Do Not Disturb Gone! (BLT)

[maxiesmom]

When i was staying at Coronada Springs we had a random person shoving pizza flyers under the door because they had not lowered the security gate before the main gate the entire time we were there allowing anyone to bypass the gate where they asked for your magic band/id. I definitely would not trust after that experience opening the door to ANYONE.

Heck I had that happen at the Swan. I'm not sure gaining access has much to do with the security gate. Anyone can say they are there to dine or to look around and be let in.

 

[colleen costello]

My friend is at WDW now and has been so upset by the daily "housekeeping" visits. She is at Saratoga helping her daughter get settled in for Disney College Program. It's been a mess. Her daughter is sick with the Flu, diagnosed at the Centra Care. Her daughter is miserable and sleeping whenever she doesn't have an orientation event. My pal says they knock but refuse to go away if you say "My daughter is in the shower" or "I can hand you the trash..." They say they HAVE TO come in. Given that her daughter is ill, my friend called housekeeping to try and SCHEDULE the intrusive visits, but that hasn't worked -- they are still pounding on the door hours earlier than requested.

My crew hangs around the room a lot. We don't do the parks much and we really appreciate our privacy. We also sleep late and stay up half the night It's vacation!) This is going to suck. Further, the housekeeping at Disney is marginal to begin with. I have been assigned to way too many rooms with nasty toilets and sticky floors that seem never to get mopped. I wonder if they have added a lot of staff now that half their time is spent checking on rooms?

 

[PrincessV]

My pal says they knock but refuse to go away if you say "My daughter is in the shower" or "I can hand you the trash..." They say they HAVE TO come in. Given that her daughter is ill, my friend called housekeeping to try and SCHEDULE the intrusive visits, but that hasn't worked -- they are still pounding on the door hours earlier than requested.

So they just stay there outside the door, knocking incessantly when told no, they can't come in? I'd think that would hurt after a while!

 

[colleen costello]

So they just stay there outside the door, knocking incessantly when told no, they can't come in? I'd think that would hurt after a while!

I think so. My friend tried to tell them "Now is not a good time" but the staff person was insistent. HOWEVER -- I think my friend could have said "NO, you are NOT coming in now! Go away!" and they probably would have come back later. But goodness, who needs this nonsense on vacation? I think we have to be prepared to use the signs whenever we are in the room, and to use the dead bolt to at least slow them down!

 

[maxiesmom]

I think so. My friend tried to tell them "Now is not a good time" but the staff person was insistent. HOWEVER -- I think my friend could have said "NO, you are NOT coming in now! Go away!" and they probably would have come back later. But goodness, who needs this nonsense on vacation? I think we have to be prepared to use the signs whenever we are in the room, and to use the dead bolt to at least slow them down!

Did your friend say what the visit entailed? Did they just walk in, look around, and leave? Did they have to walk thru the whole room? What resort is she at?

 

[hertamaniac]

Her daughter is sick with the Flu, diagnosed at the Centra Care. Her daughter is miserable and sleeping whenever she doesn't have an orientation event. My pal says they knock but refuse to go away if you say "My daughter is in the shower" or "I can hand you the trash..." They say they HAVE TO come in. Given that her daughter is ill, my friend called housekeeping to try and SCHEDULE the intrusive visits, but that hasn't worked -- they are still pounding on the door hours earlier than requested.

Wow! I am not sure how they will balance this with safety.

 

[colleen costello]

My friend is at Saratoga Springs. I asked the same, because we usually stay in a 2 bedroom so I wondered if one family member, already dressed, could deal with the housekeeper while another showered or dressed privately in the bedroom, or did they have to stomp through every ROOM? She reminded me she and her daughter are in a studio, so she wasn't sure. Her explanation was "It seems they walk around and empty each trash can as an excuse." She has had the bolt thingy on, but the housekeeper "cracked the door" open anyway. My friend is very unhappy about all of this and plans to call/write once back home. It occurs to me that DVC resorts may feel this the most because daily housekeeping isn't normally provided, so you are instead saddled with the "security check." My friend's greatest annoyance seems to be that even with a very sick guest, this can't be done on a schedule but they show up "whenever."

 

[hertamaniac]

My friend's greatest annoyance seems to be that even with a very sick guest, this can't be done on a schedule but they show up "whenever."

Someone might argue that the randomization is by design and scripted as to not establish a pattern. Although I might agree with this premise, it will lead to guests being irritated, etc. (in my opinion).

 

[skyblue17]

Did you friend go down to the desk immediately following, in person, and ask why this has happened multiple times on one visit? I would hope that a simple "my daughter is very under the weather and the timing is very unfortunate in that she still needs to attend training events, so sleep is at a premium right now. What can I do to assure that she isn't disturbed while she's sleeping?" would at least help. Not asking to have it scheduled but appealing to the human element and then also perhaps a "and if they DON'T stop knocking, I'll see to it she pukes on their shoes."

 

[colleen costello]

Yes. That occurs to me too. If this is theoretically to "prevent mayhem," then they can't really allow you to schedule the visits. But given that I suspect this is all just Mickey covering his heinie, I think they should try harder to accommodate guest schedules.

 

[colleen costello]

My friend has been run ragged with trying to move in and deal with the very ill kiddo, and has chosen instead to fight her battles once home. She did call down and ask for the visits to not happen til noon, but they were pounding over an hour before that.

