Rude awakening on check-out day

[AngiTN]

You trained yours better than me. Congrats

I'd say it's the other way around since we can't get up and out of our room in 15 min and others can. Clearly others have trained their families to move much faster. Mine can't do that. Not that I'd even try to make them anyway. What fun is rushing around like that? We rush out of the house to get to work/school at home. I ain't rushing out of a room on vacation. I'm doing things leisurely.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I'd say it's the other way around since we can't get up and out of our room in 15 min and others can. Clearly others have trained their families to move much faster. Mine can't do that. Not that I'd even try to make them anyway. What fun is rushing around like that? We rush out of the house to get to work/school at home. I ain't rushing out of a room on vacation. I'm doing things leisurely.

Just different styles, that's all. On weekends, no one wakes up in this house until AT LEAST 11am. Even when the kids were little (well, DS is still only 2), they slept this late unless I woke them up. Going on vacation and getting up at 930 or 10 to go to the parks is early for us. Even our 1030 or 1045 wake up on check out day is earlier than we'd like. Leisure to us is sleeping in as much as possible.

 

[snappy]

Just different styles, that's all. On weekends, no one wakes up in this house until AT LEAST 11am. Even when the kids were little (well, DS is still only 2), they slept this late unless I woke them up. Going on vacation and getting up at 930 or 10 to go to the parks is early for us. Even our 1030 or 1045 wake up on check out day is earlier than we'd like. Leisure to us is sleeping in as much as possible.

Yea we prefer to stay up late, not necessarily in the parks but eat late and have a drink. So waking up early for the sake of housekeeping is not an option. Never ever manage to do early extra magical hours or whatever it’s called or even rope drop. I like to lounge around after I wake up, leisurely drink coffee and eat breakfast in the room or villa. Schedule FP 11 ish so I know if I get going by 11 I have an hour to get serious.

DD22 might be awake by 11 maybe. But we are on separate schedules until we meet up for dinner. We are casual Disney people after so many trips.

Waking up at 8:30 is no vacation for me. I seldom start work while at home before 10 am and I like it that way. Life is too short to wake up at 8:30 during vacation.

The more I learn about universal resorts the more I start to think they might fit our current preferred schedule and mindset. Never thought I would be breaking up with Disney. Maybe it won’t be that drastic, just taking a break deal.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

I wonder how often people have issues with housekeeping thinking a room has been vacated when people are just grabbing breakfast, going for a swim, etc. If they have their suitcases stored in the closet and not a ton of belongings around, I could easily see housekeeping not seeing the suitcases and thinking the room is ready to be cleaned. There really should be some sort of way to officially check out so there's no confusion... And no disruption.

Like...do not disturb signs that actually mean do not disturb?

 

[Sue M]

And from the sounds of it any homemade notes will be ignored anyway.

And anyone who thinks putting a homemade note up or even the Room Occupied sign up will keep housekeeping from knocking is fooling themselves. I'm not a fan of this policy, but I'm also a big believer in dealing with what is, not with what I wished things would be. The sign is only to alert that there is a guest in the room, period. Anyone treating it as a Do not Disturb sign is not doing themselves any favors. Reports are someone will knock, and will keep knocking until you answer. You can either move off site, spend your time fighting with or trying to ignore whoever is knocking, or understand Disney really means it when they say they will enter your room, even with the sign up.

I’m going to see how it goes in August. If I get harassed by constant intrusions and door knocking at inappropriate times, it will be my last stay. I can’t believe it’s come to this. I’ve never considered staying off site before. These new policy’s are upsetting so many. What is Disney thinking? Their first priority used to be to make sure guests were given the best experience they could. Disney hospitality was legendary. What is happening?

 

[Sue M]

You are going to get me arrested... LOL!
~NM

Away to Disney jail with you! And your little dog too muahahaha

 

[kaytieeldr]

Oh for goodness sake, may and might in this context refer to the same thing.

I disagree. It seems to me you're understanding may as being allowed to. I'm understanding it as there's a possibility.

 

[kamik86]

Ok that is ridiculous they would start cleaning before you have vacated.

