Nightmare at OKW Hospitality House

[pearljim]

I just scanned the recent posts and can't believe that no one seems to have mentioned (unless I missed it) the ugliest check-in I've ever experienced in over 10 years at OKW on 1/1. We arrived at 11:30 am and there were at least 50 people (yes, 50+ people!!) on line to check in at OKW. It stretched all the way back to the "library" area door. We said "no thanks" and went out for lunch.

Upon returning at 1:30 pm, it was no different. I bit the bullet and stood on line while the family went to the pool. No lie, it took 1 hour and five minutes (yes, 1:05!!) before I got to meet with a CM. It seemed like every check-in had problems, some taking up to 30 minutes to resolve during the time I was there. We later heard multiple horror stories about ressies being "lost", people having to make multiple moves during their stay, etc. over the next several days.

The most irritating part to me was that only 4 of the 5 check in stations were staffed for the first 45 minutes I stood in line. Also, there were two and occasionally three CMs at the Consierge desk serving very few guests during the entire time I was on line. Don't tell me they can't check in guests - I know better! When I nicely mentioned the inordinate delays to the CM who finally checked me in (yes, it was very nicely!!), she just shrugged her shoulders and said that is was January and the points were lower. Oh, please - penalize me for utilizing the point established point system???

Boy, if any competitive hotel ran an operation like that, they'd be hard pressed to stay in business. I didn't care if we got into the room early, I am well aware of the 4 PM check in. But guess what, the lines weren't any better at 4 PM either!

With no other posts, I must be in a distinct minority expecting more for my membership -- especially when you have all the advanced reservations, know that you are going to be slammed, and apparently do nothing.

OK, I feel better! Having dodged 22 inches of snow in CT I'd stand on line for 4 hours (don't tell OKW that!) All told, it hasn't ruined a great vacation but I won't be planning any 1/1 check ins in the future. One person's opinion - just thought you'd all like to know.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I noticed the same think earlier this week. It has to be the ME buses. We've never had so many buses pull into OKW at once and with as many people.

It wasn't so bad early in the AM about 7 or 8.

 

[Chuck S]

Actually there was a report about rooms not being ready by 4 or 4:30, but that poster didn't say anything about the check-in line. Truthfully, i wouldn't expect anything different over a major holiday at any other major tourist destination.

Umm, since the Concierge desks are pretty new to OKW, how do you KNOW they can check in at those windows? They may not have the room key printers linked to those stations. Have you see them check people in at those stations after the "concierge" service desk started?

 

[pearljim]

Chuck, I spoke directly with a CM who is a front-end manager at BWV and he told me they are trained to do so. Also, I actually was checked in once by a CM at the Concierge desk.

Interestingly enough, our room (2 BdRm) was not ready until approx. 4:20 pm.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm not suprised to hear how crowded it was, factoring in the low points and the holiday season, but I agree, all Front Desk windows should have been man'd. They should have anticipated this. And not sure what went wrong with the lost ressies ? Computer glitzch maybe ? I know the one time we stayed at BWV, there was a computer glitzch that caused problems and there was a wait-----nowhere near what you describe, but it also wasn't New Years Day. Sorry you had to endure all that but glad you dodged all that snow in CT----22 inches......how awful !
I'll keep your experience in mind if I ever get the whim to vacation around the winter holidays. Being a nurse, I have to work part of Christmas and part of New Years (either the eve or the day of each holiday). So this makes it impossible for me to travel during this time period.

Umm, since the Concierge desks are pretty new to OKW, how do you KNOW they can check in at those windows? They may not have the room key printers linked to those stations

Chuck,
Not positive, but I think Jim was insinuating that the Concierge staff could have come over to the Front Desk area to assist. I think he mentioned that some of the front desk areas were not staffed. I feel on a day like that, every window should have had a CM.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Interestingly enough, our room (2 BdRm) was not ready until approx. 4:20 pm.

