Trip Report The Day is Hot and Full of Beers *Completed

Winter is not coming (yet), but Summer is here! Lets get right to it!!! This is a TR with my Mother and I at WDW in August. For anyone who did not read my PTR, we planned on 4 days at Bay Lake Tower. My Father was in the original plan but had to stay home for work. My mother ( @luvinthemajik ) was rushed to the hospital for heart problems just days before we were scheduled to leave. She spent two days there and it was bit tense waiting for the test results, but the Dr cleared her for travel as long as she did not drink wine (which she LOVES, especially at WDW) and she had to take it VERY slow since it would be hot.

After my Mom was released and had a few days home to rest,we definitely needed a couple days at WDW to unwind and take it slow. She was also ordered not to drive so I would be manning the wheel. We decided to take her Mini Cooper which is turbo charged and convertible (rain drop). I drove to my parents house at 5 am to pick up Mom and we hit the road!

On our last trip, my parents picked me up and had concerns that I would not be awake at 5 am when they arrived. As you know from my last TR, I was up and ready. I figured I would not have to give my parents the "you better be awake" speech for this trip. I called Mom as I pulled in their subdivision. She was asleep!!! hahahahahaha!!! I was ready to read her the riot act, but then I remembered that it wouldnt be wise to get her heart rate up. Dad woke up and we had her stuff loaded in he car within a few minutes and we hit he road.

Smooth sailing to Florida. We stopped for fuel and that when I realized I Forgot my pith helmet. The gas station had some unique hats, but it didnt feel right.

Some Illuminati one eyed symbolism, lol. Grabbed a quick selfie with Mom and we were back on the road

We were in Florida a few hours later and I realized I had a check in my pocket that a client had written to me. I meant to give my dad to deposit for me but in all the haste of loading the car, I forgot (shocker). We pulled of in the city of Windermere, Fla so I could deposit it. Such a beautiful town to drive through. We left the bank and Mom wanted to go topless!! Of course Im talking about dropping the top on the car....stop with your dirty thoughts, thats my Mom!!!!!

Such a fun car to drive. It hauls serious a$$ with the turbo. I made a quick pit stop for beer near Downtown Disney and soon we were on property!

Mom took the pic of the Disney sign since I was driving. We arrived at BLT and gave the bags to bell hop. She has a handicap plate so I got an excellent parking spot. It was around 130 pm and to my surprise, the room was ready! We headed straight up to unload the bags since we had a 2:25 ADR at BoG.

As @lostpro9het had told me, the lobby smell is AMAZING. Almost as good as YC (IMO). Our room was on the 12th floor. Here is a view from exiting the elevator

That view could never get old!

We had lake view for our room but could still the main building

Mom had decided to get a scooter since walking in the heat would be tiresome. As @fractal mentioned in his current TR, you really get a better understanding of scooters when you visit with someone who needs a scooter. I have a COMPLETELY different and tolerant view of "scooter folk" now.

Up next...waiting on Moms scooter and a completely horrible experience with concierge desk at BLT. Thanks for following along!

@DisneyDogMom57

 

[fractal]

 

[LeighM]

Following

 

[Figaro Family]

I followed your mom's trip report with the grand kids and enjoyed reading your last family trip report. Your family sounds like so much fun! Best wishes of good health and full recovery for luvinthemajik!

 

[MinnieM123]

Can't wait to hear more! By the way, I like her mini-Cooper, and the white goes with the color of the Contemporary--you both arrived in style!

 

[wdisney9000]

Day one cntd...


We got the bags in the room and I stored my supplies.

we headed down to the lobby to get moms scooter and head to BoG. The scooter was not there so mom phoned the company and they let her know it was at the main lobby in Contemporary. Mom already has a hip injury (hence the handicap license plate) and with her heart condition she really isnt able to walk to quickly. She headed over to get the scooter and I spoke with the concierge about us possibly being a few minutes late to BoG and what we should do.

