They SAID they wanted to "bend over backwards." I should have KNOWN!

[MouseinMelbourne]

We checked in to WL at 11 am. The room was undergoing a "special cleaning" so early check-in was not available. NO PROBLEM! I told the front desk people to take all the time they need. We were not planning on going to the room anyway and headed right over to the Magic Kingdom - would be back around 8 pm.

At 7 pm we arrived - extremely tired and looking forward to room service and hitting the hay early. Well....we walked in the room and with just a cursory look at the carpet I found a fingernail (gross) and (this was just too ironic) 2 pieces of a nut shell - looked like a pecan.

No crib, so we call. 40 minutes later housekeeping arrives to turn down our bed. SAY WHAT?! People actually call them to turn down the bed?! WHILE they're in the room? (I can see the luxury of walking into the room all nice and neatly ready for bed, etc. But to call them while you're there, well...but I digress.) So she goes back down to get the crib - which arrived 25 minutes later.

No menu in the room. I call Room Service and they'll have one sent up. 15 minutes later and no menu, so we wing it and just tell them cheeseburger, fries, etc. That arrived 30 minutes later (exactly as they had told me for which I was very grateful), but with cold fries.

After we FINALLY finish eating, got the crib, etc. I put the dirty room service dishes in the hall as instructed. I got everyone settled into bed (let me tell you - DH was as fit to be tied as 2 year old DD at this point). At about 9:30 Room Service calls. Mind you DD has been dancing around this crib - overtired at this point. DH is ready to blow up at her. JUST as she quieted down - they call. WHY did they call? To see if we were done with our dishes. In my entire life, I have never had them call to see about picking up dishes. THEY JUST DO IT!

SO.......our special cleaning was a joke. The room was terrible. 4099. The floor above the lobby and right across from the WCC - on the corner. We heard everything going on - the elevators up and down, people banging on our wall, the yee-hawing in the cafe.


We have decided not to stay at WL again. We may not even stay over at Disney ever, anywhere. Just drive over for the day.

My saga is over. Thanks for all the replies. Both supporting and disagreeing. Let's not beat this one to a pulp...I just wanted to let you know how it went.

Carolyn

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

I forgot to mention for those who did not read my follow-up post in the original thread......

I called the special number but never asked for anything but a clean room. That they please go over in detail to be sure we don't have the sme issues.

On the plus side....the balcony door was locked!!

Carolyn

P.S. I don't mean to sound like such a whiner either. We had a "magical" visit to Disney, but the magic was limited to the Kingdom and not the hotel.

 

[JenniferW]

Sorry about the unpleasant stay. I did follow your previous report and I would say it is just bad luck, but with luck like that I would try a different resort or stay off-site! For the price you deserve better! Everyone has their own opinion and sometimes one person loves something and another has one misfortunate thing happen after another.

Jenn

 

[sm4987]

Don't give up on Disney. Maybe it's time to find another resort to stay at, if the lodge is not to your liking. I hope that you trip is wonderful anyway. Always remember that you are blessed to be there despite the problems.

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

Originally posted by sm4987
Don't give up on Disney. Maybe it's time to find another resort to stay at, if the lodge is not to your liking. I hope that you trip is wonderful anyway. Always remember that you are blessed to be there despite the problems.

WELL SAID! DH and I were discussing on the ride over how fortunate we are to be able to go to Disney. I wish everyone had the same peace and luxury.

Carolyn

 

[Jinnyboom]

You TRULY are lucky to be able to visit WDW so frequently....(we've been twice in six years...)....
As the others posted....don't give up on Disney...........MOVE ON OVER to the AKL....
We stayed at both last month....and just don't feel that there is ANY comparison...
.....Cleanliness....AWESOME at AKL
.....Congeniality of cast members....AWESOME at AKL
.....Promptness of service.....AWESOME at AKL

EVERYTHING....in our humble opinion is AWESOME at AKL

 

[Luv2Roam]

Maybe next time they should bend over forwards and clean the carpet better.
Give another deluxe a shot. And if that doesn't work, then time to move on. S/D, maybe?
Glad otherwise your trp was good.

 

[Hayley]

OK, we all know how blessed we are to be able to go to WDW, but the fact is, it's not a charity - we pay dearly to stay on-site and at those prices I don't think it's unreasonable to have some expectations for a certain level of excellence.

I would like to thank the OP for the Information - I like to make educated decisions when I fork over that much money for a room. I had a really bad stay at a Contemporary garden wing room and my first reaction would be to warn people that I didn't think the rooms there were worth the money. I'd think it would be helpful to hear about my experience and have all the information they could when making a choice in resorts.

I have to say it - my family is a Disney Family through and through. We go to WDW at least once a year - we get that magical feeling our first glimpse of the castle and feel like crying our last every time we go. We love it and we look forward to it for months - <i>but</i> - we travel to other places, too. And, for sure, we put up with things while staying at the WDW resorts that we never would, paying the same room rate, at hotels in other locations. If I pay that much for a room I don't want those little irritations. I put up with them at Disney because I love it there - and sometimes I think Disney sees people like me coming....