Jim,
Even during our stay at OKW in August, we couldn't get into our room until 5 pm. I will admit I was ticked because we checked in at noon. I think they give preference to the ME guests and I don't agree with it.
During our stay at BWV in '03, we didn't get into our room until 4:45 pm and this was only because we requested a bell hop let us in. The key card maker was down and noone could get into their rooms. Once let in, someone had to stay there until the keys could be made which ended up being around 6:30 pm or so. This was during August as well.

 

[stampinshauna]

That sounds very frustrating. I hope you had a wonderful trip despite the check-in. It reminds me of the time I went to Las Vegas for a convention. We stayed at the Hilton as it is connected to the convention center. 5000 attendies were at the convention, with most of them staying at the Hilton. The check-in line was honestly over 2 hours long. Luckily my roommate did the waiting.

Somehow there has got to be a way to speed up the check-in process, especially since everyone has pre-booked and they have all of the information.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Hmm, I haven't had these experiences but then again, I have not yet gone in January.

I don't know if I agree with ME preference thing. What would be the incentive for DVC to cater to this sector over someone else?

We've arrived at OKW, AKL, WL, BWV and Y/BC and had to wait for rooms. The latest we waited was about 5:30pm. But we did not stick around the hotel, we went to a park and called. I didn't want to waste any time.

I agree that DVC/OKW should have all booths full or have the manager start checking people in, but it sounds like the people checking in made the wait long by being adament about special needs or requests. However, DVC should have some type of plan in place for crowding.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

 

[Doctor P]

We were checking out that day and were in the lobby at the same time Jim was, apparently. Here is my take on the situation. There were four distinct, relatively large, groups of people that had lobby business that day: 1) check ins; 2) check outs; 3) airline check ins; 4) airline boarding passes; 5) other concierge services. I observed the staff at OKW do three different things while I was there (I was watching and listening from Papa's Den or from the lines themselves pretty much from 10:15 am till our towncar picked us up at noon): 1) they had a CM asking each person in the lines what their business was and directing them to other lines if their business was not checking into the resort (I was directed to the three Concierge staff members who were doing their usual stuff plus handling the checkins and the boarding passes for people); 2) they DID add extra staff at the front desk when the lines started increasing (this happened when a couple big groups of ME guests arrived all at once as well as people coming in from the Disney Wonder on cruise buses); 3) they used the Concierge staff as much as possible to take the pressure off the front desk--however, from what I could surmise, their computers were not capable of doing check ins and therefore they could not help relieve those lines.

Yes, it was indeed quite ugly in the lobby at that time, and, yes, some people did appear to need to wait a long time. However, it appeared to me that they DID try to be proactive about dealing the lines (the lines at the bell stand were every bit as bad and they had totally run out of cooler space which was causing another set of problems as they moved guests in and out of the resort). Another source of the problem that no one has mentioned is that the luggage system at MCO went down for much of that day and created nightmares for clearance through TSA and the movement of luggage in and out of the airport (we waited over two hours in Chicago for three different flights till we got all our baggage due to the problems at MCO). So this probably exacerbated some of the problems with check in and the movement of luggage in and out of the resort, too. The CM's appeared to be doing everything in their power to help people and to get rid of the lines from what I saw, but that still was not enough to dent the problem as much as one would probably like.

 

[ryoung]

We were down there too and were leaving on New Years Day. I have never seen lines like that either. I asked a CM about it and she said that that is traditionally the buzziest check-in/out day of the year. With that in mind, I am not sure that they had enough CM at check-in

Randy

 

[Daitcher]

First posts about increased dues and now this. These resorts would be happy to staff more CM's. After all we pay for it. Maybe this could be brought up at a owners meeting. Now this would increase dues and I am sure people would be in a huff over that. Hotel/timeshare business is tough. You can never please everyone all the time. I am sure they were doing all they could, they don't like lines anymore than you do. Sorry about the wait but this is expected and not unusual at peak times. Thus the reason we do not travel anywhere during peak times, especially to WDW. I definitely agree with others that the ME makes things much worse. Better luck next time.


