On Line Check in

[SaintsManiac]

I'm new to all of this online check in. I'm trying to understand something. It seems all resort hotels have online check in. It also seems some you can check in online and then once you are informed your room is ready by text message, you can go straight to your room. However, it seems some resorts require you to also check in at the hotel? Maybe in another line?

I will be staying at AKL next year. Can anyone tell me if you can do online check in and avoid the line? Basically, go straight to your room?

If you do online check in, you can bypass the front desk when you receive your room ready text.

 

[nkereina]

They say the rooms are not assigned until the day of.

I'm new to all of this online check in. I'm trying to understand something. It seems all resort hotels have online check in. It also seems some you can check in online and then once you are informed your room is ready by text message, you can go straight to your room. However, it seems some resorts require you to also check in at the hotel? Maybe in another line?

I will be staying at AKL next year. Can anyone tell me if you can do online check in and avoid the line? Basically, go straight to your room?

If you do online check in, you can bypass the front desk when you receive your room ready text.

Not *always* the case. To clarify, whether or not a guest can bypass the front desk is not dependent on the resort. There are some instances where guests will not receive a room ready text or email (it can come via email as well - for some reason, they always email me even though I have a cell number stored and have permitted texts). I don't think international visitors are eligible. I know others who I thought would have been eligible, and it didn't happen for them even though they completed online check-in. I'm not sure what the rhyme or reason is, but the resort does not matter and you will need to complete online check-in for it to work.

 

[Disneylover99]

Not *always* the case. To clarify, whether or not a guest can bypass the front desk is not dependent on the resort. There are some instances where guests will not receive a room ready text or email (it can come via email as well - for some reason, they always email me even though I have a cell number stored and have permitted texts). I don't think international visitors are eligible. I know others who I thought would have been eligible, and it didn't happen for them even though they completed online check-in. I'm not sure what the rhyme or reason is, but the resort does not matter and you will need to complete online check-in for it to work.

Yes. International visitors are eligible. They may need to stop at the front desk to pick up their magic bands if they don’t already have a set, but they can receive the room ready text or email. That doesn’t necessarily mean for sure they will. It’s hit and miss for me.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

I'm new to all of this online check in. I'm trying to understand something. It seems all resort hotels have online check in. It also seems some you can check in online and then once you are informed your room is ready by text message, you can go straight to your room. However, it seems some resorts require you to also check in at the hotel? Maybe in another line?

I will be staying at AKL next year. Can anyone tell me if you can do online check in and avoid the line? Basically, go straight to your room?

Yes, but not always. We have been notified of our room number on the drive to WDW. Other times no notification so we stop by the desk. I like to stop by the desk if we don't like the room location, that happened during our stay this past May. We had to wait until later to get the new room number.

 

[Miffy]

This is just my personal experience.

The only time I did online check-in, we arrived at the resort (SSR) before they sent me the text. DH and I wanted to see if we could get our room without having to wait for the online check-in text, so we went to the front desk. There was a very short line--maybe 1 or 2 families in front of us--so we didn't wait very long. We got our room assignment, but since it was early the room wasn't ready. Fine. We went to lunch. While we were at lunch, I received a text about our room assignment, which we already had, except this room was at another resort entirely!

After lunch we went back to the front desk, since we wanted to make sure that we weren't being charged twice--once for the room at the resort where we were staying and again for a room at a resort where we weren't staying. We waited in line a lot longer for this second go-round. Perhaps a DME bus had just arrived. At any rate, the front desk CM made sure that we weren't accidentally booked at two resorts and we went on our way.

So my experience with online check-in ended up with our having to go to the front desk twice. Not really ideal.

So, yeah, I won't be doing online check-in again, even though I understand that many people here swear by it, like it, and have never had a problem with it. I also realize that perhaps my experience was unusual, however, it did happen to us.

ETA: I just want to make it clear. We did not have two separate reservations and had never had more than the reservation at SSR. It isn't like we'd had a reservation at the other resort--AKL--and canceled and rebooked or anything. We had one single reservation, at SSR, and had never had a different resort booked for that stay.

 

[nkereina]

This is just my personal experience.

The only time I did online check-in, we arrived at the resort (SSR) before they sent me the text. DH and I wanted to see if we could get our room without having to wait for the online check-in text, so we went to the front desk. There was a very short line--maybe 1 or 2 families in front of us--so we didn't wait very long. We got our room assignment, but since it was early the room wasn't ready. Fine. We went to lunch. While we were at lunch, I received a text about our room assignment, which we already had, except this room was at another resort entirely!

