I wish Disney would let us pick hotel rooms....

[IrishNYC]

Not necessarily. Given their standard room reservation disclaimer, the only thing the guest is guaranteed is a room. Not even in the category of at the resort booked. Decency would mandate refunding any update which should be automatic but isn't always.

There was just a huge thread recently about people not getting the category room they booked, and many people expressed they would demand more than a refund. Can you imagine the outrage if people didn't get the room number they'd requested? There would be a mutiny.

 

[Disneylover99]

Not necessarily. Given their standard room reservation disclaimer, the only thing the guest is guaranteed is a room. Not even in the category of at the resort booked. Decency would mandate refunding any update which should be automatic but isn't always.

Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. If the room someone booked is not available due to maintenance, they have to be moved. But if Disney starts letting people book a particular room, guests are not going to be satisfied if they don't get what they want. It doesn't matter what the guarantee is, customer satisfaction will be the pits unless some kind of compensation is offered.

 

[Lynne M]

If there's anything I learned in 20 years of commercial software development work, it's that corporations don't spend on big development projects unless there's a business justification for it. And there's no business case to be made for this.

("Some customers would love it" isn't a business case. Neither is "Some other hotel chains do it.")

This would be a massive, expensive undertaking. Disney's IT is in-house custom development; they can't just go down to Best Buy and grab a copy of Microsoft Room Picker for Customers. When all is said and done, probably millions of dollars. New software systems don't just cost whatever you have to pay the programmers. There's analysis. There's testing. There's documentation. There's hardware upgrades to support the extra processing. There's training for hundreds of impacted cast members. There's hiring call center staff to help people who will inevitably be confused by the web site changes. There's ongoing maintenance and upgrades. In order to justify spending that kind of money, they'd need evidence that the new functionality would either a) save them more than they'd spend on it, or b) make them more than they'd spend on it.

I don't see how giving guests the ability to choose rooms would do either.

Disney competes in a very different market than short-stay chains that cater to business travelers like Hampton Inn/Hilton. They have to carve out ways to distinguish themselves from their competitors, because really, they're all very similar. Letting guests pick a room is a BIG difference in a market where there are hardly ever big differences, so yeah, I'm sure that was well worth the expense for Hilton.

Disney already has a boatload of amenities that distinguish themselves from the hotel competition in Central FL. When they're already offering free airport transportation and free on-site transportation and magic bands and a big advantage in booking FP's and meals and early entry into the parks, how many additional customers would the ability to choose a room really get them?

 

[writerguyfl]

It's important to note that all the major hotel chains that offer exact room selection only offer that service starting the day prior to arrival. Based on some comments here, it sounds as though people are talking about room selection at Disney Resorts days, weeks, or even months in advance. That will never, never, never, never happen.

There are numerous operational issues why hotels wouldn't let you pre-book an exact room. But, the easiest one to understand relates to date changes on reservations. Unlike a cruise ship, not all guests arrive and depart on the same days. Reservations get altered and in-house guests sometimes extend stays. Having rooms pre-blocked would create unnecessary havoc.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's important to note that all the major hotel chains that offer exact room selection only offer that service starting the day prior to arrival. Based on some comments here, it sounds as though people are talking about room selection at Disney Resorts days, weeks, or even months in advance. That will never, never, never, never happen.

That's what I'm talking about, because that's what the original post is about.

 

[Simba's Mom]

People would be staying up late to hit their "room choice check-in window" and posting long stressful threads on pros/cons of the view from 2300 block vs 2100, and how disappointed that their ten first choices (thoroughly researched) weren't available for the length-of-stay, and how a WDW vacation now requires even more planning or you'll be left with the worst views of the dumpster if you didn't research it, and how Disney is so greedy because of a rumor that the entire block of rooms between 4350-4600 have been recategorized as "Preferred" rooms as of April 27 with absolutely NO notice at ALL, when they used to be Standard rooms (which someone will prove with a screenshot from April 26), which means that we're getting so much less for the same amount of money which is ALL Disney does these days, and if only I had been told that I would've changed my dates, and it's all Bob Iger's fault because he only cares about shareholders, and it made my trip less magical. Just for example.

