WLV---VERY Disappointing trip

[MommaluvsDis]

Sorry but those comments contradict each other.

That's the whole point. I'm a very peaceful person but was so "out of character" upset and angry by the time we were done that I just wanted to get away from her.

I always look forward to the Disney magic when I visit and boy were we shocked.

 

[dis-happy]

It is my opinion that it is a combination of internal problems that causes these unfortunate things to happen and the primary culprit is Disney's outdated, or at least extremely manually intensive computer systems.

For whatever reason, it appears that Disney has elected to use multiple databases to service the corporation. Normally, this wouldn't be much more than a few additional keystrokes, but it's no secret that Disney's computer systems do not interface well together, if at all.

This is SO TRUE!!! Disney's computer system will soon be hitting critical mass. A good friend is a director at a large software company and one of his main clients to service is Disney. Basically, Disney need to spend $$$$ to upgrade, but they don't want to. So right now they are getting by with patches to the existing system. However, it's to the point where the original stuff is getting so old that add'l patches can't be done and won't work and soon won't even exist. In the meantime Disney is dragging its feet to renew the contracts. There was a small upset over daylight savings changes this year, that Disney finally relented at the last minute so that the fixes could be made. They've already had some outages that I can remember in the last year with almost all the systems (reservations, ticketing at DL, IIRC). The OP's problems, as well as others', may be the tip of the iceburg (or the Matterhorn as the case may be).

 

[castleri]

I totally agree. When my dd was two, she woke up screaming at 3AM with a bladder infection. She was SOOOO loud that we were concerned about bothering other sleeping guests. We immediately took her down to the lobby and had the valet bring us our car. We drove her to the emergency room where she was treated and released by 9AM. When we returned, nothing was said, nor did we expect anything. We were, however, shocked when, on our departure the 3AM valet guy asked if our little princess was all better. I thought THAT was pretty amazing!!!

The year before that, my dd was hospitalized for the last 3 days of our trip with a virus she caught at WDW. Once again...we got nothing from WDW, and didn't really expect anything.
I would say to separate the "should have been done" items from the "would have been nice" items, and only complain about the first items.]

Beca[/QUOTE

ITA - expecting something from Disney because you or a family member have the misfortune to become ill is just beyond my comprehension. If someone is kind enough to take some extra steps to make your stay better because they know of your unfortunate situation be very thankful that that person cared enough to do it but don't expect the same to happen again as it probably does not fall under some corporate policy that if little Johnny gets sick you must do this. Hopefully you can get the items that were controlled by Disney and DVC addressed and that you never have another experience such as this.

 

[Christopher5927]

Beca[/QUOTE

ITA - expecting something from Disney because you or a family member have the misfortune to become ill is just beyond my comprehension. .[/QUOTE]
And mine.

 

[Olaf]

I agree with Carol, keep it short and stick to what Disney did wrong.

We had problems with the DDP in December as well. I went down to the desk at SSR several times to straighten it out (we had double the credits in our account), and was told "What are you worried about, you aren't short any." I was worried about being double charged, and that's exactly what happened. It turned out to be a problem with the linking of two reservations to make up our stay, one had the DDP attached, one didn't. At check in the CM did it manually, which messed the whole thing up. It sounds as if they have some serious computer problems with interface between DVC reservations and DDP.

We also hit our credit limit rather quickly, because of the double charging. I wasn't embarrassed about it. I just went and fixed it. They do that to protect you.

I was very surprised you were granted late check out. It would never occur to me to ask for that, especially while occupying a two-bedroom. I would be worried about disrupting another guest's experience.

We had to go to the emergency room on our last visit as well. Concierge was very helpful about directions, but no one asked me later how I was doing and I certainly didn't expect it.

I'm sorry your trip was so awful, you had some bum luck and Disney certainly let you down. You have some valid beefs, don't clutter them up with all the less than valid complaints.

 

[cdmickey]

I hope our original poster updates what finally is done to rectify the situation; I'm betting Disney does her right in the end.

