Check in Policy

[hammer]

Just got back from SSR. In my reservation I requested Congress Park ( I realize this request isn't guaranteed), but wound up in the Paddock.

Here's the confusing part. They say check in isn't allowed until 4 pm, so we made a little later flight, and arrived at SSR at 3pm. Upon arrival we went to the front desk to see when rooms would be available, and if we would be able to get into Congress Park. We learned that people had been checking in all day, and they book the rooms on a first come, first served basis. We were one of the last to check in that day, and wound up in the Paddock.

If I had made an earlier flight and arrived at 9:00am, and I probably would have had a room in Congress Park. Why do they even bother to publish a 4:00 pm check in time? What's even more frustrating is that non DVC members who checked in before me had their preference of rooms before DVC members!!

 

[Granny]

DVCers (as with any WDW resort guests) have always been able to check in any time of the day. They publish the 4:00 p.m. check-in time in an effort to manage people's expectations of when they'll be able to get into their rooms. So you can check in at 10:00 in the morning but possibly not get into your room until 4:00 or later.

On the other hand, they also use this "room ready" policy that says that whenever you check in you can take the room assigned to you or another room that might be ready at that time. That pretty much hurts those who check in later such as yourself. That's one of the reasons I think "room ready" is an unfair policy (even though we check in early in the day).

 

[DebbieB]

They publish a 4:00pm checkin time to say that your room may not be ready until after 4:00pm. You can check-in anytime after 6:00 or 7:00am, but there is no guarantee they will have a room ready. It works this way with almost every hotel, Disney or not. Can you imagine the lines if everyone had to wait until 4:00pm?

 

[nzdisneymom]

Chalk it up as a "live and learn" experience. When we checked in at SSR two weekends ago (at 8 p.m.) we were told there were only a couple of studios left, but she let me pick which building and floor I wanted between the few that were left. I wondered about didn't they already have one assigned to me - but I guess not. Guess it goes with the whole not being able to guarantee non-smoking without a medical reason. We ran into that at Wilderness Lodge (not the villas) once - got there at 8:30 p.m. and only smoking rooms were left. I was not happy about it and have since learned to be sure to mention my son's severe allergies at point of reservation -- sometimes they note it on our ressie and sometimes not.

Anyway, we liked the Paddock area when we stayed at SSR - however it was our first stay so we may have liked Congress Park better. We liked how quiet it was and also being near the quiet pool and bus stop... and being one of the earlier bus stops in SSR

 

[crisi]

Even at 4:00, there isn't a guarentee the room will be ready, but it does give the housekeeping staff several hours between the official checkout time and the official checkin time to get rooms cleaned. Most rooms are ready by 4:00.

We like room ready, because we usually fly out early in the morning and really want to get into our room at 12:00 in the afternoon to change for the pool, or just get in before heading off to the parks. And we've had small kids in the past, so having the option to grab a nap is nice as well. The former system it seemed much more likely we'd get in at 12:00 and not get into our room until 4:00.

 

[Monte Cristo]

Could someone please explain to me what the "room ready" policy is and if it's new? In the past, whenever DW and I go, we always take the same flight out of RI that get's us to BWV around 12 noon. On a majority of our trips, we have been told that our room is not ready and then sometime later in the day it has been ready.

Is there something different now?

 

[DrTomorrow]

I think that it is a no-win situation for Disney. If they assign rooms then there will be people waiting for room X to be cleaned while room Y sits available but unused. With room ready, later arrivals are penalized.

Room ready has forced us to make a slight change in our typical DVC trip. Since we now live in Phoenix, AZ, the earliest direct flight gets us on-site no earlier than 5PM. To avoid the "what's left" issue, we now book a studio at a DVC resort other than the one we'll be staying in. We take the opportunity to get to know that resort - so far we've done VWL & OKW, in two weeks we discover BCV - and recover from 'travel day'. The next morning we wake up, rested and refreshed, and check-in to our 1BR at SSR; at 9 or 10AM, we often get several choices of available rooms.

Note that while I said "forced", we really like this approach; while we love SSR, it is fun to have something a bit different on arrival day, and it allows us to 'start' our vacation the next day free of travel fatigue.

IMHO - YMMV - Be well!

 

[crisi]

Could someone please explain to me what the "room ready" policy is and if it's new? In the past, whenever DW and I go, we always take the same flight out of RI that get's us to BWV around 12 noon. On a majority of our trips, we have been told that our room is not ready and then sometime later in the day it has been ready.

Is there something different now?

DVC announced "room ready" about two or three years ago. Before that they appeared to have a room assigner assign based on request and reservation date a few days before check in. In actuality, both systems appear to be applied - somewhat randomly - sometimes your room appears to be preassigned, sometimes they seem to have room ready.

 

[CarolMN]

There's a "blurb" about "room Ready" on page 20 in the most recent issue of Vacation Magic (Summer 2006).

Best wishes -