Transportation and Mousekeeping Trouble

[DarleneAnne]

Wow! I cant believe what i am hearing!!! I have never in all of my 35 years of staying with Disney seen any of this. I'm SHOCKED!

I just got back from Grand California Resort and the room was spotless. We did however have a problem with the Bar in the Resort wanting us to wait 30 minutes for approval to get our DVC Discount. They kept saying "you might as well just pay now". I said no i think i will wait...all of the discounts you get really add up. We got $35 off at Blue Bayou and $22 off at Goofy's Kitchen not to mention a dollar or five here and there. It seems though some of them change their tone with you when they see the member card. you would think they would be happy that they have members with as much as you pay. we have 300 points wasnt exactly cheap!

They really should be nice to DVC members. I have had good experiences in the restaraunts, we just had dinner at the Flying Fish. They were excited to let us know about our discount, we actually didn't mention it right off the bat, I forget how they knew to begin with.
With your experience, I wonder if some are concerned that they will receive less of a tip.

 

[Starr W.]

That is a shame and disgusting. Did you ask for a new room? I also try to clean up well before the mousekeeping comes in. It isn't right to leave the place a complete mess.

It seems that overall members are happy with the resorts outside of Disney World like VB and HHI. Maybe because they are smaller resorts the staff isn't as stressed, less rooms to clean?

I had to wait unti 6pm for my room at VB(2br villa) when I was there at Easter. They actually changed my room so I could get in at 6pm or if I hadn't said anything I would have been waiting until 7pm.

Room was spotless when I got in as all my DVC rooms have been. I think someone must have trashed the room I was assigned originally.

As for late check outs, I just got back from a II exchange at Marriott's Summit Watch in Park City UT. They have Fri, Sat and Sun check ins. Check out is 10 am. Heading out for lunch on Friday at about 11:45 we run into 3 families finally leaving.

So late checkouts are not just a DVC problem.

 

[DarleneAnne]

My DD stayed at SSR this past weekend using our points for the first time. When she arrived at 9:00 a.m of course she was told to come back at 4pm. She opened the sleep sofa because there were 3 adults staying to find "poop" stains on the sheets!! She immediately called at 4 and again at 6 and then went to dinner and wishes. At 11 upon her arrival, guess what? The same sheets!! Nobody had come. So she called again and they were very apologetic and came right up to her room. If it takes all day to clean a room ,why can't it be done thoroughly. Is Disney outsourcing mousekeeping? I did hear that rumor while we were there in April.

That is just really disgusting. They need to make the pull out sofa before the new guests. So either they made the bed with dirty sheets or they never checked the ones on the bed to begin with. I don't think I could have slept on the bed after that. They should have been given an upgrade or at the very least a new room.
I hadn't heard about outsourcing. They need better training for sure!

 

[DarleneAnne]

If Friday and Sunday is really too busy for Mousekeeping, I wonder how members would respond to earlier checkouts and later check-ins on those days????
If this ensured that my room would be CLEAN, I would be game.But, I know I'm probably in the minority with that opinion. I just hate seeing people having their vacation start off on the wrong foot. The room should be clean and ready to go.FWIW, we have great luck with bus transportation the last 15 years.Mousekeeping has been okay.

I would be fine with the later check in if we could store our luggage while we enjoy the parks. I wouldn't want to check out any earlier.

 

[DarleneAnne]

I am planning to post this as well as a new thread for anyone needing to make a comment good or bad to Member Services. I called this afternoon and I spoke to a really helpful Member Service rep and she said any complaints during our stay should be called in to our Member Services phone number and they can help with any problems such as Mousekeeping.
Also, after the stay you can email to the following address and let them know about what happened during your stay. Apparently they want to know about any good or bad experiences. After the email, a rep will contact you by phone to discuss the problems further.
Just thought I would update you on that.

 

[DVCSAMNH]

I always strip the sheets off the bed and sleep sofa and close it up before I leave. I just don't trust mousekeeping enough anymore and I feel this helps ensure that the next guest gets clean sheets. I have found the sleep sofa already made up before and strongly doubted that the sheets were unused. I requested clean sheets.

 

[maciec]

I always strip the sheets off the bed and sleep sofa and close it up before I leave. I just don't trust mousekeeping enough anymore and I feel this helps ensure that the next guest gets clean sheets. I have found the sleep sofa already made up before and strongly doubted that the sheets were unused. I requested clean sheets.

