Room Occupied Madness

I haven't stayed yet with this new policy (2 more weeks), but the pictures of signs I have seen state, "The Disney Resort Hotel staff will knock and ANNOUNCE their presence before entering". So unless these signs and policy have been modified they went against policy by not announcing themselves. Hopefully this happens when I am at POFQ in a couple of weeks, maybe I can get some fastpasses from the front desk :)
 
This is the future and I guess we'll just have to learn to change some of our current habits. We've changed how we throw garbage away, where and when we smoke (if at all) and how to survive on domestic flights with little to no edible food...see that? We do know how to adapt, LOL.
Disney is not alone; Hilton changed their door signage around the same time and other chains are considering it as well. All Disney is requesting that they see the room's interior once every 24 hours. Generally, this can readily be fulfilled by housekeeping but if for whatever reason they have not entered the room in that time period you can be assured of a knock on your door or hotel personnel entering while you are gone.

As previously noted check out day is a bit different.Time is not on the side of housekeeping and they are under the gun to turn rooms around so the front desk can amiably greet their newest guests and say "Welcome and yes, your room is ready". Conversely, guests deserve access and use of their room up until 11:00 AM so it's a difficult tight-walk for housekeeping to maneuver.
I think remembering to use the door's top lock is a great way to ensure your privacy and security and in time people will do it like second nature.

Not being able to take a bath or a nap in a hotel is not a "new normal." Being told that "it is in your best interest" to open doors to anyone demanding entry is not a "new normal." That is a capitulation to a mind-numblingly stupid decision on Disney's part which can alienate, frighten, and endanger guests. After this pre-paid trip I will no longer be staying on Disney property and if only 3% of people are like me that will do a lot of damage to Disney's bottom line. There is a massive difference between Hilton saying "Hey if you leave the DND sign up 24 hours we will peek in there" to Disney saying "you will have no expectation of privacy or peaceful enjoyment of your hotel room on your vacation whatsoever."
 
I've spent about 10 nights, total, at WDW resorts since this practice started. I have been aware of just one time that I was in the room when a CM knocked, but I didn't have the hanger out. When I am in the room, the bar is flipped....it would take the housekeeper a bit of time to get through the latched door.
I've had many instances where housekeepers started knocking on my door at 8am, on my check out day. The last time it happened, I was at AS Movies....I had the 'do not disturb' sign hung out (before the room occupied hangers came about). I had the hanger out on my door, I walked to the food court to get coffee at 7:30sh. I returned, the hanger was on my door. About 10 mins later, around 8, there was a knock...housekeeping. I opened the door, he said he was there to clean the room. I looked down and said 'Gee, I wonder where my do not disturb hanger went. It was there 10 mins ago.' The housekeeper had the good grace to at least look sheepish....I'm sure he removed it and then knocked. I told him to return around 10...I would be leaving then!!! He was not happy. Too bad...I paid for the room, checkout is at 11...deal with it!!!
 
To each their own. My God so many IMO are overeacting. Take your cash elsewhere then. Staff cannot barge in if you have the lock on. If they happen to while I am walking around naked, well that HK deserves a raise for seeing my naked Poo sized bum. And the odds they come in while napping are minimal. Has anyone seen HK simply walking around knocking and disturbing guests as an ongoing basis, just to annoy guests ? No. Let them do their job which is HKing and an occasional check
 


When we stayed at the Beach Club back in January 2018, we encountered a CM check late afternoon. We were there 8 days and that was the only time we encountered this. Of all the times we have stayed on property (3x a year for 25yrs) we have never had housekeeping knock on the door the day of check out. The housekeepers (Deluxe resorts) have a daily print out of the rooms which have the guests checking out and checking in, if the guest has requested a late check out time, etc. I am not sure about the value or moderate resorts on their protocols.
 
Not being able to take a bath or a nap in a hotel is not a "new normal." Being told that "it is in your best interest" to open doors to anyone demanding entry is not a "new normal." That is a capitulation to a mind-numblingly stupid decision on Disney's part which can alienate, frighten, and endanger guests. After this pre-paid trip I will no longer be staying on Disney property and if only 3% of people are like me that will do a lot of damage to Disney's bottom line. There is a massive difference between Hilton saying "Hey if you leave the DND sign up 24 hours we will peek in there" to Disney saying "you will have no expectation of privacy or peaceful enjoyment of your hotel room on your vacation whatsoever."
Your choice and interpretation of what the new policy means. I don't see much difference between Hilton and Disney's policy but we'll agree to disagree.
 
Totally agree with @Jen1995 that there is a big difference between the Disney policy and the Hilton policy. The day I go to a Hilton and there is no DND sign I will be staying at Marriotts. I was at an Embassy Suites last week and got sick. I called down to the front desk to ask them to bring me some bottles of water (which they did). I guess this would have alerted them why I had the DND sign on the door for two days but nobody bothered me.
 


