Returned from recent OKW Trip

[DVC Eeyore]

I just returned from my first trip home this calendar year!! I received may Welcome Homes from the CM at OKW and had no trouble checking in. I was hosting some friends and planned on opening up a studio when they arrived and found out that all of the requests had been honored. We had a special needs child--ADD, Autism, "non verbal", and Cerebral Palsy--in our group and the CM at the desk were wonderful when I brought her in to meet them. We had pinned a card to her back on her clothes with her name and her parents name, our resort, room number, and cell number in case she wandered off. It got wet on Kali River Rapids and CM Julie at OKW made her a "waterproof" sign so we could tie it to her clothes!! Her parents thought that was over and above the call of a "normal" day for them. The CM at the parks were great with her as well. I did have problems with housekeeping and reported them to the manager on duty because of the poor response from housekeeping--ranging from lying about me getting my trash and towel service to not doing other things. I did make sure the manager knew how helpful CM Diana and Julie were with our group and how thankful her parents were that they did so much for us. I only hope she did make sure the other CM and their supervisors knew how wonderful they made our visit!!

I had never been to WDW during the low season in Sept before but found it to be wonderful. We had no problems eating in the restaurants and the one character breakfast we did was awesome. The CM at Cape May told Dale we had a "special" visitor today and he colored with the little girl!! Her parents loved the treatment she received!!

Transportation was great and a hit with the little girl as well. She loved the boats, monorail, buses, and the train at MK and AK. All in all, a great trip home and I cannot wait for my next one!!

I did hear from several CM that the Christmas decorations at OKW will be new this year and they will have even more up than in previous years so they asked me to come visit as I will be at my "other" home of VWL. . .

DVC Eeyore

P.S. The little girl, who happens to be considered non-verbal as she won't talk or sign much, said E Or for Eeyore and now owns one!! Eeyore is a hit with someone else now!!

 

[PamOKW]

It's so wonderful to hear good news. I sure do like to hear that a little girl had a very special time and made many friends....including a donkey!

 

[JudithM]

In the midst of so much tragedy, I enjoyed reading yoru post. Thank you for sharing.

 

[wdwnut]

thank you for your post. it gives us something positive to focus on.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, Virginia, there is a "Santa Clause", or Mickey Mouse or EEyore or whatever! Great to hear some good news for a change!

What kind of problems did you have with housekeeping? We have always had great housekeeping at OKW.

 

[sgtdisney]

We just returned from OKW on Monday we also had a few small problems with housekeeping. I wonder what is going on. They were nothing major mind you, but we had never had problems like this before. The first one was unemptied garbage cans under the counter in the kitchen upon checkin. A phone call resolved this. Then a couple people we were with requested feather pillows. When we called housekeeping about the garbage issue we asked for the pillows at that time. The garbage was removed, but the pillows didn't come so we went to the front desk and they contacted housekeeping who said they never got the request. Anyway, that was quickly resolved as well. We also had a problem with the very small ants on the counters, which in 10 years going to OKW I had not seen. That didn't bother me as much, because I realize that it is Florida and that kind of thing happens even in the cleanest houses. We called and they came out and sprayed around the building, but as my wife is expecting we requested that they didn't fumigate the unit until we left and they of course complied. They told us due to the extreme amounts of rain Central Florida is getting now, it drives the ants and other things indoors. Oh well. Like I said, nothing major and nothing left unresolved, but problems I had not experienced in 10 years of OKW vacations....

 

[Leah's Mom]

We leave for Disney with our autisic daughter next month, i hope and pray we have the SAME experience!! This is our first trip to Disney and we have a "typical" (whatever that is!) son that is so excited! Loved the idea of posting the name on her back, that is always a worry of Leah running off!! Thanks!!

 

[DVC Eeyore]

Leah's Mom: Good luck with your trip!! It was the little girl's mother who pinned the original name tag on the back of her shirt. A CM improved on that when we got it wet and the ink bled. Make sure you go by Guest Services at any of the parks to get a special pass to help you out when waiting in lines. Some CMs need to be made to understand what autism is, so be patient or ask to speak to someone else. I had to get a new one when the other one got wet and I found a CM at MGM much better at dealing with our situation. We used it a couple of times when the lines were longer than she could tolerate while at MK. We found FP great for those rides where we could use it. Also, with the shows, we used it twice to get her in an area where she had better site as she has some vision problems too--and closer to an exit should she act up. All in all, a good time for a very special little girl.

Disneydiane: I had problems with housekeeping not doing their job when asked to come pour draino in our studio bathroom and then lying about doing trash/towel in the one bedroom. I did insist, via a very helpful CM at the front desk, that they provide me with service. It was the only time I have had this type of problem and sadly, I had a group with me who saw this so I can only imagine what they think about DVC now. . .

 

[Doctor P]

Thanks for an uplifting trip report. Glad you had a good time.