Guest experiences with daily room checks

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Lynne M

DIS Veteran
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Nov 4, 2001
Disney is in the process of removing the Do Not Disturb door hangers from resort rooms, and replacing them with Occupied door hangers. They will begin checking guest rooms daily. This daily check should normally be covered by housekeeping, but guests may receive a visit from security.

At the moment, there seems to be a lot of variability in the way this policy is being implemented. Please use this thread to post your experiences with these checks.

Ground rules:

1) GUEST REPORTS ONLY. Posts on this thread should only be actual reports of your experiences while staying at a Disney resort. If it’s not a guest report, it will be removed. There’s a thread on the Resorts board for questions and comments about the room check policy.

2) Do not copy and paste reports that you found on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media or message boards. Posts on this thread should be about YOUR experience.

3) When posting a report, please include the name of the resort. Experiences with room checks can vary across resorts, so that’s useful info for readers to know.
 
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We just returned yesterday from BWV. We were there 1/20/18-1/27/18 on a DVC points reservation. Having read other people's concerns/experiences with this before leaving, I mentioned at check in that I had heard that they would be entering the rooms each day. The front desk CM sold it as solely being for daily trash removal. I told her that we normally are gone in the morning and evenings, but are usually napping in our room between 12-4 and would prefer not to be disturbed at that time. She seemed confused by the request, but asked another CM. The CM told her to call someone (I didn't hear who or what department) with our request. The CM I talked to appeared to write down the times I mentioned on a sticky note or other piece of paper. At this point, I had very little confidence that my request was going to be honored.

Throughout the week, we left our room in the morning anytime between 8-10am. We always kept the room occupied sign on the door when in the room, and dutifully removed it when we left. Everyday we came back at or shortly after noon. On every single day, our trash had been removed before we returned. Even on days when we were only gone from 10-12, it was done in that time frame. They never came before we left in the morning. And they never came while we were in the room. No one ever knocked on our door, unless we had requested something. So for us, it worked out just fine. No one even knocked on our door on the morning of check-out, and we were in our room until 10:50am.
 
Posted in other thread but might as well add here too.

Staying at the gfv now and had someone just walk in to do the trash pickup. I had the sign on the door, but I do put earplugs in and a box fan on for noise so I must not heard him knock. He woke me up and I just stared at him, he said sorry and continued to get the trash out for another couple minutes. Couldnt believe it. Someone is clearly sleeping and they still go through with it. Was sleeping so nice too.
 
We just completed a stay at CCV 1/19-1/23. Our touring style when we are without our adult children is to have breakfast in our room, leave around 10 am, return around 2 pm, then head back out from 4-9ish pm. "Occupied" sign always on the door when we were in the room and removed when we were not. Daily trash service was completed on 3 of the 4 days. On the day there was no trash service (I have no idea why they did not come), we did not get a knock or inquiry, nor did anyone extra visit on the other 3. We did notice many of the same Mousekeeping CMs in our hallway each morning, so I would also recommend interacting with them and become familiar. I would most definitely be asking questions of anyone coming in for Mousekeeping or a "check" whom I did not recognize.
 


1/22/18: At Riverside just a few days ago, we returned to our room around 2:00 and room service had not yet serviced our room. We put the "Occupied" sign out and rested for awhile. Around 3:45 or so, we received a call which informed us we needed a room check since housekeeping did not come in. They asked when, and I said we'd be out of the room at 4:30, they said "perfect" and that was that. Just an updated experience with the security check.

The rest of the days, housekeeping made it to our rooms before we returned from the park, so no call and no security.
 
We are in a CL room at the YC. We had normal housekeeping and turn down service. Never used the room occupied sign. As far as I know we didn't have any other security checks. I would have no way of knowing if someone came in while we were out though. It was raining yesterday afternoon and we spent a longer than usual time in the room. Moving to the Grand today I'll report back from there.
 
We stayed at the GF December 16th through the 22nd. Within our first few minutes of arrival, Mousekeeping walked in to check to welcome us and to see if we needed anything. It did surprise all of us, but wasn't a huge deal as we had just gotten there. Throughout our week there, we did not have any more "walk-ins", but they did change out the Do Not Disturb signs throughout our building.
 


Just returned from a week at BWV. We kept the room occupied sign on every night/morning before we left, and never saw anyone (we were usually gone by 8:30 every morning). We were in the room one afternoon to change and didn't have the sign out, and there was a knock at the door and he waited until we answered, then came in and got the tiny bit of garbage we had. So no issues whatsoever. Had our trash and towel day as per usual for DVC while we were out.
 