There were three concierges at the desk. The one who helped me said he could call BoG and let them know. While he did that, the other two concierges (a man and a woman) were having a completely inappropriate conversation that I couldnt help but hear because they were standing three feet across the desk. They were discussing what offends them as gay people. Now listen, I dont care about a persons sexual orientation. Its none of my business. I would be just as offended if people were talking about what offends them as a straight person. That type of conversation is not suitable for ANY hotel concierge staff to be having in front of a customer. The concierge who was helping me hung up the phone and told me he couldnt reach BoG because the number he had wasnt going to the restaurant. He stared at me blankly as if we were finished. I asked, "what are you going to do then?" He said there wasnt much else he could do (great "concierge" work buddy!) One of the other concierges (the man) took a pause from their conversation to tell me that we would just have to wait for the other people who arrived before us then we could get seated. He went right back to chatting with the girl. I asked the man helping me if he could possibly make a note in the system just in case. He said, "sure, lets try that". At this point I am thinking to myself, why do I have to make that suggestion? Shouldnt he know these things? What type of training do they get? He tells me he made a note in the system. I meet Mom and we head to MK. Mom was hot wheeling it in the scooter and not waiting for me at all. Yai Yai would be proud!

We arrive at BoG at appx 2:40 (15 min late). As we approach, the CM tells us they are closed until dinner. I explain what happened and she asks another CM to get a supervisor. 5 minutes later, the supervisor emerges to tell us they are closed. Thanks for the update Captain Obvious! I explained we had a 2:25 ADR and the concierge at BLT had made a note. She said it wouldnt matter as they dont let anyone in past 2:30. I asked her why any of three concierges wouldnt know that and/or notify us of this rule. She ha no idea (cant blame her for that, it wasnt her fault). She kindly offered us a dinner reservation or lunch reservation for another day. She had to get a manager to approve it. The manager comes out and as the supervisor tells her we had a 2:25 ADR, the manger immediately interrupts her and looks at me and says, "we are closed until dinner". Now im ed. I told her she was THE THIRD person to tell us this and if she would have let the supervisor finish, we had agreed to a new reservation time since the DISNEY CONCIERGE gave us horrible service and information. She recognized my anger and snarky tone (I was channeling my Mom and @Tuvalu for the snark). She asks me my reservation number. I tell her (in a more snarky tone) that I did not memorize it and she can look it up by my name and ID. She asks me to pull it up on MDE. It It took me a moment to find it as I had to back out of "wait times" on the app and then refresh it. She asks me, "Sir, do you actually have reservation"? It was very clear that she was insinuating that I did not have one. I said, "what"!!!! I found the reservation and put my phone right in her face. I asked if she thought I was lying. She said of course not, in a polite tone. As much as I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, I held my breathe as I knew Id be writing an email to Disney when we got home. She got our reservation in the system. I asked her if there was any "notes" made by the concierge in regards to our original reservation. She looked for a moment and then said no, she saw nothing, lol. Mom and I headed out and decided to eat at Pinnochio Haus (or whatever its called).

Sorry for long story but it was seriously some of the worst service from the concierge desk all the way over to BoG manager. The common denominator with all these CM's was that they were younger (probly less than 30 yrs old.) This would become a common theme for this trip.

We got to Pinochio Haus and we were starving. Mom got the caprese flat bread and I got the chicken parm sandwich. I was not expecting it to be as good it was. I would definitely order it again.

After lunch we headed to Little Mermaid for our first ride!! I got an amazing photo too

Still better tan my sisters "where are we in Disney" pictures, lol.

Next up was HM!

After Mansion, mom had some shows she wanted to check out and I headed back to the room to freshen up a bit and head to AK. I stopped to get some pics along the way.

Space Mtn is looking great with a fresh coat of paint! Well, the half that is painted looks great.

Coming up... Day 1 continued

 

[dclfan]

Omg I am angry just reading about your experience. For the price of a room at the Contemporary they should have given you a private lunch at BOG since everything was their fault. I have definitely noticed a shift in CM's lately. It's not as consistent as it used to be. 10 years ago If that would have happened they would have bent over backwards to accommodate you or at least sprinkle a little pixie dust on the rest of your day.

 

[Tuvalu]

Your BoG story infuriates me and I am glad you went full-on snark.

The incompetence and unprofessionalism of the CR staff was mind boggling. I hope you mentioned them to a manager. From experience I have learned that even concierges do not have "direct numbers" to any restaurant or shop. Always call the main number for Disney dining. The DD CM would have known about the 2:30 pm closure and that latecomers are not accomodated. Then the DS CM could have made sure you were not charged the $10/person no-show fee for missing your ADR and found replacement time for you.

