How likely is early check in?

[gillep]

How is the chance having a room ready if your staying DVC?

In my experience it is much less likely, and even when we have gotten our room before the 4pm check in it has still been, on average, later than with non-DVC resorts (afternoon vs before noon). That said, we have gotten a savanna view studio at Jambo at 11:30 am and a savanna view 1 bedroom at Kidani at 10:00 am. I have a 3 way DVC split stay coming up in 9 days so I am curious to see when we get into each of these 3 rooms. Also our latest by far has been a DVC stay at BWV.

 

[Haley R]

Ha! For my husband, I could set him at the bar with some sports on TV and a few beers and let him zone and that would refresh him.

We are planning on driving the night before to a hotel near the airport because it is a pretty long drive from our town.

 

[Wood Nymph]

How is the chance having a room ready if your staying DVC?

Our 2br villa at Old Key West was ready for us when we arrived at 10:30am. But that was during a slow month and the resort wasn’t full.

 

[StageTek]

The problem with the bold is, those are not requests, they are bookable categories that you pay more for. It's one thing to change to a different room based on changing a request. But another when you downgrade your reservation.

I apologize. I was using an example to illustrate my point. I will be more careful in the future.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

2016 we didn't request early check in and our room wasn't ready when we got to the resort at 4:00. They got us a table at the wave and we ate for free so no complaints. 2017 we requested early check in and drove over night arriving around 9:00 and our room was ready. We're driving overnight again and requesting early check in. Fingers crossed!

 

[kaytieeldr]

The latest I have had to wait for any room has been 1:00 PM - with the glaring exception of Old Key West. I've stayed at OKW 3 times, and 2 out of the 3 times my room there hasn't been ready until 4:00. I've gotten into Pop Century as early as 8 AM on more than one occasion.

DVC check in is 4 PM. The units take longer to clean.

 

[Haley R]

2016 we didn't request early check in and our room wasn't ready when we got to the resort at 4:00. They got us a table at the wave and we ate for free so no complaints. 2017 we requested early check in and drove over night arriving around 9:00 and our room was ready. We're driving overnight again and requesting early check in. Fingers crossed!

I’m hoping we have the same luck as you!

 

[nkereina]

How is the chance having a room ready if your staying DVC?

Same. Its still based on resort occupancy the night before and the room they have assigned you to. What is working against DVC rooms is that there are fewer of them to switch people around into and as mentioned, they are larger units, taking longer to clean.

 

[HappyMomma]

We always arrive early (8 am), never had a room ready until close to 3 pm. But we just hit the parks and have fun while we wait.

 

[Haley R]

We always arrive early (8 am), never had a room ready until close to 3 pm. But we just hit the parks and have fun while we wait.

We won't be able to go to a park because we won't have enough tickets for that. We only have 3 day PH and I want to use a full day for those when I won't be tired. We will most likely just hang out at the resort and keep checking for a room to be ready.

 

[nkereina]

We won't be able to go to a park because we won't have enough tickets for that. We only have 3 day PH and I want to use a full day for those when I won't be tired. We will most likely just hang out at the resort and keep checking for a room to be ready.

FWIW, the price to upgrade from a 3 day to a 4 day isn't quite as much as a full price 1 day ticket. I don't know how much it is specifically, but something to consider if you want to get some park time in on arrival day as well.

 

[Cornucopiaoflove]

We moved up our flight and we're getting in around noon. I'm sure I'll need a nap at that point (mostly to save my DH from my post-travel crankiness), so fingers crossed ours will be ready. We have ADR for dinner, so we have plenty of time to relax. I like the idea of getting food at the resort if things aren't ready yet!

 

[Lynne M]

We won't be able to go to a park because we won't have enough tickets for that. We only have 3 day PH and I want to use a full day for those when I won't be tired. We will most likely just hang out at the resort and keep checking for a room to be ready.

Disney Springs is ideal for killing a couple of hours while you wait for your room to be ready. There's lots of interesting places to grab a meal, both table and counter service, and plenty of shops to browse in.

 

[PRomano]

With very few exceptions we take a flight that gets us in about 9:00 AM. We have a room very few times, less than 50% for sure. We never make any specific requests and always check "room ready early" as our top priority. I have asked every time if there was a room available and only 1 time did they offer an alternate room. And that time, turns out we waited on our originally assigned room as it was really a better option. There have even been a couple of times were we didn't get a room until after 4:00, which would be when you'd already be heading to the party.

If having a room for a nap before the party is critical to your enjoying the party then I would hesitate to suggest you take the chance. You could book a room the night before so you know you'll have a room when you arrive. We have done that when faced with your exact scenario. Last August we were doing the Halloween party the day we arrived. I decided that it was too big a risk to take to hope we had a room for us to get in a nap before the party, and there was no way we could do the party without a nap, so I just booked our stay to begin the night before. Yes it meant we paid for a night we didn't stay but we had a room when we arrived, no questions. We got our nap in.


It's always been my understanding that DVC properties have a well less chance of getting in the room early.

Did you tell them you were arriving the next day? I am just curious because I might be doing this later this year. I just want to make sure I have a room when I get there. I hate to pay if I don't need to, but I am looking at all of our options. I am also worried that it would be an issue with Magical Express.

 

[Haley R]

Disney Springs is ideal for killing a couple of hours while you wait for your room to be ready. There's lots of interesting places to grab a meal, both table and counter service, and plenty of shops to browse in.

We thought about doing that on one of our free days, but maybe we will just go twice. We really want to do the Star Wars VR!

 

[AngiTN]

Did you tell them you were arriving the next day? I am just curious because I might be doing this later this year. I just want to make sure I have a room when I get there. I hate to pay if I don't need to, but I am looking at all of our options. I am also worried that it would be an issue with Magical Express.

Not exactly. I did call and tell them I was arriving extremely late, like after midnight and I completed online check in. No issues with ME, I just entered our flight info there.
Want to know the funniest thing of all, I got a room ready text for that trip, early! About noon, a full day before we arrived, I got our room number! I didn't even tell them I wanted a room early or anything. Expressly told them I was arriving late and still got a room ready text early. Anyway, we arrived early the next day and it was really nice to know we had a room to go to. We grabbed a bite to eat and took a much needed nap. We were in good shape for the party that night.

 

[PRomano]

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking I would have to do. I have to see what happens with discounts etc. I booked airfare right when it was released but probably should have waited for the discounts. Live and learn.

 

[Haley R]

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking I would have to do. I have to see what happens with discounts etc. I booked airfare right when it was released but probably should have waited for the discounts. Live and learn.

We almost booked Frontier right when they released, but ended up going with Southwest instead. The rates ended up being almost the same after picking a seat and adding bags with Frontier. Plus, we can change our days/times with Southwest and get 2 checked bags included.

 

[bluejasmine]

We are packing a seperate bag for our swim suits and clothes to change in so we can relax and swim on our check in day until our DVC room is ready

 

[PRomano]

We almost booked Frontier right when they released, but ended up going with Southwest instead. The rates ended up being almost the same after picking a seat and adding bags with Frontier. Plus, we can change our days/times with Southwest and get 2 checked bags included.

I booked Jet Blue on Sunday and the return flight already went up in price. Glad I didn't wait.