DVC temporary policy rooms now between 4pm and 6pm?

[lowlight]

We stayed at SSR two weeks ago. Were notified via text at 1PM that our room was ready.

It’s all over the board. My room was ready before time, the other room in our party was very late. I think the point isn’t that it’s happening to everyone, but that it’s happening frequently enough to wonder what’s up.

 

[RoseGold]

I don't get this thread, with everyone acting all surprised. This was happening even before Covid. It's a known hazard of DVC.

 

[lowlight]

I don't get this thread, with everyone acting all surprised. This was happening even before Covid. It's a known hazard of DVC.

I’m not sure if anyone is surprised, or it’s just cathartic to get feelings of dismay out.

 

[accm]

After reading through this thread, I'm now starting to worry about the grocery delivery process. I'll be checking into a Grand Villa at OKW for my bachelorette on July 13. My flight arrives at 9am, so I was planning to lounge around the pool until the room became available and set a grocery order for 4pm. However, if my room is not available, what do I do with my groceries? The order will include some perishables and alcohol. Does bell hop hold alcohol?

I don't know about alcohol, but we had our groceries delivered and bell hop held it for us. Same thing happened when we had to change rooms. They'll ask what needs to be refrigerated so that they can store it properly.

 

[Sandisw]

After reading through this thread, I'm now starting to worry about the grocery delivery process. I'll be checking into a Grand Villa at OKW for my bachelorette on July 13. My flight arrives at 9am, so I was planning to lounge around the pool until the room became available and set a grocery order for 4pm. However, if my room is not available, what do I do with my groceries? The order will include some perishables and alcohol. Does bell hop hold alcohol?

Bell services will hold everything, including alcohol and perishables that are delivered to the resort if the room is not ready.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

if my room is not available, what do I do with my groceries? The order will include some perishables and alcohol. Does bell hop hold alcohol?

We did not have alcohol, but bellhop happily held our groceries until the room was ready. However, if your order has alcohol, you may have to be there to accept it and then pass it off to bellHop. I have heard about issues with having bellhop accept your delivery with alcohol.

I don't get this thread, with everyone acting all surprised. This was happening even before Covid. It's a known hazard of DVC.

So I was not shocked it was not ready - that has happened before. I WAS a bit surprised that it happened on 2 checkins within a span of 2 days since usually for me it was more a once in a while / rare thing. I was also shocked that I was told there was a new policy or at least that GS was now telling people 4pm-6pm. THAT'S a change.

Also, I was providing recent datapoints on my relevant experience.

 

[SL6827]

I think Hilton Timeshares have a 10 a.m. checkout time .
The problem with altering the checkin/checkout time decreases the value . If I can’t t checkin til 6 and have to be out by 10 …that is a lot of $$$ per hourly rates.
I think it will happen.
Didnt it used to be checkin by 3 and checkout at noon?

I can see it happening too. That certainly does de-value the product, but Disney will not care. It's all about the $$$. In fact I was looking at a hotel on Orbitz yesterday and the check out time was 10 am, that did get my attention.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

as a dvc member i really wished it was spelled out better in advance, seems that most documentation stating the check-in time would be 4pm was done after the change was already made, it took a couple years for all documentation to reflect the new 4pm (instead of 3pm) check-in time for reservations made on dvc points.

Check-in time for DVC was always 4PM, since 1991. It never was 3PM. You are remembering wrong.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Maybe they should implement a new policy of:
"You can check in any time you like... but you can never leave (the lobby)."

 

[bobbiwoz]

VGF 1 bedroom ready today 4:45

 

[bobbiwoz]

Maybe they should implement a new policy of:
"You can check in any time you like... but you can never leave (the lobby)."
View attachment 650839

We really enjoy the piano player in the GF Lobby while we waited.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Today we moved to a two bedroom at VGF and it was ready just a few minutes after 11 AM!

 

[bumbershoot]

Chapek even said they were easily getting people return to their jobs when they asked.

Obviously very few asked. Just in my small group of Florida former-CM friends, they all got jobs after their unemployment ran out. They loved their passion jobs, but either got new passions or got a taste of REAL paychecks. They don't want to go back.

if you look at the actual FAQ posted, it does say rooms are available beginning at 4:00 pm. I think that is enough to say that most of us should expect something around that time.

But if you look at the wording in the online checkin, it's different. We all know that some underpaid IT intern just didn't get to the FAQ page yet.

So you are saying they just happened to be able to bring back tons of staff at All Stars, CBR, Pop, AOA, and others yet cant replace the few people who have quit from housekeeping for DVC?

My aunt did housekeeping for a condo timeshare with rooms a lot like DVC. She also worked in hotels. The condo/timeshare job was a million times harder. I bet the housekeepers who came back or were hired new wanted to work at one, but didn't want the other.

Exactly. So many of these people saying “what’s the big deal with a 6 pm check in” don’t have small children.

What do children have to do with it? What happens at 6pm? That's 3 to our bodies on day one. But even if it's 6 or 8 or 12, I don't get it.

