# My 2 nites at AKV - not a good report ...



## vacationhopeful (Aug 16, 2011)

Okay, DVC fans and fanatics, this is not a positive trip report. I have been here 2 nights due to work and family plans shortening my trip. I so wanted to stay longer and could have as I had plane reservations to be here either a 3rd or 4th nite.

The Magical Express Bus: Go to the lines and as I carried on my bag was ready to go. Except the ladies who point and escort to the door were way too busy visiting among themselves to notice the solo traveller standing in the AKV line. When I got her attention 5+ minutes later, she did check with 2 others and announced they had JUST close the door on the bus and I would be on the next one in 15 minutes. UGH - I did find out the inside airport people are Disney; the ME people are the one outside the doors.

Next was the bus ride. The driver proceeds with his welcome spiel, including his name for positive comments (Juan (spanish last name)) and his _other_ name for complaints (Tom Smith).  As I am in the 2nd row, I shake my head and ask, Are you making a racial statement against causasians? His response was, "Florida is 69% Hispanic". Okay, I write done his name and bus number. He does not seem to think he is putting down a minority class of people.

Now, I check in to the resort. All is fine unit I get to the elevator and try to figure out what floor I am on. No room number on my checkin map; back to the Front Desk. Okay, just a little error and the lady says she is putting a small credit on my room account (which was fine).

Back to the elevators and off to my unit - near the end of the hall. Normal activities in the hall for 1PM, lots of housekeeping carts. Lots of trays of dishes including a full tray of smelly spicey dipping sauces next to my door with the afternoon sun warming up their oders. Drop my luaggage and back down to the front desk. Having stayed in January for a week and watched food trays living for 3-4 days in the hall before their removal, I go back to the front desk and ask for the smelly travel to be removed. This clerk asks for my room number and said she will call. Out the door I go.

4.5 hours later, I return and trays are still there, but the hall is clear of housekeeping staff. I freshen up and head back out for dinner (the buffet next door), but first stopping at the front desk with another passionate plea to remove the smelly dishes - do you want to move to another room? NO! My room is fine; I don't want the smelly dishes outside my door.

I return from dinner and dishes with increasing oders, still there - these are not the only trays of dishes between my room and the elevators, and the discards bags of trash in the halls is growing. Now, I have decided to hike back to the front desk and find the manager. I take the walk back and take photos of the garbage lining the hall. It is after 9:30PM. The front desk manager begins by telling me Housekeeping will take care of that in the morning (Wrong, HK didn't at 1PM-5PM earlier). Well, it is the offsite food service - do you want their phone number? (Wrong, I didn't order any food, plus there is multiple bags of unit's trash growing in the halls). I politely state, This is NOT my problem to deal with; do you want to see my photos? No, he does not need to see my photos. I tell him this is HIS problem as I refuse to be living in a dumpster; I will not be quiet and I won't be calling contractors or other departments to correct a problem; this is his problem and I want it corrected. I will be happy to spend my time telling all what he has not done. He stated this is not his job to remove the trash; it will be taken care of in the morning by housekeeping. I told him, I had stayed a week before here and saw dishes living for days in the hallways; I was NOT going to put up with smelly stuff outside my door; this was my 3rd complaint to the front desk; I have pictures; YOU are the people I deal with; if I have to make phone calls, I will not be calling HK or food vendors! But I will be happy to post all on the internet.

Next morning the hallways are totally clean and have been clean, for the last 24 hours.

As for Magical Express, seems a ME supervisor was called by others after I whined to Front Desk on checkin, to DVC member services during my owner's update, and my van driver to DVC building. Was happy to provide her with the driver's full name, spelling, bus number, and comments. Videos in the bus have no audio; bet that changes in the next 30 days. And do you think sensitivity training might occur? 

As for the DVC ladies who gossip verses watching their lines - they are just living on Florida time. They didn't insult me or smell bad. By the time I got to my room, she was not so bad.


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## logan115 (Aug 16, 2011)

That stinks (literally)  

Sorry to hear about that, we encountered some stuff in the halls when we'd leave AKV in the morning but it was all gone by the time we returned.

Very disappointed by the response from the front desk, luckily whenever we've had any issues and brought them to the attention of the staff they were dealt with in a much more reasonable manner.  

