Total Nightmare @ Disney

[jenjersnap]

Does Disney actually allow late checkout? If they did, it should only be if the room is not already assigned to anyone for check-in.

I have received late check out at Disney a couple times, including in 2009. My understanding is that they do allow late check out on a first come, first served extremely limited basis. The numbers should be so small that there isn't much of an impact.

 

[bwilcox]

Just curious....so where's the OP?

The OP has already asked her question and stated her experience. She probably has the good sense to not get further sucked in to this thread. (Better sense than me, anyway.)

 

[*Meagan*]

This is ridiculous. YOU place a lot of value on a Villa, therefore the OP has no right to complain? Maybe the OP doesn't care about a Villa. I wouldn't... we book off-site or Pop Century almost every trip. We spend so little time in the room that a Villa would do nothing of any value for us. It's not a money issue... we could book a Villa if we desired. We don't.

ridiculous?! get a grip! I do place a ton of value on a villa.. although a villa may not be valuable to YOU... it may be to the OP. Thats a pretty nice deal for having a broken AC.

Pop Century $82 x 8 Nights = $656
DVC villa @ SSR $295 x 8 Nights = $ 2,360

Although it is not all about the money.... that is a pretty great upgrade. Yes time is valuable.. and Im sorry I wasted it on YOU!


My point is they made it right while they were there. And I personally would not complain she already did..

 

[DisGirl23]

Hmmm... I go to work and this turns into a "Check-In" debate? Did we settle on the compensation value yet?

 

[*Meagan*]

If upgrade from value to deluxe cannot compensate 2 days of inconvenience, then I do not know what can. Time cannot be returned but making the rest of the stay(8 more days) more comfortable is a big deal. What else could be done, firing everyone envolved, closing resort, public execution of maintanance crew? Seriously, situation was handled pretty well ($2,000 upgrade). It does not matter if OP did not plan booking deluxe and was OK with value, OP definitely had more comfort at villa and that is the point.

EXACTLY!!!!!

 

[Mysteria]

Check in time "starts" at 3/4pm just keeps making me laugh. This is the first time I've even heard of anyone thinking of a check-in time like this. It boggles my mind. I'll cut any hotel some slack on the time but not by hours unless it's due to some huge unforeseen event.

To the person who thinks check in starts at 3pm...does check-out time start at 11am?!

 

[LisaCat]

In any case, whatever is at the root, I'm seeing more and more posts recently saying the negativity has gone overboard. I'm all for constructive criticism, and even some venting, but it's a bit much now, IMHO. I'm just hoping it dies down a bit... maybe to 2007 levels...

I am noticing WAY more negativity on the crafting boards I am part of as well. I think when the economy returns to 2007 levels, everyone's attitudes will as well. It's hard for some to be as chipper as they were in 2007 right now. I don't think it has anything to do with Disney or my crafting hobby either.....

To stay on topic, I'm glad the OP got compensated during their stay. I agree that addressing any service related issues wherever you are needs to be done AT THE MOMENT. After the fact really doesn't mean as much.

 

[lugnut33]

I like pie

 

[cm8]

The OP has already asked her question and stated her experience. She probably has the good sense to not get further sucked in to this thread. (Better sense than me, anyway.)

 

[heatherwillmom]

I agree If you can't meet the check in time you are promising,either get more help or make it later.Don't pull the old doctors office trick of saying 3:00 when you mean 4:00 or 4:30.If there are any doctors on here I apologise in advance!(just my expierience at a doctors office/may not reflect yours).

No offense taken. But I am proud to say that my office is rarely behind more than a few minutes. We always try to give enough time to each patient. I was behind one day last week when I had someone come in that required stiches, so that took me longer than the regular check-ups. We have made sure that we run efficiently with 3 doctors, but a lot of nurses. Both pp were right that usually the first appointments of the morning & the first after lunch are the best. The problem sometimes in the mornings is a lot of doctors make their hospital rounds before coming into the office & that can delay them. We don't make hospital rounds in our practice, the hospitalists do it for us so that helps.I do have my own doctor for things that I don't treat myself for & I know he's always behind although he always says that he has told his staff not to make me wait like a "regular" patient. I take a book just in case.

 

[brunette8706]

The OP has already asked her question and stated her experience. She probably has the good sense to not get further sucked in to this thread. (Better sense than me, anyway.)

*
LOL! I hear ya! I had a few errands to take care of last night, but NO, I'm sucked into this thread too, and didn't get anything done!

 

[brunette8706]

What, you think the CM had a good attitude?

Couldn't resist.

Good grief, it sounds like the CM was a bit rude, but they were right in that Disney can't (won't?) have all of the rooms available for check in at 3. Now if that CM would have lied to the OP, we would hear about how horrible it is for the CMs not to tell the guest the truth. And now when they did, it is bad too.

Would you rather the CM had spouted some nonsense about why the room wasn't ready yet?

*
The CM was very rude! People check OUT every day at the resorts. Since the poster got there very early it would seem to me that she would be one of the first people to get an "open" room. All the rooms just don't magically become open at 3:00. There are rooms that are open at different times of the day.

Further, when we were at the WL our room wasn't made until 3:30 which was unacceptable along with a few other things that had happened. We changed resorts. When I asked to be moved to another resort, I mentioned that our room wasn't made until 3:30, and the CM at the front desk just shook her head, and said "I understand". We were moved to the Yacht club which was fantastic.

 

[goofy4tink]

Just curious....so where's the OP?

Can't imagine that anyone would come back here and post if they were new!! The OP got the answer to the question, then came back and gave the much requested 'nightmare' info. Why bother coming back and getting embroiled in something???

