Today tested my patience

[emmababy]

We did online checkin. We arrived at. 10:30 and we booked boardwalk view studio. Get to our room after waiting 40 min for keys and it was not boardwalk view. Vacated room and went to park. They said they would fix and text us. No text ever.

Get to parks and wait another 40 minutes for guest relations to activate annual passes! They end up sending my hubby and kids in while I wait. We got 4 free popcorn and ice cream bars, nice of Tim from Ohio!

Come back and go to front desk, get our room assignment. All the way by jelly rolls. Walk down with 3 very tired kids and our key doesn't work!

Good news is we are here but I don't want to repeat all that again ever!

 

[Lady V]

That sounds frustrating! I don't do online check in because it seems like a lot of times the people in that line end up waiting longer than me!
But enjoy your trip! Boardwalk is my very favorite resort!!

 

[bakerworld]

Sounds like our check in -

Checked in online - everyone looks puzzled - finally CM admits that they have our keys printed and our anniversary buttons but no record we checked in online which was strange because the KTTW are already printed and buttons ready. No room ready - which was the point of checking in online as we were early. Asked for a room with a large balcony - CM confirmed we were listed as a 'full' balcony. Well, can't really complain about the room because the view (BCV) was nice and very close to the elevator to the pool but the balcony was the smallest we'd ever been given BUT larger than the 'door' balconies. Whatever, we were in WDW and

 

[JWG]

But you're at the Boardwalk!!


Enjoy!

 

[deb010305]

We've used online check-in 3 times now. The most recent time - April 2013 - went the smoothest. But that could be because 1. We arrived at 5:30 pm, well after the time the room should be ready and 2. I made absolutely NO requests when I checked in online. We had a 1 bedroom Boardwalk view and I said I would take my chances with what we got. We were given 4001, the very last room on the fourth floor. The view was great, and at least the walk down the long long long hallway was inside and air-conditioned.

 

[DVC Mike]

But you're at the Boardwalk!!


Enjoy!

Exactly.

 

[AmyB2006]

So sorry. But enjoy the rest of your stay!!!! Don't let that stress you out today.

 

[BestDadEver]

Unfortunately . I had a simalr experience checking in they need to fix the text when your room ready thing cause I still never received a text .

At first it was great getting off the magical express at AKV there was a line forming for pre check in . Someone with an iPad approached us and got us going . We arrived at 3:00pm the room wasn't ready I was ok with that since check in was 4:00 . They wouldn't give me the room number when I asked I guess so we don't go there till its ready , I just wanted to know what view we were going to get hoping for a SV since we were staying in a value room . So obviously we were waiting for a text , I check my phone they sent me a text that I was supposed to confirm so they can text me when the room was ready . It was 3:45 I went to the desk thinking I'd missed the text . No room still not ready now this kind of stinks cause we had diner reservations in DD at 5:00 (poor planning on our part ) but we didn't think we wouldn't be in the room by 4 . Now around 5:00 the room still not ready and we benn at the ft desk a few times . They had told my wife that the value rooms aren't guarantee to be ready at 4 . Lmao yeah these ten rooms aren't guaranteed to be ready but the other 4000 are . In between multiple desk visits my wife overheard them say the room number so we decided to go up there , they were cleaning the room so we just waited till they were done at the end of the hall and just checked that the KTTW card worked and checked ourselves in around 6:00 .

I hope this isn't normal . As it was very frustrating . I have never not been able to check in at any room I ever stayed in way before check in time . But they compensated us fairly and we were able to have a great time .

 

[Disney Princess]

That does sound frustrating . . . but a room down at the Jellyrolls end will have a spectacular view!!! Enjoy it. I'm looking at rain outside my window at home.

I hope the rest of your trip is smooth sailing. Have fun!

 

[Sur]

I would've kept the room and asked for the lower points... wonder if they would've obliged!

 

[Judique]

I would've kept the room and asked for the lower points... wonder if they would've obliged!

The garden view costs the same amount as Boardwalk view.

I used to want to do a boardwalk view but had a standard view budget for my first few years as a member. As time went by and I would get a boardwalk view from time to time, I came to the conclusion that I really prefer standard view locations! Sure, that view is nice but I can see it any time by just walking out to the Village Green. I always landed down by Jelly Rolls next to the Grand Villa and it was a huge walk from the parking lot.

 

[DVC-Don]

That sounds frustrating! I don't do online check in because it seems like a lot of times the people in that line end up waiting longer than me!
..............

In April I online checked into OKW. Upon arrival my resort card was not set up for charging even though I had entered the credit card info online. By the time the CM got it straightened out, 3 families checked in and left the lobby by the time I was done. The CM kept disappearing to ask questions. 25 minutes!!

