? about checking in at PPH

[bumbershoot]

For our upcoming trip, we're starting the trip off late at night at another hotel. Then on Saturday morning, we're going to "check in" very very early, so we can take advantage of MM on check-in day.

Since we have bags but aren't bringing a carseat for DS (using Disneyland Express for airport trip), one adult will take a cab with the bags while the other adult takes an early morning walk with DS.

And I'm wondering if we ALL have to be there at check-in, or if the adult can just go alone, while the other adult + DS just walk to the esplanade to get in line?

Since they have all of our names on the reservation, does it matter which adult checks us in, if we can just send one adult over?

Thanks!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I have checked in my group on my own at the GCH. As long as one of the adult names on the room with a credit card checks in you should be gtg!

 

[Sherry E]

One time I checked into PPH and they wanted to see who my guest was since they had her name on file (I think they even asked to see her ID), and this last time in October, they did not ask me where she was at all but I just volunteered the info and pointed her out and they just kind of glanced over at her nonchalantly and went back to their paperwork.

It's funny you should ask this question, Molly - just earlier today, I was thinking to myself how we are going to work it when we go in December - whichever hotel we end up at - and I had pretty much decided that my friend would have to drop me off so I could go check in while she went to get a parking spot. So I was anticipating that I would have to tell the hotel folks that my guest was parking the car, but I don't know that they will even care! They must deal with that situation all the time - where one portion of a group checks in while the rest of the group is elsewhere.

Whenever the Reservations folks ask me on the phone who my guest will be, I always give them a name but I tell them it could change at the last minute and I may bring somebody else!!! Then I hear them typing in the words, "subject to change."

 

[bumbershoot]

Thank you!


Now I'm going to REALLY start hoping that HoJo gets availability for that first night, and more importantly Entertainment Book rate availability, for that date so I can cancel Motel 6.

 

[Hound 109]

Bumber, when i stayed at the PPH last month, they gave BOTH Alec & I keys that we could use for our room......& they also were THE KEYS that were used to enter the park for MM. (no longer a "slip of paper")

Will you be wanting to go to MM that Sat? If so they MIGHT require all parties to be there to receive the keys. I'd call the hotel direct if your intent is to attend MM on Sat morning. (using the PPH keys to do so)

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Bumber, when i stayed at the PPH last month, they gave BOTH Alec & I keys that we could use for our room......& they also were THE KEYS that were used to enter the park for MM. (no longer a "slip of paper")

Will you be wanting to go to MM that Sat? If so they MIGHT require all parties to be there to receive the keys. I'd call the hotel direct if your intent is to attend MM on Sat morning. (using the PPH keys to do so)

If they are using the same system as WDW then it is silly to make you all be there. Whenever we check in over there they only need one adult per room, they just take everyone elses name from the computer and put it on the keys. Silly silly.

 

[Sherry E]

If they are using the same system as WDW then it is silly to make you all be there. Whenever we check in over there they only need one adult per room, they just take everyone elses name from the computer and put it on the keys. Silly silly.

I kind of tend to think that DLR hotels are quite used to having to check in the main person on the reservation while the rest of the party is elsewhere. Other than the one time where they seemed to want to see who was with me and look at her ID, they didn't really care too much at PPH. They just wanted to get the name right so they knew whose name to put on the key, and you can just tell them who is in your party and they'll do that. Even at the GCH, I checked in without my friend and just told them she was waiting in the car and they didn't care.

But I don't know for 100% sure because different people have different experiences and some Cast Members are very by-the-book, follow-the-rules people who want to check every person in the party and others are less concerned about that. With the new Keys to the Magic that they give us, perhaps they will be more concerned about seeing every member of the party at check-in. It didn't seem that way when we were just there, but it could be different for someone else.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

But I don't know for 100% sure because different people have different experiences and some Cast Members are very by-the-book, follow-the-rules people who want to check every person in the party and others are less concerned about that. With the new Keys to the Magic that they give us, perhaps they will be more concerned about seeing every member of the party at check-in. It didn't seem that way when we were just there, but it could be different for someone else.

