How Early is "Too Early" To Check In?

[ldn324]

We will be checking in twice on our upcoming trip - once on Monday 11/26, then again when we switch resorts on Saturday 12/1. This is our tenth trip so we know the drill on how you can check in, but not actually get your room until later in the day.

My question is, is it ever too early to do the check in portion? I mean, can we technically check in at like 8 am in the morning to get a better room assignment? I know we can't actually have the room until late in the afternoon, I'm just hoping if we get there earlier, we stand a better chance at getting our room requests which basically are, a choice of a group of buildings at OKW and zebra trail at AKL, and non-smoking.

Any thoughts?? Do we stand the same chance checking in later or is there an advantage to going super early? Or will they even check us in that early in the morning?

[Here we go again...]

You never know what you are going to get.
We went July 4th week and decided to drive for the first time. We were planning to stop along the way to sleep for the night and finish the drive in the morning.
I fell asleep in the car and woke up in Disney World! My DH was not tired so he drove all the way planning to find a room near Saratoga Springs.
We decided to go to SSR (it was about 3am) and see if we could add on a night with points. Well, they had a room assigned to us already so we got to check in early.... VERY early!

You never know what can happen.

[MiaBella]

55 daysI was wondering this info also about how early can you check in

[Strmchsr]

You can begin to check in as early as 6 am, though, as stated, that does not mean you can get into your room that early.

[jodijo]

Last year we checked in at the Poly at 6:45 am and got our room right away. I was so surprised! We have always had to wait until after 3pm before they gave us our room assignment.
Good Luck and have a wonderful trip!

[mulderxcoltrane]

Rooms are typically assigned 3-5 days before your check-in date, so checking in early in the day will most likely have no effect on your room assignment.

[TammiMcMan]

mulderxcoltrane, that's not necessarily true, especially at the deluxe resorts. Most of the time, rooms are not pre-assigned there and the CM's simply pull from available room inventory when you arrive.

ldn324, to answer your question specifically, it does greatly increase your room choices to arrive early. They know who is checking out and what rooms will be coming available. If you don't mind waiting for something specific, they can typically accomodate you as early as 7am. Chances are, they won't be able to give you a room number that early in the morning, but they'll cut your keys and transfer any package you might have. You'll also get a card to call later in the day to find out your room assignment.

As an FYI, all Disney resort rooms are now non-smoking, so you won't have a problem meeting that request.

[mulderxcoltrane]

mulderxcoltrane, that's not necessarily true, especially at the deluxe resorts. Most of the time, rooms are not pre-assigned there and the CM's simply pull from available room inventory when you arrive.

Oh - then Central Reservations is giving out wrong information (I'm guessing that's not the 1st time)
They have told me on numerous occasions that the reservation (and all requests) are handed over to the specific resort 3 days before arrival. That is why if any changes to requests need to be made, they say to call the resort directly as of 3 days before. They actually told me this at least 5 times (and I called again tonight to see what they'd say before I responded the 1st time).
However - we've only ever stayed at Value & moderate - so if it's different for Deluxe, I wouldn't know.

[Tink's Friend]

They [Central Reservations] have told me on numerous occasions that the reservation (and all requests) are handed over to the specific resort 3 days before arrival. That is why if any changes to requests need to be made, they say to call the resort directly as of 3 days before.
However - we've only ever stayed at Value & moderate - so if it's different for Deluxe, I wouldn't know.

No, they're telling you correctly. The reservations are released to the resorts a few days, usually 3 days, before your scheduled arrival time. And they arrive at the resort with a room number assigned. However, that room number is not written in stone until you check in. Therefore, if you show up early and ask for a room in, for example, the Tonga section of Poly even though that's not where Central Reservations put you, and if they have rooms that are already assigned to other people who will be checking in later that day (and if those people have not already made a request for Tonga), then at check-in they can switch your room assignment with that of the people who haven't already arrived. Since those people had no expectation of being in Tonga, then they don't know about the switch and they get the room that you were going to get and, hopefully, are happy with it.

Therefore, the best practice is to (a) Make sure that your requests are noted on your reservation so that Central Reservations can try to take them into account, and (b) Arrive early so that if Central Reservations didn't put you where you requested, then you'll stand a better chance of lucking out at check-in and getting what you want.

Just FYI, you can also ask if any complimentary upgrades are available at check-in, and on rare occasions the cast members will be able to accommodate you with that request, too. (Like when the concierge level didn't fill and they're having to put regular reservations in that area--You might not have gotten one of the lucky slots, but if you get there first they'll sometimes swap you out with another person who had a regular room reservations, just like you, but was put into concierge by Central Reservations but who hasn't yet arrived and will never know about the change, since all that person expects is a regular room and he/she will never realize that anything was switched. [ Good grief! My daughter will never let me live down how long that last sentence is, if she ever reads it!! Hope it makes sense.])

Suzanne Q

[TammiMcMan]

Oh - then Central Reservations is giving out wrong information (I'm guessing that's not the 1st time).

