My child's prescription disappeared at OKW

[Best Aunt]

True lol. Then again though, why would the maid be in a DVC unit other than on trash/towel day?

If you book a DVC room on points, you know when Mousekeeping is SUPPOSED to provide service, but sometimes mistakes happen and they don't arrive according to schedule. (That's why I said "by mistake" regarding hiding your laptop in your bed and having Mousekeeping take away the sheets, with your laptop in them.)

 

[Disney Spaz]

Wow to all of this. Yes, I've also seen the doors propped open and housekeeping in and out of the rooms and I've thought nothing of it until now...however, I'm sure that seasoned criminals see that and see an opportunity. My DH says that the safes are safe in this case as the criminals are there for a fast grab, in and out and won't mess with trying to open a locked safe. I hope he is correct.

I insist on putting everything, including meds in the safe. I don't take a controlled substance but I take a medication for very low thyroid and my doctor warned me that some people try and use it for weight loss. However DD's laptop wouldn't fit in the safe. I had told her not to leave it out but I was "overreacting" .

Because of this I am pretty cognizant of room location now. We were on the first floor facing the parking lot. I think that made it easier for a thief to target our room.

 

[Nanajo1]

We arrived at our AKL villa to find a Mousekeeper sitting with her shoes off and TV on! Catching her afternoon soaps I guess. She quickly put her shoes on and left!

 

[Sammie]

Yes, it was an ADHD med., so a controlled substance. We reported it but since we have no proof and no idea when it happened, good luck figuring out who took it. When we were there we also saw someone cuffed and arrested by the OCSO. This was right by the main building. He was wearing a bathing suit, dressed like a tourist. I have no idea why he was being arrested, but that combined with the missing meds. makes me feel like I might stick to resorts with indoor hallways (and presumably cameras in the hallways) from now on.

Nobody asked to use our restroom or anything like that. Maybe someone came in behind the maid?

I can assure you that you will be no less safe at a resort with outside entry and no more safe at one with interior hallways.

As Bill said, crime happens every day at Disney.

 

[Nanajo1]

I forgot about the time we were at BWV. We were in the room when a young maintenance worker let himself in. No knock. He seemed surprised to find someone in the room and mumbled something about checking on a call. We hadn't call and he quickly left. Not five minutes later a young woman from mousekeeping let herself in. She mumbled something about a call. We think we interrupted a rendezvous. When we spoke to management all they said was to keep the door lock on when we were in the room.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I forgot about the time we were at BWV. We were in the room when a young maintenance worker let himself in. No knock. He seemed surprised to find someone in the room and mumbled something about checking on a call. We hadn't call and he quickly left. Not five minutes later a young woman from mousekeeping let herself in. She mumbled something about a call. We think we interrupted a rendezvous. When we spoke to management all they said was to keep the door lock on when we were in the room.

Gross! Personally I've always been uncomfortable with housekeeping at any hotel. I'm a big boy...I can make my own bed. I don't need cleaning after every night. I don't need a fresh towel every day. At home I hang up the towel and replace one a week. I like the idea of requesting no one allowed to enter my room without me present. I've never had a problem anywhere....but knock on wood.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

To the OP, I am so sorry this happened. It makes me feel very sad they targeted your DDs medication. I'm glad you were able to get her new medication without much interruption. But if you hadn't been able to? Makes me so darn mad.

Thank you for all the tips, everyone. Knowledge is valuable, and I appreciate the tips. We're the types who usually keep our DO NOT DISTURB placard up during our entire stay. We do not like the thought of anyone entering our room. I usually catch hkeeping in the hall and switch out towels, but I do not need someone to make our beds every day and so on. Would rather do it myself than have strangers enter our room. I know MANY do not share this same view however since they are on vacation. I understand that view also.

 

[leebee]

DD and I were in a studio at OKW on one trip. I ALWAYS request to be not on the ground floor as I am snake-phobic and don't want one crawling on my walkway or into my room (I know, it can happen, but leave me with my illusion that it happens less frequently on upper floors!). Anyhow, on this trip I noticed one evening that the a/c wasn't working well and we had little flying bugs in our room. I checked the windows and doors, then noticed that the slider was open- both the glass and the screen door. You can believe I was pretty freaked out, even on the 2nd floor!! I believe that housekeeping left that door open.

We, too, have witnessed housekeeping at MANY hotels and motels propping open the doors of consecutive rooms, putting their cart between the doorways, and servicing both rooms. I've also seen them flipping the door-bar (instead of a chain) so that, although the door isn't wide open, it is open a tiny bit, not at all latched, so they don't have to repeatedly unlock doors. It's a security risk- anyone can go into those rooms and claim they are the occupant if they are detected. Maybe we should all note housekeeper's names and start reporting this or something. It really annoys me.

 

[disneynutz]

Anyhow, on this trip I noticed one evening that the a/c wasn't working well and we had little flying bugs in our room. I checked the windows and doors, then noticed that the slider was open- both the glass and the screen door. You can believe I was pretty freaked out, even on the 2nd floor!! I believe that housekeeping left that door open.

FYI - at WDW if the slider is open, a switch on the slider turns the AC off.

Bill

 

[jerseygal]

Great advice...

Never really gave these security risks of housekeeping propping doors open, etc.. too much thought in hotels, but now I will think differently..

