Checkin AM or PM

[danetter]

We are staying at ASMU in Sept. For the past 4 yrs we drove down and stayed offsite the day before and then got up early the next morning and drove to our resort we were staying at. This year we have decided to see if we can add our arrival day onto our starting week and we won't be checking in until late around 5:00 or later. I will be doing the online checkin and calling to put in our room request "but" since we would not be checking in earlier for those of you that do checkin later do you find it harder to get your room request?

TIA

 

[CleveRocks]

In theory, you have a better chance of getting a request met earlier in the day. Rooms are pre-assigned, but they're not actually assigned until you are standing at the check-in desk.

So if you arrive in the morning and learn that you weren't pre-assigned a room that matches your request, you can ask nicely if your request can be granted. In such a case, let's say there aren't any such rooms available in the open inventory, but there is such a room that was pre-assigned to someone who hasn't shown up yet. They can make that room your room, and the person it was pre-assigned to no longer has that room set aside for them.

So, in theory at least, the earlier the better.

But that's just theory. From my last 2 stays, I can give you opposite examples which support and don't support that theory.

I checked-in at Polynesian at 9:45 a.m. I reserved a theme park view room. I requested a specifc floor of a specific building. I was willing to accept anything except one specific floor of another specific building (that floor doesn't have balconies and the view is only so-so). Well, as luck would have it, I got stuck with the one location I really wanted to avoid. So I nicely asked if I could get my request met. The CM did some wrangling and re-assigned me a room exactly where I wanted, with the understanding that my pre-assigned room happened to be available right then but the more desirable room wouldn't be available until after 3 p.m. Fair trade as far as I'm concerned. But keep in mind that I poached that desirable room from someone else who'd already had it pre-assigned to them, it's just that I got there first.

But then there was my experience last month at Contemporary. We were staying using a ridicuously low conference rate (I'm talking less than half the price of the rack rate ... MUCH less). With a conference, at least at that resort, you don't book a specific room type, you can't, you just get "run of the house." Well, at Contemporary, that usually means a room in the garden wing, which is much less expensive than a room in the tower and in my opinion is much less desirable than a room in the tower. I put in a request for tower - theme park view, since I figured it couldn't hurt to try. We arrived around 10:10 p.m., and at check-in I was delighted to learn that we got a free upgrade and were pre-assigned a room in the tower, a tower - Bay Lake view room. WOW! We checked-in after 10 p.m. and yet got a free upgrade to a much more desirable room.

So you never know!

 

[mickeynut1]

In our experience, our check in time had no negative effect on our requests. When we stayed at the Poly, I put in 3 requests in the order of preference (Samoa building, first floor, facing volcano pool). We took a late flight and didn't land at MCO until around 11:30 p.m., which put us checking into the Poly around 12:30 a.m. Upon checking in, the first 2 of our requests were met, with the 3rd being met if we wanted to change rooms the next day. Being it was already late and I knew I wouldn't feel like moving the next morning, we decided to stay put as we did have a pretty view of the quiet pool. But I thought it was great that the CM was willing to accommodate our requests. So as the pp said, you just never know.

 

[KittyKat1978]

I have always checked in late at night since I'm coming from the west coast.

Last year we got to the resort (Pop) around 9pm. I think I requested lake view and quiet.

When we got there, we were in the 80's or 90's. I asked to be in the 70's or 60's with a lakeview. We got the 60's with a lakeview.

This year I am going to AoA LM section. I will call a couple days before and make my requests.

If I don't get them when I get there (won't get to the resort until 10pm) I will ask them to check and hopefully they will be able to meet at least one request.

It never hurts to ask.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . So, in theory at least, the earlier the better . . . But that's just theory . . .

1) No theory.
2) Reality.
3) I have PERSONALLY swapped rooms for people.
4) And, those arriving later in the day
. . . had assigned rooms
. . . many had rooms they requested
. . . but, were moved to rooms the other people did not want
5) Of course, not everyone wants to move to another room.
6) So, some who had requests still got them honored.
7) BUT,
. . . many arriving early do not like their room
. . . they ask for a new room
. . . good chances even in busy times, for a change to one they like
. . . and, the nicer they ask, the nicer the location