Awful horrible service pop century

[Cinderumbrella]

Sorry you had a rough start. I hope your long winded vent and subsequent (and even longer) follow up was just what you needed to feel better. Now it’s time to “Let it Go” and enjoy your trip.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I completely understand how frustrating it is to get off to a rough start. Same thing happened to us at POR in 2015 and we vowed to never stay there again. It goes against what 90% of the people on these boards say about that resort.

It's unfortunate that you had this experience at POP. We've had wonderful CMs there and I always hate it when people have a bad experience!

I hope you're able to have a good time going forward.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Sorry your trip got off to a rough start. I hope you are having a great day at WDW today.

We had a grumpy check in CM at the Poly last year and it does sort of start your trip off wrong when that happens.

 

[focusondisney]

You might want to do your math again, according to you:

"Came back to retrieve our bags and check in at 2:50pm, it’s now 3:21pm and no one knows where our bags are"

That is 31 minutes.

Thank you.

 

[AngiTN]

So now that things have calmed down, here’s the entire issue at hand. Those of you who were fast to be mean on here, I am not surprised, I’ve been a long time dis member and the quick snaps on someone who has anything negative to say about precious Disney is getting old. Disney is NOT perfect. Mean people do work here. And for the $8500 I just dropped to take my family to universal horror nights vip for 2 nights in a club level room plus Disney with 3 tours and Halloween party....plus gift baskets delivered to our room, it’s pretty rough to except horrible cast members. Especially when I booked in December 2017 and planned every single detail down to potty breaks 10 months in advance. So here is the deal, after a very smooth 3 nights at universal club level I had a private car transfer us to pop century from royal pacific universal. Arrived right on time at 10am and checked our bags. I asked a cast member a random cast member about how to check in from the ap on my phone. Yes...the ap everyone on here complains about not working properly, that ap. I was shown by the cast member how to do it. So I did it, thought it was done and carried on to Hollywood studios. Me, my husband and 19 year old son. After a 40 minute wait for the bus......because it broke down, finally one came. Then we went off on our way. We got a weird text stating we had pictures of us on the Disney ap. I looked and there was nothing. Then I got another message about opening my room door with my cell phone. I ignored it. We ate lunch at T. rex , I went to pay via my magic band and a barcode popped up on her device with no name. So I paid via credit card and left. I told my husband how weird this was as I had already put in my credit card info months ago online to use, and it didn’t work. No biggie, I thought well since it’s pushing 3pm I guess I’ll go see what’s happening with our room. You know, cause rooms are “said” to be ready by 3pm, not promised but said to be ready. So I get in line to check in, but am confused cause I got an email stating my room was ready with no room number. So a cast member in Blue carting a clip board walks up and says did you check in online. I replied yes I did but my credit card isn’t working for room...she talks over me and says ok do you didn’t check in then. I said yes I did but there’s some issues, my credit card...she cuts me off again and says you didn’t check in. Again I said well you know what I did cause I got a text saying my room is...she cuts me off and literally said no you didn’t check in, you must not know how to use....I turned around and looked at my husband I talked over her and said to him I’m done, now I want a supervisor, I turned around and she walked off. I was next. The man called me up, I immediately asked for a supervisor. He asked what happened and I told him and his response was “sorry, yeah there’s be issues with the ap today”. You actually did check in but your account was frozen because the ap isn’t working correctly for check in, it’s been happening a lot today. So I tried opening the ap to ask questions because maybe I’m not sure if it’s me not knowing how to use it, he wouldn’t explain or show me anything. And no exploration as to the text about my phone opening the door... At that point he Rushed me thru check in, and tried to send me off. I stopped him. I asked if we had a gift basket waiting here in the lobby for us. He said no. I told him check again I have an email stating it’s here and I want it. He looked again, went and found it then apologized again. I was really irritated at this point, not fuming.....just irritated. Then came the bags. I checked them in at the baggage hold desk. 4 bags. Baggage hold. Presented my pickup ticket. The man goes the get them....about 7 minutes later he comes back saying he can’t find them. Ok, now I getting mad. Another cast members goes looking.....time keeps ticking by and no guy....no bags. I ask another guy to go find the man looking for my bags, this is ridiculous. Almost 30 more minutes go by and here comes some random cast member with our bags. Where in gods name were my bags? Sorry....they were in an area to be sent out for airline check in for magical express. Oh my god. Well thank god that didn’t happen! I was fuming at this point. I took my stuff and went to my room. I’m just very disappointed. As anyone else would be too. I’m not gonna give the benefit of the doubt to rude people. I work in customer service and it pure unprofessional to be rude to people in a customer facing job. Let’s be real. What I’m seeing is a few employees I e been unlucky to encounter that need to find a new job, cause clearly they hate this one. As for pop century this is my impression of this hotel. Sure, I could have stayed Deluxe, moderate, but I chose this one due to the absurd cost I was spending as a whole for the entire vacation and thought it would be fun to stay someplace new. I’m not new to disneyworld by any means, but this is our first trip in 2 years and a lot has changed. It’s just not a good start to Disney and not at all what I’d have expected from Disney cast members.

