You guys were right - the GF "Ain't what it used to be"

[polygurl]

Hi Gonga,

What a sad, story, I always stay at the Poly Concierge and love, love, love it. I must say though that I had concidered GF, or AKL, in the future. I agree that I would still write a letter. I don't mind paying for what I receive, but these rooms are pricey and they should fall all over themselves for you.

The real reason for this though is, I see you are going to the Four Seasons Maui, and I must know how that is. I am going to begin planning my first Hawaii trip and it seems like you guys like what I like. How is the hotel and service there? Please share if you already know, or let us know after your return.

Thanx

 

[freediverdude]

I guess in a way I can see both sides of this. Yes, priority seatings are really easy to make yourself. But, on the other hand, the people who are staying in concierge are paying a very premium premium price (did I mention it was premium?) for being there, and having someone else (supposedly) do that for them. Like someone else said, for the prices they are charging for those concierge rooms (from what I've seen, at least 100 dollars a night more than regular rooms in the deluxes, and sometimes much more than that), everything should be absolutely perfect. Sadly, I think the real reason that they are able to get away with charging those prices in all the rooms at the deluxe hotels is because of the location, because most of them are right smack dab next to a theme park or on a monorail. And they can probably get away with mediocre service (or sometimes worse), a lot of the time, because they know so many people want to stay in that location, and mediocre service probably won't lose them any business.

 

[Jillpie]

Shoot, I wish I knew how to quote people, you'd think after 3 years on Disney boards I would know how , anyway, heck no will I cook as a DVC member! I actually meant that the kitchen is steps away for snacks only . Vacation means eating out! It is sure nice to have that nice big fridge though for the gallons of milk for breakfast etc.

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by Jillpie
Shoot, I wish I knew how to quote people, you'd think after 3 years on Disney boards I would know how , anyway, heck no will I cook as a DVC member! I actually meant that the kitchen is steps away for snacks only . Vacation means eating out! It is sure nice to have that nice big fridge though for the gallons of milk for breakfast etc.

Jillpie, look at the icons at the bottom of this post and you will see one that says (quote) on the right hand side next to (edit). If you want to include what I have posted in your post click on the quote icon.

 

[BCV23]

Originally posted by Sammie
Jillpie, look at the icons at the bottom of this post and you will see one that says (quote) on the right hand side next to (edit). If you want to include what I have posted in your post click on the quote icon.

Thanks Sammie, I didn't know how to do that either. If you want to include only part of the post do you just delete the extraneous part?

 

[BCV23]

I did it! Thanks Sammie!

 

[BCV23]

Originally posted by >>^..^<<
Hi BCV23... next time let concierge make your PS's and see if you get a pager - something is noted on the reservation when they do it - something that identifies you as VIP - and you really are seated immediately (at least to my experience compared to non-concierge trips)

If you book PS's yourself - the restaurants have no idea. Try it and see!

>>^..^<<

This is interesting because I have sometimes noticed that we are marked VIP...even sometimes when we are not doing concierge. Which is most of the time! Haven't tried connecting it with how quickly we're seated but we usually are seated quite quickly other than R&C. We are certainly not VIPs BTW!

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by BCV23
We are certainly not VIPs BTW!

Hey, you are a VIP to me

>>^..^<<

 

[freediverdude]

I think we need a castmember who will "informally" tell us what typically marks a person as VIP.... any takers? It's probably something that's confidential I'm sure....

 

[BCV23]

Originally posted by >>^..^<<
Hey, you are a VIP to me

>>^..^<<

Thanks!

 

[Jillpie]

Originally posted by Sammie
Jillpie, look at the icons at the bottom of this post and you will see one that says (quote) on the right hand side next to (edit). If you want to include what I have posted in your post click on the quote icon.

ok, is this all I do? I wonder if this works...

 

[Jillpie]

You've got to be kidding me, ALL this time, thats all I had to do??? Heck, that was simple as pie, thanks Sammie!!

