Tragic Bands, and a bird in our room, great start to this trip!

[mjc2003]

I know the complaints about disneys technological innovations (lol) are tiresome, but after enduring daily problems in October I was hoping it'd be better this trip. We've only been here one day and Id say I've spent 1/3rd of our time dealing with this nonsense.

Maybe it was an omen when we arrived in our 1br BCV villa and a bird promptly flew past my face? I chased it out of the balcony door as my three little girls and wife screamed, kinda funny, kinda not.

My tragic band has not worked on my door. My wife's did, then it didn't. Unfortunately it didn't work when she rushed our 5 year old to the room for a bathroom emergency. She tried to get her back to the lobby bathroom but was too late. I'll spare the details, but my daughter was humiliated and it was pretty awful. When I explained to the manager on duty (3rd visit to the desk in our first 12 hours, lol), he said "sorry, your wife's band isn't working because she isn't showing on the reservation." What? But it worked before? And she's been on the reservation the whole time?

Last night at dinner at cape may we couldn't charge bc we were over our spending limit. Makes sense, we had charged nearly $30 so far. Had to go back to the room to get a credit card bc the line at checkin was too long. But of course my key didn't work so I had to run back to cape may to get my daughters band. Sounds like fun, right? Having a Tragical Day so far!

Last night after visiting the arcade I left to bring my 2 year old back to bed. I was assured after much huddling by the CMs and the manager that my band would work. It didn't. I returned furious, my FIFTH trip to the desk in one day. The SAME manager said "the reason it's not working is because you have SEVEN bands tied to your name". What? I said "I can assure you there is only one of me." He then gave me a plastic key.

We are staying on cash because we booked too late to use points. In a state of angry, frustrated delirium I sort of lost it and said "We are spending $600 a night, how much do we have I spend to be guaranteed consistent access to our room?"

I received a feeble apology along with a request "try to be patient" while we "work out the kinks."

Yeah, ok. Today is day 2. Now I have angst. These trips used to be fun and carefree, now with all the planning, prep work and hyper-involvement I feel like I'm working.

 

[disneygal55]

So sorry to hear about all of your problems with the magic bands! We went last October and thankfully didn't have any problems other than my band didn't work twice at the International Gate entrance at Epcot. We are returning in May with a split stay at Port Orleans and Beach Club Villas and this time we have two rooms (twice) as we are bringing our two sons and their girlfriends. I am really nervous about our upcoming trip and resent the fact that I have to worry about something that I have always looked forward to as carefree and fun. I feel sorry that you had to "waste" so much vacation time running back and forth to the desk because Disney's "test" messed up. I feel that Disney owes you something for your issues because you are paying a lot of money for a family vacation and it shouldn't be so hard to have a good time.

 

[mouse]

We had similar experiences during our last trip. I would post the details, but it's too exhausting to even put it into words. I know things have gone smoothly for many guests and they love the new system, but I can honestly say that during our trip, we heard nothing but complaints from guests and CM's. We have another trip coming up in a couple of weeks. I am actually dreading it, as I am responsible for making all arrangements for 3 families. I have already spent hours on the web site and phone trying "fix" things that showed up as resolved & then somehow disappeared. We will always love Disney, but we are thinking about spreading some of our vacation dollars around elsewhere, as these vacations have just become too much work and too stressful, especially when other families are involved.

 

[nalajms]

I would ask for some kind of compensation. Not being able to get into the room isn't due to the number of MB you have. Even if you don't order it, they send you one for each reservation.

We had similar problems last fall. They never could figure out why some couldn't use there MB and others could.

Also double check your room charges. Sometimes the restaurants think it didn't go through when it actually did!

 

[quigs3]

I had the same problem on our last trip. It was hit or miss when it came to my band working. I could rarely get it to work on our room door, and it seldom worked when we were accessing FP queues and charging to the room. We are going this May, and I'm insisting on a card at check-in. I know they don't offer them anymore, but I keep reading on the boards that they will comply if a guest insists.

I'm sorry you haven't been able to enjoy your trip yet. Please make sure to share your experience with Disney management!

 

[Bribrittmom]

I would ask to speak to a manager. I really think you should receive some compensation as this is your vacation that you spent a lot of money on. You shouldn't have to waste so much of your precious time and experience frustration with their faulty technology.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I know the complaints about disneys technological innovations (lol) are tiresome, but after enduring daily problems in October I was hoping it'd be better this trip. We've only been here one day and Id say I've spent 1/3rd of our time dealing with this nonsense.