That's a great idea. One I never thought of because I took for granted that mousekeeping would do a good job. Now I know that not all mousekeepers are negligent in their duties but just to be sure (and help them out) I am going to strip our beds from now on.

 

[edk35]

Thank you for that explanation, it makes sense based on what you have said. I still don't think it's fair to the guests. We are given a model to look at which is is great condition before purchasing points. If you are a regular Disney vacationer you come to expect the clean conditions and that extra bit of magic. It sounds like they need to staff more heavily on Fridays if possible. I guess I should make a comment to the manager and let them know this is not the only occasion that I have had this situtation. Maybe if enough members comment when they have a problem, something will be done to improve the situation.

That is interesting.....our problem also happened on a Friday check in too at SSR last Aug.

 

[50 years Too!]

I also make sure to strip the sleeper sofa before I leave.
I assumed that if the sheets were on, they were clean. However,
I've heard from several that there should be clean sheets in the closet, not onthe bed.
I probably had my guests sleeping on dirty sheets!

I also put all the towels in a big pile. Don't want someone after me using an old towel!

 

[50 years Too!]

A side note. Some think we "complainers" are extra picky and complain about the smallest scratch or ding.
I don't complain about "wear". Dirt yes, gently used no.

Deb

 

[MrsNick]

My DD stayed at SSR this past weekend using our points for the first time. When she arrived at 9:00 a.m of course she was told to come back at 4pm. She opened the sleep sofa because there were 3 adults staying to find "poop" stains on the sheets!! She immediately called at 4 and again at 6 and then went to dinner and wishes. At 11 upon her arrival, guess what? The same sheets!! Nobody had come. So she called again and they were very apologetic and came right up to her room. If it takes all day to clean a room ,why can't it be done thoroughly. Is Disney outsourcing mousekeeping? I did hear that rumor while we were there in April.

Oh man, that is Nasty! Your daughter should not have had to call three times to get this issue resolved.

That said, who is the Pig that left poop on the sheets and didn't freakin' do something about it? I blame this loser more than housekeeping (and like I said, totally unacceptable for your daughter to have to call three times!).

 

[Maelstrom_]

Just got back from OKW last night. The room was spotless and was so nice and roomy. Our first stay at OKW...and we really did like the resort. BUT...the bus service was terrible!! Often we waited....and waited.....and waited....and waited.......and waited some more.....and waited.....and waited.....and waited.....is that it, nope, not us....and WAITED...What's going on? Are they curring back because of gas prices or something? Made me wish they were giving rental cars as one of the Million Dreams prizes.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just got back from OKW last night. The room was spotless and was so nice and roomy. Our first stay at OKW...and we really did like the resort. BUT...the bus service was terrible!! Often we waited....and waited.....and waited....and waited.......and waited some more.....and waited.....and waited.....and waited.....is that it, nope, not us....and WAITED...What's going on? Are they curring back because of gas prices or something? Made me wish they were giving rental cars as one of the Million Dreams prizes.

Was the bus service terrible for your entire stay? We were there last week and had no trouble with the buses. In the morning, in the evening.

 

[johngpa705]

We just came back from BWV. As always, a great WDW trip...except the busses, which seem to get worse every visit. 3 things have happened in the world since 2002.

1. They opened up the busses (and all transportation systems) to everyone, in part to keep off-property guests from leaving once they got into their cars to change parks. Remember the good old days when you had to show room ID to get on a bus?

2. The state and local governments started to hassle WDW about emmissions, so they were unable to add the number of busses that they wanted to to accomadate everyone.

3. This is the worst part- They went to a "dispatch" system, and did away with "routes". Used to be that that busses ran on a loop, which is why you never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus. (ie, one bus constantly went from BWV to MK and back). Now they have parking lot monitors who call dispatch and tell them when a bus is needed. However, if you are one of a small group, prepare to wait a looooong time. There seems to be some magical (no pun intended) number of people waiting that prompts a bus dispatch. Also, as you said, there is huge confusion with the dispatch, often sending numerous busses to the same site over and over. Just speculating here, but the world may be trying to "herd" us. If you want to go to MK, which is crowded, they may send numerous busses out to AK to control the flow of attendence where it can be better handled, the thought being that if you have to wait long enough, you'll siimply decide to go wherever the next bus takes you. But that's just my conjecture. I would honestly pay a small nightly premium to have busses dedicated for resort guest use again. Untl then, I will rent a car, go where and when I want to. Of course, I may also use some of my vacation dollars off-property since I will have a means of getting there..........any ears get the point??