Room Not ready at check-in???

[JamesLynn]

Our rooms at Coronado are guaranteed between 3 and 5. Our housekeeping does work very hard to get the rooms done as fast as possible. Unfortunately, there are days when we have nearly 900 room checking out and about the same checking in, making it a very long day full of lots of cleaning for the housekeeping team.
As always, you can request to have a clean and ready room when you check in and list the approximate time you will be arriving. We can try to accomidate you so that there is a room ready for you are checking in. However, do remember that a request is exactly what a means, it's just a resquest, not a guarantee.
We do try at the front desk to get a clean and ready for every guest that checks in, but somedays it's just not possible.

 

[EnnEss]

Disneyland Resorts do not allow you to check in prior to 3PM and your room might not be ready even then.

This isn't true at all. Been there three times in the past two years and every time got a room on arrival, always before 12 noon. They dont allow check in? Where did you get this idea from? THey might not have a room if you're early but they allow check in whenever. Do you think they make people all wait until three then deal with them all? That's a blatant lie.

 

[Deb & Bill]

This isn't true at all. Been there three times in the past two years and every time got a room on arrival, always before 12 noon. They dont allow check in? Where did you get this idea from? THey might not have a room if you're early but they allow check in whenever. Do you think they make people all wait until three then deal with them all? That's a blatant lie.

I got this idea from my trip to DL where we arrived at the Grand Californian hotel before 3PM and were told we couldn't check in until after 3PM. We specifically asked because we told them at WDW you can check in any time, but you might not get into your room until after 3PM. The CM told us DL was different from WDW.

 

[Poohbear123]

Asking is being assertive. Yelling or being rude is being aggressive. I always try to make the point that being assertive DOES NOT involve rudeness.

I learned this on the DIS about 3 years ago...I usually arrive around 9-10 am, and I ask if the "room is ready." When she/he says No, I than ask WHAT room is ready now, in building #! If there is one available, I take it! I also note on the ressie that I will be arriving at such and such a time, and need a room than, always works, except during VERY BUSY TIMES ie: Summer/ Christmas/ etc.

 

[nurse.darcy]

I have been to ASMu, POR, BWI and POFQ. I usually take a red eye and arrive at the resort no later than 7:30 a.m. (yes, I did say 7:30 a.m.) I have been able to get a room each time except for BWI, which was ready by the time I went to the park and played, then went back. Not exactly sure what time that was but I know it was after 3 p.m., probably closer to 5. Keep in mind that I had no requests on any of these reservations. I am able bodied and travel alone or with other adults so I let those with needs (i.e. children, special needs, etc.) request location rooms and view rooms are not necessarily worth it in my opinion - at least so far.

I think that if you go with the attitude that waiting for your room is not an option, you are just going to go have fun, you will be fine.

 

[EnnEss]

I got this idea from my trip to DL where we arrived at the Grand Californian hotel before 3PM and were told we couldn't check in until after 3PM. We specifically asked because we told them at WDW you can check in any time, but you might not get into your room until after 3PM. The CM told us DL was different from WDW.

By check in, do you mean your room wasn't ready or they literally wouldnt even bother talking to you until post 3pm. I'd hope the former happened. If it was the latter, was there a line with a few dozen people waiting for 3pm? Sounds like a real disaster, hopefully that wasn't the case. Checking in means you go up to the desk, and tell them you're there and they take your name and try to get a room going for you. They just turned you away and said come back at 3pm? This is something worth writing their customer service about. That's attrocious service.

Im sorry you had such a bad experience there. I'd have found a new hotel immediately. That's not their policy though, I can gurantee it. I've been there the three times in the past couple years, but i've been there over a dozen times in the past 6 or 7, and never come up against that. Must have been a really surly employee you got.

The cm was right about DLR being different though, its managed completely separtely so different policies are common, although its usually DLR coming up with the winning strategy then being copied over to WDW.

 

[Deb & Bill]

By check in, do you mean your room wasn't ready or they literally wouldnt even bother talking to you until post 3pm. I'd hope the former happened. If it was the latter, was there a line with a few dozen people waiting for 3pm? Sounds like a real disaster, hopefully that wasn't the case. Checking in means you go up to the desk, and tell them you're there and they take your name and try to get a room going for you. They just turned you away and said come back at 3pm? This is something worth writing their customer service about. That's attrocious service. ....

We arrived about 2PM. There was no line. We walked up to the front desk and asked to check in. We were told check in is at 3PM. So we said "okay", asked a few other questions and walked around until 3PM. It wasn't a big deal for us. We hadn't been to DL before and we had lots to see. We came back at 3PM, there was no line, checked in and got into our room immediately. I had stayed at other hotels in the past where you couldn't check in until check in time (not theme park hotels, just general business stays).

We were a bit surprised at all the differences in DL policy vs WDW policy. Like your room key is your room key. No charging privileges attached to your room key. No tickets attached to your room key. The best they did at DL was make it a luggage tag afterwards with a hole in it and a place to write your name and address.

