[dixie]

Hi everyone, we are back and free from jet lag after a wonderful holiday-probably the best one yet- I dont know why but I guess its because we are so 'at home' with WDW we just relax and get right into it straight away. There were some eventful moments as I know Tink has outlined the saga of the Gift Basket and we had one or two not so good experiences at POR. However, after speaking to other guests at POR and Tink I was advised to write and outline my concerns and Tink thought it would be a good idea to publish the letter on here so you can all read for yourselves exactly what happened with the Gift Basket. The thing is the letter is very long and I wouldn't want to bore you all so let me know whether to go ahead and post it or not. We appreciate other DC'ers were at POR at the same time as us and our experience would not necessarily been the same for them as it involved Front Desk cast members and Housekeeping. On the whole the resort was as wonderful and magical as ever and it still remains our 'second home' I also have a photo of the replacement basket too if anyone would like to see it. And I will start my trip report very shortly- and its great to be back on DC/MB

[dixie]

Our day started at 2.30 in the morning, we had to be at Manchester Airport for 4.30 as we were flying the day before the scheduled terrorist aircraft attacks and Virgin had contacted us and asked us to arrive 4 hours earlier rather than the usual 3 hours. We didnt mind getting there so early as part of the excitement of our vacation is being at the airport and knowing what awaits us at the other side of the journey. I had already checked in on line and got in line to get our boarding cards. The Virgin rep told us that there was a six hour delay due to the increased security measures- and although a little disappointed we knew that safety prevailed. We were not allowed through the gate until the flight was called and so we made our way to the restaurant and waited and waited and waited...........The flight was actually called nine hours later and by this time we were so bored- we had bought a pack of cards, several puzzle books and oh it was so cold in the cafe. DD and I took to going in the restrooms to use the hand dryers just to warm ourselves up-eventually we were called and so began our eight and a half hour flight across the Atlantic, we were on our way and after that start things could only get better.............................

[dznylvr]

I would love to read the letter. We are going to be staying at POR in November and I am interested in seeing what the whole deal is about.

[PrincessPooh]

Hi Dixie! Glad you're back, and of course we would love to hear/read the letter. I'm always interested in others' experiences at resorts.

And OH MY....a nine hour delay! Wow, that's truly a try on patience! But we all knew it was done to protect us and keep us safe, so if it was me, I would have stuck through it with a smile too!

Can't wait to hear the rest!

[dixie]

I shall post the letter for you to read in a sec as it does explain most of what happened next after the flight and upon our arrival at POR and saves me adding that into the TR!!!
Please remember though alot of the POR experience was unique to us-its not usual at POR and I guess we just drew the short straw when it came to the CM's we encountered. It's still our favourite resort and it holds such happy memories for us we can forgive POR for anything and no doubt will be staying there next year too, and please dont think I'm a whiner or groaner-Tink will tell you I put up with alot of stuff and never say anything it's only because we love WDW and POR so much that I felt I had to say my bit.

[dixie]

