[LadyJena]

Well we are back here in California after 18 days of WDW. I have to say I am very much gald to be home.

We stayed in the Contemporary Resort and I wish we wouldn't have. We all thought the room and resort was a bit dirty. We ate breakfast at Chef Mickeys serveral times and didn't think the food there was half as good as 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. If we had it all to do over again we would have stayed at the Grand Floridian.

I don't know if it is because we expected more out of the employees or what. It seemed like many of them didn't really care. When you asked a question about something you even got serveral different answers or told they weren't sure.

After only being there a few days my digital camera disapeared from our room. We are talking about a camera that was 1,500.00 bag and all gone. I went to the front desk and told them and the girl looked at me like I wasn't telling the truth and said she would call security. After waiting about 25 minutes for someone to show up the security officer took the information and then asked the clerk if she had called lost and found. She hadn't done that yet when she called they said they did have a camera bag that fit the discription that it was left in the Concorse steak house that morning for breakfast.

I did NOT remember taking my camera with us. The security garud then started telling me while people are on vaction they tend to forget things. He tore up the report I had given him and we waited for the camera to be brought down. Once it got there it turned out not to be my camera it belonged to someone else. He then told me he would make up a report gave me his card told me to call then to have the report faxed to me in a week. That was it NOTHING ELSE!!!

The following day my camera was in the lost and found and was returned to me I was told it was found at the Concorese steak house. I DO NOT think that I left the camera at breakfast and if it had been why wasn't it in the lost and found the day before.

Anyway no one called to say they were sorry it was like Oh well big deal she lost it.

I need to run now because I have a lot of laundry to do but I'll be back I have a lot more to say. :)

By the way the food at WDW was SOOOOOOO Much better then Disneyland. We ate at lots of different areas. I didn't think that we would stay to long at Epcot but we enjoyed it (the World Showcase) a lot!!!

Take care,

Jena :)

[mickey]

Jena, welcome home. Let us know how the rest of your vacation turned out and how the Grand Plan worked out for you. Sorry about the bad situations, it is too bad that not all employees are as nice and hard working as they should be. We too have run into some untrained and unhappy employees, but for the most part, they are wonderful and accomodating.

By the way, the last time I was at Disneyland (6 months ago) the food was horrible. I couldn't believe how expensive and how poor it was compared to WDW. Good thing I am not alone.

[tinkerbell]

my heart just sank as I read what you wrote .. unlike Mickey we have never been treated like that ..even when we stayed at the all star resorts we were always treated as well there as were were at the Poly or the CBR. Its so sad that you had such a bad experience .. and we have always liked the breakfast at Chef Mickeys.. of course I guess I should admit that it might not matter much what the food tasted like ..we enjoy the show and charactors, but we have always found the food pretty good. While we have run into a very limited number of uncaring castmembers .. in fact only twice ..once at the Castle ..where a waiter was really a pill ..and once long ago at At the Garden Grill .. maybe we have just been lucky. never have we had anything dissappear from our room either .. in fact I have left money and jewlery laying out ..even this past year left a credit card on the night stand. That is just so sad that your camera would disappear but atleast you got it back.

[trishb]

Isn't it funny, how one bad incident can spoil the memory of your vacation. The sad thing is, you will always remember the Contemporary that way.:devil
I was thinking of you while you were away. I dream of 18 days at WDW, although I believe that 7 is just about perfect

BTW, were there any pictures on your camera that you did not take? Maybe of the thief???

:bandit

[Dana]

I am so sorry to hear of your bad experience at the Contemporary. I have never stayed there so I wouldnt know what the cast memebers are like there. I have never been treated like that anywhere in WDW and am shocked to hear someone treated you so disrespectfully. My daughter and I love Chef Mickeys. I am so sorry you didn't get to experience the magic we always seem to when we are there. I hope the other aspects of your vacation were enjoyable and that this was the only bad part of your 18 days in WDW. I can't wait to hear your trip report. Please let us know how the rst of your trip went.

[mudder23boys]

I'd like to comment on the service of the staff at the contemporary, but first, a little bit of background. Last week i was in orlando for a business trip and we stayed at the wyndham in downtown disney.

In December i am taking my three kids to disney to celebrate their adoption which took place last week. I have thought all along that i wanted to stay at the contemporary, and in fact, have reservations at this hotel.

Since i was in the area, i decided that i would take the time to go around to some of the other disney hotels and "check them out".

I went to the boardwalk, coronado springs, port orleans riverside and french quarter and all star sports. Each and every one of these hotels had very hospitable employees that were more than willing to show us around the grounds and let us see one of the rooms, in some cases, we looked at several rooms on the property.