The CR concierge misinformed you about "waiting to be seated" at BoG for lunch. It is not table service at lunch. You place your order at a kiosk and find your own table. Epic fail, concierge. And I can guarantee no "note" was made on your reservation either.

I am sure the supervisors/managers at BoG must deal with lots of guests claiming to have a reservation that don't. However, that is NO EXCUSE for the way you were treated. CMs should still show kindness and civility even if they suspect they are being played. They should have bent over backwards in apologies to you when they saw you DID have an ADR.

I'm still typing this!

 

[Courtney6682]

Drop top!

Such an exciting start...can't wait for more!

 

[riverside]

The attitude and behavior by the CMs that you dealt with is completely unacceptable. Hearing about the managers attitude tells me that is why the CMs felt ok treating you like that. As a manager she should be leading by example and if that is the type of customer service skills she has it is no wonder the rest of the crew acts that way. I am a manager in a retail business(for 25 years) and I have a lot of younger employees & even they wouldn't act like that. I have dealt with many rough situations over the years(most recently I had a customer "moon" me on her way out the door) and I don't even raise my voice or get upset. Anyhow, many times I overhear the employees talking about how calm I am & how well I handle situations. I have 2 goals in this. 1-to get the customer out as happy as I can & not have them disrupt other peoples shopping experience. 2-to teach the employees how to handle situations. Hopefully they will think about this as they get older.

Sorry for the rant. It just made me so angry to read that.

 

[Songbird76]

Day one cntd...
Mom was hot wheeling it in the scooter and not waiting for me at all. Yai Yai would be proud!

So is this the Yia Yia sisterhood?

But seriously, how did their telephone not go through to the restaurant?? And why wouldn't they try again? There's got to be some other way of communicating, especially at Deluxe resorts...that's kind of why it's a Deluxe....you pay extra and in exchange, you get real top notch service. Did you go to guest relations?

 

[fractal]

Day one cntd...


We got the bags in the room and I stored my supplies.
View attachment 226742

we headed down to the lobby to get moms scooter and head to BoG. The scooter was not there so mom phoned the company and they let her know it was at the main lobby in Contemporary. Mom already has a hip injury (hence the handicap license plate) and with her heart condition she really isnt able to walk to quickly. She headed over to get the scooter and I spoke with the concierge about us possibly being a few minutes late to BoG and what we should do.

There were three concierges at the desk. The one who helped me said he could call BoG and let them know. While he did that, the other two concierges (a man and a woman) were having a completely inappropriate conversation that I couldnt help but hear because they were standing three feet across the desk. They were discussing what offends them as gay people. Now listen, I dont care about a persons sexual orientation. Its none of my business. I would be just as offended if people were talking about what offends them as a straight person. That type of conversation is not suitable for ANY hotel concierge staff to be having in front of a customer. The concierge who was helping me hung up the phone and told me he couldnt reach BoG because the number he had wasnt going to the restaurant. He stared at me blankly as if we were finished. I asked, "what are you going to do then?" He said there wasnt much else he could do (great "concierge" work buddy!) One of the other concierges (the man) took a pause from their conversation to tell me that we would just have to wait for the other people who arrived before us then we could get seated. He went right back to chatting with the girl. I asked the man helping me if he could possibly make a note in the system just in case. He said, "sure, lets try that". At this point I am thinking to myself, why do I have to make that suggestion? Shouldnt he know these things? What type of training do they get? He tells me he made a note in the system. I meet Mom and we head to MK. Mom was hot wheeling it in the scooter and not waiting for me at all. Yai Yai would be proud!

