My Experience With Modifying Our Existing Reservation To Include Free Dining

[funkbucket007]

That's not right.

I'm now leaving a day earlier & getting there 12 hours after their "official" check in time instead of 36 hours after...what's "not right" about that?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I'm now leaving a day earlier & getting there 12 hours after their "official" check in time intead of 36 hours after...what's "not right" about that?

Because you are calling Disney and telling them you were unexpectedly delayed and asking them to hold a reservation that a) you aren't entitled to and b) you have no actual plans on trying to make.

 

[funkbucket007]

Because you are calling Disney and telling them you were unexpectedly delayed and asking them to hold a reservation that a) you aren't entitled to and b) you have no actual plans on trying to make.

Exact same thing I've done 15+ times in the past. Never been a problem. Sorry you take issue with it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, there's nothing wrong with the OP arriving twelve hours after the official check-in time for his resorts starts, as long as the arrival is prior to the accounting system's 5:30 AM or so next-day rollover. THAT'S the start of a whole new hotel/accounting day and could invalidate any reservation made for the previous day. MANY people who drive to Walt Disney World arrive in the middle of the night.

Expecting to make a reservation for, say, a Wednesday and be able to check in for that reservation on a Friday would be disingenuous. ANY hotel would be entirely within its rights to have cancelled that reservation at least eighteen hours earlier, leaving the guest with no place to stay - yes, even with a fully paid reservation.

Respectfully to the OP, the response from the Disney Cast Members may have been a reflection of your attitude during the call. I'm not saying it was - I don't work for WDW, I don't have the slightest idea who you are, I have no idea how the call went. Your tone may have set the tone. It's possible your family member was just nicer during the entire call, so had a better experience. Maybe you just have a gruff voice and sound aggressive or demanding, and your family member sounds friendly and jovial. That shouldn't affect the response you each got - but Cast Members are human.

 

[funkbucket007]

We have it worked to where we'll actually arrive before Midnight on the 7th now. I'm not in a bad mood or anything over it, it worked out. I talked to another CM today to add another day to our Park Hopper passes & had a wonderful discussion with them about this very topic. I was told that as long as we arrived before the next day's "check-out" (11:00, I believe), that we'd be good to go. She said people do it all the time.

I certainly didn't want this to turn into mud-slinging (as the other related thread did) & hopefully it won't or will die altogether.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We have it worked to where we'll actually arrive before Midnight on the 7th now.

Excellent. You can get a reasonable night's sleep and actually enjoy your first full day onsite (instead of the driver - you? - walking through it in a sleep-deprived daze ).

I was told that as long as we arrived before the next day's "check-out" (11:00, I believe), that we'd be good to go. She said people do it all the time.

Wish the CM hadn't said this. I'd be EXTREMELY surprised if it were true.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Can one of your party fly down and check-in on the proper day ? I had a similar situation some years ago for a reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge that started on 12/19, which was the last day of value season. However, my daughter did not get out of school until the 20th. What did we do ? I drove down with all the luggage and checked in on the 19th and my wife and daughter flew one-way from home and arrived in the 21st.

Since the Disney policy at that time was that your roon rate for the entire stay was based on your rate at check-in we saves about $1,200 by adding those 2 days at the front of the reservation. Maybe by trying this scenario you might be able to get the result you desire.

 

[iwanttogoback]

We are planning arriving at WDW anywhere between 1:30- 2:30 am on our first day. This is the first time we have traveled during the day to get there.
We usually travel al night and arrive late morning and once we had to wait untill after 5:00 pm. for our rooms to be ready. We walked around the park like Zombies. Kids slept all the way down and they were ready to go but we were in a daze.
This year we want our rooms ready so we can catch a few hours of sleep and at least change clothing before going to parks. The CM told me that would be fine and the lobby would be open 24/7.
I guess I need to call a day or so before and confirm them again of our late night arrival.
I think I would just camp out in the lobby of resort if they tried to cancel my ressie because we would not have anywhere to go.

 

[StrwLady]

How does online check in work? What is required to be shown at check in at the Hotel if you have done online check in?

All online check in does is allows Disney the opportunity to have all of your paper work ready when you arrive. You still need to show your ID when you arrive.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Also, when I have done the on line check-in, you can select your approx arrival and check out time. Late arrivals would be a perfect case to give a heads up to the front desk.

 

[shoes99]

Also, when I have done the on line check-in, you can select your approx arrival and check out time. Late arrivals would be a perfect case to give a heads up to the front desk.

We were 1 1/2 hours late arriving at All Star Sports on June 24th. Our flight was late, so we checked in at 12:30AM..
I had previously done online check-in with est arrival time of 10:30PM.
My check-in package was ready, I received all my requests, ground floor, close to transportation, king bed, and close to HC parking. Doing online checking I could only choose ground floor and close to transportation. We had a very nice room in Touchdown Bldg 10 ground floor, close to HC parking. We didn't ask for late check-out until the day before our departure. We were given 1PM late check-out.