Room Requests - does check-in time matter?

[jth442]

We have an upcoming split stay between Pop Century and Caribbean Beach.
We plan to use Bell Services to transport our luggage while we visit a park.
I'm planning to have a room request for Caribbean Beach.
The plan was to check-in later in the day, but I'm wondering if it would help our chances of getting our room request if we checked in earlier.
Any tips on increasing your chances of a room request pertaining to the time of day?

 

[KValo]

Rooms are assigned a few days prior to check in, so as long as your request is in ahead of time, it doesn't matter what time your check in is. That said, if you arrive and don't like your room and want to switch, you'll have better luck doing that earlier rather than later.

 

[jth442]

I guess that was my concern - our requested room (if it was granted), might be used as a switch for someone else that checked in earlier and didn't like their room.

 

[nkereina]

I guess that was my concern - our requested room (if it was granted), might be used as a switch for someone else that checked in earlier and didn't like their room.

That can happen, but I would suggest doing online check-in and noting your arrival time as early if you can. When your assigned room is ready, they will text you the room number. Once the room number is communicated to you, it can't be switched out. That said, if you don't like your room, there's a larger pool of inventory to switch to if you check-in earlier in the day.

When doing split stays, a lot of people prefer to take an Uber with their luggage to their next resort. This allows them to store their luggage at the new resort's bell services so they know there's no delay in receiving it, and then they can also check in at the front desk if need be. If its morning though, its possible your assigned room won't be ready yet and therefore they won't tell you the room number in case something changes.

 

[tgree9369]

I guess that was my concern - our requested room (if it was granted), might be used as a switch for someone else that checked in earlier and didn't like their room.

That is correct. We have found that arriving or checking in early provides the best opportunity for a room change. Disney has been pretty good to us over the past 8 years, we have moved from our initial room to another one about 6 times. We arrive on property about 9:30 to 10 am and have had great luck switching or getting our requested location. Just an FYI - we didn't have great luck with our split stay of AKL to Pop with our luggage. It took until 5 pm to get our bags moved - and several calls to Bell Services. I am hoping you do not experience the same and wishing you some extra Pixie dust to help make it happen!
I guess you could always check MDE (early on the day you are moving to CBR) and see if they assigned you your room number at Caribbean Beach - check it on the map and if it is not what you wanted, call and request another room. It's always better to do these things in person though.
The best you can hope for is that they honor your request but it is just a request - they do however, do their best to put you where you asked.
Best of luck and you are going to love both Pop and CBR - great choices!

 

[Dug720]

I do suspect that the one time I got nothing close to my request it was due to a late (post-midnight) arrival via DME. Because I was using DME, it did not let me select an arrival time so I could not put it earlier. Because I was solo, I'd requested any of the closer buildings at POFQ and stressed that building location was my highest priority over 3rd floor, corner - even if it meant 1st floor.

I was given a room that was 3rd floor corner...but literally the closest room to POR. So my strong suspicion is that they gave my closer room away and decided to go for my other two requests. I find it hard to believe that every single room in the closer buildings was occupied from the day before I was there since it was not a super busy time of year.

Since you're doing a split-stay though, you can give your own arrival time as whatever you want.

 

[Fangorn]

I guess that was my concern - our requested room (if it was granted), might be used as a switch for someone else that checked in earlier and didn't like their room.

The logistics of how room assignments are done and how rooms can be changed, means your concerns are very valid.

We've arrived at midnight and the only room available to us was a handicapped room. We were actually told that the room we were assigned had been given to someone else earlier in the day. They did move us to a more agreeable room the next day and comped us for the night.

On the other side of the scale, we've arrived and found the assigned room didn't meet our requests and asked if there was anything better. They were able to accommodate us, but I know for a fact we took a room that was assigned to someone else.

So, arriving earlier is probably in your best interest.

Steve

 

[Dug720]

So, arriving earlier is probably in your best interest.

OR if you're flying and cannot take an earlier flight, not using DME (soon that will be a moot point) and just budgeting for a car service and put an earlier arrival time in hopes that they text you that room number ASAP because once that's done, barring extraordinary circumstances, i don't see them changing that.

 

[jth442]

We are taking Magical Express - arriving at 5PM and going to Pop Century for 1 night.
Then moving to Caribbean Beach the next day.
I thought about going ahead and changing 1st day to CB, since it seems there are now rooms available. But I'm thinking we have a better chance of getting our CB room request early on Day 2 than late on Day 1.