Refrigerators being temporarily removed from all rooms

[flynnibus]

I do not know why they are being pulled, but I am relieved they are. They were a hazard to the guest that used them.

How many times have you checked in to find the fridge in your room was either off or the temp was so warm it might as well have been? For me, it was every time. I understand the need to defrost, and I want to be a good steward of resources, planet and money, as well. But if you are going to go the route of having mousekeeping cut them down, you better have a unit that can crank it back up in a hurry. These units simply did not do that. Everyone I have had took the better part of 24 hours before they could cool down something as conductive as a metal can. Standard safe food handling practices dictate that food products that require refridgeration should not be held above 41 degrees F for more than four hours. These units could not do that they way they were being operated. I hope any new units will.

You might just not be used to the style of fridges that are common now. I don't know the 'real' name for them, but they are chillers - they don't cool as cold as your full size fridge at home. This is by design. They get cold enough to bring drinks down, and other things, but they don't have the cooling capacity or temperature delta you are accustomed to. Something larger takes more time to bring down in temp, etc.

I presume that style is more energy efficent.. but is common in most hotels I find as I travel the world.

 

[tikiman]

Someone called the Polynesian Island Planning Office and they said the Polynesian is not affected. This may or may not be true. It could either be that IPO was not told yet or it could be that the new renovations addressed the problem.
When the refrigerators first went into the rooms during the Polynesian’s 2005 redesign they had problems heating up the cabinets they were installed in. There was no place for the heat to go. During this current renovation one of the things listed in the redesign along with replacing the wiring, plumbing and HVAC was an action item to vent the refrigerator. This may be what they are planning for the other resorts and that means the Polynesian is done and the others will take a while (longer than just swapping out refrigerators). Also for those who find that the new refrigerators are not getting cold, the adjustment is on the back side of the refrigerator so you need to pull it out to get to the control to turn it down.

 

[flynnibus]

I remember back in the day when I was a kid and they didn't have mini fridges in most hotel rooms as standard. You had to use the tiny ice bucket and a cooler to chill your in-room refreshments or walk down the corridor to the vending machines.

Forget back in the day... fridges being added to all the value resorts is a recent addition at Disney! zOMG.. we can't survive like we did just 2 years ago!

 

[flynnibus]

But on the WDW as a whole.. this is a big deal. Not for guest comfort.. but wow.. talk about scale and cost. Somebody or some company is going to be bleeding badly from this issue.

It's gotta be a safety recall for Disney to disable them property wide at once.. instead of doing a rolling swap out.

 

[flynnibus]

Ok, check out this story.. related to @MaxsDad comments.

A TV station report into thermoelectric refrigerators vs traditional compressor based systems and how they can't achieve a temperature delta when ambient temp is high.

http://www.wusa9.com/investigation/article/245812/455/WUSA9-Probe-Compact-Fridges-At-Dangerous-Temps

 

[rob0519]

I intend, before I allow them to charge my card for the room, to ask:

1. Real water view, and not make believe (pool, etc), and
2. Working refrigerator in the room.

This is a deal breaker...

Unless you have a medical reason, why is the absence of a refrigerator a deal breaker? Buy a $10.00 cooler at Wal-Mart and fill it up with ice from the ice machine at the resort.

 

[rob0519]

well this really stinks. We are arriving in a 11 days for a two week stay. With late night park hours and food court/drink stations closed at midnight we were counting on the fridge in our room for drinks in our room at POR.

Paper cups + Ice = Cold drinks in your room.

 

[flynnibus]

I wonder if Disney's green initiatives on how they are managing the Thermostats in rooms is causing problems with using thermoelectric mini-fridges....

 

[rob0519]

Especially this time of year when the production of dorm room size fridges should be at its peak!

Um...no. Production peak for dorm room sized refrigerators was several months ago needing time to allow for shipping (from China) of course, to make their way through the supply chain to the warehouses and stores.

This is peak sales time. The deluxe resorts alone would need approximately 9,000 refirgerators delivered, swapped out and installed.