This was no disaster. There was no need to write a complaint. We understood the situation completely. Why get all bent out of shape about something so trivial?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Checking in means you go up to the desk, and tell them you're there and they take your name and try to get a room going for you. They just turned you away and said come back at 3pm? This is something worth writing their customer service about. That's attrocious service.

Again, respectfully: Any hospitality industry room transaction that takes place prior to the posted/published time that check-in starts is, officially, preregistration.

And again, guests who expect that "3 PM check-in" means that the room will be ready and the transaction completed right at 3 PM should, conversely, expect to be at the counter exactly AT 3 PM. Fair's fair.

Instead, generally, check-in STARTS at, or is after, 3 (or 4, or 5) PM. The hotel strives to have the room ready and available prior to that time, but sometimes it's just impossible.

 

[skipperkim]

I guess I've never really worried about my room being ready when I checked in. If I get there before 3pm and the room isn't ready, that's not WDW fault. I choose my arrival time, not them. I just drop my bags off at Bell Services and off to see Mickey I go.

 

[goofy4tink]

I understand the reasoning and I agree with it, but I can't help thinking its funny that they aren't on a fixed schedule to give you your room at 3pm even when you've paid thousands of dollars up front, but you better be out of that room at 11am on your last day darn it!
Just kidding, of course. I know they have to have everyone out by 11am to have a snowball's chance in hades of getting all the rooms check-in ready by 3pm.

All my paperwork has always said checkin is after 3:00, and checkout is at 11:00. Now, when housekeeping arrives at my door at 8:15 on my departure day and asks me when I'm leaving, I tell her. It irks me no end to have them banging on my door that early. Now, I hang out the 'do not disturb' sign so they don't knock.
I like it when my room is ready, but if it isn't ready by 3:00, so be it. I'm usually in a park enjoying myself. Only one time have I had to wander around a resort, killing time before I could get into a room. That one time was the same day that a huge convention was leaving POR. My dd and I moved over from BCV that morning...we got to POR about noontime. They told me there was a room ready for us...but I hated the location. We were there for only two days and I really didn't want to be traipsing all over creation from a room on the hindside of the resort. So, the CM told me there was a room coming available in bldg 14 if I wanted to wait. No problem...that room was perfect. So, we ate some lunch, walked around and such. I started calling the phone number they gave me at about 2:30..nothing. Tried again at 3:30...still nothing. By this time we were pooped and getting cranky. We had had BCV move our luggage so we didn't have any swim suits. Finally, at 5:00 our room was ready. But, no luggage yet. Our luggage hadn't even been moved from BCV yet!!! It took 2 more calls to BC to get our luggage..didn't get there until close to 7:00!!! Not a great experience. But it seems that housekeeping got way behind because of the huge number of guests leaving at the exact same time, and I could have had that room..so it was my choice.

But, I never expect my room at a regular Disney resort to be ready before 3:00...they usually are though. And DVC? Well, they aren't ready until after 4:00...I'm about 50/50 on that .....sometimes the villa is ready before, sometimes not.

 

[Lynn5700]

Ask for another ready room at check in.

 

[ElizabethB]

What strikes me as surprising is this notion that "your room will be ready between 3 and 5 p.m."

When did that happen? It used to be at WDW that your room would be ready no later than 3 p.m. unless you were staying at a DVC property, and then the time was 4 p.m.

Once when staying at BWV, our room still wasn't ready at 5 p.m. and they apologized profusely and gave us a complimentary dinner at Spoodles for our inconvenience.

What's going on? We're actually here at BWV now and housekeeping has been good when it happens, but the attitude is very much we'll clean your room when we get to it. We left one day about 1:30 p.m. and returned around midnight to find our room had not been serviced. We had a message on our phone -- delivered at 3 p.m. -- that since we had our privacy sign out when the housekeeper went past our room that morning, we would have to call and specifically request cleaning or we wouldn't get it. That didn't help us much since we were gone to the parks from 1:30 p.m. until midnight. Really unbelievable and something that would never happen at non-Disney deluxe hotels.

And, yesterday morning, we had our privacy sign out and the housekeeper still banged on the door wondering when we'd be out of our room so she could clean. Good grief. The housekeepers are running the asylum.

I get the feeling that there is a staff shortage and no interest on WDW's part in hiring more housekeepers to solve the problem -- especially at the value and moderate resorts. And, most especially at the DVC resorts. Even if you stay on a CRO reservation and pay a huge amount of money -- like we do -- the attitude at the DVC's seems to be "you're on your own and we'll clean up if it fits our schedule".

As for turndown, if they come by and you happen to be in your room at the time that housekeeping feels like doing turndown, you don't get it at all. Sorry -- fit into the DVC housekeeping schedule or get lost.

I do have to say that when we stayed GF RPC a couple of months ago, housekeeping and turndown were done at the convenience of the guest, not the convenience of the housekeeping staff. But, that's the only place at WDW that I can think of that accommodates the guest anymore.

Just part of the overall decline at WDW if you ask me.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I get the feeling that there is a staff shortage and no interest on WDW's part in hiring more housekeepers to solve the problem

I think this is exactly what's going on. Management would rather tell guests "your room will be ready between 3 and 5" than hire the number of housekeepers they need to allow people to get in their rooms at 3.

