Aggressive DVC Housekeeping Checkout Day

[Mai Ku Tiki]

The problem is that Disney across the property is short staffed on housekeepers. The sooner they can get the rooms cleaned the sooner guest can get to their rooms who are checking in.
A few weeks ago my wife and I were delayed till after 4pm getting our assigned room because it was still not cleaned. The front desk moved us to another room that was ready.

Disney used to assign a certain number of rooms to a housekeeper. If they got all their room cleaned before the end of their shift they could leave with a full days pay or they could stay and help other get room cleaned for additional money. I am not sure if this is still the case, it may have changed.
These may be rules set by the union
This may be the reason housekeeper are trying to start so early.

Easy solution, go back to the do not disturb sign.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Disney did away w/ DO NOT DISTURB bc they now enforce their right to enter the rooms for inspections purposes.
(As have other hotel chains) I HATE IT but that's the way it is.
The current ROOM OCCUPIED sign has fine print on it:

"We reserve the right to enter for maintenance or security purposes even when this sign is displayed.
Staff will knock & announce presence befor entering."

 

[DCJ]

We are staying at AoA in a few weeks. How often do they service the rooms? And what do they do? We visited back in October of 2020 and received absolutely no service while we were there. (yes, height of Covid, but it was our 20th anniversary, and that's what we wanted to do!)

After the second night, they replaced towels and emptied trash. Pretty much standard issue across property now.

 

[New Mouse]

For me, there is a big difference in having to pay more for housekeepers to guarantee rooms are done and ready by 4 pm for all stays vs paying more because housekeepers can’t knock on someone’s door before 11 am to see if someone has left or will be leaving soon.

So no, I’m not willing to pay more to avoid the occasional knock, regardless of whether Disney would do it or not.

The problem with Disney is right now its both these issued. They knock on doors early and our rooms aren't ready at 4. The system is broke.

This mainly boils down to labor distribution, hiring and training practices, which are fairly mediocre for a hospitality industry "leading" company like Disney.

People can say what they want, but a housekeeper is worth more than $40k at Disney. How do I know this? Because they don't have staff. Its really that simple.


When DVC was created and then repeatedly expanded, not a single person making those decisions ever imagined they wouldn't be able to pay people the bare minimum to do something like housekeeping. They saw profits and current associated costs but never projected long term labor market changes. To be fair the executives get paid either way so why do they care?

DVC could solve the problems and is allowed to via our agreement with them, but they tied their hands by being married to general Disney staffing. Though dues would cost more, I'd rather have a fully functional product and fix everything.

 

[CarolMN]

The problem with Disney is right now its both these issued. They knock on doors early and our rooms aren't ready at 4. The system is broke.

I'm not so sure this is true for most guests. I know it's a problem for some of you, but the knocking has never happened to us, and getting into our room after 4 is a very rare occurrence. I only remember once, and we got in around 4:30 pm. We've averaged at least 2 visits a hear since 1999.

People who are unhappy post much more than those who aren't.

 

[robinb]

I'm not so sure this is true for most guests. I know it's a problem for some of you, but the knocking has never happened to us, and getting into our room after 4 is a very rare occurrence. I only remember once, and we got in around 4:30 pm. We've averaged at least 2 visits a hear since 1999.

People who are unhappy post much more than those who aren't.

We almost always have to wait until after 4:00 to check in and we almost always get the phone call and/or the knock. I must have really bad luck.

 

[New Mouse]

I'm not so sure this is true for most guests. I know it's a problem for some of you, but the knocking has never happened to us, and getting into our room after 4 is a very rare occurrence. I only remember once, and we got in around 4:30 pm. We've averaged at least 2 visits a hear since 1999.

People who are unhappy post much more than those who aren't.

Ok, but if it happens one time, that's too many. You pay for a room where you can get in at 4 and leave at 11. Aside from a last minute maintenance issue no reason after 4 should happen and before 11 should never happen.

It's obviously happened many more than one time as this board is a small subset of dvc and most wouldn't think to post about it on a message board.

 

[Sandisw]

Ok, but if it happens one time, that's too many. You pay for a room where you can get in at 4 and leave at 11. Aside from a last minute maintenance issue no reason after 4 should happen and before 11 should never happen.

It's obviously happened many more than one time as this board is a small subset of dvc and most wouldn't think to post about it on a message board.

I just don't agree that a knock on the door after 9 am in the morning is a problem...7:30 or 8:00 am? Sure. From reports, no one is being asked to vacate early. They are knocking to find empty rooms so that they can begin the cleaning process earlier instead of it just sitting there with no guests and nothing being done.

I get that some people are bothered by it, but not everyone is, nor do we have to be bothered by it. It certainly isn't happening with any level of consistency since plenty of us here on the DIS have said we have not had it happen very often, if at all.

I checked with some of my other DVC friends...not on this message board, and they too have not experienced it to any level of annoyance...a few times, but not more than that.

 

[Nursemanit]

I would expect a knock at or after 9 am any day in a hotel with housekeeping. Hilton will even ask you to leave the room for 30 min so it can be cleaned.

But If you knock at 9 am and I tell you I am leaving at 10 - no more knocks until after that time.

 

[New Mouse]

I just don't agree that a knock on the door after 9 am in the morning is a problem...7:30 or 8:00 am? Sure. From reports, no one is being asked to vacate early. They are knocking to find empty rooms so that they can begin the cleaning process earlier instead of it just sitting there with no guests and nothing being done.

I get that some people are bothered by it, but not everyone is, nor do we have to be bothered by it. It certainly isn't happening with any level of consistency since plenty of us here on the DIS have said we have not had it happen very often, if at all.

