Check in time at Saratoga Springs what a wasted day!!

[LaurenLC]

Why is waiting for a room for 2 hours a waste of a day? You wait at Disney all the time. You wait for a bus, you wait in lines to get in, you wait in line for rides (sometimes 2 hours), you wait to eat.....You wait most of the time you're there. Now, waiting the 2 hours and not getting the room you needed, or the room not being in the appropriate condition, now THAT would be a waste.

 

[fishermouse]

1)
NOTE: The housekeeping is so bad that they are farming-out housekeepers via temporary help agencies. This creates some problems in efficiency, speed and quality. In some cases, rooms aren't ready until after 6:00pm, and sometimes there are complaints about subpar houesekeeping.

This is a common practice with any seasonal bussines. Disney could not afford to carry sumer staff all year long. We even do it in the medical industry to cover vacations in plus being a resort area we just need more people seasonally. Temp Nurses, Technologist and even Doctors it's a very cost effective solution..

 

[Anthony1971]

Again, we simply disagree that any time at all after 4:00 PM is reasonable. I would hold Disney to a higher standard. If you're "just happy to be there" that's great. I'm not you.

I am not just"happy to be there" to ask for a free meal because they did not meet your higher standerds is unreasonable. To NOT get an apology is also unreasonable for a 6 P.M. check in... I do not disagree that 6 is unreasonable I disagree with the expectation of compensation as if this is expected than Disney may chenge to after 4 even if a room is ready as other Timeshare and cash Hotels do .

 

[crisi]

DVC has an operating budget that covers many things including discretionary spending. Free meals have been fairly common actually.

The only issue I have is the 6:00 PM check-in. I think that's unreasonable. Evidently you don't. Is 7:00 PM unreasonable? 10:00 PM? One minute before midnight? Where would you draw the line and start to expect better from DVC? Just curious.

Where does this money come from?

My understanding is that the cash inflows for DVC come from Dues, Investment Interest, and Breakage Income. They balance out the outflows. The management company is legally allowed a certain percentage of the operating budget as "profit" but has a legal obligation to keep costs reasonable. Any outflow needs to get paid by one of those sources, and those sources are pooled - so if breakage income goes down, our dues go up to compensate. My understanding is that Disney does not transfer any assets cost free (including comping meals or park passes) into DVC but that those internal transfers are paid for out of DVCs operating budget. That DVD has a seperate budget for marketing that does not come from the operating budget but is funded by sales of the resorts, but DVC and DVD are run as seperate operating divisions.

 

[TunaJr]

I believe this type of error is common. My first check-in experience at SSR could be summarized by your first paragraph, i.e., at check-in we hear the "Congratulations, you've received a Congress Park Downtown Disney View" spiel. After calling to get the room assignment at 4 and a long-day at Epcot, we returned at 10pm to our fabulous Congress Park bus stop view. I think this happens at SSR because some of the units occupy the corners of the building and the angles are such that what looks like a Downtown Disney view on a map will actually be a "resort view." Since it had been a long-day and we don't generally care about such things (not to mention the pounding migraine I already had), we didn't request a change. It was a nice bus stop view.

Hey! may be we got the same CM during Check-in. We check-in at 10:30 with a Congress Park Downtown Disney View and the room was not ready. We go over to Downtown Disney to get our Annual Passes and eat lunch. Called and our room was ready about 3:00......and we get a view of lovely bus stop and a lovely pine tree........the kids were disappointed at first....no big deal and we also didn't request a change.

 

[jarestel]

Where does this money come from?

Of course it comes from dues. Discretionary funds are just that... discretionary. It's going to be spent anyway, so impact on dues should be negligible.

I "suggested" ways of relieving stress for a member who was being subjected to an unreasonable wait time for a room. It's not my intention to lobby for any specific method, just suggested a few. I'm sure DVC (being the trained professionals that they are) could have come up with better ways of mitigating the situation.

The main point of my post was that the 6:00 PM check-in time is later than it reasonably should have been and DVC could have handled the situation better.

