So what causes a miserable trip anyway?

[floridafam]

That is too funny about the Seinfeld episode. I think you're right.

Problems are okay as long as they are taking care of by friendly, respectful employees.

People remember good service. When we stayed at the Sheraton Sand Key in Clearwater our tv didn't work upon entering our room. I picked up the phone and called the front desk. I was still on the phone with them and we heard a knock at the door-it was the maintanence (sp?) man to fix the tv. It seems trivial but we still talk about it today. I think the sliding door was broken too and we called. Again, it took about 2 seconds for someone to get there. They addressed us by name, fixed the problem and told us to enjoy our stay. We have been back many times. Good service brings people and their money back. Bad service makes people stay away.


Anyway, to answer the original question of what makes a trip miserable?


1. Dirty rooms

2. Any type of insect problem in the room

3. Bad food

4. A general attitude of "we could care less" that you're here by employees


We had a horrible stay in Deerfield Beach a few years ago and the management was no help. We left early and will never go back. If this happens too many times to the same hotel that is a lot of cash they are saying bye-bye to.

My one complaint about any place where you encounter problems is when they try and throw it back at you by asking what YOU want for the trouble. I can't stand this. A manager should be trained to manage problems and offer appropriate compensation when needed.

 

[Mic]

We have only had 2 vacations at disney that I would say were horrible, out of more than a dozen trips. One was not anyone's fault...my son needed stitches in his chin within an hour of arrival, and everyone in our family caught a bug or the flu, probably at the hospital waiting to glue Bubba back together! And the last horrible trip started off that way. You know you are in trouble after driving 10 hours and not being able to find a parking space at the Boardwalk!

 

[BCVNovember]

Hello - I guess I am one of the people some have labelled "reactionaries". I have a reservation for a 2 bedroom at BCV for the first week of November. Frankly I was unsure that I was choosing the right place for my family from the start and have been considering other resorts, most likely one of the deluxes. The situation that has occurred with TigrLuvsPooh and the resulting threads here and on the Resort board have certainly provided me with much more information on which to base my decision.

As a number of people have stated already, the problem here is not the things that went wrong, but rather how they were handled by management. Now that I know that BCV, BC and YC are all under the same management and have read complaints about all 3, well it gives me the impetus to make a change. It is unlikely that the management will be changing much before I arrive and I am not spending hundreds of dollars a night to be ignored or treated as unwelcome.

I have 3 young children and am unwilling to put myself in a position which would cause me as much stress as TigrLuvsPooh has found herself in. We are going on this vacation for relaxation and enjoyment, not to just be happy we have a room. If all I wanted was a place to change my clothes and sleep then I'd be over at one of the All Stars.

I think that a lot of this has to do with the economy and cutting corners. One would think that the staff would be happy to have guests at all seeing how other resorts are closed periodically.

What's that old phrase ... "cutting off one's nose to spite their face"..

 

[niks81]

While I defend Erika because her problems are legit, I don't think you should change your plans. She happens to be having very bad luck, and perhaps so is BCV. I just returned and was more than pleased! we had an awesome time and its now my fiance's favorite! I think its a great resort, but I don't agree with how her particular situation is being handled.

 

[poj7]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
The detergent should never run out, that problem regardless any alleged reasons should never happen... They should have sucked up to her big time after they gave her the room with a broken a/c, they did not. End of story.

This sort of entitlement is a service industries worst nightmare. It's too bad you can't just turn some people away who are never happy. If you're looking for perfection, you'll never find it.

With regard to the BCV horror story:

There's two sides to every story. Somewhere in between is probably what actually happened. It's simply not fair to assume the CMs were rude and Erika was 100% correct. I have my doubts when someone is typing a post on The Dis during their vacation while "disasters" are happening all around her like walkie-talkies in the hall or whatever it was. Give me a break. Someone is in need of attention. I take her entire post with a grain of salt.

Big surprise. DVC and WDW aren't perfect and they never claimed to be. CMs are human beings and make mistakes. Guests owe it to themselves to make their own "magic" and not be destroyed because someone didn't put detergent in the laundry.

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by BCVNovember
Hello - I guess I am one of the people some have labelled "reactionaries". I have a reservation for a 2 bedroom at BCV for the first week of November. Frankly I was unsure that I was choosing the right place for my family from the start and have been considering other resorts, most likely one of the deluxes. The situation that has occurred with TigrLuvsPooh and the resulting threads here and on the Resort board have certainly provided me with much more information on which to base my decision.

If you would like to change your reservations based on one bad review of a resort that is your choice. Personally, I would never do that. I can see you are relatively new to the DIS boards, first off welcome. If you stick around here long enough you will see extremely critical reviews of every single resort on Disney Property. Some so bad you may think you never want to go to Disney World. That would be a travesty. As I have mentioned before, for every 1 bad review there are probably 1000 people who had a positive experience but never commented on it here.