8TH September 2006


Dear Sir/Madam

My family and I have just returned home to England after a twenty-one-night stay at Port Orleans Riverside Resort in Walt Disney World, Florida.
This resort has been our favourite choice for our vacation for the last eight years. Moreover, prior to our choosing Port Orleans Riverside as our regular choice, we had taken our yearly vacations at other Walt Disney World resorts for the last twenty years. We are annual pass holders and our usual stays at WDW are always between twenty-one nights to twenty-eight nights.
However, it is with sincere and deep regret that I have to inform you that this particular stay was not as pleasurable as the previous years, and as a family who consider Walt Disney World as our ‘second home’ I feel it is my duty to inform you of several events and experiences that disrupted and impaired our recent vacation.
Unfortunately for us, we flew to the USA the day after the recent transatlantic terrorist alerts. Our flight was delayed by nine hours, and upon arriving at Port Orleans Riverside in the early hours of the morning of the 16th of August we had in fact by that time been awake for a total of over twenty-seven hours. The cast member on registration duty-although pleasant, was, as he informed us ‘suffering from allergies’ However, he proceeded to check us in to our requested building ‘Oak Manor’ and after signing credit card agreements, having room keys made, and being allocated parking passes the whole registration took around twenty minutes. We duly returned to our vehicle and proceeded to drive with our six suitcases to Oak Manor. As we approached the parking area, my daughter observed that the number of the room allocated to us was not on the Oak Manor sign, and as a result of this, we had to drive back to the Lobby to inform the cast member that the allocated room did not exist.
After studying the computer for some time, it transpired that he had in fact given us a room in Parterre Place, even though we had requested Oak Manor prior to our UK departure and during check in. The cast member then proceeded to take us through the whole registration process again, whilst loudly bemoaning the fact that he was ill and shouldn’t really be at work, however, he added, as Port Orleans Riverside was so short staffed he had literally felt obliged to drag himself into work. In addition to his complaining, he repeatedly blew his nose, sniffed, and constantly used hand sanitizer!
Without question, my family and I have every sympathy for someone who is unwell, however, as business people ourselves, and regular Disney guests, we know it is most unprofessional to complain to guests. In fact we were made to feel as though we were imposing on his time, and that he was doing us a huge favour by just being on duty.
However, after re-registering, we eventually retired to Oak Manor and thus began our vacation.
Our next encounter of poor customer service was to duly follow during the second week of our holiday.
My husband celebrates his birthday every year at Walt Disney World on August 22nd and we had enjoyed a wonderful ‘Disney day’ starting with breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre and ending with dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. On the 25th of August, some three days later, a dear friend who lives in Texas telephoned us, and after a ‘light’ conversation she hesitantly enquired whether my husband Paul had enjoyed his birthday gift basket, which had been sent by her, and ordered from the Walt Disney World florists. After a somewhat embarrassing silence, I told her we had not received a basket from Walt Disney World florists, and went on to say that if we had I would, as a matter of courtesy, telephoned her to thank her. Our friend then proceeded to inform us that the basket had been scheduled for delivery on the 21st of August and, furthermore, the basket was made up of cookies and candies that could be enjoyed by the whole family for the duration of our stay. However, she said that she would call Front Desk and see what had happened to the delivery. After a short time she called back to say the basket had somehow remained with Front Desk and she had been told to tell us that when we were in the vicinity to call and collect it.
That evening we went to the Front Desk and waited patiently in a long check in line for over thirty minutes. Eventually I explained to a cast member what I had been told about the collection of the gift and he duly disappeared into the back offices. A few minutes later he returned and looked at me most quizzically saying ‘Mam, the gift basket was delivered to you on the 21st of August’- Upon reflection, I realise now that this young man was questioning both my integrity and my honesty. The inference in his tone of voice and manner was suggesting that I had already had the gift basket and was trying to claim another basket deceptively. Fortunately for him, this realisation did not become apparent to me until some time later that evening. I told him that we had most definitely not received a gift basket, and again he went into the back office. When he returned for the second time, he was accompanied by a mature lady who marched to the desk and whose manner was initially, to say the least, confrontational and cold. A piece of paper was thrust at me and she demanded, and I quote her exact words: (without a Hi or a Hello) ‘ Is this you?’ I looked at the paper and it indeed had my husband’s name on ‘ Mr Paul ’ However, the address was in New York, USA, and by now, angered by her attitude, I quietly and calmly answered that I was English and did not reside in New York city. Her response to this was ‘Well is this your husband?’ and as I was so bemused by the ridiculous perception that I lived in England whilst my husband lived in New York, I just replied ‘no this is not my husband’. It was at this point, and in response to my replies that her attitude, tone of voice and manner suddenly softened and after perusing the computer for some time explained that the basket had been delivered- however it was to a Mr Paul of New City, who had taken both the gift basket and the attached birthday message card. I asked if Mr Paul Ward of NYC was still a guest at the resort and she replied no he had since checked out. The lady then said she would ‘see if it were possible??? to organise a replacement basket to be sent to my husband’ which I would of thought was the absolute very least she could do!
A replacement basket eventually arrived on the 30th of August, eight days after my husband’s birthday, nine days after the original intended delivery date, and six days before we were due to fly home. We appreciate a replacement basket was sent, however, the contents were not cookies and candy as our friend intended, but savoury items which were inedible and impractical for us to eat in a hotel room.

