Benefits to Online Checkin

[lwestwise]

For those who have participated in the online checkin, I understand how to check in online, but when you get to the resort, do you still stand in line to get to the counter to get your cards, maps, etc? What are the benfits to checking in online?

 

[Rags]

I would like to know as well.

 

[disneynut14]

ooh. Me too. I am 10 days out today and have been wondering if we should do this.

 

[scard192]

There is a special line for those who used on line check-in. There were 25-30 people in the regular check in line the day we arrived and only 1 couple ahead of us at the on line counter. We had 2 rooms and were on our way to the rooms in 5 minutes. Would have been even quicker except my daughter had requested a frig and the details of that slowed us down!

 

[yooperfan]

There is a special line for those who used on line check-in. There were 25-30 people in the regular check in line the day we arrived and only 1 couple ahead of us at the on line counter. We had 2 rooms and were on our way to the rooms in 5 minutes. Would have been even quicker except my daughter had requested a frig and the details of that slowed us down!

Was there a separate line for those with on line check in or were everyone is the same line, if all in the same line, how did you know if you were cutting in front of someone else with online check in?

 

[shoes99]

There is a separate line for online check in. It was fast. I gave them photo ID and they had my folder and cards all ready for us. The KTTW cards, parking pass, maps were in a folder with our names. I didn't have any special requests at BLT at the Contemporary , so no wait at all.

 

[lwestwise]

That helps my understanding of it alot.

 

[delaneyc52]

I did on line check in for Beach Club Villas and it was less than 5 minutes! You'd think wow! but remember it is done in advance and you do not have the lee-way to tell the CM in charge of on line check in that you do not want a view of the parking lot. You give photo id. etc. and bam boom bang you are done and ready to go. That is their business intent....move 'em out fast. Then you find you have a room with a view of the road or parking lot.

I've never had to wait on line for any longer than 5 minutes for any regular check in stay I've had in WDW resorts and I've been going there since '71. I'd rather go one on one with the CM regarding my room....sometimes you can even sweet talk your way into an upgrade. Can't do that with on line check in.

Bottom line is I will never do on line check in again. Also, when you do an on line check in, they do not allow for additional comments or special requests. When they do that, I may reconsider.

 

[Anonomom]

We did online check in at CSR last week. There was a separate line for it, and it was twice as long as the regular check in line. Plus, it had fewer CMs working it so it was very slow. The check in process itself didn't seem to take any less time than normal check-in did last year. I definitely wouldn't bother doing it again.

 

[traylorc]

We used on line check in for our trip to the Poly in August. The whole thing took less than five minutes.

As for not being able to add special requests, make sure you tell the CM about your special requests when you are making the reservations. Some folks wait to document their special requests when they are actually checking in online at the Disney website and there is no way to document any special requests. However, Disney honored every special request we made down to which long house we wanted and even our preferred room numbers. As long as you document your special requests when you make your reservations you still have a chance to have your request honored using on line check in.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about not being able to secure an upgrade using on line check in. Truth be told, how many folks actually receive an upgrade? Despite what you may read on this board, I would be willing to be that an overall small percentage of all Disney resort patrons actually receive an upgrade.

 

[PapillonMom]

We did online check in during our 1st visit last June. They had two lines but there wasn't anyone working the online check in line. We had to wait for every person to check in from the normal line first (there were about 7different parties). There were 2 parties in the online check in. The lady behind us was rather upset. By the time they helped us we had waited over 30 min. Then they basically threw the packet at us. We had requested any 1 of 4 buildings and did not get any of them. When we asked the lady got very upset and said, "You can't have everything you want, can you?" We asked where some things were (pool, food court, etc) and she told us to look in the packet. Basically refused to answer us. We were very frustrated to say the least. Called the manager when we got to the room and he apologized but then asked, "What is it you want me to do?" He ended up not doing anything. Don't think we will do it again (since it would have been faster not to). This was at Port Orleans French Quarter.

The good news is the rest of the trip went great! But don't think we will stay there again. Just my 2 cents

 

[newrygirl]

we did online check in in August, when I had booked my trip I requested on the phone to be in the same building as the other family we were traveling with, not connecting, adjoining but just in the same area. When we went to the online check in line we found out we were at opposite ends of CBR than our friends, when i mentioned it to the cm she was quite unfriendly and said "you have to request those things before hand" I told her i did and she said "no you didn't" but when she handed me my packet, right on the front was a sticker that said "check requests" That was the only request I had made so I pointed it out to her, she told me to hold on and went to talk to someone, can back after about 20 minutes, said you are now in the same building, basically threw our package at us and yelled "next" for the next person in line. I don't know if it saves time as it sure didn't for us.

 

[yooperfan]

I hope this isn't a sign of customer service to come!

 

[CLR4321]

Online check in has the benefit of having it's own line that is much shorter when you are checking in. The regular line when checking in at Pop a couple of weeks ago had about 8 people, whereas we walked right up to the online check in CM. I still got to request my room, and asked if we could have a room in the 60's as close to Classic Hall as possible. They were able to give me the room I wanted, but I don't know if that was my originally assigned room or not. Online check in is the way to go though, 100%.

 

[fterie4u]

This is what I have been wondering as well. We are now at 10 days and are able to check in online, however, I think since we have a building request as well as other people in our party, we would like to make sure we are on the same floor, does not need to be adjoining though. In order to do this, I think we are going to wait to check in when we get there.

 

[David 1980]

NONE!! I had a terrible CM who forgot to activate our KTW and when we went to Epcot to start our vacation we were not able to get in the park. Long story short it did not work for us!! I am sure others have had an easier time then we did??

 

[dwicks4]

NONE!! I had a terrible CM who forgot to activate our KTW and when we went to Epcot to start our vacation we were not able to get in the park. Long story short it did not work for us!! I am sure others have had an easier time then we did??
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OMG!!! That's horrible!! Just so that doesn't happen to us on our trip in February 2010, does any know if there is some way of verifying whether of not your KTW has been activiated properly?...before getting all the way to the theme park?? We're only going to be at WDW for two days (to go to Animal Kingdom) and don't have time for those kind of mistakes>

 

[marehoodlum]

I've been trying to do online check in for 3 days now, it won't work!!! Anyone else ever have this problem? It just tells me to try again later!!!

 

[connorsgram]

We did online check in for Pop in Sept. There was a line for regular check in, but no one was ahead of me for on line check in. Our packet was ready, we got the section we wanted (50's), and we were on our way to MK in just a few minutes. It worked for us.

 

[kiddo76]

I did online checkin for my trip to WL last week. There was a totally separate line for online checkin and the whole process only took about 5 minutes. We were also upgraded from standard view to courtyard view, so upgrades can still happen with online checkin.