Off to an awful start----LONG!

[Chuck S]

I just think it's a shame, under the circumstances, that PART of the GV couldn't have been made available to you earlier. Are all GVs at OKW truly one unit, or are they lockoffs?

I don't think ANY GV at ANY resort is a lock-off type of unit.

 

[starbox]

I am surprised by the number of posters that actually feel this is acceptable (if I am reading their posts correctly). Should we allow our expectations to be lowered?

Honestly, room check-in by 6pm does not bother me at WDW - simply because there is so much to do at the world that it's easy to work around. I just prepare to spend that first day in the park or at a pool. I am willing to accept a later check-in if that means villas are going to be thoroughly cleaned.

What I do find unacceptable is the way the OP was treated by CMs and management. There is never any excuse for eye-rolling and sarcasm from CMs and management - I don't care if they are dealing with a guest from you-know-where - they should not be ugly. In this case, they had a guest that was stressed out with very good reason, I would expect kindness from a McDonalds employee in a situation like this - and I'd expect much more from Disney.

I don't think they needed to be given a room quickly if that was too difficult to manage, or given free stuff - it's not OKW's fault that a family member got ill. It is, however, their fault that they responded to the situation with indifference, sarcasm, and rudeness. I think the OP is owed and apology, and I think whoever is supervising the CMs/management that were ugly to her need a disciplinary letter in their permenant file for their unprofessional behavior. If it is true that it was an actual manager that told her to "have a magical day", then that's a huge problem for OKW - because a manager that will treat a guest that way is going to be 100X worse to their subordinates and thus create a climate in the workplace that is anything but magical. Someone with such poor inter-personal skills should not be in management at OKW. JMHO.

 

[diznyfanatic]

I'm sorry that the OP's experience was less than magical. It's really awful to have someone in your party that is ill and then be treated rudely.

I am willing to accept a later check-in if that means villas are going to be thoroughly cleaned.

I agree, however, that appears to also be a VERY big part of the complaints that members have. Villas are not being "thoroughly cleaned" as a cause/excuse for later check-ins.

What I do find unacceptable is the way the OP was treated by CMs and management. There is never any excuse for eye-rolling and sarcasm from CMs and management - I don't care if they are dealing with a guest from you-know-where - they should not be ugly. In this case, they had a guest that was stressed out with very good reason, I would expect kindness from a McDonalds employee in a situation like this - and I'd expect much more from Disney.

I don't think they needed to be given a room quickly if that was too difficult to manage, or given free stuff - it's not OKW's fault that a family member got ill. It is, however, their fault that they responded to the situation with indifference, sarcasm, and rudeness. I think the OP is owed and apology, and I think whoever is supervising the CMs/management that were ugly to her need a disciplinary letter in their permenant file for their unprofessional behavior. If it is true that it was an actual manager that told her to "have a magical day", then that's a huge problem for OKW - because a manager that will treat a guest that way is going to be 100X worse to their subordinates and thus create a climate in the workplace that is anything but magical. Someone with such poor inter-personal skills should not be in management at OKW. JMHO.

Also agreed. We had an incident at SSR this past April which involved what should have been a very simple issue where we were missing the sheets for the pull out sofa. Unfortunately, we didn't discover it until returning late and were wanting to go to bed.

Long story short, we also encountered an unbelievably rude and confrontational mousekeeping CM after waiting for close to an hour and making a second call to mousekeeping to politely inquire as to when we might expect our sheets to arrive. She went into an immediate tirade, and ended up telling us we weren't the only people who needed something, we'd just have to wait our turn, and had no idea when they might get there.

It resulted with me reporting the incident to her supervisor (a first for me at Disney), who was very apologetic and professional and the sheets arrived promptly thereafter.

It really seems as if most of the problems at Disney can be traced back to Mousekeeping which is obviously extremely under-staffed making the CMs over-stressed and is causing a ripple effect resulting in complaints in other areas such as maintenence, check in times, and guest relations.

 

[Lenc324]

Does anyone from Disney read these boards? There are so many housekeeping issues here. Why is Disney so Lax with housekeeping when this is a major issue for us all. I know they have a big turn over in rooms daily but if the quality of cleanliness continues to drop, so will membership.

 

[twinand01]

Which website, the member website or Disney CRO?

My printed reservation confirmation for November says (capitalized text as printed):

CHECK-IN TIME is after 4pm.
CHECK-OUT TIME is 11am.

This is printed directly below the driving instruction from MCO to Disney.

This is a quote from lake Buena Vista hotels (unitedstatesbiz)
Property Information

Check In Time - 4 p.m.
Check Out Time - 11 a.m.
Credit card required - Upon Check-in
Marina
Minimum check-in age - 21
Photo identification required - Upon Check-in
Smoke-free property
24-hour front desk

Star rating: 3.5

Check in time is 4:00 PM, Check out time is 11:00 AM.

