“It’s for your safety.”

[skyblue17]

If you're planning a resort day you may not want housekeeping to come in. If you're sick or just really tired you may not want to have housekeeping to come in. Those mean security check.

In order to not have security check you've got to let housekeeping in. I don't honestly think that's it's a rare exception for a person to have a day where they don't want housekeeping to come in because they are in the room or will be coming and going in the room all day. At that point it brings it back to the person reviewing if the security check is more of an issue then working in housekeeping. But TBH it's a lot of things you've now got to consider in your vacation. There are also people who do resort stays but not park days type vacations. I think that aspect alone has heightened the concern or anxiety or annoyance/irritation for folks. It's just more stuff to work out and think through and schedule, etc.

I guess I'm just underestimating the amount of people who feel inconvenienced by housekeeping. I travel a good amount and I can't say I ever was like "oh no, what if the housekeeper is there when I get back?" It just never seemed like something to worry about to me. Like, if I'm in the pool and I come back in a wet bathing suit and housekeeping happens to be there, what's the worst that's going to happen? I'm going to ask them to leave and they're going to move on. If I go to the food court for lunch and housekeeping happens to be in the room when I get back, that would not annoy me unless I was in a rush to get somewhere else, in which case I'd ask them to leave or ask if I could grab my stuff around them. It's still the guest's room with the guest's stuff in it, housekeeping being in there does not deny them access.

If you're sick or sleeping all day, that I see as an inconvenience if they are trying to get in, but that is something that I do think is pretty rare.

 

[disneyAndi14]

So with Disney pushing the GC for not taking housekeeping during your stay, should you order towels everyday so someone can bring those when you call or will they just show up any time if you don’t request something each day? I would rather have mousekeeping daily so I don’t have any other surprise visits. I travel with my daughter so just her and I in the room. I am not looking forward to someone coming during our afternoon down time. OP I would have found that very intimidating and scary, yikes. I hope they figure out a better way to do this.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I guess I'm just underestimating the amount of people who feel inconvenienced by housekeeping. I travel a good amount and I can't say I ever was like "oh no, what if the housekeeper is there when I get back?" It just never seemed like something to worry about to me. Like, if I'm in the pool and I come back in a wet bathing suit and housekeeping happens to be there, what's the worst that's going to happen? I'm going to ask them to leave and they're going to move on. If I go to the food court for lunch and housekeeping happens to be in the room when I get back, that would not annoy me unless I was in a rush to get somewhere else, in which case I'd ask them to leave or ask if I could grab my stuff around them. It's still the guest's room with the guest's stuff in it, housekeeping being in there does not deny them access.

If you're sick or sleeping all day, that I see as an inconvenience if they are trying to get in, but that is something that I do think is pretty rare.

It's the DIS..there's quite a variety of folks on here lol. There are things I wouldn't dream of caring about that others do. But on the other side there are things that I'm care about that others have no issue whatsoever or wouldn't even think about. I totally get it though what you are thinking. Some of the concerns I've read about didn't even dawn on me.

But I have read enough comments either random ones or trip reports where someone stated someone in their traveling party stayed at the resort all day because they were under the weather even injuries that occurred. Heck I will fully admit I was so glad to have the 10th and the 11th mostly in our rooms during Irma so my feet could have a break and that was after only 2 days at the parks (1 at Universal and 1 at WDW) though it was over 39,500 steps between the two days. I don't know if I could have done over 14hrs which was 31,000 steps in the parks on the 12th if I hadn't gotten those rest days lol.

As for your comment regarding what if the housekeeper was there. I'm sure it depends on multiple things but I do consider the timing of it all-probably would be a different thing if they were just about to leave vs they just started. Personally I would feel awkward going into the room with them in there cleaning and tidying it up so then I would be left outside the room. Me standing there in a wet bathing suit for a minute or two no worries but me standing there for 5, 10 + minutes makes a difference especially because I swear my body has a habit of saying "oh you're back in the room--time to go pee" lol..sorry I know TMI there just stating what usually happens. I can't say that the timing issue is something that would have a higher chance of happening (I think things would need to align) but there is a chance and that is a reason to get people's concerns going. I'm sure some people don't want to even deal with that timeing as a possibility and thus leave their DND (or room occupied/off to neverland sign) up.

