Experiences with late arrival at OKW?

[Bruce in PA]

Hi fellow DVCers --

We're leaving 6/21 for OKW (and already counting the
hours 'til departure!). Now, usually, we'd book an early
flight so we'd have a good part of the day to get our
"Mouse legs" and settle in for a great stay.

But this year, due to a possible Little League game
on getaway day, we won't be arriving at MCO until
after 10PM, which means we probably won't hit OKW
until sometime between 11 and midnight.

Yes, I know -- not a smart use of Saturday points. But we
would rather not spend the first night in a hotel, simply to
relocate and check-in again the next day...better to
get to our room, settle in and be done with it. And we're
not too concerned with burning points, since we only get
to WDW about every other year.

The only fear I have is that by arriving so late, we're liable
to be squeezed into a less-desirable location. While most
of the units at OKW are great, we have found that there are
some buildings -- especially those back by the highway --
that we like a lot less.

So here's my question -- have you ever arrived late at OKW?
And, if so, what did you think of your room assignment?

Thanks in advance for any insights you might have --

Bruce

 

[vernon]

Probably not something you want to hear, but last trip I did have problems which I think was caused by my late check in. Didn't get to OKW until after midnight. The first room we were shown was a handicap room and I didn't like the bathroom set up of this as I enjoy the big walk in showers of the usual units. After a little discussion we were offered a "smoking allowed " room, I did say that it wasn't going to be acceptable if it was a very strong smell but the CM said that not all the smoking rooms were too bad. Anyway this room absolutely stank and although they tried to put sprays and air fresheners on the carpet and soft furnishing it didn't mask the smell. The third room ( by now it was close to 2.00) was OK, although it was stuck in one of the old building which meant the kids had to access the bathroom through the main bedroom ( we had a one bedroom unit). I was chatting with the CM and joked with him that checking in that late I was only goingto be left with the rooms that no one else wanted, he did agree that , to a degree, that was a correct statement.

My problem wasn't helped by the fact this was Christmas week ( or just before) and the resort was packed to the rafters. You may be ok if the resort isn't at capacity, but I must admit in your situation I would get a hotel at the airport for the Saturday night and check into OKW the next morning. At least that way if there is a problem with your room you can get it sorted out and make sure that you're not in an undesirable room for the whole of your trip. I do know people have been picking up the Airport Hotel at Orlando for less than $50 a night on priceline.

 

[Bruce in PA]

Thanks Vernon...actually, it's not what I wanted to hear,
but it's exactly what I expected...or should I say feared.

The beauty of a forum like this is that we can learn from
the experiences of fellow members. Sorry you had such
a bad first night, but I am grateful to you for sharing it.

I am guessing that late June will also be a very busy time
at OKW -- maybe not in the same league with Christmas,
but certainly close. We may indeed make out better by
holding off and doing our check-in on Sunday, even if it
will be a little less convenient.

I'll wait to see what others have to say before making
a final decision...

thanks again --

 

[jcanary]

but I just wrote to member services because I have friends we are sending down on Sunday and they said they couldn't tell me if they will get the buildings as requested since the rooms are assigned when you check in. I hope everything works out for you. We are going down in July but we are staying outside Disney for 4 nights previous and I plan on being at BCV at 7am to get assigned room that I want.
Good luck

 

[Bruce in PA]

I think all DVC members should know that
you might not get the exact room location
you want, no matter what time you check in.
Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.


It's been our experience, though, that if you
give a handful of locations or a more-general
"upper floor, non-handicap, golf course view,"
you stand a decent chance of getting what you
request.

In fact, most of the units at OKW are just fine by us.
But it's my suspicion that once you get to a
certain late-night point during busy season,
the rooms left in inventory could be somewhat
less-than-fine, either in location or condition.
Guess we may find out if that's the case.

I hope you get what you're aiming for on your trip, jcanary...

 

[DebbieB]

We're arriving next Friday May 9 about 6:00pm. This is later than we are used to, we usually arrive between 1:00pm and 4:00pm. I plan on sending a fax to the room controller on Monday, confirming our requests and mentioning that we will not be arriving until 6:00pm and if it would be possible to have a room preassigned for us. They used to preassign rooms at OKW but lately people have been posting that they are waiting until check-in to assign rooms. I'm hoping we have a better chance since it's Friday night and alot of members checkout on Friday morning.

 

[colleen costello]

On our last trip we were in #55, our favorite location "out in the boondocks" near the water. There was a nice grandma at the pool who was in 3 studios with lots of family. They were in the building across from us, and I asked her about "being near the road," as this is the one location I thought would be nasty. She looked at me like I was silly and said the room and the location were FINE -- they were not too close and didn't mind the road. She said it was blocked by foliage. So I am figuring now that every location has its pluses and minuses. We love the quiet of #55 but it is FAR from HH. Think it over and if you are fairly fussy you might be better off checking in on Sunday. I checked in last time at 7:30 am and had my pick of rooms!

 

[MulanMom]

FWIW...With our last trip, we had a dilemma. We were visiting relatives on both coasts of FL, and were traveling between Ft. Pierce and Tampa. If we wanted, we could take a route which had us stopping in at OKW to check in at 1pm. The alternate was to take a more direct route to Tampa, then check in at OKW around 8pm. In an email to MS about our reservations, I off-handedly asked what they suggested I do as I had heard rooms were no longer preassigned. The response I received (which was ultra quick, by the way, less than an hour!), was that more rooms would be available to choose from the earlier I checked in.

So I agree with the others who suggest staying somewhere else Saturday night and checking in early the next AM.

 

[living la vida mickey]

We may be in the minority, but we've checked in at OKW several times in the late evening an had no problems. Last June, I went down with my parents and checked in after midnite. We had a wonderful room, exactly what we had asked for - non-smoking, first floor, 1-bedroom, near a bus stop. We're not excessively picky and we've never had a bad location. Hope this helps.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by living la vida mickey
We may be in the minority, but we've checked in at OKW several times in the late evening an had no problems. Last June, I went down with my parents and checked in after midnite. We had a wonderful room, exactly what we had asked for - non-smoking, first floor, 1-bedroom, near a bus stop. We're not excessively picky and we've never had a bad location. Hope this helps.

You are not in the minority, I have experience the same things.
Of course, I do opt for the least asked for things, like smoking.
But, I always,and do mean always, get what I request.

 

[LUVDVC]

We got delayed because of storms last June and ended up checking in after midnight. We got exactly what we asked for and were very pleased with our unit. I wondered if that may have been because we had groceries delivered that afternoon and were lucky enough to get a room assignment earlier than our arrival.

 

[Dean]

They sometimes give away rooms that were assigned to someone else. Imagine if the resort is full and someone complains about the room they got, guess what, you just got the room they complained about. While it's not usually a problem, it can be. Arriving late, after 9 pm especially, is somewhat risky, How risky depends on your luck and how particular you are about your requests.

 

[vernon]

Dean, I think that's exactly what happened in my situation. The CM, basically said as much, but did ask I didn't "quote him on it" to management. They did say that those were the only three rooms at OKW that hadn't been assigned that night although I think the room I ended up in had been assigned from the next evening.