If you do not get your room request...

[BamaFan121s]

Lots of times requests aren't filled, LOTS. So out of curiousity, have you walked away from a Disney resort upon not having a request met? By efforts, do you mean making the request, then seeing what happens?

I realize that LOTS of times requests aren't filled, for many reasons. We don't make a whole list of requests and expect them all to be met, usually only 1. I personally have never had to walk away--the requests that we've made that we would be willing to walk away over have always been met. But I certainly would. I don't blame the CMs if the request can't be met, but if it's available somewhere else, I'd be more than willing to change resorts. I HAVE asked for that before, but they were able to move us so it worked out.
By "efforts" I mean making sure that the request(s) is noted when we book the room, normally calling back on another day to 'check and make sure' it there (there have been occasions when it WASN'T ), sending a fax a few days before, asking again politely at check-in, offering to take a standard room or pay for preferred if it would mean the request would be filled.

 

[guelde96]

I'm only asking what others do if their request is not met...not stressing over it and realize it is only a request. What do you guys do?

Our last vacation we requested 2 things.
-The 101 dalmations section of the all star movies resort
-A connecting room

We were granted the connecting room. We got the toy story section. We did nothing. We also had a great vacation.

This vacation we requested the 50's building at POP and a connecting room. We will see what happens.

 

[kaytieeldr]

OP - First, please don't be sorry for asking the question. For some reason the old "book what you want/afford" gets trotted out by those that either have CM friends and get 50% discounts or stay in a suite every trip and don't have budget concerns. Must be nice

That suggestion also gets ‘trotted out’ by realists. I have no CM friends; I stay in no suites. I reserve the type of room I want/can afford.

I only have one on site stay to reference (Jan 2008) but it was a doozy!

Oh? You know this is going to happen already? Just teasing!

I didn't find these boards but two weeks before leaving and was total unaware that there was a chance that we would not get our room request.

Even without these or any other message boards, your reservation documents from your Travel Agent should have included wording to the effect of (sorry, this is from my Disney Travel Company paperwork, I can’t find the AAA stuff right now), “Adjacent rooms, connecting rooms or specific room location and types of rooms or bedding are on a ‘request basis only’ and are subject to availability at the time of check9in. These requests or specific room type or location may result in additional charges to be paid directly to the hotel.”

Whether or not it's worth 'pressing the issue' depends on the individual, and the issue. I certainly do understand the difference between 'wants' and 'needs.'

Good point. I want a room on the fourth floor facing the lake. I need a room with a king bed (because there’s little room to get an ECV in and out of a double-bed room at Pop).

My ressies were booked throgh special sevices and I did get a HA room.
That handicapped accessible room just hapened to be on the third floor.
Since the resort had an elevator the room was still concidered accessible.

Linda – how long are you going to be at Disney this trip? We’ll probably miss each other, but if not, I’ll be happy to show you some ‘positioning tips for getting in and out of the elevators more efficiently. Can’t explain, have to demonstrate

 

[mum of two pirates]

any where but sports please no..........But guesse what, thats were well be, (and I'll live) I booked pop but when the pin code came in the mail almost two weeks after everyone else got theres that was all there was for us. We had to pay for perferred becouse that was all that was open also, SO I looked and was told we would more than likely be in the surf building, It looks ok but we will be there during pop warner week, oh no. I like the thought of the baseball building becouse of the pool, but surf has one also and we can walk over to the baseball pool when we have more than 30 min to hang out, but I would like a ground floor room. Are all the surf rooms perferred. We get in at mco at like 10:50 at night, so I figured we would have to take whatever the first night and have to check out and in the next day anyway and would have better luck asking the next day for a different room, If the noise was to bad the first night or morning. I might like the noisey morning to get the kids up and going thoe, you never know. Its better than being here in the 20 deg weather anyday.

 

[Jenniww]

Thanks Minnie.


My ressies were booked throgh special sevices and I did get a HA room.
That handicapped accessible room just hapened to be on the third floor.
Since the resort had an elevator the room was still concidered accessible.

