Wdw Beachclub- what has gone wrong with Disney??

[Groupsure]

Our 11th stay in Wdw from the Uk, but something has changed. Stone Harbour club level at the Beach Club..poor selections in the lounge, repetitive and a drinks machine out of order for 3 days! Magic bands that keep refusing us to charge to our room despite us changing charge cards. We have given up on this now. Today, a 35 minute wait for a bus from the hotel to Animal Kingdom with our 86 year old mother in a wheelchair. The Disney magic has left WDW it appears. All in all, we are disappointed. Somehow the USA has lost its edge...can you believe i was just quotec $400 for a midsize rental for 3 days!
It appears that the old magic is fading??

 

[mhaftman7]

The best advice is to just chalk it up to a bad day. They happen every now and then. Leave yesterday in the past. Always have hope for the future. Make the most of the moment. Each new day is a gift. That's why they call it the present.

 

[jpittore1]

Wow, sorry. Please see the general manager to see if he/she can bring back the magic. Be calm and explain and they will help

 

[worldfanatic]

"USA has lost it's edge."

Not sure that comment was necessary.

I actually just returned from your side of the pond.
I was served some cold eggs for breakfast, had to wait too long for a train, and had a lightbulb burn out in my hotel room.

Guess the UK has lost it's edge, huh?

 

[Groupsure]

"USA has lost it's edge."

Not sure that comment was necessary.

I actually just returned from your side of the pond.
I was served some cold eggs for breakfast, had to wait too long for a train, and had a lightbulb burn out in my hotel room.

Guess the UK has lost it's edge, huh?

You miss my point...the comment was meant in a complimentary manner otherwise why would we have returned 11 times over 4,000 miles?

Our experience has not improved since we made that post earlier today. At the Beach club bus stop we attempted to make it into Downtown Disney this evening. There we got talking to two lovely Bostonians who were in motorised chairs and were furious having already waited 40 mins for a bus with no luck. They had missed their dinner reservation as a result. They told us they regualry made 2 trips to WDW each year, but now they were considering not ever returning.
So you see, its not just us feeling let down...and not just us being 'moaning limies'

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I assume by drink machines you mean the refill stations in Beach Club Marketplace? They have not worked properly for years. I don't know why. We are DVC members who own at BCV, and every year there is a problem with the drink machines. If you have a problem, say something. They'll give you bottled drinks. The refill stations at Hurricane Hanna's and Beaches and Creme, as far as I know, do not have this issue. And the issue with the ones in Marketplace is pretty isolated. They really need to replace that machine completely.

At the Beach club bus stop we attempted to make it into Downtown Disney this evening. There we got talking to two lovely Bostonians who were in motorised chairs and were furious having already waited 40 mins for a bus with no luck. They had missed their dinner reservation as a result.

That kind of stuff does happen. You should allow at least 1 1/2 hours before your reservation for travel time, preferably two hours, unless you can walk or take the monorail, which tends to run regularly (as a side note, Disney will let you in up to 15 minutes after your reservation time, even later if you got caught in a storm or something, but DON'T PUSH IT!). I would think that a couple who has been, say, 20+ times, would know this. And it doesn't happen all the time; last trip in January I waited less than 20 minutes for the buses every time. But it does happen. If you really need to be someplace in a hurry, the resort has cabs.

Today, a 35 minute wait for a bus from the hotel to Animal Kingdom with our 86 year old mother in a wheelchair.

Again, that kind of stuff happens. You need to plan for that.

can you believe i was just quotec $400 for a midsize rental for 3 days!

I assume you mean a rental car, right? If so, yes. That's not Disney's fault. Rental cars in the US are expensive. Your quote sounds a bit high, but there's a high demand, so it makes sense.

I'm sorry about your MB experience. It's a very new system, and there are still bugs in the system. I went and had no trouble with them. My parents went two weeks later and had no trouble. Unfortunately, bad stuff happens. It happened with the old system too; I had problems with it at the world and beyond. My first trip to Aulani I had five different room keys.

