Woman caught smoking at WL...

[JML42691]

...And again I still think the fine is a bit steap for the balcony. $250 for the room and shouldnt be more then $75 for the balcony, though I think $50 bucks would for sure make me think twice about doing it again.

Actually, if she was caught in the room, the fine would have been much worse. She would of had to pay at least $500 to over a $1000 just to have the room cleaned so there was no presence of cigarette smoke. I would not have accepted the room if it smelt like cigarrette smoke. I think the fine could have been even worse than it was, the smoke might have "forced" people to leave their balconies to go back into their rooms.

Yeah, she definitely shouldn't have been fined twice. Like one time, I got pulled over for going 80 MPH in a 25 zone, and I got a ticket. So as soon as I was done being pulled over, I started going 80 MPH again, and the cop had the NERVE to pull me over again. I was like, "what, I already got a ticket!" And he gave me another one!!!! Can you believe it, two tickets for two different offenses?! I thought once you get one speeding ticket, you're like, immune from them for subsequent offenses. ...

I know that you were being sarcastic, but this relates to a video showed in my Driver-Ed class last year. It was produced by the Virginaia state police, and they pulled over a man for doing 100 in a 65 zone. After they pulled him over he left the breakdown lane passing a sign saying Maximum MPH 65, Minimun MPH 45 while he was doing no more than 15. It was quite comical and they got him again for not doing the minimum and then he was arrested.

 

[Hummer1676]

Those cigarettes better have been good, it cost her $250 per cigarette. Thats worse then crack.....

 

[Glasgow]

Whatever happened, it was definitely someone else's fault ...

:hammer:

 

[RedBaron]

I am curious to know if the woman was given a warning first? Maybe she really did not know that you could not smoke on the balcony? I dont smoke but hubby does and he has always gone on the balcony to smoke and I have no idea if we were in a smoking or non smoking room? (I am not speaking of a Disney hotel). I can see charging the room cleaning fee for getting caught smoking in the room, but the balcony?? Not so sure I agree with a room cleaning fee there. And I actually think it is kind of humurous that she told the kid that Mickey took all her money. Also unless she was so angry about the $500 in fines that she planned on not giving Disney another dime, I bet that once she cooled down she bought her kid the toy.

 

[cmatt]

heh - no sympathy - states no smoking therefore tough. You want to light up go to the designated smoking areas, it is a non smoking room after all...

Balcony is part of the room package (well what you pay for) and if i was on another balcony sitting outside enjoying the evening, i wouldnt want second hand smoke as i am trying to relax...

Too sodding right she got charged twice, you would of thought she had learnt her lesson the first time - if she can afford to be flippant about which rules she paid for the room perhaps she can afford a toy?

Harsh, but i dont want my room smelling of smoke - i have stayed in a smoking room before in london. Not nice.

 

[brainpile3000]

That's my point. Disney needs to contact all guests. Making the change effective for guests who already paid in full will probably result in problems for Disney.

You raise a good point. After a person pays in full they are agreeing to a contract. When Disney changed their smoking policy to disallow smoking even on the balconies (effectively changing the contract), was any sort of consideration given to these patrons to make the contract legally binding? Otherwise, I don't see how Disney can *legally* enforce these rules on people who have paid in full before the changes took place.

Gotta love Business Law!

 

[wannabeBelle]

Well a previous poster did say that they were offered to find another hotel to stay at if the non smoking policy was unacceptable to them. I think that if Disney offered to refund their money ( no penalty) and assist in finding suitable accomodations, I think they have already gone above and beyond wheat they would legally be required to do. Im sure that Disney's Legal team has ripped this one apart and determined that they are well within their rights. Belle

 

[lewisc]

Well a previous poster did say that they were offered to find another hotel to stay at if the non smoking policy was unacceptable to them. I think that if Disney offered to refund their money ( no penalty) and assist in finding suitable accomodations, I think they have already gone above and beyond wheat they would legally be required to do. Im sure that Disney's Legal team has ripped this one apart and determined that they are well within their rights. Belle

I suspect Disney may be legally required to honor the reservation, under the terms that were agreed to at the time Disney accepted payment in full. I suspect waiting for the guest to arrive in order to impose new terms is not legal. Telling a guest, at checkin, their paid in full reservation won't be honored unless the guest agrees to additional terms isn't right and probably isn't legal.

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney's Legal team decided having to refund some fees is the cost of implementing the non-smoking policy on short notice.

 

[wannabeBelle]

My ideas were pure speculation. I Am not sure what Disney is doing in these cases as of yet. Im sure it will become common knowledge in a short amount of time though. Belle

 

[Thessair]

I don't have a reserveration confirmation here at work, but isn't there something on there about terms and conditions being subject to change without notice? I'd think that would cover something like this.

 

[brainpile3000]

Lewis took the words right out of my mouth...

 

[mdisney]

not knowing the law is no excuse for the law. Since if someone goes to NY, and does not know no driving while on the phone. So when they get pulled over by a cop they will still get a ticket.

