A/C problems at Polynesian Bungalows

[wdwfan22]

It appears Guests with upcoming stays at the Bungalows at Disney's Polynesian are being informed of an A/C problem.

Aloha and Welcome Home!

We are delighted you have chosen to spend your vacation at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.

Before your arrival, we would like to make you aware that we are experiencing intermittent challenges with the air conditioning in our bungalows. We have added temporary air conditioning units to the master bedrooms that helps bring the rooms to a comfortable temperature until a permanent solution can be implemented.

We apologize for this inconvenience and are committed to providing a wonderful experience. Therefore, we will offer a daily housekeeping service and will be waiving the associated fee during your stay.

Should you need assistance with your reservation, please contact Disney Vacation Club Member Services at 800-800-9800 or 407-566-3800 between the hours of 9:00am-7:30pm (ET) Monday through Friday or 9:00am-5:30pm (ET) Saturday and Sunday. One of our Vacation Advisors will be happy to assist you.

Thank you for being a valued part of the Disney Vacation Club family. We eagerly await your arrival and wish you a truly magical stay!

Sincerely,

Victor Yordan
General Manager of Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows Resort

 

[cursivesailor]

omg i would be so annoyed. i am one of those people who like it cold and i couldnt function if it was too hot.

i like how they are gonna give you extra mousekeeping... i read that basicly as "we know your sheets are gonna get sweaty and you're gonna be taking extra showers" YUCK!

 

[NYwdwfan]

Really? Free daily mousekeeping to offset faulty A/C for these units? That's an unacceptable trade-off.

 

[Andrew C]

well that sucks! hopefully they can find a fix sooner rather than later....

 

[Clamman73]

"intermittent challenges"??? Just fix it.

 

[Andrew C]

"intermittent challenges"??? Just fix it.

well...to fix something you need to know what is wrong and you need to have a workable solution that fixes the problem....I assume they do not at the moment, lol

 

[rob0519]

So some of WDWs highest paying customers now have no or substandard A/C in a Florida swamp in August and September? Great. So let's hear again how the quality of the once exceptional Disney experience has not deteriorated.

I'm assuming Mr. Yordan will be personally meeting with each of his almost $2k+ per night guests at check-in to personally "apologize for this inconvenience" and explain how he and Disney are "committed to providing a wonderful experience".

 

[cursivesailor]

Yeah the more I think about it, I cant even imagine paying that much money and having to be hot. And yes, I agree the extra cleaning is a slap in the face.

 

[DManRightHere]

Really people, it does not say there is no air conditioning. I am assuming they've added a hotel room like unit in the bedroom, or possibly it is just the master bedrooms having cooling issues.

There is no way they'll send guests to bungalows with barely any air conditioning, and if it is that bad, I am sure they will move the guests anywhere they'd like and compensate according.

Good for Disney to send a courtesy email.

 

[rob0519]

Really people, it does not say there is no air conditioning. I am assuming they've added a hotel room like unit in the bedroom, or possibly it is just the master bedrooms having cooling issues.

There is no way they'll send guests to bungalows with barely any air conditioning, and if it is that bad, I am sure they will move the guests anywhere they'd like and compensate according.

Good for Disney to send a courtesy email.

Sorry, but not good for Disney. "We have added temporary air conditioning units to the master bedrooms". To me that implies the other areas, such as the living room, bathroom etc. may intermittently have NO air conditioning.

This is a major engineering issue on units that are barely a year old on some of their absolutely highest accommodations. Warning people who have paid over $10k a week and waited who knows how long to stay in a bungalow is the least they can do.

 

[Andrew C]

Sorry, but not good for Disney. "We have added temporary air conditioning units to the master bedrooms". To me that implies the other areas, such as the living room, bathroom etc. may intermittently have NO air conditioning.

This is a major engineering issue on units that are barely a year old on some of their absolutely highest accommodations. Warning people who have paid over $10k a week and waited who knows how long to stay in a bungalow is the least they can do.

Of course it is the least they can do, but I am sure that is not all they would or will do...hence the below part of the email letter. Pretty lame that they are having these issues already...shouldn't happen. But there is an issue and now they have to deal with it until the problem is resolved...being proactive by reaching out to guests prior to arrival is a good starting point.

Should you need assistance with your reservation, please contact Disney Vacation Club Member Services at 800-800-9800 or 407-566-3800 between the hours of 9:00am-7:30pm (ET) Monday through Friday or 9:00am-5:30pm (ET) Saturday and Sunday. One of our Vacation Advisors will be happy to assist you.

although...if the guests do not see this letter until they arrive...that would pi$$ me off...

 

[SherlockWayne]

Sorry, but not good for Disney. "We have added temporary air conditioning units to the master bedrooms". To me that implies the other areas, such as the living room, bathroom etc. may intermittently have NO air conditioning.

This is a major engineering issue on units that are barely a year old on some of their absolutely highest accommodations. Warning people who have paid over $10k a week and waited who knows how long to stay in a bungalow is the least they can do.

Based on what I've heard, all areas of the bungalows have fully functional air conditioning, it's just not as powerful as the resort would like. They've added the extra unit in the master bedroom to help, which it does. From what I've heard, this has more or less temporarily fixed the issue, but it can get a little noisy at times. I'm sure when these were designed, they had planned for the AC units to be sufficient for what was needed, and being that this is the first harsh Florida summer that the bungalows have been around, they're learning that in some cases they may not be. This isn't a major engineering issue, it's an engineering adjustment, which they obviously have already done. Because the solution is temporary, that implies that they have a permanent fix in the works, which, if done right, will take time.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Really people, it does not say there is no air conditioning. I am assuming they've added a hotel room like unit in the bedroom, or possibly it is just the master bedrooms having cooling issues.