As a result of this we distributed the contents amongst American guests whom we had befriended during our stay and we were left with a Mickey Mouse shaped empty tin and some Mickey Mouse ribbon- not quite the gift our friend had organised, and indeed paid a substantial amount of money for. Aside from my husband not receiving the gift on his actual birthday my friend had the embarrassing task of asking about the gift and I was subsequently embarrassed to tell her it had not arrived. Furthermore, only a ‘replacement’ basket was offered, there was no additional compensation for this gross employee error, as it was unreservedly obvious that someone had hurriedly looked up my husbands name on the computer and delivered the gift to the wrong person and the wrong room, on the very misconstrued presumption that there could only possibly be one XXXX staying at the Port Orleans Resort at this time.
It was also during this ‘second week’ period (27th August) that it was necessary for us to re-check into our room as we have three reservations that run concurrently due to our extended lengths of stay. When I went to the Front Desk to do this, the cast member peered at the computer and then informed me we were due for a room change as Oak Manor was scheduled for closure on the 4th of September. I deduced that if it had not been for having to check in on this second week, we would have actually been asked to leave our room on the 4th of September and our final check out was on the 5th
When I asked the cast member if this was correct she said that yes that is what would have happened! However, she said as the check out date for this reservation was the 27th of August the room change would be made that day. I protested vehemently that we had intended to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom, and instead I would have to return to the room and pack everything up (six cases), take it all to the ‘new’ room and then unpack and put everything away. As a result of this, I told her I expected we would lose at least the best part of a day of our vacation. The cast member on hearing this said she would go find a supervisor. The supervisor came and was kind and very apologetic. I asked her if the original cast member (with allergies) would have been aware of this room change schedule when we first checked in and she assured me he would not, she went on to say that work can be scheduled for buildings at any time and Front Desk is not always aware of the work schedules at check in. However, she had noted how very upset I was and said she needed to speak with her manager. Whilst she was gone, the other cast member said the original cast member did know of the scheduled refurbishment of Oak Manor as it was quite clearly on the computer and had been for some time prior to the date we checked in. If we had been informed of this, we would of course asked for a building where our stay could have kept us in the same room for the whole twenty one night period and not caused us such dreadful upset, upheaval and the loss of a day’s vacation time.
The supervisor then returned and said she had been authorised by her manager to credit one hundred dollars to our room account. We then left for the Magic Kingdom, however, the day was sadly overshadowed by the thought of having to return to Port Orleans Riverside and pack up the whole room and then unpack in the new allocation later that evening. I must point out that the Bell Service cast member was excellent in helping us to transfer the contents of our room, and for this reason my husband tipped him twenty dollars, however we must not forget that for us, this twenty dollar tip, was an un-necessary extra expense that we incurred through no fault of our own.
I can only apologise to you for the extraordinary length of this letter; however, I feel it is my duty as one who adores Port Orleans Riverside and Walt Disney World to make the ‘powers that be’ aware of the declining standards that are steadily depreciating the resort.
In addition to the events above, our room service –in both rooms- was deplorable. The rooms were on the whole, dirty. An example of this was the television screen that was so thick with dust my husband wrote ‘Please clean me now’ across the screen-his words in the dust remained there for the duration of our stay! Another example was the lack of bathroom tissue, on several occasions just the cardboard inner tube was left on the tissue holder and the towels were literally ‘thrown’ on to the rail. Neither room was vacuumed during our stay and the housekeepers would knock on the door at ridiculously early times, obviously their intention is to get the rooms serviced as quickly as possible so they can then go home.
Many cast members at both the resort and the parks were unsmiling, unfriendly and moreover, un-Disney! My husband and I heard many ‘poolside’ conversations about the declining standards at Port Orleans Riverside. In fact, one guest aptly summarised the current Disney experience by remarking ‘I guess working for Disney is now just a job’. In the parks we found several of the restrooms and counter service restaurants dirty and untidy and after eating at Pinocchios in the Magic Kingdom I was taken ill later that afternoon with a stomach upset. Although I cannot entirely prove the illness was due to the food eaten in Pinocchios, the state of the eating area was disgraceful and most unhygienic.
We appreciate it is difficult to maintain and supervise staff and standards on a large scale, however, as long term Disney guests we know from past experience that this is not the usual standards that we have been used to and certainly not Disney’s policy, ethos or intention. Therefore I feel I would be doing a disservice both to my family and Walt Disney World if I did not bring these concerns to your attention.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and I await your response with interest.

