Aggressive DVC Housekeeping Checkout Day

[Sammie]

Or better yet, bring those back and also add something saying "We've left. Room ready for turn-around." (or something like that) so the staff can easily identify which rooms to start in.

That's what the app does, no need for signs.

 

[Sammie]

No different. But I didn't see room occupied signs on our last DVC stay.

Someone probably took it.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Or better yet, bring those back and also add something saying "We've left. Room ready for turn-around." (or something like that) so the staff can easily identify which rooms to start in.

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. A distinctively colored “ROOM CHECKED OUT” sign placed under the door the night before checkout, along with a note from Disney saying “Please help us turn the rooms around by hanging this sign on your door when you check out” would avoid the knock problem, help housekeeping no end, and have almost 100% compliance, compared to the relatively low percentage of guests who check out with the app.

 

[lowlight]

Management takes all factors into account and they have for years.

This is a very confusing statement. Either you work for Disney hotel management which biases your previous statements, or you have no idea what they've taken into account for years, just like the rest of us.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Well I certainly plan on bringing our own homemade door tags that say "don't even think about knocking on this door before 9am". We are usually "night owls" and shut down the park. One night during our upcoming stay we are going to the Halloween party so we won't be going to bed before 1:30 to 2 am most likely. We won't tolerate banging on our door at 8 am. I will also mention we don't want this at check-in. It's just not acceptable.

 

[Unclelude]

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. A distinctively colored “ROOM CHECKED OUT” sign placed under the door the night before checkout, along with a note from Disney saying “Please help us turn the rooms around by hanging this sign on your door when you check out” would avoid the knock problem, help housekeeping no end, and have almost 100% compliance, compared to the relatively low percentage of guests who check out with the app.

Yeah... Sometimes, I think the "other" side of 'room occupied" or "do not disturb" door hanger says something like "service please"

 

[New Mouse]

I stayed at Hilton Grand Vacations my last trip and they use a text service to communicate with guests for basically everything. It worked great.

At the end of the day Disney continues to do this because they don't really care if they inconvenience you. The housekeepers do it because management pushes them to accomplish productivity that isn't possible with their current methods.

What are you going to do? You pay for the housekeeping via dues. Your DVC is already paid for. There is no incentive for them to do better. Even from a sales standpoint, potential buyers aren't asking about checkout.

Maybe 10 years ago Disney might have listened. Today they could care less as long as profits are optimized.

 

[DCJ]

I wake up grumpy. They start banging on my door early on checkout day, I'm going to leave a lot of work for them when they finally get in at 10:59.

Don't hesitate to email guest relations when you get home. We've had so many issues the last 2 years... But before that not so much.

Currently at Art of Animation. This is the second time here, and both times (so far, now I'm scared I said this) this has been the best housekeeping we've had. Wilderness Lodge being the worst.

 

[SL6827]

I stayed at Hilton Grand Vacations my last trip and they use a text service to communicate with guests for basically everything. It worked great.

At the end of the day Disney continues to do this because they don't really care if they inconvenience you. The housekeepers do it because management pushes them to accomplish productivity that isn't possible with their current methods.

What are you going to do? You pay for the housekeeping via dues. Your DVC is already paid for. There is no incentive for them to do better. Even from a sales standpoint, potential buyers aren't asking about checkout.

Maybe 10 years ago Disney might have listened. Today they could care less as long as profits are optimized.

This sums it up.

 

[Dentam]

A few weeks ago I spent 80% of my day in our hotel room and the front desk called to say they needed to do a security check but saw we had the DND sign on our door. They scheduled a time that worked for us

That's great but brings up the question of how exactly this type of check helps with security if they schedule it with you in advance.


I wear earplugs when I'm sleeping so I guess they'd have to knock pretty loudly to wake me up. I also always use the little door latch/lock thing and a do not disturb sign if one is provided in the room. There are some other great ideas on this thread. Definitely agree that the constant nagging early on checkout day would end a trip on a sour note.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I must be living a good life. I never get any calls beyond the obligatory DVC sales pitch message, and when we checked out of BRV a couple of weeks ago, we left the room at exactly 11 am, and I had to go back to grab the rental car keys (after we had stopped at the Mercantile fro some things for family) around 11:15 and was just fine letting myself back in to my still empty room. I literally told the housekeeper in the hallway as I was leaving for the second time that we were gone and she was free to head into the room. She marked it on her clipboard and that was it. We did get the daily security checks, and only had to (politely) ask once for them to come back as we were getting ready for a late start to the day and this was at maybe 10 am.

