Room Occupied Madness

[Shanti]

Curious why having a house means you have to cook? I can eat out with a house just like I would with a hotel room. I use the fridge to store easy to grab perishables, but I'm definitely not cooking up big messy meals on vacation.

I just thought I'd point out the positives of off site rentals , especially now that the onsite perks are minimal. I can save around $500 for the week by staying off site, in much better accomodations, and not have to deal with the headaches of on site. We definitely value our space, private pool, 2 or 3 bathrooms so we can all shower and get ready at one time, private parking at our front door, game room, easy access to non-disney restaraunts and activites, storage for our clothes and bags, a washer for the unavoidable mickey bar stain on my daughter's clothes, etc. For us, its a win!

Where do you stay?

 

[Iya]

Room Occupied does not mean Do Not Disturb. It simply advises the CM accessing the room that someone is in it. It should indicate to the CM to be quiet, but clearly it didn't.

It means someone is in the room, therefore, they are not checked out and housekeeping shouldn't be opening their door. It isn't rocket science.

 

[SL6827]

I'm surprised someone has made their own sign saying not to disturb until 11AM or later and place it on the door.

 

[NYCgrrl]

This is the future and I guess we'll just have to learn to change some of our current habits. We've changed how we throw garbage away, where and when we smoke (if at all) and how to survive on domestic flights with little to no edible food...see that? We do know how to adapt, LOL.
Disney is not alone; Hilton changed their door signage around the same time and other chains are considering it as well. All Disney is requesting that they see the room's interior once every 24 hours. Generally, this can readily be fulfilled by housekeeping but if for whatever reason they have not entered the room in that time period you can be assured of a knock on your door or hotel personnel entering while you are gone.

As previously noted check out day is a bit different.Time is not on the side of housekeeping and they are under the gun to turn rooms around so the front desk can amiably greet their newest guests and say "Welcome and yes, your room is ready". Conversely, guests deserve access and use of their room up until 11:00 AM so it's a difficult tight-walk for housekeeping to maneuver.
I think remembering to use the door's top lock is a great way to ensure your privacy and security and in time people will do it like second nature.

 

[NYCgrrl]

It means someone is in the room, therefore, they are not checked out and housekeeping shouldn't be opening their door. It isn't rocket science.

There is always a lag between the front desk's ability to enter a room as vacant and housekeeping's ability to enter. Oftimes, H/K reports a room as vacant before the check out desk knows. Please note the long check out lines often apparent on Sundays. May not be rocket science but certainly is some sort of applied science.

 

[Iya]

There is always a lag between the front desk's ability to enter a room as vacant and housekeeping's ability to enter. Oftimes, H/K reports a room as vacant before the check out desk knows. Please note the long check out lines often apparent on Sundays. May not be rocket science but certainly is some sort of applied science.

I've never "checked out" of a WDW resort room. Once the sign is off my door the day of checkout, that means I'm gone. Until then, leave me alone.

 

[Tink-osophy]

Room Occupied does not mean Do Not Disturb. It simply advises the CM accessing the room that someone is in it. It should indicate to the CM to be quiet, but clearly it didn't.

It's not OK for them to barge in while you're in there even if they're quiet. If there's a room occupied sign on the door and they get no response to knocking, that's not a reason for HK to go on in. You might be in the bathroom or sleeping and not have heard them - but you're still in there and deserve respect and privacy.

The knocking is nothing new, but the barging in at 8:30am unannounced is due to the new policy.

Unless it's the police with due cause, surely no one should be barging in on anyone!

It means someone is in the room, therefore, they are not checked out and housekeeping shouldn't be opening their door. It isn't rocket science.

Exactly.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I've never "checked out" of a WDW resort room. Once the sign is off my door the day of checkout, that means I'm gone. Until then, leave me alone.

Interesting....you have the same attitude I have when I check in...takes a few days back home before I enter my normal grumpy mode and everyone breathes a sigh of relief since they dinna recognise me at first, LOL.

I rarely put a sign on my door checkout day since it's too easy to forget to move it in the scramble to get out. The top lock suits me fine when in the room and leaving. Keeps the lines of communications open for all parties.
Still, there is no right or wrong way to do things as long as all are happy with the end results.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm surprised someone has made their own sign saying not to disturb until 11AM or later and place it on the door.

DGD has made one. Though she made it because we had no sign of any sort. Housekeeping then left a sign for us in it's place.

We've had 2 stays since the policy started and yet to have any issues related to it though. We do not decline housekeeping. The one time I've had them knock when we were in the room, they gladly said they'd return later, after we checked out.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Where do you stay?

I've stayes many different places. I find them on homeaway (VRBO). Windsor hills is a good neighborhood, as is sunset lakes.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Curious why having a house means you have to cook? I can eat out with a house just like I would with a hotel room. I use the fridge to store easy to grab perishables, but I'm definitely not cooking up big messy meals on vacation.

I just thought I'd point out the positives of off site rentals , especially now that the onsite perks are minimal. I can save around $500 for the week by staying off site, in much better accomodations, and not have to deal with the headaches of on site. We definitely value our space, private pool, 2 or 3 bathrooms so we can all shower and get ready at one time, private parking at our front door, game room, easy access to non-disney restaraunts and activites, storage for our clothes and bags, a washer for the unavoidable mickey bar stain on my daughter's clothes, etc. For us, its a win!