 

[jarestel]

I am not just"happy to be there" to ask for a free meal because they did not meet your higher standerds is unreasonable. To NOT get an apology is also unreasonable for a 6 P.M. check in... I do not disagree that 6 is unreasonable I disagree with the expectation of compensation as if this is expected than Disney may chenge to after 4 even if a room is ready as other Timeshare and cash Hotels do .

Never said anyone should ask for or expect anything. I do think Disney should have done something on their own in view of the circumstances.

As for checking in earlier than 4:00, you don't really believe DVC allows this as a benefit to members do you? It's totally for the benefit of DVC. Why would DVC want their front desk personnel standing around, essentially doing nothing all day long until 4:00 PM except servicing the few folks who didn't choose express checkout and then checking in 200 people all at once? Then for sure people wouldn't be in their rooms until 6:00 or later. No, I don't think DVC is being generous to us by allowing early checkins.

 

[crisi]

Of course it comes from dues. Discretionary funds are just that... discretionary. It's going to be spent anyway, so impact on dues should be negligible.

I "suggested" ways of relieving stress for a member who was being subjected to an unreasonable wait time for a room. It's not my intention to lobby for any specific method, just suggested a few. I'm sure DVC (being the trained professionals that they are) could have come up with better ways of mitigating the situation.

The main point of my post was that the 6:00 PM check-in time is later than it reasonably should have been and DVC could have handled the situation better.

If they don't give it to people it won't be spent. I'm not thrilled about DVC spending my dues to compensate a whiner with dinner. Even if its pennies. All that does is create a reward for whining, which encourages people to whine to get rewards. If they want to spend their discretionary funds, spend them on recruiting better housekeepers or rewarding CMs who do create magic. That would do a far better job long term for more DVC members in keeping the quality of the resorts up.

If they want to create a fine situation for late check out, and then use some of the proceeds from the fine to compensate the person impacted by the late checkout (the rest of it for housekeeping overtime and adminstration of the fine/compensation system), that I'd be O.K. with.

 

[jarestel]

If they don't give it to people it won't be spent. I'm not thrilled about DVC spending my dues to compensate a whiner with dinner. Even if its pennies.

Where we disagree, crisi, is you are blaming the member for not accepting inconvenience with a smile while I blame DVC for not having their act together.

The subject of whether or not dues are spent to the satisfaction of all members, or even if they should be spent to the satisfaction of all, is a topic for a whole other thread, I think.

 

[disnutt]

I've only had one problem checking in at BWV. I checked in at 11:00 a.m. no room but was told to call back and should be available after 4:00 p.m. We go enjoy the Boardwalk and call at 4:30 p.m. and room is available.

We're tired and want to wash up so we go to Bell Services to get our luggage so we'll have everything. Then we do the infamous BWV Death March to our room at the very end of the the 4th floor near the quiet pool! Open the door and the room looks like the camp scene from Tarzan!

I find a house phone and call down. They send someone up and see that we were right about it being a pig sty. They send us back to the front desk where we are given a new room on the ground floor on the opposite side of the resort near the main pool. Better location but it took over an hour to get there.

I would have rather have had a later check in and had it done right the first time than had to listen to my 3 yo crying/whining because we couldn't get into our room.

 

[Anthony1971]

Never said anyone should ask for or expect anything. I do think Disney should have done something on their own in view of the circumstances.

As for checking in earlier than 4:00, you don't really believe DVC allows this as a benefit to members do you? It's totally for the benefit of DVC. Why would DVC want their front desk personnel standing around, essentially doing nothing all day long until 4:00 PM except servicing the few folks who didn't choose express checkout and then checking in 200 people all at once? Then for sure people wouldn't be in their rooms until 6:00 or later. No, I don't think DVC is being generous to us by allowing early checkins.