I definitely agree that you should not have to point out the trash in the hallway, nor spend any of your vacation time trying to get the staff to provide a safe and clean resort.

Chris


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## glypnirsgirl (Aug 16, 2011)

YUCK! And given the "manager's" attitude, it is not surprising that you are having the experiences that you are having. 

Hope things stay clean and odor-free.

elaine


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## logan115 (Aug 16, 2011)

If that manager was there during our stay last year he must've been on vacation and there's no excuse for his attitude.  

On the flip-side, our issue wasn't a smelly hallway or even a dirty room, it was that we reserved a 2BR LO and were given a dedicated 2BR.  When I went to the front desk to inquire, all of the dedicated 2BRs at both Jambo and Kidani were taken.  Since they did not technically have the room category we reserved I received a credit on my cc for the value of one night at rack rates - nothing like a $940 credit to start the trip.  I didn't ask for it and didn't complain, the manager just apologized for the mix-up and asked if that would be ok. Um, yes, just fine thanks.....We could have moved rooms the next day to a LO but decided to just keep the room since the view and location were great and we didn't want to pack up our stuff and have to check-out the following morning.

Chris


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## 6scoops (Aug 16, 2011)

*AKV cast members need a little CS training*

You should get a survey request to rate your stay once you return home.  I'm sure you have the names and dates and room #'s.  Please report this, I'm sorry this happened to you.  I hope if they find out about it, housekeeping and the FD manager will be put through some new CS training.  I don't ever want to experience a FD Manager like that.  His attitude and unwillingness to help would make me so mad.  That is terrible.  I was just there, they were at full capacity and I will say the service was not top notch!  I wonder if it has anything to do with the size of the resort? 

In contrast the same week we stayed at Marriott Oceana Palms,  a very tiny resort, every time I walked through the Lobby, it was "Good Morning Mrs. Cooper, is there anything I can do for you today?"  If I needed something, It was done within 5 to 10 mins. and followed up by a phone call asking if everything was to my satisfaction.


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## chriskre (Aug 16, 2011)

Oh Linda,
This sucks or should I say stinks.   

This is my favorite resort right now so I hope it doesn't continue to go downhill but I gotta say that we had a little incident with something going missing and they just tried to play us off too.  Much to their shagrin I'm sure, my friends would not be ignored and actually hounded them til them made it right with a $200 Jiko credit.  I was staying on my points so they better make it right.   

Were you on your points or an exchange?  If this was on points I'm surprised that they talked to you that way.  That's just major wrong and so un-Disney like.   I think an email to Member services is definitely in order but I'd probably focus on what was most wrong or you'll come across as a complainer about everything.  Some of those pictures of the trays in the halls like a time lapsed scene should get their attention.  That's a ridiculous answer he gave you.  :annoyed:  

Keep us posted on what transpires.


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## chalee94 (Aug 16, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> Next was the bus ride. The driver proceeds with his welcome spiel, including his name for positive comments (Juan (spanish last name)) and his _other_ name for complaints (Tom Smith).



a classic jungle cruise joke and you get offended? 

wow.

there actually is a separate number for housekeeping issues but the front desk still ought to have addressed the problem...maybe with jim lewis gone the housekeeping issues will improve...


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## tashamen (Aug 16, 2011)

chriskre said:


> Were you on your points or an exchange?  If this was on points I'm surprised that they talked to you that way.  That's just major wrong and so un-Disney like.



The response should not depend on whether someone was there on points or on an exchange!


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## chriskre (Aug 16, 2011)

tashamen said:


> The response should not depend on whether someone was there on points or on an exchange!



Maybe not in the perfect world but they still try to make things extra right for "owners".  Just look at what they did for Logan.  $940 to make things right because he was there on points.  I doubt they'd do that for an exchanger.


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## lobsterlover (Aug 16, 2011)

:rofl: Wow, I'll probably get banned here, but.....get the stick out....you need a vacation!!!!


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## RX8 (Aug 16, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> The driver proceeds with his welcome spiel, including his name for positive comments (Juan (spanish last name)) and his _other_ name for complaints (Tom Smith).



I'll reserve comment about everythng else but I just don't see a racial undertone from the bus driver's joke.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 16, 2011)

chalee94 said:


> a classic jungle cruise joke and you get offended?
> 
> wow....