After looking at these rooms, i decided to stop at the contemporary to see one of the rooms there so that i had something to compare the others to, after all this is where our reservations are for.

The front desk told me that there were no vacant rooms in the tower for me to look at........when i asked further about a room in the hotel that would be comparable just so i could see it- the manager said NO! After this, we went to Chef Mickey's for dinner. we had to wait about 20 minutes and took a seat right by the hostess stand. Two young boys, probably about 10 or so, came by and very politely asked the hostess if they could get goofy's autograph.....she very firmly told them that they had to eat there to see the characters. That might very well be the case, but c'mon, the characters are for the kids afterall. With all the people milling around in there how does anyone know if they are eating there or not. I was cruched when i saw these two boys walk away. I went to try and find them- i was going to let them come in with us and get autographs but i couldn't find them. Come to find out- about ten minutes later- the kids walked right past the hostess into the restaurant with a manager of some sort and got their autographs!!!!!!!

There's two strikes against the contemporary. After my work conference was over we decided to stay another couple of days and moved to the polynesian for those two days. It was wonderful. My only exposure to the polynesian prior to this was in books and on the internet and i wasn't impressed with what i saw........once i was there i was very impressed with the grounds, the staff, EVERYTHING!

I am going to move my reservation from the contemporary- with two strikes against it already i certainly don't want the third one to be after we check in.

[disney1230]

I recently returned from my honeymoon and stayed at the Contemporary. We had nothing but fine things to say about the staff, rooms and food.

In fact, we had reserved a refrigerator, at the time we checked in they were all out and were told that we would be 5th on the list and to probably expect one the following morning. Well, on the way to our room we stopped to get ice (we had a plastic bag) because we had boughten cold cuts, drinks, etc. to put in the refrigerator when we got to the hotel. One of the contemporary employees saw me getting this ice and asked if I needed assistance. I told him "yes, thanks " and that we were waiting for a refrigerator. No more than one hour later, he came to our room with refrigerator!!! He said that he went to maitenence and a friend of his fixed one that was in for repair. THAT GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND NORMAL SERVICE.

Also, with a camera that expensive, why did you not use the free in-room safe??

All in all, our experience at the Contemporary was above par.

[ELyon10431]

LadyJena,

I'm sorry to hear that your accommodation was not what you expected. The staff really should have done a lot more than what they did for you. Have you complained to WDW about this yet? I think you should, even if it is just to get it off your chest.
Anyway I hope this did not spoil the rest of your holiday, did you enjoy everything else?
As trishb said, it is a shame that one thing can spoil your memory of an entire vacation.

Liz:D

[brumcg]

Originally posted by mudder23boys
Two young boys, probably about 10 or so, came by and very politely asked the hostess if they could get goofy's autograph.....she very firmly told them that they had to eat there to see the characters. That might very well be the case, but c'mon, the characters are for the kids afterall.

Honestly, this would upset me if I was eating there. The character meals just aren't set-up to have people approaching the characters. I was very unhappy at 1900 Park Fare because Mary Poppins and Winnie the Pooh were constantly being approached by folks who couldn't wait for them to get to their tables - it took 90 minutes for them to get to our table (meanwhile we saw the Mad Hatter and Eeyore 4 times each). This also created several traffic jams around the restaurant which is a buffet. Cast members who tried telling guests not to approach the characters...to wait for them to come to their tables...were often rudely told off.

Just my 2 cents from the other point of view.

Bruce

[Cinderellafifi]

LadyJena - I am also sorry to hear about your experience. I was wondering if there would have been any way to ask for a transfer to another hotel, especially if you were on one of the plans?

I have not stayed at the Contemporary in some time, but I must admit your experience and especially Mudder's will make me think hard should I desire to stay there.

I have mixed feelings about the character meals - I have to agree with Bruce that traffic jams cause a lot of problems for the reserved guests who are in the restaurant for the very reason as the two young boys who were mentioned, to meet and greet. However, I think that situation could have been handled better. Such as, when "character" comes this way, I will let you in. Please wait here.

LadyJena, can't wait until you post the rest of your report!

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by brumcg


Honestly, this would upset me if I was eating there. The character meals just aren't set-up to have people approaching the characters. I was very unhappy at 1900 Park Fare because Mary Poppins and Winnie the Pooh were constantly being approached by folks who couldn't wait for them to get to their tables - it took 90 minutes for them to get to our table (meanwhile we saw the Mad Hatter and Eeyore 4 times each). This also created several traffic jams around the restaurant which is a buffet. Cast members who tried telling guests not to approach the characters...to wait for them to come to their tables...were often rudely told off.

