NEW POLICY: How Special Room Requests Are Honored

[TroyWDW]

Recently, DVCMC posted a message on the dvcmember.com website regarding special room requests. I wrote to MS last week and asked several specific questions about the special room requests policy. The response was from an individual who stated that they had previously been a room assignor at one of the resorts.

Simply stated, there has been a change in how special room requests are attempted to be met.

Troy


Below are Member Services statements regarding the new policy.

This policy is followed by all Disney resorts. This includes Disney Vacation Club resorts (including Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort) as well as the resorts in Florida in the Disney Collection.

First, guests requesting handicapped accessible rooms are assigned with priority. By ADA requirements we must guarantee these room requests.

Second in priority are those requests with medical need. These, like any other request are not guaranteed, but will most impact a guest's stay if not met.

All other requests are taken as a first come, first served basis on the day of arrival. This is a recent change to the procedure as we have received feedback from the majority of members that having a room ready upon their arrival (even if checking in before the posted check-in time) was of more importance then getting some or any of their room requests.

This policy gives the resort the most flexibility to both match most requests that members have, as well as give them a room that is available right away. No other criteria such as booking date, or if the reservation is for a member or a guest is taken into account.

Of course checking in earlier in the day will give you the most flexibility in room assignment, but the resort does realize that not everyone will be able to check in early, nor should they be penalized for checking in later in the day with room assignment. The room assigner at the resort, as well as the front desk Cast Members are trained to only offer popular requested areas (such as near the Hospitality House at Disney's Old Key West Resort, or an Epcot view at Disney's Beach Club Villas) only when requested so that those rooms may be available to those checking in later on in the day.

Also note the policy posted on the Member website. Our resorts will only fill requests on reservations only if those requests come directly from Member Services. Calling or faxing your requests to the resort will only mean that they will go unanswered.

 

[TroyWDW]

I highlighted the most significant section in blue. The justification for the change was that the "majority of members believe early arrival is most important".

I created a poll a few days ago to solicit responses from all of you to see whether you agree with the stated assertion. Note, I waited to post the new policy until after the poll had a significant number of responses. I was trying to not bias the survey information. Click Here: Poll Message Link

Currently, the poll shows that 80% of people find "Special Room Requests" to be most important, contrary to the stated MS position.

I strongly support the new policy regarding faxing requests to the resort. Call MS, make your requests. All other communications will be ignored.

It appears that guests, owners, cash customers, 11-month, 3-month reservations will all be treated equally with no priority given. Making requests with MS and arriving early in the day seem to be the new rule.

Troy

 

[spiceycat]

I wish that DVC would go back to the old policy - if you made your request at the 11th month time - they were honored - later on -forget - that I would think would be much more fair than who gets there first. Now yes when they had this policy it was only OKW - but if they are trying to set up first come basis - how about going back to when the reservations was made?

I got to OKW one morning at 7:00am - first check-in (I asked) none of my request were made - they told me I didn't made any when I showed them my reservation confirmation with my requests - and the thing that really hurts - while I was arguing with the silly manager - other DVC members came in and got one of the room that I would have loved!!!!

So if this now happens - who do we write too - believe me I will definitely be writing if this happens again.

so do we get one person to complaint too!

 

[Terry S]

Well, personally I think it stinks! I would like to know who the majority of the members were in this statement and when they asked those members?:

"we have received feedback from the majority of members that having a room ready upon their arrival (even if checking in before the posted check-in time) was of more importance then getting some or any of their room requests."

I think we will see a lot more people stay either off-site or at a non-dvc resort their first night and then check in early the next morning just to get what they want. I hate to repeat myself, but this stinks, I like to fly in late on Friday night after the kids get out of school and unpack, then get up on Saturday and start our vacation. I know I shouldn't let room view and/or location ruin my vacation, but it is important to me and I think if I am making my reservations at 11 months, I should get some priority.

 

[JohnathanS]

I would think that another "high priority" for room assignment, right after disability and medical, would be smoking or non-smoking. For non-smokers, having to stay in a smoking optional building or room could pretty much make their stay at the resort miserable. The same is true for smokers staying where smoking is prohibitted. Also, booking a smoker in a non-smoking room might lead to the guest breaking the rules and smoking anyway. Maybe there are enough of each type of rooms that this is not a big deal?

 

[spiceycat]

Jonathan when OKW was first open the even building were non-smoking - the odd building were smoking.

It didn't take them long to realize that most DVC members were non-smoking - so they changed I think what 5 building maybe 7 are smoking.

so most of the time it would harder for a smoker to get his request.

If you are allergic to smoke - when you make your reservations just say that - this is a health reason.

 

[TroyWDW]

I will definitely be writing and calling to discuss my likes and dislikes for the new policy. I also would like them to communicate the new policy to all members. I encourage everyone else to call or write, also.

