Yeah your right they sometimes do have rooms open early. Although you were very lucky to get a room at 8:30 A.M! Sometimes when mousekeeping is done cleaning the rooms after check out rooms start popping up between 12-3 P.M. Also in some instances the hotel is not booked and can present you a room early! Have fun and enjoy your trip!!!
I have to also throw in my two cents that sometimes the rooms are ready MUCH earlier than 3 p.m. In fact, I don't think I have actually had to wait until 3 p.m. for a room any time, at any hotel! Even during the busiest time of year, our room was still ready about 90 minutes before 3 p.m. And during the 'off-peak' season, you might be able to go right to the room when you check in! The Reservations people have to tell you that 3 p.m. time frame to cover their tracks in case housekeeping is being slow, but usually the room is open well before that but people do not always know it.
September of 2007, we stayed at PPH, checked in at 12 noon and the room was ready right then. Last December, around Christmas, we stayed at GCH and got there about
6:30 a.m. That was a perfect time for me, as NOBODY was waiting in line at the front desk, so the CM took her time with me, gave me special little Million Dreams treats, birthday pins, the whole nine yards. We took care of all of the paperwork and red tape then, and I walked off with our room keys in hand. So, unlike in the old days, where you would have to go back to the front desk to pick up your keys and room number even if you had already checked in, we never had to go back to the front desk for any reason again. They have really streamlined the whole process to make it more convenient and efficient for guests. All we did was call a number she gave me and ask if the room was ready yet. As soon as we got the green light, we went to the room to rest. If we had had to go back to the desk early afternoon or at 3:00 to get all that, we would have been waiting in a line of people who thought they had to wait until 3 p.m. to check in! My advice - get there as early as you can to check in and get all that taken care of so you don't have to interrupt your day and go to the hotel and take care of it later in a long line.
Also, if you have any special requests like number of beds in the room or location/view of the room, you should know that they honor special requests on a first come, first serve basis at all three hotels, so essentially, the earlier you check in, even if your room is not ready for you yet, the more likely you are to get your special requests met!