Not to give them an excuse for being rude, just an explanation (distinction here is an explanation is not an excuse) but the bold is probably what got everyone off to a bad start. Your demand for a supervisor was a signal to them that you are difficult. Not saying you ARE difficult but that one bit of attitude sent them off with their hackles up and that is just that that is how they will perceive you, with nothing else to go on. Difficult guests are often not provided with the friendliest service. They probably are the ones that need it most but that's rarely what happens. But in my experience, being antagonist gets the same back. Of course, that's why the old saying goes, you get more flies with honey than vinegar. You came with vinegar and got it back. Come with honey, and you usually get it back.

Would I be disappointed in the service, yes. Would I call is horrible, awful or horrific? By no means was it any of those things. Heck, I did have poor service at Pop and don't plan to return there after it left such a bad taste in my mouth so I agree with you that it's not always the best place, service wise. I still think you went overboard mostly because many of the issues are not issues at all.
Your room wasn't ready late, you were incorrect in your understanding of when they are ready, this is not Disney's fault here, this is your misunderstanding. I've gotten the room ready but need to come to front desk to get a room number texts before. They don't tell you a time to be there. The fact that you got that means you DID complete online check-in. You can't/don't get that without it. That doesn't mean there aren't issues with the credit card, I've checked in, had the room paid off using the card, gotten the room and still had issues using the MB to charge to the room.
Some of the issues when you spoke with them were lack of clear communications on your end too. When you were approached and asked "did you do online check in" why didn't you say "yes, and I got a text that told me to come by to get my room number"? That would have been the proper answer to her question. Going off about the credit card complicated things unnecessarily. That would have been something you got straightened out next.

Anyway, hopefully things are going better and maybe, next time things are not going perfectly try a smile and happy attitude and see if that helps you get the same in return.

From the time they said your room would be ready, 3pm, how long did it take until your room was open and baggage was on it's way?

• 3+ hours - I would be furious and demand an upgrade and maybe a couple golden tickets.
• 2 hours - Still pritty ticked, but these things do happen .get us a pair of anytime FP or squeeze us into a hard to get reservation and I'll let it slide.
• 1 hour - meh. Just lie to me and tell me they wanted to really clean the room up top notch or something. I'll ask for complimentary credits for the kids to use in the arcade, they'll give them to me, and then I'll go play coin dozer for an hour.
• Less than 1 hour - just a part of the human world we live in. So etimes we just eat a 45 minutes dumpling when the world gets a little banjaxed now and again. Karma catches you back up, you'll be smiling soon enough.

To be honest, in most cases the cm that comes off as rude is having a worse day than you already. These are not usually power mad authoritarians who get pleasure from ruining vacations. I throw them a bone. I apologise in advance for probably not expressing my problem correctly and ask them to have a little patience and look into it themselves.

From WDW perspective, having an angry guest is a reputation neutral event because the attendant crowds assume to a degree that the agree person had high expectations. A sad pleading guest, " what can we do? We just need to get into our rooms..." Is far more sympathetic and I have seen these guests taken immediately out of line and granted upgrades.

It can feel like pushing rope. But so etimes that's just what it takes.

And here folks is a prime example why they've taken away almost all Pixie Dust, and discontinued some of the little nice things they used to do. Folks out there who expect room upgrades, bonus FP, etc. These are the types of things you shouldn't ever demand. The CM granted those things because they were fun to grant to guests and when they get demanded, it's not fun to do anymore so they just stopped most all of them or at least been made much rarer.

 

[SaintsManiac]

And here folks is a prime example why they've taken away almost all Pixie Dust, and discontinued some of the little nice things they used to do. Folks out there who expect room upgrades, bonus FP, etc. These are the types of things you shouldn't ever demand. The CM granted those things because they were fun to grant to guests and when they get demanded, it's not fun to do anymore so they just stopped most all of them or at least been made much rarer.

Yep.

