Walt Disney World Resort to "Green" All Resort Hotels by Earth Day 2008

Disney the Green Standard

TC Palm
July 12, 2007

In Florida, The Walt Disney Co. has taken the lead in greening its hotels. Two of the first four hotels to receive state certification in March 2004 were Disney resorts in Orlando.

Nearly a quarter of all Green Lodging-certified Florida hotels are Disney-owned.

Disney expects to certify all 18 of its Florida hotels by Earth Day 2008.

"The biggest piece we're missing is really making sure that cast members understand what we're doing in case guests ask," said Denise Leeming, who oversees labor and scheduling at the resort. "We need to train our cast members, making sure they can have that conversation. If we can't share the program with our guests, then we've missed half the opportunity."

Great News :thumbsup: Let's hope some guests take the message home with them :mickey:

That's great!!! I just hope that more hotels take after them. I'm glad Disney took the initive.

Just out of curiousity - what exactly are they doing to make the resorts green?

There are a multitude of things that they can do such as use low-flow bath fixtures, use energy efficient lighting and appliances, reuse towels and linens rather than replacing them daily, recycle and use products made from recycled materials, and install A/C units that shut off when no movement is detected in the room. Many of these things are in place already. I believe that POFQ is one of the Disney resorts that is already certified green.

With the governor signing acts to make Florida "greener," our state is becoming more progressive every year. Disney certainly is an example. Now if we could just get those darn property taxes lowered.:beer:

Walt Disney was always promoting responsible use of our resources, and protecting the environment.

Good for Walt Disney World to continue to promote this.

This is fantastic news! Great to hear! :thumbsup:

:clappy::clappy::clappy::clappy::clappy::clappy:


Great news!:thumbsup:

As hot as Florida is, I am not liking the idea of the A/C turning off!!!

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Originally Posted by LauraleeH

As hot as Florida is, I am not liking the idea of the A/C turning off!!!

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Not to be so gauche as to be "un-green", but I agree with you.

Mess with anything, but the AC. They've already put a restriction on how cool you make your room. The LAST thing I want is to come back after a hot, sweaty day in the parks to a hotel room with no AC on.

I think it is great that Disney is doing this and helping lead the way.

Maybe next they will focus on making the buses more green! Last time I was there (about a year ago) I was surprised at how many of the buses were still high polluting diesels. Most transit agencies in the country have converted their buses to CNG or hybrid-CNG.

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Originally Posted by LauraleeH

As hot as Florida is, I am not liking the idea of the A/C turning off!!!

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Originally Posted by Ian

Not to be so gauche as to be "un-green", but I agree with you.

Mess with anything, but the AC. They've already put a restriction on how cool you make your room. The LAST thing I want is to come back after a hot, sweaty day in the parks to a hotel room with no AC on.

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I don't like that thought either. I don't know that they will install this feature in the A/C units, but the Disney Vero Beach resort does have this feature from what I understand. Even worse than coming into a hot room at the end of a long day is having the unit shut off in the middle of the night because it doesn't detect any movement when everyone is asleep!

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Originally Posted by kakn7294

I don't like that thought either. I don't know that they will install this feature in the A/C units, but the Disney Vero Beach resort does have this feature from what I understand. Even worse than coming into a hot room at the end of a long day is having the unit shut off in the middle of the night because it doesn't detect any movement when everyone is asleep!

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That's exactly what I was thinking. If it shuts off while I'm sleeping, I wouldn't be able to stay on Disney property :(

If you ever get a chance to see a program about sleeps studies you will find that people move around a lot when sleeping. Its seems most folks flop around a lot. Its likely not a worry.

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Originally Posted by Ian

Not to be so gauche as to be "un-green", but I agree with you.

Mess with anything, but the AC. They've already put a restriction on how cool you make your room. The LAST thing I want is to come back after a hot, sweaty day in the parks to a hotel room with no AC on.

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I second that. I am definitely all about helping the environment but the AC can not be messed with. A few hotels we have stayed at already enforce the AC off when no movement is found. Dont forget how awful hot nights can get when you are sleeping.....

Overall, very good thing that disney is doing. Every bit helps, and this is a big bit. hopefully they are paving the way for more big hotel chains to follow:D

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Originally Posted by Lacy

Maybe next they will focus on making the buses more green!

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I am sure I read somewhere in another post that Disney was experimenting with some new busses already, on a trial basis. One Intercot poster who stayed at AK Lodge got to ride on one.

