waiting for room to be ready!!!!

[crazyaboutdisney]

we arrived at about 12:00 to the boardwalk from our cruise. Our room was not ready, which is fine. We decided to wait around so that as soon as it was ready we could put the baby down for a nap. I kept calling about every hour or so, everytime they kept telling me that our room was almost ready. What bothers me is that some room is sitting empty waiting for someone to check in later while I'm waiting for my assinged room. I think that who ever gets to the resort first should get the first room available that fits the reservation. We got a room that was not assigned to us at 3:30. Another idea is for them to give you a pager and page you when the room is ready rather than having to check back all the time. I realize that check-in is at 4:00 but if the room is ready I like to check in. In the future i will take a later flight!!

 

[DebbieB]

The way DVC's system works is the first people who make reservations at 11 months are supposed to get the first chance on their requests, this is why they preassign rooms. This would give you an advantage at your home resort if you book at 11 months. This seems more fair than who gets to the resort first on check-in day. I've had it go both ways, I've arrived at 1:00 and the room was ready and other times it's not ready until 3:30-4:00. At non-DVC resorts I usually asked if they had anything available that was ready if our pre-assigned room was not ready when we got there. Usually what was left was not desirable. I like your pager idea.

 

[disneyma]

Pagers may seem like a great idea.....however...the cost of these pages will indeed add to our dues each year. They would need to have quite a few on hand and I don't think it is cost effective.

I see getting in anytime before check-in a bonus. Otherwise....you need to be prepared to check in at the stated time. I don't think it would be fair to get the "leftovers" if you arrive in at a DVC resort later in the day. In that case everyone would be at the door at 7A.M. for their room pick.

DISNEYMA

 

[Terry S]

Will the DVC resorts store your luggage like the rest of the Disney resorts so you can just check in and leave and come back later that day?

 

[lsutigger]

When DH and I arrived at VWL in Oct to our surprise and delight our room was ready - it was about 12:30 ish. but (isn't there always one!) it was a smoking, handicapped accessible, exactly what I had NOT requested. I would have been willing to wait to get what I had requested. I wish they would work on a better system of honoring request. The handicapped accessible studio did not have as much counter space (none in the bathroom!) as others. I understand and completely agree with providing rooms accessible to all, but we did not need the special accommodations and hopefully someone who did was able to secure the room they needed. That was the only "bee in my bonnet" about our first trip as DVC members. Everything else was wonderful!! And I do not regret our decision to buy DVC.

 

[juju]

our room wasn't ready, we left our luggage with the bellman next to the check in desk. same as when we checked out

 

[Peter Johnson]

Originally posted by lsutigger
it was a smoking, handicapped accessible, exactly what I had NOT requested.

One way we avoid the handicap rooms is to request an upper floor. Our standard requests are non-smoking, Turtle Pond, upper floor... and in about 2 dozen visits we've only missed our requests once.

Once we were told our room wasn't ready (at 11am), but if we would move down the road a few buildings we could get one right away. So we did.

When we pack, we put a set of "park" clothes on top of the suitcase, so if the room isn't ready, we can change and go.

 

[kamgen]

I totally agree with the "whoever checks in first" idea. Makes perfect sense to me.

We checked in at BWV once after 19 hours in the car. We got there at about 11 am and waited in the lobby (too tired to go anywhere) until 4:30pm. During that time, MANY people checked in after us and got rooms before us. Seems strange to me.

In terms of checking in after DCL, let MS know and they will put that on your ressie and be accomodating. It doesn't hurt.

We were so lucky at OKW in September. We arrived at 7:30 am and the very nice lady got us a room.

It just depends I guess.

Just my experience.

Kamy

 

[dianeschlicht]

How could requests be honored if they did a "whoever checks in first" system? It just would not work at all.

We usually have a rental car and wear park clothes on the plane. We pre-check in and head to the parks. We usually call about 2 to see if the room is ready. If it is, we go do our grocery shopping and get moved in.

