Room requests and late check in....

[mom2morgan]

Do they wait until you are actually physically there to assign you a room? I'm wondering if this is why I never get what I ask for - because we usually arrive very late. This time we'll be arrivng at CBR around dinner time and have paid for a "preferred room" upgrade, but I'm still wondring if we'll get the left overs by that time. Nothing I can do about it. BUT...we are hopping to AKL for our last couple of days. I though I'd check out of CBR, go to a park for the day and then check in at AKL after done at the park (and it will be late because we are going to DHS and staying for Fantasmic). Does that mean I'll get a lousy room? Would I actually be better off LEAVING DHS mid day to check in and then go back?

[Strmchsr]

No, they assign rooms 2-3 days before your arrival.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I have heard that they assign rooms a few days ahead. However if guests arriving earlier in the day don't like their room assignment they can ask to be moved to another room, which in turn could possibly move other guests who have not yet checked in. Unless there is a method that I'm not aware of only using rooms that have not been assigned.

We always check in early in the day, around 8ish. For the most part we've gotten what we requested. At least in the same area, if not the exact room. And in the event they had us placed in an area far away from what I've requested, they've always managed to move me at check in. Not sure if arriving early in the day has anything to do with it, but it seems so.

[brownie]

Arriving late could impact their ability to accommodate your requests. We've never had any issues with our requests; the cast member at check-in has always worked with us. We've never arrived late, though.

[Strmchsr]

However if guests arriving earlier in the day don't like their room assignment they can ask to be moved to another room, which in turn could possibly move other guests who have not yet checked in. Unless there is a method that I'm not aware of only using rooms that have not been assigned.

Unless there's a big problem they don't take assigned rooms and give them to guests who don't like their room assignment. They work with unassigned rooms for those cases. If they tried to give away an assigned room as a regular practice can you imagine the chaos of falling dominoes that could create?

[buzznwoodysmom]

Unless there's a big problem they don't take assigned rooms and give them to guests who don't like their room assignment. They work with unassigned rooms for those cases. If they tried to give away an assigned room as a regular practice can you imagine the chaos of falling dominoes that could create?

I understand what your saying, but if a guest has not checked in yet, then techically they haven't been "given" their assigned room yet. They could give the "unwanted" room to the guest checking in later in the day. Sort of like a switching of rooms so to speak. I'm not saying this is how they do it, I actually have no idea how it all works, but it seems that if the guest hasn't checked in yet then their room isn't exclusively theirs.

There have been times we didn't like our initial room location and were moved without issue, and there was no "big problem" with our first room, just didn't like location. But I do understand what your saying about using rooms that have not been assigned yet.

[CuteAsMinnie]

Buzznwoody's mom,

Has your room ever actually been ready at 8 am??? We always check in by 11 but for this next trip we thought it would be fun to arrive at WL early enough to have breakfast at CL (even if this means getting to the airport at 4am!

[We LOVE Disney]

No, they assign rooms 2-3 days before your arrival.

I'm so happy to hear this! We will be driving from Michigan thru the day and hopefully arriving around 9 or 10pm. I wondered if we would get our request. However, the only request we've made is a preferred room at POR and payed more for it so I am assuming we get that no matter how late we check in.

Speaking of requests.....even though we've stayed at POR several times I am wondering what to request so we don't get a parking lot view. Anyone know Also, we are going with a few family members and I wonder if we can request to be near them?

[MNNHFLTX]

Unless there's a big problem they don't take assigned rooms and give them to guests who don't like their room assignment. They work with unassigned rooms for those cases. If they tried to give away an assigned room as a regular practice can you imagine the chaos of falling dominoes that could create?

That's not what I've been told and/or seen in practice, Chris. They definitely shuffle around room assignments as needed, especially when the resort is booked solid. That's why I do believe it pays to try and check in earlier rather than later.

[Strmchsr]

That's not what I've been told and/or seen in practice, Chris. They definitely shuffle around room assignments as needed, especially when the resort is booked solid. That's why I do believe it pays to try and check in earlier rather than later.

And I was told as I stated. Maybe it has to do with the manager? It certainly wouldn't be the first time I'd seen things vary from resort to resort and CM to CM.

[Strmchsr]

Buzznwoody's mom, Has your room ever actually been ready at 8 am??? We always check in by 11 but for this next trip we thought it would be fun to arrive at WL early enough to have breakfast at CL (even if this means getting to the airport at 4am!

I've had that happen a couple of times. I think online check-in helps because it asks what time you plan to arrive. I've done online check-in 6 or 7 times now, usually arriving early or mid-morning, and my room has been ready about 50% of the time. Prior to online check-in I don't think I ever had a room ready when I arrived.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I've had that happen a couple of times. I think online check-in helps because it asks what time you plan to arrive. I've done online check-in 6 or 7 times now, usually arriving early or mid-morning, and my room has been ready about 50% of the time. Prior to online check-in I don't think I ever had a room ready when I arrived.

I agree with this! In December we did online checkin. We arrived around 8:30-9:00am. Our room wasn't ready at that time. We left to go get our tickets at Shades of Green, which is just down the road from Wilderness Lodge. We got the text that our room was ready as we were entering Shades of Green, literally minutes after we had checked in. We got our tickets, went back to WL and were in our room before 10am.

In the past I'd say our rooms have been ready when we check in about 50% of the time. When we first started visiting WDW our room was always ready, even as early as 8am a few times. However, the last 4 or 5 years I noticed our rooms were ready later and later on each trip. This December trip was the first time in years our room was ready so early, and it was the first time we used online checkin. I think I'm going to use the online checkin service from now on.

[AgentC]

I think checking in earlier helps in some cases. How is that for a definitive answer?

I am usually happier with the room I am assigned if I check in earlier.I have also found if I do not like the room, it is easier to change when you check in earlier. A few times when we checked in after 7, they had no where to move us to because we checked in so late. That happened to us at the Poly, however they did move us the next day when something opened up.

But I've also got not so great rooms when I checked in right at check in time and I got a great room checking in at 8 pm at the Yacht Club.

I think how busy the resort is that day is a factor too.

[CuteAsMinnie]

All this being said, what is the opinion on what I'd the best/least crowded DAY to check in? (please don't say Monday)

[CleveRocks]

If you reserved and paid for a preferred room, you will get a preferred room (unless there are extraordinary circumstances). It wasn't a request, it was a paid reservation. No worries.

For the record, I once checked into the Polynesian at 9:45 a.m. I was pre-assigned a room in the category I'd reserved and paid for (theme park view), and the room was ready right then and there, but I was very unhappy with the location. I'd put a different building in as a request, but obviously it wasn't met when they pre-assigned the room. I nicely asked if I could get my request made. After a few minutes of phone conversations between the front desk staff (a few of them) and Mousekeeping, I was told I could get my request, but I'd havr to wait until after 3 p.m. or so to gain access to the room. No problem, I was happy! I didn't get access to the room until almost 6 p.m., but the wait was worth it for a whole week in the room I really wanted.

I should point out that the resort was sold out. It is obvious that someone else was pre-assigned the room that I eventually got. The person who eventually got my room may have been the person originally pre-assigned to the room I ended up with. In this case, the early bird got the worm.

This is just one example of something that happened one time, but I just wanted to illustrate a possibility.