OMG! You are so right!

 

[ncc1701]

I wish they would do what some resort/Vegas hotels do and give the option to pay for an early check-in. There is of legal wording about getting your $30.00 refunded if they can't but it worked well for us at the Mirage on 2 trips.
We also got the Hilton room selection last December on a trip to Alexandria but knowing the hotel we didn't bother but at other Hilton company properties we might.
We got the email either the night before or that morning. No one is going to put select a room out earlier then a day before. Even then I am sure there is legal language about unforseen circumstances.

 

[Grumpy4196]

Forget picking your room. I would be happy if they would let you book multiple rooms online. No reason this can't be done.

 

[Jennasis]

Heck no. They can hardly get their website to work as it is, no way we need this added level of complexity.

I know I'm in the minority but I kind of like playing "room roulette". Part of the fun of the trip is discovering what room we landed.

 

[MagicallyMom]

"I don't think that programming is that hard." First of all, the programming would be a nightmare!!! The perfect example is what OKW Lover mentioned, you're not starting with all rooms empty and then just assigning rooms. You have to factor in, late check out, extended stays, rooms out of commision and on and on.... the program would have to have every scenario covered and if you think people are complaining about WDW website now

^^ YEP. Factor in the occasional bed bug or lice problem, and GAME OVER.

 

[ncc1701]

Forget picking your room. I would be happy if they would let you book multiple rooms online. No reason this can't be done.

Agreed plenty of other hotel companies allow you to multiple rooms. I have done it with Hilton and Marriott properties .The one trip we had needed 3 rooms. I had to call as the website would only let me see DVC properties for the 8 of us.

 

[Gracie09]

omg what a nightmare this would be. WDW resorts have a much higher occupancy rate than your average Hampton Inn. Add in people needing a magical vacation vs an weekend away or even a week away and then factor in a variety of stay lengths. Its just setting things up for disaster and disappointment and empty rooms (meaning less rooms available).

 

[NS8VN]

Personally I would actually be upset if they introduced this. There is so much that needs fixed on the IT side of Disney, if they announced they were putting hundreds of thousands, probably millions in to creating a system like this rather than updating more important systems I would not be happy. Like having a leaking roof on your house and putting in a pool instead of fixing it.

I like the idea. But can you imagine the agonizing on Disboards if people were allowed to choose their own rooms?

People would be staying up late to hit their "room choice check-in window" and posting long stressful threads on pros/cons of the view from 2300 block vs 2100, and how disappointed that their ten first choices (thoroughly researched) weren't available for the length-of-stay, and how a WDW vacation now requires even more planning or you'll be left with the worst views of the dumpster if you didn't research it...

Anybody who frequents the DCL board knows this is exactly what will happen. Unless you get a GT rate you pick your specific room on DCL, which is easy since everyone gets on and off at the same time. Because of this some people don't just research room types or areas of the ship, they ask about specific rooms! You get requests for reviews of exact room numbers despite it being virtually the same as the ten rooms around it. Now multiply that out a thousandfold for WDW...

 

[bffdisney]

There is a lot of research that shows people are actually happier with less choice rather than more. People will leave "happier" after picking from 5 flavors of ice cream rather than 20, because they are more likely to feel like they made the best choice when there were only 5. People would have tons of regret picking from the almost 3,000 rooms at POP! Pick your resort then stop looking!

 

[IrishNYC]

Anybody who frequents the DCL board knows this is exactly what will happen. Unless you get a GT rate you pick your specific room on DCL, which is easy since everyone gets on and off at the same time. Because of this some people don't just research room types or areas of the ship, they ask about specific rooms! You get requests for reviews of exact room numbers despite it being virtually the same as the ten rooms around it. Now multiply that out a thousandfold for WDW...

