Late Check-in at POR with preferred room

[SHOREDAD]

Going in middle of August. Just decided to fly instead of drive from Jersey. We just got back from a 9 hour road trip over spring break and we can't imagine a 18 plus hour drive twice. Anyway we are booked at POR in a preferred room. We are arriving in Orlando at 8:20 P.M. with Magic Express I imagine we could arrive at POR around 10:30. Will we still get a preferred room or could we be bumped for people who make special requests?

Also what time do we have to start to pick up luggage at baggage claim? And are their certain airlines that we have to pick up luggage no matter what?

THanks in advance!

 

[Tpiejg]

If you paid for a preferred room I dont think they can bump you. I would just let Disney know you will be arriving late if your worried. Not sure about the luggage we havent used ME

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I have read on these boards that there have been people who were bumped from choice of room ( preferred, water view, etc.) When you make a reservation, you are only guaranteed a room on disney property. I guess they can't even guarantee you a room at the resort you reserved.
I can't remember the exact times but if you arrive at 8:20 you will not have to get your own bags. It's for much later flights like around 11 PM. There is a thread on the transportation board about ME.

 

[kate2961]

When you book your room at PO-R you select and pay for a particular type of room:

Std View, Garden View, Pool View, Preferred Room, King Bed, River View, and Royal Guest Room with either a Std View, Garden View, Pool View or River View.

You are guaranteed the room type at PO-R that you paid for when you made your reservation. If you make any special requests, Disney will attempt to accomodate those requests whether you arrive early or late on the first day of your reservation. Special requests are not guaranteed.

As for Magical Express, if you arrive after 10PM, you'll have to collect your baggage yourself and take it with you on the bus.

Hope you have a magical vacation.

Kate

 

[danceintherain]

People have definitely been "bumped" from a paid for room category. The chances of this happening are very low. Regardless, it very likely will not be due to someone else making a "request" that lands them in your room category. It could be due to a number of different things such as...
1) over booking (usually when Disney over books, they contact the overflow and offer them an "upgrade")
2) someone who booked your room category extends their stay for any number of reasons (maybe someone got sick and they can't go home until they get better?)
3) human error
4) and many other reasons that I can't think of

In the small number of anecdotes when people have been bumped, sometimes Disney doesn't offer much help when this happens. Usually, they do try to accommodate people, but it may take a bit of pushing on the part of the "bumped".

With an 8:30 arrival, Disney can bring your bags, but I wouldn't expect them to get to you until fairly late 11pm or later, so it may be better to pick them up yourself, or inform bell services that you'd rather your luggage be delivered at your convenience in the morning.

We had a fairly late arrival a few years ago. I think we got to the resort around 7pm. We booked a king bed room, which we got, and all our requests were fulfilled as well, in addition to being in a corner room which are coveted at moderate resorts.

I think it's more possible that at that late of an hour, you could end up with the last room in your paid for category, and if you don't like it for any reason, you could be stuck with a room in a lower category, and they may not give you a refund of the difference or try to make you pay for an upgrade.

 

[SHOREDAD]

Thank you all for the response. So it seems that bumping is possible but not likely. However we do have 5 people, DW, DS14,DS7,DS5, and myself so I hope we will be in the rooms with the pullout bed. Also only booked preferred because we did it through AAA. Price wound up being lower than booking through Disney for standard room. Oh well we will hope for the best and no flight delays.

 

[siskaren]

Thank you all for the response. So it seems that bumping is possible but not likely. However we do have 5 people, DW, DS14, DS7, DS5, and myself so I hope we will be in the rooms with the pullout bed. Also only booked preferred because we did it through AAA. Price wound up being lower than booking through Disney for standard room. Oh well we will hope for the best and no flight delays.

It's actually a Murphy bed, not a pull-out bed, and with 5 people plus the fact that you booked a preferred room, I would say it's highly unlikely you wouldn't get a room with a Murphy bed. (All preferred rooms are in the Alligator Bayou section and all Alligator Bayou rooms have the Murphy bed.)

All airlines are eligible for Magical Express, which includes getting luggage picked up from the airport and delivered to your hotel room. They stop collecting luggage at 10 pm, so you would definitely get there early enough to have them do that. However, your luggage won't get delivered to your room until about 3-4 hours after you check-in, so if you want to let DME handle it, make sure you have what you need for that first night and morning in your carry-on. You can then ask at the front desk to have them hold your luggage until morning rather than having them knock on your door at 1:00 in the morning. (You could also just leave the yellows tags off of your luggage and collect it yourself.)

I would highly recommend checking out The Unofficial Guide to Disney's Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter Resorts as well as the POR FAQ thread here on the Resort forum.

 

[SHOREDAD]

Thanks!

 

[maxiesmom]

If you paid for a preferred room I dont think they can bump you. I would just let Disney know you will be arriving late if your worried. Not sure about the luggage we havent used ME

I've been bumped from a preferred room location not once, but twice. Until you are there checking in, your room is fair game if someone else wants what you have booked. The second time it happened I had even used On Line Check In.

So it can happen, but hopefully no one is as unlucky as I seem to be.