Online Check-in Question

[disneyworldfamily]

Do any of you do online check in, in advance? We never do it since, as Canadians, we have to go to the front desk to get our magic bands, anyways. The wait is never long, plus, it's part of the experience of kicking off our vacation, checking in

Wondering if I'm missing out on any advantages to check in online.

Thanks!

 

[cecilia218]

It's been a number of years since our last visit to WDW and I remember back then printing everything in doubles and bringing the paperwork with me to the counter. These were pre-MagicBand days. I think for our trip this August, I will try the online check-in but will probably still print documents and take with me. And since we haven't been back since the introduction of the MagicBands, I can just see myself at the front desk asking the poor CM many, many questions

 

[xStitch]

I've done the online check in before. I've put my preferences in and the last two trips have gotten exactly what I had asked for. So I guess if you have a specific building or floor/room preference you want, you can try it.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I have this same question! We are planning on a February trip and my husband and step kids have never been to WDW so I was excited about the idea of walking up - all of us - to the CM at check-in and letting him/her start off our trip in a fun way! I am new to the magic bands since I haven't been in 7 years but I'm sure I will have figured that out before then and will have already made FP+ ressies and dining ressies. But I thought it would be good/fun for the rest of the family to hear about the resort, the transportation, extra magic hours, etc. etc.

While it would be cool to do online check-in, I think I will opt not to just to have the experience. Thoughts on this?

 

[Sue M]

I've been doing online check in. The advantage to me is all the paper work is done, I can put in estimated time of arrival, and room requests.

 

[chrispeto]

We do online check in every time we go. You still have to go to the front desk they. They have a dedicated area for online check in. Online check is quicker, you go to dedicated area they punch your name in and all your info already filled out they hand you your magic bands and welcome package. Most times we have done online check in our room was ready, exception being busy season.

 

[Blackadder337]

I did the online check-in but it was just more for a piece of mind. I figure if I do the online check-in, its yet one more document with a conformation / reservation / id number etc. so in the unlikely hood there was an issue with our plans, I can spread them all out on the counter and say "here's my stuff... make it right!!"

But at least in our experience, it was super smooth sailing from time we landed, until the time we headed home.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

For those who do online checkin and have previously done the old school checkin, do you get the same welcome feeling and service level you received before? Do they tell you about the resort and amenities and info about the parks?

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We do online check-in to make sure they have our room requests early ---- although we do add specific to our reservations at booking as well.

To be honest I don't think it makes things any faster at check-in --- I can see where for US visitors who get their Magic Bands in the mail pre-arrival it might be more beneficial though. For Canadians I think it more about making sure your room requests are seen by the room assigner when they assign the rooms ... It's sort of annoying that they don't offer the full-deal online check in (since they won't text room numbers to Canadian phones.)

 

[Blackadder337]

For those who do online checkin and have previously done the old school checkin, do you get the same welcome feeling and service level you received before? Do they tell you about the resort and amenities and info about the parks?

We did the online check-in and in our case they definitely went through everything on arrival day. We were welcomed just as friendly as "they" say you should be. There was some polite conversation about our travel so far and a few other pleasantries. When it got down to business, they pulled out the resort map, circled our room, pointed out where the nearest.... everything... was from our room, where to find the other stuff that's not near our room. We were told about events, dining, shops, services etc.. The girl at the counter even recommended that before we head to our room we stop and get our refillable mugs and take a drink back with us. As we headed to our room, I definitely felt like I was told everything I needed to know and I was quite happy with the service. The rest we just sort of asked as the situation came up.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

We did the online check-in and in our case they definitely went through everything on arrival day. We were welcomed just as friendly as "they" say you should be. There was some polite conversation about our travel so far and a few other pleasantries. When it got down to business, they pulled out the resort map, circled our room, pointed out where the nearest.... everything... was from our room, where to find the other stuff that's not near our room. We were told about events, dining, shops, services etc.. The girl at the counter even recommended that before we head to our room we stop and get our refillable mugs and take a drink back with us. As we headed to our room, I definitely felt like I was told everything I needed to know and I was quite happy with the service. The rest we just sort of asked as the situation came up.

This is fantastic news Thank you!

 

[Blackadder337]

This is fantastic news Thank you!

I should mention (in case it matters) that this was at Port Orleans Riverside. Oh and I forgot to mention that as we can't get our bands shipped to Canada, they also gave us our magic bands and luggage tags at check in too. Granted by that time the luggage tags were too late, but its a nice little souvenir, or good for future travels