TLinden16
Scotty and Ray at Jelly Rolls are the best!
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2002
I had a less than magical stay at the Disneyland Hotel October 9-15. I had so many little problems at that hotel that I began to refer to my stay there as a comedy of errors. It got to the point where I was standing on Main Street one morning waiting for rope drop, on the phone with Disney Travel in tears, so upset that I wound up walking back to the Disneyland Hotel to speak with the manager.
The problems started as soon as I stepped out of my shuttle from LAX. There was not a bellman to be found to assist me with my bags--not what I expected from a deluxe resort. So, I dragged my two suitcases into the lobby and got in line to check in.
The person who checked me in was not very helpful. She assigned me to a room in the Sierra tower. When I arrived at the door, I was happy to see I had a corner room, as corner rooms at most hotels are a bit larger than most other rooms. Well, let me just say I was shocked by the size of my room! It was by far the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in. There was a long hallway that lead down to the room. The room was so small that it had just one queen sized bed, two small end tables, an amoire, and a small table with one chair. If the chair wasn't pushed in, I would not be able to walk between the bed and the table. If you don't count the long hallway, this room was probably about half the size of a room at a value resort at Disney World. Not what I was expecting for the price I paid for a standard room at this deluxe resort--they have a nerve charging full price for that size room.
The bathroom was also tiny. It had a single sink outside the bathroom--not the double sink I was expecting. The toilet and tub were squished into one small area.
The room was right next to the parking deck, and right above the check in area. It was on the 5th floor. I heard a lot of beeping from the parking deck, and the fountain right below the room was running throughout the night. The one positive about this tiny room was it had a partial view of Disneyland--I could see Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn from my room.
As soon as I arrived, I had a message say that I did not receive my parking pass or my guest charge card. Without the charge card, I would not have been able to charge items to my room (which I didn't do anyways), have priority access to the monorail, or have access to early entry at Disneyland. I was told that these items would be waiting for me at the information desk. When I got down to the information desk, they didn't know what I was talking about, and spent several minutes looking for it. Finally, someone just printed up a new one, but they only gave me the parking pass portion of it--I did not get the guest charge card until the next day.
I then headed over to Goofy's Kitchen. I had a priority seating for brunch, and was about an hour early, as my flight was early. I asked if I could get in earlier. The guy who checked me in was rude, and after originally saying that would be fine, he snapped at me, "We won't be able to take you until your regular time, so you may as well leave and come back." I was taken aback by his abruptness.
When I arrived back at the restaurant for brunch, I was a bit disappointed by it. Much of the food was cold, and there was no one around to carve meat at the carving station. The character interaction was pretty bad. Although there were at least a half dozen characters floating around the restaurant, only Max and Mulan made it to the area where I was sitting. I watched Goofy work the same area of the restaurant four times. The character interaction was so bad in my area that one little girl found Timon in another area, took his hand, and lead him to her table.
After brunch, it was off to Disneyland for the day. When I arrived back at the hotel, there was a gift basket on my table. I had lost my father just six days before leaving on my trip, and my friends decided to send me a basket to cheer me up. I go read the card, and it says, "Have a Magical 50th Birthday, Danny!" Well, let me just say that my name is not Danny, and I'm not 50.
So I pick up the phone, and call the front desk. I wait on hold for 10 minutes without hearing a live human voice. I finally tire of waiting on hold, so I put my shoes back on and head back downstairs. It is now 10:00 p.m. in California. I have been up since 1:00 a.m. California after traveling from the east coast. So, needless to say, I'm pretty tired, as I've now been up for 21 hours. So, I arrive at the front desk, basket in hand, and say to the guy, "This was in my room, but the card isn't addressed to me." He started asking me, "How did you get this? Why do you have this?" I say, "It was in my room when I got back from the park." He says, "Let me look into this." He takes the basket, and goes in the back room. He comes back a few minutes later, and snaps, "I don't know why you have this. This obviously isn't for you." He tells me that he is going bring the basket back to bell services.
I go back to my room, and I'm in tears because of all the issues I had with the hotel I had that day--getting stuck in a broom closet room, and being repeatedly treated badly by hotel staff.
