Arriving late at night. Worried about room location.

[Mom+4]

We will be arriving very late (probably after midnight) due to the fact that I have to work the day shift before we leave for WDW. DH is worried that we will get the worst room possible because of arriving so late. Does anyone have experience with this? We are staying at POR June 1-6, and would like to be near the food court, check in, etc. Any suggestions on how to get a good location arriving so late?

 

[Ratpack]

Room location can be pot luck at anytime, however arriving that late does reduce the chances of getting the room you want. One thing I might suggest is getting a hotel outside of Disney for that night you arrive and then check in the next day bright and early. It would save you some money and not waste a resort day to just go to sleep.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Fax your room location request into the hotel 3-5 days before you are due to check-in.

 

[LvsTnk]

Everyone says arriving late is a problem, but we have been lucky and never have had a problem. All requests met.

We almost always arrive after midnight, about half of 20+ trips.

 

[WDW2000]

My very first trip to WDW in 2000 I arrived at the Wilderness Lodge at 12:45 a.m. and was worried about the same thing, since it was very important to me to have a view of the lake.

Luckily, I had discovered these boards before my trip and faxed my request in 5 days ahead, and not only did I receive the room location I requested, but I received the EXACT room # I had requested. Apparently rooms are assigned way before you check in, so as long as you fax your request , there should be no problem.

BTW, I have since been back to WDW 3 times, having stayed at 7 different resorts, and have always gotten the room I requested after faxing it in.

 

[CRB#33]

Due to a 5 hour thunderstorm delay at Philly airport (on the runway! ), we didn't get to the Swan until 1:00 in the morning. We actually received a free upgrade to a water view. I didn't even ask for it. I was pretty shocked when we walked into our room. The lady at the desk, when she handed us our keys said, "I think you'll like this room," and she winked. I had no idea! I was also only paying a teachers rate of $119!

This was high season in June too. You just never know.

 

[wdwstar]

we just got back from wdw, and we didnt get to all star movie resort until 1 am and with two girls we got stuck in the mighty ducks again, i didnt complain because i knew when we woke up we would be moving to the wilderness lodge for 10 days. besides for $68 including tax was my second reason not to complain. and by the time we got to the wl i forgot all about the mighty ducks!
good luck, and have a great time!

 

[ducklite]

It depends on how full the hotel is. August 2000 we arrived at 2:00am to a sold out BC and got the worst room in the house, no balcony and overlooking a roof.

Luckily we were checking out the next day, because I NEVER would have stayed in that room...it was substandard.

Anne

 

[Pete's Mom]

our second trip to WDW and we were put into the Love Bug building at ASMo. I asked if we could be switched to the Toy Story building. They said to just leave our bags packed in the room and while we were gone at the park the next morning, guest services moved our bags to the Woody building. All we had to do was go to the front desk when we got back from the parks and get our new room keys.

 

[bennie]

I would second the recommendation of staying off site the first night if you are arriving that late. We just did this on our trip last week and saved over $250 as a result. First we saved because the off site hotel was only $50 per night (Amerisuites NE at the airport - clean and very convenient) as opposed to the $160 per night at CSR. Second, we saved because we were checking in a day later and a new discount code was available starting that day. So the $160 per night for the remainder of the trip dropped to $130. Finally we also saved because Amerisuites had a breakfast included which turned out to be pretty substantial.

When we did check into CSR the next day we were upgraded to a water view room. All in all it was the right decision to stay off site for that one night.