Resort rant - I’m done!

[skwheeler]

After over 80+ trips to WDW, I’m finally done! Me, my husband, and my twin sister have stayed in every hotel on the property multiple times. Our favorite is Grand Floridian, but since it (along with everything else on the property) is under construction we decided to stay at the Beach Club. We stayed there last May and loved it. This year Disney World has changed! We decided to go in February (got back two weeks ago today) to avoid crowds! We couldn’t move it was so crowded! Our room was over $700 a night and our bathroom was painted two different colors. The carpet was hard and black. The elevators were nasty. The pool was so crowded you couldn’t move so we didn’t bother. The guests are different everywhere on the property! They are nasty, unkempt, and sick! I have avoided Covid for three years and came back with it this time after wearing a KN95 on every ride, in every store, and only eating outdoors! People don’t care to go to WDW sick. The place I once loved more than anything on the planet has turned into a nightmare! It is overcrowded! The prices of GP, LL, resort rates, and snacks is absolutely ridiculous! There is NO MAGIC LEFT at WDW! Our trip felt “off.” It no longer felt like home. It felt like a nightmare I wanted to wake up from. I will miss my happy place more than you’ll ever know! To the lady who coughed on me at Epcot as I was removing my mask…thanks a lot! You ruined my life!

 

[midwestdee]

After over 80+ trips to WDW, I’m finally done! Me, my husband, and my twin sister have stayed in every hotel on the property multiple times. Our favorite is Grand Floridian, but since it (along with everything else on the property) is under construction we decided to stay at the Beach Club. We stayed there last May and loved it. This year Disney World has changed! We decided to go in February (got back two weeks ago today) to avoid crowds! We couldn’t move it was so crowded! Our room was over $700 a night and our bathroom was painted two different colors. The carpet was hard and black. The elevators were nasty. The pool was so crowded you couldn’t move so we didn’t bother. The guests are different everywhere on the property! They are nasty, unkempt, and sick! I have avoided Covid for three years and came back with it this time after wearing a KN95 on every ride, in every store, and only eating outdoors! People don’t care to go to WDW sick. The place I once loved more than anything on the planet has turned into a nightmare! It is overcrowded! The prices of GP, LL, resort rates, and snacks is absolutely ridiculous! There is NO MAGIC LEFT at WDW! Our trip felt “off.” It no longer felt like home. It felt like a nightmare I wanted to wake up from. I will miss my happy place more than you’ll ever know! To the lady who coughed on me at Epcot as I was removing my mask…thanks a lot! You ruined my life!

I know it doesn’t help, but I’m so sorry you experienced this. I hope you let the Beach Club exactly how you felt . I would have taken pictures & posted them on travel site reviews. At $700+ a night, I expect perfection. Yes, in any crowd of people you do get some total jerks. Sorry you crossed paths with so many of them.

 

[twoatdisneyx2]

Sorry your trip was such a disappointment to you & your family. However, if you want to try again, please know that February is not slow season. Go in January, Sept, Oct, first 2 weeks in Nov, & first week in Dec. - of course avoid the holiday weeks. Regarding hotel condition, that is why all the renovations are happening. The resort hotels are being upgraded. Whenever I travel any where, I always determine the date of last renovation & book accordingly. Maybe that will help you. Yes when Disney is crowded, people are indeed rude. We find the following are the best times for the parks - opening, mornings, ride during the parade, late evening. Then afternoon is swim time, napping, hotel hopping, shopping outside the parks.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I'm sorry you had that awful of an experience. February is definitely a peak crowd time. These last two February's post covid have been awful to go anywhere in FL. You have all the northerners that come down for winter breaks and any travel to disney around President's Day is just a no for me. I think perhaps if you maybe were expecting the crowds, that might have helped some to temper expectations. We've been to disney over some insanely high peak crowd times and I think knowing what you're up against helps when you plan for it. It definitely doesn't excuse all the resort concerns though. Did you share any of that with BC staff? We had some issues at CBR and shared with management and were able to switch rooms which helped alleviate cleanliness issues. I echo your feelings but I still go back to WDW, just not CBR lol, because I know that people are people and sadly those experiences are not unique to disney world. We travel and some times things go great and some times they're not so great. I love Disney too much to let a few bad apples ruin my families great trips. Oh and people going places sick, yeah that's not new, the only place people don't go to sick is work but they'll travel all day long coughing in your face!

 

[Allison]

You ruined my life!

Your life is ruined? What ruined it?

 

[Narcoossee11]

There is a HUGE travel world.
Stick a fork in Florida ,at least for a while.
explore other parts of the USA.

Unfortunately, no slow time in WDW anymore. There is busy and terrible.
Don't expect WDW to go back to what it was. You now have the freedom to go else where.
I don't think your life us over/ruined .

 

[pigletto]

.

 

[StacyStrong]

While I’m sorry your resort sucked, you went during one of the busiest weeks at Disney assuming that it would be low crowds.

 

[DLgal]

You've clearly been to WDW a LOT. Curious why you accepted a hotel room in that condition? Did you speak to someone about it and try to get moved? I would have. That's too much to pay for a gross room.

Covid is still out there, and it's never going away. You did good avoiding it for 3 years, but it's gonna get everyone eventually. At this point its like trying to avoid the common cold: impossible. At least you got to finish your trip. I came down with covid on day 1 of a Disneyland trip last summer and we had to check out early and go home. That sucked, but we made up for it later that month. Point is, covid is likely not going to ruin your life. Most people recover just fine.