I'm sorry about what's going on, but your complaints seemed to be centered around a string of bad luck. I hope the rest of the trip goes better.

 

[daisyduckie]

I've read before that when you ask someone waiting for a bus how long they have been there, they always say much longer that actual time. It is perception, it always seems to take forever when you are waiting. So I would take the time given to you by that waiting couple with a grain of salt.

Also, I agree that as someone who has gone to Disney so many times, you should be well aware Disney tells you to allow 90 minutes to make it to any ADR using their buses. And for someone with your challenges it would be wise to allow more than that. Especially going to DTD, which seems to have the worse bus system at WDW.

I truly hope you can try and put yesterday's frustrations behind you, and have a better day today.

 

[Groupsure]

Hi Star Wars ... I dont mean the refill stations. On club level there is a machine which makes the coffees and other drinks. The machine is still out of order here now since Friday and listening to fellow club level guests they are not very happy about that.

I think that couple were making the point to us that in the past the transportation was reliable and quick but that the service has detiorated. That is our experience this time around (not before), we always gave glowing references to the folks on transportation before. Incidentally, i got told by a cast member that buses would have been diverted to cope with the demand to MK yesterday...so there's the reason for the extreme delays elsewhere. So tough on any guests not heading to MK it seems. We ended up hiring a private driver who was exemplary..friendly, informative and a total contrast to the Mears endorsed cab Disney approve which we used last thursday. (And even a couple of bucks cheaper..you cant beat healthy competition) ;-)

I appreciate your kind comments. Of course bad luck happens on any vacation, we expect that but sadly this time around it seems service levels have declined. I havent listed all the othef problems we have had with magic bands and reservations because i will just sound like the most miserable unbearable Brit in the World!

Rest assured, we are Disney nuts, but this is the first time i have ever questioned the value and delivery of a vaction here compared to other providers.

 

[Groupsure]

I've read before that when you ask someone waiting for a bus how long they have been there, they always say much longer that actual time. It is perception, it always seems to take forever when you are waiting. So I would take the time given to you by that waiting couple with a grain of salt.

Also, I agree that as someone who has gone to Disney so many times, you should be well aware Disney tells you to allow 90 minutes to make it to any ADR using their buses. And for someone with your challenges it would be wise to allow more than that. Especially going to DTD, which seems to have the worse bus system at WDW.

I truly hope you can try and put yesterday's frustrations behind you, and have a better day today.[/QUOT

Hi Daisy, thank you. We actually did time our waits to the minute, and it would appear the Boston couple did also. As i stated in another reply, we got the answer from a cast member...buses were diverted to serve MK, so it was just tough on the rest of us that day.

 

[Glasgow]

There is no doubt that some services have declined in quality at WDW - how could they not? They set the bar very high and have had a difficult time keeping that high level of quality that they've always been noted for. You never used to hear "Experiences may vary" associated with anything at a Disney resort, because it was consistently great. It seems that pennies are being pinched everywhere to squeak out every last bit of profit.

Having said that, the resort has been going through a lot of changes and some level of leniency may be required., particularly with MyMagic+. The buses, conversely, have always been a hit or miss proposition. How you deal with it is up to you of course but I'd definitely register a complaint if it has adversely affected your holiday.

We feel that the core values of delivering a quality vacation that you can not experience anywhere else are still there, but its a bit more rough around the edges these days. Proactive feedback to the powers that be along with choosing to spend your money elsewhere are the most effective tools at your disposal and I encourage you to use them. Last year we visited UNI instead for 4 days and that was our way of sending Disney the message. The cost/value proposition no longer warrants us to visit every year now, so they're going to have to do better to get our yearly disposal income.

Hope your experience improves!