I think it was Dean who suggested that "Smoking / Non-Smoking" should be a room type not a request. Just like there are handicap rooms, standard view rooms, 1-Bedroom, etc. These are all known types of rooms and are reserved on the day you make your reservation. It used to be that you were guaranteed a "Studio Plus" room at BWV (it just wasn't highly publicized).

It isn't obvious to me why they can't guarantee a smoking preference room. I'll be asking this question also.

Troy

 

[JohnathanS]

Originally posted by TroyWDW
I think it was Dean who suggested that "Smoking / Non-Smoking" should be a room type not a request. Just like there are handicap rooms, standard view rooms, 1-Bedroom, etc. These are all known types of rooms and are reserved on the day you make your reservation. It used to be that you were guaranteed a "Studio Plus" room at BWV (it just wasn't highly publicized).

It isn't obvious to me why they can't guarantee a smoking preference room. I'll be asking this question also.

Troy

Sorry, pushed the wrong button and placed up an empty post!

Spiceycat- actually my mom is a smoker and I usually travel with her. We were once placed in a non-smoking room at PORR and she had to leave the room to smoke, which isn't terrible but inconvenient for someone with such a habit. It would be worse for non-smokers, especially for allergies.

Troy- it almost seems like Disney is moving toward smoking/non-smoking being a "room type". When we receive our reservation confirmations in the mail for regular resorts, they now say "smoking guaranteed" at the bottom of them.

 

[JohnNJ]

Troy:

I spoke to one of the room controllers at BWV and asked about faxed room requests.

She said that she checks every fax that comes in against the reservation in their computer. If the requests on the fax are in the computer, she throws the fax away. If not, because sometimes the person taking the reservation did not put them in correctly, she types all of the requests on the fax in to the computer system. The faxes are not ignored. They don't improve your chances of getting what you want but they do guarantee that your requests are seen.

John

 

[TroyWDW]

JohnNJ,

The new room request policy, as seen on the dvcmember.com website, states:

Please do not call or fax the resort where you'll be staying. To be fair to all Members, the only information we use when trying to honor special room requests is that which comes from Member Services.

This statement was reinforced within the communication I received directly from MS. I don't disagree that current and past practices allow for faxing the resort directly. Whether the resorts will truly ignore the faxes remains to be seen, but the stated policy indicates that they will ignore faxed requests in the future.

Troy

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by TroyWDW
Recently, DVCMC posted a message on the dvcmember.com website regarding special room requests.
Simply stated, there has been a change in how special room requests are attempted to be met.


[All other requests are taken as a first come, first served basis on the day of arrival. This is a recent change to the procedure as we have received feedback from the majority of members that having a room ready upon their arrival (even if checking in before the posted check-in time) was of more importance then getting some or any of their room requests.[/COLOR]

This policy gives the resort the most flexibility to both match most requests that members have, as well as give them a room that is available right away. No other criteria such as booking date, or if the reservation is for a member or a guest is taken into account.

DVC better get there act together and "stick" with 1 way of honoring requests. IMO this new method SUCKS

. What good is the 11 month booking advantage . Someone can make a reservation 2 months out and get preference over someone who booked it at the 11 month window, just because they arrive to check in at 8:00 am.

 

[Niagara2]

Have booked BWV a total of 7 times and all 7 times like most. request Boardwalk view. 5 of the trips were booked 11 months out and got pool view. One trip was booked that stay and one 3 weeks out for last Memorial Day weekend and we got the view. Go figure - as I can't figure it out. This is before the new policy. I actually left OKW at 6 am once to check in hoping for a boardwalk view and still didn't get it. Sounds like that will work now, but wish the old system stayed in place and was followed.

 

[anniet]

I really have to wonder if this policy is "new" or if they are just being more honest about what their policy really is.

DBF's cousin used to work for CSR, and we stayed there in 2000 and booked 5 rooms. She told us what the policy was, and basically it is what is described above. Was their REALLY a different policy for DVC members? Wouldn't that have required a whole other system for handling reservations?
I haven't been a DVC member all that long compared to a lot of others here, but the only advantage I EVER thought I had with the 11 month window was booking at my home resort, and NOT room requests. And let's face it, if you check into VWL you are checking in on the same system as other guests at the lodge, and I imagine other resorts with the exception of OKW are the same, so how could it make a difference WHEN you made the reservation?

I also think the comment of faxes and other communications will be ignored may be due to the volume they may be receiving of these requests.

I have to say that I was a little surprised that the poll showed that members chose room requests over early check-in. I think when forced to chose members will take room requests, but when they show up at noon and want their room, they are sending a much different message.

