Online check in??? Yes or no and why

[colleenr]

I'm trying to decide whether or not to check in online or not. What r the benefits? I would think t would b better to check in in-person... TIA

 

[BigAlsGal]

I do online check in. I like it because they know what time I'm arriving and even when it's been early (8am) my room has always been ready.

 

[colleenr]

Just alittle worried about it as I asked for bed rails and building requests.

 

[Accident]

do the online checkin but call them up for piece of mind to verify all your needs are indicated on the reservations.

 

[Mdieter]

We did online check in. We requested a pack n play and bed rails. We double checked at the front before our rooms were even ready and they didn't have those requests written anywhere but as soon as we went to our rooms, I called and both came almost right away.

 

[msmama]

I do online check-in because even if I still do have to wait in line, I don't have to wait as long, and there is a separate On-line Check-in line. I'll be honest, even when doing online check in, I've always ended up going to the front desk (unless staying CL which has a different check-in procedure anyway) because my room hasn't been ready (mostly my fault because I never seem to estimate my arrival time right).

Back in the days I requested bed rails, I usually called the "front desk" from the room and they were delivered then (It wouldn't surprise me if they never put them in your room for when you arrive, just incase of room changes).

The way I see it, if everything works out perfectly with online check in, I get to skip the front desk. If something is wrong, I'll have to go to the front desk (which I would've done anyway, had I not done online check in) so really, I'm willing to take the chance of skipping!

 

[colleenr]

thanks for everyone's replies so far.

 

[blackpearl77]

I forgot to request our bed rails this trip! So I called the front deck from our room and asked for bed rails and they brought them right over. No problem! We still went to the customs house to check in since we wanted to leave a credit card and get a birthday button.

 

[colleenr]

So do you still need to go to the front desk? I have read where people still had to go to an online check in line. If so then what is the advantage of checking in online.?

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

So do you still need to go to the front desk? I have read where people still had to go to an online check in line. If so then what is the advantage of checking in online.?

No, you can go straight to your room.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm trying to decide whether or not to check in online or not. What r the benefits? I would think t would b better to check in in-person... TIA

I have been thinking about this since yesterday and I can't think of a single reason NOT to do online check in. And I can't think of a reason why waiting in line to check in in person could possibly be better.

 

[Accident]

I have been thinking about this since yesterday and I can't think of a single reason NOT to do online check in. And I can't think of a reason why waiting in line to check in in person could possibly be better.

I've been free room upgraded at in person check in where I have never been with online check in I've always needed to reset my pin and make sure my daughter (with her own mde account) can do room charges so it's just faster to stop at the front desk, check in and be setup once. I still fill it out though so it has my room preference.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

Online check-in worked very well for us with kids. It let the kids let some steam loose in our own area while we sorted things out. One parent could handle both kids much more easily in the room than in the lobby. We did a split stay so we used it twice. Upon arrival from the airport, it let us get the kids directly into a room without the dreaded lobby wait/whine. We did have to get charging set up, but we did that with a quick stop on the way back out (for which the lobby TV was just barely entertaining enough). When we moved to the new resort - it was even better because we knew to wait for the text that our room was indeed ready instead of leaving the park early only to be told to wait. (A lot easier to keep kids entertained in a park than in a resort lobby!).

Even though we had to stop by to fix charging - we could do that on our own schedule and when the line was short. I am a big fan!

 

[SweetMissy]

You still have to go to the front desk. There's a separate line for those who have checked in online. It's just faster because you have already given the info of who's in the room/rooms, credit card info, etc. You'll get a welcome packet and your room number.

 

[texasroni75]

We just returned yesterday - we used online check-in. We received a text that our room was ready as we were boarding our plane to head to WDW. We were given our requested bldg location. I did, however, stop at the front desk because I wanted to change my PIN code (it was set from a previous trip and I didn't remember what it was), and decided at the last minute to designate a different card for room charges. While I was there they also asked for our magic bands and did something to "double-check" that they would open our room door. Took all of 3 minutes. If not for the changes I wanted to make, I could have gone straight to my room. Dining, etc. was already activated before we got there.

 

[disneyjes]

We did it and it was wonderful! It was our first trip so I have nothing to compare it to, but, it was very easy and we plan on doing it again!

 

[pooh4evr]

We did Online in October, got a text at the airport before we took off that our rooms were ready. SO we went straight there. No waiting so very easy for us at least.