Just my 2 cents from the other point of view.

Bruce

ok first I understand the children wanting the autographs, and maybe the parents didnt understand how it works ..in all the years we have been going and eating at charactor meals they always tell you that the characters will come around to your table, our girls have always remained at the table they have even been times when they have come around 3 or 4 times each, its annoying when parents at other tables let their children come over and take away our time with the charactors, and I agree .. those paying to eat there with thier children are there mainly for the experience and the chance to have extra one on one time with characters.. atleast that is our reason. where were these boys parents?? I will never forget what happen this past spring at Hollywood and Vine .. there was a large family that came in and were seated in the booth next to use .. my DH leaned over and told them that if they sit the kids on the out side for the characters it would be better ..he was just trying to be helpful because they had placed all the children on the inside where they couldnt be reached with out the characters reaching over the table .. they got mad at us and the waitress for putting them at a booth instead and insisted on a table :( so many times its a lack of understanding about how things work and its not the fault of the castmembers. when test track first open .. there was a family that threw a fit when at the end of the "single rider line" they found out they were not going to be riding in the same car.. and really caused a huge scene, yelling for who ever was in charge. Its funny but people that do this dont realize what they look like to the rest of us when they are ranting and raving. So often a calm quiet voice gets your point across much better.

LadyJena just to help how you feel about what happen I suggest you contact disney
Walt Disney World Guest Relations, Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

You can also address comments to Mr. Al Weiss, 1375 E. Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, Fl. 32830.

[mmouse67l]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience... it has made me nervous since we are staying at the Contemporary also. However, we are staying in the North Garden wing which has been taken over by Shades of Green while they are remodeling so hopefully that will make a difference.

[Dana]

I also understand the disappointment those boys must have felt and the situation probally should have been handled better. However, I am a vetern of the Character meal and do at least one a day on my trips to the world. Still, I cannot stand those people who can't wait like the rest of us and sit at their table. Things are set up so everyone gets time with the characters and when one family decides they are more important than the rest of us it throws the entire meals and character times off. Those boys should have been told to come back with their parents and if they didn't want to pay for a character meal like the rest of the custmers they could have stood in the hour long line in MK and met several of them. I am sorry if this sounds harsh all, but you plan a certain amount of time to do everything and waiting even longer for each character because of difficult families and other distractions is a little on the annoying side. How fair is it to the next family waititing to be seated? The boys should have NEVER been running around without supervision anyway. Had their parents been there, perhaps they could have explained the way things worked to them. Again sorry if this sounds harsh but it is how I feel. I pay for the experience and so should everyone else.
The Cast member could have said, "Please come back with your Mommy and Daddy for dinner. or.....It's is somone else's turn right now, why dot you wait until the dinner is over and you can get all of the autographs?" There are thousands of different ways it could have been stated more politiey than it was. The cast member did not handle her apporach well at all.

[tinkerbell]

I dont mean to beat a dead horse here .. I cant help but comment that I dont think your being harsh Dana. but I want to add this .. everyone has bad experiences and it can color how we view things going on around us .. we dont stop and think that the cast member might have recently come under fire from a guest because of feeling they were neglected or felt neglected by characters .. its always been my way to treat someone as I would expect to be treated .. to remember that other person is real and has feelings. I have seen so many cast members attacked by guest and just do their best. yes we want what we want when we want it and we feel we paid for it, we should get it .. even I have felt at least once that. The other thing is ..speaking for my self that is .. I expect it to be disney and to always be treated the same way ..but there are going to be those few cast members that are not "disney" or they may even be having an off day ..after all they are human and not automatronic (spelling?) while there maybe these few ..over all we can all agree that there are more wonderful helpful cast members then bad, it just seems the bad get noticed more often

[Dana]

I can't agree more with you. I just think that some people expect EVERYTHING when and how they wanted. My original point, (yes i know I ramble), was that these individuals ruin or "delay" the Disney for the rest of us that are doing it the way it was intended. Character meals ...you sit ..you eat you pay...stuff like that...or my favorite .....Let me stop right in the middle of the walk way and view my map....there are many of these people....or the topper....Hey were you sitting here for an hour and a half to view Spectro...let me sit right in front of your face in the street.....I can see where some CM's get a little "piffed". I still have never received anything other than excellent treatment from the CM's. I have encountered more rude guests than CM's.