Room Occupied does not mean Do Not Disturb. It simply advises the CM accessing the room that someone is in it. It should indicate to the CM to be quiet, but clearly it didn't.

This is true but a few posts above yours, it was said that it was likely housekeeping coming in to clean because it was OP's check-out day. The Room Occupied sign should indicate to housekeeping that the occupants have not left yet. No need to knock or enter at all. If it's 11am or later and the sign is still out, then I would find it acceptable.

If it was a security room check, that is different. But the person entering should always knock and announce themselves before entering, regardless if there's a sign on the door.
 
mousefan73...don't think people are over reacting, just stating strong opinions on this new insane policy.

Personally, I think this policy leaves a lot to be desired. I don't feel safer, which I thought was the whole point. I'm sure the cast members do not like having to check up on everyone either, no fun.

No privacy anymore. Hopefully, WDW will tweak this and soon. Maybe only send someone to the room if housekeeping has not checked the room for the day.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I think they should do away with the policy, but we shall see.
 
Its my understanding that this IS the policy.
It's your understanding and that of the vast majority of guests who have stayed at the resorts since the new policy started the end of December.
I've no idea how it works at the resorts where guests are offered gift cards and such to not have their rooms cleaned but if that is still going on I'm sure some changes have been made to accommodate the new policy and gift card program.
I do know that we were staying @ Poly when the policy began and they knocked once to see the room. This was OUR fault because the room occupied/do not disturb sign that everyone always remembers to remove (Yes. I'm being facetious;)) when not needed had been left on the door the day before. Nothing like coming back to an unmade bed, wet towels and having an internal "duhh" moment.
 
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It's your understanding and that of the vast majority of guests who have stayed at the resorts since the new policy started the end of December.
I've no idea how it works at the resorts where guests are offered gift cards and such to not have their rooms cleaned but if that is still going on I'm sure some changes have been made to accommodate the new policy and gift card program.
I do know that we were staying @ Poly when the policy began and they knocked once to see the room. This was OUR fault because the room occupied/do not disturb sign that everyone always remembers to remove (Yes. I'm being facetious;)) when not needed had been left on the door the day before. Nothing like coming back to an unmade bed, wet towels and having an internal "duhh" moment.

Yeah I really don't see any true benefit to using that sign. Sounds like it causes more trouble than not. At least people on these boards are prepared. I feel bad for anyone blindsided by it.
 
There have been some reports of people being in the bathroom and housekeeping coming in, or attempting to undo the door latch to come in. Most of the reports I have read of people actually entering the room have not had the latch engaged, so it’s important to do that when you don’t want someone to just come in. It will at least buy you a few seconds to throw on a bathrobe.

Can you link to the report of a CM undoing the door latch?
 
Your choice and interpretation of what the new policy means. I don't see much difference between Hilton and Disney's policy but we'll agree to disagree.

Totally agree with @Jen1995 that there is a big difference between the Disney policy and the Hilton policy. The day I go to a Hilton and there is no DND sign I will be staying at Marriotts. I was at an Embassy Suites last week and got sick. I called down to the front desk to ask them to bring me some bottles of water (which they did). I guess this would have alerted them why I had the DND sign on the door for two days but nobody bothered me.

ABSOLUTELY is a difference in the two policies. ::yes::

I stayed at Disney in January and experienced their new policy daily, including a creepy encounter when a man met us at the door after coming out of a stairway heading straight for us ... and left immediately after not checking any of the other 24 rooms I could see. This at a time that was different from all our other experiences with the daily checks ... and no doubt in my mind it was deliberate. I proceeded to book 3 next stays off-site at Hiltons.

I just came back from my first Hilton offsite stay. I was given a very clear DND sign, I had a letter in my room telling me to use the sign and they would not knock or disturb me in any way. I had a couple days were we were not out fast and back in the afternoon before the shift ended ... never bothered in any way.

The two signs, the two policies, are completely different.
 
I go to sleep every night unable to fully relax because I might be interrupted
Have there been any reports of room checks during typical sleeping hours?
My guess is I would not hear them knocking or unhooking the latch
Have there been any reports of Fast Members unhooking the latch? We know it's possible, but has anybody reported it happening?
Their have been reports of multiple checks in a single day.


~NM
Many?
 
Have there been any reports of room checks during typical sleeping hours?

Have there been any reports of Fast Members unhooking the latch? We know it's possible, but has anybody reported it happening?

Many?

Yes, I read 2 - 3 posts of early morning room checks, and I believe 1 of housekeeping unhooking the latch. I have not witnessed anything myself, nor have I heard this from anyone I personally know.
 

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