Times change. Otherwise, I would have been barefoot with 5 kids, never made it past 6th grade and been missing most of my teeth by now. 

I dealth with one boss in my exempt (alledged professional) job tell me that I didn't need more money as I should have been living at home til I got married. Same boss ask if I was going to accept a $1,000 settlement for federal sexual discrimination class action lawsuit calling it "blood money", dispite a clear statement management was to NOT discuss this with the 164 identified members of this class. Same company that fired EVERY PREGRANT WOMAN they could identify in November, 1982 (the woman figured this out when the Human Resource Department put 28 pregrant women in a outplacement meeting out of 30 people). And was confirmed by senior management as "individual and independant actions" of a number of managers; but remainded terminated.  Same company who hired secretaries based on length of hair and shortness of skirt.  Yes, a national oil company still in business today. Would you want YOUR wife or daughter to work there?

So, where do you draw a line in the dirt on being offended? Jokes are NOT funny when the defense is "Florida is 69% Hispanic" implies "Tom Smith" doesn't count as he is a nobody; he is a minority and powerless.

Just my personal opinion and my personal experience.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 16, 2011)

RX8 said:


> I'll reserve comment about everythng else but I just don't see a racial undertone from the bus driver's joke.



I thought the comment was in very poor judgment and asked if this was a racial statement. His defense was "Florida is 69% Hispanic" made it clear it was made with a racial undertone. IMHO.


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## Steve@BWV (Aug 17, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> I thought the comment was in very poor judgment and asked if this was a racial statement. His defense was "Florida is 69% Hispanic" made it clear it was made with a racial undertone. IMHO.



It appears you are looking for things to be upset about.  Did you ever stop to consider _you_ took offense that a man with a Hispanic name used an Anglo name.  I do not believe I would have ever considered the ethnicity of the names in question, simply smiled at the old joke.  It is telling you immediately jumped to the "racial" aspect of it.

By the twisted logic you lay out here, if a man named Tom Smith used the name Jose Hernandez that would have been fine because %69 of Floridians are Hispanic and he would not be "putting down a minority class of people".  Ugh.

In today's America both names are equally American.  It is time to accept that.  I know this is off topic (not a DVC related issue) but I believe it is important to point not allow these types of biases go unchallenged.

As for the HK issues, these are ongoing issues at all DVC resorts and have been for years.  Poor HK is the main complaint members have had year after year.  Hopefully a change in leadership will help.


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## chalee94 (Aug 17, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> I thought the comment was in very poor judgment.



his comment and response sounded playful to me.  but suit yourself...


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## Weimaraner (Aug 17, 2011)

chalee94 said:


> his comment and response sounded playful to me.  but suit yourself...



That's my take too. It's not uncommon for people with hard to remember names in the customer service/sales field to use an easier to remember name. I had a sales rep when I bought jewelry in St. Maarten tell me her real name and also wrote down her easy to remember sales name ("Wendy"). That's what kind of makes the Capital One ad kind of funny with the guy who answers the customer service line for another credit company "Hello my name is Peggy." I had a customer service credit card rep with a heavy Indian accent tell me his name was "Jack Daniels" which was memorable to say the least. (Hopefully it wasn't racially motivated and making fun of my Irish surname LOL)


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## siesta (Aug 17, 2011)

Dont let a plate of food ruin your vacation. Btw, you have hands and feet, scoot it over two doors and then its not smelling up your doorway.


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## Floridaski (Aug 17, 2011)

*WOW*

Wow, I opened the post because I could not think of anything that would ruin a stay at AKL - short of theft, fire, rape, murder, - you get my point.

I am NOT a DVC member, I have had unpleasant to bad experiences at DVC, Disney theme parks and on vacation in general.  The folks of Disney at any Disney venue take customer service to a unique level - perhaps something else was wrong? The bus name change was just a mild joke - anybody can take offense to anything in today's world - but I think you were suppose to be on vacation?  I do not think he meant anything at all by the comment.

It sounds like you were just having a couple of bad days (at least I hope for your sanity that is all it was) and anything was upseting.  I hate garbage in the halls, if something bothers me enough and I cannot get the normal channels to find a soultion - I usually just take care of it myself.  If it were me I would have pushed the tray into the elevator, into the fire door, into the vending area - you get the idea.  The elevator is very effective for trash removal - just be sure they do not know it was you.