Currently at Pop Century. Copied (& modified for clarity) from the Pop thread -

I am here for a very short stay. Got to my room around midnight Saturday night, checked out this AM. (1/27 to 1/29.). I'm solo, was hardly in the room, and only used one set of towels - didn't really needhousekeeping. So, I left the RO sign on the door, which is what I have done in the past - both at Disney and real world hotels - if I did not want Mousekeeping. Got back to my room and found that it had been cleaned. Not a huge deal (although a total waste of resources,) just a data point.

Later, I stopped by the front desk to pay my room charges and noticed their "service your way" aka opt out of housekeeping sign. Mentioned something to the desk staff about how I should have done that, since I didn't need housekeeping, left the sign out, and they came anyways. CM said they'd replaced the DND with RO, and though housekeeping won't come in, they've instituted a "once daily security check." I told her housekeeping DID come in and all she could muster was an "Oh. That shouldn't have happened." Well, it did, so...

It's one thing to read it online, but having a CM patently recite the new policy felt far creepier than I had anticipated. There is NO reason for this policy. I'm here for vacation, not to experience a police state.

TL;DR version - RO sign means nothing, front desk confirms security check.
 
My husband and I recently stayed at the BWV from 1/20-1/27. We are not vacation club owners so this was a cash reservation. We travel to Disney about once a year and we pretty much have our routine when we're there. We love sleeping in and heading to the parks a little later than most people, so I was very worried that we would have someone pounding on the door at 10am when we're just getting out of bed. Everyday of our trip, we left the room anywhere between 11-noon, and came back around 9-10pm. Room was always cleaned and we never had anyone additional knock for a security check.

On Monday, we headed out to EPCOT around 11am, and about 2pm, my husband started not to feel good so we came back to the room. Our room had not been cleaned yet so we put the sign back on the door so he could rest. I told him about the new security check so I said there was a very good chance that someone would still stop by even though the sign was on. He was OK with that. I left the room around 3pm to head back to EPCOT (I felt fine, why should I sit in the room haha) and right as I was leaving, mousekeeping knocked on the door. I told her that my husband wasn't feeling well and he came back to the room to relax. She offered to refresh our towels and make the bed since she was there. Since my husband was relaxing on the couch, we let her in to do her thing. When I got back a couple hours later, I asked if anyone else stopped by the room and he said that no one did - so that made me think that a mousekeeping check counted as the security check.

On Thursday, we did have a knock around 10:45am, but it was from Guest Services - they were replacing the locks on the door. I told them we would be out of the room by 11:30 and asked if they could come back - they said no problem and came back later that day.

So all in all, we had absolutely no issues with anyone bothering us and it was a great trip!
 
Checking out of VGF today, arrived late Saturday.

Received daily trash service but was never disturbed while we were in the room, security camera I left setup captured normal mouse keeping that seems to have either gotten lucky everyday or waited for us to leave.

We generally left in the morning, came back for my daughters nap and left again, usually service was not completed by our nap (around 9) but completed after we left again.

All and all a relief.
 
I just returned from a trip to POR from 1/25-29/18 and wanted to share our experiences. I also posted in the Pet Friendly experiences thread, so there may be some overlap and cutting/pasting as it applies for background and such. Apologize for the lengthy post but I’m trying to be as thorough and detail-specific as possible...

For some background as it applies, my DD11 and I were part of a larger group of about 20 rooms. Her dance company participated in a workshop with cast members on Saturday (their instructor was a squid in the Finding Nemo show - how cool is that?!), then performed at Disney Springs on Sunday. I mention this part as it added to the obligations, needs, and stressors of the trip as it was not Disney “business as usual” for us. It was my first time traveling with just my daughter, as my DH and DS13 stayed home. Because of the dance obligations, we had specific times scheduled that we’d be in the room that I wouldn’t want to be disturbed. The first day we had a mid-day break before DAH, and the following two days we had late mornings since my daughter didn’t need to meet the group until 11am, and there wasn’t enough time to risk a trip to a park.

