If you do not get your room request...

[TinkerbellMama]

Sorry to not sound sympathetic, but requests are just that, requests. No request is guaranteed unless it is for medical reasons.

I can honestly say that I have always had my requests granted. Perhaps it is because of the time of year I plan my visits.

We always get what we want, too. However, our requests are never TOO specific, and we tend to go during non-peak times. We ask for first floor away from the pools. That's it. I also explain it has to do with my son's safety (I am afraid he will fall from a higher floor) and his ability to sleep (noise from the pools is very, VERY loud in the Value Resorts at times). Not sure if the reasons matter too much, but they are always willing to take a few minutes to see if the request can be honored, and it always has been.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

If they have NO availability you have to take what's offered. I had to take a smoking room once at POP and it reeked (no more of that).

Wow, I'm glad there will (or should!) be no more of that! I could not have stayed more than two minutes in such a room without having an attack and possibly being hospitalized. I certainly would never have accepted a smoking room had I known up front that it was one; otherwise I would have marched right back up to the desk upon opening the door (I could have smelled the smoke without even stepping inside the room, really!) and explained that I could NOT stay in that room. I wonder what they would have done with me then? I am honestly just curious. I doubt they would have left me without a room at all...but maybe they would have.

 

[CleveRocks]

It depends on what the problem is. On our last trip to POR we were given a room that was miles away from everything and my 80 year old mother was with us. I had specifically requested to be close to the main building for that reason. They gave us the furthest possible room from the main building. I explained that this was going to be a huge problem for us and asked for something else. The only thing they offered us was a smoking room. (this was before all non-smoking.) So we stayed with the one they gave us and it was horrible. We had to drive to the main building just to get a snack or shop or whatever. So if it was going to affect our trip that badly again I'd do everything I could to get into another room.

I'm planning a solo trip in December. I'm staying at CSR and have requested to be close to El Centro so I don't have to walk alone in the dark too far. I'm a little nervous about my first solo trip. If I end up in the Ranchos I'll request a different room.

If walking distance is such a deal breaker, then it's your responsibility to take as much control as possible. My suggestion would be to book a room at POFQ, which is compact enough that no room has a far walk, or at CBR, where you can pay extra per night for a preferred location room.

 

[CleveRocks]

I just feel sometimes that Disney just puts you in a room and over looks the request part.

It's simply a matter of limited resources.

Let's say you're staying at CBR, and the preferred locatio buildings are sold out. So you request a room in Jamaica or Aruba, popular alternatives. Combined, Jamaica and Aruba have 768 rooms. The other non-preferred areas have a combined 960 rooms. If 1,000 people request Jamaica and Aruba, how can Disney possibly accommodate all of them??? Disney will have to disappoint 232 of them. No way around that.

 

[fla4fun]

I have had my requests met on every trip, with the exception of one. In that case, the area I had requested was closed for refurbishment, so it would have been impossible to meet my request. If it's just me on a solo trip, I'm a lot less picky about my room location. I generally like to be away from the pool, away from the elevator, and tucked up and away in a quiet corner. That's the opposite of what most people are looking for, as they want to be close to everything. So it could just be that the nature of my requests make them easier to fulfill. I do travel during slower times of the year, I do check in early whenever possible, I do try to limit my requests to one or two basic things (such as upper floor, quiet location) to make it easier. I think sometimes that when the room assigner or front desk CM see a long list of very specific requests, that they may feel the guest won't be pleased with anything. If I keep it simple, it makes it easier for them too.

It would be nice if we could just "pay for" some of the things that are just a request right now. Like the PP going to CSR - maybe she would be willing to pay extra for a preferred room close to the lobby if they offered preferred rooms as a category. But they don't. My personal favorite is that you can book a king bed at the mod resorts as a separate category, but not at a deluxe (where it's just a request). What's up with that? That's why I always advise people to think about what they want out of their resort first, regardless of whether it was a Disney resort or not, and then pick the Disney resort that best meets those needs. If you pick a resort that covers all the bases, you won't have to make a lot of requests to have a great time.

 

[maxiesmom]

In our case they were that important and the room assignment did partly result in our worst trip to WDW ever. My mother was pretty much trapped in the room when we were at the resort and she got no enjoyment out of the resort, which is usually a highlight of her trip. She can walk, but not a mile round trip to get a snack or fill a mug or shop. We paid for water view and we did in fact, have a swamp outside the door. So we got the water view. In this case it resulted in us crossing POR off our list forever and a letter to Guest Relations, since besides being stuck out in the back of beyond with an elderly person the rooms were filthy and never cleaned properly despite repeated calls to housekeeping.