The next morning when I wake up, I was still pretty upset. I called down and spoke with a manager about the problems I had. I originally wasn't going to complain about the size of the room, but after all the other problems I had, I did complain--I didn't want to be stuck another three nights in a room that I felt wasn't worth what I paid for it. She blocked out a room for me, and told me that they would set up a priority cleaning so that it would be ready for me earlier than normal. She was little help with the other issues I had at the hotel.
So, I head off to the park, and go back to the resort around 3:00 to see if the room is ready. They tell me to stick around. It will be ready soon. So I wander around the resort a bit, and go back to the desk to check again. The room is showing as being cleaned, but needs to be inspected. I wait again while they call. The room is clean, but somebody's luggage is in the room. They call again, someone goes into the room and realizes that my luggage is in the room.
I go to the new room, which is close to double the size of the original room I was in. Some (but not all) of my luggage is in the room. The basket from my friends is in the room--it was the same basket as the previous one with a different tag. They added some balloons and a breakfast voucher to the basket.
Thanks to some very helpful friends at Dreams Unlimited, I am put in contact with someone at Disney Travel to discuss the issues I've had. The woman couldn't believe all the trouble I had with the resort in just 24 hours. She promises to send me tickets to get on the Holiday Haunted Mansion and Soarin' without waiting in line.
The next day, when I get a call saying that I have an envelope at the desk. When I go down to the information desk, I have to wait a couple of minutes before being acknowledged as two cast members chat about something that is obviously not work related--they were laughing, and obviously joking around.
The next afternoon, they were working on the pipes in front of my room. I had come back to the room for a while, and I was just going to relax for a bit. It got really loud, of course, but I figured they have to do work to improve things at some point no big deal. I totally understand that happens sometimes. It wasn't a problem at the time, but it was later.
That night, I head over to Granville's to treat myself to a nice dinner. I had a coupon from my California fun book good for 10% off. My server brought up her tip twice during the meal. When she brought me the slip, she made a point of making sure I knew how much I was saving with the coupon so that I would tip her on the full amount of the meal. I originally lefter her a tip that was over 20%, but after continuing to mention her tip, I cut it down to about 12%--and that was only because the servers who were assisting her were very nice.
The next morning, when I went to take a shower, I realized that whatever they were working on the pipes for was not fixed. There was no hot water for my shower! It had been fine the day before. So either everyone was up at 6:30 am this morning to take a shower and using hot water at the same time, or there is something wrong.
When I called to report the water problem, the person at the front desk said, "We're fixing it" and hung up on me. Again, I was shocked by the rudeness and abruptness of a Disneyland Hotel employee! She didn't even apologize for the inconvience. Just a short answer and a click.
I then headed over to Disneyland, and while I waited for the rope to drop, I spoke with someone from Disney Travel again. I stood on Main Street, talking on the phone, in tears over all the issues I was having.
I was so upset at the Disneyland that I wasn't having fun, so I went back to the Disneyland Hotel to speak with a manager. I was in tears again as I spoke to the manager at the hotel, explaining to him that I had never had such horrible service at a hotel resort, and that I was shocked by how badly I was treated at a Disney hotel. I told him that I expected more from a Disney hotel. I explained that I wasn't making any unreasonable requests--most of the issues came from cast members not doing their jobs properly. He offered to buy me dinner, but I declined his offer, as I had no interest in having another meal at a restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel after being snapped at and asked for a tip at two of the restaurants at the hotel.
Additionally, I explained to the manager that I would be moving to the Grand Californian the next day. I told him that I had originally planned on having my luggage moved by the Disney staff, a service they provide, but after all the issues I had, I didn't have confidence in the staff moving my bags. He told me they should be able to do that without a problem, but I still didn't have any confidence in the resort.
The manager had someone from VIP Guest Services call me that night, offering to arrange for assistance with my bags, but I called them back and declined the service.
I wound up waking up early, and moving the luggage myself at 7:00 a.m. When I arrived at the Grand Californian, they had me listed as a VIP, so someone from VIP Guest Services came out to assist me. They did upgrade my room so I had a theme park view, and gave me vouchers for two free breakfasts and a free dinner.