Last month our room was taking a long time at the Contemporary. I went to the front desk to ask the status just because we were dragging and wanted to rest a bit and freshen up before heading to MK. They went above and beyond to get us a room and all it took was me asking for an update. We even got upgraded to garden view simply because that was what they had available.

It has never occurred to me to ask for ANYTHING. People who do are ruining it for everyone else.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I haven't read the whole thread but online check-in never works for us either. It will let me do it, but it doesn't actually work. I have been told it's because we do room-only and we only pay the first night and then pay the remainder upon arrival. So you need to go to the front desk and they need to make sure that you actually pay for the remainder if that makes sense.

Anyway, OP, I hope things look up and you enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[tex1989]

I think that folks here should not be too critical of the OP. I think that there are definitely issues with MDE and the check in procedures. I always check in on line and for the last several trips once we scan our MB's at ME at the airport then usually within a few minutes we get a text telling us our room number. Off the bus at the resort and we go straight to the room completely by passing the front desk. On our last trip in September I was waiting for the message and it never came. When we got to the resort we had to go to the front desk. Upon getting there around 2:00 PM (at AoA) the front desk had a long (40 plus people) line for the regular check in, and at least 20 people in the Express check in line. It seemed that the system was not sending room information for folks who did online check in and times we had used the online check in line before the CM would take your name find your reservation and go into the back area and come out with your "package" ask you if you had been there before and if you said yes just point you to your room and say good day. This time they had trouble finding the reservation never went to get a package, but rather built one as we stood there and seemed to take much longer than normal. She was nice and pleasant to us but in conversation you could tell she was completely frustrated with the system and how difficult it was being. Since we let ME deal with our luggage we had no issue there. We finally got to the room left our extra carry on stuff there and headed out. Our MB opened the door and since we always bring several based on the season we tried all of them and they worked so we were happy about that.

We are going back in December and I hope whatever glitches there were in the system are worked out by then.

 

[cobright]

Folks out there who expect room upgrades, bonus FP, etc. These are the types of things you shouldn't ever demand. The CM granted those things because they were fun to grant to guests and when they get demanded, it's not fun to do anymore so they just stopped most all of them or at least been made much rarer.

Let's be clear, at more than a 3 hour delay, I was not talking about pixie dust. That was the only degree of customer service malfunction I said would justify demanding anything. And by demanding, I mean simply that when the CM ask what they can do to make up for their mistake, I tell them a better view would be a good start. The demand is not for something I feel naturally entitled; just as Disney is not naturally entitled to my satisfaction with and continued enjoyment of their product. But Disney wants me to be happy and if they just cackhanded my check in so badly that I'm out 3 or more hours getting it straight ... then it's not unreasonable to require they go above and beyond their normally high standards.

If a restaurant that you booked and paid for in advance took 3 hours to get you your food, you would expect them to do something special for you if they actually value your business.

My family was stuck on Spaceship Earth for 90 minutes right near the end of the day last July. We missed our Paddlefish Rez and a TestTrack FP. When we finally marched out of there we felt entitled to have our missed reservation fee canceled, a dinner reservation somewhere nice (last minute or not), and a FP for Test Track we can use. I would expect as much or more if I had been held up for 3+ hours. Demanding good service has nothing to do with pixie dust.

My criticism is that the OP seems to have had her switch flipped after all of 45 minutes of inconvenience.

 

[Jennasis]

Old...nothing worse than when your trip starts off on the wrong foot. Hopefully better things are ahead.

We stayed at the Boardwalk back in 2016 and those were top to bottom the rudest CMs I've ever encountered. Left a horrible impression of the resort on me.

 

[AngiTN]

I haven't read the whole thread but online check-in never works for us either. It will let me do it, but it doesn't actually work. I have been told it's because we do room-only and we only pay the first night and then pay the remainder upon arrival. So you need to go to the front desk and they need to make sure that you actually pay for the remainder if that makes sense.

Anyway, OP, I hope things look up and you enjoy the rest of your trip!

Nope, doesn't make sense and is 100% incorrect. Otherwise, we'd never get our room texts and we do over 90% of the time.
But as AP holders, we always book room only, always pay just 1 single night, never make payments (since that requires a phone call) and always pay for the room at check-in, or whenever it is the system processes the payment. Based on the dates on our credit card charges, it's on check-in day. So whatever issues your having, they aren't due to room only. How do you know "it doesn't work"? Curious because not getting a room text is not a sign it didn't work. The only way to know it did or didn't work is to look online (either website or app) and see if it says "Start Check-in" or Update Check-in".

