Anyone with AKV check-in trouble?

[Alexander]

We are staying AKV Savanna Studio in July. We won't be getting to the resort until close to 8:00 PM. I'm just curious how many people have actually had difficulty with getting the villa they booked. With us arriving so late in the day, we're likely to get whatever is left, hopefully the villa we booked. Thanks!

 

[DisneyJosh]

I am worried about the same thing. I guess there is nothing that we can do, though, besides hope for the best.

 

[Alexander]

I am worried about the same thing. I guess there is nothing that we can do, though, besides hope for the best.

Actually, I do plan to have a some ideas for negotiating if the villa I booked isn't available and they want to put us somewhere else. I don't want to be caught off-guard at 8:00 at night when I just want to unpack and hit the hot-tub after traveling all day.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We've checked into AKV twice, and no problems, but yes, we checked in earlier than you will be. I hope you are as lucky as we were. Once we had an excellent savannah view and the next time a very nice value room on Sunset Savannah.

The pool at AVK is wonderful at night. There is subdued lighting and just felt very romantic. We didn't try the whirlpools, but they are nice and secluded. Have fun!

Bobbi

 

[dvcbnd]

I am worried about the same thing. I guess there is nothing that we can do, though, besides hope for the best.

I think that's all you can do. We checked into a 2bdrm villa with a savanna view the week of Thanksgiving and although we did have a savanna view, it wasn't the greatest. There were a minimal amount of animals and we were at the very end of the building. My in-laws arrived before us and checked in. It was close to check in time, so it didn't seem to make a difference. We have stayed in the lodge before, so we could tell the difference in our view.
Also, just a note make sure that everyone in your party's info is in the system correctly at the time of check-in. We realized this when we went over to concierge to purchase tkts that our childrens ages were wrong and it took a while for her to correct it and assign our tkts to our room keys. She mentioned something about how the computers weren't set up fully for them being a DVC property and that it was a good thing that I told her we were staying as DVC members.

 

[TiggerMan2007]

My feeling is generally the later you check in after 4 pm the better chance you have to get exactly what you are looking for. I think most of the time the earlier you check in during the day, especially before 4 pm you have to wait for your requested room because it just is not ready yet.

We checked in at 11 pm on Dec. 30 at SSR and got EXACTLY what we requested......DTD view in Congress park. I know this isn't AKV but I think after 4 pm, all the rooms that are empty should be clean and then they try to honor your request.

We are staying at AKV for 8 days over 4th of July. I hope not to have any issues either.

 

[tjkraz]

Two things:

1. If you're talking about getting the size and class room that you reserved, that happens 99.999% of the time. Resort inventories are tracked meticulously. DVC resorts do not overbook. If you booked a Two Bedroom Savanna-View villa, you will get that type of room.

There have been a few random reports lately of people not getting the room they booked. Almost all of these appear to be related to construction issues at AKV. By the end of this month all of the rooms scheduled to open this year will be open, so that should not be an issue.

Don't let those reports scare you off. The odds of not getting the room that was booked are miniscule.

2. Now if you're talking about getting requests associated with the reservation, that's a different matter. The resorts will do their best to satisfy members' requested locations, floors and such, but there is absolutely no guarantee. I suspect the later you arrive, the less chance there will be of having requests met. But even getting to the front desk at 7am does not guarantee you will get your ideal room.

 

[DisneyJosh]

Actually, I do plan to have a some ideas for negotiating if the villa I booked isn't available and they want to put us somewhere else. I don't want to be caught off-guard at 8:00 at night when I just want to unpack and hit the hot-tub after traveling all day.

What do you have in mind? Are you just planning to ask for a very nice room + compensation? That's probably all I'd settle for in a situation like that, especially if I had booked at 11 or even 7 months.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

Two things:

1. If you're talking about getting the size and class room that you reserved, that happens 99.999% of the time. Resort inventories are tracked meticulously. DVC resorts do not overbook. If you booked a Two Bedroom Savanna-View villa, you will get that type of room.

There have been a few random reports lately of people not getting the room they booked. Almost all of these appear to be related to construction issues at AKV. By the end of this month all of the rooms scheduled to open this year will be open, so that should not be an issue.

Don't let those reports scare you off. The odds of not getting the room that was booked are miniscule.

2. Now if you're talking about getting requests associated with the reservation, that's a different matter. The resorts will do their best to satisfy members' requested locations, floors and such, but there is absolutely no guarantee. I suspect the later you arrive, the less chance there will be of having requests met. But even getting to the front desk at 7am does not guarantee you will get your ideal room.

Our reservation for a 2BR was "lost." They fixed it, but as a result, we didn't get a very good 2BR. This was with a 6:30 am check-in. The night before, however, when we checked into our value studio at 9:40 pm, they had everything ready. We had a very nice pool view value, and there is nothing like being the first guest to stay in a room.

 

[Alexander]

What do you have in mind? Are you just planning to ask for a very nice room + compensation? That's probably all I'd settle for in a situation like that, especially if I had booked at 11 or even 7 months.

I don't have anything "planned". I just won't accept a studio at SSR or OKW if one isn't available at AKV. We committed more points for this stay than either of those resorts would have been. I also won't move once we are settled into our resort. So, an offer of "we'll put you here for tonight and your villa will be ready tomorrow" won't fly.

I would think that because we book so far in advance (11 or 7 months) that you'd be more irritated if your villa wasn't available and that someone who got the same type of room got their room and only booked a few weeks out. DVC afterall works on the premise of planning.

It's really only the arrival time that is making me think ahead. I don't imagine there will be too many people checking in later than 8:00 PM on a Tuesday...thus...we'll get whatever villa is left...I just want it to be one that meets the description on my reservation.

Regarding requests: I didn't make any, never do, I know they are just that...requests. I did book a dedicated savanna view studio. That's all we are expecting.

I am not anticipating any problems, but there was a thread earlier today that indicated there were more than a few problems with people getting their reserved villas. I know that 99.99% of the time there is no problem getting the villa you requested, but that percentage has been a bit lower at AKV. I can't count the number of villas we have stayed in all of the WDW DVC resorts, and never had a problem, I was just surprised to see that there was a higher than average number of problems at AKV.

 

[rigsby25]

I don't know if you'll encounter this problem or not. We checked in on December 2 at about 1:00 pm. Our room wasn't ready, and although I know it does happen, its never happened to us before. So we went out for a late lunch at ESPN, and by the time we got back, the rooms were ready but our bags weren't. I think it was about 5. We went down to the desk and they said it would take at least an hour to get our bags, but we could take stuff off the cart. We asked if we could take the luggage and groceries up ourselves, and they said yes but we couldn't use their carts for insurance reasons. So between the 5 of us we lugged everything up. We were just so tired and ready to get everything settled. There was a lady next to me at the desk who had checked in at 12:30 and still had not gotten her bags.