This from intercot:

Check In/Out?
Check in time is 4:00 PM. Check out time is 11:00 AM.

This is from Yahoo Travel:
Policies
Extra person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Complimentary cribs may be available and should be requested at the time of booking.
Photo identification and credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in. Special requests made via this Web site cannot be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.
# Pets not allowed
# Check-in time is 4 PM
# Check-out time is 11 AM

As you can see there is such confusion regarding check in at OKW or any Disney resort. If your reservation say after 4 then all the other travel companies need to call up OKW and clarify what check in time really is.. I can see where the op can get frustrated and upset when you expect one thing and get another.

 

[twinand01]

Does anyone from Disney read these boards? There are so many housekeeping issues here. Why is Disney so Lax with housekeeping when this is a major issue for us all. I know they have a big turn over in rooms daily but if the quality of cleanliness continues to drop, so will membership.

Well said Lenc324!! I just think if it is the busy season and you know that the rooms will have huge turn over on such days why not beef up the housekeeping for that day so we can get people to there appropriate rooms as scheduled?? There are so many people that hit the parks that day any don't care if the room is ready at 4pm so for those who are waiting for the room why not offer the rooms to them?? There are many slow times at disney that they don't have to double up on the staff so they can save money during the slower times.

 

[deerh]

I will add one more:
I just bought the "passporter walt disney world resort" at the bookstore. It says-at OKW,BWV,SSR,etc--CHECK-IN AT 4pm!!! Now, I know a lot of people buy these books as well as Fodor's, Birnbam's,etc. They all say 4pm, but DVC says AFTER 4pm... It even says in passporter-BW Inn-3pm, BWV-4pm..??HUH??? The INN can get ready at 3, but DVC takes till 4pm?? Explain that one!!

deerh

 

[pcparamedics01]

Well said Lenc324!! I just think if it is the busy season and you know that the rooms will have huge turn over on such days why not beef up the housekeeping for that day so we can get people to there appropriate rooms as scheduled?? There are so many people that hit the parks that day any don't care if the room is ready at 4pm so for those who are waiting for the room why not offer the rooms to them?? There are many slow times at disney that they don't have to double up on the staff so they can save money during the slower times.

I agree Twinand01, I waited at the SSR until 6pm. Not very convenient with a son with Autism and a toddler. If I knew this I would have planned accordingly.

 

[pcparamedics01]

Does anyone from Disney read these boards? There are so many housekeeping issues here. Why is Disney so Lax with housekeeping when this is a major issue for us all. I know they have a big turn over in rooms daily but if the quality of cleanliness continues to drop, so will membership.

I believe Disney monitors these boards but the forum is owned by the timeshare resellers. After seeing these threads for a few days. Houskeeping is a huge proble. We all need to call in!

 

[pcparamedics01]

I will add one more:
I just bought the "passporter walt disney world resort" at the bookstore. It says-at OKW,BWV,SSR,etc--CHECK-IN AT 4pm!!! Now, I know a lot of people buy these books as well as Fodor's, Birnbam's,etc. They all say 4pm, but DVC says AFTER 4pm... It even says in passporter-BW Inn-3pm, BWV-4pm..??HUH??? The INN can get ready at 3, but DVC takes till 4pm?? Explain that one!!

deerh

My sister bought the passporter. She said the same thing!

 

[Chuck S]

The Passporter, nor whatever website twinand01 quotes are NOT official Disney guides or sites in any way. I could post that check-in time is 2:15, but that doesn't make it so.

Why would folks take a non-Disney published source over an actual DVC/Disney document?

 

[pcparamedics01]

I'm sorry that the OP's experience was less than magical. It's really awful to have someone in your party that is ill and then be treated rudely.



I agree, however, that appears to also be a VERY big part of the complaints that members have. Villas are not being "thoroughly cleaned" as a cause/excuse for later check-ins.



Also agreed. We had an incident at SSR this past April which involved what should have been a very simple issue where we were missing the sheets for the pull out sofa. Unfortunately, we didn't discover it until returning late and were wanting to go to bed.

I had a incident which is worth noting now. The rooms were not clean so I called housekeeping even after a 6pm check in. The houskeeping manager came the next day and cleaned again. Which was great! I was happy about that. Along with cleaning they picked up our dirty towels and did not replace them. The next morning my mother called up and asked for more towels. A lady which we have her name told my mother absolutley not and if we wanted them there would be a charge. Okay. Well I just went to the front desk and they sent them to my room with no hassles. But housekeeping was rude to my mother. She could of said our policy is this n a more diplomatic way.

