Rant about CBR

[kakn7294]

My family of four is just back from a short trip that lasted Wed night 1/19 to Mon afternoon 1/24. We stayed at CBR in a pirate-themed room, a new experience for us even though we've stayed at this resort twice before. The room was very cute and theming was great. However, we had several issues that I'm having a hard time overlooking:

First, despite the fact that I paid an additional cost for the privilege of sleeping in a pirate ship, my room was located in the furthest section from Old Port Royale and Custom House. I did know this going in but I do think that if you are paying more for your room, you should have a better location.

Second - and this was a huge problem - on Sunday morning, our room door would not lock. We discovered the problem as we were about to leave for the parks. I called the front desk and they assured me that someone would be over "soon". 20 min later, nobody had showed up so the hubby called again. This time he was told that it was a resort-wide problem due to the cold (it was 45 - 50º at this point) and the door needed reset and they could not get someone to fix it immediately. We had to make the decision to either stay behind with our stuff, therefore losing park time, or leave it and take a chance that it was all going to be there when we got back. We took the chance and fortunately, the door was fixed and our stuff was still there when we got back 8.5 hrs later.

Third, we had booked a room-only reservation so it needed to be paid at check-in. What they actually did was charge the room itself to the room charge account, giving us only $440 to actually spend on the room charge account. However, they neglected to tell us this so I was expecting to be able to spend up to $1000. Because of this, my credit and debit cards were left in the room and my room charge was denied when purchasing food for my kids. Thankfully I had enough cash to cover it.

Fourth, when we did the airline check-in, the resort printed a single boarding pass and left it on our door - it was supposed to be for me but it was not my first name nor was it my confirmation number. They were unable to pull up my ticket and print my pass so while my family got theirs at the resort, I still had to stand in line at the airport for mine.

Last, when we were checking our bags at the resort airline check-in desk, they set a 5th bag down next to our 4 bags. I did make sure that I pointed out to them that it was not our bag but despite that, after we got home, I got a phone call from our airline telling me that we left a bag behind. They apparently did not listen to me and tagged some poor person's bag with our luggage tag.

I haven't done so yet but I do plan to write to WDW and let them know of most of these issues, most especially the one with the door lock since that's a major safety issue. We tried to speak to a manager about the door issue at the time that it occurred but they would not direct my hubby to a manager.

[BugeyedMuggy]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. We stayed there once and due to the size of the resort and transportation just to get to the food court, main building not to mention the parks after stopping 6 times within the resort we would never stay there again.

[vicster]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. We stayed there once and due to the size of the resort and transportation just to get to the food court, main building not to mention the parks after stopping 6 times within the resort we would never stay there again.

Same here. We tried CBR in 2007 and it was the worst check-in we've ever had. Never in all the years we've gone to WDW did we not have our room until after 5:00 p.m. like at CBR. While our room was close to the food court our friend's were in "Eqypt" and had to take an internal bus to the food court. Never again!

[forever a child]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy your stay at CBR.

In regards to the Pirate rooms, yes they are the furthest rooms. You need to keep in mind that when you make these special room requests that you are aware of the pluses and minuses for requesting such rooms...just like any other themed rooms in any other resort. I am sure Disney did this to make rooms that were furthest away and probably least requested a bit more enticing to guest...not to mention that I believe they charge more now for them. You really don't have much of an argument here. There has to be a room close and far away from various amenities and they will all have some type of theming, you just need to be aware of the locations of the ones you are selecting, sorry.

As far as your other issues....I agree you should have been able to speak with a manager while on property! That is ridiculous that they would not direct your hubby to a manager. I would be fuming if a CM told me that. I have never heard that the room cost reduces the charge limit for the room. That would have been a big issue for me as well! You do need to write a letter and I would name who the CM's were that you were dealing with throughout all of these issues and the ones who refused to find a manager for you to speak with. These are not acceptable practices at a WDW resort.

[Strmchsr]

Sorry for all of your frustrations, Kathy! I hope you still had a great trip in spite of it. We're checking into CBR tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have better luck.

[JabberJaws]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience! I have stayed at the CBR before and can say this is not a common experience as I had a great time.

That being said, with 55,000+ employees, there are definitely some less than Disney-esque CMs out there. I worked w/ some myself when I was on my CP!