I think that folks here should not be too critical of the OP. I think that there are definitely issues with MDE and the check in procedures. I always check in on line and for the last several trips once we scan our MB's at ME at the airport then usually within a few minutes we get a text telling us our room number. Off the bus at the resort and we go straight to the room completely by passing the front desk. On our last trip in September I was waiting for the message and it never came. When we got to the resort we had to go to the front desk. Upon getting there around 2:00 PM (at AoA) the front desk had a long (40 plus people) line for the regular check in, and at least 20 people in the Express check in line. It seemed that the system was not sending room information for folks who did online check in and times we had used the online check in line before the CM would take your name find your reservation and go into the back area and come out with your "package" ask you if you had been there before and if you said yes just point you to your room and say good day. This time they had trouble finding the reservation never went to get a package, but rather built one as we stood there and seemed to take much longer than normal. She was nice and pleasant to us but in conversation you could tell she was completely frustrated with the system and how difficult it was being. Since we let ME deal with our luggage we had no issue there. We finally got to the room left our extra carry on stuff there and headed out. Our MB opened the door and since we always bring several based on the season we tried all of them and they worked so we were happy about that.

We are going back in December and I hope whatever glitches there were in the system are worked out by then.

This is normal and not related to new issues or to MDE in any way. Getting a room ready notice, even after completing online check-in, is never guaranteed and randomly, for no apparent reason, folks will have to go to the desk, even if everything has been done right. We even got it for 3 out of 4 rooms on our Sept trip and 1 out of 2 on our Oct trip. All were done the same way online and showed as completed. The only reason we didn't it for the 2 rooms were we didn't was random luck

 

[cobright]

I always check in on line and for the last several trips once we scan our MB's at ME at the airport then usually within a few minutes we get a text telling us our room number.

If you always check in via the APP, then you never inquire about an available room upgrade?

If you go even somewhat regularly, they track that and will often reward repeat business. We checked into AKL about a year ago and politely asked if they had a better room available and what the additional charge would be and were promptly bumped from a standard view room to a Savannah view with bunk beds. She says, "The difference in room rates comes to ... oh never mind that, we can have the room available in about an hour." Out of my last 10 stays on property I think we got a free room upgrade 2 or 3 times and a heavily discounted upgrade twice.

If you do everything via the APP you deny Disney CMs the opportunity to extend to you their world class customer service. I'm not saying one should ask for pixie-dust, that's tacky, but if you want to get hit with some you have to be close to some pixies.

 

[AngiTN]

Let's be clear, at more than a 3 hour delay, I was not talking about pixie dust. That was the only degree of customer service malfunction I said would justify demanding anything. And by demanding, I mean simply that when the CM ask what they can do to make up for their mistake, I tell them a better view would be a good start. The demand is not for something I feel naturally entitled; just as Disney is not naturally entitled to my satisfaction with and continued enjoyment of their product. But Disney wants me to be happy and if they just cackhanded my check in so badly that I'm out 3 or more hours getting it straight ... then it's not unreasonable to require they go above and beyond their normally high standards.

If a restaurant that you booked and paid for in advance took 3 hours to get you your food, you would expect them to do something special for you if they actually value your business.

My family was stuck on Spaceship Earth for 90 minutes right near the end of the day last July. We missed our Paddlefish Rez and a TestTrack FP. When we finally marched out of there we felt entitled to have our missed reservation fee canceled, a dinner reservation somewhere nice (last minute or not), and a FP for Test Track we can use. I would expect as much or more if I had been held up for 3+ hours. Demanding good service has nothing to do with pixie dust.

My criticism is that the OP seems to have had her switch flipped after all of 45 minutes of inconvenience.

I will agree the no show fee should be waived for something outside of your control. All the rest, you're going overboard. Demanding extras is not demanding good service. Spin it however you want. It's walking around with a hand out. Expecting anything is as tacky as all get out.
I find that any more, they rarely ask how they can make it better. What do you do when they don't ask? Tell them you want something anyway?

If you always check in via the APP, then you never inquire about an available room upgrade?

If you go even somewhat regularly, they track that and will often reward repeat business. We checked into AKL about a year ago and politely asked if they had a better room available and what the additional charge would be and were promptly bumped from a standard view room to a Savannah view with bunk beds. She says, "The difference in room rates comes to ... oh never mind that, we can have the room available in about an hour." Out of my last 10 stays on property I think we got a free room upgrade 2 or 3 times and a heavily discounted upgrade twice.

