Motion Sensor Thermostats

[melissapealo]

I think the bigger issue isn't these thermstats, per se, but the aging and often BROKEN/inefficient A/C units in the rooms. We stayed at GF last year for the first time. The room had a fancy new thermostat, but the room was HOT. Like, 85 degrees hot, with the A/C set to the lowest temp. The maintenance guy came and aimed his infared sensor at the vent and the air blowing out was 79 degrees. He spent like 2 hours working on the unit, and finally got it to blow cooler air, but basically said "this unit is 11 years old...it doesn't work too good anymore."

I'm sorry, that is inexcusable for their flagship resort. When he took the wall panel off and I saw the unit, it was disgusting. Rusted, smelly, dusty as all heck.

The ceiling fan saved us. The room never got cold, but we dealt with it because we had already switched rooms once due to getting one without a daybed originally and it took them over 30 minutes to find us a daybed room that was not occupied.

I had a similar experience at Coronado Springs in 2014. Just old, worn out AC.

A fancy new thermostat won't help when the unit needs to be replaced.

That may be the case in some rooms but certainly not in all of them. The thermostats have sensors in them that stops them from working if there is no movement in the room. This is a well known issue. Also the a/c units are manufactured to last on average of 20 years so having one that is 11 years old is not an issue. What would you expect in a unit, for it to look as if it were just installed all the time? It sounds as if you were unlucky and got a room with a unit in need of repair.

I'm curious though, you find it acceptable for units to not cool properly at other Disney resorts? Yet at the GF you feel it's unacceptable? Honestly that statement is ridiculous and arrogant. I don't care if a guest if staying at value,moderate or deluxe they have the expectation of being able to have a cool room. Staying at the GF does not make any difference one way or another.

You are right that a fancy new thermostat won't help though. It's only made the issue worse considering now a guest has less control over the settings.
I am sorry that you had issues with your room being cool. I however would not have dealt with it, I would have insisted on being moved to a room with a functioning a/c. That is something I expect at any level of property.

 

[melissapealo]

For some reason I'm fascinated by those of you who want the room temp below 68. What are you hanging meat?

I personally like the room set at 68 for sleeping as I sleep better. I don't leave it that temperature all the time. My mom on the other hand would like it at 68 or below at all times. She is 72 and has breathing issues, a cooler temperature along with oxygen help her to breathe better.
I think it makes a difference where a person is traveling from as well. I am in NY so not used to the temperature of the south. We do get hot days and humidity but nothing like FL has. So it feels hotter to us than it does to someone that lives in a similar climate to FL.
I can't speak for others, but those are just our reasons for wanting a cooler room.

 

[raddisneyfan]

Glad i ran across this thread--was wondering what was going on with the a/c at POR this past Spring. Thought my friend was turning it up every time I turned my back since I know she doesn't like it as cool as I do. Also glad there is a work-around for future visits--especially this coming September. Thanks to all for giving me this piece of mind--really need cool temps for a good nights sleep after long days at the parks.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I personally like the room set at 68 for sleeping as I sleep better. I don't leave it that temperature all the time. My mom on the other hand would like it at 68 or below at all times. She is 72 and has breathing issues, a cooler temperature along with oxygen help her to breathe better.
I think it makes a difference where a person is traveling from as well. I am in NY so not used to the temperature of the south. We do get hot days and humidity but nothing like FL has. So it feels hotter to us than it does to someone that lives in a similar climate to FL.
I can't speak for others, but those are just our reasons for wanting a cooler room.

Next few days should be fun for us here in the Ny/nj area! I'm already sweating thinking about it

 

[melissapealo]

Next few days should be fun for us here in the Ny/nj area! I'm already sweating thinking about it

Yes not looking forward to the 90's either.

 

[DLgal]

That may be the case in some rooms but certainly not in all of them. The thermostats have sensors in them that stops them from working if there is no movement in the room. This is a well known issue. Also the a/c units are manufactured to last on average of 20 years so having one that is 11 years old is not an issue. What would you expect in a unit, for it to look as if it were just installed all the time? It sounds as if you were unlucky and got a room with a unit in need of repair.

I'm curious though, you find it acceptable for units to not cool properly at other Disney resorts? Yet at the GF you feel it's unacceptable? Honestly that statement is ridiculous and arrogant. I don't care if a guest if staying at value,moderate or deluxe they have the expectation of being able to have a cool room. Staying at the GF does not make any difference one way or another.

You are right that a fancy new thermostat won't help though. It's only made the issue worse considering now a guest has less control over the settings.
I am sorry that you had issues with your room being cool. I however would not have dealt with it, I would have insisted on being moved to a room with a functioning a/c. That is something I expect at any level of property.

I have stayed at almost every WDW resort. Mostly values, to be honest. Of course I expect a working AC no matter where I am, but it is easier to swallow when I'm paying $100/night vs $400/night. Actually, we never had AC issues at Pop, AS Movies, AS Music, or any other deluxe. I had issues at Coronado and GF, both fairly recently and AoA during the first month it was open back in 2012.

