Checking in late...

[lenshanem]

Trip report

I have come to the conclusion that the later you check in the least desirable your room will be.

Is it better to just always stay at another WDW resort the night before checking into a DVC resort? (And if so that stinks...)

I wish they still gave preference in the order in which you booked. I also wish nonsmoking and non handicap accessible rooms were guaranteed. The earlier you book the better the choice of rooms!

This is one area of DVC I'm coming to really not like. This last room we got would have not been good if we had our kids with us.

Thoughts?

 

[tjkraz]

I don't see the point of moving based upon the issues posted. If you didn't like the location / amenities / layout of the resort itself, so be it. But the issues encountered when arriving after midnight are just as likely to occur at any other property.

Originally posted by lenshanem
I wish they still gave preference in the order in which you booked. I also wish nonsmoking and non handicap accessible rooms were guaranteed. The earlier you book the better the choice of rooms!

Agreed, but wishing isn't going to make it so. Write to DVC. Attend the weekly member meetings. Attend the annual condo meetings if possible. Let DVC know how you feel.

 

[Scoootch]

Hey Shan -- If it makes you feel any better, here's a link to my trip report. We were at BCV's not OKW this time but we did check in in the evening. Granted it was not near midnight but it wasn't early in the day or around 4 either. I totally agree you should demand to be moved if you have the kids with you and get stuck with the H/A room again but hopefully the chances of that happening again are slim to none. I just really hope this one trip doesn't ruin OKW for you.


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=657265

 

[lenshanem]

tjkraz, I agree it wasn't worth the move for our short three night stay, but if we had our kids with us for a longer stay I think it would be a whole different story.

I just get the feeling if you want that nonsmoking, non handicap accessible studio you are gonna have to check in early, thus forcing you to stay at another resort the night before to better your chances. This is just a conclusion I'm coming to.

 

[lenshanem]

Awesome Scoootch! That does make me feel better. I posted under your report. Thanks for the link.

 

[Scoootch]

YW! Anytime

 

[Disneyaholic]

Originally posted by lenshanem
I just get the feeling if you want that nonsmoking, non handicap accessible studio you are gonna have to check in early, thus forcing you to stay at another resort the night before to better your chances. This is just a conclusion I'm coming to.

That will work ONLY if someone who is already in one of those "more desirable" studios is checking out that next day! You could still end up with the same room and have had to spend part of your day moving.

I also wish there was some better way to do it. I love a "good" location as much as anyone, but not getting the location won't ruin a trip for me. However, getting a handicapped accessible room or a smoking-permitted room might put a damper on things...

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by lenshanem
tjkraz, I agree it wasn't worth the move for our short three night stay, but if we had our kids with us for a longer stay I think it would be a whole different story.

I know exactly what you mean. I guess my point was that even if you booked BWV, BCV, etc., under the exact same circumstances, the same thing could have happened. All of the resorts have HA rooms.

I've never checked in that late myself. But based on what I've read here, if I had known that I was going to be arriving that late, I would have called the resort to let them know what was going on. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that by following the "letter of the law" in our contracts, if a member is a no-show on their check-in date, the points are to be forfeit.

I'd probably have called the resort around 6pm to let them know that I was running late. In the case of really needing a tub, the situation could then be explained to a CM and hopefully they would set aside the appropriate accommodation.

Hope your next trip goes a bit smoother.

 

[Doug7856]

Shan,

On our next trip, we will be arriving on a Wednesday. Because of my wife's work schedule, we would not arrive until after 9:30 pm. After reading about "room ready" and late arrivals receiving poor room assignments, we made the painful decision that I will fly down in the morning and check in to hopefully get the best choice of rooms (I'll also get groceries, unpack the luggage, etc.). My wife, our 2 year old and my mother in law will come down later and arrive at 9:30 pm. For future trips, we will probably just arrive early the next morning so that we have a better opportunity to check into a more desirable room and hopefully won't have to worry about this problem. A lost night is a sad result of this DVC policy, in my opinon.

After reading of your experience, I think we made the right decision. The two totaly unacceptable room assignments would be smoking and HA -- expecially with a two year old.