However before 4 check in should not be expected.....
The rest is my point if the checkin is after 4 one may not expect to get a room before 6 as they need to check in a large group of people.
Weather the CM's stand around and do nothing does not matter if the rules must be followed... and if we are expecting Dinsey to compensate on thier own free will when Disney does not adhere to "our standerds" of thier rule than they can easily strictly follow the rule of after 4 and than one would be happy to be in thier room by 6...
I think this is something people have come to expect from Disney not a policy and when they do not get it there is a problem.

 

[jarestel]

However before 4 check in should not be expected.....
The rest is my point if the checkin is after 4 one may not expect to get a room before 6 as they need to check in a large group of people.
Weather the CM's stand around and do nothing does not matter if the rules must be followed... and if we are expecting Dinsey to compensate on thier own free will when Disney does not adhere to "our standerds" of thier rule than they can easily strictly follow the rule of after 4 and than one would be happy to be in thier room by 6...
I think this is something people have come to expect from Disney not a policy and when they do not get it there is a problem.

If it didn't make sense for DVC to allow early checkins, they wouldn't do it. Evidently it makes sense and is certainly not against any rules for them to do so. People who check in early aren't breaking any rules. I don't get that point.

Anthony, I guess we can agree to disagree on this one since it seems like waiting till whenever for a room is business as usual for you and unacceptable to me. I have a feeling we won't change one another's minds no matter how long this goes on.

 

[crisi]

If it didn't make sense for DVC to allow early checkins, they wouldn't do it. Evidently it makes sense and is certainly not against any rules for them to do so. People who check in early aren't breaking any rules. I don't get that point.

Anthony, I guess we can agree to disagree on this one since it seems like waiting till whenever for a room is business as usual for you and unacceptable to me. I have a feeling we won't change one another's minds no matter how long this goes on.

Unfortunately, no matter how unacceptable it is, DVC members have very little choice but to accept things as is. We can sell our contracts, we can complain (which doesn't really seem to work anyway), or we can accept what DVC is. Unlike cash guests who can walk and take their business elsewhere, we are stuck - DVC will charge our accounts for the points regardless of when we check in and do very little about it. As long as the good outweighs the bad and I feel I get value, I'll keep my points and do my best to work the system, and be aware of its problems - like sometimes you can't get into your room until after dinner so pack your swimsuit in your carryon. When the problems become truly unacceptable, I'll sell.

Want to see things like this change fast - we should all stop going up to DVC booths to be DVCs best salespeople and start walking up to people looking through the sales material with "I didn't get into my room until 6:00." or "I've checked into a dirty room." Because SALES is where DVCs motivation is.

 

[deerh]

I will have to agree, I think after 4pm is a bit much, even thou I know that their is a job shortage on "mousekeeping". They should do something about that, as that in my book is unacceptable-anything after 4pm. Now if it was 4:10pm that is one thing... BUT, 6pm is not acceptable, and I would be complaining BIG TIME!!

We are checking into SSR on Wed, July 18th, so hopefully we will not have the problems of Sun check-in/check-out. We leave on Wed July 25th...

We will see, but hopefully will be able to check in early.... We will travel by car from Savannah, Ga...

deerh

 

[jarestel]

Unfortunately, no matter how unacceptable it is, DVC members have very little choice but to accept things as is. We can sell our contracts, we can complain (which doesn't really seem to work anyway), or we can accept what DVC is. Unlike cash guests who can walk and take their business elsewhere, we are stuck - DVC will charge our accounts for the points regardless of when we check in and do very little about it. As long as the good outweighs the bad and I feel I get value, I'll keep my points and do my best to work the system, and be aware of its problems - like sometimes you can't get into your room until after dinner so pack your swimsuit in your carryon. When the problems become truly unacceptable, I'll sell.

Want to see things like this change fast - we should all stop going up to DVC booths to be DVCs best salespeople and start walking up to people looking through the sales material with "I didn't get into my room until 6:00." or "I've checked into a dirty room." Because SALES is where DVCs motivation is.

I understand what you're saying and I truly hope we aren't relegated to 50 years of declining standards at DVC. Like you, I am still enjoying DVC and agree the good does outweigh the bad. Outweighs it by a lot, actually.