View attachment 226743

We arrive at BoG at appx 2:40 (15 min late). As we approach, the CM tells us they are closed until dinner. I explain what happened and she asks another CM to get a supervisor. 5 minutes later, the supervisor emerges to tell us they are closed. Thanks for the update Captain Obvious! I explained we had a 2:25 ADR and the concierge at BLT had made a note. She said it wouldnt matter as they dont let anyone in past 2:30. I asked her why any of three concierges wouldnt know that and/or notify us of this rule. She ha no idea (cant blame her for that, it wasnt her fault). She kindly offered us a dinner reservation or lunch reservation for another day. She had to get a manager to approve it. The manager comes out and as the supervisor tells her we had a 2:25 ADR, the manger immediately interrupts her and looks at me and says, "we are closed until dinner". Now im ****ed. I told her she was THE THIRD person to tell us this and if she would have let the supervisor finish, we had agreed to a new reservation time since the DISNEY CONCIERGE gave us horrible service and information. She recognized my anger and snarky tone (I was channeling my Mom and @Tuvalu for the snark). She asks me my reservation number. I tell her (in a more snarky tone) that I did not memorize it and she can look it up by my name and ID. She asks me to pull it up on MDE. It It took me a moment to find it as I had to back out of "wait times" on the app and then refresh it. She asks me, "Sir, do you actually have reservation"? It was very clear that she was insinuating that I did not have one. I said, "what"!!!! I found the reservation and put my phone right in her face. I asked if she thought I was lying. She said of course not, in a polite tone. As much as I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, I held my breathe as I knew Id be writing an email to Disney when we got home. She got our reservation in the system. I asked her if there was any "notes" made by the concierge in regards to our original reservation. She looked for a moment and then said no, she saw nothing, lol. Mom and I headed out and decided to eat at Pinnochio Haus (or whatever its called).

Sorry for long story but it was seriously some of the worst service from the concierge desk all the way over to BoG manager. The common denominator with all these CM's was that they were younger (probly less than 30 yrs old.) This would become a common theme for this trip.

We got to Pinochio Haus and we were starving. Mom got the caprese flat bread and I got the chicken parm sandwich. I was not expecting it to be as good it was. I would definitely order it again. View attachment 226741

After lunch we headed to Little Mermaid for our first ride!! I got an amazing photo too

View attachment 226745

Still better tan my sisters "where are we in Disney" pictures, lol.

Next up was HM!


View attachment 226744

After Mansion, mom had some shows she wanted to check out and I headed back to the room to freshen up a bit and head to AK. I stopped to get some pics along the way.

View attachment 226748
View attachment 226746

Space Mtn is looking great with a fresh coat of paint! Well, the half that is painted looks great.
View attachment 226747

Coming up... Day 1 continued

Hey, what do you expect for $600/night?

Seriously, that would have p**sed me off too! Very inappropriate to be discussing personal issues in front of guests, plus a good layer of incompetence. Then the bad reaction from BoG? Yes, a letter is more than appropriate.

I don't live too far from Maple Grove raceway. Perhaps I can get them to sanction an ECV drag race between our Moms.

 

[MississippiBelle]

Loving the title! Cannot believe your experience at BoG and concierge!! I would have lost it when she asked if you actually had a reservation. It would have been a full on southern dressing down at its finest. You handled it way better than I would have! Hope the rest of your trip went more smoothly (judging from your Instagram stories, you had fun!) and I hope your mom is alright!

 

[coachwnh]

Wow!!! What a start. Looking forward to more (and I hope it gets better for you).

 

[wdisney9000]

Omg I am angry just reading about your experience. For the price of a room at the Contemporary they should have given you a private lunch at BOG since everything was their fault. I have definitely noticed a shift in CM's lately. It's not as consistent as it used to be. 10 years ago If that would have happened they would have bent over backwards to accommodate you or at least sprinkle a little pixie dust on the rest of your day.

Absolutely agree with you about the past. 10-20 years ago, there service was far superior. As my mother always says, "20 years ago at WDW, you could drop your hat and a CM would pick it up right away".

Your BoG story infuriates me and I am glad you went full-on snark.

The incompetence and unprofessionalism of the CR staff was mind boggling. I hope you mentioned them to a manager. From experience I have learned that even concierges do not have "direct numbers" to any restaurant or shop. Always call the main number for Disney dining. The DD CM would have known about the 2:30 pm closure and that latecomers are not accomodated. Then the DS CM could have made sure you were not charged the $10/person no-show fee for missing your ADR and found replacement time for you.

The CR concierge misinformed you about "waiting to be seated" at BoG for lunch. It is not table service at lunch. You place your order at a kiosk and find your own table. Epic fail, concierge. And I can guarantee no "note" was made on your reservation either.

I am sure the supervisors/managers at BoG must deal with lots of guests claiming to have a reservation that don't. However, that is NO EXCUSE for the way you were treated. CMs should still show kindness and civility even if they suspect they are being played. They should have bent over backwards in apologies to you when they saw you DID have an ADR.

I'm still typing this!