Have fun at Disney!

That sounds crazy to me! In case of fire what do you do? I have always been told if there is a fire don't use the elevator.

I think its awesome you have such a positive outlook but it does worry me.

 

[BamaFan121s]

That sounds crazy to me! In case of fire what do you do? I have always been told if there is a fire don't use the elevator.

Jump and aim for the pool? I'm with you...that doesn't make much sense.

 

[Dicecatt]

Samoa facing the pool isn't an upgrade- it's garden view.

I've always had good luck at the Polynesian, too. I usually say at check in "we just love the Fiji longhouse"- most of the time the CM turns the computer around and lets me pick a room.

I didn't get an "upgrade" to Samoa, I got an upgrade to Hawaii. I just didn't want to mention that since really, it was about room requests, not upgrades, so I didn't go into detail.

 

[Deb & Bill]

That sounds crazy to me! In case of fire what do you do? I have always been told if there is a fire don't use the elevator.

I think its awesome you have such a positive outlook but it does worry me.

All Stars has outside corridors. You wait for the fire dept to rescue if you can't make the stairs.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

All Stars has outside corridors. You wait for the fire dept to rescue if you can't make the stairs.

Thats not even funny.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't think it was meant to be funny. As long as the fire's not in your room, or a meteor crashed onthe building, the outside corridor one continuous loop around the building and it should be possible to proceed to a safe location on that level and wait for the fire department.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I didn't read this entire long thread but . . .

Do I press it if I don't get my room requests? Only happened once to us, at the Ft Wilderness cabins and I didn't get the loop I wanted. The CM showed our cabin location on the map and I asked about noise from a nearby road, he said it's not a problem. So I went with that and it turned out to be a awesome location.

So no I don't press it other than making sure the location I did get doesn't seem to be a problem, if I didn't like it I'd ask if there was something else but not insist on my original request.

The only time I refused to take a room was at a chain hotel that told me all they had was a smoking room when I had a printout of my ressie that guaranteed a non-smoking room. I was ready to go look for another hotel but after a few minutes a non-smoking room "appeared". That's not an issue at Disney hotels anymore.

Another note- if you have a lot of requests, it's probably going to be harder for them to give you an upgrade!

I think that's true to so I've started letting up on what I request

Jenniww - when my DS was about 5 he was also Toy Story crazy, so when we stayed at ASMo's I requested a room "facing the Andy's Room courtyard". You might try that instead of a specific building. It gives a little more leeway (could be Buzz or Woody . . .) for finding one in the area and if you request a specific building only you might get it but end up on the back side not looking at that themeing. You might not get the Andy's Room request either but it's worth a try.

 

[minnie61650]

..... Linda – how long are you going to be at Disney this trip? We’ll probably miss each other, but if not, I’ll be happy to show you some ‘positioning tips for getting in and out of the elevators more efficiently. Can’t explain, have to demonstrate

kaytieeldr,

Thank you so much for your generous offer. I would really enjoy meeting you and see some of your positioning tips. I could use the help.
We are arriving September 12 and leaving on September 19. When do you arrive?

That sounds crazy to me! In case of fire what do you do? I have always been told if there is a fire don't use the elevator.

I think its awesome you have such a positive outlook but it does worry me.

You are correct in case of a fire I will need help. Not all hotels even have rooms on the first floor . The CR and GF are two examples.
I usually request a lower floor in that case.

Jump and aim for the pool? I'm with you...that doesn't make much sense.

You are correct. That is why there are fire codes and they have gotten stiffer since 9/11. the events of 9/11 really brought the fact to the public's attention that persons confined to Wheel chairs in a high rise building need to relay on others to escape.

See this web site about Resources on Emergency Evacuation and Disaster Preparedness for more info:



http://www.access-board.gov/evac.htm

There are real reasons why hotels/motels have room occupancy limits.

