PP Elevators...Really that bad?

[adykate]

I am trying to decide between PP and DLH for a January stay. We have never stayed on site, but will be staying at the DLH over Labor Day weekend. I feel like I need to book something now for our January trip, before the AP rates fill up, so I can't wait and see what we think of DLH. It is a $432 difference over our stay of 5 days between PP and DLH. That is a chunk of change for us that could be used for other things. The one thing nagging me is the elevator complaints from PP guests. We have two young kids (2 and 4), and will have a stroller. It will be a holiday/race weekend so it will likely be booked. Will we be waiting 10+ minutes every time we need to use the elevators? Anything else I need to consider between those two hotels? Thanks!

 

[crystal1313]

Will you be staying in a concierge room? I ask because you will access to ride the glass elevator down if on a concierge floor.

Will you be leaving at peak times?

I've stayed at the PPH numerous times and the only time we had an issue with elevators was when we were trying to leave at peak times when there was a cheer-leading competition going on and tons of cheerleaders were trying to leave at the same time. It was a long wait with a 2 year old in a stroller. I think I ended up going "up" to eventually go back "down". Otherwise, we usually aren't leaving at peak times and we've never had an issue.

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

I am sure more people will come along to give there opinions but for me I never find the elevator "issue" an issue at all. I have gone during different parts of the year for a while now and in the mornings when people are checking out and when the park closes are the only times that there is a little bit of a wait. Would I say that the wait is worth spending $400 more to stay somewhere else, no. I love PPH and it is always my hotel of choice. Save your money

 

[Daisybelle]

We stayed there in July of last year and were there a week and never had any problems with the elevators. We really loved our stay (and will be back on Sunday!!!)

 

[eargal]

It can be irritating. What I started doing is to push the elevator call button to go up instead of down. You are able to load, ride up and then back down. You can wait forever trying to load the elevator while it is going down.

My husband thought I was a genius by using this trick.

 

[kirstie101]

Stayed there for the Tink Half this past January. The only time I had a problem was on race morning and even then I only had to wait a couple of minutes.

 

[Zbugz]

For $432 I'd overlook any elevator issues.

That being said, we didn't have more than a 2 minute delay either of the two times we stayed there.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

I'll echo those who have stated that they've had no problem with the elevators!

I know there are some who have experienced this issue, but in all the times(almost 40), we've stayed at the PPH, we have never had to wait anywhere near 10 minutes for the elevator---maybe 3 to 4 minutes tops, a few rare times.

If we wait more than a minute, we simply push the Up button, and that solves the problem pretty quickly.

I'm with Zbugz---I'd overlook the elevator wait time in order to save that chunk of cash, but for us, it just has not been an issue at all!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We stayed there 5 days in June and never ran into a problem with the elevators.

 

[pharmama]

We've stayed at PPH a few times now and I didn't find the elevators to be that big of a deal. That said, the lowest floor I've been on was 8. In the mornings, it wasn't that unusual for the elevator to be full (or full enough that a party with a stroller wouldn't fit) by the time we got to lower floors. We did encounter some exasperated families who would see the elevator open and not be able to get on (and it clearly wasn't the first time they had to pass on one).

So I might try to manage this by either
a) going for a theme park view room. The view is spectacular and watching WoC from the room is pretty awesome though obviously this would cut into your savings vs DLH.
b) requesting an upper floor (even if you're not theme park view- the rooms on the other side of the hotel are standard/non-view rooms on upper floors too)
c) using the aforementioned 'go up to go down' technique if it becomes an issue

 

[auntiegem]

We've stayed there a couple of times, and did have trouble the last time we stayed there. We were on a fairly low floor (4, 5 or 6 -- can't remember exactly), and would often have full elevators open up. This was especially true in the mornings. We also waited almost 10 minutes one evening after the park closed, and they eventually let a large group of us take the service elevator because it was so bad. Not sure what was going on. In any event, we ended up doing the "push the UP button" trick in the mornings, and it worked like a charm. I also wouldn't hesitate staying there again, but would try to get on a higher floor.

 

[KeKy4]

We stayed beginning of December and it was horrible. We ended up carrying 3 strollers down 4 flights of stairs after waiting forever for an elevator. Everytime the doors opened they were packed. Random times of day we didn't wait as long but in the morning it was so frustrating.

 

[adykate]

Thanks so much for all the info and experiences! It really helps us make a better decision. With two young kids we will be heading out first thing in the morning for EMH, so I am guessing that would be "peak" times. But we never close down the park, and come and go at odd times in the day, so I don't think it will be an issue other than possibly the morning. As for the morning of my race, I guess taking the stairs if I had to would be a great way to warm up .

 

[larina]

We didn't have any elevator issues either. If it's a problem, go up and then come down. I highly recommend going with a theme park view, it makes the stay!

 

[bumbershoot]

We have had waits.

Going up it's not a problem because anyone can ride the glass elevator UP. Only concierge floors can call it to them, though.

If you have a stroller, for goodness' sake, don't use it on the elevators. Fold that puppy up! SO much space wasted with gigantor strollers...and if you have such a stroller and want to get on, you have to wait for an elevator with much more room on it.

 

[GatorChris]

We've definitely had problems. Like others said, never a big issue going up. But being on the 12th floor, it seems I'd hit the down button and wait for over 5 minutes on multiple occasions.

