I started a thread about it over on the resorts board. Basically it was an upgrade gone horribly wrong. For those who would like the gory details, here is the letter I am trying to send...
To Whom It May Concern:
I am just back from yet another great Walt Disney World vacation. My 7 year-old son and I stayed at Coronado Springs June 11-15. Although I can hardly believe it, this was my ninth trip over the last eight years. The collective Cast Members at Walt Disney World must be doing something right!
However something went drastically wrong on this most recent trip. It started off pleasantly enough. My son and I presented ourselves to check in at Pop Century on Monday, June 11 at 9:45am. We were tired from our journey, but quickly re-energized by the offer of a free upgrade to Coronado Springs. I am very appreciative of the upgrade offer.
This is where things start to deteriorate. I will apologize in advance for the length and detail of my letter, but I believe the details will help you to understand my frustration and ongoing issue. We arrived at the front desk of Coronado Springs via a courtesy van from Pop Century. The CM was courteous, assigning us room #7597 -near the main pool and a bus stop. My son and I made the long walk to the room from El Centro only to discover that our card keys did not work.
We walked back to El Centro and spoke with a concierge CM who was a bit condescending to me upon my explanation of my problem. He did issue a new (second) set of keys. My son and I once again walked to our room (#7597). Once again the card keys did not work. My frustration was gathering.
My son, who remained patient throughout our journey to Walt Disney World as well as on the trips back and forth to El Centro, indicated that he was tired and did not wish to walk back to El Centro for a third consecutive time. I resolved myself to make it easier on him my finding a nearby CM to assist me.
I found a wonderfully pleasant CM from engineering named Joseph who was doing some maintenance on a nearby room. He was cordial and understanding, and used his pass key to let my son and I into our room for the very first time. He took charge of the situation in an appropriate and helpful way by calling the front desk for me and explaining my dilemma.
The front desk sent a runner to the room. She collected my card keys and said she would be back with a new (third) set. 45 minutes later she arrived back at our room with the new set of keys. These card keys did in fact open the door to our room. I specifically asked her if my park entry entitlements and charging privileges were still in place on this new set of keys. She assured me that all was in order.
Hours after we had hoped to leave for the parks on Monday, my son and I made our way to the Magic Kingdom. This trip was to be a "boys' adventure" for the two of us. Our objective was to enjoy one another's company, and to enjoy the magic and thrill of Walt Disney World theme parks. Imagine our delight, holding hands and finally making our way to the gates of the Magic Kingdom -knowing that our first spin on Space Mountain was only minutes away. Our joy and anticipation was quickly derailed when we were denied admission because our card keys did not include entry privileges. Dismayed, I went to Guest Services. A CM there gave us two temporary passes that would allow us to enter teh park for that day. He told me that I would need to get the problem taken care of at my resort.
My son and I enjoyed the park for several hours before travelling back to Coronado Springs. I was dreading having to once again deal with this same issue which should have been resolved the first time. A pleasant CM named Willie at the concierge desk listened to my long story. He made a phone call, and after a few minutes told me that the problem was that my park entry entitlements had not been transferred along with us from Pop Century. He made a new (fourth) set of card keys for us, and assured us that all was now taken care of.
Exhausted after a day of travel and fun, my son and I decided that we would finish the day by going for a swim at the Dig Site pool. When we went back to the room my card key did not work. Imagine my surprise!
Wearing dripping wet bathing suits and flipflops, my son and I made our way once again to El Centro. A CM I spoke with did not seem to care much about my dilemma, but did issue me another card key. On the way back to the room, a drenching thunderstorm soaked us thoroughly. We just grinned at each other and shook our heads.
This newest card key did open the room. We were even more tired after our latest journey to El Centro, so we ordered our supper through room service. 90 minutes later the supper came. It was cold, expensive, and unsatisfactory.
Tuesday, June 12 was our second day. We arose early, ready to enjoy the parks in hopes that the troubles of the previous day were behind us. Our destination was Animal Kingdom. We arrived at park opening, ready to have a full day of thrills and fun.
When we went to enter the park my key was rejected as being invalid. My son's key was accepted. Once again we were directed to Guest Services. A pleasant CM there who could not grasp the big picture of my problem issued me a temporary pass for the park, and told me that I needed to resolve my problem at the resort. Rightly sensing my frustration at having to begin my day at Guest Services, she issued us a complimentary single-use pass for any one ride in the park. This was a small consolation to me at this point, but it was a significant gesture in that it was the only time anyone other than Joseph (the CM from engineering from much earlier in the story) had said or done anything to apologize or commisserate for my dilemma.
Instead of hopping directly to Disney-MGM Studios, my son and I stopped by the front desk of Coronado Springs once again. We were issued yet another set of card keys. This change in our plans was yet another inconvenience, but I am glad to say that we had no further issues with our card keys.
When it came time for us to depart we did not receive notification about pick-up instructions from Disney's Magical Express. I was too busy enjoying my time with my son to bother calling and straightening out yet another mess on the day before my departure. I called the ME service number on the morning of my departure and was told that I was scheduled for pick-up at Pop Century. I explained that this would be an inconvenience since I was now staying at Coronado Springs. Needing to catch an airplane that afternoon, I did the only thing I knew to do: I made my way to the ME bus stop and hopped on the next bus.
As we were leaving I thought about hwo glad I was to have survived the odyssey of the previous days. I was thankful to be heading home. In all my trips to Walt Disney World I have never felt that way before.
Between the days of June 11-15 I encountered continued incompetence, poor communication, some condescending attitudes, and a problem that it seemed would never end.
Again, I am grateful for the upgrade that Walt Disney World made to me upon my arrival. However the incompetent mishandling of this issue made something wonderful into something horrible. I am glad the headache is behind me. I want to trust Walt Disney World with my future vacationing needs, but as of right now I do not. I just cannot understand why this problem never did get resolved. I remained patient throughout, with my son at my side. I did not desire to give up anymore of our precious vacation time by presenting my dilemma to management at Coronado Springs. I just wanted someone to get things right. Sadly it never did happen.
Thank you for reading my lengthy letter. I think Disney wishes to be a good host to all it's guests. But for me and my son, on this particular trip, it did not happen that way.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
Seriously lilygator, I appreciate that advice and will send an abridged version to some appropriate places soon. I agree that the details matter, but may keep it from getting a fair reading.
I had hoped that the incompetence was isolated, but apparently not. At the very least, this says something bad about service at the Coronado Springs. I regret to hear that you experienced a problem too. It's real magical opening each day with a visit to Guest Services at your park of choice, isn't it?
That does need to be reconciled. I am torn because I am glad to have gone -and did enjoy those parts of my trip in which I wasn't worrying over KTTW cards (which was way too much IMO). As I said in the end of the letter though, for the first time I found myself actually GLAD to be leaving WDW. Aside from being surprised at my own feeling that way, I suspect that's not exactly what WDW is shooting for in terms of guest reaction.
