Check in before going to parks?

[disneyeveryyear]

We are staying our first night (Saturday) at POR (3 rooms; 7 people). I moved to POR from POP so it would be easier to go check in at OKW. (2br & studio) The studio is a rented reservation from a friend.

Can the person in studio and I check in at OKW at 7:00 a.m. (I know rooms won't be ready - just need to guarantee our N/S due to kids and asthma)? I thought that was the earliest they would let us check in. We will spend all day at MK, so might not get to resort until after dinner, don't want a Smoking room because I waited too late.

How long should I expect check in to take?

We have 8:10 ADR at MK for B-fast. Will we make it on the bus, or should we take a taxi?

Maybe we should just change the date of our breakfast. That might make more sense. Then we have more time to check in at OKW and make it to parks for opening.

Decisions, decisions. What would work best?

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Bumping.

 

[Rozzie]

we checked in to OKW at 0800 this August and headed to the parks. Don't know how long they were open. Our earliest check in ever was 0700 at Poly. Actually it might have been like 0645, was nice, because our room was ready and could drop off our stuff.

you could call the resort and ask them. They could give you a better answer.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You can check in as soon as you get there, but you wont necessariyl get your room assignment until after 4. They will give you a card with a number on it to call and get your room number. We usually do this, since our flights usually arrive at MCO around noon. We check into OKW and then head to a park and go back to et our room later in the day.

 

[Caskbill]

I'm not 100% certain but I think I saw somewhere once that they switch the computer systems over at about 4:00 a.m. so technically the new day begins then and you should be able to check in any time after that. I'm sure by 7:00 you can check-in OK and it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes for the two check-in's.

Do you know what time the park opens? Bus service begins (1/2 hour?) before park opening. From OKW they run about every 20 minutes.

How are you getting from POR to OKW? You really can't walk it as there's no sidewalks or paths.

If you take a taxi to MK, you might verify where they drop off at. The busses go directly to MK, but I don't remember seeing a drop-off area over there anywhere. If the taxis has to drop you off at the TTC then you would need to account for the extra time to get from there to the MK.

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip)....If you take a taxi to MK, you might verify where they drop off at. The busses go directly to MK, but I don't remember seeing a drop-off area over there anywhere. If the taxis has to drop you off at the TTC then you would need to account for the extra time to get from there to the MK.

The taxis do drop off at the TTC. My advice would be to take the taxi to the Contemporary and walk to the MK from there. If the driver will drop you off near the walking path, it's only a little bit longer walk than if you took the bus from the resort.

FWIW, I'd suggest doing the character breakfast another day - this sounds like a bit too much stress to put on yourself first thing in the morning. After all, you are on vacation!! And the kids may be a lot more interested in the rides than breakfast that first day - even if there are characters!

Best wishes -

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Thanks for the thoughts! I hadn't thought about where the taxi might drop us off. Good idea about the Contemporary. I remember back in the old days when you were allowed to park at any WDW hotel if you were on-site. DH and I used to park at Contemporary and walk to MK. So much for the good old days!

Bill, I had planned to grab a taxi to OKW. I know there aren't any sidewalks on that street and it is pretty good hike. MK opens at 9:00 a.m. So we could head over at 7:30 a.m., check-in and then catch the 8:00 a.m. bus to MK (if we change reservations). That might be the thing to do.

We will actually be running to the parks Saturday afternoon for a little while (know it will be busy, but we have a newbie who wants into the parks ASAP), so it won't be our "first" visit this trip. Oh well, I think you are right, maybe too much stress that a.m.

Just called and could get a late breakfast at 10:25 on Sunday, or wait until we go back Thursday at 8:05 a.m. Might wait until Thursday. I need to look at our schedule Wednesday night and check with DH. I like to pretend that he actually has a say .

 

[HGD24]

Friends of our are using our points to stay for one night in Nov. They plan to hit one park on day of arrival, spend the night at OKW and then hit another park the next day.

We've never had to use early check-in, so I need some clarification please.

If their room is available, would they be able to get their roomkey, go in the room and drop off their stuff? If their room is not available, and they get the 'card' that "dianeschlicht" mentioned, what does the card do? Does it double as a roomkey or would they need to go back to the front desk and get the key card or are they given the roomkey plus this other card

Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

Friends of our are using our points to stay for one night in Nov. They plan to hit one park on day of arrival, spend the night at OKW and then hit another park the next day.

We've never had to use early check-in, so I need some clarification please.

If their room is available, would they be able to get their roomkey, go in the room and drop off their stuff?

Yes.

If their room is not available, and they get the 'card' that "dianeschlicht" mentioned, what does the card do? Does it double as a roomkey or would they need to go back to the front desk and get the key card or are they given the roomkey plus this other card

Thanks!

They will get their room keys when they check in. They will not be told the room number if the room is not ready for them at that time. They will get a card with a phone number to call later for the room number. The room keys will open their room so no need to go back to the front desk - all they need to do is call the number to find out where to go, LOL!

Best wishes -

 

[HGD24]

Thanks so much Carol for clarifying for me! I appreciate it!

This is their first time ever staying on property (they have family in the Tampa area and usually drive back and forth to Disney) and I want to make sure that I'm giving them the right information to make their 2 days as fun as possible and alleviate any confusion.

 

[zoomsharedisney]

Oh I really hope you enjoy POR - we hated it!!. We spent our first three nights of our vacation there. Checked in, went to the room with our luggage (walked there), found that someone was already in the room!!! I stayed behind with our luggage while DH went back to the lobby. He returned 20 minutes later (not an exaggeration!) with a new room assignment after he argueed with the CM's that told him it was impossible that someone was in the room. But anyway...we check out on Sunday at 8:00 AM, left our luggage behind to be taken to BWV, caught a shuttle van, and checked in at BWV at 8:15 AM. We didn't get our room assignment, but we were able to request and receive a water view (no extra points) and a non-smoking room was guaranteed since we were the first to check in for the day. We spent the afternoon at EPCOT and then went back arount 4:00 to unpack. Have a great vacation!!

Amanda

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Thanks for the concern. We have actually spent many trips at POR, the latest was Easter 2004. We have always loved it.

I didn't know you could take a shuttle bus from one resort to another. How does that work? Do we need to arrange for it in advance? That might be the perfect way for us to all stay together before going to the MK that a.m.

Thanks for the info.