Need Contact Info For DVC & Poly Leadership (Major Issue On Welcome Home Stay July 1-4)

[coreynyc]

Looks like they just implemented new procedures and 3 hour parking passes for Polynesian, unsure if related.

I’m the OP and returned to WDW a in late July. I stayed at Swan but had dinner at Poly. We were given a “3 hour parking” pass but it’s all smoke and mirrors as that pass did not state an entry time or expiration time.

 

[lowlight]

I’m the OP and returned to WDW a in late July. I stayed at Swan but had dinner at Poly. We were given a “3 hour parking” pass but it’s all smoke and mirrors as that pass did not state an entry time or expiration time.

This is true, it appears they say meal time (breakfast lunch or dinner) instead of actual hours.

 

[minniesfriend]

Heard our waiter at California Grill complaining how he was losing many tables/income from guests booking a no show ADR for parking at the contemporary during late night/party events. They don't mind paying the no show fee for the convenient parking.

Wow.... I would never even think of doing this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised......

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Wow.... I would never even think of doing this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised......

Oooo - it's amazing what people will think of to get around a perceived inconvenience! I guess if this is becoming a problem, the cancellation fees at the monorail resorts and the EPCOT resorts might be going up at some point! Probably another social media hack.

 

[minniesfriend]

OP: I am sorry you had such a bad experience and I don't blame you one bit. We stayed at PIT in early June and luckily found a spot, but that was luck. There definitely needs to be a guard there (instead of the arm only - these arms break all the time) and they need to be consistently enforcing the parking rules. We, too, felt like the resort was crowded with day guests and this has greatly diminished our intent to buy there.

We stayed at FWC during the July 4th week.

On July 3rd, we had a 7pm ADR at Steakhouse 71. We were planning on taking the boats from FW, but it was POURING that night. So, we drove to the CR and valeted. We stayed to watch the fireworks and could barely find a place to watch it was so, so crowded. Clearly, there were a ton of day guests there. The next night, July 4th, we watched from the beach at FW and had a much better experience! We watched the fireworks, hopped in our golf cart, and were back in our cabin within 15-20 min.

An easy solution is to require (and enforce) day guests to park at DS or the TTC and use either the boat or the express monorail during times of high volume. This would be for park access and ADR's during certain times of the year. No parking at the resorts - full stop. AND scan in for pool access (but that's in another thread).

FWIW:
I feel the same way about GF during the Christmas holidays. This is our home resort and we specifically purchased there for the 11-month window during this time. We've stayed at GF the last three years there, and this year, will be staying at BRV. There were so many day guests taking the boats back and forth to the resort that we would have to wait for 2 or 3 boats - and this was in the middle of the day. And on nights of MVMCP, the monorail is unusable due to the crowds. Last year, we had an early dinner at the Contemporary thinking we could get back in time before it really got crowded, and security wouldn't even allow us to get in line for the monorail. So we ended up walking from CR to VGF. It was raining. The lobby is packed and covered with scansions so folks can either get their picture made in front to the tree or get to the gingerbread house. And in the evening, the waits for the Enchanted Rose would go to 90 min. (This is during the first week of Dec. so I can't imagine what it's like closer to Christmas).

 

[muppets3d]

Wow.... I would never even think of doing this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised......

Parking at TTC is $30. No-show fee for California Grill is apparently $10 per person, and you can walk to Magic Kingdom.

We'll see how well this new Poly initiative works. I'm sure Disney is hesitant to tow folks on vacation, but people who are staying at the resort shouldn't have difficulty finding parking because of day guests.

 

[teamsamant]

I recently posted in another thread the nightmare that is the Polynesian.

Great theme, beautiful grounds with horrible service , overrun facilities used by non-guests which makes for a miserable experience. This entire post does not surprise me at all.

With the new thing being to have "non-park days" at deluxe resorts the Polynesian with its excellent themeing and fireworks viewing locations not to mention its location near MK and the TTC brings it to the top of the resort list for being taken over by non-guests.