I guess that is why I am confused because in WDW they dont require everyone to be there. Infact when we were there for christmas 2 years ago my DH and I were checking in and I asked if she wanted to see my ID too and she said they only need to see one. Just makes it easier, and lines shorter, if the entire party doesn't need to be there. Oh well...guess Molly can update us in two weeks.

 

[Sherry E]

I guess that is why I am confused because in WDW they dont require everyone to be there. Infact when we were there for christmas 2 years ago my DH and I were checking in and I asked if she wanted to see my ID too and she said they only need to see one. Just makes it easier, and lines shorter, if the entire party doesn't need to be there. Oh well...guess Molly can update us in two weeks.

Yep. I tend to agree with you, based on my last few experiences with hotel stays at DLR. I don't think PPH will need to see the rest of the people in the party when one person checks in. But you never know - just as soon as we start telling people that DLR does things one way, then DLR will start doing it another way altogether!

 

[toocherie]

Molly: when I checked into the PPH in October for me and my four roomies (two adults, two teens) they gave me all five keys (and the other parking pass) for me to distribute. So, I don't think you will have any problem.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, all!

 

[bumbershoot]

I called them today, and they said that if both our names are on the reservation, either of us could check in.

But then they said that they won't accept grocery deliveries if we're not there, which I thought I had heard was allowed/done, so now I don't know if I can trust them.

 

[Sherry E]

I called them today, and they said that if both our names are on the reservation, either of us could check in.

But then they said that they won't accept grocery deliveries if we're not there, which I thought I had heard was allowed/done, so now I don't know if I can trust them.

I thought I had heard that, too - that the DLR hotels would accept grocery deliveries if the guest was out. I can't recall who posted that information here, but maybe DLR changed their policies. Hmmm....I wonder if they will accept at the GCH and not the PPH? It seems like it should be one uniform policy for all three hotels but, maybe because the GCH is supposed to be the "luxury" hotel of the three, they will go that extra mile!

...Speaking of which, I am beginning the gradual downgrading process of my December plan. I just switched my reservation from the GCH to the PPH as a first step. I hated having to do it, only because I know how my friend gets about the long walk back to the PPH. It kills her. She thinks it is 100 miles away and that we have to leave the park(s) by 5:30 p.m. to make it back to the hotel before nightfall!!! If I were by myself, I wouldn't care at all. Depending on how I feel or what mood I am in, I may just stick around in the park while my friend makes the long journey back to the PPH. In any case, I still want to see the Carolers perform in the GCH lobby by the tree, so we will have to go linger around there and stake out a spot.

So now that I have downgraded hotels (oh, how I PRAY the PPH does not stick me in a room with poopy water again, but this time I will check the water as soon as I set foot in the room and complain on the spot!), the next step will be to start paring down the length of the trip. I left it at three days for right now, and I will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. If I have to, I will cut off one night and then another. It is a gradual scaling back! But even if it ends up being one night at the PPH with maybe 1-1/2 days in the parks, that is better than not going at all and I will still have a good time seeing my friends!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds good, Sherry!

If your friend really complains, tell her SHE can pay the cost difference.

5:30 to get there at midnight, LOL. Maybe you should plan the ends of your days in DCA, right near the GCH entrance, and just zip her through and across the street, so she doesn't mention the long-feeling walk to Sephora/Libby Lu just to take the shortcut?

 

[Sherry E]

Sounds good, Sherry!

If your friend really complains, tell her SHE can pay the cost difference.

5:30 to get there at midnight, LOL. Maybe you should plan the ends of your days in DCA, right near the GCH entrance, and just zip her through and across the street, so she doesn't mention the long-feeling walk to Sephora/Libby Lu just to take the shortcut?

Hee hee I can tell you that she did very much appreciate using the short cut to and from the PPH through the GCH lobby, and seemed encouraged by that route, compared to last year, when we didn't realize we could take that short cut and went the 'long way'! So now, maybe she thinks the PPH is only a 100 miles away, whereas last year she thought it was 200 miles away!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

...and seemed encouraged by that route, compared to last year, when we didn't realize we could take that short cut and went the 'long way'! So now, maybe she thinks the PPH is only a 100 miles away, whereas last year she thought it was 200 miles away!!!

