Just Got A Call From Disney

[YCFAN]

I booked the Graceland Suite with the adjoining bedroom for at long weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel two summers ago. When we arrived around 10:30 am on friday I was told the room was not ready. We spent most of the day at a cabana by the pool and the teenagers went to the parks so it wasn't a big deal but by 5:30 when the room wasn't ready I was getting a little upset. I began to hear a commotion in the concierge lounge and soon realized this was the problem with my room. Seems the family that had been in the adjoining room was suppose to check out that day but just decided not to and didn't even say anything to the front desk. Well by the time they got back to their room around 5:00 pm that day their keys wouldn't work but their belongings were still in the room. The husband was having a fit saying they couldn't do this and the concierge was telling him that the room had been booked for the weekend by someone else. Well he said they were not moving and I just sat patiently in the background pretending not to know that they were talking about our room. He demanded to talk to a manager and after practically cursing and throwing a hissy fit in the lounge he suddenly completely changed his tune and turned to his wife and said, "we're moving to the Portofino, they're comping us a room for the night."

This ended up being costly to the hotel but they were not about to turn us away when we had both that room and the Graceland Suite booked. We ended up not being able to check into that room until around 7:30 pm because the other guests had left it in such a mess. I saw it...I couldn't believe how they practically trashed that room. They went ahead and put us in the Graceland Suite so we could use the showers to get ready for dinner and brought up a really nice spread with wine, crackers and cheese and fruit. It was a little weird sitting in the lounge realizing all the commotion was over our room but that guy wasn't giving in. I hope nothing like that ever happens again.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Ok..it's done and all set. We finalized our dates, times, and got airfare from SW at about $135 round trip.

My only question now is...we booked an 11:30 arrivng at 2:30 which puts us at DW around 4pm or after. Is this a bad time to ck in? Will most rooms already be filled by then and then we won't get our room requests?

I know ckin is 3, but I've seen posts of people cking in as early as 7am.

Ruth-Hope you enjoy SW. I was really leary about trying them but couldn't resist the price when I flew with them for the first time last Aug. I really liked SW. They don't have meal service on any flight but the snack we got was much more substantial than the pretzels we got from Delta's Song.

I took a 7am flight out of Manchester NH on that flight and I've got to say I'm not sure I'd try that again. That trip I took just my middle DS(4 1/2) with a friend, her DH and her DS(15). I stayed with them at their house the night before so I would not wake the rest of my family. I didn't sleep at all that night (nor did my DS) and we had to get up at 4am to get to NH by 6am. We started the trip really sleep deprived.

AND..even though we went during a very quiet time (the last week of Aug) when the parks were EMPTY, we did not get all of our requests met at ASMo. I had asked for 3rd floor, non smoking, connecting rooms at Toy Story or Dalmations. We got 3rd floor, non smoking, connecting at Love Bug. And while I was disappointed we actually ended up LOVING it! SO...in the future if I have something that is really important to me in a request I will only ask for that-like only ask for Toy Story and leave out 3rd floor...ect...

On my next flight with SW in May I've chosen the 11:30 flight. I will leave the house at a much more reasonable time and I'm sure my room will be adequate for a very magical stay. I don't think arrive at the hotel at 4pm is very late at all.

To the OP: I hope you have a very magical trip. Your girls are beautiful! I miss the Poly!

 

[RuthLS]

Ruth-Hope you enjoy SW. I was really leary about trying them but couldn't resist the price when I flew with them for the first time last Aug. I really liked SW. They don't have meal service on any flight but the snack we got was much more substantial than the pretzels we got from Delta's Song.

I took a 7am flight out of Manchester NH on that flight and I've got to say I'm not sure I'd try that again. That trip I took just my middle DS(4 1/2) with a friend, her DH and her DS(15). I stayed with them at their house the night before so I would not wake the rest of my family. I didn't sleep at all that night (nor did my DS) and we had to get up at 4am to get to NH by 6am. We started the trip really sleep deprived.

AND..even though we went during a very quiet time (the last week of Aug) when the parks were EMPTY, we did not get all of our requests met at ASMo. I had asked for 3rd floor, non smoking, connecting rooms at Toy Story or Dalmations. We got 3rd floor, non smoking, connecting at Love Bug. And while I was disappointed we actually ended up LOVING it! SO...in the future if I have something that is really important to me in a request I will only ask for that-like only ask for Toy Story and leave out 3rd floor...ect...

On my next flight with SW in May I've chosen the 11:30 flight. I will leave the house at a much more reasonable time and I'm sure my room will be adequate for a very magical stay. I don't think arrive at the hotel at 4pm is very late at all.