 

[Lenc324]

It would be nice if we all lived in a perfect world where everything goes right.
It would be nice for all of our vacations to be perfect and go off without a glitch. I guess I just don't expect perfect when I go anywhere including WDW. Last time I went to Vero the bathroom didn't lock. Big deal!!! We had a great time and I let them know on check out. Hang loose..don't sweat the small stuff. Have fun!!!

 

[NeverLandAgain]

to the OP:

WOW!

I hope everyone is fully recovered from their illnesses.

What a 'perfect storm' you and your family went through!

 

[doombuggy]

To the OP, I sent you a PM. Good luck with the letter!

 

[tequoia]

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their advice, some I put to use immediately and some I needed to mull over. I also want to thank the majority of you for your support. It seems that some people read between the lines of my mother's letter, and saw things that were never intended, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

For the record: My son went by ambulance to the hospital. The hotel certainly knew we went since they had to let the rescue people into the hotel. I am not asking WDW to compensate us for any of the illnesses and I resent the implications that I do. I am asking that WDW take responsibility for what is within their control. Poor customer service. We lost an entire afternoon at the parks due to their negligence, they even admitted it was their problem and this "problem" continued to plague our entire trip. Some CMs dealt with it much better than others. I acknowledge that. However the ones who didn't handle things well caused a lot of undue stress during an already stressful trip.

This was just one of many WDW trips for my family. One rotten trip does not destroy the memory of the many trips. I was most upset for my friend. She is a financially struggling single mom with a "deadbeat" father. I finally convinced her to come on this magical trip and look at what happened. This was her first and possibly her only trip to Disney.

Again I want to thank all of you for letting me vent and for your suggestions. Hugs to all of you who lent me your support either publicly and privately. It's really nice to know I am not alone. I promised to update the board as to what happens. Thanks Again!

 

[NeverEnufWDW]

Why is it that some DVC members seem to think that they and their party alone are the only people that the Villas staffs are trying to accommodate ? If you do not concentrate on the five Ps.....then you are basically asking for trouble. Trying to make late or frequent reservation changes is a sure fire way to get things messed up. Sorry all was not magical....but you can't blame Disney for illnesses. As in all things with life, S happens.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm sorry to hear about your stay and it doesn't help when people try to dismiss your feelings. I remember it happened to me when my son was rushed to the hospital. Some people on these boards are a little rough with others feelings. Hopefully it doesn't happen to them.

They are not dismissing her feelings. They are giving her information about how to write an efficient complaint letter. Emotional venting, while completely understandable after what this party went through with the room keys and reservations, doesn't make an efficient complaint letter.

From reading her experience I think Disney ought to have a pamphlet about the dining plan that they give to everyone who checks in (Do they? I only used it once and I don't remember). Apparently there was a mixup with a person in her party who asked that a room service order be charged to the room, which was mistaken for a use of the dining plan. All room service orders are charged 2 TS credits on the dining plan, regardless of the amount of food ordered. People need to know to be specific if they do not wish to use the dining plan for an order.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Tequoia, I've sent you a pm. Your's is not the only recent horrid WDW/DVC experience. Things are slipping badly and Disney whether it is recognized by some, or not.

Take care and I hope all is well with you now.

 

[castleri]

They are not dismissing her feelings. They are giving her information about how to write an efficient complaint letter. Emotional venting, while completely understandable after what this party went through with the room keys and reservations, doesn't make an efficient complaint letter.

From reading her experience I think Disney ought to have a pamphlet about the dining plan that they give to everyone who checks in (Do they? I only used it once and I don't remember). Apparently there was a mixup with a person in her party who asked that a room service order be charged to the room, which was mistaken for a use of the dining plan. All room service orders are charged 2 TS credits on the dining plan, regardless of the amount of food ordered. People need to know to be specific if they do not wish to use the dining plan for an order.