 

[cinder1]

I agree with Hayley. I don't know if the OP wants to deal with the frustration, but I think I would call that special number one more time just to let them know that the special cleaning wasn't so special. In the first thread before the OP's trip I said that housekeeping should be able to vacuum well. I still think so.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

After reading your reply Hayley I just feel like I have to tell you how much I agree with everything you said. My family is a total Disney family also and we save for months to have a vacation there. The anticipation and all the trip planning is half the fun if you ask me. But when we check in and get a CM at the front desk who acts as though we are ruining her whole day just by walking in the door or a room that looks like it hasn't even been touched by any of the housekeeping staff {and this has happened more than once} it just ruins the magic somehow. And when the magic costs as much as it does at Disney you do tend to expect a little bit more in the way of good service.

 

[goofy4tink]

As we have seen some of this 'non-housekeeping' at POR, I would have to ask if the housekeeping staff is running at full staffing. I realize that when we were there last, Nov.'01, a lot of housekeeping people had been laid off. Now, that didn't translate into a lesser room rate for me mind you. We did have mold in the bathroom, yuckies on the floor, etc. You would think that if there were smaller numbers of rooms being used, they would be able to keep up. So, does anyone know if the resorts are basically short-staffed now? If this is the case, then I'll change my ressies to a value and not expect anything terrific. I certainly won't spend the money to stay even one night at a deluxe if it's going to be less than clean. I'll deal with it for $50 a night, but not for $200!!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

So much for the special #!!

I totally agree with you, I would never stay there again if I were you. Not just the cleanliness problem but the poor customer service. We had similar problems at the GF. It's a shame Disney can't get their act together. Things like this seem to be happening in a lot of the resorts.

 

[bridgettesmom]

I was looking foward to hearing about your trip this time.That after your room went thru a "special cleaning" you still found the fingernail and pieces of nutshell is totally UNACEPTABLE!!!. I have to agree with cinder1 do give the number a call and this time don't leave a message keep trying until you get an actual person.I'm sorry,this time you do deserve that they bend backwards for you.

 

[Muffy]

Sorry to hear your room at WL was still lacking as far as cleanliness goes. Try the S/D next time. We just stayed for the first time and loved it. It was very clean and the location can't be beat!

 

[perd]

I got a call from the executive office at Disney just a few minutes ago about my complaints about our stay at Beach Club in December - smoking room when we requested nonsmoking, stained carpet, stained walls, mold in the shower, dirt around the edges of the room and old yucky bedspreads. Well we thought was had a Resort Magic package and we didn't, and he seemed to want to dwell on that but that's not what we were upset about. Other than our room, and the fact that half the dryers weren't working in the laundry room, everything was okay. By the way, he told me something interesting. He said they are finding that people go in and put "Out of Order" signs on the dryers so no one will use them and then they will be free for THEM to use when they get back from the parks that evening! He said they call in the repair people and they find nothing wrong with the dryers!

He didn't offer any compensation, and I didn't ask for any. Doesn't matter - truthfully, I doubt if we will ever go to DW again anyway. My husband was SO upset that we spent that much money and got a worse room than we have had at much less expensive hotels elsewhere. He was saying we could have had a much better vacation for so much less elsewhere. And I guess he's probably right. With hotel, park tickets, airfare, car rental and food at Disney world, our five night, six day vacation cost about $5600. Was it worth that much money to us? No....

 

[Jen D]

I am so disappointed to read your report, MouseinMelbourne. I was really hoping they would truly "bend over backward" or at least do the bare minimum of housekeeping that is expected for every paying guest.

And I have to agree with Hayley-- yeah, anyone who is able to afford a trip to WDW is truly blessed and lucky, but I don't know how lucky it is to shell out hard-earned and painstakingly saved money for an overpriced and substandard hotel experience. They are still a business, and you are still a customer.

 

[eeyore0062]

Sounds like the luck just isn't with you. You need to try another resort. We have stayed in PO-R, Po-FQ, CBR, the Contemporary, and yes, even WL and NEVER had any complants about the condition of the room, housekeeping, guest service, room service, or anything else. We have had guest services at WL call our room in the evening to see if there was anything more they could do for us... we thought that was really sweet, not an intrusion, even if we did have a sleeping child in the room.

I guess it is all in the attitude, and the expectations.

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

MouseinMelbourne, I'm really disappointed for you, and sad that your saga didn't have a more positive ending.

It is so unfortunate that WL management did not successfully avail themselves of the opportunity to "wow" you. There certainly was no excuse for the refuse you found after the so-called special cleaning.

However, I can't help wondering if the call at 9:30 was a misguided attempt to go the extra mile in that regard... maybe housekeeping thought it would feel special if you knew they were looking out for you by getting rid of your dirty dishes? Just a thought!

I'm anxious to see if I have any such reports after my trip next week... I plan to stay optimistic in hopes of attracting the most possible magic!

 

[TeresaNJ]

I am so sorry to read about the problems people have with their stays at WDW, especially considering the cost of staying there. I honestly have to say I have never had a room in any resort that I've stayed at, and I've stayed at quite a few, that wasn't **** & span. I guess I've been extremely lucky. Why not try out one of the home away from home resorts the next time? The Fort Wilderness cabins are adorable, and very quiet.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Oh my gosh, the word s--c was deleted out of my post!! Too funny!