Room location requests - does arrival day make a difference?

[Farro]

As my trip inches closer, I am deciding on our request - I think I've got it.
Did it through touring plans.

Anyways, as I know my chances are slim to none, was wondering if the day of week you arrive makes any difference?
We arrive on a Wednesday, late October. I know it's crowded and I doubt many people are checking out on a Wednesday, lessening the chance of getting my request.

Do you think arrival day makes a difference? Not that it matters at this point, but just wondering.

 

[dansdad]

As my trip inches closer, I am deciding on our request - I think I've got it.
Did it through touring plans.

Anyways, as I know my chances are slim to none, was wondering if the day of week you arrive makes any difference?
We arrive on a Wednesday, late October. I know it's crowded and I doubt many people are checking out on a Wednesday, lessening the chance of getting my request.

Do you think arrival day makes a difference? Not that it matters at this point, but just wondering.

It matters, but not in the "checking in on Saturday is best and checking in on Wednesday is the worst". It's 100% dependent on occupancy rate and how many others requested the same. A high number of guests are checking in every single day.

 

[Shellyb84]

As my trip inches closer, I am deciding on our request - I think I've got it.
Did it through touring plans.

Anyways, as I know my chances are slim to none, was wondering if the day of week you arrive makes any difference?
We arrive on a Wednesday, late October. I know it's crowded and I doubt many people are checking out on a Wednesday, lessening the chance of getting my request.

Do you think arrival day makes a difference? Not that it matters at this point, but just wondering.

We've usually had great luck with Touring Plans, and we usually check in on a weekday. In addition to your TP fax, I would also call and have a note put on your reservation. I usually do both.

 

[BK2014]

Certainly checking in on a day where a large number of people is checking out helps because then there is more room inventory available. Even better if there are a lot of people checking out, and much less arriving that day. But it also has to do with length of stay, room type and the number of people checking in and out before and during the duration of your stay. It is generally an impossible thing to predict in advance. In my limited experience working at one independent hotel, the goal is to maximize occupancy, not necessarily to accommodate the highest number of room requests. Which is not to say that they won't try to accommodate your request if they can, it just probably is not the top priority.

 

[Farro]

Yeah- I assume the Polynesian Village's highest priority is not fulfilling my room request.

 

[jcvalenti]

Yeah- I assume the Polynesian Village's highest priority is not fulfilling my room request.

That is for sure. The staff at the Polynesian is clearly 100% focused on making sure they are fulfilling my room request for my 2 day stay in December for our 20th Anniversary

Seriously - I know what you're going through. All I asked for is PLEASE no "parking lot" view and PLEASE get me a balcony. I hope that happens - it's my first stay there and I've been wanting to stay there since I first went to Disney World in 1982. Just like with people "celebrating" a special event, I know just about everyone is making a request and they can't accommodate every request so I'm happy for whatever consideration I might get.

 

[FSU Girl]

The day might matter, but the only time I ever got my request so far was checking in on a Tuesday. The other days I was checking in on weekends so you might have good luck with your Wednesday day.

 

[AngiTN]

The problem is, there isn't one day of the week that is significantly better than the others. People are coming and going in large numbers every day. There is really nothing you can do to alter your odds of getting your request. Outside of keeping your request as broad as possible.

 

[Lynne M]

It matters, but not in any way that you can game out ahead of time. The single biggest factor in determining whether or not you'll get your request is availability. In other words, will rooms that meet your criteria be unoccupied on your arrival date. And that depends on when the people that are occupying those rooms will be checking out.

 

[Farro]

It matters, but not in any way that you can game out ahead of time. The single biggest factor in determining whether or not you'll get your request is availability. In other words, will rooms that meet your criteria be unoccupied on your arrival date. And that depends on when the people that are occupying those rooms will be checking out.

Yes - I was just surmising that my chances of people checking out of my requested area would be slimmer on a Wednesday vs a Saturday, due to less people checking out on Wednesdays.
But maybe more people check out during the middle of the week than I thought!

I realize there is not a way to figure it out, I was just wondering out loud...

 

[Jill29]

Personally I'm more apt to check in and out on a weekday. Often cheaper to fly on Tuesday-Thursday. More people might be coming and going than you'd think.

 

[AngiTN]

Personally I'm more apt to check in and out on a weekday. Often cheaper to fly on Tuesday-Thursday. More people might be coming and going than you'd think.

Yep, I truly do not think they have 1 day in a week with a higher turnover than any other. Maybe at one time in the past but not any more. Our last trip started on Wednesday and ended on Monday.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yep, I truly do not think they have 1 day in a week with a higher turnover than any other. Maybe at one time in the past but not any more. Our last trip started on Wednesday and ended on Monday.

I know guests are checking in and out all the time, but I would think that more guests (in comparison to other days of the week) would be checking out on a Sunday. I'm thinking of locals or people who are a 3 or 4 hour drive from Disney who may check in on a Friday or Saturday for a day or two, but then need to get back to work on Monday.

So I'm guessing Sunday might be a better day to check in and get your requests.

 

[mathdisney]

We've usually had great luck with Touring Plans, and we usually check in on a weekday. In addition to your TP fax, I would also call and have a note put on your reservation. I usually do both.

How many days in advance do you call ? Do you call the reservation desk at your resort? I am using Touring Plans as well.

 

[Shellyb84]

How many days in advance do you call ? Do you call the reservation desk at your resort? I am using Touring Plans as well.

When I'm using my TA, I give her my requests and she notes them when she makes the reservation. Otherwise, I just add them when I make the reservation, but from what I've heard rooms get assigned at 5 days out I think, so as long as it's before then it doesn't matter. I just call the main number on the Disney site. I think TP faxes the request at 5 days out.

 

[stenmarks]

I think it matters but only in terms of room availability. I assume they try to grant as many requests as possible, but I can only imagine the nightmare they face trying to grant requests!

 

[KJF]

I was under the impression that it matters more what time of day that you checked in. For example, with an earlier arrival, when they went to assign us a room one time we were able to ask if there was anything else & they switched us - although we need to wait to get into it longer, but that was fine w/ us. This time, we're coming in late - around 9pm, so I'm more concerned of just getting stuck w/ what's available. I've never done online check-in yet, but will be this time, so hoping that helps.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I used Touring Plans and did not get my request. Had the same requests with them and Disney. Maybe I'll have better luck in December with Touring Plans, when we hope to go back.

 

[Farro]

I used Touring Plans and did not get my request. Had the same requests with them and Disney. Maybe I'll have better luck in December with Touring Plans, when we hope to go back.

What did you request?

I am not expecting to get my request (oh, but i hope i do ). Luckily I've been told there really isn't a bad view at the Polynesian.

I should really stop reading the boards, I didn't even know I wanted to request anything until I read here.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I should really stop reading the boards, I didn't even know I wanted to request anything until I read here.

I can very much relate to this. I went my first few times not knowing any of this stuff, and we were happy as clams. Now I stress and ring my hands with each trip!

Over time I've had a few rooms that weren't quite what I wanted, but I tend to look back at those trips and shrug it off. It's the Poly and Disney after all, which is better than any day IRL.