Worst Disney World hotel experience thread

bpadair32

Well-Known Member
I realize this is lengthy but I actually left out a lot, so my apologies for that but Christmas week 2010 at AKL was more like experiencing being the target of a hidden cam prank show. I don't know that I'd believe all this happened, esp in one week at Disney, if it hadn't happened to us, the worst being felony drug theft by staff. If you make it reading to the end, lol, you're def patient person and thank you!

Although my AKL Christmas week experience has now been 8 years ago, it was truly so horrific that as much as my family loves WDW, we have yet to return. We're now grandparents and would desperately love to take him this fall, thus why I'm here, but we lost all trust in Disney, as I'm sure most would in our shoes. And I hate that.

We arrived exhausted very late at night (it was possibly very early in the morning) but it was abt midnight, +-2 hours. We were there to celebrate my daughter's engagement. They were unable to put us in the computer as they were down but they said we could just check in/register the following morning. Because we couldn't check in, we couldn't get an electronic room key - by their computer, we weren't even in a room but we didn't care bc Disney!

I awoke early and left my family sleeping to explore the gorgeous lodge. Abt 2 hrs later I'm ready to return & realize I couldn't even remember the floor we were on, let alone room number, I guess bc I was exhausted at check in. I went to the lobby to ask, assuming it would've at least been written down we were in the hotel. Nope. The manager couldn't tell me our room number and had no suggestions on how to find my room. So I went to every floor ovet and over, walking up and down the halls figuring eventually I'll run into my family, knowing they wouldn't leave the resort without me. After 90 minutes and upset and frustrated, I went back to the lobby hoping somehow, someone could help me. By coincidence it was the manager who talked to me bc others were busy. It was roughly 10a by now. He offered to let me guess at room numbers and take me to those room. He knocked and if no answer, he used his key to open the doors and allow me to peek in as I'd immediately recognize our belongings. 30 min later no luck and the manager had to go. I was beyond upset by this point and in desperation and anger, I started on the 2nd floor and walked down the hall screaming my husband's name and did the same on way back to the elevator. Finally on 6th my husband heard me screaming for him and opened the door. I broke down crying like a hypersensitive, fruitcake, wallflower. Almost 4 hours had passed. I perked up, it's Disney!

My husband went to check us in and came back saying we had to switch rooms bc we weren't actually in a Savannah room view that we'd paid (dearly!) for. But our room wasn't ready yet and bc the current room was going to someone else, we had to wait in the room until our Savannah room was ready so we could remove all our belongings and they could clean. Ok. Another setback but lets finally go do Disney, day 1!

On day 2 after dinner I realized the surprise welcome cake for my family I'd ordered to have in room on arrival. They were apologetic and said they couldn't give me a cake from the bakery I'd ordered but offered me a pre made one. Staff did feel bad and were extremely quick bring a cake and a major amt of plates, etc to our room. We were still all good though! Disney! When I cut the cake, it's half frozen. Deep breath!

Day 4 abt 10a I discovered that sometime between the previous morning someone had went through our suitcase, found our medicine in a bag with a key, STOLE our medicine, but thankfully, kindly left our spare house key. I was now livid. I called front desk and security came up and took a report and started an investigation. He told us we had a right to report the theft to the police. He had already explained he would know who every person was that entered our room and would go from there. I asked for assurance a thorough investigation would happen & (my family assumed it was the housekeeper, security didn't want to guess) when the person responsible was found, he would take appropriate action so I declined calling police.

We had to have the medicine bc it'd be too long going without until we got home and to dr, so we called our respective doctor's offices and told the doctors would call in the med to the pharmacy we gave them. I guess the manager was aware of the theft when we walked through the lobby to go to the pharmacy bc he caught up to us and told us they'd take care of getting us to CVS and to take one of the several taxis parked in front. Our doctors weren't fast abt calling CVS and by the time we finally arrived back at AKL it was almost time to leave for dinner reservation. The day was spent dealing with our stolen med. We were given $100 comp.