This is the same for every cruise line I've traveled and done a bit of message board research for before going - people will argue the merits of stateroom 1233 vs 1235, despite them being exactly the same. I can only imagine the arguments that would ensue here.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Then you run into the problem of people checking out late. Let's say a family is staying in your room and suddenly they request a late check-in... that means the room is turned over and cleaned later than expected.

This is an absolute pie in the sky idea, but I guess when you do a digital check-in, maybe you can be prompted upon boarding the Magical Express and shown the rooms available (unoccupied or currently turned over) and choose from there.

We fell in love with our room and view at Beach Club. We passed it multiple times last trip and just sat in awe of how lucky we were.

I guess the next best thing would be requesting comparable rooms, like saying "a room with a similar view to 3403", although, I've heard that narrows down the search a little too much sometimes.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Heck no. They can hardly get their website to work as it is, no way we need this added level of complexity.

I know I'm in the minority but I kind of like playing "room roulette". Part of the fun of the trip is discovering what room we landed.

Yup. I like to live life on the edge. I find vacations more fun when we leave things up for chance. When you plan out every detail it becomes so boring.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

If there's anything I learned in 20 years of commercial software development work, it's that corporations don't spend on big development projects unless there's a business justification for it. And there's no business case to be made for this.

("Some customers would love it" isn't a business case. Neither is "Some other hotel chains do it.")

This would be a massive, expensive undertaking. Disney's IT is in-house custom development; they can't just go down to Best Buy and grab a copy of Microsoft Room Picker for Customers. When all is said and done, probably millions of dollars. New software systems don't just cost whatever you have to pay the programmers. There's analysis. There's testing. There's documentation. There's hardware upgrades to support the extra processing. There's training for hundreds of impacted cast members. There's hiring call center staff to help people who will inevitably be confused by the web site changes. There's ongoing maintenance and upgrades. In order to justify spending that kind of money, they'd need evidence that the new functionality would either a) save them more than they'd spend on it, or b) make them more than they'd spend on it.

I don't see how giving guests the ability to choose rooms would do either.

Disney competes in a very different market than short-stay chains that cater to business travelers like Hampton Inn/Hilton. They have to carve out ways to distinguish themselves from their competitors, because really, they're all very similar. Letting guests pick a room is a BIG difference in a market where there are hardly ever big differences, so yeah, I'm sure that was well worth the expense for Hilton.

Disney already has a boatload of amenities that distinguish themselves from the hotel competition in Central FL. When they're already offering free airport transportation and free on-site transportation and magic bands and a big advantage in booking FP's and meals and early entry into the parks, how many additional customers would the ability to choose a room really get them?

Microsoft Room Picker.



That's classic.

And come on, Lynne. Everyone knows Microsoft Room Picker was updated by Room Picker 2.0

 

[bryanb]

Then you run into the problem of people checking out late. Let's say a family is staying in your room and suddenly they request a late check-in... that means the room is turned over and cleaned later than expected.

That's a good point. Sometimes people arrive early and want to see if a room is available to check in. Or sometimes they ask for a little extra time to check out. These requests cannot always be granted, but they certainly are harder to allow if rooms are preassigned to individuals. A larger pool of unassigned rooms adds flexibility.

 

[Nancyg56]

Ah, so there is a disclaimer. Figured there would be.

THere would need to be a disclaimer, with so many unforeseen issues that could occur. Can you just imagine the scene at the desk if the perfect room, booked in advance was not available, but the rest of the "best" rooms were also not available? Oh my gosh, teh entire things screams headache.

There was just a huge thread recently about people not getting the category room they booked, and many people expressed they would demand more than a refund. Can you imagine the outrage if people didn't get the room number they'd requested? There would be a mutiny.

I cannot even imagine the problems. Already folks are in an uproar if one thing does not go as pictured.