My stay at the Grand Californian was much nicer than my stay at the Disneyland Hotel. By the end of the week, the staff at Storyteller's all knew me--they had me listed as a VIP, so I always got a great table and immediate service.
Karen
The problems started as soon as I stepped out of my shuttle from LAX. There was not a bellman to be found to assist me with my bags--not what I expected from a deluxe resort. So, I dragged my two suitcases into the lobby and got in line to check in.
The person who checked me in was not very helpful. She assigned me to a room in the Sierra tower. When I arrived at the door, I was happy to see I had a corner room, as corner rooms at most hotels are a bit larger than most other rooms. Well, let me just say I was shocked by the size of my room! It was by far the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in. There was a long hallway that lead down to the room. The room was so small that it had just one queen sized bed, two small end tables, an amoire, and a small table with one chair. If the chair wasn't pushed in, I would not be able to walk between the bed and the table. If you don't count the long hallway, this room was probably about half the size of a room at a value resort at Disney World. Not what I was expecting for the price I paid for a standard room at this deluxe resort--they have a nerve charging full price for that size room.
The bathroom was also tiny. It had a single sink outside the bathroom--not the double sink I was expecting. The toilet and tub were squished into one small area.
The room was right next to the parking deck, and right above the check in area. It was on the 5th floor. I heard a lot of beeping from the parking deck, and the fountain right below the room was running throughout the night. The one positive about this tiny room was it had a partial view of Disneyland--I could see Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn from my room.
As soon as I arrived, I had a message say that I did not receive my parking pass or my guest charge card. Without the charge card, I would not have been able to charge items to my room (which I didn't do anyways), have priority access to the monorail, or have access to early entry at Disneyland. I was told that these items would be waiting for me at the information desk. When I got down to the information desk, they didn't know what I was talking about, and spent several minutes looking for it. Finally, someone just printed up a new one, but they only gave me the parking pass portion of it--I did not get the guest charge card until the next day.
I then headed over to Goofy's Kitchen. I had a priority seating for brunch, and was about an hour early, as my flight was early. I asked if I could get in earlier. The guy who checked me in was rude, and after originally saying that would be fine, he snapped at me, "We won't be able to take you until your regular time, so you may as well leave and come back." I was taken aback by his abruptness.
When I arrived back at the restaurant for brunch, I was a bit disappointed by it. Much of the food was cold, and there was no one around to carve meat at the carving station. The character interaction was pretty bad. Although there were at least a half dozen characters floating around the restaurant, only Max and Mulan made it to the area where I was sitting. I watched Goofy work the same area of the restaurant four times. The character interaction was so bad in my area that one little girl found Timon in another area, took his hand, and lead him to her table.
After brunch, it was off to Disneyland for the day. When I arrived back at the hotel, there was a gift basket on my table. I had lost my father just six days before leaving on my trip, and my friends decided to send me a basket to cheer me up. I go read the card, and it says, "Have a Magical 50th Birthday, Danny!" Well, let me just say that my name is not Danny, and I'm not 50.
So I pick up the phone, and call the front desk. I wait on hold for 10 minutes without hearing a live human voice. I finally tire of waiting on hold, so I put my shoes back on and head back downstairs. It is now 10:00 p.m. in California. I have been up since 1:00 a.m. California after traveling from the east coast. So, needless to say, I'm pretty tired, as I've now been up for 21 hours. So, I arrive at the front desk, basket in hand, and say to the guy, "This was in my room, but the card isn't addressed to me." He started asking me, "How did you get this? Why do you have this?" I say, "It was in my room when I got back from the park." He says, "Let me look into this." He takes the basket, and goes in the back room. He comes back a few minutes later, and snaps, "I don't know why you have this. This obviously isn't for you." He tells me that he is going bring the basket back to bell services.
I go back to my room, and I'm in tears because of all the issues I had with the hotel I had that day--getting stuck in a broom closet room, and being repeatedly treated badly by hotel staff.
The next morning when I wake up, I was still pretty upset. I called down and spoke with a manager about the problems I had. I originally wasn't going to complain about the size of the room, but after all the other problems I had, I did complain--I didn't want to be stuck another three nights in a room that I felt wasn't worth what I paid for it. She blocked out a room for me, and told me that they would set up a priority cleaning so that it would be ready for me earlier than normal. She was little help with the other issues I had at the hotel.