 

[maxiesmom]

Yes. That occurs to me too. If this is theoretically to "prevent mayhem," then they can't really allow you to schedule the visits. But given that I suspect this is all just Mickey covering his heinie, I think they should try harder to accommodate guest schedules.

I think it is in part Mickey "covering his heinie" and in part Mickey trying to do what they can to make sure they don't end up with a Vegas style shooting at one of their resorts.

I understand the room checks and have no problem with them. But they should, in my opinion, pass by the rooms with the Room Occupied tags up and get back to them 3 hours or so later.

 

[maxiesmom]

My friend has been run ragged with trying to move in and deal with the very ill kiddo, and has chosen instead to fight her battles once home. She did call down and ask for the visits to not happen til noon, but they were pounding over an hour before that.

It is always always better to deal with a problem while you are at WDW, when they can maybe fix the problem.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Wow! This is disturbing.

 

[skyblue17]

My friend has been run ragged with trying to move in and deal with the very ill kiddo, and has chosen instead to fight her battles once home. She did call down and ask for the visits to not happen til noon, but they were pounding over an hour before that.

That makes sense, but if I was in the kid's shoes (I wasn't a college student THAT long ago... including one who was pretty sick in a dorm setting that probably mirrored this a bit), I'd probably much rather my parent try and take care of it now so I could sleep already. Sometimes face to face contact with the actual human connection does wonders in cases like these.

 

[Miffy]

WDW just telephoned me and I spoke with a really attentive and responsive CM for over 10 minutes.

Here's the gist of what she said:
(1) They are now checking guest rooms once a day. So if you turned down housekeeping, someone else will want access to your room at some point. You can arrange for the time they're going to come by calling the front desk and letting them know.
(2) If housekeeping hasn't serviced your room yet (like while you're out at a park) and you come back and want to take a nap and not be disturbed, you can call the front desk and let them know not to disturb you and they'll honor your request. However, at some point you will have to give access to someone to come into the room.
(3) If you got housekeeping and they cleaned your room that day, no one else will come to your room for any additional inspection, etc.

Since we always have housekeeping, this seems like it's not an issue for us, however, I see how it is if you've turned down housekeeping or are staying at a villa on points.

The CM actually said that one of the reasons this policy went into effect is that with the option to turn down housekeeping at certain resorts, the housekeeping staff would show up in the room after a couple of days of no service and the room would be trashed or there would be problems, like a leaky sink, for example, that hadn't been addressed for those couple of days.

I hope this is helpful to others on this thread. I can only report what the CM told me. I haven't been there since the new policy went into effect, but I hope this information is correct. I will report back after our trip.

 

[hertamaniac]

Yes. That occurs to me too. If this is theoretically to "prevent mayhem," then they can't really allow you to schedule the visits. But given that I suspect this is all just Mickey covering his heinie, I think they should try harder to accommodate guest schedules.

I hear you loud and clear. Therein lies the issue with this policy in my opinion. Where and how can they balance guest safety and comfort?

 

[colleen costello]

Housekeeping at DVC resorts was crazy BEFORE these security checks if you are a family that sleeps in. We do, and it has seemed to us that if you don't take that "do not disturb" tag down by 9, you're lucky to get housekeeping at all. I have often had to call and say "We give up, we don't think they are ever coming; can we at least have clean towels?" So many times over the years the promised housekeeping just never happened, because we didnt leave the room til noon. They seem understaffed and overworked. I agree they are to some extent trying to prevent problems but they seem unable to do anything according to guest schedules "that don't fit the norm" and this is just "one more thing."

 

[hertamaniac]

That makes sense, but if I was in the kid's shoes (I wasn't a college student THAT long ago... including one who was pretty sick in a dorm setting that probably mirrored this a bit), I'd probably much rather my parent try and take care of it now so I could sleep already. Sometimes face to face contact with the actual human connection does wonders in cases like these.

Interesting and this made me think of a question I never thought of before. How would Disney handle a scenario if a guest has an infectious disease and is caught by a CM carrying out their duties?

 

[MisplacedUnderwear]

My friend is very unhappy about all of this and plans to call/write once back home. ... My friend's greatest annoyance seems to be that even with a very sick guest, this can't be done on a schedule but they show up "whenever."

I've clipped the parts with which I strongly disagree.

1) What can be fixed once your friend is already home? Your friend needs to talk to a manager NOW, while they're still at the resort. As I've said in other posts, I hope your friend can stay cool and calm and describe what happened and what they think should happen instead. Yelling at people and ranting on the internet feels good, but describing what you'd like to see happen, in person, to a person with the power to make things happen, can go a long way toward actually fixing things. At a minimum, even if it ultimately can't be fixed while they're at the resort, getting notes added to the guest account at least means there's a record of some of the things that happened so your friend has a basis from which to argue later, if that's what's required.

2) I was actually specifically told that Disney IS attempting to schedule these visits for guests -- especially DVC guests AND standard resort guests who get the option where they pay less and don't get daily housekeeping -- so it sounds like whoever said that to your friend is objectively incorrect. If a security manager (or worse, the security call-center CM) is who said they can't schedule these visits, then maybe a Front Desk manager or Housekeeping manager can give a better answer. My situation was resolved, in part, by managers from all three departments putting their heads together. Maybe somebody's not on the same page as their counterparts and just needs to be set straight. Again, talking to the right people, right now, can get this resolved in a way that writing a letter once you're back at home simply cannot.