Will late checkin affect your room request?

[adamak]

We're landing at 8pm, and plan to eat at Boma first before checking in at All Star - Music. We have 2 rooms, and requested Jazz. Do you think we should check in first? I really want to stay in Jazz. Any suggestions?

[epcotfan]

If you're landing at 8 pm it could take up to an hour or more to get to your hotel (depending on transportation, luggage collection, etc...) I don't know the hours of Boma but you might be rushing it. Boma is only open until 9: 45 pm.

Room requests cannot be guaranteed for specific areas of the All-Stars. Basically the earlier you check in the better your chances. Although most of the room request for areas closer to the buses, food court etc...are usually gone by morning depending on occupancy.

[TigrLvsPooh]

If you are landing at 8 pm then you need to check-in first. The later you check-in the more crappy your room selection is going to be. (in my opinion)

By the time you get to WDW Boma will probably be closed. Maybe dinner at downtown disney would be better. ;)

[BriarfoxinWA]

Just got back from 11 days at CBR. I was worried about our room request too. We didn't get in until after 9 p.m. I had requested bldg 52 or 53 in Aruba. Guess what I got??? Building 52 in Aruba.... I was prepared to spend one night in a room I didn't want then move - but it wasn't necessary...Good luck with your request!

[corndog]

TigrLvsPooh


Do you watch King of the Hill? Your post reminded me of when Peggy Hill says stuff like, "In my opinion, the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year". Too funny.

Anyway you are right, the later you arrive, the worse your chances for getting the room you want. More than opinion - it's a fact!

[eeyore0062]

CHECK IN 1ST!!!! No kidding... from just reading the experiences from those who post here, the later you check in, the worse your chances for getting the requests.

When we get into WDW late, we stay at an outside hotel for the 1st night, then check in at the WDW resort around 7 am the next morning. We have always gotten our requests this way, saved a little money, and had time to do something before bed. Of course, if your flight doesn't even get in until 8 pm, you will need to allow 1-11/2 hours to get to your hotel, which will probably preclude your chances of making your PS at Boma anyway.

Grab a bite to eat at the food court or a fast food joint, and change your PS for Boma to another night!

[minnie56]

We're just back from Port Orleans/French Quarter. As we drove up from Sanibel Island and arrived in the area around 9:00, we decided to eat at the rainforest cafe first as we were starving!
I had already sent a fax requesting building 5 the day before, so took my chances and went with the 'food' before checking in!
We arrived at PO around 11:15 p.m and got a great room (waterview) in building 5 as requested. The resort was really full too!! I believe if you request a room a day or two before, they pre-assign it then and late check-in will not affect that!:D

[WDW2000]

On my last trip to WDW I faxed my room request in for a specific room # at the WL. The resort was fully booked in the middle of summer and I didn't check in until 11:45pm. I got the exact room I requested!! I don't understand why some of the responses say you will definitely have a hard time getting your request if you check in late. Aren't rooms pre-assigned before you arrive? It seems if rooms were distributed upon check in then faxing request would be pointless. Regardless, I think you will be fine checking in late, but if you can check in earlier it wouldn't hurt.

[WDW2000]

Sorry all - this was suppose to be a reply to a previous post. I guess I accidently did a new thread. OOPS:crazy:

[WDW2000]

Last trip I faxed a room request for a specific room number when the resort was fully booked in the middle of summer. We didn't check-in until almost midnight and got the exact room we requested. Contrary to what others have said, in my experiences it has never mattered.

[TigrLvsPooh]

I agree with the last 2 posts, but I don't think it works that way at the All Stars.

[TigrLvsPooh]

There is a big difference between arriving late at the WL and arriving late at the All Stars.

[Soccer Princess]

We had requested Touchdown or Surfs Up for our May trip. We didn't check-in until 12:30 am and we got Touchdown Blg. 10 at All Star Sports. I think it's just luck of the draw.

[Soccer Princess]

We had requested Touchdown or Surfs Up for our May trip. We didn't check-in until 12:30 am and we got Touchdown Blg. 10 at All Star Sports. I think it's just luck of the draw.

[Soccer Princess]

We had requested Touchdown or Surfs Up for our May trip. We didn't check-in until 12:30 am and we got Touchdown Blg. 10 at All Star Sports. I think it's just luck of the draw.

[WDW2000]

I know this may sound a little crazy, but wouldn't checking in later improve your chances of getting faxed request than checking in earlier? Logic being that if you show up early in the day the room might not yet be ready, and you would have to settle for something that was already ready for check in. If you check in later it seems chances are pretty good previous guest has checked out and cleaning staff have had a chance to prepare the room for next guest.

[dmslush]

Last November, we checked in to ASmovies at 11pm on a saturday night and were given the Fanstasia building we had requested.

[eeyore0062]

When you check in, if they tell you that your room isn't ready, you can wait until it is... you don't have to take an alternate room that is ready, if you don't really need to get in the room before regular check in time.

[Bob NC]

Rooms ARE assigned in advance. HOWEVER, the monkey with the wrench in this case is the desk CM's will ALWAYS accomodate the guest standing in front of them rather than the one that isn't there yet. If enough people complain about their rooms, views, locations and have to be moved...Then sometimes, sooner or later they will have to dip into those rooms that are already assigned to satisfy the guest that is already there. That's a fact Jack.

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by Bob NC
Rooms ARE assigned in advance. HOWEVER, the monkey with the wrench in this case is the desk CM's will ALWAYS accomodate the guest standing in front of them rather than the one that isn't there yet. If enough people complain about their rooms, views, locations and have to be moved...Then sometimes, sooner or later they will have to dip into those rooms that are already assigned to satisfy the guest that is already there. That's a fact Jack.
Just to clear this up a little:

Bob is correct. Your rooms are preblocked. Your front desk CM has a very small pool of unassigned rooms available to them when you check in. Most times the front desk CM cannot move you from a preblocked room without permission of the room assigner. The room assigner has rooms that they hold aside. They hold connecting, non smoking, kings, etc. aside so if any unforseen circumstances crop up they can try to accomodate them.