And ONE, exactly ONE, brand new employee said it to one person. This isn't a thing.

They're advertising $17 and (apparently) still under staffed.

Orlando is getting expensive. ~$35,000 gross for a fulltime job isn't going to cut it anymore. And for a part time job? There are better jobs out there and people are finding them.

For everyone that is happy to think that it is OK for Disney to have 6 PM checking in times well after 4 PM, please state on your online checkin form that a late check in for Your Room Reservation is OK with you and that you will be happy that people can get their 4/-5 PM checkin times before you because you think that it’s acceptable. That way everyone is happy

I routinely tell them when I'm actually going to be there. That's the equivalent of what you're saying. You can't "state" something like what you said.

Does anybody think Disney would see any negative affects of people booking room a day in advance of arrival?

People do it already. I haven't done it with DVC, but I've done it with normal rooms and they aren't surprised. If you're arriving late late at night or early in the morning and really really need that room, just book the day before as well, do online checkin, and call to let them know when you're arriving.

I'd rather do what I did a week ago, and book the Hyatt Regency when you get in (if you have cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards, transfer some to your Hyatt account!), sleep a nice sleep, then go have FUN while waiting to hear about your DVC room, personally. Given that you get access to everything but the room at Disney, there are a million ways to have fun.

Sooooooo….. after reading the above post, I’m wondering if it’s worth the extra $$ to fly in at 2pm.

we have flights getting us in at 4:40, was going to change the flight so we get in at 1:40pm. Any advice? Maybe we should keep the 4:40pm arrival time and use the extra $$ twds uber?

What are you trying to accomplish?

So basically they should have had some foresight and not let go of their most valuable team members during the pandemic to avoid this.

They had to. By letting them go, the employees could get unemployment. And they could get other jobs. Not everyone wants to sit around.

To not be willing to spend some of that and hold things together is borderline negligent.

To not actively try to make money IS negligent for the investors.

In most people's view, "checking in" to a hotel is synonymous with getting into the room, not merely letting the hotel know that you've arrived. Rooms being ready for guests to occupy is the only really relevant time.

Disney gives you access to everything but the room from around 6am. That is far more than many hotels and timeshares out there allow.

I don't know about alcohol, but we had our groceries delivered and bell hop held it for us. Same thing happened when we had to change rooms. They'll ask what needs to be refrigerated so that they can store it properly.

They don't move cold groceries anymore, FYI.

 

[Sandisw]

But if you look at the wording in the online checkin, it's different. We all know that some underpaid IT intern just didn't get to the FAQ page yet.

Here is what my check in page says for next week. The expectation the room will be ready by 4:00 pm is implied. I’d say it’s consistent.

 

[accm]

They don't move cold groceries anymore, FYI.

This was less than a month ago. We weren't changing resorts, just rooms, but they definitely kept the refrigerated items refrigerated.

 

[Sandisw]

This was less than a month ago. We weren't changing resorts, just rooms, but they definitely kept the refrigerated items refrigerated.

They will keep things cold. But if you are switching resorts, they will not move them. You have to take them there yourself and the new resort will then store them for you until the room is ready.

 

[dismedvc]

I 100% agree with your statement regarding the pecking order. A guest getting into a room by 4pm should absolutely trump someone else’s room request.

However, with online check-in and room ready texts, for a guest who really cares about their room request, they can just indicate on their online check-in they plan to arrive at 4:00 pm (or earlier) even if they know they will not be arriving until much later. Once they receive the text that their room is ready, which includes the room number, that room cannot be reassigned to someone who is actually waiting in the lobby. I am not saying that is the right thing to do, but if members who usually arrive late find out their room requests are not being met because the room that they were originally assigned that met their request was given to someone who arrived earlier, I think that will start happening.

 

[dismedvc]

We checked out by 8am and told the front desk so they could get the room ready for the next guests hopefully early.

We asked for our room to be ready by 2pm knowing that it wouldn't be until 4pm anyway.

Possibly off topic, but we always do split stays. It would be great if somehow when you check out early from your first room you could get priority to check in early to your second room. The Disney scheduling system could probably not handle that level of detail, but I can always hope.
ETA: We have never tried it, but I wonder if we told the front desk at 8:00am at our first resort we were checking out, if we could ask if they could call the front desk at our second resort to request that we get the earliest available room at that second resort.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't get this thread, with everyone acting all surprised. This was happening even before Covid. It's a known hazard of DVC.

I was reading this last weekend and had the same thought. I could have sworn there was a thread several years ago (pre-covid too) about check in being something that in practice was 4-6pm for DVC with few finding their rooms ready right at 4pm. I tried to find the thread but the searching was too difficult

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

There are ways to improve room readiness, but people won't like them.

- They could suspend room requests until staffing is better. Assign rooms at check in.

- Disallow split stays, or put a surcharge on them to pay for the extra housekeeping fee if you transfer sooner than 4 days (when the towel service happens). IMO split stays are most of the problem.

- A lot of timeshares require guests to do a certain amount of tidying up before they leave, like stripping the beds and gathering towels.