OKW GV "given" to nonmember for 10 days!

[stacy6552]

I hope all you folks who get this newsleter ahve written your letters to the editor, to be included in the next issue. If you post the address, I'll send one too.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

My am raising my eyebrow at this one. Not the OP, but the letter. I don't believe it happened. Why? Because, when I have called to make cash ressies at the All Star Movies ( pre-dvc) I always requested a room in the Toy Story section. It is the most popular section of the Movies. I was always told each time, that a request is not a guarantee. I can request it, and they will note it in the computer, but it may not be available at check in. So why or HOW could the TA tell this person the rooms were all set, before the check in date?

The other part that makes this hard to believe is something I witnessed first hand. 3 years ago, we got our plane tickets through Priceline.com. Great price, but never again. We had no control over the flight times, and ended up getting a 4Pm flight out of NH ( Boston is closer) with a connection in Atlanta, the flight out of Altlanta was delayed, so we ended up checking in at the All Star at MIDNIGHT. Anyway, there was a family trying to check in. They were very upset, and from what I could understand, they reserved there room close to a year ago. The CM kept insisting that when they sent out the confirmation, they should of sent the deposit in within 20 days, and they did not get the deposit so the reservation automatically cancels. The woman was in tears, because it was Halloween weekend, and the place was FULL. The CM had nowhere to put them. She insisted she sent the deposit, but admitted it was probably a little late. ??????? Why would you NOT call them and tell them it was on the way, but late? they could of held the reservation longer. Anyway, with my limited eavesdropping ability I didn't get what ever happened to the money she sent in. Huge mix up. Bottom line, they had nowhere to put this exhausted family at midnight. The best the manager could come up with, was to shuttle them off property and Disney would pay for them to stay in a room off property until they could find them a room the next day.

Now, why wouldn't this poor family be offered to stay at another Disney resort? I am sure there was ONE room somewhere on Disney property that was empty. I don't even want to speculate that we are talking the ALL Star and the economics of the two families. Because Carribean Beach is only one level up from the AllStar, so it is not like money talks in this situation.

I don't believe it.

 

[CarolA]

Don't believe everything you read. Let's get real what are the chances the GV was even empty! It is pretty booked up from what I have heard.

 

[LisaR]

I thought I read a while back on the Resort Board that Disney now has a policy where you can "request" a certain building at a few of the resorts or you can "guarantee" a building by paying more? If *Kevin* only requested a building, I highly doubt Disney would do what he claimed. On the other hand, if he did pay extra to guarantee a building then Disney might be more willing to go out of their way to make him happy. Anyone know if this policy exists?

Lisa

 

[Lesley]

I know at ASMo you can get a guaranteed room in one of the Fantasia buildings for an extra $10 a night. I have heard rumors that this was to be the case at CBR....but I think it would have been a fairly recent change.

Also, I'm sure travel agents often give misinformation to their clients about WDW.....like telling a family that their room requests will be met when anyone who knows the reservation system at Disney knows they cannot be guaranteed.

And, oh my goodness, it would be funny to know that this family got kicked out of Olivia's! So even if the "Kevin" party isn't a real group....there were obviously some real winners at OKW on those dates. Sounds like Disney might have been better off to send them away unhappy if this was indeed the same family!

I agree that it would be unusual for a GV to be available for 10 days in September....but we really don't know for sure.

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by LisaR
I thought I read a while back on the Resort Board that Disney now has a policy where you can "request" a certain building at a few of the resorts or you can "guarantee" a building by paying more? If *Kevin* only requested a building, I highly doubt Disney would do what he claimed. On the other hand, if he did pay extra to guarantee a building then Disney might be more willing to go out of their way to make him happy. Anyone know if this policy exists?

Lisa

Starting in 2004 at CBR, you can reserved a "preferred" room for $15 more per night. Preferred rooms are in the 2 villages closest to the food court - Martinique & Trinidad North. They already have a similiar setup at All Stars. At CBR, this does not start until 2004, so it would not apply in "Kevin's case".

 

[LisaR]

Originally posted by DebbieB
Starting in 2004 at CBR, you can reserved a "preferred" room for $15 more per night. Preferred rooms are in the 2 villages closest to the food court - Martinique & Trinidad North. They already have a similiar setup at All Stars. At CBR, this does not start until 2004, so it would not apply in "Kevin's case".

Thanks for clearing that up. I knew I read it but didn't know if it had taken effect yet. Since it hadn't, I would then find it very hard to believe that Disney gave them a GV simply because their room requests weren't met.

Lisa

 

[dianeschlicht]

I can believe this was done if the GV was empty any way. I have heard a lot of instances lately where folks are being given an OKW room or villa when their ressie was unavailable at another resort. A year ago last January, we arrived very late because of an airline issue where we were 12 hours getting there. We had planned to stay at AKL that first night, and our guests were staying at All Star. We added these nights to take advantage of the low airfare! I should have spent more on the airfare! At any rate, our guests got to All Star to find their room had been given away. When they came to pick us up in the morning, they informed us that they got to stay at OKW in the unit we were being put in that day! They just checked them into the lock-off portion, and they didn't have to move the next day. I thought that was great! I wish we could have done the same thing, since we spent a lot of money for a Savanah view room that we were only in about 6 hours!

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

Send all these displaced and/or disgruntled guests to a DVC home, and let them see what they're missing?

Sounds like a new marketing tactic to me.