Preferred Sites

[awmiii]

When I checked into the Fort last week, we were "Upgraded" to a Premium Site. The reason that I reserved a preferred site was that I wanted to be close to the Settlement and not need to rent a cart. I faxed a site request asking to be close to the Settlement a ferw days before we arrived. I asked the guy in the booth who only spoke broken English, what loop we were going to be in. He replied the 1100 loop. I told him it was unacceptable and he proceeded to make excuses about how full they were and that it really was an upgrade. He went in and out of the office about 4 times. I suggested that they should comp me a golf cart for the week. Finally, he came out and said he was able to move us to the 500 loop. I agreed to the compromise and we had a good week without a golf cart. I was not willing to give Disney abouther $500 for cart rental. We have rented in the past, but I could not justify the cost. We ended up renting a midsize car for about $30 a day from Alamo as we do not have a toad. It seems silly that the GCs are twice as much as a MIDSIZE car.

The one downside to the 500 loop is it is a dog loop. We are dog people, but we do not usually bring our dog due to the fact that he would spend a lot of hours alone in the camper and my wife's parents practially demand that we let him come visit them when we .travel. We are dog people. But, the people in the sitie next to use had a small yippy dog that would bark for 20 minutes at a time at the dogs in the dog park while the owners just sat on their patio. They must not hear their dog? I could not believe they could just sit there relaxing while their 8lb dog made a 150lb racket for long periods of time. I do not mind an occasional bark but continuous yipping is very irritating.

It did seem that the detailing people were looping trying to get more business. that should not go one. There were at least 3 different companies with vans that seemed to be looping.

It was a great week, but I am glad to be home.

 

[ftwildernessrick]

Yes, it seems like Disney tries to push the Premium sites, now that they have more of them, but they are not as popular as they probably originally thought they would be. Especially for those of us who have always liked the Preferred sites.

The other week I had called to see if they had posted an AP discount for my upcoming May trip. The reservation person said yes, but when he read it back to me, it had changed me from a preferred to a premium for about a 20% discount. I told him I wanted me preferred back and he proceeded to tell me that he premium sites were better & closer to the marina. I asked him where did he get his map from, because I have stayed at FW over 50 times and was well aware the locations of the loops. After several minutes, he was able to change me back to my preferred, with no discount.

 

[awmiii]

Yes, it seems like Disney tries to push the Premium sites, now that they have more of them, but they are not as popular as they probably originally thought they would be. Especially for those of us who have always liked the Preferred sites.

The other week I had called to see if they had posted an AP discount for my upcoming May trip. The reservation person said yes, but when he read it back to me, it had changed me from a preferred to a premium for about a 20% discount. I told him I wanted me preferred back and he proceeded to tell me that he premium sites were better & closer to the marina. I asked him where did he get his map from, because I have stayed at FW over 50 times and was well aware the locations of the loops. After several minutes, he was able to change me back to my preferred, with no discount.

The CM that told me I was upgraded tried pretty hard to sell me on the 1100 loop. As I told him, thats fine if you can comp me a GC. Our site, 546 must have had a 100ft long pad. I had 25ft behind our 36ft class A and room for at least 4 cars in front of the coach. The hydrant was leaking and the sewer hook up was mangled. It looked like someone left while still hooked up. The taps on the stump were bent towards the front of the site and it was spraying 20 ft out of the elbow. We called the front desk and they fixed it within 20 minutes, but I would have enjoyed seeing someone leave while still hooked up.

 

[dtum]

We were in the dog loop last time, but never saw any dogs...probably because it was over 100 degrees every day. They wanted to be in the A/C and not tied out.

Wonder how long it will be before Disney figures out no one wants to pay the extra cost for Premium. Could have been a big mistake on their part.

 

[ftwildernessrick]

We were in the dog loop last time, but never saw any dogs...probably because it was over 100 degrees every day. They wanted to be in the A/C and not tied out.

Wonder how long it will be before Disney figures out no one wants to pay the extra cost for Premium. Could have been a big mistake on their part.

I look at the premium sites as just a necessary upgrade for todays larger campers, but Disney just jacked the price up to try & recoup the expense. Any normal hotel or campground knows they have to remodel or update about every 10 years and that it is just the cost of doing business. It isn't like Disney is losing any money on the campground with their continuous rate hikes. Besides, when they lay more concrete for the premium sites, there is less landscaping to maintain. Believe me, I am trying to lay as much concrete & structures in my yard to cut back on weekly yard work.

 

[Disneylitch]

I think the premium site upgrades were a necessary evil for some of the large units. The problem is that they made too many of the sites premium. There are not that many people with 40 foot units. Also, they should have made more than 4 loops as full hook ups. They are designated dog loops, but anyone can stay in them. So, if you have a dog and want a dog loop/full hook up, you have a good chance of not getting it because of non-dog owners in them. Not everyone wants to pay the premium price.

 

[BradyBz12]

We were in the dog loop last time, but never saw any dogs...probably because it was over 100 degrees every day. They wanted to be in the A/C and not tied out.

Actually it's against the rules for dogs to be tied outside the RV unless there's someone there with them. That actually seems to be one of the few rules that Disney enforces more often than not.

Totally stinks when you encounter the all-day-yappers. And ruins it for all those of us that work hard to be responsible pet owners when we camp.

We've been lucky not to have too many yappers as neighbors, but I've been contemplating getting my hands on some FW stationary in case I need to leave an "official" note for someone some day.