Just back from BLT

[Slakk]

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the decor, the room is laid out well and the living room seems bigger than other rooms.

The TOTWL is wonderful as well.

On the bad side...we of course got the lowest and probably WORST view for MK view. And to add insult to injury I checked in next to someone raving about their GREAT deal and FREE DINING who was 6 floors above us. Nothing is more frustrating then to make your reservations the HOUR BLT ressies were available and getting a crappy room at premium point value.

I am tired of being a DVC member and getting the crappiest rooms - in fact at every resort I think we have had bad rooms about 2/3rds of the time.

We have 330 points and Monday are putting 3 50 point contracts on the market. Going to keep the BLT contract since selling it would mean taking a loss on it.

Food and Wine was much smaller and MNSSHP was scaled down too. It seems to me that WDW is charging more for less and the Cast Members are working their rears off to make up for it.

While this post may seem like a downer we DID have a nice time and are back in February for more than likely the worst BWV room available After that I have no idea when I will be back...

I am calling my guide tomorrow to let him know how frustrated we are that DVC continues to take members for granted. With Marriott they put rooms in by priority, Resort Owner, MVCI owner, Timeshare THEN general public.

DVC seems to enjoy telling us how special we are, patting us on the head then giving the best rooms to cash reservations in order to convert them. The sad thing is that at one point we did all of our vacations at DVC with almost 500 points and now we will probably spend 4 days a year there.

I doubt they will be sad - but I am. Free Dining has dumbed down menus and I think is the reason they keep cutting costs in other areas. The party costs are skyrocketing and you get less...

 

[missy2217]

On the bad side...we of course got the lowest and probably WORST view for MK view. And to add insult to injury I checked in next to someone raving about their GREAT deal and FREE DINING who was 6 floors above us. QUOTE]

That would make me CRAZY!

 

[rsimon]

We just got back from Kidani and we had a 1 Bedroom Savana view room. The first room they stuck us in was on the worst excuse for a savana (Pembe) at AKV. We called up the front desk immediately and asked that they move us to a new room on the Sunset Savana which they were able to do.

The thing that irritates me is that there WAS a room on the better savana available at the exact same time as when we checked in and they gave us (Owners as AKV and resi made at 11 month window) one of the worst possible savana room they had from the inventory.

Not sure if you had an option to call and get them to move you or not, but I think all DVC owners should stop accepting the "Default" room they give us if we don't like it and request a better room to match the commitment we have made to Disney as DVC owners.

 

[dianeschlicht]

See, now that's what I like about OKW! There are no really "bad" view rooms, and being a "DVC only" resort, we seem to have fewer cash guests than some of the others.

 

[wdrl]

On the bad side...we of course got the lowest and probably WORST view for MK view.

I'm sad to read you didn't enjoy your room view. What was your room number?

 

[Slakk]

We just got back from Kidani and we had a 1 Bedroom Savana view room. The first room they stuck us in was on the worst excuse for a savana (Pembe) at AKV. We called up the front desk immediately and asked that they move us to a new room on the Sunset Savana which they were able to do.

The thing that irritates me is that there WAS a room on the better savana available at the exact same time as when we checked in and they gave us (Owners as AKV and resi made at 11 month window) one of the worst possible savana room they had from the inventory.

Not sure if you had an option to call and get them to move you or not, but I think all DVC owners should stop accepting the "Default" room they give us if we don't like it and request a better room to match the commitment we have made to Disney as DVC owners.

They offered us a Lake view and said they would try and get our points reallocated and they offered to move us the next day but honestly unpacking and then re-packing then being without luggage for a day was just a hassle when we were only there 4 days made no sense.

I basically got a standard view room for double the points. The only reason we bought at BLT was because we wanted a MK view and the parking lot view we got was disappointing.

 

[allflgirl]

Sorry to hear about your room view. It seems like the only time I've gotten a good room was either when I specifically requested something (of course reminded them of my request upon check-in) or when I have complained about it. I know that someone has to end up with the "bad" room but not the same someone every time. It would erk me too if I had just heard someone checking in on cash, getting something for free, get a better room than me, a DVC member and one who owns at that specific resort. Boy, Disney has their priorities all messed up.

BTW, I was on the receiving end of an great room when I checked into AKL last month on a cash reservation. I used a special Florida resident discount and got the room for nearly 1/2 of what it would have cost me using my DVC cash discount. I paid for a standard room, which should have meant a parking lot view but got a Savannah room instead. I did feel special but it wouldn't have swayed me to buy at AKV.

Hope you have a better trip in February.

 

[bub]

I have to agree about how the rooms are often allocated. It reminds me of how a restaurant staff might keep offering a table in a poor location (such as near the kitchen) to each party that comes in, until someone agrees to sit there. If you do not advocate for yourself at check-in, you will sometimes get a less than desirable room. My clue that this is happening is usually when the room is ready early, or when the CM mentions that it is a great spot for some reason.

This can happen to folks paying cash, too, as it did once to us at AK when they first opened. Our "Savanna view" was of the side of the building and some dumpsters. (But the CM raved about how the room was so close to the lobby.) We were luckily able to get moved.

We try not to be too picky, and only put in general requests, but I now ask specific questions at check-in, especially if I have paid more points for a view.