I have to add that I have also been told, on two different occasions that my room (villa actually) was ready. Both times it was on the early side of 'official' checkin time..which is 4 at the villas. The first time, it was Thanksgiving Day...we went to our assigned villa, found it to be completely unacceptable (no balcony in the bedroom, that window opened right onto another guests balcony), horrible view of a tree vs the canal. We were given another villa. Fine....but when we put the room key in, and opened the door..surprise, surprise. The previous guests hadn't moved out yet. It was about 4 by now. Went back to the front desk...the manager wanted to see for himself. Well, he saw the same villa, strewn with clothing and toys..obviously the guests weren't planning on leaving soon. But, housekeeping had put that villa back into inventory that morning..showing it as ready to assigne. Hmmmmm.
Then, another time we got to the resort about noontime, were told our villa wasn't ready yet..fine, we expected that. We called about 3:30 to see what the status was. We were told the villa was now ready for us and to go on up. We entered the villa to find the housekeeper still in there!! She had washed the bathroom floor and had cleaned some of the carpeting. And she was just loading the dishwasher at this point. Not even close to ready for us. So, off we went to kill some time. The room was finally ready by 4:45.

My point is that sometimes housekeeping says a room is ready but it truly isn't. I can't imagine why they do this...when a guest enters that room and finds it not ready for them, it can be safely assumed that the guest is going to complain....which is going to alert housekeeping that something is 'off'.

I don't mind waiting for my room if I have arrived early. Yes, it's nice to get into it early, and for the most part, I have been able to get into rooms very early. DVC resorts are a bit harder to get into early, but we accept that.
It's when we are told the room is ready, when clearly, it is not, that I get mad. There is no excuse for housekeeping to put a room on the ready list when it isn't.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The industry standard meaning of check-in time is that the hotel is supposed to have the room cleaned and ready for you by that time (barring unusual circumstances), so you can fully "check-in" - that is, take occupancy of the room, and not have to wait further.

Bingo!

Does Disney actually allow late checkout? If they did, it should only be if the room is not already assigned to anyone for check-in.

Exactly. This is why you can request late check-out (at Disney or elsewhere), and it should be granted only if it will not interfere with the next guest checking in.

As with any hotel, it is up to Disney to manage their room blocks. Perhaps more complicated because of the number of room categories, but I have certainly stayed and worked at non-Disney hotels that had just as many room categories and manage it.

Stuff does happen, as others have said. But make no mistake that it is not the goal to make check-in "begin" at 3/4pm... It's a mistake. End of the world? No. But mistake? Yes.

I am noticing WAY more negativity on the crafting boards I am part of as well. I think when the economy returns to 2007 levels, everyone's attitudes will as well. It's hard for some to be as chipper as they were in 2007 right now. I don't think it has anything to do with Disney or my crafting hobby either.....

I'm with you!

 

[Suellen]

ridiculous?! get a grip! I do place a ton of value on a villa.. although a villa may not be valuable to YOU... it may be to the OP. Thats a pretty nice deal for having a broken AC.

Pop Century $82 x 8 Nights = $656
DVC villa @ SSR $295 x 8 Nights = $ 2,360

Although it is not all about the money.... that is a pretty great upgrade. Yes time is valuable.. and Im sorry I wasted it on YOU!


My point is they made it right while they were there. And I personally would not complain she already did..

2 Bedroom villa = 665.00/night.

EVEN with 40% discount?

399/night

$3192 value of upgraded room.

Price for Value Resorts is about right.

 

[nanalisa]

Experience. More than once we have gotten ownership of our room later than the stated check in time at Disney World. At the Beach Club we didn't get our room until almost 5:30pm. And from previous posts it seems that is what the CMs are now telling people too.

Why don't you write WDW and ask them if they guarantee you will get your room exactly at check in time? I bet your answer comes back as something along the line of "We of course do our best, but due to unforseen circumstances that may arise cannot guarantee you your room exactly at check in time." And I think that that is all we can really expect from them. That they do their best.

If more than once haven't gotten in your room until after 3:00, why are you defending Disney? This is not acceptable and more people that accept it will not help the situation. I've never had to check in late at hotels in Chicago or New York, why would I do it at Disney? Lord know I love the place but Disney is not exempt. I just don't think they are hiring enough housekeepers to get the rooms clean between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm

 

[brunette8706]

If more than once haven't gotten in your room until after 3:00, why are you defending Disney? This is not acceptable and more people that accept it will not help the situation. I've never had to check in late at hotels in Chicago or New York, why would I do it at Disney? Lord know I love the place but Disney is not exempt. I just don't think they are hiring enough housekeepers to get the rooms clean between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm

*
Well said nanalisa! I totally agree.

 

[Suellen]

Okay.... maybe a dumb question but when you get there and YOUR room isn't ready ~ why wouldn't you just ask for one that is?

That's what I always do and I have always gotten one.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Okay.... maybe a dumb question but when you get there and YOUR room isn't ready ~ why wouldn't you just ask for one that is?

That's what I always do and I have always gotten one.

In the BLT example I gave earlier, they literally had no other room available in my category (dedicated 2BR). They even said they could not offer me a 2BR lockoff unit - separate room block.

Sometimes I think people just choose to wait - e.g. YOUR room is on a high floor (as requested), and a room available NOW might only be on the 3rd floor.

I agree, though -- I always ask in such a situation - can't hurt!

 

[si-am]

Okay.... maybe a dumb question but when you get there and YOUR room isn't ready ~ why wouldn't you just ask for one that is?

That's what I always do and I have always gotten one.

We did-- they wouldn't budge. And we had no made no requests so it's not like we were being picky!