Changes Coming to Housekeeping Services at Walt Disney World

flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Been Seeing various posts about this on Twitter and other sites. Apparently, due to declining service in recent years, Disney is bringing in a third party to help retrain the cleaning staff at each WDW resort. Additional changes will be the hiring of additional personnel, including management positions, to make certain that guest experience is improved in terms of room cleanliness and upkeep.

I have to say that I can agree that room quality has not been consistent, as we always change which resorts we stay in for each visit. Also, the addition of a Four Seasons on property can really highlight what world class guest service can be like, at price points comparable or even slightly less than some of the deluxe resorts on site. We have stayed at the Four Seasons in Orlando and it is breathtaking, and the service is top-notch, along with the quality and cleanliness of the rooms.

I hope that Disney does move to keep their resorts cleaner and their staffs friendlier. For what they charge this shouldn't even be in doubt.
 
George

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
I can't believe you guys are complaining about this. If you all weren't so impoverished and could travel with your own maid like I do, there would be no issue. I also carry a butler, but I'm starting to wonder about the utility of having someone there to greet visitors when I'm a) not at home and b) the entirety of the shared space is one room.
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Lets Respect said:
The optimistic side of me says this is good, they must have gotten enough feedback about housekeeping to make improvements

The other side of me says this is some sort of Housekeeping Optimization Service which is going to end up making everything dirtier.
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Seems like there is an arc with outsourcing...inititially it looks better, then it slowly starts to devolve...By not being hired by WDW direct, the workers will not have the same benefits, will probably be paid less, and ultimately service will decline... I have seen it many many times.
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Bocabear said:
Seems like there is an arc with outsourcing...inititially it looks better, then it slowly starts to devolve...By not being hired by WDW direct, the workers will not have the same benefits, will probably be paid less, and ultimately service will decline... I have seen it many many times.
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The plan (as of now) is not for housekeeping to be outsourced. The cast will still be hired by WDW and have the same benefits and pay as nothing is changing as far as cast go. The third party is coming in purely for training best practices. Again.. As of now.
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
peter11435 said:
The plan (as of now) is not for housekeeping to be outsourced. The cast will still be hired by WDW and have the same benefits and pay as nothing is changing as far as cast go. The third party is coming in purely for training best practices. Again.. As of now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for correcting that typo on my part. The third party will be the group that is re-training the WDW cleaning staff across the site. I believe that this outside agency specializes in this type of work so hopefully this will be seen as a benefit.

I always read on here about a time when the 'Disney Difference' was touted as a selling point for spending your money and staying at resorts inside the bubble. Well, last summer we stayed at Portofino Bay at UNI for part of our trip. I was not impressed with the theming or decor of the resort, but the staff was excellent! We were treated very well when we stayed there.

And kicking it up a notch further, we also stayed at the Four Seasons Orlando last year. The one thing that stood our for me was the bellman that took our luggage to our room. He actually arranged all of our bags for us in the walk-in closet area (it is huge in a standard room). Each piece of luggage was put out flat so that they could be easily unzipped. Our drinks and food we had with us were taken out of the bags/containers they were in and placed in the fridge. He even took out shoes and placed them out on the floor of the walk-in area. All of this without us even asking! What was significant to me about this is that in the Disney deluxe hotels, we leave tips each night for the cleaning staff because it is standard to do so. In the Four Seasons, we left the tips for the staff because we really wanted to for the service that they provided.

I don't know enough about this industry to know if Disney deluxe hotels can ever reach the level that the Four Seasons staff does in terms of cleaning and customer service. I just know, though, that they can do better.
 
Grimley1968

Grimley1968

Well-Known Member
We haven't been staying there as much in the past few years because of price increases, but our housekeeping was usually fine.

But if there has been a drop in quality, backed up customer complaints, then it's hard to see a bad side to them having some "fresh eyes" look at the problem. But I also agree in hoping that this will be accompanied by hiring more staff.
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
I always thought everything at Disney was Disney. So tue
flyerjab said:
Thanks for correcting that typo on my part. The third party will be the group that is re-training the WDW cleaning staff across the site. I believe that this outside agency specializes in this type of work so hopefully this will be seen as a benefit.

I always read on here about a time when the 'Disney Difference' was touted as a selling point for spending your money and staying at resorts inside the bubble. Well, last summer we stayed at Portofino Bay at UNI for part of our trip. I was not impressed with the theming or decor of the resort, but the staff was excellent! We were treated very well when we stayed there.

And kicking it up a notch further, we also stayed at the Four Seasons Orlando last year. The one thing that stood our for me was the bellman that took our luggage to our room. He actually arranged all of our bags for us in the walk-in closet area (it is huge in a standard room). Each piece of luggage was put out flat so that they could be easily unzipped. Our drinks and food we had with us were taken out of the bags/containers they were in and placed in the fridge. He even took out shoes and placed them out on the floor of the walk-in area. All of this without us even asking! What was significant to me about this is that in the Disney deluxe hotels, we leave tips each night for the cleaning staff because it is standard to do so. In the Four Seasons, we left the tips for the staff because we really wanted to for the service that they provided.

I don't know enough about this industry to know if Disney deluxe hotels can ever reach the level that the Four Seasons staff does in terms of cleaning and customer service. I just know, though, that they can do better.
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Luxury or not, i don't want my luggage unpacked for me. Just saying
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
I remember in the 90s,the housekeepers were amazing. I have always stayed at the moderates and value, and during this time, the housekeepers were personable and did a great job in sanitizing the room.

My last stay at sports, i left my room purposefully at 8am hoping my room would be cleaned by 1pm, i got back at 2pm and it was filthy (i use this term loosely). The housekeepers were also mean my last few stays. But that can also be said about many of the check in staff.
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
peter11435 said:
The plan (as of now) is not for housekeeping to be outsourced. The cast will still be hired by WDW and have the same benefits and pay as nothing is changing as far as cast go. The third party is coming in purely for training best practices. Again.. As of now.
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I have a feeling it will be outsourced long term and hired under Disney. What's surprising, i thought Disney was the leader in hospitality? Im confused
 
PeoplemoverTTA

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Glad to hear this. I checked out of POP yesterday and we had really nasty drain flies in our tub. I thought it was odd when the tub was plugged at checkin...I guess the housekeeper thought she could hide them that way? If I had little kids and was giving them baths I would have freaked out. Not that it wasn't disgusting having little dark flies all around the tub. I left a note for housekeeping and nothing was done, so I finally just said something at checkout. The CM was completely disgusted and assured me someone would look at it ASAP. First time I've seen drain flies in a WDW resort!
 
larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
George said:
I can't believe you guys are complaining about this. If you all weren't so impoverished and could travel with your own maid like I do, there would be no issue. I also carry a butler, but I'm starting to wonder about the utility of having someone there to greet visitors when I'm a) not at home and b) the entirety of the shared space is one room.
Click to expand...
And who are you supposedly channeling today...?
 
larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
Bocabear said:
Seems like there is an arc with outsourcing...inititially it looks better, then it slowly starts to devolve...By not being hired by WDW direct, the workers will not have the same benefits, will probably be paid less, and ultimately service will decline... I have seen it many many times.
Click to expand...
When a company outsources a core competency, it's a sure sign it's in a death spiral. Cleaning hotel rooms, when you run a hotel, is definitely a core competency.
 

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