So, I head off to the park, and go back to the resort around 3:00 to see if the room is ready. They tell me to stick around. It will be ready soon. So I wander around the resort a bit, and go back to the desk to check again. The room is showing as being cleaned, but needs to be inspected. I wait again while they call. The room is clean, but somebody's luggage is in the room. They call again, someone goes into the room and realizes that my luggage is in the room.
I go to the new room, which is close to double the size of the original room I was in. Some (but not all) of my luggage is in the room. The basket from my friends is in the room--it was the same basket as the previous one with a different tag. They added some balloons and a breakfast voucher to the basket.
Thanks to some very helpful friends at Dreams Unlimited, I am put in contact with someone at Disney Travel to discuss the issues I've had. The woman couldn't believe all the trouble I had with the resort in just 24 hours. She promises to send me tickets to get on the Holiday Haunted Mansion and Soarin' without waiting in line.
The next day, when I get a call saying that I have an envelope at the desk. When I go down to the information desk, I have to wait a couple of minutes before being acknowledged as two cast members chat about something that is obviously not work related--they were laughing, and obviously joking around.
The next afternoon, they were working on the pipes in front of my room. I had come back to the room for a while, and I was just going to relax for a bit. It got really loud, of course, but I figured they have to do work to improve things at some point no big deal. I totally understand that happens sometimes. It wasn't a problem at the time, but it was later.
That night, I head over to Granville's to treat myself to a nice dinner. I had a coupon from my California fun book good for 10% off. My server brought up her tip twice during the meal. When she brought me the slip, she made a point of making sure I knew how much I was saving with the coupon so that I would tip her on the full amount of the meal. I originally lefter her a tip that was over 20%, but after continuing to mention her tip, I cut it down to about 12%--and that was only because the servers who were assisting her were very nice.
The next morning, when I went to take a shower, I realized that whatever they were working on the pipes for was not fixed. There was no hot water for my shower! It had been fine the day before. So either everyone was up at 6:30 am this morning to take a shower and using hot water at the same time, or there is something wrong.
When I called to report the water problem, the person at the front desk said, "We're fixing it" and hung up on me. Again, I was shocked by the rudeness and abruptness of a Disneyland Hotel employee! She didn't even apologize for the inconvience. Just a short answer and a click.
I then headed over to Disneyland, and while I waited for the rope to drop, I spoke with someone from Disney Travel again. I stood on Main Street, talking on the phone, in tears over all the issues I was having.
I was so upset at the Disneyland that I wasn't having fun, so I went back to the Disneyland Hotel to speak with a manager. I was in tears again as I spoke to the manager at the hotel, explaining to him that I had never had such horrible service at a hotel resort, and that I was shocked by how badly I was treated at a Disney hotel. I told him that I expected more from a Disney hotel. I explained that I wasn't making any unreasonable requests--most of the issues came from cast members not doing their jobs properly. He offered to buy me dinner, but I declined his offer, as I had no interest in having another meal at a restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel after being snapped at and asked for a tip at two of the restaurants at the hotel.
Additionally, I explained to the manager that I would be moving to the Grand Californian the next day. I told him that I had originally planned on having my luggage moved by the Disney staff, a service they provide, but after all the issues I had, I didn't have confidence in the staff moving my bags. He told me they should be able to do that without a problem, but I still didn't have any confidence in the resort.
The manager had someone from VIP Guest Services call me that night, offering to arrange for assistance with my bags, but I called them back and declined the service.
I wound up waking up early, and moving the luggage myself at 7:00 a.m. When I arrived at the Grand Californian, they had me listed as a VIP, so someone from VIP Guest Services came out to assist me. They did upgrade my room so I had a theme park view, and gave me vouchers for two free breakfasts and a free dinner.
My stay at the Grand Californian was much nicer than my stay at the Disneyland Hotel. By the end of the week, the staff at Storyteller's all knew me--they had me listed as a VIP, so I always got a great table and immediate service.
Karen
Oh Karen, I'm so sorry that you had such a disappointing stay. You really deserved some magic last week....