Going with someone who is that old, you would be much better of at a smaller resort. POR is huge! If you went in assuming that your room request meant you were guaranteed it, then you were mistaken.

How was your mom getting around the parks? Were you getting her a wheelchair? Because if that is so, next time look into renting her one from an outside source. That way she could have it at the hotels too!

 

[G8r4evr]

Oh, I totally believe that the room requests are extremely important to some people (I quit making them years ago because the room locations are just not important to me anymore, although I might try to get near a bus stop at a big resort like OKW - but I do that at checkin). But there's no way Disney can fill all the requests. That's why they are not guaranteed, there isn't any way they could guarantee that many requests. They've got a few categories where extra cash will net you a guarantee (preferred locations, park views, etc) but these don't cover everyone's preferences obviously. Like the OP did, you can get a guaranteed preferred location room at AS Movies - you just can't guarantee that it will be in the Buzz section. That is just a request. And the more requests you make, the less likelihood you have of getting any of them.

A guest who requests "the Toy Story section" is more likely to get the request than one who requests the Buzz Lightyear building, or one who requests the side of the Buzz building looking down at Andy's room, than one who requests Buzz, Andy's room and the third floor, than one who requests Room #3120.

I believe the only guarantees are for medical reasons (nonsmoking is now irrelevant but handicapped accessible rooms, first floor, etc might be relevant) and connecting rooms for a party consisting of one adult and several minor children.

Our 2 favorite requests are waterview and king. Obviously we cant pay for and gaurantee both, but we would if we could. So, we always book waterview (our most important request) and then ask for a king when we get there. So far, things have worked out

I do think that for the prices that Disney is charging, they could make the options that you can pay for more distinct. I still cant believe they charge the same price for a lake view as they do for a view of a fountain!!

 

[Quinn222]

Going with someone who is that old, you would be much better of at a smaller resort. POR is huge! If you went in assuming that your room request meant you were guaranteed it, then you were mistaken.

How was your mom getting around the parks? Were you getting her a wheelchair? Because if that is so, next time look into renting her one from an outside source. That way she could have it at the hotels too!

This was the first and only time at any resort we were not given our request, we don't ask for much, just close to the main building. We're going back to CSR, they are much more accommodating and a lot cleaner. We'd try CBR since you can pay for a preferred location there but their pool is going to be closed. WL gave us a fantastic room, same level as the lobby overlooking the pool.

 

[want2bamommy]

Our 2 favorite requests are waterview and king. Obviously we cant pay for and gaurantee both, but we would if we could. So, we always book waterview (our most important request) and then ask for a king when we get there. So far, things have worked out

I agree with that. For our upcoming visit to CBR we wanted a King Sized bed in a preferred location but knew we could only pay for one to be guaranteed and request the other. We had to think about what was more important to us and we wound up choosing the King Bed as our paid for preference and then request the preferred location. I would pay more in a heartbeat to guarantee a King Sized bed and a preferred location.

Missie

 

[TDC Nala]

This was the first and only time at any resort we were not given our request, we don't ask for much, just close to the main building. We're going back to CSR, they are much more accommodating and a lot cleaner. We'd try CBR since you can pay for a preferred location there but their pool is going to be closed. WL gave us a fantastic room, same level as the lobby overlooking the pool.

As long as you are under advisement that CSR might not be able to meet your request, either.

Have you tried POFQ? None of their rooms are far from the main building.

 

[G8r4evr]

I agree with that. For our upcoming visit to CBR we wanted a King Sized bed in a preferred location but knew we could only pay for one to be guaranteed and request the other. We had to think about what was more important to us and we wound up choosing the King Bed as our paid for preference and then request the preferred location. I would pay more in a heartbeat to guarantee a King Sized bed and a preferred location.

Missie

We also had to think long and hard about which preference to pay for and which one to request. Well we paid for waterview and decided to request king. Well, the first room they gave us at CBR was a king (woot), but the waterview was of a quiet pool and as we were on the first floor the shrubbery completely blocked the view of the pool. I was really disappointed. So I immediately called the front desk and explained that when I paid extra for waterview, I was really hoping for a view of a lake and she nicely explained that there are VERY FEW waterview KINGS in the entire resort, but she would check. She came back in just a few and said they could move us. We got another king room on the corner, and we had a view of the beach from our front window and a view of the lake from the side window. It was absolutely gorgeous and I am a fan of CBR for life!

