Early Check in Question

[Bethpremier]

There might be a possibility that due to driving, we may reach the resort at 5am. What do we do with our luggage? Can we request early check in? Any ideas for how to relax/lay our head until a decent time? We are staying at AKV.

Beth

 

[natashag76]

Wow! 5 am, that is wayyy early Nevertheless, you should be able to get your KTTW. If your room is empty then they will probably let you go in. Otherwise you will have to wait for others to check out and then cleaning. As for relaxing somewhere, hanging out in the lobby is my only guess. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[christinec68]

You can always request an early check in but there's no guarantee. While a lot of people get into their rooms early, you should be prepared to wait until official check in time (one of those hope for the best, prepare for the worst things ). I am not familiar with the AKL but I am sure there are lots of spots you can just sit and relax in the lobby or nearby like the pool.



As far as your luggage, you can check that with bell services until your room is ready or leave it in your car.

 

[goldwest]

We flew in on a red eye on our trip. You can leave your luggage at the resort. We went to downtown disney while waiting for our room (wasn't ready until 4PM) Discovered Downtown disney doesn't really get going until lunch time. We thought we didn't want to waste a day at one of the parks when we would be so tired, and hoped for early check in. No luck on the early check in but we did have fun at Disney Quest. Iknwo you can us ethe pools while you wait for your room.

 

[danceintherain]

You can check in, and they will give you your KTTW cards. You can check your bags with bell services, and they will either bring them up to your room, or you can get them when your room is ready.
When your room is ready they will call or text you with your room number, and you can just go up there.
As far as a place to rest... I don't think there's anywhere private you can rest.
You can go down to the pool, or sit in the lobby or one of the viewing areas to watch the animals.

Being able to check in early has to do with room availability. If it's a slow time of year, and there was nobody in your room the night before, then you may be able to get in upon arrival. However, if someone was in your room the night before, then it could take a long time before your room is ready. Hopefully they would give you the first available room, but rooms are usually assigned in advance, so indicating on your reservation your possible early arrival might help.

 

[zummi525]

i feel your pain we will be arriving at approximately 7 am however we are going to get our KTTW cards and going straight to the parks since it is NYE we are just going to leave our luggage in our car and hope to leave HS around lunch time to come back to the resort with our fingers crossed that our rooms will be ready. we are going to be at POFQ if they arent we will just hop on over to downtown disney

 

[Sue M]

Wow, that's early! Did you say you were driving or flying?
You can check your luggage with Bell services until your room is ready. AKL has some nice areas to relax. Just past the Lobby to your left there is an out door porch with rocking chairs to view the savanna, then downstairs there is Arusha Rock, which has rocking chairs around a fire pit. The lobby has lots or comfy sitting areas. This is in the main building Jambo House.
If you have a car, maybe you can go out somewhere that's open early for breakfast. Have a great trip!

 

[DebbieB]

I'm not sure you will be able to check-in and get your KTTW at 5:00am. I've heard that the resort computers don't turnover for check-ins for the day until 6:00am. You could relax in the lobby.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

When we went down in September we drove down overnight and arrived at CB at about 5 am. The gate guard told me we were 2 hours "too early" to check in. However the person at the desk not only checked us in but gave us a room (love her!) - we were able to take a nap which was priceless!

The next day we were moving to ASMu (was unable to get a room there just for one night so I was sure we wouldn't get our room early). Got there around 6 am and checked in - got our KTTW and our room! Yes they had one for us - quickly dropped off our luggage and headed for MK.

In both cases I did online checkin prior to leaving home and indicated we'd be checking in before 7am. Not sure if that helped at all but I'm sure it didn't hurt.

Ditto the PP that mentioned if it's a slow time of year you may have better luck getting your room right away. I also firmly believe a good attitude helps. We went in expecting just to get a room key and to leave our luggage in the car for the day. Needless to say we were very happy and excited when the CM's checked us in!

 

[james'mommy]

We've never been able to check in before 6:30am when the computers switch over. Our rooms are never available. This time we got lucky and our room was ready around 9am.

 

[Bethpremier]

Thanks guys! I would love to do early check in if possible. Im renting points from a DVC owner and have heard that due to computer malfunctions, we cant check in early online.

My plan right now is to get in with a positive attitude and if we cant check in early, we will just wing it. At least we dont have to hold our luggage.

Things will work out.

Thanks for the tips. Im just excited to be able to go.

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks guys! I would love to do early check in if possible. Im renting points from a DVC owner and have heard that due to computer malfunctions, we cant check in early online.

My plan right now is to get in with a positive attitude and if we cant check in early, we will just wing it. At least we dont have to hold our luggage.

Things will work out.

Thanks for the tips. Im just excited to be able to go.

You can check-in online with a DVC reservation. I don't remember the link, you may want to post on the DVC board.

 

[MissBritt]

Not sure about that early an hour, but we checked into POR Tuesday 12-15 at 10, not the stated 3pm.

 

[christinec68]

Thanks guys! I would love to do early check in if possible. Im renting points from a DVC owner and have heard that due to computer malfunctions, we cant check in early online.

My plan right now is to get in with a positive attitude and if we cant check in early, we will just wing it. At least we dont have to hold our luggage.

Things will work out.

Thanks for the tips. Im just excited to be able to go.

FYI...DVC has a later check in time - I am not sure if it's 4pm or 5pm.

 

[DebbieB]

FYI...DVC has a later check in time - I am not sure if it's 4pm or 5pm.

It's 4pm.

The link for online check-in for DVC is http://www.mydisneyreservation.com/dvc

 

[christinec68]

Thanks Debbi! I thought it was 4.

One time I was waiting for a room and the CM said they guarantee the room by 5 and that sort of stuck.

 

[havaneselover]

We checked into the CR at 7AM on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Our room was ready (they said because we had done online check in and obviously bcse. there was availabilty) and we took our stuff right to the room, but drinks in the fridge and headed to the MK.

 

[Blonde Princess]

We have driven to disney from new jersey and arrived before 6:30 a.m. alot. We have had mixed results with room readiness and this seems more to do with availability. However, we were told several important facts by a very nice cast member at BWV checkin. First, the rooms are assigned 24 hours before checkin day. They "hit" the computer system after 10:00 p.m. the night before checkin. Second, they cannot actually let you into a room before 5:00 a.m.. I'm not sure of the reason. Third, if you call at least 48 hours prior to your checkin date & indicate that you will be arriving that early, they will attempt to place you in a room that is vacant the night before. The cast member told us that you should also call the hotel directly the day before and confirm with them that they know you are arriving early.

Finally, we have arrived by plane late the night before our DVC reservation and just stayed in the hotel portion of the resort for one night. I've told the check in cast member that we have an accompanying reservation beginning the next day in the villas. They can usually see the reservation and the room to which we have been assigned, although they are not permitted to tell you what room. I usually get up at 5:30 a.m. and go to front desk to check in around 6:00 a.m. to check in to our DVC reservation. I have had great success in getting a room that's ready.

Good Luck & enjoy.

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks Debbi! I thought it was 4.

One time I was waiting for a room and the CM said they guarantee the room by 5 and that sort of stuck.

Actually, there have been cases where rooms were not ready by 4:00. For example, if the previous occupants left the room very dirty and the rug needed shampooed. Although rare, it can happen.