 

[Groupsure]

Hey Glasgow, many thanks for a balanced, well reasoned response to my concerns/observations about Wdw Beach club and in general. Your remark "proactive feedback to the powers that be along with choosing to spend your money elsewhere are the most effective tools at your disposal " are totally accurate and pertinent to our experiences this time around.
I agree with your statement "the cost/value proposition no longer warrants a visit every year" - this was my point entirely...compared to the competition the quality (here at Stone Harbour Club ) falls way below the competition. Even the Hilton concierge at the airport en-route here knocked spors off of what is being offered to us here catering wise at Stone Harbour both in quality, diversity and choice.
In balance, our tranportation experience to MK was much better than previously encountered..reflecting the Disney we have known in the past.
An observation was made earlier in the thread about it not being Disney's fault about a $100 a day retal quote to us from a Disney approved operator...in fact the monopoly situation encourages the price hike to guests..simple economics. So like you say, we choose to put our income with an external, private operator and Diz gets a rep back home for rip off car hire. Who's fault is that? Not ours.

Like you, we tried for the first time ever Uni concuerge last year..im sorry Disney but they have stolen the lead in that department...we So wish it was the other way round.

Many thanks for the kibd responses, we hope that someone in Disney is looking in and taking notes ;-)

 

[wdwmagic]

Our 11th stay in Wdw from the Uk, but something has changed. Stone Harbour club level at the Beach Club..poor selections in the lounge, repetitive and a drinks machine out of order for 3 days! Magic bands that keep refusing us to charge to our room despite us changing charge cards. We have given up on this now. Today, a 35 minute wait for a bus from the hotel to Animal Kingdom with our 86 year old mother in a wheelchair. The Disney magic has left WDW it appears. All in all, we are disappointed. Somehow the USA has lost its edge...can you believe i was just quotec $400 for a midsize rental for 3 days!
It appears that the old magic is fading??

Where are you trying to do the car rental from? There can be huge variations on that, and you need to shop around to get a sensible price. Try Alamo at the Dolphin Resort. $40 per day should get you a mid size.

 

[Groupsure]

Where are you trying to do the car rental from? There can be huge variations on that, and you need to shop around to get a sensible price. Try Alamo at the Dolphin Resort. $40 per day should get you a mid size.

That's exactly where the quote came from, $392 for a four day rental and i was told this was a 'compact' price for a midsize rental...i am no fool...walked away.

 

[wdwmagic]

That's exactly where the quote came from, $392 for a four day rental and i was told this was a 'compact' price for a midsize rental...i am no fool...walked away.

Do it online, it will be $40 per day. You can still pickup the car there.

 

[wdwmagic]

Just checked on Alamo.com. They want $46 per day for pickup at the dolphin.

 

[Groupsure]

Curious isnt it? I checked online too after i was quoted because i was stunned by the quote at the desk. I saw the same rate as you see..so...it would appear it was an attempt to rip us off maybe??? Hmmm
( many thanks for the kind tip moderator)

 

[wdwmagic]

Curious isnt it? I checked online too after i was quoted because i was stunned by the quote at the desk. I saw the same rate as you see..so...it would appear it was an attempt to rip us off maybe??? Hmmm
( many thanks for the kind tip moderator)

Sadly it is standard practice at most car rental locations. A similar thing happens if you show up at a hotel front desk without a reservation.

Another plus of doing it online is that you can complete the rental much faster than doing it at the desk, and you get less pressure of an upsale into a higher category of car.

Hope things get better for your trip!

 

[Violiav]

@daisyduckie that's not unlike being placed on hold. I'm a receptionist, and my phone beeps at me if someone's been on hold for about a minute. The person on hold will often say five minutes even if that's clearly not the case.

 

[jlsHouston]

I pay 10 bucks a day often time for car rentals, intermediate size. I go to carrentals.com

 

[jlsHouston]

In general, when I pay a premium price to stay at a resort, I expect the services available to be in working order. So I don't really think whether I am at Disney or Atlantis or wherever, that I should be inconvenienced, uncomfortable or have to do the accommodating. I am paying to be accommodated and catered to. So I speak up. Sometimes I do it nicely and sometimes not so nice, but it's not on me to cut a resort operator slack, it's on the operator to make sure I am a happy guest.