My concerns about the new daily room checks/room occupied policy stemmed mostly from my specific situation for this trip in that I was traveling alone with my daughter at an unfamiliar resort with exterior corridors and due to the “scheduled” breaks (I’m also just hard-wired to constantly assess risk due to professional and personal experiences). I had read a wide variety of experiences and it seemed like there was a variance between how different resorts were managing the checks. I had been pondering before the trip about whether I would leave DD in the room alone with the DND sign if I needed to run to the lobby area. Once I heard about the new policy, I knew I would not leave her alone, as I didn’t want her to have to deal with a knock since the Room Occupied sign does not have the same intention as a DND.

I did not decline housekeeping (it was not offered to decline and I did not ask). The new policy was not mentioned at check-in and I had forgotten about it at that point, and did not ask any questions. **I want to emphasize that we had no problems at all with unwelcome interruptions.** Housekeeping came while we were at the park in the am on Friday, while we were gone midday on Saturday, and after 3pm when we were out for the evening on Sunday.

Our issue was that we did not have a “Flying Off to Neverland” sign in our room. I wanted one due to our schedule to avoid disruptions. Since Thursday, I had called Mousekeeping multiple times and wrote notes, but had not received one by Saturday at 11am at drop-off. I went to ask the front desk for a sign. The CM had no idea what I was talking about, but another CM heard the exchange and came over. They referred me back to Mousekeeping. I then asked an open ended question about how the new policy works in practice at the resort.

I have had 7 on-site stays in WDW in 9 years. I can honestly say that this exchange was the most negative experience I have ever had with a CM, and it seemed completely unnecessary since I was not even reporting a “problem” or “incident”; I simply wanted to know how the policy works at POR - and I needed a sign. The CM became immediately defensive and combative, and began to engage in what we used to call in my old job as “challenge” questions: “Why do you need this information?” “Where are you going with this line of questioning?” “You’re aware that the world is a different place now, right?” I was blindsided by this response. I am formerly a Social Worker/therapist who worked with mandated clients, and I found myself using de-escalation techniques and just trying to extricate myself from the conversation.

I told him multiple times that I was not questioning the policy itself or the need for it, that I just wanted to know some practical information for my stay, since I was traveling alone with a child. For example, since I was a single adult, I asked him it was okay to let a CM open a door with his “key” instead of me opening the door? He became very angry and kept berating me about the misuse of the word “key.” "You do know we don't use actual keys, don't you?!" One strange thing was he kept mentioning how the world was different, but he made it a point to say it was not a security measure, he repeatedly pointed to maintenance issues. He also told me it was “in my best interest” to answer if they knock, but couldn’t really provide a lot of specifics to my questions about how it works, like if Mousekeeping doesn’t make it to my room, will security definitely come daily, or only if there’s an issue, maintenance or security concern or otherwise - because at this point I was fairly confused. (ETA - I also asked if I could ask them to come back later). I am no pushover and I’m actually embarrassed to say, but I was almost in tears by the end of the exchange, which sounds really lame coming from a middle-aged woman, but I think it was in part because it was so unexpected and I left feeling like I had done something wrong (I’m actually almost embarrassed to post this, as I never really had a “problem” with the implementation of the policy itself).

In any case, Mousekeeping left me a sign on Saturday afternoon, which we then used with no issues. I don't know if there has been issues or blowback with guests at POR, or if the CM was just having a bad day, but a guest should be able to clarify a policy with staff. I hope Disney is able to clarify the policy and train the staff appropriately because that exchange was completely unnecessary during an otherwise fantastic trip and once in a lifetime experience for my daughter. If you’re still with me after all of my rambling - thanks!
 
We just got back last night and had 1 experience with this(we stayed 11 nights)...Went back to the room to take an afternoon nap with our DD6. We all fell asleep and then there was the knock even though the room occupied sign was up...I asked if she could come back later. Less than an hour later another knock...we were getting ready to leave for the afternoon...she waited in the hall till we left. Kinda annoying...
 
I just returned from a trip to POR from 1/25-29/18 and wanted to share our experiences. I also posted in the Pet Friendly experiences thread, so there may be some overlap and cutting/pasting as it applies for background and such. Apologize for the lengthy post but I’m trying to be as thorough and detail-specific as possible...

For some background as it applies, my DD11 and I were part of a larger group of about 20 rooms. Her dance company participated in a workshop with cast members on Saturday (their instructor was a squid in the Finding Nemo show - how cool is that?!), then performed at Disney Springs on Sunday. I mention this part as it added to the obligations, needs, and stressors of the trip as it was not Disney “business as usual” for us. It was my first time traveling with just my daughter, as my DH and DS13 stayed home. Because of the dance obligations, we had specific times scheduled that we’d be in the room that I wouldn’t want to be disturbed. The first day we had a mid-day break before DAH, and the following two days we had late mornings since my daughter didn’t need to meet the group until 11am, and there wasn’t enough time to risk a trip to a park.