After lunch we went back to the front desk, since we wanted to make sure that we weren't being charged twice--once for the room at the resort where we were staying and again for a room at a resort where we weren't staying. We waited in line a lot longer for this second go-round. Perhaps a DME bus had just arrived. At any rate, the front desk CM made sure that we weren't accidentally booked at two resorts and we went on our way.

So my experience with online check-in ended up with our having to go to the front desk twice. Not really ideal.

So, yeah, I won't be doing online check-in again, even though I understand that many people here swear by it, like it, and have never had a problem with it. I also realize that perhaps my experience was unusual, however, it did happen to us.

ETA: I just want to make it clear. We did not have two separate reservations and had never had more than the reservation at SSR. It isn't like we'd had a reservation at the other resort--AKL--and canceled and rebooked or anything. We had one single reservation, at SSR, and had never had a different resort booked for that stay.

I've never heard of that happening - being assigned a room at another resort. I would imagine it was a quirky IT glitch (we know how Disney IT is...), and its probably unrelated to the fact that you stopped at the front desk upon arrival.

When you stopped at the front desk upon arrival, did they tell you your actual room number? Typically, they don't share that information until the room is coded as ready so you don't enter the room before then, and also so they can reserve the right to make last minute changes if need be. This is why people receive a text when their room is ready, even when they don't do online check-in. The text is supposed to communicate the actual room number.

Also, you went to the front desk twice but one of those times was by your own choice. You could have just waited to receive your room ready text or email, as it is in some cases. That is the whole purpose of doing online check-in - so that you can do things other than wait in line at the hotel. If you have no issue waiting in line, then online check-in wouldn't benefit you anyhow.

 

[Miffy]

I've never heard of that happening - being assigned a room at another resort. I would imagine it was a quirky IT glitch (we know how Disney IT is...), and its probably unrelated to the fact that you stopped at the front desk upon arrival.

When you stopped at the front desk upon arrival, did they tell you your actual room number? Typically, they don't share that information until the room is coded as ready so you don't enter the room before then, and also so they can reserve the right to make last minute changes if need be. This is why people receive a text when their room is ready, even when they don't do online check-in. The text is supposed to communicate the actual room number.

Also, you went to the front desk twice but one of those times was by your own choice. You could have just waited to receive your room ready text or email, as it is in some cases. That is the whole purpose of doing online check-in - so that you can do things other than wait in line at the hotel. If you have no issue waiting in line, then online check-in wouldn't benefit you anyhow.

Yes, I think it was an IT glitch as well, however, I had to make sure I wasn't being charged for this. I didn't want to just assume I wouldn't be. One quirky IT glitch could lead to or be part of another.

The room the front desk assigned us must have been ready, since we knew the room number, but we were starving, so we went to lunch first.

Yes, you're right. We didn't have to go to the front desk at all when we arrived and could have just left our bags with bell services and done whatever we wanted until we'd gotten our room assignment text. But since there was a minimal wait to talk to someone at the front desk--I think we waited maybe 3 minutes, max--and since we were right there--the check-in area at SSR is right around the corner from the bell services area--we figured we'd just do that. So we did.

And, you know, what if the text we got during lunch, the one with the wrong resort--which text, btw, listed an actual room number--had been the only room-assignment text we'd gotten? We still would've had to go to the front desk, and if it had played out that way, I probably would've been panicking at lunch after receiving that text, thinking that we actually had no room anywhere, since (a) we didn't have a reservation at the other resort and had never had one and (b) I wouldn't've known that we did have a room at SSR. So in the end, it all was fine.

In fact, the one visit to the front desk that involved waiting in line was the absolutely necessary visit, since we had to make sure that we weren't being charged for the other room.

All that being said, I'm never doing online check-in again, since I don't want to have this experience again. I do understand this is not a common experience, but since it happened to me, it has affected my future actions.

 

[nkereina]

Yes, I think it was an IT glitch as well, however, I had to make sure I wasn't being charged for this. I didn't want to just assume I wouldn't be. One quirky IT glitch could lead to or be part of another.

Oh definitely! I would have wanted to make sure too. You never know with Disney IT.

And, you know, what if the text we got during lunch, the one with the wrong resort--which text, btw, listed an actual room number--had been the only room-assignment text we'd gotten? We still would've had to go to the front desk,

Right. You had an unfortunate circumstance where you had to go to the desk for this. But had this odd experience not happened, you wouldn't have had to go to the desk at all.

