BLT check-in experience

[wendow]

We just got back a few days ago from a week at BLT. Check in was awful. The worst I have ever seen any place. We arrived over there at about noon b/c we were transferring from another resort. We certainly weren't looking to get a room at that time but just wanted to drop off a few bags and go ahead and let them know we were there. Then we took off for a bit. We came back at 3:00 and were thinking we'd have a room. No room. 4:00 rolled around. Still no room. The lobby was full of people just like us who were unhappy that rooms were still not available. One lady was 'airing out' the guy trying to check her in. She got upgraded and made happy real fast. It upset me a bit that if you behave that way you get upgraded and taken care of. It was just her and her dh it appeared. Meanwhile, we were with 4 children, two of whom are 3 and under. Anyways, I continued to be pleasant because I refuse to berate the staff over something that probably isn't their fault. We got our room about 4:30 which wasn't the end of the world but I was just surprised. There were still many families waiting in the lobby as we were leaving to head to our room. The rest of our stay there was magnificent. I'd love to stay there again. Just wondering if that is the norm for BLT check-ins??

 

[delilah]

We just got back a few days ago from a week at BLT. Check in was awful. The worst I have ever seen any place. We arrived over there at about noon b/c we were transferring from another resort. We certainly weren't looking to get a room at that time but just wanted to drop off a few bags and go ahead and let them know we were there. Then we took off for a bit. We came back at 3:00 and were thinking we'd have a room. No room. 4:00 rolled around. Still no room. The lobby was full of people just like us who were unhappy that rooms were still not available. One lady was 'airing out' the guy trying to check her in. She got upgraded and made happy real fast. It upset me a bit that if you behave that way you get upgraded and taken care of. It was just her and her dh it appeared. Meanwhile, we were with 4 children, two of whom are 3 and under. Anyways, I continued to be pleasant because I refuse to berate the staff over something that probably isn't their fault. We got our room about 4:30 which wasn't the end of the world but I was just surprised. There were still many families waiting in the lobby as we were leaving to head to our room. The rest of our stay there was magnificent. I'd love to stay there again. Just wondering if that is the norm for BLT check-ins??

When we stayed at BLT in June, registration was at the CR. I don't remember that we had any particular problem at all. I think our room was already available about 1pm. But, the lobby at BLT doesn't have the same capacity at that at CR, so, there could have been lots of people waiting, and it wouldn't be apparent to us. We did the online check in before leaving home, though, and they just had to hand us our folder.

 

[disneynutz]

The availability time seems pretty normal to me. Availability/check in is listed as after 4:00. Our latest was 7:30 at SSR and we still had to complain that the room needed additional cleaning. The "special" clean team left around 8:30.

Bill

 

[Disneyaunt4]

We had no problems last week, we were in our room by around 3-3:30.

 

[VrBchJ]

Did you check in at BLT or CR? The BLT lobby area is so small I can see how it would get real crowded real fast.

 

[rock_doctor]

Did you check in at BLT or CR? The BLT lobby area is so small I can see how it would get real crowded real fast.

Bingo, in all of our stays at BLT time into the room runs between 4 and 7pm. So 4:30 is normal. IMHO the CM should not have upgraded up the guest. Awarding bad behavior never sets a good precedent.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I keep saying that the latest our room was ready was at OKW and it was around 5:45PM. I keep forgetting about the time we checked into SSR around 9:30PM and we didn't get into our room until about 11:00PM. The CM checking us in was very pleasant and we said it wasn't really a problem, but she insisted that we get a cash amount credited to our account for the delay. Which paid for a meal the next day. Apparently they had assigned us to a room that had a problem, reassigned us to another room, then reassigned us again to still another room.

I wound up writing a letter to Member Satisfaction praising her response the issue. We really had a great time talking with her while we were waiting. We actually spent a lot of time at the check in desk during that time.

We'll be checking in at BLT next month so we'll see how that goes.

 

[cvjw]

We've stayed at BLT three times so far, and never received our villa before 4:00, so I do not think your experience was out of the norm. We are at Disney alot (3-4 weeks per year), and with the exception of one stay at Kidani, BLT is by far the slowest resort for getting us into our villa. We just know to expect that now when we stay at BLT - which we love, so a late check-in won't discourage us from a return stay.

 

[wendow]

We checked in at BLT. Sorry I should have said that when I posted. This will not deter us from staying at BLT in the future. We loved our stay!! Just will be prepared for that next time. We were having family join us there and figured we'd have a room by 3:00 at the latest so we took the kids back and our baby was exhausted but wouldn't sleep so it was just kind of hard waiting. And then the lady being grouchy gets upgraded since she's causing a stink which I'd just never do. Other than that and some key problems we had right after getting our room, BLT was FABULOUS

 

[rlovew]

I just checked in a couple of days ago. I was checking into a standard view studio./ I walked into the building and someone met me at the door. I was asked if I was checking in and I gave her my name. She told me the room was not yet ready (it was 11am) and got me my room cards and packet. We headed out to MK after dropping our cooler off at the contemporary. We got a text by noon telling us our room number and it was ready to go. I have gotten into our standard and lakeview studios before 2pm every time so far(at least 3 times before 1pm). The only time we got in a bit later was when we had a TPV studio. We did have a knock on our room this morning a little before 9am checking to see if we had left. We told her that we planned to leave about 10:30ish.