There is no way they'll send guests to bungalows with barely any air conditioning, and if it is that bad, I am sure they will move the guests anywhere they'd like and compensate according.

Good for Disney to send a courtesy email.

Disney can't win in this case unfortunately. People are going to be mad when they receive that letter or they would be mad when they checked in. I agree with you that it was nice of Disney to give the head's up and I'd be willing to be that if any of the guests ask for additional compensation, Disney will agree. They obviously wouldn't put that in writing though.

 

[rob0519]

Based on what I've heard, all areas of the bungalows have fully functional air conditioning, it's just not as powerful as the resort would like. They've added the extra unit in the master bedroom to help, which it does. From what I've heard, this has more or less temporarily fixed the issue, but it can get a little noisy at times. I'm sure when these were designed, they had planned for the AC units to be sufficient for what was needed, and being that this is the first harsh Florida summer that the bungalows have been around, they're learning that in some cases they may not be. This isn't a major engineering issue, it's an engineering adjustment, which they obviously have already done. Because the solution is temporary, that implies that they have a permanent fix in the works, which, if done right, will take time.

It's the first harsh Florida summer that the bungalows have been around? Sorry, not a good excuse in my book. When engineering a project it's common practice to look at some type of historical documentation and determine, within reason, what would be the most extreme situation under which a unit (such as air conditioning, heating, electrical, etc.) would need to perform.

This is not the first harsh summer in Florida history. Imagine paying a million plus dollars for a custom built home in Golden Oaks and experiencing the same problem. Would you expect "Sorry, this is the first harsh summer since you moved into your home we'll put in a few window or portable units until we can figure this out" as an excuse from the contractor? I think not.

Temporary could mean anything from a few days to several months depending on any number of factors. Anyway you look at it, it's an embarrassment to the resort management.

 

[DManRightHere]

Sorry, but not good for Disney. "We have added temporary air conditioning units to the master bedrooms". To me that implies the other areas, such as the living room, bathroom etc. may intermittently have NO air conditioning.

This is a major engineering issue on units that are barely a year old on some of their absolutely highest accommodations. Warning people who have paid over $10k a week and waited who knows how long to stay in a bungalow is the least they can do.

That is still jumping to the worst possible scenario.

I just don't see Disney sending guests to premium accomodations with barely any AC. I have also never experienced Disney being stingy when it comes to accomodations or food issues.

 

[rob0519]

That is still jumping to the worst possible scenario.

I just don't see Disney sending guests to premium accomodations with barely any AC. I have also never experienced Disney being stingy when it comes to accomodations or food issues.

These bungalows are booked by some of Disney's biggest spenders. They would not send out a notification if everything was completely up to standards using their "temporary" solution. They must be expecting or getting serious complaints to put out a warning.

I agree with you on service regarding accommodations. I have never experienced anything but the staff at a Deluxe resort bending over backwards to take as good a care of us as possible, many times exceeding my expectations. No doubt Disney will make every effort to relocate and / or compensate these customers. Fortunately schools are back in session so finding alternative Deluxe accommodations will be a bit easier than it would have been in June or July.

 

[daisyduckie]

It's the first harsh Florida summer that the bungalows have been around? Sorry, not a good excuse in my book. When engineering a project it's common practice to look at some type of historical documentation and determine, within reason, what would be the most extreme situation under which a unit (such as air conditioning, heating, electrical, etc.) would need to perform.

This is not the first harsh summer in Florida history. Imagine paying a million plus dollars for a custom built home in Golden Oaks and experiencing the same problem. Would you expect "Sorry, this is the first harsh summer since you moved into your home we'll put in a few window or portable units until we can figure this out" as an excuse from the contractor? I think not.

Temporary could mean anything from a few days to several months depending on any number of factors. Anyway you look at it, it's an embarrassment to the resort management.

This is the first summer Disney has had bungalows on a beach , so it is within the realm of possibility they underestimated how hot they would get. Even if they did look at historical documentation, and who is to say they didn't? And it isn't like the air conditioning isn't functioning, sheesh. They are letting guests know they have added additional units until they can fix the problem and make the standard air conditioning cool as much as they want it too.

 

[rob0519]

This is the first summer Disney has had bungalows on a beach , so it is within the realm of possibility they underestimated how hot they would get. Even if they did look at historical documentation, and who is to say they didn't? And it isn't like the air conditioning isn't functioning, sheesh. They are letting guests know they have added additional units until they can fix the problem and make the standard air conditioning cool as much as they want it too.

We've been to Disney approximately 30 times, mostly in Deluxe resorts, so I'm certainly no Disney basher for the amount of money we continue to spend there. However, from an purely operational perspective, for over $2,000 a night there are no good excuses for underestimating the air conditioning requirement, if that is indeed the problem or purchasing units that are failing within the first year. It's just totally uncharacteristic for this company. Does anyone here have first hand experience with how well or how poorly the AC is functioning?

 

[Slowjack]

I wouldn't be surprised if the problem is trying to be as energy-efficient as possible. In the past, most A/C installs would be somewhat overbuilt to be safe, but the most efficient A/C is one that is basically just powerful enough to keep things cool on the hottest days by running constantly. But trying that leaves you no margin for error.

 

[daisyduckie]

We've been to Disney approximately 30 times, mostly in Deluxe resorts, so I'm certainly no Disney basher for the amount of money we continue to spend there. However, from an purely operational perspective, for over $2,000 a night there are no good excuses for underestimating the air conditioning requirement, if that is indeed the problem or purchasing units that are failing within the first year. It's just totally uncharacteristic for this company. Does anyone here have first hand experience with how well or how poorly the AC is functioning?

The only excuse they need is that the company is run by humans who some times screw up. There is not a single one of us who hasn't screwed up on the job at some point.