What would you consider your worst stay on WDW property? What happened? Why should others beware?
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What would you consider your worst stay on WDW property? What happened? Why should others beware?
POP CENTURY was mine. We have been DVC members since 1992 and never have a experienced such a horrible experience at a Disney, or even any hotel/resort yet. Our room was trashed upon arrival, they sent housekeepers so late at night, and again when we finally fell asleep at 2am! They told us that they would comp our room for such inconvenience but my credit card was still charged when I received my statement at the end of the month. Unbelievable that Disney would have such poor quality of service and management. BEWARE!
I have to agree with Pop. There is just way to much concrete. It is too hot in the summer. The food court always smelled like a soured dish rag. The bedspread was too large for the bed and looked sloppy. We hated it. We will never stay there again. And no, I am not a resort snob. We love the All Star Movies resort.
My worst resort experience has actually been at All Star Movies. The Air Conditioner broke (was very leaky), we called them first thing in the morning and they just came and put a dehumidifer on the floor. When we got back late that night and half the carpet in our room was soaked - when we stepped on the carpet, water actually rose up. We called and they said they would move us to another room, and to just pack up our luggage, leave it in the room and come to the front desk. They gave us a new room, and told us our luggage would arrive shortly. We waited four hours in the new room, and had to call back to get our luggage, and they finally brought it. By then it was almost 1 AM
Second worst experience was at the Caribbean beach resort. The CMs that checked us in were very rude, for some reason they thought I was a cast member and not a passholder (don't know why, booked it with the passholder discount). It took over 30 minutes for us to check in. The housekeeping staff was great, so we have to give them a big compliment! But when we were checking out, we were going to transfer to the Contemporary resort. We called Bell Services to get our luggage transferred. They wouldn't come to our room to get our luggage, so we had to pack up our car to take it to the front desk. It was a big pain since we were there for two weeks and had a LOT of luggage. Once we got to the front desk, they took our luggage from the car to transfer - but I had some medicine that needed refridgeration and they wouldn't store it for me. The CMs that checked us out were just as unfriendly as the ones that checked us in.
For my trips, i've never had a bad experience at Pop Century!
Our worst was at a downtown resort- the Grosvenor. When we checked in there was actually mold in our room and it was not the tower room we paid for. They advertised wireless service but I could only get it from the lobby. They hadn't paid their bus bill so they were using Mears buses. They were so unreliable. We were left stranded many times. They picked us up once in a bus that had no air conditioning. It was like being stuck in a giant greenhouse. Please, please- don't ever let anyone you know stay at this dump of a hotel!
My worst is by far Pop Century as well. We will not be staying there again, I didn't even feel like I was on Disney property! :no:
I would have to say the Coronado Springs. Maybe because it was in August, and it was scorching hot, but I thought the air conditioner didn't work that well. We called for maintenance to come out, they said it was working fine. We didn't think the room was cooling off at all. Plus, after being there for 11 days when I returned home I had to be hospitalized for cellulitis. Cellulits is bacteria infection which takes 7 to 10 days to incubate. So, I contracted it in my beloved Disney World. The only thing I can think of how I got it was I had two blisters on the bottom of one foot. And I guess walking in the room from the shower barefoot the bacteria got in somehow.
I also didn't care for the food court. By far, in my opinion, the food court at the All Star Movies is the best. We've stayed in the Movies, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans and the Caribbean Resorts.
I guess one little thing can ruin the experience in some cases. I've stayed in half of the hotels (not many chances to get to when you live in Orlando) and I was happy with the Value Resorts. I actually preferred the Value Resorts since it had a more Disney-ish feel to me (I like the Poly best now though). We've had great experiences with them and if something was less than fantastic they found a way to quickly fix it. I don't really understand the need to stay in Boardwalk, Polynesian or the Contemporary EVERY time seeing as how I am only in the room to sleep. When I went out to Disneyland a few years at the last minute I had no other choice than to stay in a nearby Travelodge -- everything else was booked well in advance -- and it was horrible but I was only there to sleep really so it wasn't that big of a deal. When it comes down to it you can't let a less than perfect hotel experience ruin the whole vacation. Face it, a bad hotel experience at Disney is still better than sitting at home. :lol:
hmmm.. 2 weeks ago we stayed at Pop (because of the price) we usually stay at coronado or any other modearate resort. Anyway... My parents noticed an odd smell in the room but they said they would deal with it. The second night we came back to our room after a long day at MK and we find little cockroaches on the night table. It was gross. So we immeidatly went to the front desk and the manager was quite rude. He was trying to convince my mother that it was JUST palmetto bugs and they are common in florida. Little did he know that we live in SOUTH florida where they are even more common and they were NOT palmetto bugs.At that point we were very angry. We go to disney at least twice a year and never had bug problems. They finally tranferred us to another room, which was nice because it was closer to the food court/bus stop. The luggage people never came and we just lugged everything over in my wheelchair (i had a broken leg). At check-out they only gave us 20 % off the ONE night we had probems. Whatever, we know we wont go back there again.