Ever have the front desk CM leave for a few minutes and go into the back room while you were checking in? What the front desk CM is doing is going back to talk to the room assigner to see if they have anything on hold that will accomodate your needs. The room assigner can flip flop rooms that are already blocked so no ones requests are being blown. The front desk CM's have to talk to the room assigner because in many cases there are codes that need to be entered to get the room especially if they are being held by the room assigner.

So your front desk CM is not the good guy or the bad guy in this scenario, just the middle man.

[padams]

We arrived at 10pm at the CSR on 6/18 and were given a room in Cabanas 9b, just as we had requested in a fax.

[Gillian]

A few people have said it's different with the all stars. Why is that?

I always wondered what they did in the back room....

[adamak]

Another related question.... why fax the request ahead? Can I call AS ahead instead? Will faxing be better?

I think I'm convinced to check in first. I actually may not go to AKL to eat that nite.

[dcedwards]

It is important to remember, also, that one of the reason that CMs check is because some rooms are blocked due to guarantees for medical reasons, etc. As I understand it, those rooms are blocked first and then the others are assigned. If CMs just changed without checking there could be some serious ramifications.

You can always accept a room for one night and then request to be moved the next day. I have seen many times where Disney has gone out of their way to try to make a guest happy.

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Originally posted by GoldenOldie

Just to clear this up a little:

Bob is correct. Your rooms are preblocked. Your front desk CM has a very small pool of unassigned rooms available to them when you check in. Most times the front desk CM cannot move you from a preblocked room without permission of the room assigner. The room assigner has rooms that they hold aside. They hold connecting, non smoking, kings, etc. aside so if any unforseen circumstances crop up they can try to accomodate them.

Ever have the front desk CM leave for a few minutes and go into the back room while you were checking in? What the front desk CM is doing is going back to talk to the room assigner to see if they have anything on hold that will accomodate your needs. The room assigner can flip flop rooms that are already blocked so no ones requests are being blown. The front desk CM's have to talk to the room assigner because in many cases there are codes that need to be entered to get the room especially if they are being held by the room assigner.

So your front desk CM is not the good guy or the bad guy in this scenario, just the middle man.

I just wanted to confirm that this is the way the resort room assigning does work. :D Once while checking in at the Grand Floridian, I found that one of my room requests was not granted. Well, I really wanted it, so I asked the CM if it would be possible to grant it. He called someone, and said what I wanted. They called him back a minute or so later with a new room number. I'm also one of those people who thinks that it's best to check in early (before noon if possible), because you have the best chance of getting a room you want. Thankfully, this past stay at the GF, they preassigned my room with all of my requests granted.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Originally posted by dcedwards
It is important to remember, also, that one of the reason that CMs check is because some rooms are blocked due to guarantees for medical reasons, etc. As I understand it, those rooms are blocked first and then the others are assigned. If CMs just changed without checking there could be some serious ramifications.


In the last 18 months my mother has had both heart and back surgery. I told my travel agent that I wanted to fax a request for a room close to Melody Hall, and the agent had no clue what I was talking about, I had to explain the entire process, and then she condescendingly informed me that she would "call" ASMu and make the request. I repeated the reason for faxing (as described here on the Dis), and she repeated that she'd call and confirm that.

Now, this agency has screwed up nearly every aspect of my vacation so far. I know that I'm supposed to let my agent handle the room request, but in this case, I really want to send my own fax to be sure the resort is responsive to my mother's needs. Should I, or might this confuse them?

Lori

[dcedwards]

I would go ahead and fax a request to the the hotel. You wouldn't even have to tell your TA. I would also call the hotel 3-4 days out and ask to talk to the room assignor. You will be asked why by the front desk or person who answers the phone but I can't see them thinking you are being unreasonable in wanting to double check. We always have a certain thing guaranteed for medical reasons. I always double check with the hotel 3 days prior to make sure it was honored. Have never had a problem in 9 years...they have always been wonderful.

[Magic2000]

Usually, when we head down to Disney, I just go with the flow and take whatever they give me. We've never been disappointed!!

Anyway, in Nov/Dec, 2000, we were going to be visiting the AllStar AMovies for the first time (we had visited the AllStars that summer and my 5 yr old really wanted to stay with Buzz and Woody). I faxed my request a few days before we left; our plane arrived around 9:00 AM and when we got to the AllStars, I was given Love Bug. At first, I was disappointed, but we headed off to Epcot and arrived back at the hotel late that night. We went to our room, and really wound up loving the the Love Bug section. It was so quiet, and really a short walk back to food court/bus stop!

In Nov/Dec 2001, we were going back for the Christmas decorations, and my little one really wanted to stay with Oddball in 102 Dalmations. I faxed my request in a few days before we left; our plane arrived right after midnight, and even though it was almost 1:00 AM when we arrived at the hotel, my little one got her second wind when she heard the CM say we were in 101 Dalmations!! We really enjoyed our room again; it was very quiet and a short walk to food court/bus stop!

Checking in early did not help us; checking in late - we got our request.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

dcedwards, thanks for the encouragement. I will send that fax. I'd rather be a little redundant than not heard at all!

Lori

[Simba's Mom]

Magic2000, you've given me hope! I'm going in November and also checking in to ASMovies about 1:00am. Now I feel I might have a chance for my requests to be met (also Dalmations, BTW).