3pm Check-in Not Guaranteed!

[dmaz]

Hi All,
We just returned from a week at POFQ and I can say we probably won't be staying there again.
Just wanted to pass on what happened to us at check-in.
We arrived at POFQ at 1 pm after a 17hr straight drive from NJ. I knew we'd probabbly have to wait for our rooms until 3pm and was fine with that. Our CM gave us our room 3 #'s (even though she said she wasn't supposed to) and told us to call at 3 so they could tell us that we could go to the rooms. Not either of the buildings I requested (Oh Well!)
4pm came after numerous calls and inquiries at guest services and still they were saying the rooms were not ready. That's when the CM said check-in is guaranteed between 3-5pm not 3pm. I looked all over my ressies and it did not say that anywhere. Has anyone heard of this?
If it was just me it probably wouldn't be bad but standing around the lobby and restaurant with a 4yr old and 8mo old for 3 1/2 hrs is no picnic. Finally at 4:30 we were assigned a new set of rooms (worse location.)
I guess next time I'll be prepared that 3 pm check-in is not
guaranteed.

 

[justhat]

I've heard that it is 'after 3pm' that your room will be ready, not 3 exactly. I know it's a pain, but knowing that it won't be till at least 3pm before your room is ready, you can plan for a place to go or something to do from the time you arrive until your room is ready. Since the resort will hold your bags, you can check-in, drop off your stuff, then maybe swim in the pool and eat lunch at the resort or go to DTD and eat lunch or walk through the stores. I know it's more relaxing to go right to your room, but if you can't it's nice to have a back-up plan.

 

[jel0511]

Yep, that's true, check-in is at 3PM, but the rooms aren't guaranteed until 5PM. I experienced the same thing at the Poly. We had flown in early in the AM, and arrived at the resort around 11AM. Our rooms weren't ready, so we headed to the MK to hang a bit, and get a bite to eat. Well, we headed bacy to the resort around 2PM, since everyone was exhausted from getting up at 3AM for the early flight. Our rooms weren't ready, and then it started to POUR!! So, we were held captive in the lobby (ponchos were packed) until our rooms were ready at 4:30. I kept asking every 30 minutes or so, and they even called housekeeping for me to move it along. I'd stay at the Poly again, it's not their fault, since this is the policy. At the time I was pretty steamed, but looking back, it wasn't that bad. It probably was the sleep deprivation talking.

 

[tink2]

We had the same thing happen to us at AKL. We requested early check-in ahead of time and arrived around 12:00- not ready yet. I realize early check-in isn't guaranteed, but our rooms were not ready until 4:30. Plus, the public viewing areas were empty of animals- they were in for their daily feeding or whatever. We had no animals for about 2 hours. The kids were upset b/c all we had talked about was staying where we could see the animals.Talk about antsy 2 1/2 and 4 year olds! We toured the hotel and they tried to take naps in the lobby. Some of the cms were very rude also, one saying- "Just go to the parks" in a very hateful way, then I kindly explained that we had park hoppers not length of stay passes- he did not know the difference. Anyway, I think this can happen at any resort. I understand your frustration though, it definitely did not start our trip well either!
How was the rest of your stay?

 

[dmaz]

POFQ was not as clean as I expected, parks were crowded and buses were horrible but my children had a wonderful time. And that's what counts!
They really should clarify the 3-5pm check-in thing.
We will be going back next year and this time I'll be prepared.
At least if your prepared it's not that bad.

 

[Tina]

We just returned on Saturday from a week-long stay at POFQ. We also had to wait until about 5 for our room (we arrived at 3:30). We had driven so we left our bags in the car and wandered out to the pool. Unfortunately, the pool area was PACKED and all of the chairs were "taken" with towels and personal belongings. So we wandered into an area with tables and umbrellas for a break. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the smoking area - or at least an area where people were smoking. So we wandered into the Food Court for a quick bite and then the gift shop. It was a bit of a pain, but not unbearable. Our wait was worth it as we were assigned a room in building 5, which I had requested. Nothing that would keep me from staying at the resort in the future.

Dmaz, I'm curious to know what was unclean about the resort. Our room was immaculate and the new refurbishment made it feel like a brand new hotel. We came back to the room to towel animals on 2 separate occasions, which is nice after a long day in the parks. It gives you just one more thing to smile about. Our mousekeeper even dressed up the glasses at the sink by wrapping them in washcloths and fanning them out at the top. She then stuck our tooth brushes and DH's razor in them. It was really cute.

I found the grounds and food court to be clean as well. We never had a bus problem, considering POFQ is the first stop in both directions.

I thought the staff in the food court was excellent. One quiet afternoon we stopped in for a late lunch. DH ordered a Cheesesteak with extra onions (which he thought was FANTASTIC and he Is from Philly). The 2 cooks were a lot of fun and joked around with us while they cooked our food. I had ordered a cheeseburger. After serving up DH's sandwich, the cook realized she had made too many onions and offered them on my cheeseburger - which is how I like my burger anyway. It was great.

 

[kramer_clan]

I have had this happen more so lately than my trips before 2000. I think it has to do with the cutting of staff.

Also, more people are opting for later flights out on their departure day and they won't get out of the rooms on time to let the staff do their job to get the room ready for the next occupant.

I went through the same thing at the Polynesian several years ago. Thank goodness it was just me and hubby. No kids. They would have been heck to live with that afternoon.

