early check-in

[o'bother]

This is our first time staying at a DVC. Our plane arrives at
10:30 AM, will we be able to check in or should we just head
over to the parks and wait until 4:00? We will be there 1/19-
1/23 at OKW.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You can go to your resort and go through the check-in proceedure and leave your bags. They will give you a card with the phone number to call to see when your room is ready. Your keys will then be activated. Sometimes you will get lucky, and your room will be ready in the morning! Good luck!

 

[DVC-Don]

On our last trip (BWV) we arrived at the resort at 11:30 AM. The room was ready! Does not always happen, but it is nice.

 

[jcodespoti]

yeah I would say its worth a shot sometimes it happens sometimes it does not but as was stated at least you go thru the process.


Joe in CT

 

[Synonymous]

Be careful not to get caught in the trap we did our first DVC visit- when we first went to the desk they told us the room wasn't ready, but we should check back in a half hour. We did, and were told the same. This went on until, you guessed it, 4:00. We should have just gone to the park- instead we waited around for a few hours, thinking we were about to get into our room.

 

[msdis]

I would count on 4pm and if you get in before then it's a bonus. We expected 4pm last trip and was in by noon. Time before, I was sick and cold, it was raining and we all but begged them to let us have ANY room that was ready. They did the same thing to us as a previous post said; they had us call every 1/2 hour and was not let in until 4pm on the dot. So if your expectations are for 4pm then you will not feel let down. And you can call from ANY WDW phone to check on your room. There are tons of WDW phones everywhere, including the parks. ENJOY!

 

[wdwnut]

hi: we (knock on wood) have been very lucky getting our rooms early. i think the longest we've had to wait is about 20 minutes. our flights usually arrive around the same time. we usually arrive on a tuesday or wednesday around noon. we never count on the room being ready and are pleasantly surprised when it is. have a great trip!

 

[tss2]

We were at BWV in November and did just as Synonymous & MSDIS...got there at noon and kept checking back every half hour since they lead us to believe the room would be ready early. We were disappointed not to be in the room till 4pm, but really we shouldn't have been since that's the regular check in time.

Next trip we are going to plan better and have bathing suits or shorts ready to change into instead of waiting around not knowing what to do....bad planning last trip on our part!

Have fun on your trip!

 

[DebbieB]

I don't think the front desk people really know when a room's going to be ready. Housekeeping has to mark in the computer when it's done, the front desk would have no idea where they are at in getting at the room clean. One time at the Beach Club our room was not ready by 4:00 so the front desk CM actually went to the room to see (it was on the second floor right up the steps from the lobby). It wasn't even started (a large convention checked out that day) so she found us another room.

Our room at BWV was not ready when we arrived at 1:30 last month, so we went to lunch at Big River Grill and then came back at 2:30 and it was ready. If it wasn't ready, we were going to go to the Premium Outlet and get our groceries at Walmart, that would have taken at least an hour. I would have an alternate plan, I wouldn't hang around waiting.

 

[Frank in WI]

On the eight trips we've made to BWV, we have never been let in to our room early when we arrived on a Sunday. This is the day that most DVCer's like to check in and it seems to put a load on the housekeeping staff to get rooms ready. On the days we have checked in other than Sunday, our room has been ready when we arrived (usually around noon).

While this won't always happen, it's probably a good bet that your won't be able to check in early. We always pack a separate bag with swimsuits, suntan lotion, snacks, etc. to have by the pool if we don't have other plans.

Good Luck.

 

[HollyH]

I can remember only once, getting our room early! The rooms magically all become available at 4pm! Go to the parks and enjoy the day!

Holly

 

[Lesley]

We have never had to wait for a room to be ready at WDW....we even checked in at the Poly at 7am once and it was ready! But the regular resorts are different from DVC...I think DVC has higher occupancy rates and they certainly take more time to clean than a regular hotel room.

Our one DVC check in was at OKW and it was ready at about 11 am or noon...

That said, I don't expect that our rooms will always be ready when we arrive. I'm not sure about our next trip....we could arrive before noon, or we could arrive much later (driving on no particular schedule) so we'll just have to see! We pretty much plan to drop off our bags whenever we arrive and head to the MK until closing. We might not even stop in the room until then depending on the kids' needs.

 

[SnowWitch]

We've never gotten in early at the BWV (well I take that back in June we got into a room around 2:30pm) Even when we have checked in on a Wed or Thurs. but I always expect 4pm so its nice if it does happen. We just pre-check early and head to the parks , and start calling around 1 or so to check on the room.