My concerns about the new daily room checks/room occupied policy stemmed mostly from my specific situation for this trip in that I was traveling alone with my daughter at an unfamiliar resort with exterior corridors and due to the “scheduled” breaks (I’m also just hard-wired to constantly assess risk due to professional and personal experiences). I had read a wide variety of experiences and it seemed like there was a variance between how different resorts were managing the checks. I had been pondering before the trip about whether I would leave DD in the room alone with the DND sign if I needed to run to the lobby area. Once I heard about the new policy, I knew I would not leave her alone, as I didn’t want her to have to deal with a knock since the Room Occupied sign does not have the same intention as a DND.

I did not decline housekeeping (it was not offered to decline and I did not ask). The new policy was not mentioned at check-in and I had forgotten about it at that point, and did not ask any questions. **I want to emphasize that we had no problems at all with unwelcome interruptions.** Housekeeping came while we were at the park in the am on Friday, while we were gone midday on Saturday, and after 3pm when we were out for the evening on Sunday.

Our issue was that we did not have a “Flying Off to Neverland” sign in our room. I wanted one due to our schedule to avoid disruptions. Since Thursday, I had called Mousekeeping multiple times and wrote notes, but had not received one by Saturday at 11am at drop-off. I went to ask the front desk for a sign. The CM had no idea what I was talking about, but another CM heard the exchange and came over. They referred me back to Mousekeeping. I then asked an open ended question about how the new policy works in practice at the resort.

I have had 7 on-site stays in WDW in 9 years. I can honestly say that this exchange was the most negative experience I have ever had with a CM, and it seemed completely unnecessary since I was not even reporting a “problem” or “incident”; I simply wanted to know how the policy works at POR - and I needed a sign. The CM became immediately defensive and combative, and began to engage in what we used to call in my old job as “challenge” questions: “Why do you need this information?” “Where are you going with this line of questioning?” “You’re aware that the world is a different place now, right?” I was blindsided by this response. I am formerly a Social Worker/therapist who worked with mandated clients, and I found myself using de-escalation techniques and just trying to extricate myself from the conversation.

I told him multiple times that I was not questioning the policy itself or the need for it, that I just wanted to know some practical information for my stay, since I was traveling alone with a child. For example, since I was a single adult, I asked him it was okay to let a CM open a door with his “key” instead of me opening the door? He became very angry and kept berating me about the misuse of the word “key.” "You do know we don't use actual keys, don't you?!" One strange thing was he kept mentioning how the world was different, but he made it a point to say it was not a security measure, he repeatedly pointed to maintenance issues. He also told me it was “in my best interest” to answer if they knock, but couldn’t really provide a lot of specifics to my questions about how it works, like if Mousekeeping doesn’t make it to my room, will security definitely come daily, or only if there’s an issue, maintenance or security concern or otherwise - because at this point I was fairly confused. (ETA - I also asked if I could ask them to come back later). I am no pushover and I’m actually embarrassed to say, but I was almost in tears by the end of the exchange, which sounds really lame coming from a middle-aged woman, but I think it was in part because it was so unexpected and I left feeling like I had done something wrong (I’m actually almost embarrassed to post this, as I never really had a “problem” with the implementation of the policy itself).

In any case, Mousekeeping left me a sign on Saturday afternoon, which we then used with no issues. I don't know if there has been issues or blowback with guests at POR, or if the CM was just having a bad day, but a guest should be able to clarify a policy with staff. I hope Disney is able to clarify the policy and train the staff appropriately because that exchange was completely unnecessary during an otherwise fantastic trip and once in a lifetime experience for my daughter. If you’re still with me after all of my rambling - thanks!

Please consider contacting Walt Disney World Guest services about your experience.

Please include the date, time, place and a description of the encounter. You can even copy/paste this description into an email and send it to Guest Services. Also, if you have the name of the Cast Member who made you feel uncomfortable, that would be very helpful so please include that as well.

email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

or send a letter to:

Walt Disney World Guest Communications
Executive Offices
Post Office Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-0040

~NM
 
Please consider contacting Walt Disney World Guest services about your experience.

