Hi everyone,
I have learned so much on this board so I thought I would share our experience. We just returned from a 4night/5 day stay at the BLT-dedicated 2 bedroom--room #8124--11th floor--MK view. It was very very nice.
A few things to mention: We drove 9 hours with 6 small kids ages 7 and under. We arrived about 330pm--check in isn't until 4pm--when we got there they said our room was not ready but they would text us. The CM said maybe 15 min, but he couldn't guarentee how long it would be. My husband's parents room was ready--a studio--so all 11 of us piled in their room. After about 20 min my husband called just to check on it b/c there were no mousekeepers even on the floor and they said we would be on the same floor as his parents. When he called, they acted clueless, but said they would send up a runner to the room we were supposed to have and for us to call them back in about 15 min. they said maybe mousekeeping forgot to put it in the computer as clean.
After 15 min, my husband called back, again a clueless CM--but we were being very very patient and kind b/c things happen and communication can get lost when speaking with so many different CM's--after explaining our situation again, DH finally got a text that the room was ready. It was now about 445pm--an hour had gone by. needless to say 11 people in a small studio room was very hard and tight. We were all exhausted. swimsuites were packed up so we couldn't get to them to go to the pool so we waited it out. Plus with 6 kids ages 7, 6, 5, 3, 3 and 1--it is hard to move everyone safely.
We got in our room and settled. Excellent room and location. But I was very surprised at Disney's response to this situation. It was really like they didn't care. I can understand the room not being ready if we are early--but by 4pm--check in time, when you have driven 9 hours with all those tired little kids, the last thing you need is a longer wait--I do expect the room to be ready at their designated check in time. We now know, the room was actually ready, just not put in the computer correctly so it appeared as not clean when it really was. Disney didn't offer to help us out in any way as we waited. I just read above that when someone's room in the Contemporary wasnt' ready (even after a request for a different room, they gave them funds to get lunch)--what is up with that and then they do nothing for our family?
We had another incident which I will explain in a minute. But honestly, it seemed to us to be this situation: we got the impression that the CM's at the Contemporary are frustrated to deal with people from Bay Lake Tower. We paid cash for this trip. $5000 to be exact. for 4 nights (incl park tickets and we had free dining). The other incident we had was the night before we left, my DH called and asked if he could use a cart from bell services. The answer was No, the Bell man has to help you. Ok, I can understand that and yes, that means we have to tip (or we feel like we do if someone helps us). They said they would send someone up. After about 20 min, no bellman, my DH called again, they said they sent someone up and they knocked and no one answered. We were there waiting with the door cracked, obviously they went to the wrong room. They were snippy with DH and didn't appologize. The bellman came up and we got our stuff loaded. Where is the customer service --or even being nice about things?
Now these are the only 2 times we had any interaction with guest services or calling for assistance with anything. And both times, they were less than magical. Not even nice about it. We really felt like second class or that it was our fault for staying in BLT. We felt like BLT is just an inconvenience for the CM's and Bellmans. Afterall, they do have to come from the Contemporary to help people in BLT.
Mousekeeping was great. Our room was great. Loved the resort. We just were very dismayed with guest services. And to start off our trip with the room issue--then for them to put it in our lap to call them back and see if it was ready---it just didn't seem to be Disney service at all.
I am sure many of you will disagree with our take on the situation. Please do not flame me. I just wanted to voice our experience. I am perplexed why it is this way or at least our perception. We would like to stay at BLT in the future. But it really made us think if we ever wanted to buy into the DVC and have that be our home resort. The service was not good from guest relations.
anyway, just wanted to see if you had any insight as to why we experienced what we did? Again, overall it was a great trip and good stay.
I have learned so much on this board so I thought I would share our experience. We just returned from a 4night/5 day stay at the BLT-dedicated 2 bedroom--room #8124--11th floor--MK view. It was very very nice.
