Room Requests/Assignments

[CindiF]

Here's my request for CSR:

Cabanas, preferably 9A or 9B
If not Cabanas, then Casitas.

Hope they think I'm reasonable! LOL

 

[kaytieeldr]

Here's my request:
King bed due to not being able to get an ECV in and out of a double-bed room. Period. The CM was surprised I didn't want to request ANYTHING else.

 

[TxTiggergal]

I'm actually thinking of not making any room requests this year. Every year, I have had something to request, but honestly, I can't think of anything for this trip! We are staying at the GF, and my only real desire is to have a balcony or patio, and I am pretty sure all the rooms there have one or the other. There is not a particular bldg or location we are hoping for, so I am probably going to let the chips fall where they may this time. It seems strange to not be making any requests, but I don't want to do it just for the sake of doing it. Anyone else feel like I do, or am I in the minority with this notion?

 

[sueh]

When I made my reservations back in Febuary for my trip I asked if at all possible to have connecting rooms as we have 2 rooms and we will be vacationing together.

I was on the phone with guest services for something entirely different and wanted to confirm that this request was on my reservation.
She stated that it was and that it will be connecting rooms.
She also told me that connecting rooms requests are guaranteed. Interesting.

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

When I made my reservations back in Febuary for my trip I asked if at all possible to have connecting rooms as we have 2 rooms and we will be vacationing together.

I was on the phone with guest services for something entirely different and wanted to confirm that this request was on my reservation.
She stated that it was and that it will be connecting rooms.
She also told me that connecting rooms requests are guaranteed. Interesting.

I guess because most people who request connecting rooms request them because they have children that will be staying in the other room. If you have more than 2 kids, Pop can't put part of your family in one room and the other part half way across the resort.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, they can, if your party consists of at least two adults. I'm not saying they will, or would, if it's at ALL avoidable - but having two adults and six (or even eight, if two are under age three) with two four-person-max rooms reserved means one adult could stay with three or four of the children, and the other adult could stay with the other children.

Given that there have been several instances just among DISers where even a sole adult with too many children for one room has not been able to get connecting rooms (see posts, including quotes of those incidents, by minnie61650), I'm not sure why people continue to claim that parties with X children must be assigned to connecting rooms :

 

[Cool-Beans]

It is difficult for a hotel to assign rooms because they don't know if someone will add an extra day or leave early or just cancel. They don't know who is leaving at 7:30 and who is leaving at 10:00, much less which room will be cleaned when.

Most hotels assign the room at check-in. The desk clerk puts in what is needed - King smoking, double non-smoking, whatever - and a little box pops up telling them which rooms are vacant and clean...and they pick one. If there are no vacant and clean rooms, they pick a vacant room, make up a key, and tell people that the room isn't ready yet, here's the key, come back later.

It is possible that Disney does it differently. I doubt it, though. If they were pre-assigning rooms, then they could just pre-key everyone and give people slightly better service.

You can request stuff, but they can't always fill your request. And the more qualifications you add to your request, the lower the chances they'll find the room.

Good luck!!

 

[mbanks21]

Disney assigns the rooms 5-7 days prior so you have a much higher chance of getting connecting rooms than any other resort.

 

[vod2117]

This has happened with me many times at the Disney resorts. Mor than 2 weeks prior to your arrival you can make room requests or any other requests you may have directly with Central Reservation. But if you want to make requests 2 weeks or less prior to your arrival yoou will want to make the rquests direct with the main desk or club level desk at your resort.

 

[DISNUT21]

Update 7/4:
I actually contacted Disney to give them my requests for AKL. Since we are going on a grand gatherings and my family is big, I need to have my nephews in the room next door as I am they taking them on their first trip to the world, so I requested that along with a zebra trail either 3rd or 4th floor. (Keeping my fingers crossed) but I also asked if there was any way I would be able to upgrade to a villa or perhaps the presidential/vice presidential suite and they told me those are reserved for VIG's (very important guests) and they are held until days prior to arrival... are there any prior or present CM's which can tell me if this is true? I dont seem to understand but everytime I call I get the same Grand Gatherings CM and shes extremely rude. It seems to be that she has a case of the why are you bothering me with this attitude, and overall it is very undisney like.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Update 7/4:
I actually contacted Disney to give them my requests for AKL. Since we are going on a grand gatherings and my family is big, I need to have my nephews in the room next door as I am they taking them on their first trip to the world, so I requested that along with a zebra trail either 3rd or 4th floor.

First of all, I'm glad that you were finally able to get your requests noted. Unfortunately, they can't guarantee that your nephews will be in the room next to you. You may "need" it, but they can't guarantee it. Considering you have a number of requests listed and it sounds like multiple reservations tied together by GG, I'd be sure that they know the priority is the adjacent or connecting rooms (not sure which one you need).

(Keeping my fingers crossed) but I also asked if there was any way I would be able to upgrade to a villa or perhaps the presidential/vice presidential suite and they told me those are reserved for VIG's (very important guests) and they are held until days prior to arrival... are there any prior or present CM's which can tell me if this is true? I dont seem to understand but everytime I call I get the same Grand Gatherings CM and shes extremely rude. It seems to be that she has a case of the why are you bothering me with this attitude, and overall it is very undisney like.

I'm confused, does Grand Gathering make reservations, or do they just assist large groups with planning? If they can't make reservations, then you should call CRO to see what's available for villas and suites. I've never heard of them being blocked just in case a VIP calls at the last minute, but maybe someone paid a deposit to have it held. In either case, it does sound like a strange thing for a CM to say, so I'd call CRO and just verify if there are any open in inventory. For what it's worth, I think it's highly unlikely that a villa would be available. They're still under construction and it appears those that are open, are being used by DVC owners. I don't know what your budget is, but just be aware that the VP Suite is $2045 per night.