The final straw was when I asked on 2nd to last day why my daughter and fiance's engagement hadn't even been recognized, as it had been hyped at time of reservation that they'd be given tons congrats, a few surprises and at least one surprise cake bc that's how Disney rolls. They hadn't even received a congrats, let alone token or cake. The waitress looked on their computer and there was no mention of any engagement and explained the lack of ... everything. Our celebration and Christmas week at Disney had been crap.

Back at AKL my husband was angry and talked to whoever and they gave us a free night to stay the following night. These aren't the only bad experiences, just the worst, and it was very obvious by then managers were avoiding eye contact with us when we would walk through the lobby. Not sure if it was bc they knew it was bc even they recognized our week had far too many screw ups, even for a cheap dump hotel but inexcusable when the week was a Disney resort & cost $12,000... or maybe they started ignoring us bc the number of Disney staff-caused things that went far-too-wrong, thus forcing mgmt to respond, and they were tired of dealing with us. To us, it sermed like the second but we were just as tired of dealing with problems they caused us as they were of dealing with us.

Had we received an apology at the end of our week for all that had happened, it probably would've helped a lot but instead by day 4/5, the managers started intentionally ignoring us, quickly looking the other way or even walking into the side area to leave the desk. If Disney weren't famed for staff exceptionalism & at least a smile every time, that we initially experienced by resort staff, it likely wouldn't have been so obvious when the smiles & eager to help changed to blatent ignoring. Maybe they still have record of that week, even 8 years later but even if not, I feel free speaking about staff stealing meds, special cakes not delivered, blah blah, because it's the truth, whether they have record still or not. Side note: we know we were complacent bc it was Disney & it was irresponsible of us not to lock our meds in safe; "Disney love" isn't felt by a housekeeper wanting drugs! Also, I didn't ask for special engagement things to happen or be given to our daughter & fiance, I was asked if we were celebrating anything at reservation time & the CS rep giddily told me of the things staff would do, how characters would acknowledge their engagement, numetous times by staff every day, doing this and that. When told this will be their experience, then get nothing, it's disappointing & would've been better to not promise anything to me for the couple. Last, this was a pretty big breech of trust, mainly bc we had history of wonderful times prior to that week, and maybe those prior times are why that week still feels like *** and no trust. Managers ignoring you, ensuring you get the message they're tired of dealing with your problems they caused, broke that Disney love feeling and trust. We hope to just get over it though, and return this fall! I know he would love it! Oh, and we had to leave at 9p on the free night bc a snowstorm had occured earlier that day, our cat sitter left, and we worried about our cats and electricity going out! That we had to leave instead of staying for the free night is obv no fault of Disney.

This is a joke or a delusion. There is simply no way that this is a true story.
 

Ricky Spanish

Well-Known Member
I can say for certain that they always freeze cakes. No one will decorate a freshly baked cake. I worked at a decorator for years and the cakes where never baked and iced the same day. Cakes freeze so well that most people truly believe that they were made that day, like the OP posted.
Bingo!!!!
Could you imagine prepping, baking, cooling, then decorating 100's of cakes in one day?
When I went to pastry school we regularly baked cakes ahead of schedule.
Then I owned a "fresh fruit bouquet" business.
We worked one day ahead, especially at the holidays.
It's the only way to maintain sanity.
 

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
Bingo!!!!
Could you imagine prepping, baking, cooling, then decorating 100's of cakes in one day?
When I went to pastry school we regularly baked cakes ahead of schedule.
Then I owned a "fresh fruit bouquet" business.
We worked one day ahead, especially at the holidays.
It's the only way to maintain sanity.