And I have NEVER stayed at a non-Disney hotel and been told my room would not be ready at 3. I've ALWAYS been able to check-in and go to my room at check-in time at non-Disney hotels.

I think it's a bit disingenuous of the cast members who are coming to this board and saying that REGISTRATION is at 3 but that you shouldn't expect to get into your room at 3. "We have until 5." Says who, and since when??

 

[dclfun]

I think the wording is "check in begins at 3Pm ( or 4 Pm for DVC) and check out is before 11:00 am". There is no wording as to when a room is guaranteed to be available and I can see why. There is way too much of a possibility of the scenarios already mentioned- something broken in the room, room needing a carpet cleaning or more thorough cleaning, guests not vacating their room on time, etc. I've also been someone who's had success in asking for a ready room if the one to which I've been preassigned isn't available. This is often a difficult challenge for the resort as I need a fully accessible room, but each time I've asked, a CM has searched and usually found one for me. As another poster mentioned, sometimes I'll be told that the room I'd been pre-assigned to is in a better location or has a better view, and then it's up to me to decide which is more valuable- getting into a room right away or having the "better" room. In all the years we've been coming to WDW and staying in their resorts ( the last two years we've stayed on property an average of 75 nights ) I've only had one issue with a check in past 4PM ( this was at BWV's where we later found a mousekeeper in our villa watching a soap opera!). Explaining your situation in advance or at check in goes a long way- you had a long, early flight, someone in your party isn't feeling well or has special needs, you have an infant/toddler, etc.- I've always found CM's to be as accommodating as possible, but sometimes they can't accomplish something that is beyond their control.---Kathy

 

[kaytieeldr]

Really unbelievable and something that would never happen at non-Disney deluxe hotels.

Are you sure? You were apparently not happy (understandably!) that your room was not cleaned one day because you had the "Privacy Please" - the equivalent of Do Not Disturb - sign on your door, then you were not happy the next day because despite the sign AND your room not being cleaned, Housekeeping attempted to clean your room. Honestly, it sounds like the only way you would have been happy would have been to have someone from housekeeping lurking quietly and invisibly with a clear view of your door, and to sweep in the instant you left the room and moved out of her/his line of vision.

But my "are you sure" question specifically addresses that, at least in my experience, yes, any guest who did not wish to be disturbed would not be disturbed - even if that ultimately meant not getting the room clean. As far as housekeeping knows, "Privacy Please" means the guest wants, well, privacy.

As for Disney not wanting to hire enough housekeepers, well, it's probably a combination of that and people not wanting to to clean up after other people.

 

[eliza61]

What's going on? We're actually here at BWV now and housekeeping has been good when it happens, but the attitude is very much we'll clean your room when we get to it. We left one day about 1:30 p.m. and returned around midnight to find our room had not been serviced. We had a message on our phone -- delivered at 3 p.m. -- that since we had our privacy sign out when the housekeeper went past our room that morning, we would have to call and specifically request cleaning or we wouldn't get it. That didn't help us much since we were gone to the parks from 1:30 p.m. until midnight. Really unbelievable and something that would never happen at non-Disney deluxe hotels.

.

Not understanding this one. I work my way through college at the Hilton & Waldolf. Privacy please or do not disturb signs meant just that. If you had that on your door, we did not come in. At most we may get manager to call if the sign was up more than 1 day

 

[marsrunner]

Why exactly would you expect your room to be cleaned if the privacy sign is out? I'd be mad if they DID clean it if I had the privacy sign out!

 

[Lynn5700]

My DVC room at SSR was ready before 3..must have gotten lucky.

 

[dburg30]

. We left one day about 1:30 p.m. and returned around midnight to find our room had not been serviced. We had a message on our phone -- delivered at 3 p.m. -- that since we had our privacy sign out when the housekeeper went past our room that morning, we would have to call and specifically request cleaning or we wouldn't get it. That didn't help us much since we were gone to the parks from 1:30 p.m. until midnight. Really unbelievable and something that would never happen at non-Disney deluxe hotels.

LOL, thanks for the laugh, I really needed it.. How DARE they go past your room when you had the privacy please sign out. Then since you were upset that they didnt clean with the privacy please sign out, you got mad when they knocked on the door the next day even though you had it out.. Make up their minds for them!

 

[greenpea89]

I know it wasn't the OP's question but when we were at DL (GC) they had a great program where you could call a special number written on your confirmation letter two hours before you arrived to pre-register. It could be as early as you liked (in fact we did it one time a little before 9:00am) as long as it was the day of your arrival. When we called we were told that our room probably wouldn't be ready until after 3 but to let check-in know when we arrived and they would store our luggage. Both times I did this we were simply handed our keys when we walked up to the registration desk. I guess we were just really lucky that our rooms were ready but I LOVED the preregistration number both in concept and execution. It made the wait time super short at check-in and struck me as super efficient. We first used this two years ago and again this September.
I'm so sorry to hear that a previous posted had to wait until 3 to check in at DL - was this more than two years ago? If you plan to go again, I would suggest that you totally take advantage of the pre-registration number - it's awesome!