ME users getting room assignments before check-in?

[Chuck S]

You know, if they hadn't closed the Ocala welcome center, it would have fit perfectly into this system. Or they could put a small manned kiosk in the turnpike service centers.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Could be Carol....

I am thinking that perhaps when the day comes and ME is no longer "free" this will be a selling point for them. What better way to add on ME for a price than to say it will expedite your checking into a room ready upon arrival?

Pure speculation on my part of course....

 

[zulaya]

I guess what is disconcerting to me is this:

Jane Smith and Mary Jones fly into Orlando on the same flight and are each going to Old Key West with the same unit size and same requests.

Jane has booked Magical Express; Mary has rented a car.

But because Jane has booked ME, once she checks in with ME, ME then notifies OKW that Jane is on her way. OKW starts checking Jane in, assigning her a room based on her requests, etc.

Mary rented a car and while she may beat the ME Bus to OKW, Jane has been checked in ahead of her, only by virtue of the fact that she is using ME.

What if Jane was assigned the last room meeting Mary's requests? Mary is then out of luck just by virtue of the fact that she did not use ME.

If this is how this program will work...well, let's just say the principle of the thing bugs me.

 

[zulaya]

You know, if they hadn't closed the Ocala welcome center, it would have fit perfectly into this system. Or they could put a small manned kiosk in the turnpike service centers.

Or for that matter, put in a kiosk not just on the turnpike, but IN the airport for those who are renting a car. It could be a kiosk in the ME area since Disney already has a presence there.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I agree with you Zulaya, it is disconcerting. Much the same as the poster who had reserved their villa 11 months out only to arrive and be told there was nothing left as they were oversold and did they want to move to resort "X"?

How could this happen? Is there no priority given at all?

Since my referenced stay at BWV in 2006 where I was given this information, I have only returned to WDW in December 2006 where we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (not villas then). So I plan on checking into this further should the need arise when I check in at BWV this coming July...

 

[chuckcorden]

I have just bumped up against this thread and tried to read it without thinking that this is much ado about---well, not much. It also reminds me of the argument about how many angels can dance on the head of a needle.

I have used DME for my last several trips to WDW and hope to continue doing so. I prefer not to use a rental because I love the Disney transportation system.

I always leave Hartford at approx. 7:30 AM and arrive at MCO at about 10:30 AM. Going by way of DME I usually arrive at my resort at noon or thereabouts. I was never informed that I had already been assigned a room and probably would not have cared if I had. But I generally have but one request---that I be close to an elavator because of the use of a cane. This trip, however, I DID request a particular savanna view but, then again, I am paying (thru points) for a savanna view.

Anyway, my room has never been ready so I pick up the room key with the dining plan on it and go on to the parks. BTW, even tho I have the room key, it is my understanding that it has not been "keyed" with my room number. I may be wrong on this but that is my understanding.

I apologize if I stepped on anyone's toes. But the important thing is to have fun!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Just read post 12. I think that is great for ME people. For Non-ME people we can't call ahead and say we are here and can we have our room assignment. Right? Or am I missing something?

Maybe we will try ME sometime.

Let's take Boardwalk Villas as an example. I don't think that there's much difference in the "preferred" views, whether you look at the feature pool or the other pool. In other words, on any give day, there are a bunch of rooms (in each size category) that are all about the same.

Some people are pre-assigned to a room if they have very specific needs.

For the rest of us, rooms go into a pool of available rooms as they become "ready" (cleaned). As guests check in, they are assigned to a "ready" room, if possible. It's sometimes a slow process because the desk clerks have to scroll through screen after screen. Sometimes they have to call to check on the status of a room. Then they can proceed to handle the rest of check-in, including assembling the check-in packet and producing key cards.

Now, imagine that some of those steps can happen while a guest is still on the Magical Express motorcoach. It means the line moves more quickly for everyone.

Does it mean that Magical Express passengers get all the "good" rooms? Does it mean that pre-assigned rooms are un-assigned and given to Magical Express passengers instead? The answer to both is NO.

I suppose if there's only one "ready" room in a given category at some point in time, it might be assigned to a Magical Express passenger. A guest who arrives by rental car ten minutes before the Magical Express passenger arrives would then have to wait for a room. That's the only way that I see Magical Express passengers getting any sort of advantage here.

 

[Saratoga Souris]

Last trip in Dec.... we used ME . Our flight arrived before 11 am. We were at the resort just after noon.
Our room wasn't ready until 4:00 so I don;t think we had any advantage.

Anytime I have had to wait for a room..... we've been given a room number immediately (ME or not) but also told it wasn't ready and just keep calling every 30 min or so to check. We usually then... go camp out at the pool closest to the room and pull our car up as close as possible.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Last trip in Dec.... we used ME . Our flight arrived before 11 am. We were at the resort just after noon.
Our room wasn't ready until 4:00 so I don;t think we had any advantage.

I think the resort check-in systems and procedures are not yet set up to interface with Magical Express.

In any case, if you're pre-assigned to a room for any reason (such as specific preferences), using Magical Express won't help.

Anytime I have had to wait for a room..... we've been given a room number immediately (ME or not) but also told it wasn't ready and just keep calling every 30 min or so to check. We usually then... go camp out at the pool closest to the room and pull our car up as close as possible.