And I just want to put a public service announcement out there for everyone that orders anything from a bakery. Do NOT call the evening before to special order something. From scratch bakeries need to prep many things the day before, so the baker needs to have that order when they arrive to work the day before you want it. So if you want something for Friday, order it by Wed at the very latest. Not every place is like Walmart and has stuff all ready to go in the freezer. Thank you all.
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Good heavens no. I didn't mean to leave you with the impression that I believed any part of that post. I was just pointing out that it says something telling about Disney that the least believable part of it was Disney offering a free cake!

We didn’t get a cake, but when my husband and I were married in WDW (at the Swan but we stayed at BW so technically not even a WDW wedding), the hotel left us champagne, fruit and a large white chocolate Mickey Mouse the day of our wedding. It was a really nice surprise!
 

CLEtoWDW

Well-Known Member
During our most recent trip I had my first disappointing experience in a WDW resort. While staying at OKW there were multiple times we were left waiting over 45 minutes for a bus to arrive. This is absolutely absurd as no bus should ever take that long. The second time it happened I went to guest services to simply make our issue known so perhaps they could address it. I was pleased when the CM gave us 3 extra FPs and 2 complimentary Minnie Van rides. Once again, Cast members come through to save the day!
 

ninjaprincesst

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure that you are a troll and I'm taking the bait, but by the off chance you truly did have such a terrible experience, nobody is to blame but yourself.

Regarding the check-in process, there is absolutely zero possibility that Disney simply put you into a room without some sort of documentation. Not only would it be a poor decision to fail to do so, it would also be incredibly dangerous. A Motel Six wouldn't even do such a thing, so nice try.

The next morning, YOU failed to look at the room number on the door. Not the manager. Not the staff. YOU. Allegedly this took place in 2010, so smartphones with cameras were a thing at that point. One would assume that you would have taken your phone with you so that you could snap a few photos of the animals. Had you done so, the rest of your party was a quick phone call or text away.

The manager did not let you "guess random room numbers". You're telling me he would have not only allowed you to knock on random doors, but he would tag along? I don't think so. He's not going to risk disturbing random guests.

If you truly did scream throughout the hotel, you are quite the entitled individual. Do you realize that a hotel is a facility where people may be attempting to sleep? I don't care if this took place at 10AM or 10PM, yelling in a hotel at any time is socially unacceptable and extremely disrespectful to the other people that paid a small fortune to enjoy a Disney vacation.

Did you not look out the window to make sure your view was the correct one when you arrived? If I were paying a small fortune to stay at a Savanna view room I would be dying to look out the window at the first chance I get.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt regarding the cake delivery. Mistakes do happen and although it would be surprising for Disney to not notice, it is possible that the cake was still frozen inside.

If I had medicine stolen from me I would not only report the incident to Disney security, I would report to law enforcement as well. I don't understand how you were "livid" yet you decided that being robbed did not warrant a police report. Furthermore, safes are in hotel rooms for a reason. You simply cannot trust anybody, anywhere. Including at Disney. So yet again, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

Some simple online research utilizing sites such as this one would have given you a realistic sense of what to expect regarding your celebration. This sounds like poor planning to me.

I'm not surprised the Cast was avoiding eye contact with you. They were probably walking on eggshells near your party afraid that they would be yelled at again. Why would I expect you to respect Disney Cast when you yourself claim to have run around the hotel yelling?

Perhaps next time you should hire a trustworthy pet sitter that will continue to care for your pets during inclement weather?

Again, I'm not convinced you're giving us the whole story or telling the truth in the first place, but if what you say is legit, you have nobody but yourself to blame and I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the Cast Members working at AKL Christmas 2010.
I don't buy the drug theft, I have accidently pulled money out of my room safe and left several hundred dollars laying on the table and the maid did not touch it, I have also noticed that if you don't put the mousekeeping tip in an envelope or somehow label it they won't touch it, yet they rifled through luggage and took your drugs? Yeah right. Also even if the computer is down they have ways to check people into their rooms, I checked in at Wilderness lodge while the system was down and the only issue they had was that they had to make a call to make sure the dining plan was active.
 