 

[tjkraz]

There are 300-400 rooms at BLT (if you count the lockoffs separately) so while dozens or hundreds of people may get their rooms on time, some may not. Hard to tell what the reasons may be:

Did departing guests leave late?
Did some rooms require maintenance?
Did some rooms require extra cleaning due to messy guests or smokers?
Was housekeeping understaffed or slow?

I've actually heard guests make comments to the effect of "I got into my room an hour late so I'm staying late on departure day because Disney owes me." Forget the fact that someone else is waiting for that room. It's a vicious cycle...

 

[cbonewjersey]

We own here and have stayed twice. We take the earliest flight from NJ and we're at the desk by 0930 am, and this last time, the room was ready when we got there ! Never expected it, and frankly I wanted to get to MK so I was annoyed at having to go to the room, but I digress....I have only checked in at CR. BLT check in is only for those not taking Magical Express; it's new and it must have serious kinks. Take the bus and take advantage of the larger check in at CR, and check in online 10 days out !!

 

[wendow]

We own here and have stayed twice. We take the earliest flight from NJ and we're at the desk by 0930 am, and this last time, the room was ready when we got there ! Never expected it, and frankly I wanted to get to MK so I was annoyed at having to go to the room, but I digress....I have only checked in at CR. BLT check in is only for those not taking Magical Express; it's new and it must have serious kinks. Take the bus and take advantage of the larger check in at CR, and check in online 10 days out !!

We had actually done the online check-in but that didn't seem to matter since the rooms just weren't available yet. And we had to check-in at BLT since we were coming over from another resort. We took the ME to the first resort we stayed.

 

[Homemom]

We just stayed there on Tuesday. I did online check in and noted we would be arriving around 1:30. We actually checked in at 12:30 (at the BLT desk) and they called my DH at 1:30 to tell us the room was ready. We went straight from check in over to the Contemporary to walk through the shops, then hopped on the monorail for a ride to occupy DD3. As we were leaving the MK stop heading to the Contemporary we got the room ready call. It was perfect timing. We loved our stay (of 1 night) and can't wait to return for a longer visit.

 

[CarolMN]

We just checked in a couple of hours ago (about 1:30 pm on 9/27). Process was very quick and very pleasant.

We arrived at the CR via the ME (~ 90 minutes from plane arrival at the gate to me standing at the check-in desk. CR was the last stop on the ME route).

A CM carrying a tablet met us as we stepped off the bus and asked where we were staying (CR or BLT). She found us on her tablet and said that since we had done online check in everything was ready for us. She walked us into the CR and another CM greeted us in front of the online check-in area and directed us over to Betty. I gave Betty a photo ID, she gave us the check-in info packet, She was so nice and very pleasant. Our room was ready, which was a very nice surprise!

If the wi-fi cooperates, I'll try to post a few pictures later. We have a room on the same floor as the sky bridge and a view of the pool and Bay Lake. We'll be able to see the ELW for our balcony.

wendow - So sorry your experience wasn't a good one. Hope next time goes much, much better!

 

[bwang123]

when we stayed at BLT, we just hung out at MK until we received a room ready text with room # included. It was probably right around 4PM. We put everything in our room and went back to MK.

 

[Greysword]

I don't think the upgrade was for a DVC member. If she wasn't staying in the CR, then she was likely a cash guest.

 

[wendow]

If the wi-fi cooperates, I'll try to post a few pictures later. We have a room on the same floor as the sky bridge and a view of the pool and Bay Lake. We'll be able to see the ELW for our balcony.

wendow - So sorry your experience wasn't a good one. Hope next time goes much, much better!

We were on the 5th floor too which was such a pleasant surprise. We originally wanted to be higher but we loved the convenience of the sky bridge being *right* there. We were in room 7536 and had a view of the CR, marina, lake and the water pageant. It was fantastic! And while the check-in was not what we are used to, that single experience would not deter us from staying there again. The rest of the stay at BLT was amazing. So much so that we are considering a DVC purchase

 

[wendow]

I don't think the upgrade was for a DVC member. If she wasn't staying in the CR, then she was likely a cash guest.

She might have been a cash guest. She mentioned having stayed there before but I know that means nothing. She just got rewarded when she shouldn't have. There were many tired and frustrated people in the lobby that day. We just weren't taking it out on the staff.

 

[Buckalew11]

We checked in last Sunday the 23rd. We were greeted at BLT out front by a gentleman who had some type of ipad trickydo. He was very pleasant and we had done on-line check in also. However, the ipad thingee wasn't doing any tricks right then and was telling him there was NO ONE checking in there that day! lol (This was about 11:00 a.m.--we arrived via Tiffany Towncar.)

Finally, after about 15 minutes of that not working, it pulled all the info up and all went well from there. Our room wasn't ready until about 3:30. 14th floor studio (8425--great room!)

Checking out, we encountered the CM from hell. She was not full of Disney magic at all and was quite rude. We walked over to the CR and spoke to a DVC manager right away. I'm sure she hates me now but she will be kinder to others, I'm sure.