Snafu Makes a Bad Friday for Hotel’s Guests

For the children, they tried lemonade, cookies and ice cream cones. For the adults, free beer and wine at the hotel bar.

But all the hospitality at the command of the Disneyland Hotel couldn’t soothe the hundreds of irritated Easter weekend visitors who were left to roam the lobby for as long as two hours Friday afternoon when the computer that handles guest check-ins crashed.

At the same time, the monorail system that connects the hotel with the theme park experienced an unrelated breakdown, compounding the anger of those who had walked the half-mile from the park expecting to find a cool room waiting for them after a muggy day at Disneyland.

“It’s not a good Friday for Disneyland,” said Richard Lauzon, a Paradise, Calif., artisan as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with about 300 other people in a lobby and its surrounding areas. “It’s not even an average one.”

It was one of the park’s busiest spring days, and the 1,100-room hotel was booked to capacity, Disney officials said, when the computer broke down at 2 p.m., just at the start of check-in time. Guests for more than 400 rooms had reservations for stays that would start Friday afternoon or evening at the hotel.

Disney officials said computer breakdowns happen perhaps once a year at the hotel.

“All we can do is inform the guests about what happened and make the delay as easy as possible for them,” said Shannon Stewart, the hotel marketing manager. “This type of thing happens at hotels, but we’re Disney and we’re held to a higher standard.”

In attempts to soothe their guests’ irritations, Disney employees used the time to serve refreshments and pass out vouchers for free beer and wine to the adults.

But some of the more angry guests seemed to be the parents of small children, trying to control toddlers who were grumpy or tired.

“I can’t believe a company that I own stock in doesn’t have backup plans for when the computer breaks down,” said Dawn Haas, an Indianapolis bookkeeper. It was 3 p.m., and Haas was watching her 18-month-old son and the daughter of a friend who was stationed in line.

“We came back from Disneyland about 2 because the kids were cranky and they needed a nap, only to find this. The children just now fell asleep, and I’m glad.”

Haas and others said they would demand a rebate or other compensation for their inconvenience.

“The guests here spend $165 a night, $200 a night, whatever, and we can’t check in until late. And yet tomorrow, we’re still going to have to check out at 11 a.m.,” said Fran Malin of Woodland Hills. “They better let us stay late or give us a reduced rate or something. An ice cream cone isn’t going to do it.”

Stewart said each complaint will be handled individually and that some guests could receive compensation.

By 4 p.m. the computers were running again and Stewart said every hotel employee and manager who knew how was working to clear the check-in backlog.

“Now we have an obligation to make the rest of these guests’ stay as enjoyable as possible,” Stewart said.

The monorail was reported back in operation by 3 p.m. Disney officials would only say that its breakdown was caused by mechanical problems.

Correspondent Bob Elston contributed to this report.