Change of Heart on ---

[Pa@okw95]

I have a change of heart on the first come and first serve check in situation. After giving it some thought it might work out for the better for most of us. The old way you were assigned a room before you arrived. When you arrived if your room was not ready you would have to wait for that room. The new way if you arrive there could be many rooms ready for you that you may want. So you can get one right away. You also have more of a choice this way. LET US KEEP in mind at OKW post 9/11 we may have many weeks where we are not at full capacity, so when you check in there could be rooms for you to choose from that you can get right away, instead of having that one room that was assigned to you that may not be ready.
Years ago they told us that when we check in we would be able to see what choices were available then we could choose from an array of rooms, this never happened, but it seems now this is the closest thing to that situation, which is great with me. I just want a non-smoking top floor, I really don't care much aabout the view of where it is located.

 

[dianeschlicht]

What you are describing doesn't really sound like a change to me. That is the way it has always been done. We have always had the option to change out of our requested room if another is ready when we check in. Last year, we chose to wait for our South Point room since we planned on going to the parks until 4 anyway.

 

[Pa@okw95]

The last 5 years or so I always went when the place was busy so I don't think I ever had a choice with rooms at least I assumed that. I think some of that situation may have to do also with the time you check in. With me it is always mid-morning so there won't be any rooms available yet, because none have been prepared. Well at least now they tell you what building your room will be in so if you have any real objections to the building you can ask for a change. One thing is for sure from now on I am going to ask to be given a choice of buildings instead of taking the one they offer.

 

[WDWguru]

I disagree. Some of us don't have the option of checking in earlier. Coming from Salt Lake, the earliest we can possibly get to Orlando (even on a direct flight), with time changes, is 4:30. For those on the west coast, it's likely even later. And no, I don't want to come in a day early and stay elsewhere for one night just to check in early - I bought DVC to stay at DVC. The system right now is as equitable as they can make it.

If you get there early and a room is available with equal or less than your desired requests, fine - they should let you have it. But if they offer you my boardwalk view when I booked at 11 months and you booked at 6 months, just because you can get there by noon and I can't get there until 5:30, that's NOT cool.

My 2 cents...

 

[KMCgirls]

I agree with you WDWGuru. I drive 16 hours one way starting at 2am so that I can get there at around 6pm. I do this three times a year. I don't want my requests given away to somebody that can get the morning of check in day.

Is this trial only going on at OKW our is it at other DVC resorts as well.

 

[paults]

I also agree with WDWguru, I don't want to find out that somebody got my room ressie even at 10 1/2 months out if I put mine in at 11 months out. If that is the case then why have a home resort? I live on the east coast and it only takes 2 hours to fly but don't give me somebody elses room because I checked in earlier then them. ( thats bull) Thats my feelings and if it happens to me rest assure I will complain. Those of you that don't care, that's fine thats your right.



have a nice day

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Granted I am very new to this whole concept, but isn't that the big difference in fixed and floating time?? I own in the Caribbean, a fixed week in a certain unit, I bought exactly what I wanted, when and where I wanted, I picked my view and weeks. By buying points, floating points, the benefit is you can go whenever you want, but how can they guarantee you a specific room, what if the person before you is in the room you want and not leaving till three days into your trip?? Maybe I just don't "get it" yet, but I was under the impression I was just buying points that give me a room on the property? I can't see how they could keep track of who gets what???

 

[wdeversole]

want2buydvc -

If a room is already occupied, I wouldn't advocate throwing that person out just so I could get that room.

However, let's say that there are two people who requested a two-bedroom boardwalk view room, and only one room is opening up that day. The person who made their reservation earlier should get the room, IMHO.

 

[MelissathePooh]

We are also new to DVC, and seldom particular about rooms or locations, but my question is this - how would you know if someone who booked after you got a room request that you wanted? Unless you listen to another persons check in process, asked them directly or asked the front desk (I don't know if that have the information or not as to when people booked) - how would you know? When we purchased DVC we were told room requests were just that - requests - not guaranteed. You get whats available when you check in - I don't think it should matter when you booked the reservation - 11 months out or not - you're still at your home resort. That's all the 11 month out window is for - your home resort - not a particular location or room.

The resort might be ligitimately full when you check in regardless or how the process used to be. Everyone is talking about the front desk giving "their" room away - its not "their" room to start with - you make a reservation for a unit based on points not a particular room, floor or building.