All sounds good but the A/C units if you come back to a hot room that could ruin the whole day.:thedolls:

Sorry to sound "un"green but I am not fond of the thought of a/c shutting off while in the parks and while sleeping at night either. Some folks move around more while sleeping than others. I can fold back a side of the bed, get in, wake up in the morning, fold that side of the bed back, and it's made! However, I do suppose one would toss and turn a lot in a hot, humid room.

Then, after a nice, hot, humid, night's sleep, or lack of, you get to take a shower with water pressure so low you can barely wash the shampoo out of your hair.:mickey:

It is good for DisneyWorld to go green as large as it is and with as many guests as they have staying on property year around. I just won't be able to BE one of those guests, and that's okay too.

Many of the things that Disney used to qualify for the certification are things they have been doing for some time. AC motion sensors are not new and I don't think I have ever seen one that actually turns off the unit. They usually lower the set temperature.

Even when it is turned down it has never taken long to cool the room. If my math is correct, most rooms are under 4,000 cubic feet in volume. Unless it's an old or super inefficient AC, I can't imagine it would take long to cool.

I am overly sensitive to heat and humidity as I suffer from hyperhydrosis. I used to sweat outdoors in the middle of winter when I lived in Maine. I have never had a problem with Disney hotel rooms and the temperature.

Please Please Please tell me some of these things are already in place... our shower water pressure has been terrible on our last two trips and we did have problems with the AC turning itself off for a bit in the middle of the night and waking up sweaty etc. or the room not being at the right temp when we came back. It wasn't completely unbearable but I would hope that it doesn't get worse. I wish they would let you put a timer on the AC. I use this at my house when I know I'll be out for 6 hours so I can come back to a cool room. As for towels we do reuse ours already and we would recycle if a can was provided.

We stayed at the Contemporary last August and I remember the AC turning on the minute we walked in the room so I'm pretty sure it was off when we were out. The AC also turned off the minute we opened the balcony door so I think the Contemporary has already implemented the changes mentioned. We were never hot at night there or when we got back from the parks. I do agree that the low powered showers are awful - especially if you have long hair!!

Awesome! I love coming back to a hot hotel room and then not being able to take a decent shower.

Seriously, though, last time the ceiling fan in our room at the Beach Club worked so well that we hardly even used the a/c, and it was in the 80's every day.

I have to think, though, that the a/c in hotel rooms uses a lot less power than all the rides and attractions. They should work on making THEM more eco-friendly if they really want to "go green."

I'm all for green but. . ..well, I have to admit I'm with the A/C panicked crowd. I don't relish the idea of having to do jumping jacks, at midnite, in a hot room to keep it running so it'll cool down, after being in the parks all day. Especially, if I am paying moderate prices to be there. :cry:
May be they can look into timers on the A/C so if you know you'll be back at the end of the night - you can just set the A/C to turn on a half hour before you get in and off again in the morning. Kinda like the ones you have at home, just with a daily set program??:thumbsup:

What cha think, Renovationeers???:plot:

I'm not too worried about waking up hot in the middle of the night because I usually get really cold when I'm sleeping and end up turning the a/c off anyway. I'm more concerned with the temperature when I get back from the parks.

I could understand them turning the a/c DOWN when there is no motion sensed. I don't need the room constantly at 60 when I'm not even in it. But maybe they can set it to make sure the temperature never gets above, say, 74 (unless, of course, you set it to) when there is no motion sensed. It won't take that long to cool off a room at that temperature.

I like the idea of the timers. Maybe they can deactivate the sensors between, say, 11pm and 7am when they assume people are going to be in the room.

I also agree with the AC crowd. I absolutely hate coming back to a stuffy room.

But, more than that, I hate low flow shower heads. Having long hair, and using conditioner, it takes a long time to get it rinsed out. I end up taking a lot more time in a low flow shower, essentially killing the whole reason to have low flow. WDW had flow that was slow enough....I'd hate to see it slower.

I'm for helping the environment, but there are some things (just basic comforts) that I still would like to have. AC and a good shower are two of them.

I think it is great that disney hotels are going green HOWEVER, I do not like the automatic A/C.... Years ago when they 1st remodeled Port Orleans... they had the a/c that automatically turned off... at night when we were sleeping the a/c would turn off... so an answer to that is to put a balloon in the room.. to "trick" the a/c .. that worked for us...

otherwise YAY DISNEY FOR GOING GREEN!! :party:

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Originally Posted by Remzlightyear

With the governor signing acts to make Florida "greener," our state is becoming more progressive every year. Disney certainly is an example. Now if we could just get those darn property taxes lowered.:beer:

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I hate to tell you...but since I own a home in the north and one in Orange County, Fla....I can tell you that your property taxes are neither high....nor are ever to be lowered.

