Hotel checkin before 3pm

[disneyfan2]

We are going last week Feb and first day attending P&P party. We are deciding on doing an early morning flight which would be good if we thought we could get our room by 1 for a long nap, otherwise, we will opt for a afternoon flight and arrive airport 4pm. i know rooms are not gauranteed before 3pm but has anyone had luck checking in earlier?

 

[sharonmickey]

I've been able to check into rooms before 3:00. It depends on the room availability. If you want a certain location the chance of a room available is smaller than if you take whatever room is ready.

If you give up the nap you can leave your luggage at baggage check and go straight to the parks if your room is not ready.

 

[NC State]

We have always been able to check in by 12:30 pm.
On our last trip we arrive at 8:00 am and checked-in. We left our bags in the car and visited AK then back to the hotel at 1:00 pm and our room was ready by then.

 

[Andrea]

This pass January we were able to check in and have a room for us ( in fact 2 rooms) at 8:30 am at the pop

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Most of the times when my family and I have arrived at WDW we have been able to check-in before 3:00 PM and I can remember only 2 times when we had to wait past 3:00 PM for our room to be ready. So it can be done however don't go thinking it's a 100% chance of happening.

 

[StrwLady]

We are going last week Feb and first day attending P&P party. We are deciding on doing an early morning flight which would be good if we thought we could get our room by 1 for a long nap, otherwise, we will opt for a afternoon flight and arrive airport 4pm. i know rooms are not gauranteed before 3pm but has anyone had luck checking in earlier?

If I was you I would opt for the earlier flight and hope for an early check in. Maybe even request an early check in on your reservation. In all of my trips I have only had 1 time I could not get in my room at the time I checked in.

****Below is my opinion and they way I figure my time. I'm not saying this is fact ****

Reason I say go for the earlier flight is time. Think about this. You will get in at 4pm then it will take you about 45 mins to 1 hour to get off the plane, get your bags and get to your resort. (even if you are taking magical express I would say that it might take up to 1 hour before you arrive at your resort) Maybe a little more. So then you would have to add the time it would take to check in and get to your room. Add maybe another 30 to 45 minutes. So that would mean after a bit in your room you would be ready to head to the park around 5:30/6:00. That would be fine timing considering your flight is on time. If you have a delay then that could throw things way off and you might end up being late or missing the party.

I try not to make any special plans (especially any non refundable) on my first night in. I guess I have flown enough to see varying flight delays.

 

[Tissa]

I've only been able to get into my room early once and that was last January at POP. Depends on how busy the resort is. I wouldn't count on that 1pm nap just in case it doesn't happen. I would still take the earlier flight though for the reasons the other poster mentioned.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've only been able to get into my room early once and that was last January at POP. Depends on how busy the resort is. I wouldn't count on that 1pm nap just in case it doesn't happen. I would still take the earlier flight though for the reasons the other poster mentioned.

And just to flip this around.. I have been able to go to my room at check-in for the last four trips at 1pm.

I do tend to travel at non-peak periods. That's pretty key.

Knox

 

[tnkr mom]

We've had it both ways - room ready smooth fast check in and also room not ready until 5pm when we arrived at 10am! We headed to the parks, however it was freezing and we didnt have the right clothesand made for a very long day(since we were up at 4am! Just be prepared with your carry ons and you'll be good to go!!! Have fun!!!!!!!!

 

[Hopefully]

We too have had it both ways, with our room ready at noon, and other times not ready until 4 PM. By far, our room was not ready at our noon check in.
You certainly can not count on it.
How old are your children? Have you purchased Party tickets yet? If not, I would not recommend going to the party on a travel day. No matter how easyt he travel may turn out to be, it is a tiring day. And most of the time now, flying is not easy. Another day would be better, I believe.
Have a Great Trip.

 

[disneyfan2]

We too have had it both ways, with our room ready at noon, and other times not ready until 4 PM. By far, our room was not ready at our noon check in.
You certainly can not count on it.
How old are your children? Have you purchased Party tickets yet? If not, I would not recommend going to the party on a travel day. No matter how easyt he travel may turn out to be, it is a tiring day. And most of the time now, flying is not easy. Another day would be better, I believe.
Have a Great Trip.

yes i did get the tickets, but the party is only on the day we arrive, so either we skipped it all together or tried to fit it, which we are. We really would be ok with leaving after the fireworks, so i think i will try for the early flight, then hope for early room, if not, head to park and stroller for my DD4.
We plan to have a late start the following day, so hopefully it won't set a bad pattern for the remainer of the week.

 

[bear22]

We are from South Florida and we always get to check in early. We like to arrive between 10 am and 12. I would also say it depends on the resort. We were able to get check in at CBR, CSR and the Values.

 

[iloveeeyore]

We've had it both ways, too. Once we were able to get into our rooms by 11:30 am. Others, we have been able to "check in" early, meaning get our park tickets and charging privileges, but have not been able to get into the room until after 4. (We were not told the room number, but were given a general vicinity of where we'd be located.)

Whether the room was ready or not, we have been able to "check in" at any time.

ETA: We pack clothes we would want for the day (swimsuits, clean underwear) in our carry-ons, so we can enjoy the resort before we can get into our room...and you should do this regardless if you're using DME.

 

[fla4fun]

I would opt for the earlier flight, for the reasons given earlier. Plus, if you arrive early, you have a chance at an early check in. If you arrive later, you don't.

Early check in depends on a lot of things, some of which are completely out of your control. It depends a lot on the time of year and the occupancy of the resort. It also depends some on the day of the week, as some days have a lot more check outs than others (which means it will take mousekeeping longer to get them all check-in ready). It also depends on the type of resort. I've rarely been able to check in to a DVC resort earlier than 3pm, and it's often after 4pm before I can get in. But if I'm checking in mid-week, slow season, to a regular resort, I've checked in as early as 10am and received my room.

So if you hit your resort on a slow day, you may be able to check in early. If you hit your resort on a day when the occupancy is near 100% or a huge convention is checking out, you may not. But I would at least give it a try.

 

[DisneyChristmas]

Fly as EARLY in the day as possible. There's much less chance of getting delayed by weather at your airport or weather elsewhere that messes up the schedules nationwide as the day goes on.

Especially because you want to be there in time for the party - and you have just the one night when you can go - fly early.

And yes, we've always been able to check in in the late morning.

Have fun!

 

[PoohsFan1]

This past June we had a early flight and was able to check into POR by 12:30. Plus once we got to our room, we found that it was not what we paid for (water view with no view of any kind of water) so we called the front desk and told them our situation and they still were able to get us a wonderful room close to EVERYTHING (bayou section right next to the food court)....this all being during peak season. Hence, I would definately take the earlier flight out and if your room isn't ready, then either go hit a park or DTD.

 

[shellybaxter]

We fly from California so we pretty much have only two timing options. The first - take an early morning flight and arrive in the evening in Florida or take an over night flight and arrive in the morning in Florida. We've tried the over night flight twice, leaving at 8:00 PM and arriving in Florida about 7:00AM. These trips were in May and November (not peak times). Both times we were not able to get into our room until 3:00pm on the first trip and 5:00pm on the second trip. I wouldn't count on being able to nap in your room on arrival day.