Dsjewell

Active Member
I am sorry you had a bad experience with bell service. I have always been pleased with them on my trips but we don't generally stay at the values. I would maybe suggest in the future to hold off going to the store until you know for certain what room you are in. That way you can plan the delivery better by having the cab drop you off closest to your room. Or have your family waiting for you to help. We live our lives expecting to have to do everything ourselves. Not just because there is no guarantee, but my hubby HATES relying on anyone for anything. It gets a bit annoying at times. LOL But we a pretty good at getting stuff done ourselves now.
I would recommend garden grocer, delivered to room and not that much more than say Walmart.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure that you are a troll and I'm taking the bait, but by the off chance you truly did have such a terrible experience, nobody is to blame but yourself.

Regarding the check-in process, there is absolutely zero possibility that Disney simply put you into a room without some sort of documentation. Not only would it be a poor decision to fail to do so, it would also be incredibly dangerous. A Motel Six wouldn't even do such a thing, so nice try.

The next morning, YOU failed to look at the room number on the door. Not the manager. Not the staff. YOU. Allegedly this took place in 2010, so smartphones with cameras were a thing at that point. One would assume that you would have taken your phone with you so that you could snap a few photos of the animals. Had you done so, the rest of your party was a quick phone call or text away.

The manager did not let you "guess random room numbers". You're telling me he would have not only allowed you to knock on random doors, but he would tag along? I don't think so. He's not going to risk disturbing random guests.

If you truly did scream throughout the hotel, you are quite the entitled individual. Do you realize that a hotel is a facility where people may be attempting to sleep? I don't care if this took place at 10AM or 10PM, yelling in a hotel at any time is socially unacceptable and extremely disrespectful to the other people that paid a small fortune to enjoy a Disney vacation.

Did you not look out the window to make sure your view was the correct one when you arrived? If I were paying a small fortune to stay at a Savanna view room I would be dying to look out the window at the first chance I get.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt regarding the cake delivery. Mistakes do happen and although it would be surprising for Disney to not notice, it is possible that the cake was still frozen inside.

If I had medicine stolen from me I would not only report the incident to Disney security, I would report to law enforcement as well. I don't understand how you were "livid" yet you decided that being robbed did not warrant a police report. Furthermore, safes are in hotel rooms for a reason. You simply cannot trust anybody, anywhere. Including at Disney. So yet again, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

Some simple online research utilizing sites such as this one would have given you a realistic sense of what to expect regarding your celebration. This sounds like poor planning to me.

I'm not surprised the Cast was avoiding eye contact with you. They were probably walking on eggshells near your party afraid that they would be yelled at again. Why would I expect you to respect Disney Cast when you yourself claim to have run around the hotel yelling?

Perhaps next time you should hire a trustworthy pet sitter that will continue to care for your pets during inclement weather?

Again, I'm not convinced you're giving us the whole story or telling the truth in the first place, but if what you say is legit, you have nobody but yourself to blame and I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the Cast Members working at AKL Christmas 2010.

Mediocreatbest meet KatieBug
 

disneyfireman

Well-Known Member
Lol I love these “whining and complaining “threads. Trolls or not. There is enough people out there that is either intitled or just a whiner. That they actually do complain about such minor drivel. Actually. 99% of the complaints anyone has about WDW/DLR is drivel. It’s humorous to read but sad that there are people out there just just...well, complain too damn much. Lol
 

Lirael

Well-Known Member
I think people are being too dismissive of the AKL tale. I, for one, have a perfect explanation for the "disney couldn't find my room and I ran around like a banshee":

MediocreAtBest was... drunk. Either at check-in or drinking after waking up.

They were arriving at disney at night for a celebration, perhaps MAB and co. had a few drinks on their way. Therefore, upon arrival and check-in, MAB had some blurry memories due to alcohol and couldn't remember the room or the name the reservation was under (and thus kept giving the AKL staff the wrong names the next morning) and also botched their memory of how the check in really went. This would also explain why they only noticed it was the wrong view the next day.