 

[tim123]

I beg to differ.

A. Hotels and the Fourth Amendment
In general, the Fourth Amendment “requires police officers to obtain a warrant before searching or seizing persons, houses, papers, and effects.”19 Courts have held that “this constitutional protection also applies to hotel rooms.”20 However, before being able to suppress the results of an illegal search, a defendant must meet his burden of showing a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hotel room.21 This is done by establishing a subjective expectation of privacy in the place searched and society’s willingness to accept the reasonableness of this expectation.22 Thus, a hotel room, as “a temporary abode,” receives the same Fourth Amendment protections as a home,23 because the occupant of a hotel room has an expectation of privacy “no less than a tenant of a house, or the occupant of a room in a boarding house.”24 It makes sense to apply the same legal test to hotels as to apartments or homes, rather than assigning a lesser degree of privacy.

19 United States v. Allen, 106 F.3d 695, 698 (6th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 20 See, e.g., id. (citing Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 301 (1966); Stoner v. California, 376 U.S. 483, 490 (1964)). 21 See Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104 (1980); see also Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 132 n.1 (1978) (“The proponent of a motion to suppress has the burden of establishing that his own Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the challenged search or seizure.”). 22 Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88 (1998). 23 United States v. Singleton, 922 F. Supp. 1522, 1527 (D. Kan. 1996) (citing Hoffa, 385 U.S. at 301; United States v. Foxworth, 8 F.3d 540, 544 (7th Cir. 1993); United States v. Richard, 994 F.2d 244, 247 (5th Cir. 1993); United States v. Parizo, 514 F.2d 52, 54 (2d Cir. 1975); United States v. Croft, 429 F.2d 884, 887 (10th Cir. 1970)). 272 SETON HALL CIRCUIT REVIEW [Vol. 7:269 25

You can beg to differ all you want but you are wrong. The statements you quote appy as the moderator rightly pointed out to government....on private property you have contract law. Disney can enter their rooms. You agree to it when you sign in.
Period. This has all been addressed in the post "Do Not Disturb Gone". I suggest reading the entire post. There is much to digest there.

 

[mousehockey37]

So I haven't read all the pages of this thread, but after reading some of this, here's my questions...

1. What's going to happen if there's an altercation in a room? AKA, a "CM" barges in "in the name of safety" and promptly gets pepper sprayed, or they see parts of people they shouldn't and police are called and tourists try to pursue peeping tom charges, etc.

2. What happens if a CM goes into a room with someone in it and actually finds something? I'm thinking the CM ain't coming out, nor will they have the time to call for help.

There's more questions, but honestly, as I've said before, if someone's got the idea they're going to do something mass chaotic, they're not going to be denied. There's got to be a different way than this current system.

It's only a matter of time until something happens between a guest and a "Safety check CM" and this goes to court.

 

[kwdw]

I struggle with this policy as a solo female traveler who likes to nap in the afternoon to early evening. I'm out of the room bright and early - and sometimes get back between 2-4 and housekeeping STILL hasn't been there. I usually then put up the sign and skip housekeeping. Had they come earlier - I would had loved to have had them do my room - but now I need to sleep.

As a solo, female traveler, anyone knocking on my door that I am not expecting is a threat to my physical and mental self. I'm not opening that door and if they continue to bang or yell at me or attempt to open the door - I'm calling 911. End of story. This is what you are supposed to do as a solo traveler.

I can think of two ways Disney can help this problem:

1) Hire more housekeeping staff so folks can requests time frames for services so they don't get disturbed when sleeping, showering, or just needing private time.

2) Provide me a phone number to call to verify the person at my door is indeed a security officer - and they should have an identification number to give me over the phone that the person at the door can verify to me.

 

[AngiTN]

The security checks are happening at all properties. The gift card instead of housekeeping is at Pop century and maybe other values (not sure).