I wonder what would happen if I decided to take a quick swim in the quiet pool at BWV on check out day before 11. I do a lot of split stays so I stay until check out at resort #1, so I could swim, shower, then split for resort 2. I assume I could go back and take a shower. If HK proceeds to clean while I am at the pool it’s too darn bad. I won’t be happy and they can just lump it and clean again after 11.

Sorry, but this type of situation is not the way to run a hotel operation. Housekeepers may not speak English but you think they might understand what suitcases in the room might indicate??

I agree and my grumpy self seeing that they came in to clean before I left would probably purposefully mess the room up to annoying but completely normal levels (meaning nothing broken or stained but the bed is going to be unmade, chairs moved a bit, things like that so they have to do it again) since as others said the fact that they can stand outside rooms and repeated knock on ones that aren't ready to leave mean they aren't that overworked.

I know at work if I"m really busy and waiting for something from someone I ask them to tell me as soon as they are done and get an approximate time. Then go do other things just making sure I watch my email for the handoff because I don't have time to completely bug them for it.

 

[snappy]

I agree and my grumpy self seeing that they came in to clean before I left would probably purposefully mess the room up to annoying but completely normal levels (meaning nothing broken or stained but the bed is going to be unmade, chairs moved a bit, things like that so they have to do it again) since as others said the fact that they can stand outside rooms and repeated knock on ones that aren't ready to leave mean they aren't that overworked.

I know at work if I"m really busy and waiting for something from someone I ask them to tell me as soon as they are done and get an approximate time. Then go do other things just making sure I watch my email for the handoff because I don't have time to completely bug them for it.

Your example reflects good, basic time management practice, and what most teenagers and young adults learn in order to succeed. Maybe a bit of training and supervisory follow up is needed for the housekeepers that haven’t mastered it? Giving $1,250 hiring bonuses to new full and part time HK is great. I know they aren’t paid much per hour but that doesn’t preclude any concept of quality control.

Yes, in this situation I would ask HK politely to leave, bolt the security latch and and get my shower or whatever I need to finish up all in before 11am. On the other hand, I am happy to clue them in if I do leave earlier than 11 am for whatever reason. Notice of early departure should be made easy for guests to provide as well as easy for HK to get the memo.

 

[Jennasis]

Ok that is ridiculous they would start cleaning before you have vacated.

I wonder what would happen if I decided to take a quick swim in the quiet pool at BWV on check out day before 11. I do a lot of split stays so I stay until check out at resort #1, so I could swim, shower, then split for resort 2. I assume I could go back and take a shower. If HK proceeds to clean while I am at the pool it’s too darn bad. I won’t be happy and they can just lump it and clean again after 11.

Sorry, but this type of situation is not the way to run a hotel operation. Housekeepers may not speak English but you think they might understand what suitcases in the room might indicate??

On our trip to SSR last month we used check out day to do this. We woke up around 8ish and decided to use our last morning as a pool morning. We went out and swam until about 10:30 and then came back to our room and showered, packed and walked out around 10:59am. That last morning was the first time that entire week we saw anyone from housekeeping (or any other human beings in our building lol. It was weird. DH and I were starting to think we might have been the only people IN our building). We passed the housekeeping ladies in the hallway.

They never touched our room while we were at the pool.

 

[snappy]

On our trip to SSR last month we used check out day to do this. We woke up around 8ish and decided to use our last morning as a pool morning. We went out and swam until about 10:30 and then came back to our room and showered, packed and walked out around 10:59am. That last morning was the first time that entire week we saw anyone from housekeeping (or any other human beings in our building lol. It was weird. DH and I were starting to think we might have been the only people IN our building). We passed the housekeeping ladies in the hallway.

They never touched our room while we were at the pool.

Glad to hear you could take your swim and weren’t disturbed. Thanks for posting.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Probably all true. And, yes, I agree that I am little crazy! Kudos to you for noticing! LOL!
I do live in my own little bubble where, although I am aware that the worst may happen, I still try to do whatever I can to help for the best.