Maybe it was an omen when we arrived in our 1br BCV villa and a bird promptly flew past my face? I chased it out of the balcony door as my three little girls and wife screamed, kinda funny, kinda not.

My tragic band has not worked on my door. My wife's did, then it didn't. Unfortunately it didn't work when she rushed our 5 year old to the room for a bathroom emergency. She tried to get her back to the lobby bathroom but was too late. I'll spare the details, but my daughter was humiliated and it was pretty awful. When I explained to the manager on duty (3rd visit to the desk in our first 12 hours, lol), he said "sorry, your wife's band isn't working because she isn't showing on the reservation." What? But it worked before? And she's been on the reservation the whole time?

Last night at dinner at cape may we couldn't charge bc we were over our spending limit. Makes sense, we had charged nearly $30 so far. Had to go back to the room to get a credit card bc the line at checkin was too long. But of course my key didn't work so I had to run back to cape may to get my daughters band. Sounds like fun, right? Having a Tragical Day so far!

Last night after visiting the arcade I left to bring my 2 year old back to bed. I was assured after much huddling by the CMs and the manager that my band would work. It didn't. I returned furious, my FIFTH trip to the desk in one day. The SAME manager said "the reason it's not working is because you have SEVEN bands tied to your name". What? I said "I can assure you there is only one of me." He then gave me a plastic key.

We are staying on cash because we booked too late to use points. In a state of angry, frustrated delirium I sort of lost it and said "We are spending $600 a night, how much do we have I spend to be guaranteed consistent access to our room?"

I received a feeble apology along with a request "try to be patient" while we "work out the kinks."

Yeah, ok. Today is day 2. Now I have angst. These trips used to be fun and carefree, now with all the planning, prep work and hyper-involvement I feel like I'm working.

"I'm sorry, Mr. CM, but my patience ended about 5 errors ago." I would be so P***d by now. Cape May was fortunate that you were at least staying at that resort. Why you couldn't charge is beyond me. I really hope things improve for you (but even as I type that, I wonder-how could they get worse, more frustrating?)

 

[Greysword]

I recommend you send an email to member services customer service with your issues and your room information. They should be able to act on you behalf, and if nothing else add your concern to the list which gives them more weight to act on behalf of all the members. You can even (and should) request a call from MS management during your stay to discuss the issues.

Unfortunately, it seems Disney IT has quite a bit of work to do. If they think it is bad at WDW, wait until they have these issues at Disneyland resort.

 

[NoleFan]

I had issues with my mb's. all worked on my first visit. 2nd & 3rd visit everyone except for mine worked. they told me the same thing that I had too many magic bands assigned to me. when I got back home and a few calls to Disney, someone finally figured out that they had 2 email addresses & MDE accounts for me. One was an old email address that I haven't used in years or even ordered MB's from. Bizarre since I ordered all the MB's under my account and everyone except mine worked ! They cancelled the old email address & that was supposed to fix all. Next trip, mine still did not work. They changed my room at check in and had to reset my MB. Not sure if that screwed things up? Split stay and had issue at check in at other hotel. Finally this last trip, all worked well. They are wonderful when they work and quite miserable when they don't. Good luck!

 

[Best Aunt]

But what about the bird? Did you guys open the balcony door, and the bird flew in? Or was there a bird already in your room when you checked in?

 

[Simba's Mom]

But what about the bird? Did you guys open the balcony door, and the bird flew in? Or was there a bird already in your room when you checked in?

I wondered about that also. I'm a bird-watcher, and have seen many birds come to the balcony, but I've never seen one in the room.

 

[mjc2003]

But what about the bird? Did you guys open the balcony door, and the bird flew in? Or was there a bird already in your room when you checked in?

The bird was in the room, we didn't have time to open the door, it flew right past me as I walked into the kitchen area. The manager speculated that the cleaning person had left the balcony door open while cleaning? Also, we are in 309 which is right over the entrance to the villa building on the 3rd floor and the manager told me this is where the birds "congregate".

I don't know what's more disturbing; the fact that there was a bird in the room or the fact that a bird in our room was perhaps the least annoying part of our first day?

