Does arrival time affect room allocation?

[Frances999]

Sorry if this is a stupid question!

Are rooms allocated a couple days before you arrive or does the CM select the room when you are checking-in? I am pretty sure that when we stayed at the GCH before the CM chose our room there and then...but I read somewhere else that the rooms are allocated pre-arrival.

So, should we try to arrive early in the day to get "best pick" of rooms? Next month we are staying at the DLH and we'd like a day bed room in the Sierra Tower with a view of DTD. Any tips to maximise our chance for getting this?

Thanks!!

 

[Disnee]

You will better your chances of getting any special requests - certain location, view, bed configuration, etc. - the earlier you arrive. Later in the day, after many other people have checked in, you are often left with whichever rooms haven't been filled yet.

We arrived at the GCH last year just after 10am and all of the special requests we made as far as location and layout were met. The CM checking us in did say that our earlier arrival made it much easier, and even gave us the luxury of choosing from a couple of possible room locations (basically, we were presented with a couple of rooms, and allowed to choose based on our own criteria - we opted for closer to the elevators). Later in the day, we would have just been assigned a room and that would have been it.

We didn't get into our room until after 3, but that was fine - we left our bags with the bell captain and went for a nice lunch and swim while we waited. We're going back this year, and have specifically chosen a 6AM flight so we'll arrive at the hotel nice and early again!

 

[Hound 109]

This is a great question & look forward to hearing everyone's opinions.

Our experience 3 weeks ago at the PP:

- We arrived at 9am on a Sunday. (Wanted as much park time as possible).
- We were Conceirge.
- CM "upgraded" us to second to top floor (14th i think) Park View. (We didn't ask.) Amazing views of DCA.

Don't know if being Conceirge or arriving at 9am had much to do with our "upgrade", but couldn't hurt.

hound

 

[noryglory]

This is probably true to a certain extent...but they also assign rooms in advance as far as I learned a couple years ago here on the boards when trying to get the room I wanted. The advice then was to call guest services X number of days before, since the rooms WOULD be assigned for my arrival day then, and I did so and asked for our concierge room to be facing DTD and was on the same floor as the concierge lounge...we got there around 5-6 p.m. and got our room, but I was so excited to be there I forgot to ask if it included those things (and assumed by calling I'd likely get what I asked for), and we ended up with a room facing the pool and NOT on the same floor as the lounge, and as I have looked at room layouts after the fact, one of the smaller rooms they offer.

If we weren't in a big hurry to get to Disneyland, I would have called to request a different room if possible (the squeaky wheels do get the grease) but it really ended up being fine, we slept and showered in the room, it was used for nothing else so really who cares at that point? But next time we go I am certainly going to try harder using my experience as a guide, to call beforehand, get there as early as possible, and make my requests kindly at the front desk when checking in.

Good luck!!

 

[Hound 109]

You will better your chances of getting any special requests - certain location, view, bed configuration, etc. - the earlier you arrive. Later in the day, after many other people have checked in, you are often left with whichever rooms haven't been filled yet.

We arrived at the GCH last year just after 10am and all of the special requests we made as far as location and layout were met. The CM checking us in did say that our earlier arrival made it much easier, and even gave us the luxury of choosing from a couple of possible room locations (basically, we were presented with a couple of rooms, and allowed to choose based on our own criteria - we opted for closer to the elevators). Later in the day, we would have just been assigned a room and that would have been it.

We didn't get into our room until after 3, but that was fine - we left our bags with the bell captain and went for a nice lunch and swim while we waited. We're going back this year, and have specifically chosen a 6AM flight so we'll arrive at the hotel nice and early again!

Good point. Even though we arrived and were assigned our very cool room at 9am, we didn't get into our room until 3ish.

No problem since we went to the parks for several hours on our arrival day.

 

[disneyscootergal]

I got a room at Hojo's through Skoosh.com; it was an awesome deal, but for one of those king rooms on the highway side . I decided to go for it anyway.

People talk about being upgraded at their hotels when they check in, and it sounds like it's usually free when it happens....? My flight is getting in at 9:30, so I should be at my hotel by 10:30-11:00. Would it do any good to ask if I could switch to a room with a view of the park? And if they had one, would I be expected to pay more for it, do you think?

My budget's very tight, so I won't be able to upgrade if I have to pay more; and I think I'll be fine in the freeway room, I just thought it would be more a more magical thing to wake up to a view of the Matterhorn.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I got a room at Hojo's through Skoosh.com; it was an awesome deal, but for one of those king rooms on the highway side . I decided to go for it anyway.

People talk about being upgraded at their hotels when they check in, and it sounds like it's usually free when it happens....? My flight is getting in at 9:30, so I should be at my hotel by 10:30-11:00. Would it do any good to ask if I could switch to a room with a view of the park? And if they had one, would I be expected to pay more for it, do you think?

My budget's very tight, so I won't be able to upgrade if I have to pay more; and I think I'll be fine in the freeway room, I just thought it would be more a more magical thing to wake up to a view of the Matterhorn.

if your trip is by what your siggie line says, I wouldnt get my hopes up of getting a park room view because your going in August and the hotels are usually filled up more than 80%...it wont hurt to ask but Im pretty sure the only way you would get an upgrade at that time of year is by paying for it...

 

[disneyscootergal]

That's pretty much what I figured (sigh). Oh well! I'll be in Disneyland, no worries!!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I made a special room request at the time I made our reservation, which was noted. Of course they will tell you they can't guarantee that you will get your request, but they will do what they can.

I was told that room assignments are made 3 days prior to your arrival, so it is recommended that you make any requests known prior to that point for the best chance of success.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

wow grate hints and tips i will rember them all well ty

 

[Lori00789]

two years ago I had a reservation for the least expensive room at Paradise pier. We arrived at 8pm. When I went to check in I was told I was upgraded to a room on the conceirge level. We did not have access to the concierge lounge. We had a room on the same level as the pool with a walk out to the pool area, it had a small patio enclosed in a gated fence. I loved the room location because it was easy access to the pool and while family members were getting ready in the room I could step outside and enjoy the morning. I would like to request this room location again, not sure if we would have to pay for conceirge service to get the room location.

 

[disneyscootergal]

I was told that room assignments are made 3 days prior to your arrival, so it is recommended that you make any requests known prior to that point for the best chance of success.

Thanks, A2kM; I think I will give this a try. It can't hurt, and I might get lucky!

BTW, what hotel told you about the room assignments being made 3 days prior to arrival?

 

[WDW4us2006]

Is there a floor plan/map of the layouts of the Disneyland Hotel somewhere???

 

[cats mom]

As with so many things Disney it seems like the answer you get very much depends on who you talk to.

Last time we stayed at DL Hotel we requested a room with a sofa bed and listed the towers in order of our preference.
We didn't get there until after 11pm, and at least according to the CM checking us in, we got the last room available in the hotel that night. It was a handicapped accessible room in our last choice tower.
So much for requesting in advance.

My guess is that getting there earlier in the day couldn't hurt.