Is checking in at midnight a pain?

[mill4023]

My plan was to leave after work on a Friday, spend the night in Jacksonville, then arrive at WDW saturday around noon. But I was talking with my son about our ADR's and meal credits and everything, and he said, "Hey, why don't we just drive all the way on Friday and stay at WDW an extra night, that way, we'll get an extra set of meal credits and you won't have to pay for any meals".

So now that I think about it, it sounds like a great idea because with the extra meal credits, we'll basically be getting the room for free(we're staying at POP) and we'd save the cost of a room in Jacksonville. Now I'm not sure if I can even get that extra night. We're currently booked for 9/22 to 9/30 and this would mean changing the reservation to 9/21 to 9/30. But if it's still available, it seems like a great idea, except that I don't know how much of a pain it is to check in late (like midnight or 1am. The other part that might be a pain is that my Mom is actually flying into Orlando around 7pm that evening. She currently has a 1 night room reservation at POR for friday, 9/21 and we were going to meet her when we got there on saturday. So I don't know how that would work. Would she be able to check in if we weren't getting there until midnight?

What do you all think?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You probably should just call first and inquire if they will even let you add the day in question. Their answer might solve the dilemma. Good luck!

 

[JanB]

If the reservation is in your name, I do not believe that your Mom will be able to check in. But I'm not absolutely certain. It's a question that arises from time to time. I'm sure someone will have an answer.

As far as checking in very late, that isn't a problem. On one prior trip, I checked in at POR (Dixie Landings at the time) sometime between midnight and 1AM. The good thing is that there isn't a long line in the lobby!

Our only problem with that late check-in was that we got to the room and first found that our key would not open the door. So we got back in the car to drive back to the lobby -- have it fixed -- return to the room to find that it still didn't work -- go back to the lobby -- return to the room , and the key worked. Entered the room and found out that the room had been "used". It wasn't occupied, and the room had been prepared for new guests. But someone had obviously come in later and laid down on the bed, and some of the hand towels had been used and left on the counter. Called the front desk to have someone to come by --- Remember this is all around 1AM and we were wanting to get to bed! Everything was eventually made good.

I really don't think that the problems were related to our checking in late. But the aggravation factor was multiplied due to the time of day.

 

[bradk]

i might be mistaken, but as far as i know, if she's an adult and listed on the reservation, she should be able to check-in.

for the free dining plan, they may require everyone to come to the desk before they issue the credits though for each individual.

anyway, no real problem checking in at midnight other than you shouldn't expect any luggage handled by DME (with the yellow tags) until at least after 8 am, so you might want to consider claiming them yourselves.

i've recently checked in at 1 am.

 

[mill4023]

Just to clarify, we are 3 adults and 4 kids with 2 rooms at Pop. One reservation has my wife and I and 2 of the kids. The other reservation has my mom and 2 of our kids. My mom will be flying in friday evening, so she could check in to her room, but she wouldn't have any of the kids with her. It's not a big deal if they don't issue the dining credits. I was just concerned that they wouldn't let her check in at all and she would be hanging around the lobby until midnight or later when we arrive.

I do understand that there's a very good chance they won't have availability anyway. I just thought I'd get some feedback and make a decision first, so when I call, if it's possible, I can go ahead and change the ressie.

 

[jhryb]

I agree that checking in after midnight is just fine. On our last two trips we took a late flight on a Friday evening and we didn't arrive until 1 am. Check-in was very fast. The only issue we ever had was trying to find our room at the POR in the dark with no one around to help us.

 

[dizanimator]

The only time I've arrived that late I was staying concierge, and those check-ins are handled differently, so I don't have experience with that.
Are the room reservations seperate, or are both rooms made with the same name, just different people in each room? If the rooms are seperate, like it sounds like they are, she shouldn't have a big problem checking in as long as she is listed as staying in the room, just maybe call Disney and let them know she's arriving hours before you and can get in the room without you.

I have been part of a group arriving at two different times, but we were staying in a grand villa at SSR. My aunt and uncle were staying with my parents and me for a few days (my parents are DVC members) and we made sure to let Disney know that they were arriving first (using DME not long after it started) and could check into the room before us. They had no problems and were in the room before we got there. It was strangely us that had the problems. The reservation was somehow in their name, and the guard didn't really want to let us in the gate until my mom found the reservation confirmation letter. When we needed to call housekeeping, they used my aunt and uncle's names even after they left. I would just suggest making sure to have your confirmation letter to help with any problems you have. Have a fun trip