I can assure you in 25 years of going to Disney World, I have NEVER had an experience such as TigrLuvsPooh has mentioned. I can't recall the last time I have experienced a cast member who didn't treat me with respect. You will find this is the case in most instances. However once in a while, one unlucky person may get a bad experience and needs to vent, which is fine, that is one of the reasons for having a forum. If you search these forums enough, though, you will find some very awful reviews on the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary and every other resort on property.

 

[niks81]

Originally posted by poj7
This sort of entitlement is a service industries worst nightmare. It's too bad you can't just turn some people away who are never happy. If you're looking for perfection, you'll never find it.

With regard to the BCV horror story:

There's two sides to every story. Somewhere in between is probably what actually happened. It's simply not fair to assume the CMs were rude and Erika was 100% correct. I have my doubts when someone is typing a post on The Dis during their vacation while "disasters" are happening all around her like walkie-talkies in the hall or whatever it was. Give me a break. Someone is in need of attention. I take her entire post with a grain of salt.

Big surprise. DVC and WDW aren't perfect and they never claimed to be. CMs are human beings and make mistakes. Guests owe it to themselves to make their own "magic" and not be destroyed because someone didn't put detergent in the laundry.

 

[KaterBell]

Miserable Trip for us :

BOTH my husband and I got the FLU while staying at the GF for Xmas vacation.... 1998. YUCK!! But at least we got free transport to the clinic off property. "Centra Care" I believe it was. ... yeesh.

Erika, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip at my "home" It can only get better, right???? Right!?

 

[Merilyn]

I for one do consider DVC first class. I have never been treated in anyway but first class. I know most of you would consider the Plaza in NY as first class. Well, my children stayed there and got a dirty room and asked to have it cleaned 2 times before they finally moved them to another room. Every place can have its problems including the very very first class places. I have traded to several locations and let me assure you that DVC is first class in every case. I have stayed at several Marriotts and while they are nice they are surely no nicer than DVC resorts. I will admit that how one is treated can make or break a trip, but I will never let a single problem ruin my desire to go on vacation to WDW or stay at any of the DVC resorts anywhere. I am sorry others have had problems but I really think they are few and far between.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I am cracking up over the Seinfeld reference because dh and I have been going around saying "we've been blacklisted" for the last two days. That is our all time favorite show. We are also now laughing about many of the problems we've encountered and are having a fantastic vacation! Check out my trip report on the trip reports board.

Now, back to the debate.

I certainly don't want anyone to base their vacation plans around my experiences. I stated in my original post that I think people should try resorts for themselves to see if it's a fit. Just like the GF, many people bash it, but I love it. There is something out there for everyone. I am happy to have had these experiences because now I know which resorts I prefer.

poj7 - I really don't care if you "believe" what I'm saying or not. But I can assure you that I don't make up dramatic events just for attention. For you to even suggest that is very rude. Maybe you should get a job here at the BCV's??? LOL

As I've said many times before, we love WDW, we are annual passholders, and we come down here about 2-3 times a year. None of these problems are going to keep me away from Disney... I'm already looking at my countdown clock for my next trip. I think it's helpful to post the good and bad experiences at the resorts... it's helpful to people and informative. I have posted many many good things about Disney and the resorts, if you do a search under my name you can see that I am a lover of all things Disney. I'm certainly not trying to cause problems. Maybe some people here on the DIS would rather live in Fantasyland where nothing bad ever happens??? Wouldn't that be nice.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Back on the original topic of this thread, I just thought I'd add that I have only had one miserable trip to WDW and it was in Dec. of 98 when I was 12 weeks pg with my first child. I spent more time puking than doing anything else. It was truely a nightmare.

 

[KaterBell]

Erika, maybe we were there at the same time. Dec 98 was miserable. BLAH.

 

[Pa@okw95]

This topic and the related one on the resort board have a total of 3751 hits and 125 responses, if nothing else, I would say this topic has been very popular.

 

[poj7]

Originally posted by TigrLvsPooh


poj7 - I really don't care if you "believe" what I'm saying or not. But I can assure you that I don't make up dramatic events just for attention. For you to even suggest that is very rude. Maybe you should get a job here at the BCV's??? LOL

You're right, The whole world is rude.

There is a difference between constructive criticism and plain bashing. Some people enjoy tearing down something because it gives them a feeling of superiority. Ie: some people enjoy reading tabloids because they see celebrities in compromising positions and it gives them satisfaction. Others stay at the Plaza in NYC and pick it apart, "not up to my standards". It makes them feel superior and gets them all sorts of attention. After all, if I can complain about such an institution, I must be pretty special. It's one of the top hotels in the world but just not good enough for me.

What a pleasure it would be to get a job at BCV and get four phone calls in one hour asking for detergent.