 

[lenshanem]

Yes. I have learned my lesson and will call the resort if we ever run that late again.

Ya know, I guess what bothered me was I asked the CM when we were checking in if it was handicap accessible. She then left us for about five minutes to come back and tell us it was not and did have a tub. When we got to the studio and called them they never said they were sorry for misinforming us and we could not be moved (This was after being put on hold for ten minutes at about 1:00 in the morning). We were very tired and still had to deal with the lizard running about our studio.

I would have preferred for her to have told us at check in - I'm sorry, you're checking in so late, all those other studios have already been filled. I felt like they told us what we wanted to hear to get us out. I never once questioned or complained about not getting the location we would have liked.

Despite my posts regarding this issue, I am really not that difficult. I don't except that grand location or view. But, I do like to know if I'm getting a nonsmoking room and a studio with a tub. Really rather simple requests and understandable I think?

This reminds me of our last BCV stay. I booked it eleven months out and my ONLY request was I be near my parent's studio. We check in, CM tells us we are very close to one another. Get to our rooms and we are on complete opposite wings. I call and they tell me we can't be moved. That time I was put on hold for a good thirty minutes.

Then I get back to read someone was booked at SSR the same week as us (they weren't members) and didn't like it so they moved them to BCV and had this awesome location, etc. Sorry, all I wanted was to be somewhat close to my parents.

I'm starting to feel that requests are completely useless and it is all pure luck of the draw and when you arrive.

I will take your advice tjkraz and send DVC my comments. I really feel like nonsmoking and studios with tubs should be requests that are guaranteed. If you book later in the game and they're not available then you know it going into your trip.

 

[lenshanem]

Good luck Doug. I hope your plan works! Please post a trip report afterwards. Tubs are important with little ones.

 

[DebbieB]

I like the old system where they made assignments based on date of reservation. It doesn't seem fair to those who booked at 11 months to not get their requests while someone else who just booked the room gets theirs because they arrive early. I think room ready results in less people getting their requests. They might assign a room to someone early in the day who had no requests that might have met your requests.

 

[lenshanem]

I totally agree Debbie.

 

[JimC]

Interesting. We must be in the minority. We fly out early in the morning and are at the resort by noon at the latest. Once in a while we leave on an evening flight (usually because of my travel schedule) and we stay off site near airport or on property in a value resort that night. I travel a lot and checking in late is something I really try to avoid.

 

[jaysue]

Shan, we often take a flight that gets into MCO at 11:15pm (yikes!) - maybe we have been lucky, but we have always been ok with the rooms that we have received (1BR or 2BR)

With my kids been almost 5 and 16 months old respectively, I just could not see staying somewhere else for that first night and then moving the next day - it would be too disruptive for them and for us

Having said that, with arriving so late, I do not expect any flexibility on the part of the resort to change rooms for us and I temper my expectations to avoid disappointment - my take is just happy to be at Disneyworld

thanks
jaysue

 

[jodifla]

Shan, just fyi: We have lizards in the house from time to time here in SoFla. They are great, because if you have a lizard, you don't have bugs!

 

[WDWLVR]

When we stayed at OKW for the first time this past May we checked in late (after 7pm) and had all of our requests met.

I really think a lot of it is luck of the draw or maybe just that we didn't make too many specific requests about location. Our requests were non-smoking, upper floor.

 

[jjpenguin]

Up till now we haven't had a problem with any of our rooms, even though we arrive late. We dit get a HA room but that didn't bother us as it was nice & roomy...

But as I'll be doing a solo trip next I would like my requests to be met, as I would feel much safer near HH (OKW) than further away.
Travelling from Europe we always arrive after 8 pm so it would be great if preferences noted when booking were taken into account!

jjpenguin

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by jodifla
Shan, just fyi: We have lizards in the house from time to time here in SoFla. They are great, because if you have a lizard, you don't have bugs!

We had gecko's in the house all the time when we lives in HI. No bugs but they crapped on the furniture (vaulted ceilings for them to run on). Also they tend to carry Salmonella type E. I guess every silver lining has it's cloud, LOL.

 

[lenshanem]

No bugs but they crapped on the furniture

Oh, my!!!