Hi all! I'm a little bit confused over how to place any room requests before arriving. I looked at the advanced check-in in
MDE but that only gave options for high/ground floor and near bus or elevator - nowhere to express anything about buildings, sections, etc.
One of my questions is, if we are assigned a room before we arrive, is it very difficult to still go straight to the Check-in desk when we arrive and ask about possible preferences there? We will be on our honeymoon and would really like a King bed if it might be available, and we also have a separate continuing reservation due to the discount dates that we wanted to explain and hopefully keep our same room.
I guess essentially I'm asking, if they assign us something before we arrive, is it difficult to change later?
Just curious, what room type did you book for both stays?
The easiest thing to do for room reservations is just call the main Disney reservation line and ask to have your room request noted on your reservation. There are services such a TouringPlans that offer a room request feature that many DISers use and swear by, but I personally find calling is the simplest option. But using something like TP can totally be a valid option as well.
In my opinion, I would ask for the following to be noted:
1) your room requests (I'd keep them relatively simple and limited... not a laundry list of items)
2) that you will have a continuing reservation with reservation #xxxxxxx
3) you will be celebrating your honeymoon
I would ignore/leave the online check-in room request options blank when you go to do online check-in. As you noted, the options are limited and often don't actually make sense for some room categories.
As to checking-in at the desk in person when there, yes... you can absolutely visit the front desk when you arrive, even if you've already received the room ready text/notice. Even before COVID, Disney has been hawking the whole "direct to your room" thing.... but that in no way means you can't also stop by the desk. In your case, I absolutely would stop by the front desk to go ahead and make sure the continuing reservation is noted. They may be able to call the room assignor right there to make sure you stay in the same room (if possible, although sometimes it's not). That would also be a good time to pick up some "I'm Celebrating..." pins, if so inclined.
Sorry if you already know everything I just said and I'm not really answering your question, just making sure!
As to being able to change rooms if you get assigned a room not to your liking... it's certainly possible, and with the resorts not running at the high occupancies they normally are, it is probably reasonably likely. But it very much depends on what type of room you booked and availability... some room types there are tons of... some not so much, so it just depends. If this were pre-COVID, I would say to keep expectations very low as the resorts were often so full, changing rooms becomes challenging. But the odds are in you favor given current occupancy levels, generally speaking.
Anyway, I hope that helps. Congratulations on your pending nuptials!