On line check in: good or bad???

[fijidoc]

Have trip to AKV coming up soon. Wondering if we should do online check in or not. Our plane is supposed to land in Orlando around noon and using disney transportation to villa. Have heard good and bad about online check in? Has some of the kinks been worked out? In your opinion should we do it or wait and do it when we get there. We are staying at a 2 bedroom savanah view if that helps. Thanks, for input.

 

[Dziactor]

Just did the online checkin for my Dec 12th trip. no idea if it has any negatives.

 

[Lynne M]

There's really no downside to using online check-in. Its only purpose is to get your paperwork and key prepared before you arrive.

Now, after reading bunches of reports on the Resorts board, and from my own experience, I can say it's not so much a case of 'is it good or bad', as 'there are appropriate and inappropriate situations for online check-in'.

When I stayed at AKV in March, I didn't particularly care where my room was, it was just me staying, I had no questions for the front desk CMs, I didn't have to add anything or change anything. I walked up to the counter, gave them my name and showed a photo ID, they handed me my key and packet, and I was off to my room. The whole transaction took a minute or two. I was sort of the ideal guest for online check-in.

I've seen lots of reports, though, of people doing online check-in who want to do things like upgrade their room, ask for a different room location, have all kinds of questions for the front desk CM, or do some sort of complicated transaction with their tickets. Which eliminates the one benefit of checking in online - saving time. And, if you get a couple of those people at the desk, the previously fast-moving online check-in line becomes just as slow as the regular line, and I think the CMs get frustrated because the process gets bogged down.

So, I would say, if you have a straightforward situation where you can pick up your stuff and go, online check-in is great, use it. If you think you may need to make changes in your room assignment, or have any other complicating factor, go with the regular check-in, because online check-in won't save you any time.

 

[erionm]

I didn't do on-line check-in for our recent BLT stay for the reason that Lynne M noted. We had a Magic Kingdom View 1-bedroom and I wanted to try and get as high a floor as possible. I saw no use in doing on-line check-in and then needing to go speak with a CM to try and move the room to a higher floor.

We are staying in a Lake View Studio in two weeks for a couple of nights. For that stay I really don't care where the room is so I will do on-line check-in.

Unless we are staying at BLT with a Magic Kingdom View, I will probably use on-line check-in as I almost never have room requests.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I don't see any reason not to do on line checking. Even when I checked in on line saying that I would arrive at the resort after 6PM, but showed up at 10AM, the checkin was easy and they found a room for me at 10!

I checked in on line at AKV, value room and still got a savannah view room.

Bobbi

 

[dmoore22]

The only negative check-in experience we had was when we used the on-line check-in. The folder and keys were ready but the room wasn't ready until after 5:00 pm.

 

[erionm]

The only negative check-in experience we had was when we used the on-line check-in. The folder and keys were ready but the room wasn't ready until after 5:00 pm.

On-line check-in is not designed to get you in your room earlier. The same could have happened if you had not checked-in on-line.

 

[dmoore22]

On-line check-in is not designed to get you in your room earlier. The same could have happened if you had not checked-in on-line.

Perhaps. . . but since this is the only time this has happened to us in our 9 years of DVC membership and twice yearly trips, I think the odds are against it. There are still kinks to be worked out. Once they've finished beta-testing we may try it again next spring.

 

[dizfan]

We did online checkin for our AKV Kidani stay arriving tomorrow. We don't know enough about the resort to be concerned where our Savannah View room is located. We're not too concerned about location.

However, for our BLT checkin on Sunday we're not using online checkin. As PPs described, since we care more about the location here, I wouldn't want to hold up those using online checkin. We requested a high floor. We're planning to go to BLT early and checkin. During checkin, we'll politely ask the CM if we could get a high floor and mention that we're fine with late checkin.
If we don't get it, so be it. We're still making our first trip home, short distance from MK, get to ride the monorail, and will experience the views from TOTWL.

 

[csgsu]

can you do online check in if you reserved through Expedia?

 

[erionm]

can you do online check in if you reserved through Expedia?

If you have the 12 digit Disney reservation number, you should be able to. You can try this website: MyDisneyReservation.com

 

[kid-at-heart]

Worked well for us during our recent split stay. We used online check-in for both AKV and BCV for our recent Nov trip. Packets and rooms were ready when we checked in. We did not check in until evening AKV and late afternoon BCV.

 

[schewy]

We did online checkin for AKV (Kidani Village) and BLT in Nov. of this year. I did not request a room online, but I did place the celebration information where available. I printed out check in confirmations and them with me to WDW.
At Kidani Village check in I informed the CM that I had did the online check in. They asked for ID and confirmed that my entire party was there. My check in packet was complete and the celebration information was included in our DVC packets. The checkin time took about 5-10 minutes at AKV and was a real pleasant experience.
At BLT you check in a the Contemporary hotel. They did not have any of our online check in information. When I produced the online check in confirmation they did not bother to look for the packets, they just redid the check in. The checkin time at the Contemporary was over 20 min and no celebration information was put anywhere in the packets. The checkin experience was nowhere as proficient at AKV. Just one of the many reasons I will stay at the AKV next time for my entire stay.