As for strollers on the elevators, I can see how they take up a bunch of room. But if you notice, a lot of those strollers are loaded up underneath with baby/toddler sundries and such. Even if it were folded up, those bags of items would still take up a lot of space. Plus, as a parent who has "strollered" at WDW/DL since 2006, it's just more convenient to roll the kid out of the room, to the elevator, and then onto the parks - rather than in and out and in and out. I doubt that this particular parenting habit will ever disappear.

 

[sgrap]

I am trying to decide between PP and DLH for a January stay. We have never stayed on site, but will be staying at the DLH over Labor Day weekend. I feel like I need to book something now for our January trip, before the AP rates fill up, so I can't wait and see what we think of DLH. It is a $432 difference over our stay of 5 days between PP and DLH. That is a chunk of change for us that could be used for other things. The one thing nagging me is the elevator complaints from PP guests. We have two young kids (2 and 4), and will have a stroller. It will be a holiday/race weekend so it will likely be booked. Will we be waiting 10+ minutes every time we need to use the elevators? Anything else I need to consider between those two hotels? Thanks!

We were on an upper level floor at the Paradise Pier in early May. We usually left pretty early before the early morning hour openings, and if we left early enough there wasn't a problem. However, if we were running a little closer to opening time say within half an hour of it opening, it's definitely got busier and harder to get on the elevator. We did the press up to go down trick. The worst time we had the elevator was after world of color, and the wait to go up was horrendous. I don't know that it is worth in extra 400 dollars to avoid it, but definitely try to leave early and bring your patience if you're going home after a late event.

 

[bumbershoot]

As for strollers on the elevators, I can see how they take up a bunch of room. But if you notice, a lot of those strollers are loaded up underneath with baby/toddler sundries and such. Even if it were folded up, those bags of items would still take up a lot of space. Plus, as a parent who has "strollered" at WDW/DL since 2006, it's just more convenient to roll the kid out of the room, to the elevator, and then onto the parks - rather than in and out and in and out. I doubt that this particular parenting habit will ever disappear.

All it will take is for those parents to experience theft inside the parks like we have (twice!), and they'll stop putting all of their stuff underneath. We only rented a stroller inside the parks when DS was bitty (b/c we're babywearers,not stroller-users and didn't even own one until he was over 2), then it was an umbrella stroller only used at Disneyland...but by then we had already had things stolen. We carried only what we could CARRY.

And what's sad is that what was stolen was cheap things that were under even cheaper things. I mean, sweatshirts on top of a new hat, sort of thing.

When I walk through the parks I often think about what a bonanza it must be for the thieves...$200 diaper bag (that I could never afford for myself), anyone? It's just hanging on a stroller!

Oh and then I used to leave water in the stroller, until I saw a squirrel in a stroller munching on food that was left, and trying to gnaw open the cap of a water bottle. EW ew ew. No squirrel spit for me!

And that's when we got the Igloo MaxCold backpack cooler, which we carry and take with us.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We have had waits. Going up it's not a problem because anyone can ride the glass elevator UP. Only concierge floors can call it to them, though. If you have a stroller, for goodness' sake, don't use it on the elevators. Fold that puppy up! SO much space wasted with gigantor strollers...and if you have such a stroller and want to get on, you have to wait for an elevator with much more room on it.

I will totally disagree with this. Our folded up strolled, plus what we have underneath it and 4 kids take up as much room as putting two kids in the stroller with our stuff underneath. I saw you other comment about theft and we have been lucky enough to never have that problem, however we don't keep anything underneath that would ruin our trip. I keep a cross body purse on me with anything important - we keep/kept diapers, change of clothes (in a backpack), blankets and a small soft sided cooler. And I will agree with the PP who said that it is much easier to put kids in the stroller in the hotel room and keep them there until getting to the parks than it is to put down all the bags to unfold the stroller and put kids in.

That said, we never squeeze on an elevator where there isn't room for us and will wait if needed. And often times DH walks the stroller where we're going rather than getting on the train/monorail with us because folding it up can be such a PITA sometimes, not mention maneuvering a folded up stroller.

Like I said earlier, we stayed at PPH in June, with 4 kids and a sit & stand stroller and never had a problem with the elevators. We were at EMH every morning and were usually the only people leaving the PPH at that time (6:30ish). We didn't stay until closing, so I don't know how that time of night is, but we never had problems on our return earlier in the night either. The only hotel we ever had problems with the elevators with was the Hilton (not on site, I realize).

 

[crystal1313]

I will totally disagree with this. Our folded up strolled, plus what we have underneath it and 4 kids take up as much room as putting two kids in the stroller with our stuff underneath. I saw you other comment about theft and we have been lucky enough to never have that problem, however we don't keep anything underneath that would ruin our trip. I keep a cross body purse on me with anything important - we keep/kept diapers, change of clothes (in a backpack), blankets and a small soft sided cooler. And I will agree with the PP who said that it is much easier to put kids in the stroller in the hotel room and keep them there until getting to the parks than it is to put down all the bags to unfold the stroller and put kids in.

That said, we never squeeze on an elevator where there isn't room for us and will wait if needed. And often times DH walks the stroller where we're going rather than getting on the train/monorail with us because folding it up can be such a PITA sometimes, not mention maneuvering a folded up stroller.

Agree!