Is OKW assigning rooms on a first come, first serve basis still??

[rbuzzotta]

Since I made my reservations at the 11-month window and requested a non-smoking, top floor 2 BR, I would very much like to get that!! (I know, it is only a courtesy, not a guarentee!).

We will be arriving at 11 PM and staying close to the airport the day before our ressies begin. Should I arrive at OKW early to have a better chance of having my requests filled, or just rely on what was protocol in the past..................?????

Thanks...............

 

[DebbieB]

We checked into OKW on a Friday night around 6:15pm last month. I had sent a fax on Monday confirming our requests and mentioned we would not be arriving until after 6:00pm. Our room was pre-assigned when we got there and met all our requests. If you are arriving early, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Thanks, I am not sure if we will arrive at OKW early. Kids want to go to Kona for Tonga Toast then do some grocery shopping......now that I think of it, we will be there somewhat early!! At least before check-in time..........

Maybe I will drive over and check-in before we head to Publix and after breakfast..............

 

[JudithM]

Rather than first come first serve, I think of getting a room at OKW more like the CM will find me a clean, ready to move it room when I arrive at the resort. Some rooms are assigned ahead of time (ex. medical needs), but most are not, so guests can hopefully get a room when they check-in. If this is not correct, I'll hear about it from a CM . This is how I understood it last month after talking to some front desk CMs.

Last month when we checked in at 1:30 p.m. on the Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, we were told our room was not ready. Since I requested either a first floor or an elevator room for medical reasons, I understood. However, if we chose not to wait for the room assigned for us, we could have had another room that was ready. We got the distinct feeling we were getting an elevator room & we chose to wait. We could not have asked for a better location - building 64! We've been members for about a decade & this was the first time we were in this area - thank you room controller! (I let the front desk know of our pleasure at the time!)

 

[Towncrier]

When we checked in on June 15th (at around 1PM), the CM at the front desk offered us a non-smoking room on the 2nd floor. I asked if they had a 1st floor room available, and we were assigned 3212 (which suited my MIL quite nicely). As far as I could tell, we had not been assigned a room even though we booked 11 months in advance. I guess we'll never know for certain just how rooms are assigned.

Have a great vacation Rosemary.

 

[PKK/MJK]

On our last two trips we've arrived late in the evening and have stayed off property that night--like you're doing. My DH, has gone over to OKW very early the next morning and checked-in. Both times he said that it seemed our room had already been assigned--in fact, one time there was a note in the computer saying "do NOT change this assignment"--we have no idea how that happened. We do have two asthmatics in our party and I always request "No Smoking for medical reasons" so maybe that is why the rooms have been assigned--I don't know. In both cases we had to wait until almost 4pm for our rooms to be ready, but we got exactly what we had requested.

We're going to do things the same way on our July trip--arriving on the 13th and leaving on the 25th. See you there, Rosemary!! Wish you were going to be there too, Towncrier!!

 

[rbuzzotta]

Thanks for the info. I don't mind waiting for my room at all. I just like my preferences (yes, if possible).

Yes, I will probably head over early just to let them know we have arrived!!! YEAH!!! Can't wait to hear "Welcome Home"!!

Sorry we missed you this year John.

MaryJo, hopefully we will run into each other again this year.......

 

[sgtdisney]

I am not sure if they are pre-assigned or not. Based on our experience when we checked in on June 7, I would almost think not. We got to OKW at about 3ish on the afternoon of June 7. The Cast Member began checking us in and then said something along the lines of "Let's see, you wanted a first floor in or around this area.." She typed a little in the computer and then asked again "First Floor, right.." She kept typing and then said.. "Good, I found one.." She gave us (found us) exactly what we had requested. This interaction almost lead me to beleive that our room was not pre-assigned, however we may have had an exceptionally observant CM who noticed we were pre-blocked into a room that didn't meet the requests.. It is hard to say, and I was so happy to 1. be 'home and 2. be getting a room where we had asked for it ready 1 hour early, I didn't think to ask her.

We had to check into a studio on our last night of our stay as part of our party was leaving a day early we could get by on the smaller room. In that case we had requested the studio to be in the same building as the 2 bedroom we had been in to hopefully limit the moving experience. I called at 10:00 AM on check out day of the 2 bedroom and they had a studio in the same building ready at 10:00AM so we could just move luggage. That almost lead me to beleive that room was pre-blocked, so who really knows anymore..

 

[beccasmom]

We arrived at OKW at about 11:00 am on 6/15 and were given a choice of 3 non-smoking rooms. We chose 4622 and were very pleased with it. I had requested non-smoking, first floor, but we were happy with this villa; it had a wonderful water view. So obviously we were not pre-assigned.....at least not on this trip.

 

[Pa@okw95]

If the resort is not at full capacity I would think there might be some flexibilty in the assigning of rooms which may have beent the case in May and June.

 

[jlambrig]

Earlier this month we checked in and we were offered a choice of 5 or 6 options. Our room definitely was not preassigned. I agree that if you request a room due to medicial conditions, more than likely they will preassign a room. I am guessing based on occupancy they may also preassign, i.e. if close to 100% occupancy they start preassigning.

 

[joepoe]

First, I know that DVC tries to accomodate requests. If someone arrives before you do that day, and they have made the same requests, you might not get yours. The reason is there are only a finite number of rooms, and everyone does not check out every day, so sometimes (not always) the ability to fulfill requests is quite limited, whether you fax, call ahead, say it is for medical reasons or whatever.

Second, we ask for non-smoking, Turtle Pond and have never been disappointed.