How does check in work?

[lissiesmum]

Let's say I get to a resort early, say, eight am. There are a hundred people checking out that morning but only three rooms available at that time. Do they have a list that you can choose from of all the people that will be checking out? I hope I'm wording this right! Let's say I dont' like the location of one of the three available rooms, I just was wondering if you can choose one of the rooms that will soon be vacant and come back later when the room has been cleaned and is ready? Is that why you have a better chance of getting your requests met if you get there early?

 

[KermitsFan]

Hello lissiesmum!

To answer you're question:

The resort hotel you're staying at assigns you're room in advance. When you check in the Cast Member should highlight on you're map where you are staying/ where you're hotel room is. If you do not like that area that you're hotel room is in, try to inquire to see if there is another room available. The Cast Members will try to help you, but if it is not possible for you to switch rooms dont be disappointed.

A personal example is when my family and I were staying at the Polynesian Resort. We really wanted a room with a balcony but in a certain building. That builidng (Fiji) was not available so we asked if there was any other rooms availble. There was around 5-7 rooms. So in the end after standing in line for about 30 minutes we finally got the room we wanted.

Hope this helps (p.s. dont flame me for just wanting a room that was half decent for ONCE)

 

[lissiesmum]

Hi Kermitsfan! That makes total sense to me now. I always read about how sometimes the check in process takes so long and now I can picture all the disers who know everything there is to know and looking for their perfect room (which is exactly what I am going to do I wondered what could be taking so long, and now I know. It's nice that they try to help you get the room you want. So if I call three days in advance and make sure my requests are in the computer, I have a small chance of them actually being met. If they are not met, I still have a chance to choose another room. And I'm going to take this one step further...if I end up in a room I am really not happy with, I could move the next day if a better room opens up right? This will probably be our only trip to Disney in ten years and we will be spending at least four days around the resort so our room will be important

 

[Hopefully]

You can ask to move the next day if you want. You would be back in the same situation where there may or may not be the "perfect" room for you.
I think rather than setting your expectations too high - for the "Perfect" room and then being disappointed, you would be better off just being happy that just about every room is perfect if you are in Disney!!!

 

[TxTiggergal]

Let's say I get to a resort early, say, eight am. There are a hundred people checking out that morning but only three rooms available at that time. Do they have a list that you can choose from of all the people that will be checking out? I hope I'm wording this right! Let's say I dont' like the location of one of the three available rooms, I just was wondering if you can choose one of the rooms that will soon be vacant and come back later when the room has been cleaned and is ready? Is that why you have a better chance of getting your requests met if you get there early?

For us, it has sometimes come down to the question of do we want to get into a room now, or are we willing to wait until later in the day for something else. For instance, we checked in mid-a.m. at the AKL, savannah view. Room is ready. Off we go with the bellman. We get there and check out the view. Well, it wasn't main savannah, which I really wanted. Bellman calls down to desk and lets us know that if we are willing to wait until later in the day, main savannah will be available. Not a problem, we were willing to wait to get a view we would prefer.

On another occasion at the Polynesian, our room had not been preassigned at check-in, which was late afternoon. The CM working with us was checking her available present inventory which met our requests. Nothing was available that we really wanted, but she said we could switch the next a.m. to a room that would be more what we were hoping for, which she did preassign for us at that time. We did make the switch, which was a little bit of a hassle, but well worth it in the end as the new room was awesome!

Then this year at the GF, our room was preassigned and the CM did circle the building for us on the map, etc, althought it wasn't ready yet. It was what just we had requested at the time we made our ressies.

I think generally speaking, Disney *tries* to meet requests as best they can, given what room inventory they have!

 

[jaywalker17]

You can ask to move the next day if you want. You would be back in the same situation where there may or may not be the "perfect" room for you.

Do this!
Last October we were staying a PO-R and my wife was very particular where she wanted to stay (First floor room, facing the river, in the Bayou)...but it just was not available. The cast member checking us in, asked us to wait just a minute, and when he came back, he had us in the available room for the first night, and us in the room we wanted for the next 6 nights. He'd already arranged bell services to move our luggage and everything.

It's not always possible, but it never hurts to ask.

 

[AmyAllan&Eve]

I agree with TXTiggerGal and jaywalker17.

I had a particular view in mind at the WL (and a few years earlier they said they never received my faxed room request to the AKL). So I checked in at the WL before 8 a.m. and told the CM what I wanted.

I was the only one checking in at that time; a few people were checking out. The CM changed my preassigned room and was able to give me a room with the view I requested.

It was during the free dining promotion. The resort was packed, but she found a way. It didn't take long, only a minute or two. I had the impression that she just changed my preassigned room with someone else's, but I do not know. She did say that the room would not be ready until much later in the day. We went to breakfast and then to the theme park, and our room was ready when we returned.

 

[lissiesmum]

Thanks to everyone! That's exactly what I wanted to hear We don't mind either hanging out at the resort or heading out to a park or DTD, as long as we get the room we want. Yipee, great news