I'm ashamed to admit that I still do feel it's about 80 miles away, but having experienced the walk from Anabella I'll deal with PPH.

And this time we'll go the right way from PPH (unlike our first big trip), which will at the very least skip the Lego store and stop a few of the "I wants" from DS.

Tangent...we went to Fry's Electronics yesterday in a failed attempt to find a wrist strap for my camera, and almost as soon as we got there Eamon started with the "I wants" and I nearly lost my mind about it. And it did NOT help that about 3 minutes after we entered, a LOUD alarm sounded and the employees went running towards the alarm.

I suddenly realized that we were only a town away from where there was a mall shooting the other night, and we were right near that mall the night of the shooting (had been to Costco and then tried to go to Zoopa across from the mall, and noticed the mall was closed down with cops everywhere), and the shooter hasn't been caught yet.

Yeah, that wasn't good...we should have left then, but we didn't, and my fear of being in that area along with DS's whining was baaaaad.



OK that has nothing to do with anything, but I'm glad we won't be walking by the Lego Store on this trip!!!!!

 

[godalejunior]

I know we have had groceries delivered at DLH and we were next door at RFC and there was no problem. They just held them at the bell desk and kept our fridge items cold.

We are going to PPH in a few weeks so now I am worried.....

 

[bumbershoot]

I think maybe the lady lied, just a bit, b/c when I asked if she was at the front desk she hesitated before saying "yes". I think she was "just" an operator and maybe didn't know what she was really talking about.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm ashamed to admit that I still do feel it's about 80 miles away, but having experienced the walk from Anabella I'll deal with PPH.

And this time we'll go the right way from PPH (unlike our first big trip), which will at the very least skip the Lego store and stop a few of the "I wants" from DS.

Tangent...we went to Fry's Electronics yesterday in a failed attempt to find a wrist strap for my camera, and almost as soon as we got there Eamon started with the "I wants" and I nearly lost my mind about it. And it did NOT help that about 3 minutes after we entered, a LOUD alarm sounded and the employees went running towards the alarm.

I suddenly realized that we were only a town away from where there was a mall shooting the other night, and we were right near that mall the night of the shooting (had been to Costco and then tried to go to Zoopa across from the mall, and noticed the mall was closed down with cops everywhere), and the shooter hasn't been caught yet.

Yeah, that wasn't good...we should have left then, but we didn't, and my fear of being in that area along with DS's whining was baaaaad.

OK that has nothing to do with anything, but I'm glad we won't be walking by the Lego Store on this trip!!!!!

Yep, you will avoid the Lego store by taking the short cut. Is that the main one Eamon would want things from? You will, of course, be passing by World of Disney and, I think, Build a Bear and Dept. 56 - will those tempt him? They tempt ME!!! How do you prevent him from going crazy on the 'I wants' in the parks, with all of those shops everywhere? You're such a good mommy! You are taking the time to plan for whipping up a little bit of Eamon-safe icing so he can have fun decorating the cookies at the Ranch! A lot of parents in that situation would probably just skip the cookie-decorating adventure altogether! That is a really sweet thing to do.

That sounds like a nervewracking visit to Fry's from beginning to end - no wrist strap, alarm sounding and frantic employees, criminal on the loose, and a little boy whose eyes are glazing over from all the fun stuff to be had in Fry's!

 

[disneymom23]

But then they said that they won't accept grocery deliveries if we're not there, which I thought I had heard was allowed/done, so now I don't know if I can trust them.

[/QUOTE]

I ordered from Von's to be delivered ast Thursday at GCH. My flight was delayed 3 hours so I wouldn't be there for delivery. I called the hotel from the airport to let them know. The gal told me they are not allowed to sign for groceries because of perishable items. I told her I didn't have any perishable items and that I wasn't going to be there because of my flight. She put me on hold and then came back and said they'd make an exception and sign for them but they wouldn't bring them to the room. When we got to the hotel, they were waiting with the bell staff. The bell staff made it seem like it was no big deal and that they hold groceries all the time.