I considered calling the main Disney Dining number but felt it would waste to much time. I will do it in the future as I've lost a bit of faith in the concierge services. I have also had many wonderful experiences with concierge. Mostly when we stay club level. Those are actual concierges that are knowledgeable. And I was not shocked when they told me.there were no notes made in the system. That's when I decided I would be emailing Disney when I got home. I sat there and watched him type on his keyboard for a few minutes. He was probly on Facebook or something and just gave me lip service. Complete waste of time.

Drop top!

Such an exciting start...can't wait for more!

Thanks for following along! There is plenty more excitement. I hope you like pictures of beer.

The attitude and behavior by the CMs that you dealt with is completely unacceptable. Hearing about the managers attitude tells me that is why the CMs felt ok treating you like that. As a manager she should be leading by example and if that is the type of customer service skills she has it is no wonder the rest of the crew acts that way. I am a manager in a retail business(for 25 years) and I have a lot of younger employees & even they wouldn't act like that. I have dealt with many rough situations over the years(most recently I had a customer "moon" me on her way out the door) and I don't even raise my voice or get upset. Anyhow, many times I overhear the employees talking about how calm I am & how well I handle situations. I have 2 goals in this. 1-to get the customer out as happy as I can & not have them disrupt other peoples shopping experience. 2-to teach the employees how to handle situations. Hopefully they will think about this as they get older.

Sorry for the rant. It just made me so angry to read that.

Disney should hire you. They definitely need a manager with your morals.

So is this the Yia Yia sisterhood?

That is LEGENDARY!!!!

Hey, what do you expect for $600/night?

Seriously, that would have p**sed me off too! Very inappropriate to be discussing personal issues in front of guests, plus a good layer of incompetence. Then the bad reaction from BoG? Yes, a letter is more than appropriate.

I don't live too far from Maple Grove raceway. Perhaps I can get them to sanction an ECV drag race between our Moms.

I am definitely sending an email.to corporate. And scooter drag races sounds like a million dollar idea! I would pay and also gamble on that.

Loving the title! Cannot believe your experience at BoG and concierge!! I would have lost it when she asked if you actually had a reservation. It would have been a full on southern dressing down at its finest. You handled it way better than I would have! Hope the rest of your trip went more smoothly (judging from your Instagram stories, you had fun!) and I hope your mom is alright!

I didn't know you were following along via Instagram. What's your IG username?

 

[wdisney9000]

Wow!!! What a start. Looking forward to more (and I hope it gets better for you).

What's up Coach! It was a frustrating experience but nothing that dampened our spirits. And nothing a few beers won't make me forget, hahaha

 

[Figaro Family]

Everyone above has said it better than I could but I can't believe what happened with your ADR at BOG!! Especially accusing you of not actually having an ADR!
This made me remember a breakfast we had at Ohanas on our trip. We had an ADR that somehow was bumped out of their system. The cast member checking us in told me we weren't listed in their system as having an ADR that morning. I started to feel upset as I frantically pulled it up on my disney experience "look! I have a reservation number!" She pulls out a hard copy paper list and scans it. She looks at me baffled "Here you are on the paper list, I really can't explain what happened in the computer system". Unlike what happened to you, this competent young woman took me at my word and made it her mission to fix the problem and we were seated in no time. This is how every cast member should behave, it can't become the exception!

 

[bee]

UGH UGH UGH to all the awful service you received! I worked in customer service when I was 19 and early 20s and would have NEVER treated a customer that way! Glad your Pinocchio lunch was good, though.

 

[MinnieM123]

Prior to my current job, I worked (in an office setting) for a very high-ranking executive, of an international hotel company. @wdisney9000 , let me tell you that the "concierges" at the majority of the WDW deluxe hotels are not concierges, in the true sense of the word. The WDW hotels' club levels staff guest service CMs, and if your requests are easy to navigate, they can handle those. If a request is anything at all challenging, (many, not all) CMs are unable to assist, and I blame the (lack of) training.

You, yourself, know that if you go to an upscale hotel in any major city in the world, concierges are professionals, who work miracles for their guests. And the guest never has to "suggest" a solution--the concierge is already 5 steps ahead of you, with whatever you need.

So I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but in a way, I wasn't surprised either.

 

[coachwnh]

nothing a few beers won't make me forget,

Excellent answer! Cheers