New high-tech guest laundry machines rolled out at Walt Disney World Resort hotels

[zappomatic]

If you're a typical British visitor staying for two weeks it's pretty hard to pack two weeks worth of clothes in your luggage! It's great to be able to throw everything in and then spend some downtime by the pool or at the bar. On my last trip I had a couple of hours to wait at the resort for the Magical Express so took the opportunity to avoid having to do laundry when I got home.

 

[Lord_Vader]

So do you need an AWR 180 days out for these?

Seriously! Don't people have better things to-do on vacation than laundry?

When you visit for 14+ days you need to do laundry unless you carry a lot of extra clothes than really necessary.

We always do laundry in the middle and the morning we leave so we don't have as many loads when we get home.

 

[Missymoe4]

I try not to do laundry on vacation, but this is just cool.

I believe POFQ had these in November when I did laundry. I don't recall the notifications, but I thought the credit card and different choices was really nice.

 

[LAM378]

I've been the chief laundry-doer for my family of 8 this past week and the new system is pretty cool. I'd rather use my credit card than mess around with change and machines that keep spitting my dollar bills back out at me.

The machine availability feature is cool but not 100% accurate--at both AoA and BC, I've used 3 machines at a time but only 2 would show up on the website as being in use. Didn't matter to me because the laundry rooms have been dead, but I wouldn't rely on this feature during busier times.

I'm happy that it's forced Y&BC to upgrade their washers and dryers--last August almost all of the machines were very old and/or broken down, and I had to run my clothes through the busted dryers 2 times to get them dry.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

The item that I find most interesting is the link in each laundry room to view the usage statistics. It takes the previous 14 days' worth of usage and shows you when demand is higher and lower for that specific laundry room. Over time it could give you a better idea of when to plan to do your laundry to find available machines.

-Rob

Just give the folks at Touring Plans a chance to review that data and they will build it into their itineraries.

- Be at Park entrance 45 minutes before park opening
- At rope drop, push over as many people as possible while sprinting to SM.
- Change mind about SM and go ride 7DMT instead.
- Head back to resort and wash delicates. If wait time at IASM was greater than 20 minutes, do your white wash instead.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

Seriously, I think this is cool. I am a laundry guy while on vacation (11-14 night trips) and we take a day off from the parks to chill and do stuff like this. Not having to wonder if it's time to go back. Plus I am a little tech-geeky so this whole monitoring system is cool. Wish I had this when I was in college.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Used the new system last week at Art of Animation at the Cozy Cone location. It was great being able to check on the laundry app how much time was left for the washer and dryer and also know there was availability at the facility. I think that not having to carry coins and knowing machines are available are the great perk to the new system. You can have the app send you a text when the machines are done as well.

 

[parkhopper1213]

http://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/wal...ed-out-at-walt-disney-world-resort-hotels.htm

We always pack 1/2 of what we need so we only have to pay for 1 suitcase and do laundry 1 night. We meet the nicest people at the laundry. Not a big fan of the new system. At All Star Sports, front desk didn't know what to do. These machines are managed by a 3rd party contractor. The laundry only has 2 machines that take coins now and they are usually full. We later learned there was another on site laundry.

 

[Disney4family]

Enjoy! I'm glad this improves your vacation. I will not be in your way taking up machines. I am on vacation. I deserve a break as much as others in my family. We've stayed 15 days, 12 days, 10 days - every number you can think of. I will not do laundry while my family relaxes. Everyone of us has Mickey undies, socks and t-shirts from previous trips. It works for us and gives me a break from this part of reality. My life is filled with "have to(s)". WDW is my break from that. It's a place where I can just "be". I don't mind doing it at home as I get back into reality (counting down the days to our next trip).

 

[LindsaySue2]

My daughter has a system like this at university. It's actually very practical. People forget laundry all the time and to prevent the clothes and the machines from getting moldy from neglect, or to prevent fights from breaking out over a tied up machine, this reminder that your laundry is done has really helped people out. I imagine people get forgetful on vacation too so I am all for this update.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

Had this when I lived at the university I went to. Was useful then since I never felt like walking to the laundry until I knew it was done (either too lazy or watching Downton Abbey). Guess this is kind of nice, but I don't know if there's ever a big lineup at the laundry machines at WDW like there were at school.

 

[LAKid53]

I'd still end up doing the sorting, washing, drying, folding, hanging up, putting away, etc. Now if Disney would offer that service at the same price, I'd be excited. I normally stay in a 1 bedroom and up DVC villa, so I have my own washer & dryer. But if Mousekeeping wanted to, for a very nice tip, do all of our laundry while we are running around in the parks, that would make my day. Good luck doing my daughter's laundry, though....