Just a little FYI

 

[lyzziesmom]

We are going to SSR in 9 days with some extended family, and we have three rooms booked. We're not arriving until very late at night, and I've requested a first and second choice of sections (not specific buildings). I plan to call WDW again a few days before we arrive to make sure they have our request, and to make sure they know that we're arriving very late - around midnight. My hopes are not high for getting all three rooms in the sections we requested. However, we won't be upset if we can't get our requests, I was actually talking about this very issue with my dad this morning and HE said (as someone who doesn't even know what the DISboards are) that we could just tell them we'd like to switch rooms the next day if something else becomes available. I know it's a hassle to switch rooms, but I'd rather do that if it means we can get our request, which is really a simple request. We want to be close to the main buildings and the pool because two in our party have minor mobility issues and we have a toddler too, and don't want to walk 15 minutes to breakfast. If we can't get our request, no big deal - I'm sure we will love wherever we end up. After all, we'll be at WDW, how much better can it get?

 

[safetymom]

Have you called reservations and added a travel with in each of them? You have a better chance of getting the rooms closer that way. If you are a grand gathering you have a higher priority of getting the rooms closer together.

 

[LilGMom]

I have not read this entire thread so forgive me if I stray or repeat others...

Do I press it if I don't get my room requests? No. Would I press it if there was a medical reason I needed a certain request met? Yes I would. I have only made a request once and that was for connecting or neighboring room at POFQ. We did get neighboring rooms so everyone was happy. Other than that my only request is for a clean room.

 

[SpecialK]

I've had my requests met every trip but the one last June. I had requested a room close to the quiet pool at the Poly and we were assigned a room on the other side of the resort. I asked if anything closer to the pool was available and we were changed to Tokelau.

I did notice that the CM was no longer able to pull up availability on his computer. He had to call in our request for a different building.

 

[lyzziesmom]

Have you called reservations and added a travel with in each of them? You have a better chance of getting the rooms closer that way. If you are a grand gathering you have a higher priority of getting the rooms closer together.

Yes, we have a travelwith number so hopefully we will be near each other. We are also in the system as a GG, even though there are only 7 of us. I guess since we have three rooms, they automatically classify it as a GG, we just can't do any of the GG activities, which is fine. I'm just afraid that since we're checking in so late, there won't be rooms available in the sections near the main area. No big deal, we can move the next day if need be.

 

[mum of two pirates]

We did a GG last fall and they told us the way it works is they have you in building x, and everyone is very close buy. When we checked in they had us in the farthest building away in the dessert part. I asked to be in the palm tree section, So I just asked if there was anything in building A they said yes ground floor and moved us. They then asked if a room on the third floor was o.k. for my sil. I said that would be as fine my boys will be up there as soon as they wake up anyway. Oh let me move a few people around and wham they were one door down from us. Then they said The guy next door will be leaving tomorrow if you would like connecting doors. With my brother no thanks he wouldnt like that. He might like a little privacy. from my boys.

Anyway the point was: The first person to check in gets the rooms for the rest of the group and "checks them in" It was a good thing as DSIL didnt get in tell 11pm 4 days later. And that room was open for them. so they do have access to when people come and go and can move rooms at the front desk.

 

[Tricialiv]

Dec. 2005 we requested All Star Movies preferred for 2 nights before our land/sea trip. We were moved to All Star Music preferred. I wasn't happy after waiting in line for 1/2 hour to check in plus it was DS birthday and we had paid for the trip about 1 year earlier. However, I understood that 2 nights were less important than people who were staying their entire vacation at that resort. We did offer to stay non preferred at movies but they couldn't do it either. A van took us to Music because we arrived on ME. This was during POP Warner so that probably was the cause. It didn't hurt our vacation at all. So hopefully if your requests aren't possible your trip will go as smoothly. Don't stress about them.

 

[lyzziesmom]

mum of two pirates: Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I'll have to be sure to be the first one to check in then, because my DB is clueless and my parents will just take whatever is given. I've had pretty good luck in the past in asking for certain simple things at check-in and getting what we wanted, such as connecting rooms or at least near each other. You just have to be really really nice about it and not be a PITA!