disney resort online check in?

[disneyholic family]

ok....so now that the rental car OLCI issue seems settled, how about online check in for the disney resorts....

i just got an email from disney encouraging me to do OLCI...

has anyone here done OLCI for a disney resort?

is there a downside to doing this? an upside?

 

[2Tiggies]

I personally don't see that there is a downside, other than it potentially being a pointless exercise.

I think the major advantage is skipping the queue or even if there is one, it's such a quick procedure as those in front of you are presenting ID and collecting their check in pack. The reason I say it may be pointless is that we always tend to arrive anywhere between 3 pm and 8 pm (depending on what flight we are on) and have never found there to be a queue at this time, even although we have checked in on the Easter weekend - high crowd levels. I think if you are arriving any time before early to mid afternoon it may not be a bad idea.

There are debates as to whether this nullifies your option to change your room if you are not happy with the one allocated to you; you can still ask.

I am sure there are circumstances that may make it the less smart choice, but if you have a fairly straightforward booking with no special requests you are worried about losing, I can't see that you have anything to lose.

You can add some basic requests during the OLCI process, but they are very simple ones, like higher floor/ground floor, for example

I have not done it myself. I intended to last year just out of curiosity and completely forgot about it. Hopefully someone, or preferably a few folk, will post on here from experience with a bit of the good and the bad, to help you make your decision.

 

[Linda67]

We did online check in for our May trip and loved that everything was ready and waiting in an envelope for us when we arrived
We also got an unexpected room upgrade so doing OLCI doesn't rule this out
2tiggies is right though, most UK flights land late afternoon/ early evening so you shouldn't have much of a wait even if you don't use it

 

[disneyholic family]

We did online check in for our May trip and loved that everything was ready and waiting in an envelope for us when we arrived
We also got an unexpected room upgrade so doing OLCI doesn't rule this out
2tiggies is right though, most UK flights land late afternoon/ early evening so you shouldn't have much of a wait even if you don't use it

that's interesting about the upgrade..

i just did a search on the resorts board and many people there said that the OLCI line was even longer than the regular...
and that they had trouble with their room assignments...

after i posted this thread i remembered that we're going to have to "strip" our tickets from our KTTW, which because of the dining plan needs to be done before the KTTW Is made....so i guess that means we have to do regular check in...

 

[2Tiggies]

i just did a search on the resorts board and many people there said that the OLCI line was even longer than the regular...
and that they had trouble with their room assignments...

The line may be longer but it will move a darn side quicker than the regular line.

As for trouble with room assignments, as I mentioned, if you are not too fussy about where you are, what kind of room you have, etc, it is not likely that there will be any problems. Some folk have a string of requests which are serious competition with Santa's request list: King sized bed, building 3, 2nd floor, not too close to the parking, near to a DSA but no noise from the pool ...... This is going to require a one to one conversation with a CM at check in.

Our request this year is our standard one - not ground floor. And that has already been placed as a request on our booking and can be noted again during OLCI. I am also not too bothered if they can't do it. I may give it a go this year just for the sake of it if someone reminds me - but it will be too late to be of any help to you.

There are bound to be good and bad reports no matter what method is used to check in because it is impossible to honour each and every request.

I say go for it if you are curious or just want to give it a bash - you have little or nothing to lose. If you are having second thoughts and you are arriving after mid afternoon (at the resort), I think it is six of one and half a dozen ....

 

[wickesy]

We did OLCI for our stay at Saratoga Springs a couple of years ago and had a slight problem in that we were doing a split stay (one week on DVC points and the second week cash) and the sytem hadn't recognised the linked reservations so it only checked us in for the first week. We had to have the KTTWs and parking permit re-printed which made things a bit longer than it should have been.

We're not particularly bothered what room we get so I will be doing it again for our stay next month.

 

[disneyholic family]

The line may be longer but it will move a darn side quicker than the regular line.

As for trouble with room assignments, as I mentioned, if you are not too fussy about where you are, what kind of room you have, etc, it is not likely that there will be any problems. Some folk have a string of requests which are serious competition with Santa's request list: King sized bed, building 3, 2nd floor, not too close to the parking, near to a DSA but no noise from the pool ...... This is going to require a one to one conversation with a CM at check in.

Our request this year is our standard one - not ground floor. And that has already been placed as a request on our booking and can be noted again during OLCI. I am also not too bothered if they can't do it. I may give it a go this year just for the sake of it if someone reminds me - but it will be too late to be of any help to you.

