Motion detector ACs in rooms?

[twinklebug]

I just read that the GF and Poly both have these.

I'm wondering what other resorts have them and how in the world Disney expects a room to stay at a livable temperature in the middle of an August night if everyone is sleeping, hence, no motion.

I could understand the ac/heat system being hooked into the reservation system, so that if a room is unassigned it doesn't need to be cooled. IMHO, Motion detectors are just too far fetched.

 

[Gillian]

BCV has them as well. I remember waking up hot and waving my arm around a bit to make the ac kick in.

I've read about people tying something to the fan to keep the AC running. I'm not sure if that works.

The ceiling fan doesn't turn off, so that keeps the air in the room moving. It wasn't so bad.

 

[Tinkaroo]

There was a post on here not long back where someone posted the directions from a maintenance person on how to override the system. I'll see if I can find.

This would drive me nuts!!! (The Swan & Dolphin have these, too.) You don't pay all this $$, to then just wake up sweating to death...

 

[DisneyFreaks]

They have them at Animal Kingdom Lodge as well. We stayed there during the hottest week of our lives (May, 2003) and nearly cooked. Each day we would come back from the parks to a warm room. It was horrible. At first we thought the a/c was broken so we called maintenance and they explained the motion detector thingy. I think it totally sucks. So much money to be uncomfortable. I do not do heat very well at all so it really kind of made the trip have less magic when I couldn't come back and cool off in my own room. I wish Disney would would re-think this idea. Our next trip is to Boardwalk Villas this fall so I'm hoping they either don't have this there or it will be much cooler weather in general.

 

[golfgal]

Great, I hate sleeping in a warm room. We had this system in our hotel in Naples and I hated it. I would love to see how to override the system. Are there screens on the sliders to the balconies at AKL? Maybe rig up a shirt or something to flap in a breeze from a slightly open door?

 

[mrFDNY]

try this, tie a balloon to chair same level as sensor about 5 feet away. we did this a couple of times and it worked well!

 

[Kapp]

some people have bought a mylar Mickey balloon and tied it in the room. This was suppossed to move enough to trigger the A/C. This would not work at the AKL as they don't allow balloons but it might work elsewhere. They had this at the Dolphin when we stayed there and we never noticed it.

 

[princessmomma]

My Contemporary wing room had this as well. In fact, I too called maintenance to fix the problem when we got back to the room after a day in the parks. The motion thing was explained to me too.

 

[DisneyFan0304]

Does the Beach Club have this?

Thanks.

 

[rileyroosmom]

Here are the directions to overiding the a/c system:

"On the thermostat push the power button and the down arrow (that adjusts the temp) at the exact same time. If you do this correctly there willbe the letters "bp" where the temp numbers usually are. You are now bypassing the sensors in the room. You can then set the temp to whatever you want and it keeps the room that cold whether you are in it or not. The maintenance man said that you might have to do this once a day as the thermostat tends to go back to sensor mode after 24 hours. We found that it stayed on bypass for a couple of days at a time. It was great to come back to a cold room or not wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat again. The CM that did this for us said it was not a problem doing this as they do it for pople all the time. Guess they get a lot of complaints."

 

[Grumpy'n'Goofy]

rileyroosmom, THANK YOU for posting this...we're going in August and I like it cold when we're in the room.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

Are there screens on the sliders to the balconies at AKL?

Sorry golfgal, no screens. That would be great though wouldn't it?

Super idea mrFDNY!! If all else fails I definitely will try it.

And rileyroosmom, thanks so much for posting this. I am copying it and taking it with me just in case. I know I can always count on the Dis folks to have the answer for everything!!

 

[Tinkaroo]

They have them at Animal Kingdom Lodge as well. We stayed there during the hottest week of our lives (May, 2003) and nearly cooked. Each day we would come back from the parks to a warm room. It was horrible. At first we thought the a/c was broken so we called maintenance and they explained the motion detector thingy. I think it totally sucks. So much money to be uncomfortable. I do not do heat very well at all so it really kind of made the trip have less magic when I couldn't come back and cool off in my own room. I wish Disney would would re-think this idea. Our next trip is to Boardwalk Villas this fall so I'm hoping they either don't have this there or it will be much cooler weather in general.

Just got back a month ago, and didn't notice this at the AKL. Our room was a nice 65 degrees our entire stay! Maybe we just got lucky...

I, too, had printed off the directions on how to override a motion detector system, but didn't use them!

 

[jenr812]

Here are the directions to overiding the a/c system:

"On the thermostat push the power button and the down arrow (that adjusts the temp) at the exact same time. If you do this correctly there willbe the letters "bp" where the temp numbers usually are. You are now bypassing the sensors in the room. You can then set the temp to whatever you want and it keeps the room that cold whether you are in it or not. The maintenance man said that you might have to do this once a day as the thermostat tends to go back to sensor mode after 24 hours. We found that it stayed on bypass for a couple of days at a time. It was great to come back to a cold room or not wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat again. The CM that did this for us said it was not a problem doing this as they do it for pople all the time. Guess they get a lot of complaints."

Thank you so much for posting this. My husband would FREAK OUT if it was hot in our room. He usually makes me FREEZE in my own home Of course, this may not even matter since I didn't notice POR mentioned as a resort with the motion detectors BTW I was going to suggest the balloon thing too LOL

 

[wright1baby]

Is there a list of resorts that have this type of system? I didn't hear any one mention Port Orleans. Can I assume that it is a traditional A/C?

 

[disneydreamer98]

Does anybody know if they have this at POP? I do not want to come back after a long day at the parks to a hot room!

 

[DisneyFreaks]

Just got back a month ago, and didn't notice this at the AKL. Our room was a nice 65 degrees our entire stay! Maybe we just got lucky...

I, too, had printed off the directions on how to override a motion detector system, but didn't use them!

Good to hear Tinkaroo. Maybe Disney is trying to change this after all the complaints. (crossing fingers) I think how warm the room feels probably has alot to do with how hot it actually is outside too. It was extremely humid the week we were there. We fell in love with AKL and that was the only negative thing we experienced there.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Is there a list of resorts that have this type of system? I didn't hear any one mention Port Orleans. Can I assume that it is a traditional A/C?

We were just at POR last Oct., and as they have the window unit air conditioners, I don't think this system applies. Not sure about POP.

HTH!

 

[mrFDNY]

yes, pop does have this being a new resort.we use the balloon trick the 2 times we were there and it worked.the air coming out of the vent's keep's the balloon in motion.some rooms the motion is on other's off and the air stay's on all the time, but you never know which one your staying in.

 

[Ilovestitch]

We just got back from the AKL and Poly and they both had this. The directions for the override did not work at AKL but it did work at Poly, I think the systems are different.

It didn't bother us at AKL though, when you came back to the room it wasn't ice cold but it wasn't hot either. As soon as you walked it you would hear it kick on and then the room would be ice cold. I don't remember getting hot at night either.

My bf did the override at Polynesian and it worked, but he kept putting it at 65 degrees and I was freezing

Disney is just doing it to save energy, I wouldn't not stay at a particular resort b/c it had the motion sensors.