The three times I have used the plan we got a brochure that explained everything and which restaurants required how many credits. Some people just never read the instruction manuals. Also I totally agree that keeping the letter to the specific problems with the room keys and reservations will get a better response than one the rambles on about things DVC had no control over.

 

[drakethib]

All room service orders are charged 2 TS credits on the dining plan, regardless of the amount of food ordered. People need to know to be specific if they do not wish to use the dining plan for an order.

Wow !!!!

I never new that. That is good info as we are trying the DDP for the first time in less then a month

Thanks !!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

The three times I have used the plan we got a brochure that explained everything and which restaurants required how many credits. Some people just never read the instruction manuals. Also I totally agree that keeping the letter to the specific problems with the room keys and reservations will get a better response than one the rambles on about things DVC had no control over.

I didn't know they did that, I don't really pay attention to the stuff they give me at checkin anymore. Sometimes I turn down that stuff because I know what I'm there to do, but then I end up in a situation where I want to know where the extra magic hour is, or something like that, so I usually take it.

The OP did say that she didn't get a package of stuff at checkin. Even if she did it might not have occurred to her party to study it all. That's why these boards are a great resource most of the time.

 

[tequoia]

Why is it that some DVC members seem to think that they and their party alone are the only people that the Villas staffs are trying to accommodate ? If you do not concentrate on the five Ps.....then you are basically asking for trouble. Trying to make late or frequent reservation changes is a sure fire way to get things messed up. Sorry all was not magical....but you can't blame Disney for illnesses. As in all things with life, S happens.

I agree that things happen. If you read my above post...I am not asking for WDW to compensate me for any illnesses that would be just irrational. I am well aware that there are many other people in the villas and don't expect one to one service. There was one reservation change and that was over a month prior to our departure, not frequent as you insinunated. Please stop trying to blame this on me and what "I" did. Disney's customer service use to be "top-notch" and I have become spoiled by all my other magical trips, unfortunately, at least on this trip "they" dropped the ball, not me. This was not user error.

 

[Beca]

The three times I have used the plan we got a brochure that explained everything and which restaurants required how many credits. Some people just never read the instruction manuals. Also I totally agree that keeping the letter to the specific problems with the room keys and reservations will get a better response than one the rambles on about things DVC had no control over.

I imagine that since the OP did not get a "Welcome Home" packet, that she also did not get a brochure on the dining plan.

Thanks for posting this info, though. We have never done the dining plan, but are considering it for our next trip. I didn't know we would get brochures on it.

 

[tequoia]

I didn't know they did that, I don't really pay attention to the stuff they give me at checkin anymore. Sometimes I turn down that stuff because I know what I'm there to do, but then I end up in a situation where I want to know where the extra magic hour is, or something like that, so I usually take it.

The OP did say that she didn't get a package of stuff at checkin. Even if she did it might not have occurred to her party to study it all. That's why these boards are a great resource most of the time.

I was aware of the room charges costing 2 TS that is why I figured out what was wrong as soon as we found out we were short TSs. My friend who had a fever of 103 asked that the food be charged to the room, she never said to the DP (wasn't aware that it could be) and they never asked her.
If we had gotten our packet of stuff, I always sit down with it to map our strategy for utilizing all the EMH and the show schedules, odds are my friend would have read about the DP and been better informed, since she read everything she could get her hands on about WDW.
This is all water under the bridge the now. I just wish people would stop trying to blame "me" for all of these errors. There were plenty of customer service mistakes made mostly by the inept CMs at VWL. I think it was just a bad week for them in general. I am sure it is a wonderful resort and that the people there are truly very nice, but this trip I just didn't see it.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

This is all water under the bridge the now. I just wish people would stop trying to blame "me" for all of these errors.

I agree. It's a shame people can't report incidents like this without feeling like they're being interogated afterwards. I think the reason threads like this bring out so many emotions is because most visits to WDW truly are wonderful and people that haven't experienced the troubles OP had all week find it very difficult to believe they actually do happen, especially through no fault of the person involved.

Hang in there...the next trip will be better!