This is all just my opinion and I'm not saying that it isn't disappointing if you want a particular request and it isn't available, but I don't think its unfair by any means. I think people have put too much priority on requests in general.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

More to this, and again maybe I don't fully understand, but when you book, when you allocate your points, don't you choose the view - preferred or standard (and as far as I understand, only BWV has this option) The other resorts do not, (except for Vero) Does that mean they will definately give you what your looking for or if you make your reservation at BWV for a 2 bedroom preferred view, would they put you in a standard view, is that the situation? Again, I am very new to this whole concept, haven't even closed yet.

 

[Caskbill]

Rooms such as Standard/Preferred at BWV or Inn room at Vero would be guaranteed upon making the reservation since they have different point requirements.

However it's all the other requests that can be made that are NOT guaranteed. These would include things such as:

Non-Smoking room
Upper Floor room (or Ground floor room)
Water View room
Close to a bus stop
Close to a pool
Specific building number
etc.

Now I believe the smoking-non-smoking requests are firm, but everything else in not guaranteed.

I for one would be very upset to get stuck in a ground level room with a bunch of heavy footed guests above me because I couldn't get to the resort until say 5:00 pm, even though I may have made a reservation at 11-months, because someone else who made their reservation at 3-months just happened to get there before me and got the last upper floor room.

To me it's fine to give any room to anyone who arrives early provided it doesn't force someone else to forfeit one or more of their room requests because they happen to arrive later in the day. (provided their reservation was made earlier).

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by paults
I also agree with WDWguru, I don't want to find out that somebody got my room ressie even at 10 1/2 months out if I put mine in at 11 months out. If that is the case then why have a home resort? I live on the east coast and it only takes 2 hours to fly but don't give me somebody elses room because I checked in earlier then them. ( thats bull)

Actually this happens all of the time. Someone arrives and isn't happy with the room that's been assigned so they give them yours and assign you another. Then someone else comes in and the process is repeated. That's why checking in late is risky under and circumstances.

 

[WDWguru]

Originally posted by Dean
Actually this happens all of the time. Someone arrives and isn't happy with the room that's been assigned so they give them yours and assign you another. Then someone else comes in and the process is repeated. That's why checking in late is risky under and circumstances.

That's exactly what I'm saying should NOT happen. If they're not happy, then the CM has another pool of rooms to pull from (those who don't make requests, etc), but the ones preassigned shouldn't be TOUCHED under any circumstances. They shouldn't be able to pull a preassigned room to give to someone else before I arrive - that would still leave other vacated rooms for them to choose from, but not "mine."

Yes, I realize it's technically not mine, but if they do indeed preassign as they say they do, based on reservation date, then as far as the CM is concerned that room does belong to someone and should not be pulled for another person who got there earlier and just doesn't like their room. Not saying that person should be stuck, but they should have to pull from a pool that doesn't include the preassigned rooms (there are plenty of reservations with no requests, I am sure).

 

[MelissathePooh]

Isn't this all still pretty hypothetical? I ask again - how would anyone know:

a) what room was taken away from them that had been available?

b) when that person made their reservation?

c) the family in the room above you had just checked in before you got there? (btw - no one wants to be under you either)

d) if that person booked more than 11 months out with a cash reservation through CRO and by this process would be entitled to the requests before you?

e) made the reservation on the same day 11 months out but an hour earlier than you did?

Please tell me outside of asking someone - which I would find very rude - or asking the front desk about someone else - which I would also find very rude - how would you know?

Room requests, where health concerns are not present should be luck of the draw, IMHO.

If you want to use the argument that people who book 11 months out should get priority on room requests then I'll say that I paid more for my points than someone else and own more points than someone else and therefore I should get priority at where I want to stay home resort or not. (Keep in mind that I have no way of knowing what "someone else" paid for or how many points they have!)

People are getting upset about something that they have no way of confirming and that was never guaranteed them in the first place. Or if these requests are that important to people I say Disney should charge more points for them.

 

[WDWguru]

Originally posted by MelissathePooh
If you want to use the argument that people who book 11 months out should get priority on room requests then I'll say that I paid more for my points than someone else and own more points than someone else and therefore I should get priority at where I want to stay home resort or not. (Keep in mind that I have no way of knowing what "someone else" paid for or how many points they have!)

I'm really not upset about it, just saying if that is the policy then they should enforce it. I have no idea if it happens regularly or not, so I wouldn't know if it's ever happened to me. It's simply the principal to me.

I'm also not saying whether time of reservation "should" be the criteria DVC uses to assign rooms, just that it IS. That's what the guides tell you, what customer service tells you, what the guidebook tells you and what the room assigners have posted directly to this board more than once. Requests are treated on a first-come, first-serve basis based on when the reservation was made. If that's their criteria, then that's what they should stick to.