I checked with some of my other DVC friends...not on this message board, and they too have not experienced it to any level of annoyance...a few times, but not more than that.

When you allow bad corporate behaviors to happen, they will continue and then get worse. Happens with many many things at Disney.

Disney continues to do things like this, point chart manipulation, etc. Because the customers do not hold them accountable. It's 2022, they can figure out if you've checked out or not without barging into your room. The people on payroll should be able to figure it out.

 

[Sandisw]

When you allow bad corporate behaviors to happen, they will continue and then get worse. Happens with many many things at Disney.

Disney continues to do things like this, point chart manipulation, etc. Because the customers do not hold them accountable. It's 2022, they can figure out if you've checked out or not without barging into your room. The people on payroll should be able to figure it out.

Again, we don’t see it the same way and I don’t consider a knock an intrusion so nothing to hold them accountable for in this case.

 

[New Mouse]

Again, we don’t see it the same way and I don’t consider a knock an intrusion so nothing to hold them accountable for in this case.

So what makes 9am acceptable vs. 7am when their shift may start?

Theres No need to knock on literally any door in the entire complex until 11am. If someone let's you know they are checking out early, consider it a bonus.

If you book a 6 hour guided tour, is it ok if the tour guide asks you if you are done at the 5 hour mark just in case since they have other stuff they need to tend to in order to be more efficient with their job?

I'd be quite annoyed in any situation where I paid for a rental time and someone came up to me asking if I was done early.

 

[Sammie]

As to the knock on the door early situation, I think DVC would address it if they got enough complaints about it. We have never experienced this and neither have others. While I don't think it should happen to anyone, I don't think it is happening enough for them to want to fix it.

 

[DL1WDW2]

How crazy is it that we all think housekeeping has better access toDisney tech ?
Haha
Good one …
Thats hysterical!

 

[Sandisw]

So what makes 9am acceptable vs. 7am when their shift may start?

Theres No need to knock on literally any door in the entire complex until 11am. If someone let's you know they are checking out early, consider it a bonus.

If you book a 6 hour guided tour, is it ok if the tour guide asks you if you are done at the 5 hour mark just in case since they have other stuff they need to tend to in order to be more efficient with their job?

I'd be quite annoyed in any situation where I paid for a rental time and someone came up to me asking if I was done early.

By 9 am and later, those checking out are most likely up and getting ready. The one time it happened to me, they knocked, said they were just checking to see if we had left..let them know we would be out by 10:30..they said thank you and never came back. It really was no big deal.

Sorry, but I don’t think it’s an issue and I am allowed to feel that way. I respect others dont.

 

[KimMcGowan]

They knock on doors early and our rooms aren't ready at 4.

We almost always have to wait until after 4:00 to check in and we almost always get the phone call and/or the knock. I must have really bad luck.

Aside from a last minute maintenance issue no reason after 4 should happen and before 11 should never happen.
.

The problem is that check-in for DVC guests is after 4pm. This could be interpreted as 5 pm or 7 pm. Anything at 4 (or earlier) is purely a bonus.

 

[lowlight]

The problem is that check-in for DVC guests is after 4pm. This could be interpreted as 5 pm or 7 pm. Anything at 4 (or earlier) is purely a bonus.

No.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The problem is that check-in for DVC guests is after 4pm. This could be interpreted as 5 pm or 7 pm. Anything at 4 (or earlier) is purely a bonus.

I interpret that differently. Check in after 4PM means that you will get into your room if it's after 4pm. And of course some rooms would be ready earlier but all should be ready by 4:01.

 

[New Mouse]

By 9 am and later, those checking out are most likely up and getting ready. The one time it happened to me, they knocked, said they were just checking to see if we had left..let them know we would be out by 10:30..they said thank you and never came back. It really was no big deal.

Sorry, but I don’t think it’s an issue and I am allowed to feel that way. I respect others dont.

You love to quote the contract. My contract says check out 11am no reason for them to check on me. I can empty the room of all my stuff and they still have no right to assume I have checked out until 11am. You can have a differing opinion on this, but it doesn't change the fact that checkout is 11am unless we have told them otherwise.

 

[beldred]

Starting salary is $35k. Annual raises are 3%. It would take 6 years of employment to reach $40k. Most are not employed for 6 years as $40k is not a living wage for a family of 4 In that area so your turnover rate will be huge.

That's more than teachers make. I certainly wouldn't say it's not a living wage. I know plenty of people that make less. I don't feel that's an excuse for anything.

I just don't agree that a knock on the door after 9 am in the morning is a problem...7:30 or 8:00 am? Sure. From reports, no one is being asked to vacate early. They are knocking to find empty rooms so that they can begin the cleaning process earlier instead of it just sitting there with no guests and nothing being done.

I get that some people are bothered by it, but not everyone is, nor do we have to be bothered by it. It certainly isn't happening with any level of consistency since plenty of us here on the DIS have said we have not had it happen very often, if at all.

Sure, you can choose not to be bothered by it and that's great. But who says 9am is more acceptable than say 6am? Just because it suits YOUR schedule. We're night owls. We routinely stay up until 2am. Are we not entitled to 8 hours of sleep just as you are? If my times to sleep fall within the hours I have the room, I should have the right to not be woken up. I bet you wouldn't like it if someone knocked on your door at midnight. But I'd be just fine with that. Since I'm fine with it, does that make it okay?

I think it's clear from this thread and others that DVC (or maybe all of Disney) isn't respecting their guests. And I tolerate a lot for my Disney, but I don't think we should have to tolerate disrespect.