It's unusual for the front desk to tell guests a room number if the room is not yet ready for occupancy. (My understanding is that they're not allowed to.) They don't want arriving guests to disturb housekeeping or the previous guests, if they're still in the room. In a resort with multiple buildings, such as OKW or SSR, they'll normally only tell you the building number.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I don't have a problem with this policy for regular Disney resorts. However, for DVC resorts, it gives preference to one member over another, and I do not think it should be done at DVC resorts, unless those of use that arrive by other means are also allowed to call and pre-check-in when we are, say, on the turnpike or enter the greater Orlando area. As dean mentioned, there used to be this type of service at OKW, you could call, give your credit card number, and when you arrived you showed ID, picked-up your welcome packet and were on your way.

This sounds like it was so great! Would I be correct in guessing that it was met with LOTS of upset members when the practice was discontinued? Or did people mostly say OK, maybe a few grumbles. And what reason did DVC give for discontinuing it? Just growth, increase in numbers making it too cumbersome?

 

[CarolAnnC]

When I spoke to the BWV supervisor in June 2006 it was confirmed that the ME guests were being preassigned as they were signing in at the airport for the rooms already cleaned. My only request that trip was for non smoking so it was not a case of requests being met, etc.

He was quite clear that this was a new procedure that they were using at BWV and were giving priority on rooms ready to ME passengers. LIke I said, I do not know if that is still the case, but it was then.

I have no information on whether or not this has been tried or instituted at the other DVC resorts. This was the only time I had run into this myself. And I can assure you it was beyond annoying....

 

[LSchrow]

if you're using ME, they know your approximate of arrival.
if you rent a car or use a towncar at MCO, one might make at least one stop along the way, so there is a less specific TOA.

btw, we haven't noticed a difference in time required waiting for a room with or without ME . and we do rent a car, but on-site after checking-in (we do our grocery run, etc while waiting for the room to be ready).

sounds like just a way to speed up the check-in process ~ which, in theory, should be good for al

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

frankly I don't care either way, so long as I have a room when I get there.

 

[CarolAnnC]

if you're using ME, they know your approximate of arrival.
if you rent a car or use a towncar at MCO, one might make at least one stop along the way, so there is a less specific TOA.

btw, we haven't noticed a difference in time required waiting for a room with or without ME . and we do rent a car, but on-site after checking-in (we do our grocery run, etc while waiting for the room to be ready).

sounds like just a way to speed up the check-in process ~ which, in theory, should be good for al

We had rented a car and they knew our time of arrival since we had been there having checked in several hours prior. It was a case of us waiting longer for a room since the rooms that were cleaned, and there were some ready, were preassigned to the guests arriving that day on ME.

It sure did not speed anything up for us - just gave the ME guests a room ready at check in prior to the folks arriving hours ahead of them.

 

[LisaS]

Our most recent stay at BWV was in October. We arrived via DME around 2:30pm. We got our villa at 8pm!

 

[CarolAnnC]

Our most recent stay at BWV was in October. We arrived via DME around 2:30pm. We got our villa at 8pm!

Wow! Looks like they may have discontinued the policy they were trying back on my trip then! Hope that is the case...

Did they give you an explanation Lisa? 8:00 pm is awfully late - I hope they gave you some kind of compensation for that...

 

[zulaya]

What does it matter if you rent a car and make a stop or not? Most of the time, we head straight to the resort because we've been up since 5am Central Time and are hoping to just crash and relax. I'm sure some people who rent a car make a stop.

But really, why shouldn't they be given the opportunity to check in, too? It's kind of like online checkin with the airlines...you just checkin and tell them, "Hey, I'm still coming."

As far as DME meaning no stops are made...it's my understanding that these DME buses stop at several resorts at a time...so it's not like you check in at DME and then you are taken directly to OKW. Odds are you still have to stop at another resort before you get to yours.

So in my view, the whole making a stop with a rental car delays your checkin really isn't significant.

If this program is all about getting people checked in and on their way, whether their room is ready for occupancy or not, so lines are shorter...okay.

But it seems to me that even if that's the primary case, people coming in on DME are probably going to get into a room faster than someone who drives over because they've checked in already and they are higher up on the list because they've checked in already.

As I said, I'm not one to be sticky on views or location. Getting into a room and settling in is important to me. And I guess I'm shooting myself in the foot by driving a rental car and I'll have to live with my choice to do that.

 

[DVC Mike]

I have nothing against this new practice, if in fact it has been implemented. It looks like Disney is just trying to be more efficient.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I do not see why priority for checking into rooms already cleaned should be given to any particular group. This priority is not given to DVC members, it is not given to those booking on points, versus those booking on cash or through CRO, and it is not given to those who booked 11 months out. So why should folks who take ME have rooms held for them that are clean when they arrive at the airport, when other folks have been waiting for several hours to get into a clean room?

I hope this practice was discontinued, as possibly evidenced by Lisa's post above and I hope they reconsider if it has not been.....

 

[LisaS]

Wow! Looks like they may have discontinued the policy they were trying back on my trip then! Hope that is the case...

One of the times we stopped by the lobby to see if our room was ready the CM said that the rooms were pre-assigned and the resort was full so they couldn't just move us to an available room. Now this was Columbus Day weekend as well as in the middle of F&W so maybe that affected things.

Did they give you an explanation Lisa? 8:00 pm is awfully late - I hope they gave you some kind of compensation for that...

Apparently mousekeeping just skipped that room. It wasn't until 6:30pm or so when we asked for the 3rd or 4th time if our room was ready that a very sweet, concerned and conscientious front desk CM named Anita made some inquiries, figured out what had happened and sent a cleaning crew to clean the room. We were given some compensation for the delay and loved the room so everything ended well.