Room Requests

[Twilight Terror]

I know you guys will help. When we first booked the holiday, rooms were not an issue, so never bothered making any type of requests. Then as some of you know, my mum has now been diagnosed with a heart condition and will need a wheelchair for the trip. We want to get a ground floor room, so that if my sister and I go off, mum can still get out and about without too much difficulty. Should I ring ahead now and let them know the situation, or should I just wait until 3/4 days before and call then when they start to do the room allocations? Thanks guys!

 

[Kaler131]

I would give them a call now and have it noted on your ressie. Then make sure to call back a few days before your arrival and confirm your request. You should most likely have no problem with your request. We ALWAYS request ground floor and we have always gotten it.
Have fun on your trip!

 

[Dismom55]

I agree, call now, let them know. I understand room placement for guests is done several days ahead of their arrival, so the sooner you tell them the better.

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Like the others said, put a request for a ground-floor room now and then call/fax 3 or 4 days before you check in.

You also could go through the Special Needs folks to get a guaranteed ground-floor room, I think. Then you needn't call/fax 3-4 days ahead because the room assigners can't touch your reservation if it is with Special Needs.

 

[SueM in MN]

You need to call the regular number you called to make your reservation as soon as possible with your request.

In the past, Special Reservations/Special Needs has not dealt with guarantees for ground floor rooms. They only have dealt with rooms that were special in some way - like a room with special features to deal with a disability. I think that is still the case, so if you call them, they will tell you that first floor requests can't be guaranteed.

Call the regular reservation number and request a 1st floor room for Medical Reasons. You want to say that particular phrase because the room assigners fill those requests first before similar requests that are not for medical reasons. You also want to make that your first request if that is the most important to you. Doing that puts the information in the computer, where it will be available to the room assigner. This information is from WDW room assigners who have posted on the DIS Boards and from what I and others have been told in phone calls to CRO and DC Member Services.

Depending on what resort you are staying at, 1/3 to 1/2 the rooms might be first floor anyway. So, even without a request, you still have a high likelihood of getting first floor just by chance. That's also not a real common request - a lot of people want higher floors because the view is better or they feel it's quieter.

Phone calls or faxed requests won't hurt, but may not make any difference. Phone calls to the resort don't actually go to the resort; they are answered in a call center (although the CM answers with the name of the resort as if they were at the resort.) The person answering just accesses your information that is already in the computer. Some resorts don't accept faxes at all and just throw them away (DVC has written that in their member newsletter many times and has for no faxes to be sent).
Room assigners have posted in the past on the DIS Boards that they sometimes received several hundred faxes each day and it was not possible for them to match those up with reservations, so they were thrown away unread. Other room assigners at resorts that received only a handful of faxes have reported they did take faxes into consideration because there were few enough for them to do that. We don't know at this time whether faxes are actually going to the individual resort or are also going to a call center.

 

[Twilight Terror]

Thanks for the info SueM

I did just try to call, but I have now hit a big problem that means I am not going to be able to get this one sorted, and it's going to have to be done on a wing and a prayer - I do not have a Disney Reservation Number.

Our holiday was booked with a UK tour operator, and the lady that I spoke to told me that I would have to go back to them, explain the situation to them and then get them to make the request. That will NOT happen; they cannot get the simplest of things correct, or quickly!

I know others have had a similar issues with reservations numbers and stuff in the past, so I will see if anyone on the UK board can help with getting this info and I guess go from there. But the above info is very handy for if/when I get what I need! lol

 

[SueM in MN]

Our holiday was booked with a UK tour operator, and the lady that I spoke to told me that I would have to go back to them, explain the situation to them and then get them to make the request. That will NOT happen; they cannot get the simplest of things correct, or quickly!

Yes, with s tour operator, you are kind of up a creek without a paddle.
The Tour Operator (Travel Agent in the US) actually owns your reservation until a short time before you check in (I think it's a few days, but not sure).
So, given that, your best bet is probably to see what other UK posters have done. In your case, I would try calling the resort number a few days before you arrive since that might be your only chance to put in a request. Even without a request though, you may be fine. If the room they have assigned to you when you check in, just see what else is available. They will probably be able to move you.