“It’s for your safety.”

[MrsInsG]

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.

 

[gwynne]

That must have been very annoying. You are a RPC club guest, is that right? Did you talk to the CL CM's about your experience?

 

[Kristina]

As guests we have to be careful! I understand that this is new and maybe Disney hasn’t thought it through properly yet but anyone can use this excuse to get in our room. I understand that you’re shaken up, I travel alone a lot and I would be too. Honestly I probably wouldn’t have opened and instead called down to the front desk to verify what was happening but I wonder if they’d even know?

 

[kathymac]

I’m not sure what more you could have done to not be bothered by a security visit. I’m thinking the housekeeper notified security that she wouldn’t be entering your room for cleaning, so security showed up to look around in the room. I agree this is very intrusive and unpleasant.

I’ll be at the GF in April. I think I will ask the CL CMs to arrange for housekeeping at a certain agreed upon time each day to avoid having security show up at an inopportune time. If this “security check “ must be done, I hope it can be done so as not to cause such stress.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm really sorry your sleep was interrupted. That's way over the top. I hope you take a moment to email Disney with your thoughts on how it was handled.

 

[dansdad]

Honestly I probably wouldn’t have opened and instead called down to the front desk to verify what was happening but I wonder if they’d even know?

Since there's no way to contact the front desk from your room, all calls route to a Central Call Center offsite, they would have no idea.

 

[Elle23]

Unless they are inspecting every nook and cranny...between mattresses, in laundry piles, suitcases, under the bed, in pillow cases, etc....I’m not really sure what the point is?

 

[Kimberle]

I wonder what would happen if you (or anyone) didn't answer the door. Will they now remove the deadbolts?? I agree, there has to be a better way to handle this.

If someone really want to do harm (like in Vegas), a afternoon "safety check" isn't going to do much. They could bring in their weapons inside a suitcase shortly before "needed".

 

[yesmylove]

Did he show you any ID? Not that it can't be fake, but my concern is that how do we know that the man showing up is really with Disney security. Guests shouldn't have to be upset and scared by this safety check.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I'm not really sure of the point but its new "security" and I think we should start taking a stand.
I've stated in another thread that if someone knocks on my door I plan to take off some clothes and then answer. I get the feeling if I'm pretty indecent they won't do it again.

 

[Shanti]

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.

I take your warning seriously, and might just take my money to an offsite resort during our next WDW trip. I know what GF rooms cost- it's insane to pay that & then be treated that way. Yuck.

I'm more into Disney cruises right now, and glad of it. They are expensive, but you're very well treated. The customer experience at WDW, by contrast, is going downhill even while prices rise.

 

[bellrae]

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.

I had a very similiar experience at WL three weeks ago. I've had a number of follow ups with Disney since (including them calling me yesterday to go over the details and what steps they were taking to improve experiences for future guests under the policy). They said they want people that this happens to to email them and provide them as many details as possible as they are trying to get the kinks out of the new policy but can only do it when they hear the details of guest experiences. I highly recommend emailing them (in addition to addressing directly with management at the resort - which I also did).

 

[Summer2018]

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.

How terrible. This is completely unacceptable. Disney needs to address this immediately.

 

[chicagoshannon]

This happened to someone else at POR. They talked to a housekeeper that was next to their room and told her they didn't need service since they were going to be napping. Within a very short amount of time (like only 10 minutes) the security guy showed up and disrupted their stay.

I said this in the other thread, it's like housekeeping informs security and then security IMMEDIATELY comes to the room to barge in. They should be required to wait at least a couple of hours before barging in.

You should reasonably expect to be able to nap without being disrupted. This whole thing is just asinine. I would much rather just sign something upon check in stating that I won't sue Disney if their is a mass shooting. Seriously, the mass shooting was NOT the fault of the Vegas hotel and I don't like being treated like a criminal because of it.

 

[Summer2018]

I'm not really sure of the point but its new "security" and I think we should start taking a stand.
I've stated in another thread that if someone knocks on my door I plan to take off some clothes and then answer. I get the feeling if I'm pretty indecent they won't do it again.

 

[CrankyDad]

I wonder what would happen if you (or anyone) didn't answer the door. Will they now remove the deadbolts?? I agree, there has to be a better way to handle this.".

I am a hotel GM with a major Brand for 20+ years. We can bypass the deadbolt in 2 seconds if we want..

Now that said, my hotel, we inspect rooms daily. Meaning we put eyes in the room every 24 hours. So much of it comes down to how you present it to guests and then implement it the way you said you would. There are a ton of reasons why we need to check your room, and remember you are just renting it, we own it. But you have to be respectful and understanding on how you get in there.

Vast majority of rooms, HSK and your inspector will handle it. DND for over a day, we will make you aware via calls to room, your cell and even old school note under door, we are coming in. We will get in.

Again, seems like Disney is strong arming this and also not being up front so guests know what to expect when staying.

We just did a full week at AoA early Jan of this year. Our adult son is a late sleeper while we were out. By the time we got back, he would head out to parks. Basically the room was never empty. Outside of the two days we asked for service, the room was never checked. Due to my job, my family knew my interest in seeing this policy live.

So 5 other days, nobody from Disney made any attempt to enter my room. The OP clearly had a different experience. That is the issue there. My stay and interaction with the policy was 100% different then hers. Guests do not know what to expect and nothing is clearly communicated to you.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I guess it would be prudent to nap in your clothes at this point. Not trying to be funny.

 

[Shanti]

I'm not really sure of the point but its new "security" and I think we should start taking a stand.
I've stated in another thread that if someone knocks on my door I plan to take off some clothes and then answer. I get the feeling if I'm pretty indecent they won't do it again.

I actually might respond by completely ignoring the intrusion. Just stay in bed, pretend to sleep, even if the guy comes in. Since I know Disney does this, I wouldn't really be worried at a deluxe resort. I know other people have different comfort levels, but I am not very easily frightened. I'm much more easily annoyed- lol. When the guy would force his way in & try to talk to me, I'd just lie there on my stomach pretending to sleep very deeply until he left. Not my job to receive uninvited guests while I'm trying to nap in my overpriced resort room.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

I feel torn over this. Obviously when you’re paying a lot of money to stay somewhere and you want to take a nap you feel like you should be able to (of course)! I do however think that this type of thing is one that people will complain about because of the inconvenience until something actually bad happens and then you have people pointing fingers asking why wasn’t more done.
I’m not saying that people should be rude but it will probably always be annoying to be “checked on.”

 

[Dentam]

As someone planning my first solo trip at the Boardwalk later this year, this definitely has me uncomfortable. It would be incredibly easy for someone to claim to work for Disney and need to do a "security" check of my room. I assume they are doing this for DVC rooms as well?