With that in mind, I would definitely write to Disney guest relations and mention the CMs specifically, and by name if you can remember. Disney upper mgmt does strive to keep CMs performing the way they should and Disney guest services are typically VERY good at fixing a problem if they know about it.

Like I said, when I was on my CP I had some fellow CP CMs that did not perform up to Disney standards. They got away with it until someone notified the mngr or he/she saw them doing it in person. And, they were instantly reprimanded. If they did not fix their behavior, they were let go.

There is a VERY tight leash for the most part on CMs and Disney does not like to hear that guests had a bad experience due to CM performance.

Hopefully they will root out the problem CMs and fix the problem.

[Mousemates]

... he was told that it was a resort-wide problem due to the cold (it was 45 - 50º at this point) and the door needed reset and they could not get someone to fix it immediately.......I haven't done so yet but I do plan to write to WDW and let them know of most of these issues, most especially the one with the door lock since that's a major safety issue. We tried to speak to a manager about the door issue at the time that it occurred but they would not direct my hubby to a manager.

So the locks on the doors at CBR are prone to fail when the temperature drops below 50 degrees? That's not good.

I too would have been quite upset and the refusal to allow me to speak to a manager would have most likely moved me to "help" whoever the CM was I was dealing with better understand how intent I was in speaking to someone right then and there. (I actually have the number of guest relations in the directory of my cell phone and that particular situation would have created only the second time I have had an experience unpleasant enough to call it after 30 visits.)

Please take the time to make sure your voice is heard...and if you can remember the names of the cast members who were "something less than helpful" mention them.

[faline]

Sorry to hear the magic was tarnished on this trip. I certainly hope the wayward bag made it back to the correct owner!

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Your comment on the luggage reminded me of something I had almost forgotten about on our recent trip.

We came back to our resort (POR-AB) after a long day in the parks, and as I open the door I turn to my wife and say "we have all of our bags, right?" Which the answer was what I thought, yes. Well, lo and behold there was another bag in our room, with the ME sticker on it from the airport, only problem is that it wasn't ours. I called concierge about it, said we were leaving for dinner and could they get it while we were gone, they said yes, someone would get it soon. Well, we come back from dinner at one of the parks and I open and the door and the single luggage bag is not there, because now there are two bags there, neither of which were ours.

I called again, got the "someone will be there shortly" response. After an hour or so passed I called back up and simply said, "I have two bags that are not mine, my family is about to go to sleep, either get someone here now or these poor people don't get there bags tonight." That finally got someone over to our room to pick them up.

I have found, and this may be due to the resort sizes, that desk services are not always so prompt when dealing with room issues.

I would certainly let your concerns be known to Disney. I don't think you really can complain much about paying a premium for the pirate room though. You paid the premium for the theming, not the location, can't always have it both ways. They are up front about the costs so it's basically a personal choice.

[Horizon One]

We stayed in the pirate themed room last Feb and we enjoyed the theming.
I really don't see an issue with the distance to the dining area on site. It is not a long walk maybe 10-15 minutes it is a good thing to walk off a bit of the food on the way back.
The bus stops are not very far from your room for the parks so that is easy.
The only thing that was a pain was on the day that we left we didn't know you had to book a van until one of the last days and ended up getting up really early for our flight that was 3.5-4 hours later.
Other than that it is a great resort.

[VWL Mom]

Sorry your stay was less than magical. I agree about writing to guest relations listing CM names, dates, & times. There are just too many good people unemployed right now to keep letting slackers get away with subpar performance; especially in the service industry.

[Aurora]

The issues you mentioned are mostly minor or frustration issues related to travel EXCEPT the door-locking incident. That is a guest-safety issue that should have gone directly to crisis management and dealt with immediately.

I can't imagine that the doors not locking could have been due to "the cold," unless they were actually freezing (which, last time I checked, was still 32 degrees F).

The fact that you were forced to choose whether to compromise your safety/belongings or get what you paid for is UNACCEPTABLE. I would not write a letter to guest relations; I would write an e-mail to corporate and explain everything in as much detail as possible. This should NEVER happen.

[kakn7294]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy your stay at CBR.

In regards to the Pirate rooms, yes they are the furthest rooms. You need to keep in mind that when you make these special room requests that you are aware of the pluses and minuses for requesting such rooms...just like any other themed rooms in any other resort. I am sure Disney did this to make rooms that were furthest away and probably least requested a bit more enticing to guest...not to mention that I believe they charge more now for them. You really don't have much of an argument here. There has to be a room close and far away from various amenities and they will all have some type of theming, you just need to be aware of the locations of the ones you are selecting, sorry.

