Just back from OKW - was our experience typical?

[danicaw]

We just got back from 5 days at OKW!
OKW is our home resort, but it’s been at least 4 years since we have stayed there. We have been trying out some of the other DVCs on property and last week came “home” to OKW.
While at OKW we encountered some problems we haven’t had in the past... some no big deal and others a bigger deal.
Have others had similar experiences or was it (this is my hope) a complete anomaly?

We came “home” early, checked in around 10 am, since we came straight from the Disney Fantasy Our scheduled room wasn’t ready yet, but they did have a 1 bedroom unit that was ready, Yay!
We don’t care too much what building we are in, or how close to things we are. We are flexible that way, so a building way out is fine by us.
And off to building 49 we went. The room looked good - smelled a bit of bleach, but hey, that means its clean right?
As we explored the room (or our kids did) we found two light bulbs that were burned out - one in hallway, right outside the laundry room and the other was the floor lamp in the living room.
Well, we had a busy day planned so we unpacked and took off for the afternoon/evening.
we returned after dinner and put kids in the tub. The tub, which we love, had a slow leak... meaning it didn’t seem to seal all the way, so once you filled it it would slowly lose water. Also the cold water faucet was loose or something, it was easy to turn on, but turning it off required some finesse.
Now it's bedtime and we pulled out the two beds - the couch hide-a-bed for DS and the chair hide-a-bed for DD. Neither was made, which wasn’t a surprise, I was all set to make them up. But once we got the couch made up, I realized we were a sheet short to make up the chair bed. So I had to make a 9 pm call to mousekeeping to ask for another sheet (I also told them about the light bulbs). This wouldn’t have seemed like a big deal, but we had waited til the last minute to make the beds, so we had sleepy kids in PJs waiting to go to bed. It was about 20 minutes for the sheet to arrive... not too bad. Again if I had made the beds in the afternoon this wouldn’t have bugged me at all.

I have two other minor frustrations and one big one
Minor - is it just us or are the toilets crazy low? Totally fine for our kids, but hubby and I both were surprised by the height... sorry if this too much info
- our lightbulbs were never replaced. I reported them on day one and we stayed for 5 nights.

Big - Mousekeeping left our door open on trash and towel service day.
DD and I came back to the room mid afternoon for a break and the door was propped open. The upper lock had been extended to prop the door open and no one was around. All the lights were off. Our towels had been replaced and trash was gone. All of our stuff was there and fine. But this bugged me quite a bit. Of course I called. They were very apologetic and wanted to make sure nothing was missing.
Overall the staff/cast members we talked with were great. Very nice and helpful. We had a great time at WDW and love the vibe at OKW. We will be back in the fall with friends who have never been before. I expect these assorted things are rare - as we have never had issues in the past, but perhaps we were due (Murphy’s law and all)
We love DVC and OKW, it just felt a little different than it has in the past.

 

[kim532]

Big - Mousekeeping left our door open on trash and towel service day.
DD and I came back to the room mid afternoon for a break and the door was propped open. The upper lock had been extended to prop the door open and no one was around. All the lights were off. Our towels had been replaced and trash was gone. All of our stuff was there and fine. But this bugged me quite a bit. Of course I called. They were very apologetic and wanted to make sure nothing was missing.

That is so scary. I am glad you called and they were apologetic, but I hope your experience isn't typical!

Kim

 

[disneynutz]

We have had issues at all of the resorts over the years and have pretty much come to expect the poor service and maintenance conditions.

Here is what we do;

Always do a full room inspection when you first check in, check everything.

Put all dishes to be used during your stay in the dishwasher.

Clean the tub with a packet of dishwasher detergent.

Wipe down all services with a Clorox wipe.

Go to the front desk to report issues.

If the issues don't get taken care of in a timely fashion on day 2, we call DVC Member Satisfaction.

Send an email to DVC Member Satisfaction at the end of the stay sharing your experience.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

Report maintenance issues to maintenance, not housekeeping. And if you told the housekeeper, she/he might not have even understand what you said. Not all of them are fluent in English.

The open door was not right.

 

[Simba's Mom]

The only experience I've had similar to yours was with a burnt out lightbulb. When I was at the main building I went to the front desk to report that and a couple other small items (door knob loose, GF plug kept tripping). I made a point of telling the front desk that they weren't a big deal to our vacation so it was fine to fix them between guests, after we checked out-no big deal! Well, the next day, all got repaired. So our experience with OKW maintenance was great! Told member satisfaction when we spoke to them next.

 

[Pootle]

I love OKW and it's where we stay the most. I've had (mostly) minor issues over the years, which have always been fixed to my satisfaction but I had to comment on one point you made: yes we do find the toilets 'crazy low' - and we notice it more the older we get . Is this different in other DVC resorts? I can't say I've noticed a big difference at VB or BWV but maybe they are?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Next time you have light bulb issues, call maintenance instead of housekeeping. We learned that trick early on with DVC. Housekeepers "don't do light bulbs" but maintenance does.