Think of it as the price you pay for living in the wealthiest, most advanced society in the history of Earth.

Memebership has it's privileges....and annual fees.

Though the our prop taxes in florida have expanded at a disturbingly large rate over the past several years...

But it's good to see that Fla is taken more enviro-friendly approaches....everyone will have too in the near future...might as well get ahead of the wave (literally)

The AC is an incovenience...but usually by the time people go to bed it's 62 degrees in the room at night anyway....

I hope that Disney also follows my suggestion:
confiscate all H3, Escalade, Navigator, Expedition, and Yukons and melt them into scrap for toaster parts....
They could put a pavilion in EPCOT showing the cars being melted down...Edu-tainment!!!

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Originally Posted by lockedoutlogic

Think of it as the price you pay for living in the wealthiest, most advanced society in the history of Earth.

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Have you been to Hialeah?!? :rotfl: Agua, Fango, y Factoria. La ciudad que progresa.

Seriously, though, the AC thing totally worries me!! We sleep with the AC on 60 degrees(or whatever is the lowest setting, I just hold down the DOWN button til it stops.) The minute it turns off, it gets unbearably hot in the room. Since I HAVE TO sleep with a fan on at home and they do not have fans, then I need the AC to run all night. Maybe they could put fans in all the rooms. We can't sleep if it's not cold. It would be uncomfortable to arrive into a stuffy room, but they tend to cool down pretty quickly, so I am not so worried about that or the other things.

At most hotels the maids will turn off the AC when they clean the room so I don't know if this is much different. My husband will be sure to get up & move around if he gets too hot . . . I think I'll leave this piece a secret & see if he notices :secret:

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Originally Posted by kakn7294

There are a multitude of things that they can do such as use low-flow bath fixtures, use energy efficient lighting and appliances, reuse towels and linens rather than replacing them daily, recycle and use products made from recycled materials, and install A/C units that shut off when no movement is detected in the room. Many of these things are in place already. I believe that POFQ is one of the Disney resorts that is already certified green.

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I totally agree!!!!!
And they can always use organically made linens/towels and even uniforms.
I wonder as well if that means they will or already do use organic/biodegradable cleaning supplies as well and energy efficent washers/dryers?

I feel I am about to get flamed....

For full disclosure, I am a "green" person. We recycle all plastics, cans, bottles, etc. We have one A/C unit in our home (not central air), which we turn off when we're not home. Lights go off when we're not in a room. My 11-year-old DD is well-trained for this. :) We take public transportation. We have only one bathroom in our home and it has a water-saver showerhead. I wash clothes in cold water. And our hot-water heater is at a medium setting.

HOWEVER....

When I am on a WDW vacation that I have saved every penny for, and paying lots of pennies for a luxury room, I want my luxury.

I want an air-conditioned room when I walk in. I want clean, dry towels every day. And above all, I WANT A GOOD SHOWER WITH LOTS OF WATER!

This is my vacation. I sacrifice all year. Can I just have one week where I don't have to sacrifice these things?

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Originally Posted by Aurora

I feel I am about to get flamed....

For full disclosure, I am a "green" person. We recycle all plastics, cans, bottles, etc. We have one A/C unit in our home (not central air), which we turn off when we're not home. Lights go off when we're not in a room. My 11-year-old DD is well-trained for this. :) We take public transportation. We have only one bathroom in our home and it has a water-saver showerhead. I wash clothes in cold water. And our hot-water heater is at a medium setting.

HOWEVER....

When I am on a WDW vacation that I have saved every penny for, and paying lots of pennies for a luxury room, I want my luxury.

I want an air-conditioned room when I walk in. I want clean, dry towels every day. And above all, I WANT A GOOD SHOWER WITH LOTS OF WATER!

This is my vacation. I sacrifice all year. Can I just have one week where I don't have to sacrifice these things?

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I completely agree with you. Especially if you are paying deluxe prices. If I was at the Contemporary and had to endure heat, low-pressure water, and still-wet towels, I'd demand a refund. I stay in the value resorts and wouldn't put up with that stuff.

Going Green is one thing. Not being comfortable on vacation is another.