 

[stmize]

This is interesting. In all of our stays we've had I do online ck in. Our room is ready and were approached as we exit our vehicle. I know we were very lucky.

 

[emmababy]

Then we changed to a 1 be standard view and from our patio is a 4 foot high bush. So we literally have a bush view. I feel like I am in jail!

 

[Greysword]

4PM is not a guarantee. It is an "expect no earlier than".

Frequently, rooms are not ready until 6-7PM, mainly due to volume and guest checkout time. Sometimes guests stay longer. If it is a normal turnover day (Thurs or Sun), the sheer number of rooms makes it difficult to get them all cleaned between 11AM and 4PM due to their size.

Also, online check-in isn't any faster, since the room they may pre-assign is one of the last on the schedule for cleaning.

In summary, these are timeshares and not hotels, so they take longer to clean, have no unused inventory waiting to guests, and rely on members to checkout promptly for a smooth transition.

Sorry some had problems, but plan on them being recurring versus one-offs.

 

[emmababy]

So, after dealing with this on and off for 5 days, a manager did call today and said they would treat us to dinner. I was not expecting that, but it sure makes the pill easier to swallow.

We have been DVC members for 7 years. Never had a cross employee or experience, so this week really took us off guard.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

4PM is not a guarantee. It is an "expect no earlier than".

Frequently, rooms are not ready until 6-7PM, mainly due to volume and guest checkout time. Sometimes guests stay longer. If it is a normal turnover day (Thurs or Sun), the sheer number of rooms makes it difficult to get them all cleaned between 11AM and 4PM due to their size.

Also, online check-in isn't any faster, since the room they may pre-assign is one of the last on the schedule for cleaning.

In summary, these are timeshares and not hotels, so they take longer to clean, have no unused inventory waiting to guests, and rely on members to checkout promptly for a smooth transition.

Sorry some had problems, but plan on them being recurring versus one-offs.

They gave her the wrong room type. Why defend DVC when they were clearly wrong?

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I love the view from that room down by Jellyrolls. It is gorgeous. Last time I stayed in that villa, when bell services came to pick up luggage on checkout day, he said, "Wow, what a view!" like he didn't know it could/would have such a beautiful view.

Greysword, why are the preassigned rooms from online checkin the last rooms to be serviced on the housekeeping schedule?

 

[n2mm]

We did online checkin. We arrived at. 10:30 and we booked boardwalk view studio. Get to our room after waiting 40 min for keys and it was not boardwalk view. Vacated room and went to park. They said they would fix and text us. No text ever.

Get to parks and wait another 40 minutes for guest relations to activate annual passes! They end up sending my hubby and kids in while I wait. We got 4 free popcorn and ice cream bars, nice of Tim from Ohio!

Come back and go to front desk, get our room assignment. All the way by jelly rolls. Walk down with 3 very tired kids and our key doesn't work!

Good news is we are here but I don't want to repeat all that again ever!

Hey this sounds very similar to our recent stay. We were there April 30 to May 18th and we had a host of similar problems throughout our stay too. No texts messages at any of the resorts we stayed at (AKV, BWV, VB, BLT). Our keys wouldn't work at BLT and had to be escorted to our room at least 4 times to get in. Had the DDP for 1 night at AKV and after checkout we had no access to our remaining credits even though we should've been able to use them on checkout day. We had to pay with our cc and go to the front desk to get them to reverse the dining charges (note we are done using the DDP). The CMs (esp. at BLT) kept telling us that the NEW technology for the magic bands was causing the problems. They would not even give us our keys to our room even though our room was ready because the family before us had dining credits to use and in order to "cut" our new room keys, they would have to close their account. (I think that is what happened to our DDP problem when we left AKV and moved to BWV). We had a good time, but it certainly wasn't without a host of issues.

 

[paults]

Sounds like our check in -

Checked in online - everyone looks puzzled - finally CM admits that they have our keys printed and our anniversary buttons but no record we checked in online which was strange because the KTTW are already printed and buttons ready. No room ready - which was the point of checking in online as we were early. Asked for a room with a large balcony - CM confirmed we were listed as a 'full' balcony. Well, can't really complain about the room because the view (BCV) was nice and very close to the elevator to the pool but the balcony was the smallest we'd ever been given BUT larger than the 'door' balconies. Whatever, we were in WDW and

When did Disney say that on-line check in was a room ready deal? Is this in writing somewhere? I believe no matter if you check-in on line or at the resort that 4 pm is still check-in time, if you get something earlier then you got lucky.
If on line check in was room ready then everybody would do it, not going to happen.