Option 2: they were either still half drunk when they woke up or decided to use the fact they were alone to try out stuff without judgement. This would explain why they couldn't remember anything about their room Disney couldn't find their reservation...because MAB was drunkenly telling disney the wrong names, or slurring them beyond recognition.

Also, 2010 was well into cellphone usage everywhere era, yet MAB either didn't think to carry their phone with them when they left a room they had no key to (according to MAB) and while leaving without telling anyone or MAB at no point thought of calling their family with the phone. Or even third option: never considered asking disney to phone the people in the room using a disney landline. Again, too drunk to think of this or correctly dial a number makes sense.

The rest of this part...disney totes being okay with randomly opening rooms so a stranger could peak into them...allowing someone to screech like a banshee through the corridors in the early morning (and yet no one opened the dodrs to shut them up or call frotndesk to stop them)...the spouse randomly and luckily being near and awake enough to hear the banshee mating calls of MAB... all of this can only be explained if MAB's memory is fudged due to...alcohol.

Or maybe MAB mistakenly took all the medication that was missing and this resulted in a bad state of mind similar to drunkenness, which would wrap this episode along with the "people stole my medication yet I mysteriously did not feel like filing a police report despite how angry I was"

Mystery solved. Don't do drugs. NEXT.
 

The Colonel

Well-Known Member
Checked in to a brand new 1BR DVC villa at Grand Floridian after a cruise on the Dream and found feces smeared across the bathroom wall behind the toilet. I was so surprised and nauseated that I neglected to take a picture which would have come in handy.

I also checked in to The Grand Californian late at night (after midnight) and found a giant palmetto bug, the size of my fist, right on the wall behind the TV.

Checked into a room at the Boardwalk that plainly had not been cleaned. Called the manager to the room, was assured it would be cleaned, went to the park for four hours and came back and the room was still not cleaned.

One thing I know about Disney, they think they know how to run hotels, but they don't . Especially mousekeeping.
 

Lirael

Well-Known Member
I generally barely spend anytime in the disney resorts and don't require much, so I've been generally lucky that my back experiences are usually minor things like a lack of towels, door sensor not working etc, so one issue with front desk comes to mind as the 'worst'.

More than a few years ago I was solo and got a breakfast ADR in what was Captain's Grille at the time. Now, I didn't do a thorough research so I kinda knew that Yacht Club was within walking distance of Epcot, but I wasn't 100% sure.

Regardless, the ADR was half an hour before Epcot opened, so on the day before I went to front desk and explained the ADR time and location and asked for tips on which park should I go to to from there get a bus to Yatch Club. Front desk quickly suggested that since it was next to Epcot, I should get a bus to Epcot and get an Epcot bus to Yatch Club. I believed front desk.

Needless to say, the next day after half an hour walking around the Epcot parking lot and bus stop, I started thinking maybe there wasn't a bus to Yatch Club since there were no signs of it. I spoke to the park's guest relation, found out I'd need to go through Epcot (which would only open after the ADR) or leave and go to another park, but by this time doing so would make me too late for my ADR window. Guest relations managed to call YC and get them to hold my ADR for another hour and I was allowed to run through World Showcase as soon as Epcot opened so I could get there in time. Breakfast had to be eaten in a hurry so I didnt lose my FP+. All in all, things were fixed but my day started off anxiously for a while and I hesitate to trust disney front desk with any information since.
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
Never had a problem at WDW ever but our Disneyland Paris hotel back in November was less than ‘magical’. Stayed at Sequoia Lodge, a moderate but the families above us and next door were loud as hell yelling, screaming, banging and bumping until 4am every night for five nights :rolleyes: We called the front desk to complain and they said they would get back to us in the morning, they didn’t and so went to the desk later that day and they said there was no availability so we thought stuff it and put up with it but hope to never have to repeat it, we’ll be a lot firmer next time.
 

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