I've never had a housekeeper bang on the door at Disney, but HAVE had them at Marriott and Hilton (hotels, not timeshares).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I haven't paid attention but are they back to the 4 day trash/towel and 8 day full cleanings? Those were things I thought they concentrated on early then room check outs. If they aren't back then they'd have less to do other than clean rooms being checked out of.

 

[lowlight]

I must be living a good life. I never get any calls beyond the obligatory DVC sales pitch message, and when we checked out of BRV a couple of weeks ago, we left the room at exactly 11 am, and I had to go back to grab the rental car keys (after we had stopped at the Mercantile fro some things for family) around 11:15 and was just fine letting myself back in to my still empty room. I literally told the housekeeper in the hallway as I was leaving for the second time that we were gone and she was free to head into the room. She marked it on her clipboard and that was it. We did get the daily security checks, and only had to (politely) ask once for them to come back as we were getting ready for a late start to the day and this was at maybe 10 am.

I've never had a housekeeper bang on the door at Disney, but HAVE had them at Marriott and Hilton (hotels, not timeshares).

I could have won a million dollars making this bet.

 

[RoseGold]

I never get any calls beyond the obligatory DVC sales pitch message

I've never gotten the sales pitch, I guess they look at all my resale and just give up LOL. I sat through the pitch a long time ago pre-Covid, so maybe that matters.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I've never gotten the sales pitch, I guess they look at all my resale and just give up LOL. I sat through the pitch a long time ago pre-Covid, so maybe that matters.

It’s a pre-recorded robo message that’s left on your phone, not an actual human being.

 

[tjkraz]

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. A distinctively colored “ROOM CHECKED OUT” sign placed under the door the night before checkout, along with a note from Disney saying “Please help us turn the rooms around by hanging this sign on your door when you check out” would avoid the knock problem, help housekeeping no end, and have almost 100% compliance, compared to the relatively low percentage of guests who check out with the app.

Unfortunately, no, it wouldn't have 100% compliance. Check-out day tends to be very hectic. People ignore items slipped under their door. Or it gets stuffed in someone's purse / backpack / suitcase. Or it gets thrown away. Or people with the best intentions simply forget to do it before leaving the room. A process like that also adds labor cost and materials (waste).

Right now, the hope is that people with transition to using the mobile app. It takes literally 2-3 taps to complete the check-out. Alerts can be pushed to the device's Home Screen. And if guests forget to do it before they leave the room, they can still check-out from literally anywhere (theme park, transportation, airport, etc.)

This is a very confusing statement. Either you work for Disney hotel management which biases your previous statements, or you have no idea what they've taken into account for years, just like the rest of us.

I have some knowledge of how Disney housekeeping is managed. I'm not plugged into the daily routine at every single resort as of October 2022, but enough to understand the recurring challenges. WDW has 30,000 hotel rooms to manage and nothing suggested here has escaped consideration.

 

[KimMcGowan]

I don’t condone the aggressive knocking after housekeeping has been told when you will be leaving. However, I think we might be viewing this issue incorrectly. Most people, even DVC owners, have paid a lot of money to be at WDW. As such, I would argue that most people are up and out of their rooms as early as possible. Yes, I have done resort days - but on the last day I am trying to squeeze in one last little bit of Disney magic before having to leave. I know that everyone does things differently but I think most people also want to get started early So, housekeeping- a job that’s probably more challenging than we imagine- is just trying to get work done without waiting unnecessarily.

 

[grandmamouse924]

Pro tip: We keep a pad of paper and a pen in our Owners Locker to write a note and stick it on our door on checkout day. It reads “Good morning, we will be out of the room at xx:x am. If this note is still here, so are we! Thanks!

We are never disturbed before that time.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Housekeeping has other things that can be started before the 11am room turnovers too. Keep the common areas clean, stock supplies, maybe laundry related stuff, 4 and 8 day room cleanings, etc. I guess when most of that is completed early they like to start flipping rooms.

Doesn't work like that, at least according to a Housekeeping Mngr at SSR last year.
Specific housekeeping staff have different roles & titles that determine their employment status, pay scale & reponsibilities...Not always interchangeable.

 

[robinb]

We just checked into Saratoga Springs yesterday. It seems ironic that housekeeping is banging to get in when my room when I got it at five o’clock was basically unclean. I spent the morning dusting, sweeping and scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees. The only thing in order was the beds were fresh. Such a decline since Feb 2020

That's a big "nope" for me. I am NOT scrubbing floors or dusting my villa when I check in. I would have taken photos and gone to the front desk and someone else would have spent their morning cleaning my room on my vacation.