If you do everything via the APP you deny Disney CMs the opportunity to extend to you their world class customer service. I'm not saying one should ask for pixie-dust, that's tacky, but if you want to get hit with some you have to be close to some pixies.

No you most certainly do not deny them the chance. We've gotten plenty of room upgrades, doing online check-in and without asking for a darn thing. More often than 2 or 3 times in 10 stays as a matter of fact. We find out that we got the upgrade when we walk in the door of our room and it's better than what we booked. Asking is one quick way to NOT get them. Because I can assure you, majority of the time if someone was feeling generous to give an upgrade, they'll give it to someone who doesn't ask over someone who does. Those times you asked and didn't get one, you caused them to look for someone who didn't ask.

 

[Marionnette]

So now that things have calmed down, here’s the entire issue at hand. Those of you who were fast to be mean on here, I am not surprised, I’ve been a long time dis member and the quick snaps on someone who has anything negative to say about precious Disney is getting old. Disney is NOT perfect. Mean people do work here. And for the $8500 I just dropped to take my family to universal horror nights vip for 2 nights in a club level room plus Disney with 3 tours and Halloween party....plus gift baskets delivered to our room, it’s pretty rough to except horrible cast members. Especially when I booked in December 2017 and planned every single detail down to potty breaks 10 months in advance. So here is the deal, after a very smooth 3 nights at universal club level I had a private car transfer us to pop century from royal pacific universal. Arrived right on time at 10am and checked our bags. I asked a cast member a random cast member about how to check in from the ap on my phone. Yes...the ap everyone on here complains about not working properly, that ap. I was shown by the cast member how to do it. So I did it, thought it was done and carried on to Hollywood studios. Me, my husband and 19 year old son. After a 40 minute wait for the bus......because it broke down, finally one came. Then we went off on our way. We got a weird text stating we had pictures of us on the Disney ap. I looked and there was nothing. Then I got another message about opening my room door with my cell phone. I ignored it. We ate lunch at T. rex , I went to pay via my magic band and a barcode popped up on her device with no name. So I paid via credit card and left. I told my husband how weird this was as I had already put in my credit card info months ago online to use, and it didn’t work. No biggie, I thought well since it’s pushing 3pm I guess I’ll go see what’s happening with our room. You know, cause rooms are “said” to be ready by 3pm, not promised but said to be ready. So I get in line to check in, but am confused cause I got an email stating my room was ready with no room number. So a cast member in Blue carting a clip board walks up and says did you check in online. I replied yes I did but my credit card isn’t working for room...she talks over me and says ok do you didn’t check in then. I said yes I did but there’s some issues, my credit card...she cuts me off again and says you didn’t check in. Again I said well you know what I did cause I got a text saying my room is...she cuts me off and literally said no you didn’t check in, you must not know how to use....I turned around and looked at my husband I talked over her and said to him I’m done, now I want a supervisor, I turned around and she walked off. I was next. The man called me up, I immediately asked for a supervisor. He asked what happened and I told him and his response was “sorry, yeah there’s be issues with the ap today”. You actually did check in but your account was frozen because the ap isn’t working correctly for check in, it’s been happening a lot today. So I tried opening the ap to ask questions because maybe I’m not sure if it’s me not knowing how to use it, he wouldn’t explain or show me anything. And no exploration as to the text about my phone opening the door... At that point he Rushed me thru check in, and tried to send me off. I stopped him. I asked if we had a gift basket waiting here in the lobby for us. He said no. I told him check again I have an email stating it’s here and I want it. He looked again, went and found it then apologized again. I was really irritated at this point, not fuming.....just irritated. Then came the bags. I checked them in at the baggage hold desk. 4 bags. Baggage hold. Presented my pickup ticket. The man goes the get them....about 7 minutes later he comes back saying he can’t find them. Ok, now I getting mad. Another cast members goes looking.....time keeps ticking by and no guy....no bags. I ask another guy to go find the man looking for my bags, this is ridiculous. Almost 30 more minutes go by and here comes some random cast member with our bags. Where in gods name were my bags? Sorry....they were in an area to be sent out for airline check in for magical express. Oh my god. Well thank god that didn’t happen! I was fuming at this point. I took my stuff and went to my room. I’m just very disappointed. As anyone else would be too. I’m not gonna give the benefit of the doubt to rude people. I work in customer service and it pure unprofessional to be rude to people in a customer facing job. Let’s be real. What I’m seeing is a few employees I e been unlucky to encounter that need to find a new job, cause clearly they hate this one. As for pop century this is my impression of this hotel. Sure, I could have stayed Deluxe, moderate, but I chose this one due to the absurd cost I was spending as a whole for the entire vacation and thought it would be fun to stay someplace new. I’m not new to disneyworld by any means, but this is our first trip in 2 years and a lot has changed. It’s just not a good start to Disney and not at all what I’d have expected from Disney cast members.

