Online check in? or not? that is the ?

[dreamscometrue]

Hi there~ Have 2 nights at SSR and then a continued 6 night stay at BWV. I have never used online check in and was looking for others experience with using it and having requests met. I requested upper floor, Congress Park for SSR because we are interested in walking to DTD and from what I have read that area allows for easy walking to DTD. Our flight arrives around 4:15 pm so I am considering online check in. When we leave SSR, Bell services will transfer our luggage to BWV and we are free to go to the park for the day. Since we will be arriving back from the park later in the day, should I online check in? my only request at BWV was Upper Floor. I completely realize there is no guarantees when a request is made, I am just wondering if online check in would be a better choice since we will be arriving late afternoon for each of our reservations. Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!! : )

 

[juncker]

People will have different opinions regarding online check-in. We did it for our stay last year at SSR. We were in the lobby less than 5 minutes. We requested to be in the Springs and got our request. Worked great. I'll be doing it again for our Treehouse stay later this year. I'm a believer.

(On a side note, you might want to add Springs as your 2nd choice for your SSR stay. It is very close to the boat dock to DTD).

Like I said though, many people don't like it. Their results for requests have not been met. Is this a problem with online check-in, or possibly just a problem that there weren't enough rooms to meet everyone's requests? You can't know.

Just know that online check-in is meant to be, stop in and pick up your packet and go to your room (if it's ready). Your room is pre-assigned, so if the previous family is slow to get out, you could be waiting while a different room possibly could be available at that time. Please though, if you are one of those people that are going to try and get a different room than the one they put you in, don't use online check-in. That just slows down the process. If you aren't willing to accept where they put you, do normal check-in.

I think that much of the success is going to be keeping your request general. I think that your requests are. People asking to get into a specific villa number probably don't have very good luck.

If you've never done it before, I would suggest you give it a chance. We've been happy so far, but I realize that isn't the case of everyone. Good luck!

 

[Cee]

I can't speak to a split stay since we've never done it. But we have been using online check-in since it's been offered and have found it successful each and every time. The last trip at BWV, we didn't even have to stand in line. A CM greeted us as we entered the lobby, asked our name and retrieved our packet and keycards for us. We were on our way in mere minutes. Awesome.

 

[Julylady]

I have done on-line check in for my last three stays and it has worked great each time. We usually have very simple requests, however. What we have liked best is that all three times our unit was ready for us before 11am (our flight arrives very early in the AM). When we check in online there is an option to tell them what time you expect to arrive. I am guessing that either they take our arrival time into consideration when assigning rooms or we have been very fortunate. Either way, check in was very quick and we were on way shortly.

 

[twinklebug]

I don't care for online check-in as I want to deal with a person not a machine when I arrive at check in on vacation. I program computers all day every day - dont want anything to do with them on my time off.

Also came in handy back a couple years ago when I had damaged a tendon in my foot before arrival and I was able to ask the CM if there was a chance I could be near the pool as I spent almost all my time off my feet and wouldn't have anything to do with a scooter. She gave me the opportunity to wait for a room right near the pool, otherwise we'd have been some distance away.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't care for online check-in as I want to deal with a person not a machine when I arrive at check in on vacation. I program computers all day every day - dont want anything to do with them on my time off.

When you arrive, you're dealing with a person. A person who hands you the packet and goes over it with you.

I am not urging you to do online checkin; it just sounds like you think you don't speak to a human when you arrive.

 

[twinklebug]

When you arrive, you're dealing with a person. A person who hands you the packet and goes over it with you.

I am not urging you to do online checkin; it just sounds like you think you don't speak to a human when you arrive.

From what I understood there's a kiosk involved before that person helps you out... was I wrong?

 

[Cee]

I've always dealt with people when I arrive, never a machine. And I've done online check-in for the past 4-5 years.

 

[Donna M]

From what I understood there's a kiosk involved before that person helps you out... was I wrong?

I haven't seen any kiosks, just a separate line at the end of the counter.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I haven't seen any kiosks, just a separate line at the end of the counter.

That's correct, a different line!

Did on-line check in once at SSR, keys and packet ready, lickety split!

I generally don't do on-line and it takes about 15 minutes maybe I'll try it again in August for Kidani!

 

[nolanboys]

We'Ve done online checkin and liked it. We requested a THV close to the grandstand section and when we found our out it wasn't, a nice CM was able to switch it for us. There's something magical about arriving on ME and having the CM welcome you by name. All the other times, our room requests were met and it sped up the process. We will be using it again for our November trip.