I am just hoping that if housekeeping staff were wondering when we were leaving (and yes I would let them know the day before, as well) and came by early, they MIGHT NOT knock if they see the note. They may knock anyway, but perhaps some kind people would pass me by and come back later. If not, no harm done by leaving a note. I completely realize that it might not help, but I will feel that i did what I could to make my life, and perhaps theirs, a little easier. I know that they can enter my room with the Room Occupied sign up, but if I am sleeping I really would rather that they didn't knock. If they ignore my requests not to do so, there isn't anything that I can do about that. I can still ask them not to, though, knowing full well that it may not work.

It is good to know in advance that this is a possibility. I am not a fan of this policy, but as everyone says, I can choose to stay elsewhere. If I do stay at WDW, it is easier to not be upset when I am prepared for this to possibly happen. I love the knowledge and wisdom shared on these boards. It helps to keep a positive attitude when you have information up front so you can be prepared.

Sorry, it really was not my intent to imply that you were crazy. I was just trying to state that I would not be resorting to what I deem crazy person tactics to try to proactively handle a situation that most likely will not happen. It wasn't just your post that made me respond; I had seen several in the same vein including this one - from the guest experiences sticky:

We were at BWV Sunday May 6 to Friday May 11. I don’t mind being interrupted when we’re in the room, but I’m uncomfortable with people going into our room when we aren’t there. We’re DVC, so we’re used to putting out the Do Not Disturb sign and not worrying about it.

Before we left, I printed and laminated a door hanger that said, in English and Spanish, “Knock anytime, but do not enter unless we are here to let you in.”

I also downloaded a free nannycam app that could be set to record when motion was detected, and set it up in the room when we got there. Finally, I had a poster printed that said, in English and Spanish, “Your activity is being monitored by video camera,” and I hung it on the mirror in the entryway of our 1 bedroom.

In case the motion detection feature didn’t work, I booby trapped the door so that I could see if someone entered while we were out.

Arrival day Sunday: No one knocked or entered.

Monday: As we left around 8:30, we noticed a Trash Man looking at us. We came back to the room for lunch and no one had entered, but as we were leaving after lunch we saw the same Trash Man looking at us again, so I asked him if he wanted to come in. He said that, yes, he did, and that he had not come in earlier because he had seen our sign. He emptied all the garbage cans and left.

Tuesday: We went to the parks in the morning and around 11:00 got a hit on the nannycam. A different Trash Man poked his head in, yelled “Hello” a few times, and took our trash.

Wednesday: The door hanger wasn’t having the desired effect, so I gathered all our trash as we were leaving and tied it up in one bag which I left in front of our door with a note taped to it that said, “This is ALL of our trash.” When we got home for lunch that day the trash was gone and our door had not been opened. Note that there was nothing wet or smelly in the trash I left in the hall. If there had been, I would have brought that portion to the trash room. While we were having lunch, a Mousekeeper knocked and asked if we needed towels (typical on Day 4 for DVC). I told her no but asked for some dishwasher soap. She gave it to me and never came in. There were no further knocks or entries that day.

Thursday: Once again I put the trash outside the door with the note “This is ALL of our trash,” and once again it was removed during the day and no one came into the room.

Departure day Friday: No knocks or entries. We left the room around 10:45 and removed our home-made door hanger at that time.

I will not be resorting to disrupting my vacation by talking to everyone at the resort who might enter my room, putting all kinds of notes on my door, or any of the above mousetrap style nonsense or spy/surveillance silliness.

Let me be clear: I think the policy is bull and the execution is 100% wrong. But I will not let it interfere with how I vacation. If something related to the policy does disrupt my vacation, god help the person that has to deal with me. But I view the act of trying to anticipate the resort's every move as a disruption.

 

[Roxyfire]

I will not be resorting to disrupting my vacation by talking to everyone at the resort who might enter my room, putting all kinds of notes on my door, or any of the above mousetrap style nonsense or spy/surveillance silliness.

Let me be clear: I think the policy is bull and the execution is 100% wrong. But I will not let it interfere with how I vacation. If something related to the policy does disrupt my vacation, god help the person that has to deal with me. But I view the act of trying to anticipate the resort's every move as a disruption.

Seriously, it's not that hard. People overthink so much. 4 simple words: Please come back later. For daily trash service/housekeeping, why make things harder on employees simply doing their job? I don't understand.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Seriously, it's not that hard. People overthink so much. 4 simple words: Please come back later. For daily trash service/housekeeping, why make things harder on employees simply doing their job? I don't understand.