My stay was awful and we are happier to stay at nearly all the other DVC resorts and yes including Saratoga Springs and those off the monorail too. The Polynesian along with Animal Kingdom are our least favorites as DVC members.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Heard our waiter at California Grill complaining how he was losing many tables/income from guests booking a no show ADR for parking at the contemporary during late night/party events. They don't mind paying the no show fee for the convenient parking.

Hadn’t thought about that but I guess that’s only a $10 fee if someone does it for a party of 1…

 

[coreynyc]

Hi, this is the OP.

I forgot to report back a few weeks ago. I am not sure where I left the updates so apologies if a bit of this is repetitive info from previous posts.

I finally got a call from a member services cast member who couldn't give less of a you know what. They listened to my story and basically said that the $50 courtesy credit I already received settled the matter.

At this point, I took the suggestion of people in this thread and one other thread that told me to email William Diercksen & also the member services email address.

A couple of days later and after a few back & forth emails, I got a call from another cast member in member services. After introductions and the disclaimer that we were on a recorded line, the cast member basically spoke for several minutes. She told me (parphrasing) that she could not believe what I went through, her disbelief at how many things went wrong, pointing out things she knows should have occurred based on her training, experience, and knowledge as a cast member, etc.

She heard me out, we had a discussion, there was empathy. Then she asked if I would be OK (her words) with a full refund of the points used on that stay. Getting 99 points back exceeded my expectations and of course, I accepted.

My faith in DVC and Disney was restored. Problems are going to occur and when they do, they need to be made right.

Thank you to everyone who helped, listened, and/or shared their experiences.

 

[Carouselofplanning]

Hi, this is the OP.

I forgot to report back a few weeks ago. I am not sure where I left the updates so apologies if I bit of this is repetitive info from previous posts.

I finally got a call from a member services cast member who couldn't give less of a you know what. They listened to my story and basically said that the $50 courtesy credit I already received settled the matter.

At this point, I took the suggestion of people in this thread and one other thread that told me to email William Diercksen & also the member services email address.

A couple of days later and after a few back & forth emails, I got a call from another cast member in member services. After introductions and the disclaimer that we were on a recorded line, the cast member basically spoke for several minutes. She told me (parphrasing) that she could not believe what I went through, her disbelief at how many many things went wrong, pointing out things she knows should have occurred based on her training, experience, and knowledge as a cast member, etc.

She heard me out, we had a discussion, there was empathy. Then she asked if I would be OK (her words) with a full refund of the points used on that stay. Getting 99 points back exceeded my expectations and of course, I accepted.

My faith in DVC and Disney was restored. Problems are going to occur and when they do, they need to be made right.

Thank you to everyone who helped, listened, and/or shared their experiences.

This is a great ending to an unfortunate situation. Very happy they finally took care of you.
However, I can’t say it enough - this is the worst managed Deluxe resort.

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

Hi, this is the OP.

I forgot to report back a few weeks ago. I am not sure where I left the updates so apologies if I bit of this is repetitive info from previous posts.

I finally got a call from a member services cast member who couldn't give less of a you know what. They listened to my story and basically said that the $50 courtesy credit I already received settled the matter.

At this point, I took the suggestion of people in this thread and one other thread that told me to email William Diercksen & also the member services email address.

A couple of days later and after a few back & forth emails, I got a call from another cast member in member services. After introductions and the disclaimer that we were on a recorded line, the cast member basically spoke for several minutes. She told me (parphrasing) that she could not believe what I went through, her disbelief at how many many things went wrong, pointing out things she knows should have occurred based on her training, experience, and knowledge as a cast member, etc.

She heard me out, we had a discussion, there was empathy. Then she asked if I would be OK (her words) with a full refund of the points used on that stay. Getting 99 points back exceeded my expectations and of course, I accepted.

My faith in DVC and Disney was restored. Problems are going to occur and when they do, they need to be made right.

Thank you to everyone who helped, listened, and/or shared their experiences.

Glad to hear this. Thank you for seeing this through - it helps all of us too!