A few things to mention: We drove 9 hours with 6 small kids ages 7 and under. We arrived about 330pm--check in isn't until 4pm--when we got there they said our room was not ready but they would text us. The CM said maybe 15 min, but he couldn't guarentee how long it would be. My husband's parents room was ready--a studio--so all 11 of us piled in their room. After about 20 min my husband called just to check on it b/c there were no mousekeepers even on the floor and they said we would be on the same floor as his parents. When he called, they acted clueless, but said they would send up a runner to the room we were supposed to have and for us to call them back in about 15 min. they said maybe mousekeeping forgot to put it in the computer as clean.
After 15 min, my husband called back, again a clueless CM--but we were being very very patient and kind b/c things happen and communication can get lost when speaking with so many different CM's--after explaining our situation again, DH finally got a text that the room was ready. It was now about 445pm--an hour had gone by. needless to say 11 people in a small studio room was very hard and tight. We were all exhausted. swimsuites were packed up so we couldn't get to them to go to the pool so we waited it out. Plus with 6 kids ages 7, 6, 5, 3, 3 and 1--it is hard to move everyone safely.
We got in our room and settled. Excellent room and location. But I was very surprised at Disney's response to this situation. It was really like they didn't care. I can understand the room not being ready if we are early--but by 4pm--check in time, when you have driven 9 hours with all those tired little kids, the last thing you need is a longer wait--I do expect the room to be ready at their designated check in time. We now know, the room was actually ready, just not put in the computer correctly so it appeared as not clean when it really was. Disney didn't offer to help us out in any way as we waited. I just read above that when someone's room in the Contemporary wasnt' ready (even after a request for a different room, they gave them funds to get lunch)--what is up with that and then they do nothing for our family?
We had another incident which I will explain in a minute. But honestly, it seemed to us to be this situation: we got the impression that the CM's at the Contemporary are frustrated to deal with people from Bay Lake Tower. We paid cash for this trip. $5000 to be exact. for 4 nights (incl park tickets and we had free dining). The other incident we had was the night before we left, my DH called and asked if he could use a cart from bell services. The answer was No, the Bell man has to help you. Ok, I can understand that and yes, that means we have to tip (or we feel like we do if someone helps us). They said they would send someone up. After about 20 min, no bellman, my DH called again, they said they sent someone up and they knocked and no one answered. We were there waiting with the door cracked, obviously they went to the wrong room. They were snippy with DH and didn't appologize. The bellman came up and we got our stuff loaded. Where is the customer service --or even being nice about things?
Now these are the only 2 times we had any interaction with guest services or calling for assistance with anything. And both times, they were less than magical. Not even nice about it. We really felt like second class or that it was our fault for staying in BLT. We felt like BLT is just an inconvenience for the CM's and Bellmans. Afterall, they do have to come from the Contemporary to help people in BLT.
Mousekeeping was great. Our room was great. Loved the resort. We just were very dismayed with guest services. And to start off our trip with the room issue--then for them to put it in our lap to call them back and see if it was ready---it just didn't seem to be Disney service at all.
I am sure many of you will disagree with our take on the situation. Please do not flame me. I just wanted to voice our experience. I am perplexed why it is this way or at least our perception. We would like to stay at BLT in the future. But it really made us think if we ever wanted to buy into the DVC and have that be our home resort. The service was not good from guest relations.
anyway, just wanted to see if you had any insight as to why we experienced what we did? Again, overall it was a great trip and good stay.
We were in room 5352 (3rd floor, standard view) and you can imagine our surprise the 1st night when we looked out our window and saw this:
Only called housekeeping once for xtra towels, wash cloths & toiletries. When I told them there was 5 of us they brought a whole bunch of each item. Would have liked more storage but we survived. The only real complaint I can think of is the dim lighting in the room. Even with every light & lamp on it still seemed dim. All in all we had a great experience at CR.
(almost 
)
But only noticed the sign the last 2 days of the trip, so perhaps it had been open to that point?? As for the observation deck, I have no idea since we never go over there- sorry!
DH and I ended up at Contempo Cafe for coffee and the line at 7:45 am was backed up (not as far as the DVC desk, but a long way). 