I hope all works out for you at check in!! I think we were fortunate because the resort seemed really empty while we were there.

With all that being said, I would still much prefer to just be able to pay for a waterview and a king. LOL

 

[maxiesmom]

I found out the hard way that even paying for a prefered view/room does not mean you will get it. I had booked a prefered room at ASMu a couple of years ago. My mom was going along, and she had just had some minor surgery. And she has bad knees to begin with, so I was trying to limit her walking as much as possible. When we checked in, we were informed that so many people had decided to extend their stays that there were no preferred rooms left. We ended up out in the Broadway section. It was only for a couple of nights, then we switched to the Contemporary, or the fit I threw would have been much more frightening! Only kind of kidding.

Just wanted to throw that out there, so that people are aware that even paying for a prefered room does not guarantee that you will get it.

 

[G8r4evr]

I found out the hard way that even paying for a prefered view/room does not mean you will get it. I had booked a prefered room at ASMu a couple of years ago. My mom was going along, and she had just had some minor surgery. And she has bad knees to begin with, so I was trying to limit her walking as much as possible. When we checked in, we were informed that so many people had decided to extend their stays that there were no preferred rooms left. We ended up out in the Broadway section. It was only for a couple of nights, then we switched to the Contemporary, or the fit I threw would have been much more frightening! Only kind of kidding.

Just wanted to throw that out there, so that people are aware that even paying for a prefered room does not guarantee that you will get it.

So you booked a preferred room and they didnt have any available when you arrived? Yikes. Requests are just that, requests, but you should always get the room category you paid for.

It seems like an upcoming reservation for a preferred room would have outweighed someone who decided to extend their stay at the last minute?? If they wanted to extend, it seems like they would have only been offered what room type was available (a standard I would assume). Unless Im misunderstanding.

 

[TDC Nala]

So you booked a preferred room and they didnt have any available when you arrived? Yikes. Requests are just that, requests, but you should always get the room category you paid for.

It seems like an upcoming reservation for a preferred room would have outweighed someone who decided to extend their stay at the last minute?? If they wanted to extend, it seems like they would have only been offered what room type was available (a standard I would assume). Unless Im misunderstanding.

They can't kick people out of rooms they've elected to stay in.

I would hope the poster who booked preferred at least got their room rate reduced.

 

[G8r4evr]

They can't kick people out of rooms they've elected to stay in.

I would hope the poster who booked preferred at least got their room rate reduced.

Really??? If I only booked a 5 day stay and decided I wanted to extend at the last minute, I would certainly expect the staff to tell me "sorry, no room available, instead of letting me stay and bump someone else who had reserved that room. Instead, I would hope that they would bump me to a standard (if available) and give the person checking in what they paid for in ADVANCE.


But thats just me....

 

[TDC Nala]

Really??? If I only booked a 5 day stay and decided I wanted to extend at the last minute, I would certainly expect the staff to tell me "sorry, no room available, instead of letting me stay and bump someone else who had reserved that room. Instead, I would hope that they would bump me to a standard (if available) and give the person checking in what they paid for in ADVANCE.


But thats just me....

I've read somewhere (wish I could remember where) that they can't kick them out as long as they're paying. I think there's a limit to the days they can do this.

 

[Quinn222]

As long as you are under advisement that CSR might not be able to meet your request, either.

Have you tried POFQ? None of their rooms are far from the main building.

POFQ is not an option, no sit down restaurant. I'm not worried about CSR, they've always been good about getting us close in. If they can't we'll just go somewhere else if we have to.

 

[TDC Nala]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/hotelhotsheet/2006/07/no_checkin_for_.html

This is a year old though. And it's out of Florida.

Seems they are permitted to kick them out, but won't, too messy.

 

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

They can't kick people out of rooms they've elected to stay in.

I would hope the poster who booked preferred at least got their room rate reduced.

what??

 

[G8r4evr]

I've read somewhere (wish I could remember where) that they can't kick them out as long as they're paying. I think there's a limit to the days they can do this.

Now that you mention it, I think I read that a while back on this very board. I wonder what the law states... That really, really sucks for the customer who paid ahead of time. =(