Of course they need to be able to do their job, but they need to be able to do it while causing the least possible amount of disruption to guests. If someone pays to access a banquet hall for a wedding reception from 6pm to 2 am, the janitor shouldn't be disrupting guests at 9pm, trying to see if they're done or hovering outside waiting to clean. Knocking on a hotel room door is made all that much more worse because they could potentially be waking people up that may not have received much sleep and may have a long drive ahead of them. They may be waking up a sleeping baby that's then going to be grumpy and difficult. Them needing to do their job should not be reason to wake people up barring an emergency. No one should feel pressured to leave earlier than they want to because they were awoken and can't go back to sleep or because they feel bad for a housekeeper trying to clean in an allotted time period.

When it comes to the daily room checks, again, of course housekeepers have a job to do, but at the same time, guests do ha e a right to relax should they desire without being disturbed. Rather than waking people at 2pm who are taking naps, maybe they could impose a cut off time for daily housekeeping. If they can't access your room by 4pm, you don't get housekeeping and they send someone by around dinner time when few people are likely to be napping to perform a room check.

 

[Roxyfire]

Of course they need to be able to do their job, but they need to be able to do it while causing the least possible amount of disruption to guests. If someone pays to access a banquet hall for a wedding reception from 6pm to 2 am, the janitor shouldn't be disrupting guests at 9pm, trying to see if they're done or hovering outside waiting to clean. Knocking on a hotel room door is made all that much more worse because they could potentially be waking people up that may not have received much sleep and may have a long drive ahead of them. They may be waking up a sleeping baby that's then going to be grumpy and difficult. Them needing to do their job should not be reason to wake people up barring an emergency. No one should feel pressured to leave earlier than they want to because they were awoken and can't go back to sleep or because they feel bad for a housekeeper trying to clean in an allotted time period.

When it comes to the daily room checks, again, of course housekeepers have a job to do, but at the same time, guests do ha e a right to relax should they desire without being disturbed. Rather than waking people at 2pm who are taking naps, maybe they could impose a cut off time for daily housekeeping. If they can't access your room by 4pm, you don't get housekeeping and they send someone by around dinner time when few people are likely to be napping to perform a room check.

That was in response to the quoted story from the previous poster. The idea of setting up cameras and signals to see whether or not housekeeping has been in the room does not sound very relaxing to me. As far as the checkout issue goes, I said pages ago that there's no good way of doing it. "Please come back later" is not that hard to say.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

That was in response to the quoted story from the previous poster. The idea of setting up cameras and signals to see whether or not housekeeping has been in the room does not sound very relaxing to me. As far as the checkout issue goes, I said pages ago that there's no good way of doing it. "Please come back later" is not that hard to say.

Ahh, sorry that I misinterpreted your post. I completely agree that cameras and boobytraps sound far from relaxing.

 

[Beer Me]

Obviously someone has to clean and prepare the room for the next guest when you check out. They don't wait until the latest check out time to start because many people check out early. For efficiency's sake they want to start at 8 or so. So how do they know who has checked out? An Occupied or Do not disturb sign is not a sure thing. Lots of people leave the room and never take down the sign. So they have to knock. If you're sleeping in you might get lucky and they have other rooms to clean before they get to yours. I cant think of good way to improve this system. It happens in every hotel so it's not a Disney policy thing.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

They don't wait until the latest check out time to start because many people check out early. For efficiency's sake they want to start at 8 or so. So how do they know who has checked out? An Occupied or Do not disturb sign is not a sure thing. Lots of people leave the room and never take down the sign. So they have to knock. If you're sleeping in you might get lucky and they have other rooms to clean before they get to yours. I cant think of good way to improve this system.

The system in place is fine if followed and it's called "if the sign is up, don't knock until 1101 on checkout day."

 

[maxiesmom]

The system in place is fine if followed and it's called "if the sign is up, don't knock until 1101 on checkout day."

It won't happen. The problem is coming up with something Disney would actually implement.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Why can't they just institute a check out policy. Make it so you can do it online or on the app or whatever if they want. Just have people actually checking out and give housekeeping access to that info. It really should not be that difficult.