and she is going to look into this further.

 

[maxiesmom]

Quick update...I wrote a letter and received a call back from Disney Executive offices. The CM informed me that there was a request on my reservation for second story room....I NEVER MADE THAT REQUEST. IMHO someone placed that request on my reservation to justify moving me out of my preferred reservation.

I know this may sound foolish, but this is starting to irk me. I explained to the CM that if I knew ahead of time preferred would not have been available, in no way would we have stayed at the resort. This practice by Disney to treat booking a preferred room is "bait & switch" in my opinion. You book a room category at a resort, then you check in and, sorry you've been downgraded to the boonies! Should guests then spend then next day trying to find alternate lodging if they do not like the accommodations?

Lesson learned, choose your resort wisely and expect to be placed in the worst possible location when making your reservation. Going forward resort layouts will definately determine where I stay, if I stay on property.

I have forwarded my reservation confirmation to the CM and she is going to look into this further.

Great. So now they are trying to blame you for something they did. What did the CM have to say when you told them that you wouldn't have chosen the ASMu resort, had you know preferred was not available?

 

[Amy&Dan]

So I am assuming they credited the amount back to you for however many nights you had pre paid for a preferred room? That really stinks! I have a preferred room reserved for next month and I had better get what I paid for! I am sorry, I don't like this thing that Disney does of downgrading you for something you paid for. I didn't realize that paying for preferred at the time of booking was some sort of request. Very aggravating.

And while I know being in a far distant location was not what you wanted, look on the bright side, the All Stars are a lot smaller than other resorts. If you had paid for preferred at say CBR and not gotten it that could have been bad. Although at least at the mods there are multiple bus stops and therefore no room is far from a bus or quiet pool.

Don't blame you for being aggravated!

 

[Frito]

Great. So now they are trying to blame you for something they did. What did the CM have to say when you told them that you wouldn't have chosen the ASMu resort, had you know preferred was not available?

No direct reply. She stated that obviously there are unforeseen issues (rooms out of commission) that would make preferred unavailable. To my knowledge this was not the case during my trip, at least not mentioned by the resort manager.

 

[joenan88]

Just got back from Disney yesterday (1/23 - 1/27)...overall we had a great trip. This was our second stay at the ASMu, and I don't think that we will return.

My main issues are for the second time staying at the resort, I had a preferred room booked, and was told there were no rooms available, and had a standard at the rock n roll building, one of the furthest from Melody Hall. With 2 little ones, it's nice to be able to run to grab some cereal, milk, whatever and head back to room instead of fighting your way through the large crowds in the food court.

I spoke with a manager (who was very pleasant I might add, and could see & understand my frustration), and he said their policy is that reserving a preferred room is not guaranteed. Rather it is handled as a "request". If they are availble at check in, you receive the preferred room, if not, off to standard you go.

I always assummed if you reserve a room, you should be guaranteed a room. What happens if you book a MK view room at CR? Has this happened to anyone else, and do you know if this is actually the policy, or was he blowing smoke?

That is completely unacceptable! Disney decided to sell two types of
rooms standard and preferred, you bought a preferred room and spent
your money to have a better location. If they did not have a
preferred room available then the difference in cost should be
refunded to you 100%! Send an e-mail and follow it with a letter to
Disney's executive offices...it may take some time to hear from them
but you will.

I had an issue with my room at the Poly in November..the previous guests smoked in it and it stunk!!(there is more to this story this is a short synopsis) They washed the carpet..which were still wet! GROSS!! and when I complained they
said they had nothing else available..WELL, I wrote a letter stating
how disappointed I was in my experience and I did receive an answer 10
weeks later and they offered me 5 day park hoppers for my family of 5
to be used on our next trip..which will be this August! It was
generous and a sweet gesture! Make your voice heard because Disney
should know when I guest is disappointed with their experience and I
am sure they will compensate you....your room was not a request!!

and another side note I am booked in a MK view at The CR and that is what I am entitled to...I paid extra for it..just like you! I hope it works out for you!

 

[Frito]

So I am assuming they credited the amount back to you for however many nights you had pre paid for a preferred room? That really stinks! I have a preferred room reserved for next month and I had better get what I paid for! I am sorry, I don't like this thing that Disney does of downgrading you for something you paid for. I didn't realize that paying for preferred at the time of booking was some sort of request. Very aggravating.

And while I know being in a far distant location was not what you wanted, look on the bright side, the All Stars are a lot smaller than other resorts. If you had paid for preferred at say CBR and not gotten it that could have been bad. Although at least at the mods there are multiple bus stops and therefore no room is far from a bus or quiet pool.

Don't blame you for being aggravated!

I was credited the difference, and we did have a great time. It's just a crummy way to start your vacation. I've stayed at ASMu & ASMo and this only happens to me at ASMu...must just be bad luck.

 

[Frito]

That is completely unacceptable! Disney decided to sell two types of
rooms standard and preferred, you bought a preferred room and spent
your money to have a better location. If they did not have a
preferred room available then the difference in cost should be
refunded to you 100%! Send an e-mail and follow it with a letter to
Disney's executive offices...it may take some time to hear from them
but you will.

I had an issue with my room at the Poly in November..the previous guests smoked in it and it stunk!!(there is more to this story this is a short synopsis) They washed the carpet..which were still wet! GROSS!! and when I complained they
said they had nothing else available..WELL, I wrote a letter stating
how disappointed I was in my experience and I did receive an answer 10
weeks later and they offered me 5 day park hoppers for my family of 5
to be used on our next trip..which will be this August! It was
generous and a sweet gesture! Make your voice heard because Disney
should know when I guest is disappointed with their experience and I
am sure they will compensate you....your room was not a request!!

and another side note I am booked in a MK view at The CR and that is what I am entitled to...I paid extra for it..just like you! I hope it works out for you!

I'm glad to hear Disney made up for your issues. My motive here is not to gripe to get some kick back though. I hope Disney will review their policies and understand guests make reservations expecting these reservations to be honored.

What next, sorry all preferred and standard are booked, but we have the tool shed made up for you with some cots?