 

[packy]

Have to join in. We stayed in GF in '96, '99 and Aug 01. The first two stays were great but we noticed a change in Aug 01. First, we had a garden view room and the only thing I requested was a nice view (and there are many nice garden views). That we didn't get - actually, we probably got one of the worst views there was and the hotel didn't seem to be close to full. The good thing was that they changed our room, the bad thing was that we had to wait hours. The next morning when I took a shower, I noticed a block mold all over the tub walls, in particular above the height a person could normally reach - you could see the wipe line. I don't know how long it takes to get like this in Florida given the humidity but it didn't look good and didn't feel good. I call maintenance before we left that morning and they said they would take care of it. They did, the tub was cleared of all the mess, but the maid must not have been happy and left no new soap or shampoo that day. We had a great rate at that time, but it was still expensive, even by Disney standards and even with that I doubt if the maids knew that we weren't paying full price. I noticed that the staff was less friendly than in the past but wrote it off to late August after a long summer. From what I am reading here, that probably wasn't the problem.

 

[hunnypotmama]

Originally posted by Jillpie
Shoot, I wish I knew how to quote people, you'd think after 3 years on Disney boards I would know how , anyway, heck no will I cook as a DVC member! I actually meant that the kitchen is steps away for snacks only . Vacation means eating out! It is sure nice to have that nice big fridge though for the gallons of milk for breakfast etc.

I think this worked!! I cannot believe how easy that was! Y'all better watch what you say around me, b/c I'm a quoting fool!!

hunnypotmama

 

[Darian]

Originally posted by >>^..^<<
"You have a much higher chance of securing prime restaurants at popular times, you get better tables and there is no waiting with a vibrating coaster for you."

Those 3 reasons mentioned by >>^..^<< have been our experience as well.

Case in point: We were staying concierge at the YC last Oct and decided it would be nice to have a steak for dinner. I personally called disney dining (figured I'd have to make a phone call to the concierge desk anyway so might as well call the PS folks directly.) but was unable to get ANY PS seating for the entire evening. We had walked by the restaurant an hour earlier and found it was a 40 minute wait. Bummer. We dressed for dinner and walked over to the concierge lounge for a glass of wine to discuss alternate dinner plans when the conceirge greeted us and in the course of our conversation, we told her about our need to make some sort of dinner plans. She called the restaurant directly and 5 minutes later we walked past the lines of waiting people to a marvelous table. Dinner was served. THAT is service. (I guess thats kinda hard luck on non-concierge guests, but hey, we pay for the priviledge.)

This sort of thing has been repeated over and over at a variety of restaurants. Why do you think the PS people and/or the restaurants themselves as you where you are staying? Its not to make idle conversation. Its to find out how they should treat you. This seems a tad troubling to me, I admit. But thats the way it is.

It is terrible that Gonga got such poor treatment. She should, in my opinion, get comped at least half the cost of the concierge upgrade. Sure, the food and wine are nice, but thats the smallest and least important part of going concierge. She paid for service and got lies and mistreatment instead. There are so many similar stories and that is even more troubling. What is happening at the GF?

Darian

 

[disneydoc]

Originally posted by Darian
She called the restaurant directly and 5 minutes later we walked past the lines of waiting people to a marvelous table. Dinner was served. THAT is service. (I guess thats kinda hard luck on non-concierge guests, but hey, we pay for the priviledge.)

This sort of thing has been repeated over and over at a variety of restaurants. Why do you think the PS people and/or the restaurants themselves as you where you are staying? Its not to make idle conversation. Its to find out how they should treat you. This seems a tad troubling to me, I admit. But thats the way it is.
Darian [/B]

Wow!! I just thought they were being friendly!! That explains why those staying mod or value get poor service....NOT!!! I've gotten excellent service while staying at value resorts and poor sevice while concierge at GF. It depends on your server not where you're staying. I've found that most CM's are excited about meeting new people and making conversation. I've also had no problems acquiring reservations at the finer restaurants given a little planning while staying "El cheapo". I also have a lot more money in my pocket for tips than I would if staying concierge level. I don't mind paying for extra's but why not put the money directly in the hand of the person doing the special favors not in the coffers of the coporation.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by Darian

We had walked by the restaurant an hour earlier and found it was a 40 minute wait.

We dressed for dinner and walked over to the concierge lounge for a glass of wine to discuss alternate dinner plans when the conceirge greeted us and in the course of our conversation, we told her about our need to make some sort of dinner plans.

She called the restaurant directly and 5 minutes later we walked past the lines of waiting people to a marvelous table. Dinner was served.

THAT is service.

Hi Darian - the same thing happened to me at BOMA... it was pouring rain and there were hoardes of people waiting for tables.