Please include the date, time, place and a description of the encounter. You can even copy/paste this description into an email and send it to Guest Services. Also, if you have the name of the Cast Member who made you feel uncomfortable, that would be very helpful so please include that as well.

email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

or send a letter to:

Walt Disney World Guest Communications
Executive Offices
Post Office Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-0040

~NM

Thanks for the contact information. That was definitely my intention. I do have the specifics on date/time since I was dropping off my kid, and I have the name of the CM (I didn't want to post the name here). I wrote a draft of an email but I wanted to let it "sit" overnight and review tomorrow before I send it. Sometimes it does seem like Disney puts the cart before the horse, so to speak, when it comes to implementing a new policy, and I imagine it's fairly stressful for the front-line CMs (which doesn't make it okay, of course...). Thanks again!
 
I did not have a great experience with the new policy at my recent stay at the GF 1-16-18 to 1-21-19.

On 1-17-18 I was not feeling well in the afternoon and contacted housekeeping stating that I would to have housekeeping come around 4PM or after. I was told that was not a problem and to feel better.
Then came the knocking, I had at least 5 separate occasions where housekeeping knocked on my door with in 2 hours (between 12-2PM. I explained each time that I was ill and would like housekeeping to come back later. needless to say, I did not get to rest and was quite upset.

Housekeeping skipped my room entirely the next day 1-18-18. I did not ask for it and do not understand why they did not come at all. I called and asked for clean towels and toiletries, housekeeping stopped by but still did not come in to "inspect the room".

No issues with housekeeping on 1-19-18, must have came when I was out at the park.

My last day 1-20-18, I was spending some time in the room working and getting packed. House keeping knocked and I asked for a later housekeeping, to give me a couple of hours. The knocking kept coming and coming, then housekeeping called me, then more knocking. I left for the park and stopped by the front desk to talk to a manager. The Concierge manager was less than helpful. I explained what my experiences were and that I totally understand the need for the policy but I had some concerns. The Manager told me I could call housekeeping, when I explained I did and it did nothing. She explained that I could hang a sign on my door. I explained that I did not have a door sign and was never offered one. She said that the sign would simply state that I was in the room, but they still would come in the room. I really did not get anywhere with her besides more frustrated.

I am hoping that the housekeeping miscommunication will work it's way out before my April Conference as DH will be in the room/pool during the daylight hours. I did state my concerns in a survey that was sent by e-mail after my stay.
 
We just stayed at All Star Movies for a quick visit, checked in just before 1pm Sunday 1/28 and checked out around 10am Tuesday 1/30. We always decline housekeeping and in the past have always had the DND sign on our door throughout our entire stay. We just don't have a need for the service since our stays are usually short, and we don't like having people in our room, especially if we aren't there at the time. I always take my DSLR and we sometimes have a tablet or laptop with us, and those items don't fit in the safe. We understand the DND never prevented anyone from entering if they needed to, but it made us feel better and it lessened the odds of having someone in our room.

We did online check-in and went straight to the room to drop off our bags, but went to the front desk right after to get a birthday button and ask if they were still offering gift cards if you turned down housekeeping. The concierge CM asked if we were offered the option at check-in and we told him no, because we did online check-in and went straight to the room. He told us our short stay qualified for a $10 card (hey, that was $10 more than we started with!) and verified the email address to send it to. That was the end of it. There was nothing said about "Yes, but just so you know, if housekeeping doesn't enter the room, you will have someone else come by daily for a security check" or anything of the like. If I hadn't already known before our trip that this was the new "normal", absolutely nothing about our interactions with the front desk staff would have given me any indication that this was going on.

We actually kept the "Off to Neverland" hanger on the door the entire trip, whether we were physically in the room or not. There's a sizing issue with these hangers, though, and they do NOT stay on the handle well at all. It fell off every time we opened or closed the door, and when we came back to our room after EPCOT on Monday, it was laying on the ground right at the edge of the railing (we were on the 3rd floor) - no telling how long it had been off the door, but how are they even supposed to know what rooms are physically occupied if the hangers won't stay on?

We left the room at 7:45am on Monday to head to EPCOT, and while we are usually strict mid-day-breakers, since we only had one park day this trip, we didn't return until 11:30pm, so I can't comment on how the security check may or may not have disrupted our day. There was no message left on our room phone or texted to our cell phone letting us know that a security check needed to be done, though, and I would have assumed I would've been contacted in some way to be informed of the need for the check since the door hanger was on, giving the impression that we were physically in the room.
 
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