To the OP: I hope you have a very magical trip. Your girls are beautiful! I miss the Poly!

You put my mind at ease. I was thinking about the 7am and there was just no way we could do it with a 3 and 1.5 yr old. Can you imagine?

So we decided on the 11:30 out of Manchester too..in May no less. We are also taking the 3:30 back. I was leaning towards the 8:30..the only other flight..but again..not sure that would be a good idea. Main reason is..I was thinking..we'd have to ck out of our room...and what if it's raining that day? We'd have an entire day with no room and a late flight. Plus...what if the kids can't sleep on the plane. That would be a disaster.

So we added an extra day..using up some of the money we saved on airfare..and will just have 2 days somewhat lost to travel.

I have to stay off these boards. It seems May won't come fast enough. I can hardly wait!!

 

[hedwig]

SW is one of the only ways we will travel to FL. We actually like taking the early flight (7:20am) out. The airport is never crowded, we check our bags fast and we get through security pretty fast, and with two little ones, that is nice. I love their internet fairs and it is so easy to change them if you find a cheaper fare through them. You type in your confirm number, make the changes and then you will have a credit to use within a year. I have never had any problem changing flights and fares with SW, and this includes DING fares.

Also, on the overbooking this weekend- it could be for two reasons 1- there is a huge convention at CBR ( my cousin and his family are going). So that could be the reason for the bump there. and 2) Some schools have this Monday off- making a three day weekend.

Hope all goes well for everyone!

 

[AllyBri]

Well as to that comment, I really don't think it matters what discount you are on cm or ap or aaa, I still am paying over 3k for 9 nights, and I feel I have the right to make somewhat of an issue as I am not getting what I booked and paid for! As for making it look bad for the cm she has been there over 10 yrs and has a pretty good title to her name so I highly doubt that it will impact her at all..(Ot she knows one of the managers @Poly and already put a call in because of the problems, so I guess you could say that she has already made a stink as you put it.)

Wow......calm down and take a deep breath.
Wishing you a very Magical trip.

 

[Kimmumum]

We flew to Orlando on 9-20-2001. We are from Chicago and were meeting my cousin (and family) from Boston. We booked at Dixie Landings and our only request was that our rooms were near each other. We did not need them connecting or even on the same floor but the same building would be nice. Because it was right after 9-11 Disney was like a ghost town. There was no on there. Our rooms ended up at opposite ends of the property. When we questioned it we were told that was all that was available. How could that we it when we were just about the only ones there? We had many bus rides by ourselves. We rode Buzz 15 times in a row without being made to get off. There was NO ONE there. They gave us a story, we didn't believe it and still don't know why they did it. We still love Disney though.

 

[Sal316]

Wow......calm down and take a deep breath.
Wishing you a very Magical trip.

She is calm. Obviously this is something that upset us at the time, so my wife chose to vent on here a little(trust me, you don't want to see her get really upset). This is a special trip for us, with it being our anniversary and dd's first birthday. Disney overbooked, causing us to have to choose a room we didn't particularly care for. Irregardless of the cm discount, we have a right to be frustrated with the way Disney handled this. They were very impersonal and indifferent to the fact that this was a special trip for us. You can bet we will be compensated when we arrive later this morning.

 

[MermaidsMom]

She is calm. Obviously this is something that upset us at the time, so my wife chose to vent on here a little(trust me, you don't want to see her get really upset). This is a special trip for us, with it being our anniversary and dd's first birthday. Disney overbooked, causing us to have to choose a room we didn't particularly care for. Irregardless of the cm discount, we have a right to be frustrated with the way Disney handled this. They were very impersonal and indifferent to the fact that this was a special trip for us. You can bet we will be compensated when we arrive later this morning.

Pixie dust your way! Hoping you all have an awesome trip-please let us all know how it turns out!

 

[lillygator]

I would also imagine that for most people checking in, they are celebrating or it's a special trip as well...

 

[heaven2dc]

and that's "value" season rates

We're paying $585 for Boardwalk in May. Fortunately, we can do it but it still bothers me to spend that kind of money per night.

I was just wondering if you've considered renting points for your stay. I also paid full rates for BWV when we were there last but now can get the same room (1-bedroom villa) for $120/night by renting points. Of course, that trip I never knew about DVC and would have saved so much money. Hope you enjoy your trip!!

 

[LvsTnk]

She is calm. Obviously this is something that upset us at the time, so my wife chose to vent on here a little(trust me, you don't want to see her get really upset). This is a special trip for us, with it being our anniversary and dd's first birthday. Disney overbooked, causing us to have to choose a room we didn't particularly care for. Irregardless of the cm discount, we have a right to be frustrated with the way Disney handled this. They were very impersonal and indifferent to the fact that this was a special trip for us. You can bet we will be compensated when we arrive later this morning.