 

[Eeyore2U]

I don't agree with first come first serve. I think it goes against the reason we have a booking window. We have been lucky enough to check in early and get what was requested in September and lucky enough to get what we requested by waiting last February. If a room was all that mattered I would try to get that point across to front desk CM.

 

[Chuck S]

I think the system is fine the way it is. There have been a few times our room was ready at noon, usually we've had to wait until 4, sometimes after. We usually just go over to DD and have a meal and shop until our room is ready. If you have special requests, I would rather see an attempt made to meet those requests than giving out the first available room.

 

[caverill]

I agree that you can't have "First come, First served" and still take requests. No one would be happy.

Due to flying from Minnesota, we never get to Orlando prior to 2:30 PM. If it was "First com, First served" we would never get our requested location at all.

I really like the requests being assigned from the date that you reserved. It is another reason to have the resort be your "home".

 

[crazyaboutdisney]

I did make the reservations at the 11 month window on a day to day basis, what I'm saying is that if there are 20 rooms that fit my request and i arrive at 1:00 I should get the first room (if I'm the 1st that arrived) that is ready. I'm sure that the pagers would not be a large expense at all. If we were so afraid of little costs that would improve the system then nothing would ever improve. If it would cost me $2 extra dollars a year to know when my room was ready it would be well worth it. I'm not a complainer, but if a new inexpensive idea will make checking in that much easier I beleive that it is worth a try. Remember that we are paying for someone to answer all the phone calls about if a room is ready or not. JUST A NEW IDEA!!!

 

[Synonymous]

We had the same experience on our first stay at BWV. I didn't mind having to wait, because we knew what check-in time was. But when we arrived at 12:30, I asked how long it would be until the room was ready. I was trying to decide whether we should wait or just head to the parks. I was told to check back at 1:00. At 1:00, I was told it should be soon, check back at 2:00. And so on, and so on. We didn't get a room until 4:00 and ended up wasting a good part of the day. (Well, not a total waste- we were still at the Boardwalk.)

I would have preferred to get an honest answer, so I could have adjusted my plans accordingly. If they had just told me it wouldn't be until 4:00, that would have been fine.

 

[RobDoc]

This issue is one which must be very difficult for the front desk to manage.

In the past, we have received a pager to notify us when our room was ready. While it was convenient, it often went off at 4PM and therefore did no good to get us into the room early. We have NOT been offered a pager for several years now.

I think that part of the issue is that housekeepimg doesn't notify the desk as each room is prepared. They notify when a section of rooms have been completed and checked. At busy times, this is often not until 4 (or later!).

If you arrive early and want the first available room, let the desk know that you will accept whatever is ready- but don't expect your requests to be met. If requests are important, be prepared to wait until 4PM. At busy times, when the resort is full, 4PM is to be expected. Other times (or even other days of the week), when rooms may not have been occupied the prior night, you may well get a room early. Taking a later flight will also solve the problem!

Good Luck!

 

[Terry S]

I am actually really looking forward to once I become a DVC member having my room request done on a "whoever made the reservation first basis". At the non-DVD resorts it is on a first come first serve basis and I hate it. I always make my reservations for WDW a year in advance. I have often called the room controller the day before arrival and found out that the room request I have made have been granted, "but nothing is garanteed". Only to arrive around 3:00 and find out that someone who arrived before me made enough noise and I got bumped out of my room and put in a section way away from where I wanted just because I wasn't there yet. I feel if I make my reservation 11 months in advance that should have some weight.

I do sympathize with those who have to wait for their rooms to be ready and feel there ought to be some better way to do it such as a pager. After our first trip to Disney we discovered to just pack in a certain spot clothes that we would want to go to the park in (we live in Michigan and often get on the plane in pants and sweatshirts). We then change at the airport bathroom into shorts, go check into our hotel, if our room is not ready, we go to the park and come back in the evening.

