Is this possible with an early arrival?

[AngiTN]

I fully realize this may take a phone call to know for sure but thought I'd toss this question out there just on the off chance someone else has already tried and found out that you can, or can't, do this. Plus, this is not a run of the mill situation, I am not sure I trust the CM on the phone to even know the answer. First hand experience would be great, if there is any

DH and I arrive early in a couple of weeks. It's after 6:00 AM, so will be their new day
Really need to get in a room when we arrive. Our luck leaving this to chance is about 50/50. I want to try to improve the odds and tossed around a few thoughts.
One thought was to pay for a room the night before, even though we wouldn't use it.
If we were willing to pay for it, is there a way to make this happen?
Or would we be marked down as a no show?
What I'm hoping is, if I call, they can note that we don't arrive till early the next morning so leave the room in our name so when we get there we can get a nap.
I know people who have late flights sometimes pay for an extra day when they leave so they can keep their room so it's sort of like this, in reverse. The odd part here is, we won't check in till late

 

[wilkeliza]

If you need the room ASAP and want to guarantee it then yes paying for a check in the day before is the proper procedure. You can just do online check in and put after midnight as your arrival time or whatever time you want.

 

[flortlebap]

I doubt they'd mark you as a no show and even if they did it could be easily rectified.

I'd book an extra night as suggested above

 

[AngiTN]

I started to think about it and it would be no different than if we had intended to arrive say, at 3:00 AM and got delayed a few hours due to weather or something. Surely that is not all that uncommon, especially with guests coming from so many different locations and such. Especially considering all the International travelers they have.
I 100% have no problems with paying for it
I'm going to sleep on it but think this is they way we are going to go. It will solve all our itinerary issues for arrival day

 

[NYCgrrl]

I can't see any problem with pre-paying the room the night before as far as the hotel is concerned. When you are booking just tell them you wont be getting in until 6:00 AM in the morning and who knows?...they might take something off the price or throw in a free breakfast (depends on their occupancy rate and how sweet you can sound on the phone). Right now you are only telling yourself no.

ETA: you can always leave your luggage with front service/bellhops and depending on what hotel you are staying in use the gym's shower room to freshen up. Nothing wrong with getting creative and keeping money in your pocket for other Disneyfication moments minus tips.

 

[Monorail_Man_NJ]

I guess your question depends on the resort and occupancy. If your at a value or moderate I would do what above people have suggested and book another night. If its a Deluxe resort that may become costly to basically waste a day.

 

[bumbershoot]

Definitely book for the night before. That allows the room to be all ready for you.

 

[AngiTN]

I can't see any problem with pre-paying the room the night before as far as the hotel is concerned. When you are booking just tell them you wont be getting in until 6:00 AM in the morning and who knows?...they might take something off the price or throw in a free breakfast (depends on their occupancy rate and how sweet you can sound on the phone). Right now you are only telling yourself no.

ETA: you can always leave your luggage with front service/bellhops and depending on what hotel you are staying in use the gym's shower room to freshen up. Nothing wrong with getting creative and keeping money in your pocket for other Disneyfication moments minus tips.

Oh, not worried about what to do with the bags. We want to be able to nap after our travels.
Usually we're good to just leave it to chance. This time based on what we are looking to do I'm leaning to not risking the gamble

 

[LilyWDW]

Book the night before but notify Disney that you will be arriving the time you will be doing so. If you arrive after the system has turned over, it will show you as a no show (as you didn't check in the day you were supposed to). If they don't have the information that you are still coming, it is possible this will release the room.

 

[Monorail_Man_NJ]

Just do online check in if you are booking day early. Wouldnt have to notify anyone.

 

[AngiTN]

Book the night before but notify Disney that you will be arriving the time you will be doing so. If you arrive after the system has turned over, it will show you as a no show (as you didn't check in the day you were supposed to). If they don't have the information that you are still coming, it is possible this will release the room.

I think what I'll do is book and do a late arrival online check in time. Then call before system turn over time, we'll be up well before that to catch our flight, and let them know we've been delayed and are still coming.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Not to hijack how accurate do you have to be with the online check in we are arriving between 6 and 8 maybe as late as 10

In my case I won't know the day of I well literally be leaving the house and telling dh see you when I can

 

[AngiTN]

Not to hijack how accurate do you have to be with the online check in we are arriving between 6 and 8 maybe as late as 10

Not at all accurate.

 

[Belle'sFan]

If you are flying into Orlando, why not just spend that first night at the airport hotel -Hyatt Regency? They are probably used to all times for arrivals and it would be quick. Not suer if its less expensive or not, depending on where you are staying.

 

[CrankyDad]

be sure you call to tell them. I am a hotel GM for over 20 years.. Trust me, I love you booking the night before. Just TELL me you are a coming and not a no-show. Your room will be ready for you in the AM

 

[AngiTN]

If you are flying into Orlando, why not just spend that first night at the airport hotel -Hyatt Regency? They are probably used to all times for arrivals and it would be quick. Not suer if its less expensive or not, depending on where you are staying.

I'm not flying in the night before

be sure you call to tell them. I am a hotel GM for over 20 years.. Trust me, I love you booking the night before. Just TELL me you are a coming and not a no-show. Your room will be ready for you in the AM

Ha, I had a feeling most hotels would have no problems with someone paying for a night they were not using till morning

 

[squirrel]

I have done two red-eye flights before. One time our room was not available when we arrived and the next time it was.

I have another red-eye flight this trip and will assume that it won't be ready. I have us going to the parks for the morning and then heading back for a nap, then off to a park for a few hours in the evening. Hopefully, this won't be too much for us. I usually do a hang at the resort day on our arrival but I only have 10 nights booked and then we are off to do Sea World.

 

[sndral]

Several years ago bad weather caused our flight to be canceled along w/ a bazillion other flights, as result we arrived a day later than scheduled. I called and alerted the resort (CBR.) We had no issues when we finally arrived.

 

[alex9179]

Online check-in is like physically checking in at the desk. If you reserve for the night before, and check-in online, your room will be available. Unfortunately, you may have to go to the front desk if your bands don't open the door after receiving a text of your room #!

When I called to apply the AP discount for our last trip in May/June, the CM made sure to tell me that online check-in was the same as at the desk. I'd be liable for the stay even if I wasn't able to go for some reason. I delayed it until right before we left, just in case. Though, I know that Disney is often understanding about issues.

I wish I could give you first-hand experience.

 

[writerguyfl]

I'm not sure this qualifies as first-hand experience or not. But, I used to work at the Disney Reservations Center (DRC) as a Reservations Sales Agent and a Facilitator (Disney-speak for Trainer). That was a number of years ago. Still, I can't imagine that anything related to this has changed.

Based on that experience, we always told guests that if they wanted to guarantee an early arrival, just pay for the room the night prior. The standard in the hotel industry is that the room is held for you up until the official check-out time. So, you should be fine until that time.

Regardless, if you don't arrive by the time the system resets (somewhere in the dead of night), you will get entered as a "no-show". But, as flortlebap notes, that's easily fixed.

This scenario isn't unusual. Any DRC Cast Member that's been working for a few months will have handled this issue before. I'd highly recommend calling to make this reservation instead of doing it online and then calling to have notes added. If I remember correctly, it's easier to enter notes while the reservation is first made than it is to add them afterward.