If I see that situation, I will definitely report it to the front desk. In the hotel's defense, if guests or members do not report something, playing "devils advocate" , they cannot remedy a situation, if they don't know about it!

 

[disnyrtl]

This also brings a good point, since one. Old lose their RX or have it stolen, I found that a call to your doctor USUALLY can result in a temporary supply being made available at the local Exerds off the Main Street coming into downtown Disney. I had to use this myself when I accidental let my pills fall into one of the canels.

 

[okiedokieartichoke]

Remember housekeeping is typically the low of the low on the totem pole of CMs.

Wow, just wow...I know you didn't mean it to sound terrible but it does. As someone who actually has worked in housekeeping I can tell you it's one of the harder jobs to obtain in a resort, any resort but especially with Disney because of their high standards of cleanliness. its actually a really really hard job! I just feel, like another poster mentioned, that housekeepers should be defended. we always hear these horror stories about peoples items being stolen from their room, so yes, there are some housekeepers out there like that but I would say overall they are amazing !

 

[wilkeliza]

Wow, just wow...

As I've already pointed out it had nothing to do with the people in the position but rather what is required to get the position. How about you read the rest of the thread instead of commenting on something said on page one and later clarified.

Also since you edited your posted I'll edit mine. I did work housekeeping for a resort and it was the hardest job I've ever had but easiest to obtain.

When I applied for Disney I was flat out told housekeeping (and custodial) are the two easiest jobs to obtain with the company. They may be hard jobs and they maybhave a high turn around but they aren't picky about who gets hired for them.

 

[SueM in MN]

Our door didn't latch very well unless you pulled it really hard. Maybe one of the times we didn't pull it hard enough. Maybe rooms like that are known to criminals who are familiar with that resort...who knows. I'd say there is a zero percent chance we'll ever figure out what happened, but a 100% chance that I'm not taking chances with meds or valuables in hotel rooms in the future.

We noticed on our last trip that the door didn't latch unless pulled shut.
We were very careful about checking it after that and we reported it to Maintenance. They fixed it so it worked and thanked us profusely. They said people seldom report problems with the latch unless they are concerned that someone actually got into the room and took something.

I have stayed in rooms at AKV Kidani where the safe door wouldn't latch. It would appear to be locked, and if you pulled gently, it seemed closed. But if you gave a good tug, it would come open. Reported the problem after we left, because I didn't particularly want to draw attention to the fact the safe didn't work while we were staying in the room, or to have to wait in the room for somebody to come fix it. So, the safes aren't particularly safe, either.
We've only stayed at OKW once, and the unit we were in didn't even have a safe. It must be new that they have safes.

We've been members of DVC since 1992 and can say for sure that safes were in at least the Master bedrooms from the start. I can't say for sure about studios.

 

[PatMcDuck]

OMG on people stealing drugs from open houses and walk-throughs. Who would even think of that? I sure wouldn't...well, I guess I would now, but before I wouldn't. That's horrible.

A friend had family birthday party for her young daughter. Someone stole her 8 year old son's ADHD medication. She was furious, and knows it was an extended family member, but not sure which one.

My (adult) son is on ADD meds, and he knows to hide them when he has friends over his place. And replacing them is a nightmare, and maybe even impossible. In NJ, you cannot call in these meds. And you only get a 30 day supply, and have to pick up the RX in person (or have someone else pick it up that you designate.)

 

[jerseygal]

So SAD that College Students are stealing these meds or borrowing these meds from friends!

Unbelievable, to think that an extended family member stole a child's ADHD
medication is UNTHINKABLE! So SCARY! What next?

 

[gdrj]

Not a DVC resort but in 2009 we had a theft at POFQ. We had 2 rooms that were a few doors apart. On the second day DD and DS in the second room said the felt their stuff had been "gone through" ... Well, the next day we were out all day and when we came back the first room had not been opened but the second room had been cleaned by HKing and DD laptop was gone.

I told them I didn't necessarily believe it was housekeeper as I had witnessed on multiple occasions and multiple trips, including this trip where housekeeping would prop open 2 adjoining rooms and float between the two. I was told by Disney over and over that this was not allowed so it could not have happened but I saw it enough to know it did. u rent an apartment you have the right to refuse entry without being there.

All that being said I still don't think it was the housekeeper I think it was someone who was stalking the rooms and saw an easy target with the ability to quickly get out.

Not sure with the magic bands now (probably possible) but I was on a business trip checked into my hotel, dropped off my luggage and laptop and headed out to dinner with co-workers. We were gone for an hour +. There were 7 laptops stolen from the hotel. Police said thieves use a reader that slides into door and acts like a master key. In and out of room within minutes.

Having rooms propped open makes it even easier. If you think about it Orlando is an ideal spot for a thief. Most guests leave room for day. Almost everyone travels with electronics of some sort. If I have my car with me I feel safer leaving items in trunk than hotel room.

With 50,000+ employees, lots of "guests" and over 30,000 (I think) guest rooms, stuff is going to happen. Unfortunately, as a tourist its our responsibility to take precautions

 

[OurDogCisco]

We always lock our stuff in our suitcases or our backpack using pacsafe backpacks. We were staying at Marriott Custom House (timeshares) and the building was old so we locked our iPads in our suitcase. The safe was super small.