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by sgtdisney
This makes me laugh, I am not the only one then. My wife and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon and we had the cruise-from-hell too!! We have called it that for years. We were seated at a table for 8, alone.. We had our luggage destroyed, a leather carryon with a bottle of cologne broken in it so it REEKED! We had twin beds (honeymoon?) which they made into king (pushed together). Rough waters one night, bed seperated, wife fell inbetween to floor.. We had no hot water. I kid you not, cold showers on a honeymoon and I mean cold, not hot, not warm COLD. Our fun 'private island' day was cancelled. We went on a 'tour' through nassau to see the sights and the bus driver only stopped at street corners and made us name the trees.. I could go on and on, seriously.. This was not a Disney Cruise either, it was before Disney. We were so upset at the time, but laughed about it none-the-less. After the cruise we spent 5 nights in a lagoon view concierge room at the Polynesian (pre-DVC days) and that made up for it all.

LOL!!! At least our bed didn't fall apart when we were in rough waters That's bad The worst part of our cruise, by far, was the food!! The food was just TERRIBLE. I thought that food on cruise ships was supposed to be so good. This was our first (and last) cruise. Anyways, we very nearly flew home from the port of call. We didn't want to get back on that gross ship for another 2 day cruise back to the home port. Man, it was such a nasty trip. It was expensive, too! For the cost of that trip, we could have spent 2 very nice weeks at Disney We bought into DVC a few months after the "cruise from hell". We're done taking chances with the quality of our vacations

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

poj7 - The BCV's is a beautiful resort. I certainly hope nobody thinks I was bashing it. The decor is lovely, and the chrome and brushed chrome hardware is beautiful. I love the colors, and the fabrics.... and the common areas downstairs are breathtaking. I can't say a single bad thing about the resort itself, it's truely wonderful.

 

[jimmytammy]

Merilyn

I agree with you, DVC is first class, to me anyway. I have stayed in some not so desirable places and stayed in some nice places. Disney resorts in general are very very nice places. TigrlsPooh seems to be having a bad situation after another kind of trip and I feel for her and her family. I hope it gets better from here on out.

 

[Sammie]

Note: I am responding with my opinion to a situation and/or similar situations and not to any one person.

In any post complaining about service why are we so ready to believe that there is only one side to the story.

I am amazed at how many people are so quick to believe everything that is posted on Internet Forums as the complete and accurate account of what actually happened.

I know from reading many Internet forums that I can read a post that I find witty and someone else can come right along behind me and find that same post rude.

I am "not" saying the OP person is not correct, so please don't give me any flames to the such. I "am" saying every situation has 2 sides and on forums you only get one side.

I also think circumstances affect our perceptions of rude. If I had been at the Polynesian in a very large room having a great time and had moved 2 small kids by bus, to another resort into a small hot room and then had to go do laundry, I don't think I would be in a good mood to start with.

As to noise in the halls in the middle of the afternoon, I am sure the maintenance men did not even think someone's children could be napping. Most everyone is gone during the day.

This is just my opinion based on conversations with friends that work the Front Desks at Disney resorts and no critism of any person posting their personal experiences.

If a manager said, What do you want more free meals?, I would not be offended, I would say sure that would be great. I appreciate the offer.

As to the first manager going to check the room that was not clean, I would take that as policy and not that she did not believe me. Now if she said, I don't believe you and I will go check it myself, then Yes I would be very offended.

See how the exact 2 situations can be perceived differently.

 

[robinb]

Originally posted by Sammie
As to the first manager going to check the room that was not clean, I would take that as policy and not that she did not believe me. Now if she said, I don't believe you and I will go check it myself, then Yes I would be very offended.

That is exactly what I was thinking. BCV (and other DVC resorts) may in fact have a different set of rules when someone wants to change a room for whatever reason. We DVCer's know that there is usually a $25 charge for a room change after the key is issued. Perhaps the policy is that a manager needs to check the room themselves before they issue a new room. Not because they don't believe the guest in front of them, but because they have been burned before by people who don't like their view and make something up to get a free room change.

That being said, I would be annoyed having to wait for the manager to go all ... the ... way to the BCV room and back. Especially with 2 small children. I think her offer of dinner (for 3) was appropriate for the inconvenience.

 

[gazeborob]

OK, I had to jump in. After sitting here and reading all these post, let me see if I have this right. First of all, there are some out there that think that most of us DVC owners are all bias. Well, I’m not! If there is a problem, get it fixed right the first time. From what I have read the first problem was solved at once. OK, the A/C broke. Bad luck, yes. But it was fixed as fast as they could do it. No soap in the laundry. BIG DEAL. I have stayed at several other Disney resorts in the past with the same problem. Take the elevator down to the next level and see if there is any in that laundry room. Then call the front desk and complain. If the bed rails were so important, why did you go to bed that night without them? Yes you should have hade them when you check in, but maybe they were delivered to your first room? I can understand that things were not perfect when you check in, but you get over them and move on. As for the attitude of the CM’s, that is not expectable at all. Was the attitude really that bad, or was it more the case that by that point in the day you had had enough?

Rob