DAVE

 

[gopherit]

I'd say the "waiting whammy" you felt was the combo of 4 bad factors:

* New YEar's Day (all those snow birds coming to roost in the sun?)
* SUnday (cheaper pts)
* Timing (mid-morn, peak plane arrival, let's check in and hit the parks timing)
* ME (buses dropping folks off in herds)

We have done the mid-day check in at OKW on the SUnday after NYE and I admit, it is lengthy. But I have also had a VERY long wait (easily 40 minutes - probably more) at other resorts, so it's not just an OKW exclusive thing, though certainly the size of OKW (# of rooms) and the demands of cleaning rooms there (bldgs sprawled out across large area, and let's face it - larger rooms take more time!) may make it a bit trickier.

My sister had her family and several in-laws with her the week before / including xmas, and said they arrived at check-in around 9 am on a Saturday - said not only was check-in a breeze, but they gave her "options" for her rooms (i.e., if you want a room now now, you can have this bldg or that. If you're willing to wait and be nearer to the HH, we can put you in this bldg. etc,etc,etc.) This was one of her first Sat check-ins ever (she's normally a Sunday cheaper pts person, LOL). She attributed the low lines to the higher pts (and lots of folks leaving on Fri or SAt to catch flights home, so rooms were ready.)

As a result - we moved our plans for this August from SUn to SUn to Sat to Sat. Figured it's all the same in pts, but if it spares me a little time in the line, what the hey - it's worth a shot. We usually arrive at the resort no later than noon - but maybe this time, we'll shoot for 10. Can't hurt. Besides - we're getting the dining plan, and we can start using it once we check in.

Sorry you had such a long wait, though. That can be pretty frustrating. About the only thing worse than that is a long line if you're checking out. I once had to wait 45 minutes just to correct a bill for a BCV room that was obtained using my DVC discount. Combine post-vacation depression with cattle ques and you get one very cranky gopher....

 

[JimFitz]

How was the rest of the trip?

 

[lovwdwalot]

Plus you have to also look at your day of check in too 1/1/06, I would think that some CM's could have called in sick that day too.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Call me thick, but I don't understand why a low point season/holiday week would cause longer lines. I mean, aren't the DVC Resorts pretty much full ALL the time?

MG

 

[Doctor P]

Call me thick, but I don't understand why a low point season/holiday week would cause longer lines. I mean, aren't the DVC Resorts pretty much full ALL the time?

MG

It's not a matter of whether the resort is full all the time, but rather an issue of the pattern of check ins vs. check outs. This year you had a combination of New Year's (new, low season, higher check in day) and Sunday (lower points, high check in day normally because of higher weekend points) falling on the same day. Believe it or not, this is only the SECOND time this has happened in the history of DVC and the first time is so far in the past that no one probably remembers it (we lost the last Sunday Christmas/New Year's to a leap year). I saw several people checking in for three day stays because of Monday being the day off that most people got. Add into that the ME and the return of the Wonder and the luggage problems at MCO and you have one big mess.

 

[SSR-CM]

Yep, pretty ugly. Concierge could/should have checked in more people and helped out. Complaints are getting bad. Managers don't listen to CM's problems or suggestions. Probably a reason the upper manager was replaced. Grin and bear it - it HAS to get better.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I agree that DVC/OKW should have all booths full or have the manager start checking people in

Sounds good to me.

 

[paults]

I noticed the same think earlier this week. It has to be the ME buses. We've never had so many buses pull into OKW at once and with as many people

I agree with this but could it also be possible that a few people up front didn't like where their room was so they complained and then the CM has to try to make them happy. This happens a lot and it does take time to find the right room for your stay. I wouldn't put all the blame on the desk CM's because it's not all the fault thank you for my room

 

[Hef4545]

This may be a silly question but....
How do you get to use the concierge desk?