The Strangest News Of The Day - Disney Hotel Room Clocks Being removed

Yeah I have to say I read this a while ago. While we were in WDW in December our friend took us to the CM shop behind AK, they had them all there selling for something crazy, Sy thinks it might have been $3 each. My memory is failing me.

That IS very strange. I have NEVER seen a hotel room without a clock, so it coming from such high standards like WDW is surprising. Guess I'll just be bringing along our little travel clock (which is weird that I even have one).

A clock is handy for checking the time at a quick glance. Otherwise I never use it. I've got my phone for everything I need, including an alarm.

We didn't have a clock in our Poly room last week. Since most people have smart phones now, it's probably not a necessity to have a dedicated clock anymore. Similar to the disappearance of pay phones. We just use our iPhones whenever we travel.

Last November we noticed no clock in our room at the Boardwalk. We thought it a little weird. We use the alarm on our phone when needed but I do have to say I missed not being able to just look over and see the time.

It's so nickel and dime they should be embarrassed. I literally get the feeling that the only think they think about at this point is squeezing more gold from the goose. They may as well remove the phones from the room too since we all have phones. Hey, the TVs for that matter also.

Thinking about this today, in the UK it now seems rare to see a clock, I hate using the tv as an alarm (if the hotel uses that tech) I can't even remember the last time I had a room clock.

I hate not knowing the time, each room has to have at least 1 clock in it. For alarms I pack a travel clock or use the phone.

Well, this is no doubt a cost move on their part. The clocks probably need updating and they figured they could do away with the cost of each clock times how many rooms there are.

Honestly, I could care less about a clock, phone or TV. I don't use any of them in hotels, especially at Disney. Between my iPhone and iPad and Macbook Pro, I'm set for communications. Just don't take away my internet.

I think they're just getting with the times on some things. For example, the Cali Grill no longer uses pagers to notify you when your table is ready, they just send a text. I can certainly see this rolling out to other restaurants.

They charge you for extra towels. I have never been charged for extra towels anywhere else in the world. It's a joke already. There is nothing deluxe about Disney deluxe hotels. But what can you do? The location is great.

Anyway I'm sure they'll pass the savings on in our maintenance fees

This is exactly what happened at the new Jungle Cruise Skipper Canteen restaurant when we were there on Saturday for appetizers & desert. Reservations were not available but they sent a text when our table was ready.

I never use the clock in the room for an alarm. I'm usually up early. If I have an early ADR I schedule a wake up call.

I got rid of clocks in my bedroom a few years ago. I sleep better. I found I was always looking to see what time it was then calculating how much more sleep I could get if "I got to sleep right now".

When I moved in with Joe, I got ride of his in the bedroom.

So, what I am saying is it won't make much of a difference to me. When we travel I still use my phone even when the room has a clock.

And like many of you have mentioned, I am an early bird also.

We noticed no clock in our room last month at Bay Lake. We thought it was odd and maybe it was just our room. Guess not!

Tbh the amount of times the hotel clock was wrong I never bothered looking at it, it's wasting valuable nightstand space and I'm glad to see them go

No clocks (I agree with the penny pinching)?? Extra for extra towels? All absurd for the cost of staying at a Disney hotel. We use our phones for the alarm but I use it to glance at while getting ready, waking up before the alarm and knowing what time it is quickly, etc.
But alas, we love the convenience of the hotels.

This is very true. I was doing the same thing and wasn't getting very good sleep each night. I got rid of the clock and now sleep much better. I read an article on sleep disorders and it mentioned this very point. When you see the time in the middle of the night, your brain thinks about it and can start a process where you start thinking about other things etc. Now, when I wake up in the night to roll over or such, I just see that it's dark and it's not time to get up yet.

I'm pretty surprised that they don't charge for Internet access. Think of the millions they are leaving on the table.

I was really surprised, kind of confused, and even a bit disappointed by this until I realized I didn't even remember for sure if we had seen a clock in our room at Saratoga in December so clearly it wasn't that important to me! Then I DID remember that there was a clock but it was about 40min off so we didn't pay attention to it anyways. So clearly it's a non-issue for our family. We use our phone anyway but it does seem like a weird change to make. I like to have a clock (whether it be digital or analog in every room of the house so that I can see the time with a quick glance without having to find my phone. But I refuse to wear a watch, go figure.

But, but, but........how will I complain to Peter that he woke me up snoring at 2 a.m., and at 4 a.m., and at 5:30 a.m. if there's no clock?

We have travel clocks, but they don't illuminate unless you press the 'light up' button, and I wouldn't be able to find that in the dark. So we will be requesting a clock in the room, because I refuse to use the cellphone for that. Stupid thing eats battery life just using it to check email, etc., without making it tell me the time too. I do hate the amount of room the clocks use on the nightstand though.

This is not just a "Disney" thing people. All hotels are getting rid of clocks in rooms. We stayed at Hampton Inn's coming down and going back home. All two of the three of them had clocks removed from the rooms and only had a small black cube next to the bed with 4 usb charging outlets on it and a volume control because it was a speaker for your mobile device also. It is not just "Disney penny pinching thing".

Colonel, I'm sure Disney would take your $10.00 a day for internet service like they used to if you are really that set on wanting to pay for for it! Just send them a check at the end of your stay with a sticky saying, "Here, I'd really rather pay for my internet service while I'm here. Have a Magical Day!"

Personally, I've always found hotel room clocks a bit annoying.

They usually have the wrong time to start with because the previous person was fiddling around with it. Then, since each clock is different, you have to figure out how to set the time and then set the alarm if you use it. Sometimes, depending on the model, it is not always immediately clear how to set these.

Then on top of that, some models are not dim-able and throw a lot of light into the room which I hate. That's when I unplug them.

Most smart phones also have apps you can install that will show the time on the display while its plugged into power.

Disney alone or all hotels, I'm not a fan. My goal is to look at my phone LESS when I'm on vacation, not be forced to look at it just for the time. Guess we'll be bringing our own small digital clock.

I did notice that the clock was missing in our room this last trip, but not until the last few days. Can't say I missed it, but I did appreciate the extra room on the night stand for my phone and iPad.

Don't forget that you can still get a wake up call if you don't want to use your phone as your alarm.

Did I say I wanted to pay for wi-fi? I don't recall saying that. I said I'm surprised they don't charge for it. But I agree, I'm sure Disney would take my $10 also.

One thing they really shouldn't get rid of is the bed bug sniffing dogs. There must be something going around. I see them all the time now in the resorts. I hope they don't cut the budget for those.

I'm very watch-dependent, so I won't miss the clocks a bit. This is an interesting discussion and it brings back something that stuck me odd when we were in California. The first night, we stayed at the Eden Roc Inn. We had extended our trip by a day and we couldn't get in at Grand Californian for a night and we got a great deal on this shabby little hotel. It was partially renovated and we thought that was why our room was missing a clock and something else (phone? lamp? I forget what the other thing was). Neither of the items were things we cared about and anyway, we were there for about 10 hours, but considering this conversation and thinking back on it, I bet they weren't missing because of the renovation--they just aren't part of the hotel room anymore.