I like the way "you roll" with the caveat that I'd feel honor bound to cook if I had access to a kitchen I was paying for; it's just who I am so thankfully the temptation is taken away from my current Disney accommodations.

I understand on many levels your want for a different type of vacation in Orlando....it reminds me of my recent past (10 years worth) "glamping" on Long Island Sound. We could have just done the norm and stayed in a local B+B or rented a house but I needed to feel a sense of home yet being away from it and it worked nicely for us. Now I'm interested in a different extended experience so I find myself at Disney World just as you find you and yours outside the "bubble" yet still enjoying the pleasures of it.

It's all good as we grow knowing what makes us happiest.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Unfortunately I think using the room occupied sign causes more problems then not using it. We have not used it all these last two trips and no one ever came knocking or tried to get in unannounced. We always left a message with mousekeeping for a good time to come in and that worked great. Oh I forgot to add even on our check out days.

 

[Cheyflan]

Curious, why did you not have the bar on the door?

We were at AoA last weekend. On our check out day Housekeeping knocked on the door at about 9:00 or so. I told her we needed about another hour and we were leaving and she said ok and left. We were up but we did have the bar on. They would not have been able to just open, and then, slam the door, had we still be sleeping. Yes, they can get back the bar but it's not instant like using a key is

We honestly forgot. It was a long night and our bellies were full from ‘Ohana! It’s not the BIGGEST deal we were fine and got to enjoy more time and not sleep in, but if I was a parent with a sleeping baby I would have been upset.

 

[Cheyflan]

Room Occupied does not mean Do Not Disturb. It simply advises the CM accessing the room that someone is in it. It should indicate to the CM to be quiet, but clearly it didn't.

I do not mind them coming in at all, but it was that they were loud and unannounced.

 

[Cheyflan]

Curious why having a house means you have to cook? I can eat out with a house just like I would with a hotel room. I use the fridge to store easy to grab perishables, but I'm definitely not cooking up big messy meals on vacation.

I just thought I'd point out the positives of off site rentals , especially now that the onsite perks are minimal. I can save around $500 for the week by staying off site, in much better accomodations, and not have to deal with the headaches of on site. We definitely value our space, private pool, 2 or 3 bathrooms so we can all shower and get ready at one time, private parking at our front door, game room, easy access to non-disney restaraunts and activites, storage for our clothes and bags, a washer for the unavoidable mickey bar stain on my daughter's clothes, etc. For us, its a win!

I hate driving on vacation and not being in the Disney bubble. It saves time as well. I like the full Disney immersive experience.

 

[speeb]

It's not OK for them to barge in while you're in there even if they're quiet. If there's a room occupied sign on the door and they get no response to knocking, that's not a reason for HK to go on in. You might be in the bathroom or sleeping and not have heard them - but you're still in there and deserve respect and privacy.

Or you might have had a heart attack, slipped in the tub, or tried to I'll yourself.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm the type that cleans up my hotel room pretty well anyhow, and making my bed takes avout 45 seconds, so it definitely doesn't bother us to not have a housekeeper. I would feel so bad leaving a messy room for the low paid housekeeper to deal with. Different strokes I guess.

I straighten the bed, collect al the trash and have it tucked in the basket, have all of our belongings put away, leave all the towels in one spot, and have the bathroom wiped down. I don't call this cleaning, it is cleaning up after myself and my family. I leave teh housekeeper $5 per day to clean teh room for me. At home I have to do all of this, so I don't give up this treat when I am vacationing.

This is the future and I guess we'll just have to learn to change some of our current habits. We've changed how we throw garbage away, where and when we smoke (if at all) and how to survive on domestic flights with little to no edible food...see that? We do know how to adapt, LOL.
Disney is not alone; Hilton changed their door signage around the same time and other chains are considering it as well. All Disney is requesting that they see the room's interior once every 24 hours. Generally, this can readily be fulfilled by housekeeping but if for whatever reason they have not entered the room in that time period you can be assured of a knock on your door or hotel personnel entering while you are gone.

As previously noted check out day is a bit different.Time is not on the side of housekeeping and they are under the gun to turn rooms around so the front desk can amiably greet their newest guests and say "Welcome and yes, your room is ready". Conversely, guests deserve access and use of their room up until 11:00 AM so it's a difficult tight-walk for housekeeping to maneuver.
I think remembering to use the door's top lock is a great way to ensure your privacy and security and in time people will do it like second nature.

Mousekeepers have always been chafing at the bit to get into rooms on checkout day. We are early risers so we have not been impacted on checkout day, except to stop at their cart to tell them about what time we will vacate the room.
I agree that we all will adapt to the new normal when we vacation. So far we have nto heard of many hotels and resorts that have adopted teh policy of entering daily, however it is anoccurance that is rolling out, and in the sad event another tragedy occurs with the shooter holed up in a hotel room, I bet you a buck more hotels will advertise they are checking on a daily basis.

 

[pattyw]

This is ridiculous! Universal hotels still have Do Not Disturb signs and honor it!

 

[PSUGuy]

I don't anticipate this being an issue for us but I wonder what the response would be if I were to print up a nice Do Not Disturb sign myself and place it on the outer door knob.

Bill From PA

 

[AngiTN]

I don't anticipate this being an issue for us but I wonder what the response would be if I were to print up a nice Do Not Disturb sign myself and place it on the outer door knob.

Bill From PA

Nothing would change. They aren't going to change their policy and honor your sign just because you put it out. They will still knock on the door and do their check if it is their time to do so