Thinking about the AC thing, I say we just bring a "toy" that moves every now and then. Keep it going during the day. :) Hello bouncing Tigger...

Our experience has been that the A/C does not turn OFF when it does not detect movement, but it does shift to a higher room temp than you have it set for. In all of the resorts, however, the unit will turn completely off if you open a balcony/patio door and leave it open for more than a few minutes. To me, that is reasonable; WDW certainly does not want to try to air condition the entire State of Florida.

We've never come back to an uncomfortably-warm room, and we've stayed in quite a few different resorts. And the nighttime temp shift has not been enough to cause us any discomfort. We're usually totally zonked out from a full day in the parks!

We've heard stories of folks tying a balloon to a ceiling fan (if the room has one) to trick the sensors into detecting movement, but somehow I suspect that would not work. Plus, who wants to listen to a balloon bouncing off fan blades all night? :confused:

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Originally Posted by psychotekkie

I am sure I read somewhere in another post that Disney was experimenting with some new busses already, on a trial basis. One Intercot poster who stayed at AK Lodge got to ride on one.

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I actually got to ride one of the hybrid buses on my June trip. The driver mentioned that i was the last week of testing and that it was going back to GM.

It was a really smooth ride and very quiet. We didn't have to yell to have a conversation.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by kakn7294

There are a multitude of things that they can do such as install A/C units that shut off when no movement is detected in the room.

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Originally Posted by LauraleeH

As hot as Florida is, I am not liking the idea of the A/C turning off!!!

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Originally Posted by Ian

Mess with anything, but the AC. They've already put a restriction on how cool you make your room. The LAST thing I want is to come back after a hot, sweaty day in the parks to a hotel room with no AC on.

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Originally Posted by EeyoresBestFriend

I'm all for green but. . ..well, I have to admit I'm with the A/C panicked crowd. I don't relish the idea of having to do jumping jacks, at midnite, in a hot room to keep it running so it'll cool down

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When I was in Asia, several of the hotels used a different method for turning off the A/C instead of a motion dector. Upon entering the room you had to put your room key into a slot that would activate the A/C unit. When you left the room, and took the key, the unit would shut off. It doesn't solve the problem of a hot room when you come back, but it won't shut off when you're there.

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Originally Posted by kakn7294

Even worse than coming into a hot room at the end of a long day is having the unit shut off in the middle of the night because it doesn't detect any movement when everyone is asleep!

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I agree. I have experienced that. It is quite annoying to have to get up and move around to get it back on again.There has to be a way that a sensor could determine that a room is empty and differentiate that from a room with sleeping humans. Imagineering should be able to figure that one out.

Congrats to Disney for being a green leader!

So I'll start with the positive:

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"The biggest piece we're missing is really making sure that cast members understand what we're doing in case guests ask," said Denise Leeming, who oversees labor and scheduling at the resort. "We need to train our cast members, making sure they can have that conversation. If we can't share the program with our guests, then we've missed half the opportunity."

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To me, Disney is basically saying that they are going to train their people to engage the general public. They get no benefit to this other than their employees basically talking to their guests. Maybe it's just that they know they will have to train all of their staff to deal with you AC naysayers :drama: but I think this will only benefit WDW. I really view this as a step in the right direction. Any time Disney gears its staff towards engaging the public - I'm OK with it. Even if it is to defend what could be perceived as a guest unfriendly policy.

Trust me, being from MI, I love to sleep in cool conditions just as much as the next guy. I've basically found that after a LONG day in the parks - a 79 degree humidity free room feels just like 70 degrees in MI. I don't mind my room being warm during the day if it keeps costs at WDW down in the long haul. I also think that Disney doesn't mind keeping rooms cooler in the evening for guests. It takes much less energy to get the rooms to 69 degrees when it's 80 degrees outside at night vs. keeping them at 70 in the day when it's 95 out....

Plus - this should not be new to any one that's visited WDW regularly over the past 2 decades.... You used to be able to walk through whatever park and feel a mega cold blast of AC when an attraction let out. That just doesn't happen anymore. Disney has been on this path for a long time.

One last thing: Let me put my political hat on for the moment.... The energy debacle this country is going to find itself in will ultimately drive a number of political and business decisions. If this decision means sleeping in a room that's a few degrees warmer vs. not having the opportunity to have Main Street lit up every night - I'll take the former.

OK - sorry for the rant. Time to make a :marg::marg::marg::marg: