Best Time to Check in?

[Marseeya]

Is there a "best" time to check in to your resort? The reason I'm asking is I've heard a few instances where some people arrived at their resort to find it was overbooked. I'm wondering if there's a good time to check in to prevent problems like that.

 

[MsWitty1]

I prefer to check in early. I took a morning flight last time and went to the hotel. We checked in, left our bags and went to the park. When we came back to the resort our rooms were ready.

All hotels tend to over sell their rooms but I hear Disney is better about it since most of their rooms are pre-paid. Normal hotels over sell because people no-show the rooms.

 

[Marseeya]

I prefer to check in early. I took a morning flight last time and went to the hotel. We checked in, left our bags and went to the park. When we came back to the resort our rooms were ready.

All hotels tend to over sell their rooms but I hear Disney is better about it since most of their rooms are pre-paid. Normal hotels over sell because people no-show the rooms.

That's what I'm hoping. I've read a few stories on here where people were bumped to a different hotel and they usually got an upgraded room for their trouble, but I don't want a better room -- I want to stay at that particular place, know what I mean?

 

[jellybean]

I was wondering about that too. We'll be checking in on a Monday, so I'm wondering if all good room views at the Contemporary will be gone by Monday (from weekend crowds). I was thinking of waiting until lunch, since maybe someone with the MK view will be checking out after a long weekend (wishful thinking)??? You can go crazy trying to over think this!!

 

[SomePixiedust]

If you check in early and a room was ready, but not one with your particular requests, is it possible to tell them you'll wait until later for the chance of getting what you want? Just curious, as this might be an optional way of filling your requests.

 

[luvdisney999]

Are there any good secrets to getting room requests?

It's my parents' anniversary and our first time staying on-site. We're staying at the POP and she REALLY wants the 50's section -> she was born then and Lady (from Lady and the Tramp) is one of her favorite Disney characters!!!

We're hoping to check-in EARLY, but not sure b/c I need to get my AP first. Some people have said they can check-in without it, but I'm not sure.

So can I ask them in advance when we are there for the room requests? We already told the travel agent and she said she sent them, but...

So, any good tips???

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We check in really early. Last year we came from HRH at 7:00 am and this year we'll be coming the same time from Nick Hotel. We have always been lucky, so far, in getting our request. We do tell them we're willing to wait if what we want won't open up until later but last year we were able to check in by 9:00. I don't count on that so I know we might not check in until much later this year but I'm still hoping that being there so early will increase our chances of getting our much sought after, really hoping for MK lagoon view room at GF.

 

[Sollenberger]

We have always arrived around noon or 1 and checked in then, have never been in an overcrowded situation - in fact, every time our room has been ready early! (been at least 5 times)

 

[debbiedoo]

We always drive down--and check in anywhere from 3/4pm til 9/10 pm--depending on what time we get to leave Atlanta--- We only have a non-smoking request and have always ended up with great rooms!!

I will be arriving late for my first ressie and changing over during my stay--so I will have to report my findings upon return!!

 

[welovedis]

We've had good luck checking in early, mid-day, late afternoon and evening.

The only "glitch" occurred when we were booked at CSR for 7/03, we got there in the early evening and they told us that they had overbooked due to a convention. We were given a Junior Suite-2 connecting rooms with a king bed in one and a murphy (double) bed in the other. The connecting room also had a desk with a fax machine and extra telephone so that was nice.

Overall we had no complaints about being bumped out of regular room into the suite!

We've never had a problem with any of our other requests, most have been granted.

If you are celebrating a special event & would like a particular request to be *most important* make sure they have a note of it on your ressie.

 

[SB in KY]

We often drive in and stay offsite the first night and I LOVE to get up early, leave the family in bed and drive to the WDW hotel and check in about 6AM or so...no one is ever at the desk, the night staff are still there and seem happy to have something to do. I always check to make sure they have my room request (they usually do) and if not they locate a room that meets our request and change the room assignment.

Very rarely is the room ready, but I get the parking pass, room keys, etc and we can just call from the parks later in the day to get the room assignment, and we can go straight to the room later.

The only disadvantage I see to checking in mid to late afternoon is that sometimes the check in line is enormous....looks like Space Mtn line at noon!!

However the good news about checking in later is that we have on several occasions recieved a complimentary upgrade of 1 sort or another (better views, concierge, junior suite etc) and this has never happened when we did an early am check in....

So if you are happy with the room you have booked I would suggest checking in early (better chance of getting request and avoiding big lines to check in)...however if you are hoping for an upgrade I would suggest waiting until late afternoon/early evening....not science, just my opinion.