I only had one problem at Coronado Springs. We went to Disney with another family and asked for connected rooms or at least ones that were very close. Well, they forgot to put that in and when we arrived there were no rooms close. So in order to rectify the problem they upgraded us to there largest suite which was absolutely amazing!!!! I might want to complain everytime!!
And by the way... I like the food court at coronado, but thats just me.
When we went in Jan 2007 we stayed downtown at the Grosvernor as well. It was ok. The buses were better than the last time we sayed there a few years ago. But they need major renovation which they are doing now. There beds were hard as a rock! and they had no wheelchairs for me to use.
I think thats all of my complaints :D
When we went to WDW, every time people talked about the Pop resort they all say how bad it was. We stayed at the Coronado Springs last December, and I LOVED it! My favorite resort yet!
Different times, different experiences. We stayed at Pop Century in April 2004 and loved it. Has stayed twice before ast Caribean Beach and didn't like it as much. Really enjoyed Wilderness Lodge (favorite so far), enjoyed PO Riverside, Wasn't overwhelmed with Srartoga Springs, and likes Old Key West well enough.
from Favorite to least favorite would have to go
Wilderness Lodge (1 Stay)
PO Riverside (4 Stays)
Old Key West (2 Stays)
Pop Century (1 Stay)
Saratoga Springs (1 Stay)
Caribean Beach (2 stays)
The great thing about Disney is how they will always try to make things better. Most big companies will take care of their customers if there is a problem but usually if they really complain about something. Disney has always come off as very voluntary when they make things right. That is one of the best things about Disney that makes it leagues better than Universal.Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyHottie
A good example of Disney vs. Universal...
When we go to Disney we flash our pass to get past the entrances so we don't have to pay. They usually look at it for half a second, smile and say "Welcome". A lot of the time they will look just long enough to see my name and then greet me with a "Welcome home, Jason." Disney seems like they give people the bennefit of the doubt and trust you really have the pass and don't go to lengths to check it.
Universal on the other hand is just bad when it comes to making their guest feel appreciated and welcome. Everytime we go to Universal and flash our Premium Annual Passes, they always take them, punch them into the computer to check if they are valid, then give it back with a receipt to stick in our window. Disney has more of a "Thanks, I believe ya'." approach when you just flash your pass. One of the little things that I always notice about Universal not feeling as welcoming as Disney.
I really liked my few stays at Pop. When I was having my arm and neck issues last year, they even made sure to put us in a building that was close to the front so that I wouldn't have to walk far.
I did stay at Caribbean Beach and had a not so good time. Check in took forever. It was very difficult to find out rooms. The dining area was so crowded that you couldn't even get to the fruit for the line of people trying to check out. The coke machines were never workings - although they did come to my room to refund my money. It was just confusing and not that much fun to deal with.
My favorite has been Port Orleans - Riverside!!!
I had a bad experience at the Caribean Beach but I think it was more the locale and walk we had to everything, and when we got to our room, there were no towels, and we had to call 3 times that day to request them before we got them. Also, we went to the food court with our newly purchased mugs and the soda machine wasn't working....:wow:
I stayed there once before and it was fine, so it must have just have been a jinxed trip.
when we went we stayed at the all star sports it was last min and was the only value with open rooms.. the food was ok and the rooms were nice and clean... checking in was slow but there was 11 of us and 3 cars...LOL we took our own stuff down when we left.. it was nothing really to complain about..
but i did have issues!!!! lol
i had my lil card made 2 times and i still couldnt charge with it... so i also had to carry a credit card with me.. which i didnt like.. my hubby's worked but mine never would.. and my nephews card wasnt workign when he was leaving and coming back into the parks.. other than that.. i have no real complaints or that i WILL NEVER EVER GO ON VACATION WITH MY ENTIRE FAMILY AGAIN! they drove me nuts!