Early check-in at GF Resort?

[chippydale33]

Hello! My fiance and I will be starting our Disneymoon the day after we get married at the end of this year lovestruc) and will be staying at the Grand Floridian Resort. Our flight gets in at about 10AM EST. Has anyone had luck with early check-in at GF? Can this be solidified before the trip begins or is it a as-it's-available type situation?

I'd take a later flight (and sleep longer the night before!) if we couldn't be 'generally' guaranteed early check-in.



EDIT: If they don't do early check-in, will they hold our luggage at the front desk? We wanted to do private sedan service to the GF instead of the Magical Express. But if they don't hold bags or do early check-in, we might have no choice.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I can't speak for GF, but I've found Disney as a whole the times we've come "early" the room wasn't ready. When you select room options, you can check off a box that says you prefer a room that's ready above your room requests, but that may/may not make a difference if its a busy time of the year -- and with SWGE coming the end of this year, I would expect busier than normal crowds and less a chance your room will be ready early.

 

[Networth]

They will never guarantee requests. We have not had great luck over the years getting in to our resort rooms early at the GF (we stay there often). Congratulations on the wedding!

 

[Hopefully]

No. They will not guarantee early checkin. Check out isn’t until 11AM and they need time to service the room. Disney runs at very high occupancy.
Yes you can check your bags with Bell Services and head out and go about your day.

 

[Maxie86]

You can check in anytime after 6 or 7 am. Most likely your room won't be ready, but it is possible if they know your arrival time. I've had a room as early as 7 am, and as late as 4 pm. It all depends on how busy the resort is. In order to get a room very early it would have to be vacant the night before. Make a note on your ressie of your early arrival. You can check in and store your luggage with bell and use all the amenities of the resort before your room is ready.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

 

[sbrown29]

We stayed RPC last summer and requested an early check-in. I think our flight landed just before 10 and we got the text that our room was ready when we were on ME.

 

[cruisin5]

The earlier the better! Leave your bags at bell services and go about your day. Park, pool or shopping it's just more time at Disney. You'll get a room ready text or you can see it in MDE. Your MagicBand will open your room door, just use the in-room phone to call bell services to bring your bags to your room.

Congrats!

 

[chippydale33]

Wow! We just need this luck!! hahah.

Thank you all so much for the advice and well wishes!

 

[Babsy]

WE have had very poor luck getting an early room ready. WE have had as late as 7:00 pm getting into our room at the GF. Request and hope for the best, but be prepared to not get your room until after 3:00pm.

Yes, Bell Services will store your luggage.

 

[kiford]

Has anyone had luck with early check-in at GF? Can this be solidified before the trip begins or is it a as-it's-available type situation?

Yes, we've got in about 10-10:30 am. But it's definitely an as-it's-available situation. You won't know until you get there.

If they don't do early check-in, will they hold our luggage at the front desk?

Bell services will hold your luggage. We've done that at both GF and other WDW resorts.

 

[Lynne M]

You can go to the desk and check in as early as 6 AM, but your room may not be ready until late afternoon. You can also do online check-in prior to your arrival if you don't want to stop by the desk. You'll get a text with your room number when it's ready, and your magic bands will act as your key.

There's no way to guarantee earlier availability of your room; Disney has no official early check-in policy. You can put it on your reservation as a request, but requests are never guaranteed.

Bags can be left with Bell Services any time. You can give them a call once you're in your room, and they'll deliver the bags to you.

If early access is more important to you than room location, you can always go to the front desk when you arrive at the resort and tell them that you'd like to have the first available room. That doesn't always work, but it's worth a try if you really want to get into the room.

 

[chippydale33]

If early access is more important to you than room location, you can always go to the front desk when you arrive at the resort and tell them that you'd like to have the first available room. That doesn't always work, but it's worth a try if you really want to get into the room.

This is a great tip! I didn't think of that. Since the GF isn't too widespread, and the two of us are fairly fast walkers, I think saying we'd sacrifice location could help our situation. We were planning on booking an Outer Bldg anyway.

 

[ncc1701]

We have had 50/50 early check-in experiences at French Quarter. If you haven't gotten a text let the front desk know you have arrived. If the room isn't ready ( sometimes people get the text late) it is a great opportunity to go to Disney Springs for lunch if you don't want to go to a park. That is what we have done then just chill by the pool until the room is available.