Because of the rain I cancelled our dinner at Fultons Crabhouse and decided to stay at AKL to eat... I made my way through the line to be told there was nothing avaialble until 8:30pm... (It was 6pm now)

We went up to the concierge lounge for a drink and I mentioned that BOMA was packed and there were no tables... the CM immediately called down and then said "What time would you like?" I said "Well, what do they have?" surprised at this. She replied "What ever time you like"

So we finished our drink and went to BOMA at 6:30pm.. straight past everyone waiting to a great table.

Also we had booked hoop dee doo through concierge only the DAY BEFORE the show..... when we were seated we were at a table front and centre - it actually touched the stage. I said to the server that I could not believe how good the table was considering I just booked yesterday - he said there was VIP status on our reservation.

The more I type the more I think we should keep all these things secret so others won't know the advantages to having concierge book their PS's... but that is not was the DIS Boards are about - we are here to help each other


However in Gonga's case - she was really messed about with and recieved incredibly poor service - the solution is not that she should have booked her arrangements herself - the solution is complaining to the right person at Disney so that it never happens again.

>>^..^<<

 

[Darian]

Originally posted by disneydoc
Wow!! I just thought they were being friendly!! That explains why those staying mod or value get poor service....NOT!!! I've gotten excellent service while staying at value resorts and poor sevice while concierge at GF. It depends on your server not where you're staying. I've found that most CM's are excited about meeting new people and making conversation. I've also had no problems acquiring reservations at the finer restaurants given a little planning while staying "El cheapo". I also have a lot more money in my pocket for tips than I would if staying concierge level. I don't mind paying for extra's but why not put the money directly in the hand of the person doing the special favors not in the coffers of the coporation.

Disneydoc,

I may just be dense, or in need of another cup of coffee, but I don't understand your post... aside from your very correct observation that the server who actually serves your meal largely controls the level of "service" at the restaurant. Of course, the kitchen could be backed up or a number of things can go wrong to mess up the server's efforts to give his/her customers good service. Granted, determining the quality of table service is way beyond what concierge can do for you.

However, the server almost never seats people or assigns tables to them. Where you sit is often determined by where you are staying. And that is where being a concierge guest can be very helpful. That and getting a reservation at all when the desired restaurant is busy.

>>^..^<< - as you previously mentioned, not having to use a pager is also a nice concierge benefit. When we went to Jiko, the hostess profusely apologized for having to give us, a concierge guest, a pager... saying how sorry she was, that they were running way behind etc. At the time it seemed a bit odd, as she gave out a number of pagers to several other people who recieved not a word of apology from her. I couldn't figure why we were the only ones who were told this. NOW I understand... heheheh the joys of concierge!

And Disneydoc, I agree with you 100% that a person can have a wonderful disney vacation "on the cheap" and get great service at restaurants regardless of where you stay. It was not my intent to imply this was not the case, nor was it the real subject of my post. I was only attempting to share some of the special perks of staying concierge and give some insight for those trying to decide if they would like to stay concierge sometime.

Darian

 

[disneydoc]

Darian,
I would have no way to know if you need a cup of coffee or whatever, but in my post I wanted to respond to a couple of your statements which I took as condescending. I agree that concierge can be a excellent way to get VIP ressies and similar perks but certainly not the only and may not be the best as recent guest have shown. Your observation

"I guess that's kinda hard luck on non-concierge guest but hey we pay for the privelege"

simply rubbed me the wrong way. IMHO, letting someone know about the benefits of concierge, as was the intent of your post, does not have to include that type of statement. You also stated that the only reason the PS people or restaurant employees ask where you're from is so that they know

"how they should treat you".

Maybe I needed a cup of coffee not you, but that statement implies a different level of service at the facility for different guest which I just don't buy into. I think that most CM's or PS people have a genuine interest in their guest regardless of concierge or not. I should'nt speak for them but I would find that statement offensive. I may be wrong but I'll be happy just believing that when someone makes "idle conversation" they're doing it to be friendly as most CM's indeed are.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by disneydoc
You also stated that the only reason the PS people or restaurant employees ask where you're from is so that they know

"how they should treat you".

Hi disneydoc,

I believe Disney's Resort guests have priority over off site guests for seating - I think this is why they ask where you are staying when you make your PS.

I don't believe "how they should treat you" refers to friendliness or service provided - everyone is treated the same way

I beleive Darian is reffering to how - how they treat your PS - being a resort guests will perhaps give you an edge.

All of this only matters in extremely busy times - for the majority everyone is seated in a timely manner and recieves good service.


>>^..^<<