Chances of checking in early?

[Leash]

We will be going to WDW Dec. 8-15 and staying at AKL. We are trying to decide on what flight to take; one will have us leave Vegas at 11ish am and arrive in Orlando 7ish pm or we can take a red eye from Vegas at 11 pm and arrive in Orlando at 7 am. The only problem is DH and I are bringing my parents with us and though they are not elderly they are getting older and it would be best if we could get them into a room shortly after arrival if we take the red eye so they can nap (no parks that day either way).
So is it possible to get into a room early in the day? If not maybe I can convince them to just take a nap in the lobby !

 

[GQ's Ghost]

you can check in at any time, but your room may not be ready. In fact, at AKL, since many rooms are out of service for construction, i doubt you have a very good chance of getting a room @ 7:00am...but 10:00am or later is doable.

The lobby at akl has some nice compfy chairs.

 

[Mr. Pig]

If you are not fussy about the location of the room you may have a better chance of getting in the room earlier. People that make special requests are more apt to wait for a room if they can get just where they want. If you are willing to take what is ready you may get in early. That is not to say it will be a bad location.

I agree about the chairs in the lobby. We arrived early one day for a ADR at Boma and I had a nice little nap before dinner.

 

[disnut8]

It's not really a joke to have them sleep in the lobby. You can easily do it at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There are even couches there. If you have to wait anywhere for your room to be ready, there isn't a better place than the Animal Kingdom Lodge lobby. Don't even feel bad about it. I've seen many a people crashed out there - including my own daughter-in-law!

 

[dclfun]

I've gotten a room early several times. When being told that my assigned room isn't ready, I ask if there are any other comparable rooms that might be ready, and if so could I switch? It may not always work and of course depends on availability but if you're not picky about location, then you can always ask. Only once did I wait. I was told by BWV's that the room I'd originally been assigned to was "worth waiting for". We waited and it had a spectacular BW view. I guess if I'd wanted an earlier room I might've been looking at the dumpster.---Kathy

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, I have to ask If your parents are 'not elderly, but getting older', how old are they? Not specific ages, but decade? And, um, have you asked them if they feel they'll need a room as soon as you check in?

Honestly, I'm just curious. Generally, it's a matter of perception (and I know you know your parents well!). In a conversation with a hotel's security officer recently, he said something to the effect of, "Yes, I think I understand; my mom's a senior citizen too". I'm fifty-two!!!!

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

our room at AK was ready at 5:15 PM. They did give us half off at dinner (jiko) which was nice.

 

[disnut8]

I'm fifty-two!!!!

HAHAHAHA! I just have to laugh because I'm going to be 46 and my husband is going to be 48 - he's two years from AARP. We have a ready made granddaughter who is going to be 10 and a year and a half old grandson. We are hardly senior citizens. We still have people who ask if the pictures of our grandkids on our desks are those of our children!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

We will be going to WDW Dec. 8-15 and staying at AKL. We are trying to decide on what flight to take; one will have us leave Vegas at 11ish am and arrive in Orlando 7ish pm or we can take a red eye from Vegas at 11 pm and arrive in Orlando at 7 am. The only problem is DH and I are bringing my parents with us and though they are not elderly they are getting older and it would be best if we could get them into a room shortly after arrival if we take the red eye so they can nap (no parks that day either way).
So is it possible to get into a room early in the day? If not maybe I can convince them to just take a nap in the lobby !

We were worried about this for our trip next week since we are taking a 9:10 pm flight on Tuesday out from Chicago that arrives at midnight. Obviously we needed a room, so we decided to pay for a room for Tuesday, so we wouldn't have to worry about that when we arrive.

 

[Leash]

Okay, I have to ask If your parents are 'not elderly, but getting older', how old are they? Not specific ages, but decade? And, um, have you asked them if they feel they'll need a room as soon as you check in?

Honestly, I'm just curious. Generally, it's a matter of perception (and I know you know your parents well!). In a conversation with a hotel's security officer recently, he said something to the effect of, "Yes, I think I understand; my mom's a senior citizen too". I'm fifty-two!!!!

My Dad will be 56 and my mom will be 50 when we go, also my Dad is on oxygen so he doesn't have a lot of energy. My mom says she will be fine but my Dad wants to rest when we arrive. We all think the red eye would be best so I think we will chance it and just have dad relax on a couch until we can get in the room. We will have had his big oxygen tank delivered so hopefully the bell desk will just let him refill his portable tank in the meantime.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[vicceja]

We have been to Disney many times and we always take the very first flight out of JFK or Westchester which is probably around 6:40am - we have never had a problem with not having our rooms ready when we arrived at either Poly, AKL and BC. Good Luck!

 

[jewelmicky]

if you call ahead of time and let them know you have special Medical reasons for requests do they try and make extra sure they happen? I am asking because for the cruise portion of our trip i was able to move our dinner time up after i faxed medical forms from Dr. even though it was "full"

 

[SueM in MN]

My Dad will be 56 and my mom will be 50 when we go, also my Dad is on oxygen so he doesn't have a lot of energy. My mom says she will be fine but my Dad wants to rest when we arrive. We all think the red eye would be best so I think we will chance it and just have dad relax on a couch until we can get in the room. We will have had his big oxygen tank delivered so hopefully the bell desk will just let him refill his portable tank in the meantime.

Thanks for all the replies!

Does he need oxygen during the flight, and if so, have you arranged that yet?

I don't know, but it may be easier to make sure that you have what he needs if you are leaving at 11 am than at 11 pm.

 

[Leash]

Does he need oxygen during the flight, and if so, have you arranged that yet?

I don't know, but it may be easier to make sure that you have what he needs if you are leaving at 11 am than at 11 pm.

He will need oxygen during the flight but he will be renting a portable oxygen concentrator that runs on batteries. He used that when he went to Chicago last summer and it worked fine. He will have his regular portable unit for the time off the plane and that just needs to be filled from the large unit that will be rented for the room. I was actually thinking that the red eye would be better as far as oxygen on the plane because their will probably be less people on the flight so less hassle to get him situated on the plane since he has to sit in a window seat because the unit will take up a lot of his leg room.

 

[SueM in MN]

He will need oxygen during the flight but he will be renting a portable oxygen concentrator that runs on batteries. He used that when he went to Chicago last summer and it worked fine. He will have his regular portable unit for the time off the plane and that just needs to be filled from the large unit that will be rented for the room. I was actually thinking that the red eye would be better as far as oxygen on the plane because their will probably be less people on the flight so less hassle to get him situated on the plane since he has to sit in a window seat because the unit will take up a lot of his leg room.

if you haven't already checked with the airline, you will need to do that. I don't know what airline you are using, but most of them have some information on their website. If he flew before with the same set-up, he should be OK, but each airline has their own policies regarding how they do it. Some may not allow portable air concentrators on certain flights (I'm not sure why, but it mght have to do with the specific airplane assigned??)

Anyway, you may not need it, but this seems to be a good site about air travel with oxygen.

 

[Leash]

if you haven't already checked with the airline, you will need to do that. I don't know what airline you are using, but most of them have some information on their website. If he flew before with the same set-up, he should be OK, but each airline has their own policies regarding how they do it. Some may not allow portable air concentrators on certain flights (I'm not sure why, but it mght have to do with the specific airplane assigned??)

Anyway, you may not need it, but this seems to be a good site about air travel with oxygen.

Thanks a bunch for that website, I will show it to my parents to make it easier for them to get things done. We will either fly US Air or Delta so it looks like we shouldn't have too much trouble if the site is up to date.