Good luck with it.

 

[aubriee]

Here's my request:
King bed due to not being able to get an ECV in and out of a double-bed room. Period. The CM was surprised I didn't want to request ANYTHING else.

When my mom travels with me, she has an ECV. It's a tight fit sometimes, but we've always gotten the double beds.

You might be surprised at what some CMs consider unreasonable. A couple of years ago I was staying at CBR. I paid for a preferred room and requested Martinique, bottom floor, close as possible to food court, because I was traveling with someone in an ECV. When my confirmation was sent to my email, the request was noted on it, along with the fact that 'mother has an ECV'. Since it was my first request listed and since my mom was in an ECV you would have thought putting us on the bottom floor would have been a no brainer. Nope, when we checked in we were assigned to a top floor. The check in CM acted very irritated and seemed to think we were being unreasonable to insist on bottom floor room. Excuse me there are no elevators at CBR. How were we supposed to get the ECV upstairs?

Usually all I request is bottom floor, close to food court and buses, but we are seldom assigned in those areas. I simply ask very nicely at check in and have usually gotten something close to our requests. For our Sept trip at PORS I have requested bottom floor, buildings 14, 18, or 27 and again have it noted that I'll be with someone with an ECV. Are my requests considered unreasonable?

 

[kaytieeldr]

When my mom travels with me, she has an ECV. It's a tight fit sometimes, but we've always gotten the double beds.

Oh yeah, I know from experience it can be done... what's difficult is doing it entirely by myself. There isn't enough room for me to get the door open wide enough to get out, holding the door myself. I've had to ask passing Guests for help (tough when you're trying to leave early, and everybody on your floor is asleep ). And getting in is even harder because of the lack of space between the door and the first bed.

With a King bed, I can hold the door open wide with my cane while maneuvering the ECV out using only my free hand. Entering, I can back or pull in without having to enter at an angle to avoid hitting the bed.

For our Sept trip at PORS I have requested bottom floor, buildings 14, 18, or 27 and again have it noted that I'll be with someone with an ECV. Are my requests considered unreasonable?

Not as far as I'm concerned. Have you considered the Mansions? Parterre Place and Oak Manor are close, there's a bus stop behind Oak Manor, and there are those elevators

 

[froglady]

Update 7/4:
I actually contacted Disney to give them my requests for AKL. Since we are going on a grand gatherings and my family is big, I need to have my nephews in the room next door as I am they taking them on their first trip to the world, so I requested that along with a zebra trail either 3rd or 4th floor. (Keeping my fingers crossed) but I also asked if there was any way I would be able to upgrade to a villa or perhaps the presidential/vice presidential suite and they told me those are reserved for VIG's (very important guests) and they are held until days prior to arrival... are there any prior or present CM's which can tell me if this is true? I dont seem to understand but everytime I call I get the same Grand Gatherings CM and shes extremely rude. It seems to be that she has a case of the why are you bothering me with this attitude, and overall it is very undisney like.

It's strange that WDW is willing to lose out on a guaranteed $2,000+/night, just in the off chance that a VIP shows up at the last minute, but I guess that's their policy. I agree with the previous villas statement; they are usually full. I once was able to book a 2BR BW villa about 6 months out, and the CM was surprised that there were any available for a nonDVC guest during that time frame. (summer)

Edited to add: I am assuming that you are willing to pay the difference to upgrade, and would never expect a free upgrade to the Presidental Suite? Now, that would be totally unreasonable.

 

[mbanks21]

Presidential and VP suite are NOT held for anyone. If its available it will show on their screen. The problem is there are VERY few of these rooms so they are not always available.

And what some of you are forgetting is that these are REQUESTS only based on availability. Yes your mother may be in an ECV, that doesnt guarantee you a ground floor. At the front desk you can say "hey theres no elevator and we have an ECV, what can you do"

 

[aubriee]

Presidential and VP suite are NOT held for anyone. If its available it will show on their screen. The problem is there are VERY few of these rooms so they are not always available.

And what some of you are forgetting is that these are REQUESTS only based on availability. Yes your mother may be in an ECV, that doesnt guarantee you a ground floor. At the front desk you can say "hey theres no elevator and we have an ECV, what can you do"

Excuse me, but if you are at CBR and have an ECV you better have a ground floor. How do they expect someone to get the ECV up the stairs? Carry it? I agree that a ground floor would not need to be guaranteed at any of the other resorts. In fact in all the times we've requested one, the only time we've ever gotten one is at AS Sports and we've been fine. For our trip in Sept I am scared they are going to put us in the Mansions, just because of the ECV and the elevator situation at PORS.

 

[crashbb]

a

 

[Kellylynn3]

i've had my trip booked since January and finally paid it off last friday. We're staying at POFQ and did not give and room requests until it came time for the other two parties traveling with us to book their rooms. Two of our guys friends are having their own room and one of our girlfriends will have her own room. When my boyfriend called to book their trips he requested that we all have connecting rooms all on either a second or third floor level. I guess you could say we requested connecting rooms anywhere but a first floor level area. We didn't request a specific building or anything to make it easier for them to place us. So hopefully our requests will go through...has anyone ever done requests like this?

 

[TammiMcMan]

When my boyfriend called to book their trips he requested that we all have connecting rooms all on either a second or third floor level.

It sounds like you have 3 rooms booked in total, but maybe I'm reading that wrong. If that's what you do have though, at the most, only 2 rooms would connect to each other. There's no way to have all 3 rooms connecting.

I think I recall reading here that CRO can somehow link the reservations together. That way, your requests would be matched up with the others.

 

[safetymom]

You should call reservations and have them do a "travel with" on all 3 reservations. If you have 8 or more you could call grand gatherings and all be linked together.