 

[Master Yoda]

I wonder if Disney's green initiatives on how they are managing the Thermostats in rooms is causing problems with using thermoelectric mini-fridges....

That and having them in an enclosed cabinet can not be helping matters.

 

[DisneyJoe]

It's gotta be a safety recall for Disney to disable them property wide at once.. instead of doing a rolling swap out.

It must be - from ongoing comments on the TA site:

Disney: "Refrigerator removal has already begun and will take several days to complete."

from a TA: "So they are removing ALL of them, then slowly replacing them through out all the resorts instead of just swapping the old out for a new at the same time?"

Disney: "Yes, because of the potential defect in the current fridges they are all being removed now and will be replaced at a later date. Because there is such a large number of refrigerators needed, this replacement will take some time."

A schedule will be given once they can.

A TA was concerned that their clients fridge would be removed while they are on their trip, and what would they do with their food?
Disney: "To minimize Guest inconvenience, refrigerators will only be removed from unoccupied rooms. So, the fridge in your Client's room will not be removed until after they check out."

 

[jkl2000]

Unless you have a medical reason, why is the absence of a refrigerator a deal breaker? Buy a $10.00 cooler at Wal-Mart and fill it up with ice from the ice machine at the resort.

Good suggestion, although for those of us whithout a car it's still a pain. It will be for a lot of parents of small children too. Teething rings, bottles, etc. - there's a lot of stuff that you might need to keep chilled. As long as there are ice machines we'll get by. There ARE ice machines, right? At POFQ? Or are they only at the food court?

 

[flynnibus]

That and having them in an enclosed cabinet can not be helping matters.

It's the standard configuration I see everywhere.. but I can't say I stay in the tropics all that often. I wonder if Disney got bothered (even lawsuit??) by news about these fridge styles and decided to take immediate action.

I'm actually swaying more to what @MaxsDad said - I bet Disney is facing some liability here.

I'd be suprised if all the mini-fridges were the same make/model.. which would make it difficult for a single recall to impact all the locations. Maybe they streamlined it over the years.. but talk about moons needing to align.. I'll put on my tin hat and say they are worried about thermoelectric fridge safety.

Now whose going to get us the real dirt.. @WDW1974 put your powers to good use and dig into this.

 

[jenluvswdw]

Please see earlier posts - the fridges at DVC properties are not affected.

Oops thanks!

 

[dixiegirl]

Oops thanks!

But i think its the ones in the 1 or 2 bedrooms and grand villa thats not affected,not sure about a studio,we'll be leaving for SSR in 4 weeks with an order for Garden Grocer.....

 

[Alison1975]

I remember back in the day when I was a kid and they didn't have mini fridges in most hotel rooms as standard. You had to use the tiny ice bucket and a cooler to chill your in-room refreshments or walk down the corridor to the vending machines.

We always just used the double sink..one as a sink one as a cooler..lol.. no fridges in 2011 had them in 2012 and they barely worked anyway

 

[littleroo]

We always just used the double sink..one as a sink one as a cooler..lol.. no fridges in 2011 had them in 2012 and they barely worked anyway

Good idea! I am only concerned bc my one year old consumes milk by the gallon. Oh well, hopefully when we are there in 5 weeks the problem will be remedied.

 

[nepalostparks]

But i think its the ones in the 1 or 2 bedrooms and grand villa thats not affected,not sure about a studio,we'll be leaving for SSR in 4 weeks with an order for Garden Grocer.....

All DVC units are unaffected by this issue, including studio, 1, 2 and 3 BR units.

 

[G00fyDad]

Are these "real" mini fridges or are they the useless "fan cooled" fridges? (http://www.automation-drive.com/EX/05-13-01/small_refrigerator.jpg)
I hate these things. They never get cold enough. However, I have never had a problem with a real mini fridge getting cold enough.

 

[nepalostparks]

Someone called the Polynesian Island Planning Office and they said the Polynesian is not affected. This may or may not be true. It could either be that IPO was not told yet or it could be that the new renovations addressed the problem.

All standard size mini-fridges, including those at Poly, are affected and being removed.