 

[Genie+]

Unfortunately the timing was not good between the Feb crowds and staying BeachClub when its due for refurb. I’ve done similar. Showed up early March figuring WDW wouldn’t be packed yet and booked a Caribbean Beach room when it was on its last legs before a refurb. It made me much more aware going forward. We still had a good trip even if not one of the best. Definitely more pitfalls to protect ourselves from as Disney‘s mission seems to be never-ending increases in profit margins. For now we are still able to find the magic. I’m just more careful about planning and spending.

 

[WEDcryoHEAD]

Like everyone else I am sorry to hear that your stay at WDW was so bad. You have certainly patronized WDW over the years and its unfortunate that this trip was so poor. Unfortunately crowd levels are something that you can't do anything about and Disney certainly isn't going to complain about the Parks being busy. The actions of others is also something out of your control and common courtesy is no longer a thing anywhere. COVID seems to be something we are all going to deal with for a very long time if not forever. The only thing you can do is try to protect yourself as best you can and hope for the best. Hopefully research will produce a vaccine that prevents spread and contraction and not just mitigates the severity of the infection. That will be a huge step in the right direction. Until then you just have to take care of yourself in a way that makes you comfortable.

As for the room and the resort conditions. I would complain and Disney hopefully will hear you and make the needed repairs, cleaning, etc. Maybe they will try to satisfy you in some way.

 

[Jaletu2022]

I can't help but think when Universal's new land opens up, thing will die down in Disney. Or at least be manageable. Just a thought! Also, people are now able to travel to Europe and other places as travel restrictions are lifted. Maybe that will be a saving grace too.

 

[DawnM]

So sorry you had a rough time. I will say that after a 6 year hiatus from Disney, we have opted to return this year and get APs again and it does indeed feel "off" or different.

We don't stay on property. With a family of 6 and a budget, we stay in a condo or house off property for around $100/night tops.

I do think that people took Covid years off and are now making up for lost time, so it is entirely possible that given another year or two things might settle back to more of a normal feel......at least I hope it does!

 

[shh]

it may not be this month or next month or next year even, but eventually we're going to get slammed with a major recession. Once job losses hit and markets tank, the traditional non-peak "slower" times may return to being a bit better.

 

[Jaletu2022]

it may not be this month or next month or next year even, but eventually we're going to get slammed with a major recession. Once job losses hit and markets tank, the traditional non-peak "slower" times may return to being a bit better.

Yeah, it's sad but recessions do happen. Parks do get slower then. That's why I'm glad we're going this fall. Took me a hot minute to really make up my mind, too.

 

[RoseGold]

People ponied up thousands of dollars to go to Disney. Flights booked, time off. So, yea, they are going to go sick. That was true before Covid too, you just didn't notice.

 

[shh]

People ponied up thousands of dollars to go to Disney. Flights booked, time off. So, yea, they are going to go sick. That was true before Covid too, you just didn't notice.

If the hospitality and travel worlds would be willing to grant sick guests a one-time reschedule (with proper medical documentation), we'd see drastically fewer sick people infecting others. After all, most people would much rather visit when they're feeling better. But understandably can't stomach the thought of losing thousands of dollars either.

That was one good thing during and post-pandemic: more flexible change policies before airlines, hotels & parks reverted back to restrictive ways.

Travel insurance used to be a reasonably priced, small add on, but is now much higher, with more exclusions and legalese to avoid payouts. Unlike home, auto and health, the financial loss of a 1 time vacation isn't lifechanging for most families, so it's tough to fork over 10-20% of your trip cost for something you may not use.

 

[Tink0808]

I recently had a similar experience at the Polynesian. This resort is out of my price range but after saving for a stay here we were excited to finally arrive. The lobby was lovely but that’s where the magic ended. The room we were assigned was a handicap room on ground level. We are not handicapped and after seeing so many people on scooters around the resort I’m sure they could have benefitted from it. The beds were very low to the floor for wheelchair accessible but too low for my back. The updated room while some may like , looked like a decorated room at your local university. It screamed dorm room. The quick service captain cooks was very dirty and counters and tabletops were sticky . we were told we were placed in a handicap room because we were only staying 3 nights and weekly stays had priority On other rooms. It was a nightmare that only got worse but I’ll post that elsewhere.

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

I know it doesn’t help, but I’m so sorry you experienced this. I hope you let the Beach Club exactly how you felt . I would have taken pictures & posted them on travel site reviews. At $700+ a night, I expect perfection. Yes, in any crowd of people you do get some total jerks. Sorry you crossed paths with so many of them.

If you were staying President's Weekend, many Florida schools both public and private, have the Thursday and Friday before plus the Tuesday after as staff development days. So the kids are off. The Florida Resident pass holders book those days well in advance and don't have use one of their 5 theme park reservations because they are staying at the resort. A very busy time indeed. If you went before or after, I can't answer it why it was crowded other than A friend told me that the Magic Kingdom on Superbowl Sunday (early Feb) was empty, everything was a walk on.

 

[SimonSez]

I recently had a similar experience at the Polynesian. This resort is out of my price range but after saving for a stay here we were excited to finally arrive. The lobby was lovely but that’s where the magic ended. The room we were assigned was a handicap room on ground level. We are not handicapped and after seeing so many people on scooters around the resort I’m sure they could have benefitted from it. The beds were very low to the floor for wheelchair accessible but too low for my back. The updated room while some may like , looked like a decorated room at your local university. It screamed dorm room. The quick service captain cooks was very dirty and counters and tabletops were sticky . we were told we were placed in a handicap room because we were only staying 3 nights and weekly stays had priority On other rooms. It was a nightmare that only got worse but I’ll post that elsewhere.

Way out of our price range too. We used to stay there a lot, but now I have to sell a kidney to afford it