Worst Disney World hotel experience thread

[Chi84]

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.

That’s why news articles reporting truly incomprehensible behavior often end with the words, “It appears alcohol was involved.”

 

[larryz]

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.

There's your problem, right there...

 

[Magic Feather]

I have been fortunate with my WDw stays, but I have had family stay at Coronado Springs post-Reno with issues. Namely, thy were the first family to stay in a room after it’s Reno, and there were still traces of construction everywhere. Dirt in bathtub, dust coated floors, loose screw, etc. However, they were compensated.

 

[Janir]

During my wedding time we were staying in POR before the wedding itself. The room fridge had iced over and then blown something internally so it was defrosting and melting all over the area under the dresser cabinet and the water was getting past the towels I had put out to catch the water. Called front desk and told them please come take this thing and replace it. an hour later I was getting water starting to soak into the carpet in front of the dresser/tv area. I was done. I took the fridge out of the room myself and stuck it in the flowerbed near my room to let it drain outside. Called front desk again and told them what I did and not 5 minutes later someone from facilities maintenance was wheeling a new fridge over.
This was really only my 3rd WDW trip experience and the first time where I had any sort of customer service issue. Having worked with Disney Customer service for setting up special events and ADR's, etc on my other two trips, I was rather used to the Disney Customer service being much more responsive and wasn't happy. Never had any other issue to complain about since and plenty of praise for WDW customer Service in general since.
Overall my general experience with WDW customer service is spectacular. And with the exception of that one resort issue, never had any other issues at resorts, but plenty of times the the cast members went above and beyond, including POR.

 

[PeterGriffin]

I have stayed on Disney's property approx. 50 times over the years and I don't think I have had 1 issue with the resorts. I don't know if this response is for anyone complaining about a room not being ready, but the times that my rooms have not been ready are the times when I had specific room requests. First floor, top floor and specific areas will almost always lead to your room being delayed. Also, it is amazing to hear people's stories about what Disney gave them to make up for the resorts problems. The room upgrades and vouchers are amazing. That's what makes Disney so special.

 

[Alice a]

The first time I stayed as an adult and paid for my own trip, we paid the exorbitant pre-paid rate of $220 a nite for the second week of January 2012 at Coronado Springs. We were placed in an unrefurbished room, in all it's tired, early 90s glory, as first - time out of state annual passholders. All of this was our own fault.

What wasn't our fault was when my friend had an unexpected, never-had-before seizure on the 5th of 7 days, and we ended up checking out a day early. On top of the pre-paid rate, with one night's fee understandably lost, the hotel charged me a $100 'early vacancy' fee.

A veteran of now 20+ stays on my own dime, I would now know better - this was clearly some kind of error - but at the time, and having not been to WDW since childhood and then my usual college spring break trips in the early 2000s, it left a very sour taste in my mouth, and was a clear sign that the Iger years had killed the magic. I quietly paid it and walked away.

It took a friend's wedding and a deluxe stay at the same rate to bring me back into the fold.

 

[larryz]

The first time I stayed as an adult and paid for my own trip, we paid the exorbitant pre-paid rate of $220 a nite for the second week of January 2012 at Coronado Springs. We were placed in an unrefurbished room, in all it's tired, early 90s glory, as first - time out of state annual passholders. All of this was our own fault.

What wasn't our fault was when my friend had an unexpected, never-had-before seizure on the 5th of 7 days, and we ended up checking out a day early. On top of the pre-paid rate, with one night's fee understandably lost, the hotel charged me a $100 'early vacancy' fee.

A veteran of now 20+ stays on my own dime, I would now know better - this was clearly some kind of error - but at the time, and having not been to WDW since childhood and then my usual college spring break trips in the early 2000s, it left a very sour taste in my mouth, and was a clear sign that the Iger years had killed the magic. I quietly paid it and walked away.

It took a friend's wedding and a deluxe stay at the same rate to bring me back into the fold.

Wow! $220 a night seems VERY high for 2012. And I'd never heard of an "early departure" fee at a Disney resort, especially when one of the guests has a medical incident.

 

[Alice a]

Wow! $220 a night seems VERY high for 2012. And I'd never heard of an "early departure" fee at a Disney resort, especially when one of the guests has a medical incident.

Yeah, it was crazy. I'd gotten a big Christmas bonus at work, and I called Disney direct to book the week before the trip, with no real idea of what I was getting- we had always stayed off-property, so I was like, 'so this is why my dad said WDW hotels are expensive! "

Our first Boardwalk stay in October of the same year was $250 a night- only $30 more!

No idea about that fee. We didn't tell them why we were checking out early. It was a mess, and no one to blame but myself, ha.

On that same trip we went to Universal just to see the new Harry Potter land, and they got me too. When the woman at the ticket kiosk asked me what kind of ticket i wanted, I told her the one I would need to see Harry Potter, and I walked out with a parkhopper. She definitely saw me coming a mile away!

 

[Missymoe4]

Okay, folks here goes. This seems far fetched, but I'm telling you it was the scariest thing I have encountered. Last summer at the Pop Century in a room facing the pool, we were awakened by some kind of spirit. I know this sounds really far fetched, but man....it was totally legit. After speaking with management (not in complaint, just to say, "are we crazy," we got the head nod that other people along the pool rooms have been frequented by some odd things.

 

[larryz]

Okay, folks here goes. This seems far fetched, but I'm telling you it was the scariest thing I have encountered. Last summer at the Pop Century in a room facing the pool, we were awakened by some kind of spirit. I know this sounds really far fetched, but man....it was totally legit. After speaking with management (not in complaint, just to say, "are we crazy," we got the head nod that other people along the pool rooms have been frequented by some odd things.

Was it just a light, or a full-floating torso vaporous apparition?

 

[Missymoe4]

Was it just a light, or a full-floating torso vaporous apparition?

Actually, no apparition. Just the curtains sliding back/to the side from the window, as though something was "peeking" out the window. The sound of the metal rings against the metal pole is what awakened me. (And when I say awakened, I mean sitting bolt upright, heart pounding, wide-eyed awake. And, no, I was not the only one that had the same reaction). Just after, there was a heavy smoky/electrical scent just above the bed (I was sleeping closest to the door). When I could walk, I jumped up to open the door to see if it was coming from the outside. It was quiet, save for the insects making their noise and tranquil.


Interestingly enough, there are reports on "hauntings" along the pool rooms but in building 10. Those are of young children playing with toys. I was in a corner room of building 6 facing the pool.

 

[larryz]

Actually, no apparition. Just the curtains sliding back/to the side from the window, as though something was "peeking" out the window. The sound of the metal rings against the metal pole is what awakened me. (And when I say awakened, I mean sitting bolt upright, heart pounding, wide-eyed awake. And, no, I was not the only one that had the same reaction). Just after, there was a heavy smoky/electrical scent just above the bed (I was sleeping closest to the door). When I could walk, I jumped up to open the door to see if it was coming from the outside. It was quiet, save for the insects making their noise and tranquil.


Interestingly enough, there are reports on "hauntings" along the pool rooms but in building 10. Those are of young children playing with toys. I was in a corner room of building 6 facing the pool.

Well, who ya gonna call?