 

[Cricket2]

We had a bird in our Kidani 1bdrm for about 5 seconds. Initial walking in our room we opened the glass slider, walked out onto balcony then back in. Bird flew in landed on end table and flew right back out. I was just glad he didn't stick around because I wasn't walking all the way back to the lobby to get him a room key.

 

[mjc2003]

Thank you all for your replies. Again last night, upon returning from a day at Epcot, NONE of our bands nor our plastic keys worked so back to the desk. They initially tried to say that our bands were not coded properly because we stayed club level at BC the first night but I explained that made no sense....not even sure if the manager believed what she was telling me. They then suggested we switch rooms because something must be wrong with our actual keypad, but after unpacking for 5 people we refused. They gave us NEW plastic keys and somebody from the front desk actually walked us up.

As far as compensation, the manager last night actually uttered this sentence: "we know you've been dealing with a lot of problems and would like to compensate you by giving each member of your party 2 additional fast passes for any day of your stay".

Can it be called compensation if they are giving you something of no value? I just sort of laughed. I told the manager the next time we couldn't get in that I'd be kicking in the door, and she actually said "you wouldn't be able to" as if I was serious.

 

[rpk1951]

Sorry for the mess. It is odd that the plastic card and the bands do not work. Maybe they need to swap out the door lock entirely. I wonder if you can ask for a plastic card as backup to you MB on any stay, just in case.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I told the manager the next time we couldn't get in that I'd be kicking in the door, and she actually said "you wouldn't be able to" as if I was serious.

She should be lucky that's all you'd do. If that happened to me, I'd be channeling Sparky Griswold in "Christmas Vacation"-"Fixed the newel post, honey!"

 

[Chuck S]

I'm sorry you're having problems. I went to OKW last November and everything worked fine, except I had to often tap the band to the door twice to unlock it. Charging and everything else was flawless.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

"You wouldn't be able to" sounds like a challenge to me. And if I had that many problems, I would be up for that challenge. I can't kick my way out of a paper bag, but rage might up my abilities. What a mess! I am so sorry your time is being sucked up by all this ridiculousness.

 

[bumbershoot]

The SAME manager said "the reason it's not working is because you have SEVEN bands tied to your name". What? I said "I can assure you there is only one of me." He then gave me a plastic key.

We are staying on cash because we booked too late to use points. In a state of angry, frustrated delirium I sort of lost it and said "We are spending $600 a night, how much do we have I spend to be guaranteed consistent access to our room?"

Well it sounds like you have at least three. One for this room, one for the concierge room at the beginning of this stay, one for your October trip. If they are giving you new bands its totally possible you have 7.

BUt that in and of itself makes no difference. I have 6 MBs all linked to my account and they have worked just fine for the doors (excel that I have to take off the MB to open doors comfortably). So that excuse is bogus. Your situation involves multiple glitches, not a policy against multiple MBs etc.

They then suggested we switch rooms because something must be wrong with our actual keypad, but after unpacking for 5 people we refused. They gave us NEW plastic keys and somebody from the front desk actually walked us up.

As far as compensation, the manager last night actually uttered this sentence: "we know you've been dealing with a lot of problems and would like to compensate you by giving each member of your party 2 additional fast passes for any day of your stay".

Can it be called compensation if they are giving you something of no value? I just sort of laughed. I told the manager the next time we couldn't get in that I'd be kicking in the door, and she actually said "you wouldn't be able to" as if I was serious.

I would suggest that they change the battery in the door pad thing.

And when you get a chance, seriously sit down with the manager and let them come up with compensation that actually makes some sense.

 

[vakamalua]

As far as compensation, the manager last night actually uttered this sentence: "we know you've been dealing with a lot of problems and would like to compensate you by giving each member of your party 2 additional fast passes for any day of your stay".

Can it be called compensation if they are giving you something of no value? I just sort of laughed. I told the manager the next time we couldn't get in that I'd be kicking in the door, and she actually said "you wouldn't be able to" as if I was serious.

Don't let them "under" compensate you.

We stayed one night at the Art of Animation before a cruise and had a problem with the room cleaner locking us out and walking off with our carry-ons prior to our checking out. When we went the manager and got it straightened out, she simply said "I am putting $150 dollars on your account right now, you can take a credit to your credit card or go buy some things in the shop for your cruise."

Another time, we had terrible service at the front desk and restaurant at BCV; after talking to the manager, she handed us a wad of cash--about $100.