 

[ngchiro]

wonderful trip report@!

 

[dmoore22]

OKW is also our home resort. We've never had issues as challenging as you've described in your report. All of ours have been minor and quickly remedied with a call to the front desk which allowed us to direct our concerns to the appropriate department. The toilet height issue is a response to the architectural recommendations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I consider what you encountered (bulbs, sheets, faucet) to be minor issues that we've encountered at all of the resorts we've enjoyed. The key, for us to have a successful arrival day, 1st check for all additional linens needed for sleeper chair and sleeper sofa, like you we use both, each time! As you stated, nothing worse than waiting for sheets when it's late and you're ready for bed! Check out bathrooms, quick overview of the kitchen to make sure we have all of the necessary items!

I've only ever had a leaky toilet which I reported and was then repaired the following day while we were out!

Now, the open door, wow! I have never had that happen in 35+ DVC trips and that would have really ticked me off! Sure it's all nice, nice, as nothing was stolen but what if things were missing, talk about ruining a vacation! In no way acceptable!

Please write/e-mail to MS and advise them of this, this they must be made aware of!

 

[darkwing818]

OKW is also our home resort. We've never had issues as challenging as you've described in your report. All of ours have been minor and quickly remedied with a call to the front desk which allowed us to direct our concerns to the appropriate department. The toilet height issue is a response to the architectural recommendations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We were just there in June as well as numerous times since 1994, & never had problems like the OP described. Like a PP noted we call Maintenance with things like light bulbs, batteries for the TV remote etc.

 

[AnnaS]

We were off the same cruise as you

We are also staying at OKW. We were here in Dec., May, the night before our cruise and all this week (daughter in DCP - checks out Friday). Before that we had not been here in a while. We did have trouble not getting text that our room was ready and we waited til almost 4 pm in May. This time around, no problem.

Our room was ready around 10:30 am. My only issue is the AC here at OKW. It's either too cold or too warm. Night time is the worst - too warm.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay. We love how relaxing it is here.

Don't like the door being left open like that. I have seen that before - not sure if the housekeeper walks away or is in the bathroom cleaning when I pass by rooms and the doors are left open. I wonder if your housekeeper was planning on going back. Regardless - ever since I saw this happen, I now keep any valuables out of sight or locked away. They might not take something but ever since then I wonder who will stop another guest from running in there for a second.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Clean the tub with a packet of dishwasher detergent.

How do you do this? Just put detergent in and run for a few minutes?

 

[ain0004]

We had a not do good experience our 1st OKW trip. Room in poor condition. Broken bed. Staff not fixing and claiming they did. Daughter getting cut on a staple, from the same broken bed. They tried to fix it. In the end from the credit they claimed to have given us still was not there. Problem from check in to check out. So far it's our least fav resort

 

[Sammie]

The door open would concern me but not alarm me. When we travel we know our room is accessible by others, so we travel accordingly. I don't take anything, that would upset me too lose.

As to the other, would not concern me at all. Bulbs burn out at DVC as they do it home, the clean the rooms during the day and many of the lights are not turned on and even if they were they could burn out, later.

As others have suggested always call maintenance for that.

We have great response getting things fixed quickly when we call.

As to the toilet, they are old, so they were lower, the newer ones are a bit higher as that is the industry standard now.

 

[disneynutz]

How do you do this? Just put detergent in and run for a few minutes?

Fill tub with hot water.

Pour in packet and run for 10 minutes.

Drain, fill, run for 5 minutes, drain.

Ready to go.

Bill

 

[dmoore22]

We were off the same cruise as you

My only issue is the AC here at OKW. It's either too cold or too warm. Night time is the worst - too warm.

This appears to be a common issue at each DVC resort in which we have stayed, not just OKW. The "new" digital thermostat installed after the renovations is a challenge. It's my understanding that there is a motion sensor that lets the system know if the room is occupied hence the tendency to warm up at night.

 

[Islamom]

The first time that we stayed in a 2 bedroom (jan 2013) we had mysterious water appearing on the hall floor. We reported it to maintenance. They came ASAP even though it was 9:00 at night. It was a leak from the AC unit coming up from beneath the floor boards of the hall. They offered to move us or to come in the next day & fix it so that it looked like it never happened. We elected to stay, they fixed it and it looked like it never happened. This year (jan 2014) there was no filter on the dryer, We reported it , Maintenance came the next day & wanted to know where the filter was? We told them we had no idea as we had just checked in! They replaced the filter but did not clean the pipe that went outside . Lint was constantly blown all over the sidewalk outside which caused a slipping hazard. We also had water puddles on the floor by the refrig but were told it was condensation and that nothing could be done. We also had burned out bulbs, but they were replaced right away. It seems to me that mousekeeping should report problems like this to maintenance when they are getting the room ready, however, maybe these things weren't noticed. I do love OKW & would stay there again.