All mod and value resorts offer no housekeeping option. It is not offered at any deluxe resort

 

[AngiTN]

From the OP's description, the security officer did not seem that concerned about her. He asked if her lights were working as he walked into her room?? I can totally understand why she wouldn't feel comfortable going back to her room until her family got back. That would creep me out and have all of my bs alarms going off.

No he didn't but I wonder if the housekeeper was. Just a guess honestly

 

[Jennasis]

You can ask the CM on the other side of your door to use their card to open the door. Only security or housekeeping will have a valid universal key to access a guest room.

 

[tim123]

Warning- this is long, and it’s dealing with the new “security measure” in place.

I am staying at the Grand Floridian in the main building. I came back from the AK about 2 hours ago because I had a headache (my family stayed at the park.) I returned to my room and saw the housekeeping cart a couple of doors down. I noted my room had not been made up, so I went in search of the housekeeper. I said I was going to rest and did not need service; the housekeeper ascertained my room number, double-checked my need for towels/toiletries etc., and wished me well. I went to my room, bolted and dead-locked the door, undressed and got in bed.

I awoke to someone tapping on my door. I figured it must be next door since I had declined housekeeping. I nodded back off. A short while later I had a more insistent knocking and a voice saying “housekeeping.” I jumped out of bed, dressed, (all the while, someone is knocking insistently on my door), and was saying, “hold on” and “just a moment.” The knocking became MORE insistent in spite of my answering. When I opened the door there was a man there asking if everything was okay. I was still in a haze from having been sleeping and thanked him, but told him I did not need housekeeping and I had already told the housekeeper I would be napping. I was told he was sent from the main office (???) to inspect my room for security reasons. I must have looked at him like he had two heads because he said “I’m allowed in the room.” Now, two things - I am a woman in the room by myself with a stranger at the door telling me he was allowed in, and I had the door wide open and he could see all the way into the room. The man then told me it was for my security (again, ???) and walked by me into the room!!! He began asking if my lights worked (???) and if I needed anything. He never looked in the closet, looked in the bathroom, looked in the sink area, or looked under the desk. Essentially, if he was there for security, he did a fairly sucktastic job.

Now, I have many problems with the whole situation. I am furious as this was invasive and worthless. I am horrified as I was completely naked in my hotel room seconds before this man entered. I am terrified because I have three daughters who are old enough to be in and out of the room on their own and what if one of them had been in here instead of me.

I am a huge Disney fan, but this is over the line. Yes, Disney has the right to come in the room, and I understand that. That said, my behavior (and that of my party) has not been unusual, we are in the main building so we’re in continuous contact with staff, AND I made the housekeeping staff aware of my issue. I do intend to complain, and while I won’t say “I’ll never stay at Disney again,” I will be honest and say that I am completely shaken and don’t feel comfortable in my hotel room at this point - and that is unacceptable.

For those here or coming down, take the warning seriously; do your best to have two people in the room at all times.

This is just a snapshot of what has been and what is going on. People should be furious. Unfortunately so many people love love love all things disney. Until it happens to them.
options:

1) stop going to disney. period. withhold all your $$$$. go somewhere else. do something else. you've been there 100 times.

2) be creative. answer the door in the above example....butt naked.....make sure you film it. stumble gracefully into the arms of the intruder. when he touches your naked body...immediately call the police...then call the best lawyer in the united states and sue disney for attempted rape, sexual molestation and aggravated assault (which they do not have a right to do)....
this moronic, ineffective and phony legal BS policy will end pronto. ask for a 200 million dollar pain and suffering verdict and punitive damages. the right lawyer might be able to pull it off. and then you can all go back to your happy magical place without feeling like a paying criminal slave.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I can’t believe with all the strategizing and planning we do for ADR’s and FP’s that we now have to strategize on how to take an undisturbed, afternoon nap in our WDW resort rooms. With MB technology, WDW actually knows when we are in our rooms - when we have left and when we have entered. If they want to do a security check, they can do it when we are out. Barging in on people when they are trying to relax at any point in the day is unacceptable. If someone has been in their room without leaving for 24 hours, yes, check up on them. If someone, like OP, PROACTIVELY tells housekeeping they aren't feeling well and will be napping, it is actually detrimental to the guest's health to bang on their door and wake them up from their nap.