Good Luck!! I hope your trip is spectacular reguardless of what has happened the last couple of days!!

 

[RuthLS]

She is calm. Obviously this is something that upset us at the time, so my wife chose to vent on here a little(trust me, you don't want to see her get really upset). This is a special trip for us, with it being our anniversary and dd's first birthday. Disney overbooked, causing us to have to choose a room we didn't particularly care for. Irregardless of the cm discount, we have a right to be frustrated with the way Disney handled this. They were very impersonal and indifferent to the fact that this was a special trip for us. You can bet we will be compensated when we arrive later this morning.

I too hope you have a wonderful stay!!! I hope you have a wonderful anniversary and your little one has a great birthday. Enjoy your time together as a family. Afterall...that's the most important thing.

And if it helps any...I would have been steaming!! You and your wife have a right to feel the way you do regardless of the type of discount you are getting. We are all entitled to our feelings.

Have a great trip!!!!
Ruth

 

[snowbunny]

I can't remember ever being allowed to stay in the same room since it was booked for the next guest, and we have always had to change rooms in order to extend a stay.

That's because you (and I) don't say what other people do: "I'm not leaving this room." Unless the hotel staff is going to pack luggage, remove it, and possibly physically remove family members from a room (can you imagine the scene?), there is little to be done about it other than bill rack rate to the credit card. Yes they could lock them out temporarily but as long as they're paying, that's about it.

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

I have seen a lot of comments about early check-ins and the mess that comes with it but we always try to get an early AM flight that means arriving in WDW before noon. In 2004 we (me and DS) had ressies at POFQ and we checked in around 11:00 AM. There was a room available on the third floor close of the first building to the right perpendictular to the entrance/front desk. We were facing the fountain, which means our roon was on the back as opposed to facing the pool but we loved our room. Most of the charm was the location, no problems with busses (except for transportation back from the Spirit of Aloha's last sitting but that is another story), CMs were great and mousekeeping was just suberb.

I hope what you've said doesn't reflect in our August trip where we are book at BCR with a standard view.

Disney Crazy Debbie

 

[johnvree]

They are refunding the difference in room rates, but like the above poster stated we also spend a great deal of time at the resort, or at least I do with the baby and I love to be able to play with my dd and look at the castle or when I putting her to sleep and we watch the colores change. I am tired of dealing with all of this over the phone I will wait till Friday when I can look someone in the eye and explain our aggravation especially when it is such a special trip...

I hope you are having a good trip and look forward to a report, even a brief one, when you return.

Your post, and the horror stories in some of the replies, are really very upsetting. I understand that overbooking is a reality in the hotel business. But all good hotels compensate guests when this happens, ususally through a free upgrade or by comp'ing the stay. A refund between the LVC and GVC does nothing to compensate you. It merely recognizes that you are getting a less expensive room than you paid for.

You've done the right thing, forget about the issue and have a great vacation. But when you get back, I would contact Disney (starting with the Hotel Manager at the Poly) and demand appropriate compensation.

 

[SaratogaShan]

I would also imagine that for most people checking in, they are celebrating or it's a special trip as well...

 

[AllyBri]

She is calm. Obviously this is something that upset us at the time, so my wife chose to vent on here a little(trust me, you don't want to see her get really upset).

I can just imagine.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[disneyw/kids]

I'm sure I've read about people getting rooms in the am.

So I guess it appears to be hit or miss.

We'll just wait and see what happens I guess. As you can tell by my posts. I'm a bit of a type A and have a hard time waiting. My flight is booked so we'll arrive when we arrive and hope for the best. Luckily I don't have a problem being a squeaky wheel.

When we were at the Poly LVC we got to the hotel at 11:00 am (driving from Ga) and I had allready told my mom that the room would not be ready, but it was ready, they gave us our keys and told us we could go ahead to our room. Which was first floor and direct view of the castle. We were shocked and very excited.

 

[wdwfan1]

On our last trip to WL, our room class was overbooked. They bumped us up to Concierge. No complaints on that one!

Hope you enjoy your trip and get some kind of answers.

 

[jjohnson]

I was just wondering if you've considered renting points for your stay. I also paid full rates for BWV when we were there last but now can get the same room (1-bedroom villa) for $120/night by renting points. Of course, that trip I never knew about DVC and would have saved so much money. Hope you enjoy your trip!!

Thanks for the thought. I had considered renting points & getting a 2BRM villa. It would cost almost 1/2 of BW & we could add the DP. But DH isn't comfortable renting from strangers. I told him their not strangers-their my DIS buddies but couldn't convince him