 

[matt and beth]

You think people are renting cars and parking at the resorts so they don't have to pay $16/person for a Mears bus, or ~$40 per carload with an Uber, from MCO?

Basically yes

 

[Moonspinner]

Hi, this is the OP.

I forgot to report back a few weeks ago. I am not sure where I left the updates so apologies if a bit of this is repetitive info from previous posts.

I finally got a call from a member services cast member who couldn't give less of a you know what. They listened to my story and basically said that the $50 courtesy credit I already received settled the matter.

At this point, I took the suggestion of people in this thread and one other thread that told me to email William Diercksen & also the member services email address.

A couple of days later and after a few back & forth emails, I got a call from another cast member in member services. After introductions and the disclaimer that we were on a recorded line, the cast member basically spoke for several minutes. She told me (parphrasing) that she could not believe what I went through, her disbelief at how many things went wrong, pointing out things she knows should have occurred based on her training, experience, and knowledge as a cast member, etc.

She heard me out, we had a discussion, there was empathy. Then she asked if I would be OK (her words) with a full refund of the points used on that stay. Getting 99 points back exceeded my expectations and of course, I accepted.

My faith in DVC and Disney was restored. Problems are going to occur and when they do, they need to be made right.

Thank you to everyone who helped, listened, and/or shared their experiences.

Thanks for following up on this. Disney really needs to hear about this stuff.

We just had an unrelated but similar experience. We stayed at BLT for 2 nights to go to the Halloween party. We stayed until the magic kingdom shut down and then walked back to BLT. There were several groups of people all walking back towards BLT. As we were approaching BLT, 2 separate parties who had been walking back to BLT in our vicinity peeled off from the groups of people on the path and stepped into the parking lot, got in their cars, and drove off! It was almost 1am. I’m pretty sure they were driving home after the party. I don’t think we would have noticed this except that now we are aware of it since reading on disboards.

 

[muppets3d]

Thanks for following up on this. Disney really needs to hear about this stuff.

We just had an unrelated but similar experience. We stayed at BLT for 2 nights to go to the Halloween party. We stayed until the magic kingdom shut down and then walked back to BLT. There were several groups of people all walking back towards BLT. As we were approaching BLT, 2 separate parties who had been walking back to BLT in our vicinity peeled off from the groups of people on the path and stepped into the parking lot, got in their cars, and drove off! It was almost 1am. I’m pretty sure they were driving home after the party. I don’t think we would have noticed this except that now we are aware of it since reading on disboards.

Maybe they were visiting someone staying at BLT, or ate at California Grill before, and stayed for the party? I know, probably a low chance of that - but you never know they may have been parked there legitimately.

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

Maybe they were visiting someone staying at BLT, or ate at California Grill before, and stayed for the party? I know, probably a low chance of that - but you never know they may have been parked there legitimately.

Are CMs allowed to park most places during off hours? Could be that too. Going to the party on your day off.

 

[Carouselofplanning]

Are CMs allowed to park most places during off hours? Could be that too. Going to the party on your day off.

There are legitimate reasons to park there if not a hotel guest. The beauty of the app is that if you are a habitual reservation no show/canceler they should send you an email saying “we see you, please stop or we will suspend adr privileges on your account” or something to that effect.

 

[airjay75]

There are legitimate reasons to park there if not a hotel guest. The beauty of the app is that if you are a habitual reservation no show/canceler they should send you an email saying “we see you, please stop or we will suspend adr privileges on your account” or something to that effect.

Of course, even that would likely be incredibly easy to game. Set up a dummy MDE account with a different e-mail address. Just use your friend's MDE account who goes to Disney rarely. Short of an actual validation system or occasional enforcement of the 3-hour limit for ADRs, the people who play these games will find ways around it. They clearly don't care about playing by the rules, and I'm sure they'll be happy to game it as long as they can.

 

[muppets3d]

Are CMs allowed to park most places during off hours? Could be that too. Going to the party on your day off.

There is separate cast member parking, you typically wouldn't see them parking in the regular lot.