Sorry for all of your frustrations, Kathy! I hope you still had a great trip in spite of it. We're checking into CBR tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have better luck.

The issues you mentioned are mostly minor or frustration issues related to travel EXCEPT the door-locking incident. That is a guest-safety issue that should have gone directly to crisis management and dealt with immediately.

I can't imagine that the doors not locking could have been due to "the cold," unless they were actually freezing (which, last time I checked, was still 32 degrees F).

The fact that you were forced to choose whether to compromise your safety/belongings or get what you paid for is UNACCEPTABLE. I would not write a letter to guest relations; I would write an e-mail to corporate and explain everything in as much detail as possible. This should NEVER happen.

We actually still do enjoy the resort and would return there, just not in a pirate room. I loved the theming but did not care for the location and the beds felt like they took up so much more room than a standard bed. Like I said in my original post, I was aware that they were so far away when I booked.

I'm not sure that I would use the airline check-in again based on my experience - it was very unorganized and took up a good bit of time.

As far as the door lock, I think that's what set me off with my disappointment in the resort this trip. It just seemed so many little things were capped off by this event. I definately plan to write to someone - I just need to figure out who and get it done.

And to whomever posted about needing the van to take you back to Custom House, I just called the front desk Monday morning when we were ready to leave and they sent a van immediately. I guess it's a good thing the resort wasn't busy or maybe I'd still be sitting there since I didn't arrange for the van in advance!

[faline]

I'm not sure that I would use the airline check-in again based on my experience - it was very unorganized and took up a good bit of time.

Unfortunately, this is one of those functions that Disney outsourced. These folks work for a company other than Disney World.

[MOJoe]

I can't imagine that the doors not locking could have been due to "the cold," unless they were actually freezing (which, last time I checked, was still 32 degrees F).

To be fair, when it's below 50 degress in Orlando, it feels like it's freezing.

Seriously, for what ever the reason, doors that don't lock are a big issue. And i would not be comfortable leaving my room unoccupied and unlocked for any amount of time. Pretty sure there is no way my wife would allow us all to leave.

However, if it was indeed a "resort-wide problem" you could take some comfort knowing your building was furthest away, with many other opportunities for theft ahead of you.

O.K. well..... maybe not so much.

[Granny Jill A]

Unfortunately, this is one of those functions that Disney outsourced. These folks work for a company other than Disney World.

Outsourcing is a risky thing. Contractors don't have a vested interest in maintaining the organization's image.

I'm sorry Kathy and family had such a rough experience. If it's any consolation, I have never had a satisfactory experience with requesting things through the front desk, no matter where I stayed. I always ended up going down there for a face-to-face. That usually works.

[Granny Jill A]

Your comment on the luggage reminded me of something I had almost forgotten about on our recent trip.

We came back to our resort (POR-AB) after a long day in the parks, and as I open the door I turn to my wife and say "we have all of our bags, right?" Which the answer was what I thought, yes. Well, lo and behold there was another bag in our room, with the ME sticker on it from the airport, only problem is that it wasn't ours. I called concierge about it, said we were leaving for dinner and could they get it while we were gone, they said yes, someone would get it soon. Well, we come back from dinner at one of the parks and I open and the door and the single luggage bag is not there, because now there are two bags there, neither of which were ours.

Your story about the multiplying luggage had me on the floor

[DisneyorBust]

Hey Kathy!
Sorry to read that aspects of your vacation were less than magical, but I'm sure that you had a great vacation and made the best out of situation. Thanks for the report!

[Crow]

sorry about the bad things...
I havent stayed at CBR for a few yrs. but i will b there in March & hope its ok..It wasnt my fav mod but...
Ill report afterwards

[Fastpasssteve]

So sorry you had a bad experience.

The last time I stayed there, we had a lovely time. We, too, had considered staying in a Pirate Room, but it was just too far away for our convenience.

Mousekeeping was wonderful and helped organize our daily mess. The front desk was also quick to deliver the gift we had ordered. We had arrived a day EARLY due to an impending storm in February 2010, and they rushed to finish the custom-stitched mouse ears and wrap the whole thing along with the balloons.

I hope your next experience there is better.

P.S. - They let us stay in the hot tub until almost 4:30 in the morning! Thanks!