And the GF HVAC unit was beyond "used" looking. It was moldy, and smelled terrible. The maintenance guy straight up said it needed to be replaced. I can't understand how no one before me complained about it, and how it got to that point. It was probably the reason that room was unoccupied when the resort was "full."

 

[johnnyblz20]

Does anyone have a concise list of the different thermostats disney uses and the hacks to shut these things off? I've seen one or two but then I see other posts saying some of the resorts use different units.

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is just my experience....They're all different at the resorts I have stayed at. I assume they were installed at different times. There are no hacks to shut them off that I have found. The hacks on the internet do not work. Balloons do not work. The only thing you can do is get maintenance to come and take the cover off the thermostat and physically unplug the sensor (not a big deal). But this isn't something you can do yourself because they have locks on the thermostat (probably for this very reason). Don't believe maintenance or housekeeping or the front desk when they say they fixed it. If you didn't see a maintenance person open the thermostat and unplug it, they probably didn't do it. Pack a thermometer if you really want to know what temp is in the room.

For sleeping, the worst thing you can do is crank the temp down and go to sleep. You will go to sleep in a cool room but when you stop moving it will heat up and then you will be under that cover and will wake up blazing hot. Set it at 72 and try to fall asleep at that temp and hope for the best during the night. Bring a fan if you can and shoot it right at your body. The Vornado works well. Pack very light PJs. Just use the sheet.

For room requests, top floors are way worse especially during the hot months in Florida. Request lower floors

 

[grumpy28]

Does the balloon trick work for these thermostats? I like a really cold room to sleep.

 

[cobright]

I'm confused...how is that not deceitful? It's showing you the number you entered, not the temp of the room. Maybe I am not getting it

Sorry I missed this a month ago when you posted it. It's not lying, technically, because the temp controller is not telling you the air temp is one thing when in fact it is something else. Though, because there is a dearth of information presented on the thermostat display at all, and because one sort of assumes that the temp normally displayed there is the present room temp, when in fact the machine is set to display only the set point, a case could be made that it is a lie of omission.

Imagine this conversation:
"What is the temperature in here?"
"Well, you set the thermostat at 72 degrees fahrenheit and the AC unit just cycled off."

The obvious implication is that the AC unit cycled off because the temp dropped below the setpoint, how these things normally operate.

 

[Leelo]

Stayed in a Poly Studio room in May and we were able to override the minimum temperature but there is nothing we could do about the motion sensor. My husband even found a manual for the exact model in the room. We asked maintenance to come by and the only thing he could do was override the temp setting also, which we had already done. The motion sensor would cut the air off in the night and I would wake up too warm every night around 4am and have to go wave my hand around until it clicked and turned back on. It was annoying but we made it through.

 

[Planogirl]

I wonder if one of the revolving fans would make the sensor think that there was motion in the room?

 

[got15]

We had them at AKL- it was quite annoying since our room was in direct sun most of the day- it took awhile for it to cool down to a comfortable temp.

 

[Dean Marino]

OK - you may THINK you have one, when you do not.

Key element of a motion sensing anything..... can you see any sensor element? Thermostat? Wall? These will be clear/red/not solid plastic. First? WHERE IS IT? Or does it exist?

Folks, if you can't find the damn sensor? It's not there. Just me.... I've read the threads about killer motion sensors (several), really WORKED to find one at BRV..... I got nothing. There is ZERO. Unless WDW is using Sonar. Now, yes.... the AC sucks. Lower the temp to about 68, as it lies .

 

[fla4fun]

Do you drive a Prius ?

I do! It's nice to drive a car where you can run the AC without dinging your MPG . . .

I like the room between 65 and 68 to sleep, and I just sleep under a sheet (no blanket or duvet). I also need air moving. That's why I travel with a small fan. I've found many hotels don't have ceiling fans, so the small fan stays in my suitcase so I am always prepared. I am not a big fan of the motion sensor thermostats.

 

[adelaster]

I do! It's nice to drive a car where you can run the AC without dinging your MPG . . .

I like the room between 65 and 68 to sleep, and I just sleep under a sheet (no blanket or duvet). I also need air moving. That's why I travel with a small fan. I've found many hotels don't have ceiling fans, so the small fan stays in my suitcase so I am always prepared. I am not a big fan of the motion sensor thermostats.

My husband needs 68 at all times & sleeps with fans going too. We will be there in winter so hoping it isn't an issue, but maybe I should look into buying a fan. :/

 

[disneydeal]

How to reset room thermostat?

 

[Sparkly]

I have the opposite problem- I always find Disney hotel rooms to be freezing!! OKW we had to actually turn it off because I was shivering, but then it was a little too warm with it off. BLT felt arctic!

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

We once stayed at a hotel in France where you could not even turn the lights on unless your room key card was in the holder on the wall.

 

[SwanVT2]

We once stayed at a hotel in France where you could not even turn the lights on unless your room key card was in the holder on the wall.

Yes, the Best Western we stayed at in Berlin was the same way.