All that being said, I'm never doing online check-in again, since I don't want to have this experience again.

I'm not trying to argue with you, but the point I'm trying to make is that your experience likely wasn't even connected to online check-in. There's no way to confirm it, and it's certainly not a common occurrence. I'm not trying to talk you into giving online check-in another try, but I think the odd one-off experience you had unnecessarily scares others away from online check-in. When it functions as its supposed to, which it does the majority of the time, it can be a huge time saver for people and really streamlines the process.

 

[MomOTwins]

For mysterious reasons, I have always checked in online and provided my credit card info and pin, and have always had to go to the front desk to activate my room charging privileges after having the gift shop or an on-site eatery decline my MB. You'd think I would just give up and go to the front desk straight off, but no, I keep holding on to the hope that one day, online check in will work and I'll be able to bypass the desk.

I also have had multiple stays where I got the "your room is not yet ready" text well into the evening--after 5 or even 7 pm. So I had to go to the front desk to point out the texts and get a new room assigned. One time it resulted in an upgrade, so that was nice. But mostly I just wish the online check in would work and let me skip the front desk!

 

[Miffy]

I'm not trying to argue with you, but the point I'm trying to make is that your experience likely wasn't even connected to online check-in. There's no way to confirm it, and it's certainly not a common occurrence. I'm not trying to talk you into giving online check-in another try, but I think the odd one-off experience you had unnecessarily scares others away from online check-in. When it functions as its supposed to, which it does the majority of the time, it can be a huge time saver for people and really streamlines the process.

Hey, @nkereina, I'm not trying to argue with you, either, and I think your points are all well taken. I totally agree with you, actually, but I just wanted to clarify what happened to me. It was definitely a weird occurrence and not the norm.

 

[Miffy]

For mysterious reasons, I have always checked in online and provided my credit card info and pin, and have always had to go to the front desk to activate my room charging privileges after having the gift shop or an on-site eatery decline my MB. You'd think I would just give up and go to the front desk straight off, but no, I keep holding on to the hope that one day, online check in will work and I'll be able to bypass the desk.

I also have had multiple stays where I got the "your room is not yet ready" text well into the evening--after 5 or even 7 pm. So I had to go to the front desk to point out the texts and get a new room assigned. One time it resulted in an upgrade, so that was nice. But mostly I just wish the online check in would work and let me skip the front desk!

@MomOTwins--That's really interesting. I wonder if online check-in works better at some resorts than it does at others. Also, it's possible this is just some Disney IT screw-up, similar to a situation I have with making ADRs. The system will only take my Disney Visa card info, which isn't on file, btw, and always rejects my other credit card. I have zero idea why this is.

 

[nkereina]

Hey, @nkereina, I'm not trying to argue with you, either, and I think your points are all well taken. I totally agree with you, actually, but I just wanted to clarify what happened to me. It was definitely a weird occurrence and not the norm.

I hear you! Definitely not the norm - leave it to Disney to assign someone a room at the wrong hotel. LOL!

 

[slyster]

For mysterious reasons, I have always checked in online and provided my credit card info and pin, and have always had to go to the front desk to activate my room charging privileges after having the gift shop or an on-site eatery decline my MB. You'd think I would just give up and go to the front desk straight off, but no, I keep holding on to the hope that one day, online check in will work and I'll be able to bypass the desk.

I also have had multiple stays where I got the "your room is not yet ready" text well into the evening--after 5 or even 7 pm. So I had to go to the front desk to point out the texts and get a new room assigned. One time it resulted in an upgrade, so that was nice. But mostly I just wish the online check in would work and let me skip the front desk!

do these depend on the resort you stay at or is it random? That is why I wondered if some resorts are better handling the online check-ins and having everything ready as early as possible. OR you could say some resorts are just so much busier than others and it's a catch up game too.

 

[sponica]

do these depend on the resort you stay at or is it random? That is why I wondered if some resorts are better handling the online check-ins and having everything ready as early as possible. OR you could say some resorts are just so much busier than others and it's a catch up game too.

The reason my online check in didn't work was a stupid IT issue. I put in a phone number in the online check in field (my cell phone). Problem is the MDE system decided to import the number on my main disney account (an old land line). So I never got the text because the system sent a text to a land line I didn't have. We went to the front desk because we didn't get a text, and discovered that an old number was in there...and it was still there when I went to check something on my DCL account.