Vicki

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

I think we have only gotten a room early once. But most of the time, I don't notice because we leave our bags and go to the parks. But I understand if you get there later, you wouldn't want to use a day off of your park passes. (we don't get the UPH either)

 

[Mickymark]

When we go to the "world" we always arrive in the morning, around 10:00 - 11:00 am. I would say that for the last 5 stays, our room has been ready. The last 5 stays have been at the Grand Floridian, The Wilderness Lodge, and The Contemporary. I have been going to WDW since '89 and I have never waited past 2:00pm for my room. I guess I'm just lucky.

 

[Winka]

Interesting! I've never arrived before 5pm so it was never an issue but I also had assumed that roome were ready BY 3 PM. Thanks for the heads up.

Oh and about cleanliness ...could it have been bc of SPring Break crowds? I , too, am curious about what aspects you found untidy.

 

[DianeV]

Wow, so about how many hours are you actually getting your room for those prime rates they charge? Many have a noon checkout so if 5pm is the only "guranteed" time that is 17 hours - not exactly a great deal is it when you think about it? And some have 11am checkout so thats only 16 hours

 

[HANDYMOM]

I can understand that you would be pretty tired after a 17hr drive but I don't think the resorts should be held responsible for your tiredness (at least that's how the OP sounded). All of the resorts store luggage and have plenty of places to hang out and rest.

Considering how many people they have checking out and in on a given day it must be tough! I think stopping and resting along the way and planning your arrival day away from Friday, Saturday and Sunday will really help you manage an easier check in the next time.

 

[Sammie]

Also rooms are delayed by many that request late checkouts.

I am also interested in the cleaniness problems as POFQ just opened from a major rehab.

 

[dmaz]

We stayed in building 3. The room looked clean at first glance, but then I noticed a layer of dust on the furniture and all over the coffee pot.
Building 3 was having the railings painted while we were there. We had to deal with the smell of paint each time we left the room.
There was a bag of dirty towels and sheets left outside of our rooms overnight. Someone must have forgotten to pick them up. I went down in the morning to tell guest services. It wasn't picked up for hours.
And as I was doing my final check of the room, as we were leaving, I found old gum wrappers under the bed skirt.
We stayed at POR 2 years ago I the rooms were spotless. I'm not sure what the problem was maybe that we needed our rooms before 5. Spring break was 2 weeks before we went. We stayed 4/23-4/30. So it shouldn't have impacted us.
I hope nobody got the wrong idea about how we were at check in. I really didn't get upset until 4pm. When we checked in at 1 th CM gave us the impression the rooms would be ready by 3 - "maybe sooner." If someone would have told me the 3-5 thing before 4pm, I probably wouldn't have gotten upset at all.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Wow, so about how many hours are you actually getting your room for those prime rates they charge? Many have a noon checkout so if 5pm is the only "guranteed" time that is 17 hours - not exactly a great deal is it when you think about it? And some have 11am checkout so thats only 16 hours

If you're only going to stay one night, sure. But otherwise, it isn't that big a deal. Actually, to me it isn't a big deal anyway. The only time I've ever been able to walk into the room upon arrival was at SoG at 7:30 AM, and I was shocked it was available that early.

 

[Tina]

Dmaz,
We were at POFQ during the same time period (4/24-4/30) and I did see the railing work being done daily. I never noticed a smell when walking through to the bus stop, but we were in Bldg 5, so I'm sure our brief passing was not enough to notice. I'm sorry you had to put up with the smell. I also hate the smell of paint. I also noticed the railings were being sanded prior to painting. Perhaps this is where the excess dust came from. Those rooms doors are not air-tight and I'm sure some of that dust made its way into your room. As for the gum wrappers, that's just laziness on the part of housekeeping. We had a wonderful housekeeper in our building, so I'm glad to see that its not a resort-wide problem.

 

[BONZO]

Did you ever read this thread?

 

[dmaz]

Yes, right after I posted this.
He makes it seem like the 3-5 thing is known. It is not stated anywhere on your confirmation.
I am not a demanding person. I made my requests when I first called and then never called again. I was always very nice to the CM's. We even tipped mousekeeping every day despite the room conditions.
Maybe it was just disney pushing us to try a deluxe next time - Which we hope to do next year. Hope we have better luck there.
I must say overall I am always impressed with how well the parks are kept. Our local Six Flags looks like a dump compared to disney.

 

[Trekker]

I know this will not work for everyone but......

This past trip we stayed for a few days at a resort and then did the 7 day Magic Cruise - I have cruised before and I know that the day we get off the ship can be tough.

We plan to stay a few days at a resort after the trip, we also know our DS and DD (teens) will be up almost all night the last night on the ship. Breakfast for us is at like 6:30 in the AM onboard and you then disembark.

Knowing this we figured we will be at our resort at about 9:00 AM and very tired. So I bucked up and booked the night before our actual arrival and let them know it would be a extremely late check-in - like the next morning. But I was gauranteed that I had a room when I got there.

More expensive - yes, but as tired as we all were going to be - it was a blessing to have a room waiting.
<hr color=steelblue>
Another option I just though of is that there are tons of inexpensive off site hotels around - might be able to rent a room at one with immediate - early availability and just stay there until 5 PM and then check in to Disney....

 

[snels]

Hi,
We decided to start taking later flights to Orlando because our room was never ready when we arrived. Now we get to Disney around 6:30 p.m.
That works out well for us.
Sandy