Online Checkin, or not?

[wattage]

Do you think we could check in earlier by showing up on the day of our reservation a little early? Or is it better to use online check in? What are the chances of requesting a better room location in person? ANy thoughts or experiences are appreciated.

 

[dansdad]

Do you think we could check in earlier by showing up on the day of our reservation a little early? Or is it better to use online check in?

You can check in as early as 6AM whether you do Online Check In or not. You're room probably won't be ready that early, but you can check in.

What are the chances of requesting a better room location in person? ANy thoughts or experiences are appreciated.

Rooms are assigned 2-3 days before you arrive so it's best to get any room requests in before you arrive. Your best bet is to call the Main Reservations line and have the CM add your requests to your reservation. This can be done any time from the day you book up until 4-5 days out. When within that time frame makes no difference.

 

[rwdavis2]

There is no disadvantage to online checkin.

 

[Lynne M]

Yep, there's really no reason not to do online check-in. It's not the same thing as checking in at the resort, and it's not a replacement for that. It's just a little bit of a timesaver, in that you can do things like assigning a credit card to your account ahead of time instead of doing it at the desk. You can use it to make some basic room requests. And I think Disney sees it as a way to get people engaged and hyped about their stay.

 

[loves to dive]

I do on-line check in about a week before I go, sometimes a little later because I've been known to change my resort up to the cancellation day if I find a better deal. We usually arrive around 2 or so since we drive down and I always put early check in as a priority. If I haven't received the room ready text (which has only happened twice and I go at least twice a year) I go ahead and go in and check in even though I have done it on line. I like to let them know I'm physically there and I ask them if there is anything ready since I really don't care about views and locations. I've had a little luck with having them find something but not very often.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Do you think we could check in earlier by showing up on the day of our reservation a little early? Or is it better to use online check in? What are the chances of requesting a better room location in person? ANy thoughts or experiences are appreciated.

Whether or not you check in online or not won’t affect requests. You can mention on your online check in preferences if you’d rather check in early or prioritize other choices like higher room level etc. I would also send your room preferences in, I think most do it via fax. When Disney can accommodate room requests they usually do but it really depends what they have available. We’ve been lucky and have always had our requests honored.

 

[morrik5]

Our CAA Disney rep will be phoning down next week for us to request a more specific area of sites at FW. Our loop requests were made when we first reserved. When I did online checkin yesterday it asked us if we had pull out awnings and/or slides or if early checkin was more important. It didn't ask me for site specifics, perhaps because the loops had already been mentioned on the reservation? Not sure what the difference is for resort hotel rooms though.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You probably don't want to do online check in if you have specific needs or requests. Check in in person as early as you can to see if you would be able to get those requests or needs met.

 

[ginny65]

Are there any problems doing online check in and then changing resorts if a better deal comes along?

 

[disneyvoice]

Nope. We have done this several times. Your online check in just gets cancelled along with the resort. When you book a new resort you can do online check in for that one. We have always ended up with exactly what we requested when we have done this, in other words - we haven't NOT gotten our requests because we had previously cancelled a resort room for which we had already done online check in.

 

[sbd78]

So we booked through a TA. Are we more likely to get our requests if we have her call and add them, or is it no different if we call and add them ourselves?

 

[bumbershoot]

So we booked through a TA. Are we more likely to get our requests if we have her call and add them, or is it no different if we call and add them ourselves?

They generally won't talk to you about a TA-booked reservation...

 

[DSLRuser]

we always do on line check in. If the room text has not been sent by 11am or so when we arrive, we go to the front desk. in most cases, they can get us into a room right away. I am sure it is one of the less desirable rooms, but that doesn't bother us.

 

[sbd78]

They generally won't talk to you about a TA-booked reservation...

Thanks for the reply. I will just ask her to call, then.

 

[ginny65]

I just did the on-line check-in and it said that I was all set with regard to pin code and credit card. Do they just remember my pin and credit card from last year's stay? It didn't even give me an option to key anything in this time.

 

[AngiTN]

I just did the on-line check-in and it said that I was all set with regard to pin code and credit card. Do they just remember my pin and credit card from last year's stay? It didn't even give me an option to key anything in this time.

Yep. It's there forever, unless you remove it or change it

 

[ginny65]

Yep. It's there forever, unless you remove it or change it

Thank you! We are going straight to EMH at AK so I wanted to make sure the credit card and PIN were attached to our account so that we could use our MB's if we wanted to charge food, etc.