We've had so many noise issues in WDW rooms and we aren't the typical RD to close parks people. We are usually in our room until late morning or we take an afternoon break. Security barging in on us on top of many times not even being able to sleep in our room really puts a damper on the thought of future stays. I may start looking at offsite options, Swan/Dolphin, Four Seasons, etc.

 

[bumbershoot]

the thought of us as a society just continuing to do things the same way after these types of incidents are becoming normal really bothers me.

While the act of doing nonsensical things *just to do something* really bothers ME.

And my opinion was I don't want just anything passed just to say one side gave an inch

Agreed. 100%.

We’ve had shutdowns before. Those who might be affected know it and maybe going forward will strive to be prepared.

It's a lot more like showing they have something in place in case of a lawsuit.

And when the housekeeper misses something (as they absolute will) that’s going to increase the liability.

Seems like the secret is to just allow housekeeping instead of opting out. I have to admit I don't see how allowing people to do your chores for you is worse than the anxiety some are having about this.

The things housekeeping does aren’t things I care about in a hotel room.

And I’ve mentioned this before, but hubby often has a work trip before or after a fun trip. When he’s traveling he’s doing his old job of field engineer, which means he’s testing prototype equipment that canNOT be stolen and needs to not be seen (if tsa needs to see the items he has a business card, letter, and a script of sorts to have a private room). I can’t even see the items he is testing.

Those things don’t fit in the safe. If the front desk has some locked area, that’s still not all that safe because of curious eyes. So we have no housekeeping.


And it’s not because of the housekeeper, but because of how they do it. At world and land we’ve consistently seen that they open one door and put their cart in front of it. Then they go to the next door room to work with the door shut. It’s ridiculous to leave one room 100% open to anyone passing by.

On a recent trip to Ireland that we followed DH for, we had housekeeping once in a week. We had frequent sightings of the housekeeper and we let the front desk know that we didn’t need them. Some days we asked the housekeeper for more towels and put our old ones out. We travel with many bags and DH had equipment, and it was a very small room, and making space for the housekeeper to come in was more trouble than it was worth.

It’s just unfortunate that that level of service (where a face to face in the Hall or a talk on the phone satisfies them) can’t be figured out at Disney.

When I have housekeeping I want to clear off the bed, I want to gather my errant shoes, socks, random clothing, have enough room on the vanity for replacement of toiletries and ensure the bathroom isn't bad. In other words I don't want housekeeping to walk into a disaster zone.

Exactly.

 

[Ninja Mom]

You can ask the CM on the other side of your door to use their card to open the door. Only security or housekeeping will have a valid universal key to access a guest room.

I'm not going to post any links (Posting information that circumvents Disney's rules is against the Dis Board rules) but a quick search on the internet will show that with the right equipment it is easy to provide a means to overcome the locks at hotel rooms and gain access.

So this idea that ~Only~ Security or housekeeping has the means to open your door is false.

~NM

 

[Jennasis]

I'm not going to post any links (Posting information that circumvents Disney's rules is against the Dis Board rules) but a quick search on the internet will show that with the right equipment it is easy to provide a means to overcome the locks at hotel rooms and gain access.

So this idea that ~Only~ Security or housekeeping has the means to open your door is false.

~NM

Are you suggesting there is a way to trick the room key reader? If so, where are the hoards of reports of this happening at Disney or elsewhere??? If you are suggesting there are crooks who will have a card to fool your room key reader or a device to bypass it, then I can't help you. Don't go on vacation cause it's as likely to be occurring everywhere and this new rule has no bearing on that. I would also imagine, if this were a real thing, they'd be simply walking into EMPTY rooms for the easy pickings rather than looking for an occupied room.

If you were talking about thwarting the security latch you put on from inside the room, I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about using an actual room key card to unlock the door.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm not going to post any links (Posting information that circumvents Disney's rules is against the Dis Board rules) but a quick search on the internet will show that with the right equipment it is easy to provide a means to overcome the locks at hotel rooms and gain access.

So this idea that ~Only~ Security or housekeeping has the means to open your door is false.

~NM

You are seriously worried about this happening? This is a rapant issue?