There are bound to be good and bad reports no matter what method is used to check in because it is impossible to honour each and every request.

I say go for it if you are curious or just want to give it a bash - you have little or nothing to lose. If you are having second thoughts and you are arriving after mid afternoon (at the resort), I think it is six of one and half a dozen ....

i put a room request on my reservation, but i know it's only a request...
i don't really care one way or the other....my preference is for a clean room ...

so i would do the OLCI, but because of the ticket stripping issue, i guess i can't...
we have to have the tickets stripped off so that we can upgrade them to APs...and from what i've read on the theme parks board, the tickets have to be stripped at check in or it messes up the dining plan on the KTTW...

 

[2Tiggies]

i don't really care one way or the other....my preference is for a clean room ...

My preference is for a clean house .... yes, I have a good grip on the reality of wishing

so i would do the OLCI, but because of the ticket stripping issue, i guess i can't...
we have to have the tickets stripped off so that we can upgrade them to APs...and from what i've read on the theme parks board, the tickets have to be stripped at check in or it messes up the dining plan on the KTTW..

Ah, I somehow missed that. Yes, that would complicate things then. At least you know you have nothing really to lose either way. What time does your flight arrive?

 

[dixonsontour]

We did online check in at all star movies and okw - both times got our room requests.

Were checked in within a couple of minutes.

 

[disneyholic family]

My preference is for a clean house .... yes, I have a good grip on the reality of wishing



Ah, I somehow missed that. Yes, that would complicate things then. At least you know you have nothing really to lose either way. What time does your flight arrive?

we arrive at 10:30 am i think....then with baggage claim/car rental perhaps we'll make it out of there by 11:30? or maybe 12...
i'm figuring we'll be at the resort by 12:30 PM....and hoping we're done with check in by one....but that might be overly optimistic....
once we've moved everything to the room, we'll head for sweet tomatoes, then to winn dixie (if it's still the one down the road there)...then maybe walgreen (just outside of DTD)...
by then, maybe DS and DDIL will have arrived from Chile....
their flight gets in at 3 PM (pray for no afternoon thunderstorm)...
they'll come in by magical express....i'm hoping they'll be at the hotel by 6...
we have an ADR at the crystal palace that night...i hope we make it

We did online check in at all star movies and okw - both times got our room requests.

Were checked in within a couple of minutes.

sounds good! i would definitely do it, but for the warning regarding stripping of the tickets...

 

[2Tiggies]

I have found that 2 hours is a fair estimate from touch down to resort check in desk with Magical Express. It is usually a bit less than that from our past experiences but I use 2 hours as a safe guage. Last year we were at check in an hour after landing but we had a sail-through like no other so it was possibly a rare pleasure for international flights. The one factor that could play havoc with your plans is obviously a flight delay, which, fingers crossed, you won't have to deal with (especially the flight from Chile).

 

[disneyholic family]

I have found that 2 hours is a fair estimate from touch down to resort check in desk with Magical Express. It is usually a bit less than that from our past experiences but I use 2 hours as a safe guage. Last year we were at check in an hour after landing but we had a sail-through like no other so it was possibly a rare pleasure for international flights. The one factor that could play havoc with your plans is obviously a flight delay, which, fingers crossed, you won't have to deal with (especially the flight from Chile).

for all 6 of us, the main delay other than weather, could be lost luggage...
we're all going through JFK - the 4 of us from across the atlantic, and DS and DDIL from chile....kind of stupid that they have to fly all the way up to new york and then back down to orlando, but that's what happens with cheap flights..

so with us all going through that great black hole that is kennedy airport baggage handling - there is the possibility of having to fill in a lost luggage report before we can head for the car/ME....

i don't remember how long it's taken me from touch down to resort...
i'm usually so exhausted by that point.....heading for the airport 3 hours before the flight, then 13 hours across the atlantic.....then the whole customs thing in new york, followed by another flight down to orlando...about 24 hours ...
by that point i don't know which way is up or down....and then you walk out into that orlando heat/humidity....wow....slam...like walking into a wall...

it's amazing i'm able to drive at that point..

 

[cliveywolves]

Most US residents check in on Friday - Sundays according to CM , Most UK residents check in Mon - Thursday afternoons when it is quietest time to check so the nice CM informed me last time! Not sure OLCI makes a massive difference in time ?