 

[DeeP]

The 11th month booking window gives you a room in your home resort with whichever view--perferred or standard--if applicable and then medical needs are given top priority, with smoking perference givin 2nd priority, all the rest is gravy. If you get it you do, if not they are just "requests". Even with the view perference --a preferred view could be a boardwalk view, a quiet pool view, etc. you are guaranteed a villa corresponding to the # of pts you spent--end of story. However, I have checked into and out of many WDW resorts since 1972 and have been given a choice of rooms at all WDW resorts from the value to the DVC resorts the majority of times; BUT I always check in well before noon. I firmly believe from my experience with Disney reservations-- you are guaranteed a certain villa for pt value and the vie (in DVC resorts where this applies), medical needs and smoking are also mostly pre assigned rooms but ALL the other requests are filled when you are face to face with the CM and checking in. So yes, the early bird gets the worm but it has always been this way in all of the hotel/motel industry.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by WDWguru
That's exactly what I'm saying should NOT happen. If they're not happy, then the CM has another pool of rooms to pull from (those who don't make requests, etc), but the ones preassigned shouldn't be TOUCHED under any circumstances. They shouldn't be able to pull a preassigned room to give to someone else before I arrive - that would still leave other vacated rooms for them to choose from, but not "mine."

I can tell you for certain that it does happen. I have had it confirmed at checkin in at both OKW and BW. I can not tell you how often it happens but my guess is pretty often. If they have plenty of rooms to chose from I'm sure they should look at that group of rooms first. From a desk clerk standpoint, I'm sure one preassigned room is pretty much the same as another. They are not likely to put much work into analyzing who should be bumped and who shouldn't. It's a simple process, if you haven't checked in yet, you are fair game. Put yourself in the place of the CM. Lets assume there are 2 rooms left, one smoking and one not. The 2 members that have not yet checked in both requested non smoking. The non smoking room is actually assigned to you but the other person gets there first and complain they must have a non smoking room. What will happen, they will get the room of course and you will have a smoking room.

I know there's a lot of emotion that goes into this issue (for us also) but there are simple forces at work here. Still, most will get something close to what they want and only a few will get shafted. Remember that at most timeshare the rooms are reserved for a full week, this makes the room assignments infinitely less complicated. How many times have I been assigned a room that was already occupied, 3 times at WDW and twice had others come into our unit when we were already there. If they can't even get it right whether the room is occupied, no reason to expect a lot from room assignments. I've stood at the desk and asked whether a certain room was smoking or handicapped and been given the wrong answer about 7 or 8 different times. That tells me either they don't care, they are not honest or the abilities are lacking since I know for certain they have the information available to them on the screen.

 

[living la vida mickey]

We've gotten in as late as !:00 in the morning and always had our requests fulfilled. Granted we only usually ask for a non-smoking room, but we've come down several times with my parents and have needed first floor and have never had a problem. We've been doing this since 1993 and it's been fine. I think the problems arise with people who have a multitude of very specific requests. Then the probability of disappointment rises greatly. That's my 2 cents.

 

[BigTigger]

I can only add a seven year member perspective - we always get more or less what we ask for at the time of reservation. Those requests have always been the same - nonsmoking, upper floor, near pool. Now I could split hairs and say that some of the near pool requests were a bit down the road, but for the most part I'd say DVC aims to please using whatever metrics they use in room assignment. One other constant in our eight visits over seven years is that we always arrive late as we fly down after the kids get out of school for the week. Our earliest arrival time was about 8PM and most are about 10PM with one 1:30AM the next day arrival due to a plane delay due to a maintenance item. Two of our stays were Thanksgiving week and the rest were moderately busy periods around Columbus Day or Veterans Day.

 

[PKK/MJK]

Those "non-smoking rooms for medical reason" requests do NOT always get honored. On our recent trip to WDW, we were speaking with a CM (actually a DVC rep!!) and discussing this new check-in policy. She was extremely upset about it. She had booked at 11 months--a non-smoking for medical reasons (she has severe asthma) Grand Villa for a family reunion. When she checked in, the only Grand Villa available was a smoking one. It was a "take it or leave it" thing. Of course, she took it because of the reunion aspect--but she had a miserable weekend breathing. Now I realize that there are nowhere near the number of GV's that there are other types of units so hopefully this doesn't happen often--but obviously someone overlooked that medical request when the GV's were scheduled.
I agree with WDWGuru on this. I am quite well aware of the fact that requests are not guaranteed. However, the previous method of assigning requests by the date the ressie was made was, IMHO, a much fairer way of doing things. Of course many of you have always gotten almost all of what you wanted--even at the holidays. You got those rooms under the old assignment system. Things could be very different now.