 

[AngiTN]

You can ask the CM on the other side of your door to use their card to open the door. Only security or housekeeping will have a valid universal key to access a guest room.

Perfect solution for those who are flat out anti housekeeping

 

[Summer2018]

I actually would not suggest this. Opening the door to a stranger gives a stranger who is up to no good the upper hand. While you might be anticipating stepping outside for your safety, he's already prepared to rush into the room pushing you with him to attack.

I've never been in any sort of attack/abuse/harassment situation but I've definitely had an opportunity to be. As a woman every time I walk outside, through a parking lot, through a mall, open a door, get into my car, etc, I am aware of the moments I'm most vulnerable and don't let my guard down. I don't open doors for strangers. Period.

My husband and I discussed this at dinner tonight. Our biggest concern is that our DD (20) and her friend (19) will have their own room. We don’t want them to be stressed out and worried about a stranger entering their room. Until now, I had no concerns about them being on their own.
We will be spending the mornings in the parks with them and meeting them for dinner every night except for our anniversary. They will be on their own for the rest of the time.
DH suggested that when we check in, we request housekeeping in the morning while we are all guaranteed to be out. The afternoons might be for napping or swimming depending on how we feel.
We want housekeeping daily. On our last trip we missed out on housekeeping 3 times because they didn’t get to us until we were back from the parks and napping. It was annoying because we wanted our room cleaned. We ran out of toilet paper and it was almost impossible to get it. We requested it from housekeeping and it took more than a day to get it.
I just want to RELAX and have a wonderful 25th Anniversary in WDW. I want my daughter and her friend to feel safe and have a blast. I don’t think that is too much to ask.

 

[Colleen27]

There really aren’t a million different issues at play here, there is one: the fact that people who say they don’t want to be disturbed should not be disturbed. Wait an hour, send a text, check who is actually booked into the room and use your brain to see if there is a likelihood of them being a true security risk. There is ZERO NEED for this new policy much less the way it is being implemented. This will stop ZERO attacks and could instead endanger guests or at the very least negatively affect their stay.

Yeah, it’s easy to dismiss something like an assault as an inconvenience until it happens to you. Which do you think is more likely - that Disney will stop a mass shooting or that some Disney employee (or even non-employee who gets wind of this policy) will take advantage of this new protocol? Heck, even if every single person is safe as houses, that doesn’t excuse having a policy that is GUARANTEED to cause issues for hotel guests either mentally or physically.

And let's be honest... it is even being implemented in a nonsensical way. There's really only one Disney resort that could potentially be a good position for something like what happened in Vegas (well, two if you count Bay Lake Tower separately). But rather than single out guests of one of their most expensive properties for inconvenience because it has a line of sight to areas where major crowds gather and risk that property's occupancy dropping, they've rolled it out as an across-policy property... as though anyone could be plotting to carry out a mass shooting through the trees outside of my ground-floor room at Pop or from the porch of a Fort Wilderness cabin.

 

[Colleen27]

Do you know that for a fact? I sure don't.

I guess it depends on what your standard of proof is, but management at the hotel said they did. They reported interacting with him in "normal" ways, including delivering room service on the day of the shooting.

ETA: This news just came out a few weeks ago, so someone who is less of a news junkie than I am might very well have missed it. http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/06/us/las-vegas-shooting-mandalay-bay-paddock/index.html

 

[TLSnell1981]

I'm agreeing with the individual who suggested standing in the doorway while the inspection goes on. Keep the door open and stand out there. Or ask them to hold ID up to the peep hole?

Honestly, this new policy doesn't concern me at all. Not even a little...but I do understand why it is upsetting to others.

If someone has ill intentions, standing in the doorway won't protect you. Especially, if you are a small woman or child....easily knocked to the ground


I don't want to be hassled or inconvenienced on a daily basis. Do NOT send someone to bang on my door, if I ask housekeeping to come back later. And, do NOT continue pounding or enter, if I'm unable to answer promptly. Lastly, do NOT disturb us, during nap time or early in the morning. Really..not a ridiculous request. IMO Another thing..increase in our DVC dues for this intrusion.