 

[gracelrm]

This may force more people who are arriving late to stay off site for the first night and spend their money at off site restaurants. I wondered if anyone considered that!

 

[DeeP]

I really have to wonder if this policy is "new" or if they are just being more honest about what their policy really is.

I agree and from my past experiences at all types of WDW resorts, I firmly believe it has always been this way. The vast amount of record keeping it would require to assign rooms by not only booking date but by requests, medical needs, smoking preferences etc and taking into account the huge numbers of check ins/outs in the course of a day, it would be an impossible feat.

 

[DebbieB]

From the conversation I had with Jackie at DVC today, she told me arriving early does not really help. From the way she explained it, if you arrive at BWV at 9:00am and there are no BW view rooms clean, you will not get one. They will assign you a room that is clean elsewhere. If still you want a BW view, then you will have the option to not get a room assigned then and come back later to see if they have a BW view room clean. I don't know if you can call later to try to get one, I didn't think to ask if they still give you a card to call later. I was thinking that if you arrive real early, chances are the clean rooms are going to be the ones empty the night before, more likely a less popular area.

I told her that I didn't think this system was fair. We rarely arrive before 3:00pm, so we willn't have much chance to get a popular request even though we made the reservation at 11 months. She kept emphasizing that they will try to meet ONE of your requests, the most common one being non-smoking. She said some people have up to 8 requests!

 

[LisaR]

I don't understand why DVC doesn't take surveys via their website. This would give everyone a chance to vote instead of asking 3 people that called MS what they thought and then calling it the "majority of DVC members." All I know is they better have our "non-smoking for medical reasons" room available when we check in at 6pm. Our airline changed our flight time so we don't have a choice but to check in late. Trust me, it won't be pretty if they attempt to give us a smoking room.

Lisa

 

[ArRzrbk]

Evening all,

I am on currently on the waitlist at BC (April Use Year, 210 points, Magical Beginnings) and not an offical DVC member yet, but I thought I might as well give my two cents...

The one and only time I stayed at Disney World, I made tons of room requests at PO. I called ahead and gave them my wishes and stated them again when we checked in. Best I remember, we did wait for the room, but we got all our requests. We did not arrive realy early either.

But the way I saw it was that those are only requests. I was told they could not promise they would be honored. FYI...my confirmation sheet did state the requests on it.

If the system was setup with specific views, room numbers, etc. as guaranteed, I could see the issue. But these are "requests." I would never expect to have them filled, but I would just be very happy if they were. And I think Disney does try.

But I see your point about the policy changing without really consulting all the members. I am surprised DVC does not have a better system for talking to its members.

Honestly though, I am not sure as a future DVC member that I want to get different treatment on the request front than cash paying visitors. To tell you the truth, I think we ought to get housecleaning, just like the paying customers.

Anyway, I look forward to the day I am an official DVC member (hopefully in the next couple weeks) and can help shape DVC's policies. Yep, I'm an optimist, or at least I try hard to be. I believe I can and will make a difference. Disney dreaming : )

ArRzrbk

 

[Lesley]

It seems to me that it depends largely upon the CM you get a check in.....no matter what time you check in. I think some try to look for an available room that fits your requests and others don't want to be bothered. I know last time I checked into BWV our room wasn't ready, so I just asked "can you tell me if I got any of my requests?"....and the CM told me "it looks like you got all but one....I don't see any smoking rooms available" (we requested boardwalk view, smoking since my mom is a smoker and was joining us). As it turns out we got a handicapped smoking optional boardwalk view....I almost wonder if our room assignment was changed later in the day when someone refused the handicapped room (or the smoking optional).

Btw, I assume that if a room doesn't have a no smoking sign on it that its smoking optional? We actually had one at the VWL also. Neither room had any smell of smoke in it.

Also, it sounds like with this new policy, if you don't specifically ask about your requests at check in they'll just give you anything. So now I need to find a very nice polite way of being forthright and saying "I would love to have a room (insert request here)" It seems like a lot is at the discretion of the front desk CM's....and I'm now afraid of offending one of them! Or maybe that's part of the plan....they can get back at difficult guests by giving them crappy rooms!

 

[DisneyCrazy]

Originally posted by ArRzrbk


To tell you the truth, I think we ought to get housecleaning, just like the paying customers.

Cash customers pay a premium for this, you can have daily housekeeping as well, but you must be willing to pay the premium. We booked two cash nights (weekend, go figure) last month at the member discount - no daily housekeeping - but for 25% off I wasn't complaining!

Now my comment on that, "what members prefer':

The poll here as well as Disney's take are both bunk. Unless all 70,000 (or whatever the number is) members are polled and a statistically significant number respond it doesn't really represent what members want. Personally I agree with the poll results here and not Disney - but then again I neither took the poll or was asked by Disney.