 

[Hi Pluto]

Just make sure to do online check-in on mydisneyexperience with an arrival time of 10am (or put a little sooner and hope for the best).

 

[GoingSince1990]

The way to truly guarantee it is to book the room starting with the previous night, and call the hotel to make sure that they understand you will not show up on check-in day but early the following day. Obviously an extra expense but for a special trip like a honeymoon it might be worth considering.

 

[chippydale33]

We have had 50/50 early check-in experiences at French Quarter. If you haven't gotten a text let the front desk know you have arrived. If the room isn't ready ( sometimes people get the text late) it is a great opportunity to go to Disney Springs for lunch if you don't want to go to a park. That is what we have done then just chill by the pool until the room is available.

That's very true and a great idea! I think we were more so concerned about being overwhelmingly tired from the late night and early morning, but we're in Disney so it shouldn't matter that much.

Just make sure to do online check-in on mydisneyexperience with an arrival time of 10am (or put a little sooner and hope for the best).

Great idea to do a sooner arrival time! Gives a buffer.

The way to truly guarantee it is to book the room starting with the previous night, and call the hotel to make sure that they understand you will not show up on check-in day but early the following day. Obviously an extra expense but for a special trip like a honeymoon it might be worth considering.

FABULOUS idea! We'll have to add up all the funds we get from our honeymoon registry and see if we can swing it. Or we'll just pay the extra out of pocket.

Thank you all!!

 

[trishadono]

Hello! My fiance and I will be starting our Disneymoon the day after we get married at the end of this year lovestruc) and will be staying at the Grand Floridian Resort. Our flight gets in at about 10AM EST. Has anyone had luck with early check-in at GF? Can this be solidified before the trip begins or is it a as-it's-available type situation?

I'd take a later flight (and sleep longer the night before!) if we couldn't be 'generally' guaranteed early check-in.



EDIT: If they don't do early check-in, will they hold our luggage at the front desk? We wanted to do private sedan service to the GF instead of the Magical Express. But if they don't hold bags or do early check-in, we might have no choice.

Another option is to reserve a poolside cabana for the morning. That way you have a place to lounge while you wait.

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

• 2 padded lounge chairs
• Cast Member devoted to full service of the cabanas
• Ceiling fan
• Complimentary sunscreen and skincare products
• Fruit basket (may not be available without advance reservation)
• Mini refrigerator stocked with complimentary sodas and water
• Padded sectional couch
• Plush towels
• Smart TV with cable access
• Snack basket (may not be available without advance reservation)

Show Less

 

[chippydale33]

Another option is to reserve a poolside cabana for the morning. That way you have a place to lounge while you wait.

Wow! What a great idea!!!! We had no idea this was an option, never having stayed at GF before or a hotel that offered this. Maybe we'll go with this option! We can drop our bags off at the front desk and take a nice long nap in a cabana before our room is ready. Sounds like a great start to our trip!

 

[Hi Pluto]

The way to truly guarantee it is to book the room starting with the previous night, and call the hotel to make sure that they understand you will not show up on check-in day but early the following day. Obviously an extra expense but for a special trip like a honeymoon it might be worth considering.

That's a VERY expensive idea. Especially at the Grand Floridian. By the time you land, take the magical express, and stop at any other hotels on the way, you are likely to arrive around noon or 1pm. There's really no need to book an entire night at GF (which could be around $800) to avoid waiting at max a couple hours for a room, especially considering your room could be ready at 8am. Just check your bags and enjoy the park if your room's not ready. That extra money could be used in so many better ways: like at the spa, a few very nice dinners, and a bunch of shopping.

~Cari~

 

[GoingSince1990]

That's a VERY expensive idea. Especially at the Grand Floridian. By the time you land, take the magical express, and stop at any other hotels on the way, you are likely to arrive around noon or 1pm. There's really no need to book an entire night at GF (which could be around $800) to avoid waiting at max a couple hours for a room, especially considering your room could be ready at 8am. Just check your bags and enjoy the park if your room's not ready. That extra money could be used in so many better ways: like at the spa, a few very nice dinners, and a bunch of shopping.

~Cari~

Indeed, not a cheap option, and something I’ve never done in the US, only in Hong Kong when coming in on flights landing very early, like 6 AM. Just throwing it out there.