Being an optimist though, I would hope that DVC does take the concerns of members seriously and not just dismiss them out of hand. So I do subscribe to the squeaky wheel theory. DVC may or may not do anything about member concerns brought to their attention. But they definitely won't do anything with member concerns they don't even know about. So I squeak on! Not to be whiny or a pain, but for the good of all DVC members everywhere. (stirring music plays)

 

[crisi]

I understand what you're saying and I truly hope we aren't relegated to 50 years of declining standards at DVC. Like you, I am still enjoying DVC and agree the good does outweigh the bad. Outweighs it by a lot, actually.

Being an optimist though, I would hope that DVC does take the concerns of members seriously and not just dismiss them out of hand. So I do subscribe to the squeaky wheel theory. What DVC doesn't know about, they probably can't fix... and so I squeak on! But for good reasons, IMO anyway, not just to be whiny or a pain.

Which is great - DVC should get complaints if things are not acceptable. And I, too, really hope they are productive.

I actually don't think standards are declining - long as I've been here there has been the occasional dirty room/late check in/rude cast member - but they don't seem to be improving either.

 

[Snookies]

Which is great - DVC should get complaints if things are not acceptable. And I, too, really hope they are productive.

I actually don't think standards are declining - long as I've been here there has been the occasional dirty room/late check in/rude cast member - but they don't seem to be improving either.

In a sense, I agree crisi. I don't think standards are declining because of a conscious business decision to lower standards. On the other hand, I sometimes wonder if what some observe and comment on are generational differences. In my own profession, there is a pronounced difference in what my junior colleagues (either by age or rank) regard as acceptable and professional behavior and what I do. If this is a valid observation, the same may be true for WDW, DVD, and DVC cast members too.

 

[starbox]

Which is great - DVC should get complaints if things are not acceptable. And I, too, really hope they are productive.

I actually don't think standards are declining - long as I've been here there has been the occasional dirty room/late check in/rude cast member - but they don't seem to be improving either.

I think Disney is in a Catch-22 here. Members want to check out of their rooms early (or even on time) - we know this is a widespread problem because it gets brought up in Vacation Magic. They want (and should get) very high standards of room maitenence and mousekeeping (and have multiple bathrooms and kitchens that need cleaning). They want a room (hence the room ready policy) as soon as they arrive, whenever that arrival happens to be so that they don't have to be inconvenienced by using bell services to hold their luggage and going to a park or swimming before getting into a room. Oh, and they want that upper-story non-lock off with a goregous view near the elevator and close to the pool. Something's gotta give.

For a special needs family, I would assume that the choice sometimes has to be made between fulfilling a specific room request (HA, specific location) and immediate room assignment (especially during peak holiday season when all rooms were likely occupied prior to arrival). I am guessing that room modifications are more legally required than a quick room assignment (unless, as Crisi mentioned, it puts the handicapped person's life at risk to not be in a room right away).

 

[rapisano]

I'm not sure why a child with autism should take priority over a family with two year old triplets in need of a nap. Neither has a health risk associated with their special need that makes getting to the room important for health reasons. Both are simply situations where getting into the room on time makes the trip more pleasant for everyone traveling. Same when traveling with Seniors who would like a nap, or a family that has driven through the night. There are so many special needs kids at Disney that they've changed many of the policies over the past twenty years - they can't give them all priority for everything or non-special needs people would just continually stack up. If the child is so severely disabled that it is a health risk not to be able to check in until 4:00 or later, YOU have a responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen, call Special Services to find out how they recommend handling it, book a room for the night before so one is empty and clean when you arrive - and if it does happen, there are about a dozen $49 a night hotels out near International Drive that have immediate vacancies. Seems like YOU don't care about anyone who isn't in YOUR situation. I don't know anything about YOUR situation, you are right. And you don't know anything about anyone else's who checked in that day.

You need to find a different outlet and take your attitude and anger out on someone who cares. Comming from a mom of twins we have never needed nor asked for special accomidations. I hope your never in the same line as us when we check in!!! Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Pot, Kettle. Kettle, Pot.