No, they're giving out the right info. Anywhere from 3-4 days prior to your arrival is when your reservation is downloaded to the resort. It's just not 100% that a room will be pre-assigned. Our experience with deluxes is that the room is typically pulled from a pool of available inventory at the time of check-in. Maybe because there are fewer rooms in a deluxe?

[ldn324]

Thanks so much for the info everyone!

Big DUH on my part not remembering that all rooms are non-smoking I knew that...I just didn't remember that...LOL.

Tink's Friend - I didn't think to request a complimentary upgrade. What a great idea. Of course, I'll feel awful greedy doing that - DH won't mind...I'll make him ask . Nothing to really upgrade at OKW but concierge level at AKL would sure be sweet!

I'll be sure to post how we made out in my trip report. Thanks again for all of the help and advice!

[pook@wdw]

We usually check in @ WL around 7-8 am and head to the park. We've found that our request are more likely to be met if we check in early. We can usually get in our rooms around lunchtime, and get the room (yes we know the exact # we want) and amenities we like! So it's never "too early" to check in.

[DisneyOtaku]

You should def. try to get there early to see what you can get! Last time, we got to the Contemporary at a quarter past six. Because we were the first ones there, we got the 9th floor, Magic Kingdom view, at the end of the hall closest to the MK. Our view was PERFECT. Not only that, but were just happened to be able to check in at that time as well.

So you might not get as lucky as I did, but it's worth a shot!

[irish1967]

I didn't think to request a complimentary upgrade. What a great idea. Of course, I'll feel awful greedy doing that - DH won't mind...I'll make him ask . Nothing to really upgrade at OKW but concierge level at AKL would sure be sweet

FYI - I can't comment on the accuracy of this, I've seen threads in the past indicate that some resort CMs view complimentary upgrades as and as such, asking is a good way to NOT get an upgrade.

We have been upgraded several times but have never asked - never to concierge level, but often from standard view to a better view.

[BoomNLeon]

In September, we checked into POR at 7am and the CM at the desk asked us what district we wanted. I told him that I thought the rooms were assigned a few days before and he told me usually not. He said the rooms are available in groups and the CMs assign the rooms as guests check in. We were lucky that trip to get what we wanted because we were early. We are going in January, so we will see what happens then. We will be arriving at the crack of dawn!

[mouseketeer mom]

We spent 5 nites at the Contemporary tower last week. We checked out, bell services took our luggage, then we monorailed to the Poly about 10am. We checked into the Hawaii bldg and was told our room was READY! And it was the room we hoped for, the ground floor room we always stay in! That was the easiest check in so far. We couldn't believe our room was ready that early.

[spoiledraf]

In September, we checked in very early, before 7 am. We were booked in a Garden Suite at the Boardwalk but had requested one of the suites where the upstairs and downstairs were completely seperated and we did not want one with the balcony overlooking the lower level as my cousin was sharing the room with us and we both preferred the privacy. (It was cheaper than two rooms and was consierge) When we arrived and were checking in, I asked about our request for the seperated levels so the bedrooms were pretty much seperate. The CM sheepishly smiled and said that wouldn't be a problem because we had been upgraded to a suite with seperate bedrooms. I don't know if it was because we got there early or because I had asked about having seperation between the two sleeping areas or just dumb luck, but we got the Steeplechase Suite or Presidential Suite, whichever you want to call it and it was our little piece of a Year of a Million Dreams. That room is bigger than my house. It was four days of feeling like a million bucks! As for asking for upgrades, I ask every time after they tell me what my room is. Once I know it's not an upgrade, there is no harm in asking if something is available.

On another note, we were staying at the Grand Floridian a year earlier when the Year of a Million Dreams opened and the Grand Prize winner got the park to themselves. I actually planned my vacation so I would be off work for that prize because I was sure I was going to win! Instead, I was out on the Seven Seas Lagoon fishing when they brought in the prize winners at about 7 am. You could here the PA system welcoming them and some cheering going on. That would have been nice, but I think I actually liked having the Presidential Suite just as much.

[McGoofy]

We drove through the night one time and arrived at WDW at 8am. We went to check in knowing full well that they were not obligated to give us a room until after 3pm, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to see if we could check in early. As it turned out, they did have a room for us, and we were in it by 8:30am. You can check in early, and if they have anything ready for you, they will let you have it.

[disneyorvegas]

We are exchanging into Saratoga in February, I own with Hyatt and have exchanged through Interval many times. My questions is, does anyone know whether it is possible or even prudent to ask about an upgrade when checking into a vacation club resort??

[King Triton]

It's pretty random.

A couple of years ago I checked into AKL at 8:30 AM and, surprisingly, got into my room.

Yet, last year, I checked into CBR at 2 PM and the room wasn't available until 4.

I don't think checking in early will help you get a better room. I believe most of the room assignments are done prior to your arrival, so its usually a matter of when mousekeeping clears "your" room for arrival.