The rule.

OP, I'm sorry your Disney stay is off to a rocky start. Here's hoping that it gets better. IMO, you let a series of small problems compound into one huge problem that ruined your first day. Ultimately, each problem was resolved even if you feel that the individuals who were assisting you were not as helpful as you wanted. Instead of complaining here, you should take more time out of your vacation to speak calmly to the hotel manager, providing CM names and as much detail as possible. If those CMs really do merit retraining in "the Disney way", they will get it. No one can improve their performance if constructive criticism is not offered and suggestions for a better way to handle a situation are not made. Complaining on this forum may be a therapeutic venting session but it does nothing to ensure that the same thing does not happen again.

 

[Marthasor]

i am beyond appalled at the horrific service at Pop century during check in. We had our bags held at 10am. Came back to retrieve our bags and check in at 2:50pm, it’s now 3:21pm and no one knows where our bags are. Check in was rough, I reported both cast members who are beyond rude during check in, I’m confused how the check in works on the ap, after complaining to a supervisor that both cast members refuse to listen to my issue of not being able to check in, finally I got a very lame apology and rushed thru check in with no exploration as to why the check in on the ap doesn’t work. Pop century, this is our first and last stay here. The rudest cast members ever.

I'm so sorry you had a rough start to your trip. It sounds like things just piled on - the cc attached to your MB not working, a strange room-ready e-mail with no room number, bags going missing, etc. I get it. I've had every single one of these issues, though not all at once! It can get very frustrating. Just wanted to say, the CM's at Pop may not know why the app didn't work. MDE has been having terrible problems over the last month or so and your reservation and online check-in may simply have gotten caught up in the tech snafu. I've found at WDW, most CM's are really only versed in their particular job and when faced with questions that are under a different department, they just simply may not have the correct information available. I would also recommend carrying your cc and a little cash on you in the parks in case the system goes down. This happened to us on one occasion and thank goodness I had some cash on me to buy food and drinks. Anyway - I hope your trip has gotten better!

 

[Simba's Mom]

You could have done online check in basically when you booked your trip.
Not sure why you were trying to do it while lyou were already there.
Why wouldn't you have just walked up to the check in counter and checked in?
Who did you leave your bags with? You should have taken them to bell services and then retrevied them.
Where your bags located? Were they placed in your room for you? That is generally not the case but who knows.
Seems like there's something more to this story.
Seems crazy that you'd go off on people reporting them.
Seems like you're wasting your time by coming on here to complain when you've just arrived at Disney.

I've done on-line check in and it didn't "go through" for some unknown reason, and I had to go to the front desk and check in just like everyone else. Last time I asked what the problem was with the on-line check in (maybe I didn't click a certain button?)and even the front desk CM didn't have any idea.Doing it on-line is NO guarantee.

 

[tex1989]

Our latest few trips we have stayed in a budget resort and in several instances we have booked a preferred room so there is little chance for any upgrade. If we book at a moderate say POFQ (our favorite) standard room them we will fill in our first and second preference. Last POFQ stay we were standard view with a request to be close to transportation and close to the food court. We were on the third floor overlooking the entrance to the Food Court and we considered that an upgrade! We don't go to WDW expecting pixie dust at every turn. We go because we enjoy it, we can afford it (doing it our way) and with AP's we do it several times a year. That said I appreciate and enjoy every bit of magic we receive. At MNSSHP the last week of September my wife wanted one of the straws they were selling at the Dole Whip place and I said I wanted one, it was like $5 or something. The CM saw my birthday badge and did not charge me for it. Great surprise and I thank him and told him how much I appreciated it as did my wife, he smiled, we smiled, magic! But it was more magical because we did not expect it, ask for it and was overjoyed to get it. We have no expectations of towel animals at all given the workload of housekeeping, but have received them about every other trip. We enjoy them, leave a note for housekeeping saying how much we appreciate it with an envelope with some cash in it. We go and never get one, we leave a note and thank housekeeping and an envelope with some cash in it. We never say where are the towel animals.

I am not trying to be defensive or mean to anyone here but if there are expectations when going then there really are never any real surprises are there?

 

[Lynne M]

We're done here.