 

[pcparamedics01]

Well said Lenc324!! I just think if it is the busy season and you know that the rooms will have huge turn over on such days why not beef up the housekeeping for that day so we can get people to there appropriate rooms as scheduled?? There are so many people that hit the parks that day any don't care if the room is ready at 4pm so for those who are waiting for the room why not offer the rooms to them?? There are many slow times at disney that they don't have to double up on the staff so they can save money during the slower times.

We all need to call in. ESPECIALLY ALL OF US THAT WERE THERE IN THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS!

 

[Chuck S]

I believe Disney monitors these boards but the forum is owned by the timeshare resellers. After seeing these threads for a few days. Houskeeping is a huge proble. We all need to call in!

This board is neither owned nor operated by Disney. Nor is it owned and operated by any Timeshare Reseller. The boards are owned by Webmaster Pete.

 

[Chuck S]

We all need to call in. ESPECIALLY ALL OF US THAT WERE THERE IN THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS!

Why? I was there last month...no problems. Sorry if you had a late check-in. It happens, especially if your fellow DVC members don't vacate their rooms in a timely fashion. The member in a room near us didn't vacate until after 1:30. His stated, "I paid a fortune for DVC, and I'll leave when I'm ready." Yes, I saw this personally, as I was getting ready to take friends to the airport (they moved their stuff into our room, so they'd be out before 11.)

 

[pcparamedics01]

Well said Lenc324!! I just think if it is the busy season and you know that the rooms will have huge turn over on such days why not beef up the housekeeping for that day so we can get people to there appropriate rooms as scheduled?? There are so many people that hit the parks that day any don't care if the room is ready at 4pm so for those who are waiting for the room why not offer the rooms to them?? There are many slow times at disney that they don't have to double up on the staff so they can save money during the slower times.

Ya know it such a problem I called my Rep. I just bought in a few months ago and she instructed me to email guest relations with my complaint. I am going to Vero and SSR for Thanksgiving, every minute counts on vacation and a two hour difference is a deal breaker! I want my rooms to be clean and I want to check in by 4pm. At HH on Memorial Day I got in at 4:10 no worries there!!!

 

[jarestel]

Sorry if you had a late check-in. It happens, especially if your fellow DVC members don't vacate their rooms in a timely fashion. The member in a room near us didn't vacate until after 1:30. His stated, "I paid a fortune for DVC, and I'll leave when I'm ready."

It's true enough that smoke doesn't need to pour from the chimney of a building in Rome in order to make a person eligible to purchase DVC. That said, if members aren't vacating rooms at the required hour, it is a problem that DVC, in their capacity as managing entity for the timeshare association, is paid to solve and they should solve it, not palm off the problem on the arriving members. A guest should not be inconvenienced due to a lack of diligence on the part of management.

I don't agree that simply changing the language on the reservation letters to specify check-in is "after 4:00 PM" is a solution since reasonable people could easily disagree on how far beyond 4:00 PM that vague phrase is meant to cover.

 

[Sammie]

again OKW needs better management!

The management at OKW is the same that it has been for several years, back to the good ole days.

If you want heads to roll you are going to have to go higher than the OKW management and I suggest the DVC management.

His focus is sales and not the current membership.

Check is 'after' 4pm and is plainly printed on the front of all confirmations, so it is a moot point what the guidesbooks list.

Here is the complaint email address: DVCMemberSatisfactionTeam@disneyvacationclub.com

Basically WDW is in a severe crisis shortage of housekeepers, so the ones they do have are only able to give the units a cosmetic cleaning, not a deep cleaning.

Also occupancy is at an all time which makes the problem even worse.

And compound that by DVC upper management that is very focused on building more and more resorts without the staff to man them.

It is only going to get worse.

 

[twinand01]

The Passporter, nor whatever website twinand01 quotes are NOT official Disney guides or sites in any way. I could post that check-in time is 2:15, but that doesn't make it so.

Why would folks take a non-Disney published source over an actual DVC/Disney document?

Because people are booking a property other than booking through Disney! They book them from travelosity, yhaoo, expedia and so forth. So as I said they all need to be on board and get it correct so that people know what to expect before they arrive.

 

[twinand01]

I agree Twinand01, I waited at the SSR until 6pm. Not very convenient with a son with Autism and a toddler. If I knew this I would have planned accordingly.

Yes Pc
here is a well said quote:

What I do find unacceptable is the way the OP was treated by CMs and management. There is never any excuse for eye-rolling and sarcasm from CMs and management - I don't care if they are dealing with a guest from you-know-where - they should not be ugly. In this case, they had a guest that was stressed out with very good reason, I would expect kindness from a McDonalds employee in a situation like this - and I'd expect much more from Disney.