 

[crazyaboutdisney]

This was our first trip to the parks with our one year old, which made it much more difficult. In the future we will take a later flight and not plan on our room being ready until 4:00, no matter what they tell us when we check in. All we wanted to do was put the baby down for a nap (which she really needed after the cruise). If they would have told us that the room wouldn't be ready until 4:00 we would have done something different. By telling us to continue to check back all they we doing was building false hope!!

 

[crazyaboutdisney]

doc, glad to hear that they did try the pager, I guess the idea wasn't that crazy after all.

 

[RobDoc]

LOL! The best part of the pager was that it removed the felt "need" to call every few hours ( or more often)- even though it rarely got us into the room much sooner. In that respect, the pager was certainly a pacifier.

One time, we got our pager at about noon, ate at Olivia's, checked in again at the desk and then went to MK. We had just gotten into SM and the pager went off- the time was 3PM. AT that point, we rode SM, hopped the bus back to OKW- arriving at 4:15 and our room was ready!! They had also met our few requests.

The pager certainly didn't save any time, but it did allow us to enjoy the time between arrival and unpacking without feeling the need to hang around the desk.

Since that time, we usually check to see if our room is ready early (sometimes it is) and then go off to a park, have lunch, visit another resort and get back to OKW about 3:45. Usually our room is ready at that time.

Enjoy!

 

[ckr]

We too arrived at BWV after our cruise and couldn't wait to get into a room. (Cannot believe how tired we were! Or maybe just relaxed, eh?) Since we were checking in on Thanksgiving Day I figured that there wouldn't be many check outs that day; I figured there'd be a room ready and waiting for that long weekend crowd to show up. I was wrong!

We arrived about 11:30 and were told that our room was not ready. They gave us a number to call to check back later. Since we had been at Palos the night before and REALLY scrambled to get our bags out by 11pm, we had no idea where anything in the suitcases was. But the bell hop (and DH) were very kind and searched to find the swimsuits so that we could spend time at the pool. We asked Guest Services if we were able to hop to StormAlong Bay (thinking maybe the crowds were lighter than expected pre-9/11 when they had banned hopping for T-G) and she said sure. I asked her again and asked if she should call over to be certain. She assured me it was no problem and to go enjoy ourselves. Well, after 45 minutes of boat rides around the lagoon, we were back at Luna Park (having been denied access at SAB). But we enjoyed ourselves anyways and made the best of it.

I called at 1:30pm and it still was not ready. The CM said he might be able to get us in another room overlooking the pool, but I asked about the room we were supposed to be in as I had reserved at the 11-month mark. He said he couldn't tell me the room number or location, so I asked, "If it was you, would you wait?" Without hesitation, he said he'd wait, so we did too. DH and the girls swam some more and I fell asleep in a lounge chair. At 2:30 I called again and our room was ready. They sent the bags up, we all went up and were asleep for our "nap" by 3pm. We didn't wake up until 7PM! We then got cleaned up and headed over to ESPN for dinner. I was back in bed by 10pm (I have a really hard time getting my land legs back after cruising) and the rest of the gang in bed AND ASLEEP by 11:15!! WE WERE POOPED!!

I guess the moral of my rambling is that checkin isn't until 4pm and even if you're not prepared for the wait, I don't see how anyone can complain about it. Raising the question so as to brainstorm for ideas for improvement is worthwhile, but of the ideas I've seen so far, I have to disagree with the first-come approach for the same reasons others have stated. The pager idea might be ok, but again, I'm not sure it will reduce the wait time. The current call in system might actually reduce your time as it makes the CMs aware of who is and isn't anxious to get into their rooms. If you are anxious enough to take a lesser view or some other requested preference, the pager system would not alert the CMs to who might be willing to change their request in exchange for getting in sooner.

One possible idea to getting rooms ready sooner actually has to do with checking OUT rather than IN. With express checkout, I always put the SERVICE ROOM tag on the door so that house keeping will know we've left. Other than this, how do they know who's left early to get in one more day of the parks and who is leaving at 11am? Maybe if there was a wake-up call type automated system that you call before leaving, the house keepers could know what rooms they can start on early. What do you think?