Also after she was fined once she knew not to do it, and she still did it.

Smoke can still get into the room from the balcony and other rooms as well.

 

[lewisc]

I think Disney is doing the right thing banning smoking on the balconies of non-smoking rooms.

I think Disney is probably doing the right thing going to non-smoking resorts. I don't know how many guests, particularly international, require a smoking room. It looks like Disney has determined the number of guests that require a smoking is room is shrinking.

I don't think we'll hear anything. My guess is Disney will just waive the fees. It won't be very long before the arriving guests won't have paid in full before the new policy was implemented. It won't be that long before the guests will know WDW has non-smoking resorts prior to making their reservations.

Strange Disney didn't follow industry standards and make the announcement 6 months or more before the change.

mdisney--This isn't the case of a person breaking a law. This is the case of Disney deciding, unilaterally, to refuse to honor paid in full reservations under the terms that were agreed to.

The "fine" is listed as a "room recovery fee". There isn't any justification for charging that fee more then once.

Edited to say this reads more like an internet rumor/urban legend I'm not saying the OP is making this up but the person they were talking to may be making up or exaggerating the situation.

 

[happymom52003]

That poor little kid. As the mother of two kids who are still young enough to truly believe that Mickey is real, and Santa, and the Easter Bunny, etc...I can't imagine ever saying something like that to them. That breaks my heart .

 

[Thessair]

mdisney--This isn't the case of a person breaking a law. This is the case of Disney deciding, unilaterally, to refuse to honor paid in full reservations under the terms that were agreed to.

It seems a number of people have indicated that a request for a smoking room did not guarantee the guest a smoking room. No one seems to have been promised a smoking room or an area (such as a balcony) to smoke in other than designated areas, either. I fail to see how that statement is correct since there was never a definite agreement to allow the guest to smoke in their rooms or on the balconies of those rooms.

 

[Karolena]

Yeah, whenever we have the crazy candle-and-alcohol parties at school we always seem to get fined too! I guess they are just too wild for anyone's safety! We don't usually end up with holes in the ceilings after the parties, but maybe you party harder!

(Just kidding around, in the dorms at my school we actually have the exact rules--with fines as well. It just seemed funny that fines for candles and alcohol were mentioned together :wave.

That's really funny. :ROFLOL:

I only mentioned the candles, becuase they are related to smoke in some way.

 

[brainpile3000]

It seems a number of people have indicated that a request for a smoking room did not guarantee the guest a smoking room. No one seems to have been promised a smoking room or an area (such as a balcony) to smoke in other than designated areas, either. I fail to see how that statement is correct since there was never a definite agreement to allow the guest to smoke in their rooms or on the balconies of those rooms.

I have been under the understanding that you were previously allowed to smoke on balconies (any balconies except at AKL--perhaps I'm wrong)... If this is the case then lewisc's statement would then be correct.

 

[Karolena]

I DON'T SMOKE but a single parent, who smokes, might have been counting on using a balcony so he/she could smoke without leaving a young child alone in a room.

I've been thinking about this comment for a while.

First, a single parent with a young child who smokes and is all by themselves is probably a rarity.

Second, why not just take the kid to the designated areas? Maybe because they don't want to expose their children to smoke. Well, then why would they be willing to be able to expose other people and their children.

And why not leave the kid in the room for a couple minutes. They would be locked in safe and sound. And a ten or eleven year old is able to stay out of trouble for a few minutes, I know I would have been able to handle it at that age.

But that's just my opinion and I don't have kids or smoke.

 

[Kman101]

Wow. We were at All Star Sports last night and I told my mother that smoking wasn't allowed near the rooms or in them and even showed her the smoking area, but she ended up smoking on the balcony. We weren't fined ... to my knowledge ... lol!

 

[lewisc]

I can't be the only non-smoker who wound up in a room where the previous occupant smoked. Smokers smoking in non-smoking rooms isn't anything new.
The guest, prior to paying in full, didn't agree to pay an additional $250 -$500if they smoked. The charge is represented as a "room recovery fee". I'm not sure how that can be applied to a guest who smokes on the balcony nor can I see how that charge could be applied more then once per stay.

A guest who smoked on the balcony during previous stays had a right to be informed, prior to paying in full, of the new policy.

My room isn't ready. I can't tell Disney my policy is a $500 reduction in the cost of my stay for every hour I have to wait for my room. Disney never agreed to those terms. Smokers never agreed to those terms.

I don't think I'll be commenting further. I think the policy is good. I think Disney should have given more notice. I think Disney will just wind up waiving the charge, or losing in the event of a credit card dispute.

It seems a number of people have indicated that a request for a smoking room did not guarantee the guest a smoking room. No one seems to have been promised a smoking room or an area (such as a balcony) to smoke in other than designated areas, either. I fail to see how that statement is correct since there was never a definite agreement to allow the guest to smoke in their rooms or on the balconies of those rooms.