Yours sincerely





Karen Ward.

[tinkerbell]

I am so glad your going to post the letter .. I think it is something others on here should read!!! Also I am still mad about the basket and not to sure they sent as nice a replacement as they should have..in my opinion it should have been the same exact basket!!! As to the flight .. I am just still happy you were not on the flight that was escorted down by fighter jets!!!!!

[dixie]

Well i told you it was long!!! we did report the room service to Housekeeping however this resulted in just a more frequent bed change- we resorted to buying a couple of cleaning products from Wal mart and doing it ourselves (apart from the tv which was just left to see how long it was left)

[Experiment6-2-6]

Wow.

I am so sad that your Disney vacation was ruined by these events.

The fact that you still had a good time goes towards your patience I suspect.

The letter was appropriate, if anything just to show how minimal the response was during your stay.

If it were me, I would have said things a bit differently while there.

Having been up on long flights across oceans myself, I am even MORE amazed that you received such treatment with such grace.

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

Wow.

I am so sad that your Disney vacation was ruined by these events.

The fact that you still had a good time goes towards your patience I suspect.

The letter was appropriate, if anything just to show how minimal the response was during your stay.

If it were me, I would have said things a bit differently while there.

Having been up on long flights across oceans myself, I am even MORE amazed that you received such treatment with such grace.

lol I think she should toss in the manicure story!!!!! if you think she has grace and patience now .. you would think she was a saint after reading it !!

[Erin]

Excellent letter. I am waiting a response with great interest, too.

There is no excuse for the trouble you had.

[Experiment6-2-6]

Originally Posted by tinkerbell

lol I think she should toss in the manicure story!!!!! if you think she has grace and patience now .. you would think she was a saint after reading it !!

I'm starting to think she is a saint anyway.

Having one's integrity questioned or disputed over a gift basket is usually enough to make lesser men crumble..

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

I'm starting to think she is a saint anyway.

Having one's integrity questioned or disputed over a gift basket is usually enough to make lesser men crumble..

I have to say .. the basket alone would have made me crumble ..in fact it did ..I was and still am very angry about the basket. Since I confirmed with WDW Florist that the information that they were visiting from England was in the instructions for delivery. When I called WDW Florist I was ready for a fight but it was not their fault.
and having to buy cleaning products to clean your room at at WDW resort .. pleeeeeeeeeeeeese .. that is so not right!!

[lovemysons]

Wow Dixie, that is really sad. I am very glad you wrote the letter and that you shared it with us. I think I am most sad because, while you are a die hard Disney fan, there were many other people visiting the world who perhaps were there for the first time, and were most likely unimpressed, and mostly, disappointed to find things in such a state. I think we do need to bring these kinds of things to their attention, because, in the end, it is their bottom line that will be affected. Who is going to want to stay on property if the rooms are not well kept? Who will want to eat on property if the food service establishments are not well kept? I most definitely did not think you were whining in your letter, and whole heartedly agree with 626 about your grace!

[Kippage]

I just read the entire letter.... with an English accent.