Not that you should have to do trash duty on vacation - but if it was causing this level of upset in my life, I would have found a soultion.  Nobody would ever think it is "OK" to leave trash in the hallways - but it happens.  

Bottom line, I hope you can "chill out" on your next vacation or trip and have "no worries" LIFE IS SHORT!


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## sfwilshire (Aug 17, 2011)

Weimaraner said:


> I had a customer service credit card rep with a heavy Indian accent tell me his name was "Jack Daniels" which was memorable to say the least.



And all the heavily accented people at the various Help Desks give very "Americanized" names, which is often the only part of the "help" I actually understand. 

Sheila


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## chriskre (Aug 17, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> I thought the comment was in very poor judgment and asked if this was a racial statement. His defense was "Florida is 69% Hispanic" made it clear it was made with a racial undertone. IMHO.



Linda, I think he was just trying to be funny.  

Try living down here in Miami where it's 99% hispanic.  

Coming from a hispano-anglo (me),  We're always making jokes about ourselves.  It's part of our culture.  Kind of a Florida thing.  :ignore: 

You'll get used to and it gets worse the further South you venture from Fort Lauderdale beach resort.    At least in Orlando they speak English.  :rofl: 

I hope your week gets better at my Happy Place.    I like the recommendation to put the tray in the elevator, just put it in the corner so nobody trips over it.  :hysterical:


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 18, 2011)

Thanks to all for your reflections. I stayed only for a few days as I had planned. I dined out both evenings and did overall enjoy my time.

I spend a lot of time in Ft Lauderdale as many know. I have reservations for Marriott Beachplace starting on Sunday for a week.  So, I will walk the beach, sleep in, float in the pool, and visit with friends.


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## Floridaski (Aug 18, 2011)

*Have fun and relax!*

Glad to hear that you are going to relax, I am sure that it will help!

Have fun and just ignore all the "stuff" - I live in South Florida and it does get worse as you head South from Orlando.  

Miami is like visiting a different country, a very interesting cultural experience.  Have a cold drink for all of us!


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## GeorgeInNePa (Aug 18, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> Times change. Otherwise, I would have been *barefoot with 5 kids, never made it past 6th grade and been missing most of my teeth by now. *



I thought your location was Poconos, not Noxen...


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 18, 2011)

siesta said:


> Dont let a plate of food ruin your vacation. Btw, you have hands and feet, scoot it over two doors and then its not smelling up your doorway.



Did that. It was back at my door within an hour.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 18, 2011)

GeorgeInNePa said:


> I thought your location was Poconos, not Noxen...



Near Camelback.


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## Floridaski (Aug 19, 2011)

*elevator for sure*

If I were playing food service tray chess with next door, it would have gone in the elevator with their room number written on the tray...

Very effective!  No more trays in the hall all week!


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 19, 2011)

I realized that it might have been the prior occupants of MY UNIT who had ordered the food trays. The people next door included a H&W with 3 10-16 yo boys. There was NOT enough plates to feed more than 2 persons. As I knew food trays might have a "very long sit in the hallway" life and I had already complained about the tray, I didn't want a reason to be escorted off property by creating a hazard on the elevator. 

I had thought about putting the whole tray into the floor trash bin.


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## chriskre (Aug 19, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> I had thought about putting the whole tray into the floor trash bin.



That woulda worked too.  :ignore:


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## Shelbyd95 (Aug 19, 2011)

vacationhopeful said:


> Thanks to all for your reflections. I stayed only for a few days as I had planned. I dined out both evenings and did overall enjoy my time.
> 
> I spend a lot of time in Ft Lauderdale as many know. I have reservations for Marriott Beachplace starting on Sunday for a week.  So, I will walk the beach, sleep in, float in the pool, and visit with friends.



Sorry to hear about your experience...I just stayed in FLL area at Royal Vista at Pompano beach...there were a ton of jellyfish at the shoreline so watch your step if you go in


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 19, 2011)

Shelbyd95 said:


> Sorry to hear about your experience...I just stayed in FLL area at Royal Vista at Pompano beach...there were a ton of jellyfish at the shoreline so watch your step if you go in



Own there. And read about the jellyfish. The water is really warm. Am watching at the topical storm issues more. When Wilma hit several years ago, Beachplace was evacuted due to water damage.


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