Why do they hate me???

[mickeymouse1017]

Ok, we came to DW last summer and had such a horrible time at FW that we ended up leaving early. I won't get into the specifics but lets just say there was NO Disney magic. We ended up writing a letter to Disney about the experience and they actually responded and gave us a number to call before our next trip and they would try to make it up to us. So, we go back four months ago and the lady at the number assures us that she will get us a fabulous site. We get to check in and we are kicked out the site that she has for us because she did not make note of our pets - an oops on her part. That was resolved with a not so great site but a site none the less. Now, we check in yesterday and are given a site but told that it is not clean yet so we should pull over into the overflow lot and call them in an hour. So we eat lunch and call back in an hour. I ask about our site being clean and give the guy the number of the site. He tells me that they don't have a site with that number. The girl that checked us in gave us the last three digits of our phone number as our site number. Let's all pray that she is new. So, we go into the check in building to get this straightened out. It worked out well and we got a good site. I just wonder, do they have it in for me? I love Disney and have always written letters about the nice things that the CM's do for us. I have been to Disney many, many times and already have a Disney obsessed 2 year old. Why me????? It is now a comedy about how much of a hassle check in will be. Good thing that we are Disney fans or we really might be offended!

 

[Gillian]

There seems to be a bit of a communication problem with the cleaning person, because our site was also not prepped and as we were starting to set up someone came by in a golf cart to do the work. Because we were newbies and did NOT want to back in again, we just stayed and let him do the basics. We thought it looked pretty clean to begin with!

Sorry for your troubles!

 

[Memph1s]

FW does have a problem getting the word on when sites are ready in the computer. We got to the fort last Saturday at 11am and was told that our requested site in the 1300 loop was not yet ready and to go to the overflow parking lot and call in about 1 hour. We went over and waited and then called back. After 20 min on hold they told us the site was still not ready. I asked if there was anything else ready and they gave us a couple of site numbers to check out. We went in and checked on the sites but both were in bad locations. One was right at the main 4way stop and the other was right across from the pool in the 1300. We went back to the front of the 1300 loop and our site 1306 was empty and clean. I backed into the site and called up front only to be told the site was not ready. After a short talk I was told to call back in 1 hour and check again. Well by this time its 12:50 only 10 mins from official check in time and I ask why it would be another hour before our already clean site was ready. He just said they we running a little behind. I called back 30 min later still from site 1306 and was told it was still not ready, I asked are you sure is there someone else I can talk to and he said oh wait its ready now your site will be 1306. The same site I had been sitting in for the past 1/2 hour. I talked with our camping neibours later on in the day and they told me the site had been empty since yesterday. This was the second time this has happened to us. I don’t know if the people cleaning the sites are not reporting them in a timely manor or if the people that enter the info are screwing up. Either way it is very frustrating. We are locals so most of our trips are just weekend stays of 1 or 2 nights and it really cuts in to your time if you cant get on the site until late.

 

[Elliott]

We have had to pull into that overflow lot as well, despite arriving after 1pm. That is miserable! Sitting in the middle of 10 acres of blacktop in the Florida sun with no electricity or water, wondering if you should just leave your rig and go to a park or get some lunch, or wait another 10 minutes to see if your site is ready. I hate to go to the parks when we're not set up, knowing you still have to come back and do it, when all you want to do is climb into the air conditioning, kick off your shoes and chill. It seems to me that they could be a little more proactive in notifying the front office as to when sites are ready and helping campers get into them. They seem to treat it more like a "hotel situation" as if sites are just rooms and our equipment is just luggage.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

There are a couple of problems here as I see it. In at least one of the posters above, they were checking in early. I frequently check in early and almost always have to wait in the overflow lot. We just park the camper, check the dog into the kennel, take the bus up to the marina and have lunch at WL or TE and make the most of it. In another case, the poster requested a specific site. If this is the case and you have to wait in order to get the site you want, so be it. For some reason people seem to think there is some sort of sensor or constant means of communication between the CM's cleaning sites and the front desk. Sorry folks, but this isn't so. It looks to me like the clean up crew cleans a loop and then checks in. Why not relax a little, maybe not place so many demands or unrealistic expectations on the campground, and just try to make the most of a really not so bad situation? Now, let the flaming begin.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

There are a couple of problems here as I see it. In at least one of the posters above, they were checking in early. I frequently check in early and almost always have to wait in the overflow lot. We just park the camper, check the dog into the kennel, take the bus up to the marina and have lunch at WL or TE and make the most of it. In another case, the poster requested a specific site. If this is the case and you have to wait in order to get the site you want, so be it. For some reason people seem to think there is some sort of sensor or constant means of communication between the CM's cleaning sites and the front desk. Sorry folks, but this isn't so. It looks to me like the clean up crew cleans a loop and then checks in. Why not relax a little, maybe not place so many demands or unrealistic expectations on the campground, and just try to make the most of a really not so bad situation? Now, let the flaming begin.

I think that FW could do a better job of communicating the finished sites to the front desk. I also believe that there is something else at work here. Its almost as if they use the site cleaning issue as a way to control the flow of new guests, perhaps to stop or slow the stampede that would happen if they let everyone in at 1. I also believe they have rules regarding letting too many people in earlier than 1. All of this is just a theory but based on what I have observed during our trips. I have to go now and close my window shades, I hear one of the black helicopters approaching.....

 

[FloridaTeacher]

We have (knock on wood) never had a problem checking in. Here's what we do - maybe it'll work for you too. We check in between 1:00 and 3:00 (usually around 1:30). Our site has always been ready, we go right to it, set up and go to the park. I think our "luck" has something to do with checking in at or after check-in time.

Happy Camping!

 

[tellnotails]

There are a couple of problems here as I see it. In at least one of the posters above, they were checking in early. I frequently check in early and almost always have to wait in the overflow lot. We just park the camper, check the dog into the kennel, take the bus up to the marina and have lunch at WL or TE and make the most of it. In another case, the poster requested a specific site. If this is the case and you have to wait in order to get the site you want, so be it. For some reason people seem to think there is some sort of sensor or constant means of communication between the CM's cleaning sites and the front desk. Sorry folks, but this isn't so. It looks to me like the clean up crew cleans a loop and then checks in. Why not relax a little, maybe not place so many demands or unrealistic expectations on the campground, and just try to make the most of a really not so bad situation? Now, let the flaming begin.

+1

I wish I had thier problems....................

 

[hatchmo]

So many CMs at the front desk are in their first job at Disney and don't seem to know a lot about how to do it. Here's what has worked for us, maybe we have just been lucky. We almost always arrive before check-in time, and take an assigned site, if we can't get one of our favorite sites. Then we park the RV on the site, and start driving around in our tow car, until we see a vacant, cleaned site we would like to have. Then we call check-in from the phone at the rest room, and usually we can get that site. If not, we just keep trying. Cast members have to start their training somewhere, but it seems like there is an inordinate number of them at Central Reservations and at FW front desk. It has been that way for years.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Okay, maybe I shouldn't post this because it will jinx me for the next time. We arrived around 10 a.m. on Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The spot was clean and they sent us right ahead. I don't know if it was a good spot or a bad spot. It was in the 500 loop and suited us just fine. I had no expectations so maybe that's why I was so pleased.

But if it makes anyone feel better, on my trip in November to SSR, we were told our room wasn't ready. They wouldn't let us in until after 5 p.m. Amazing since the cleaning staff had moved out of the entire building around 2 p.m. Finally the woman on the phone admitted to not checking the updated list. Happens everywhere and not just at the Fort.