What to do when your room is not ready

[HollyJoy]

How about going to Downtown Disney for a little snack?

 

[LLagow]

If you haven't had lunch eat Olivia's at OKW is a great place to eat and is very relaxing. They also have a snack bar - good eats to go- with picnic tables to eat at. The pool is right there behind where you check in and so is the boat that will take you over to Downtown disney.
LLagow

 

[MagicKingdom05]

wisbucky,

In 5 days I'm going to be running into the same situation. My flight from Chicago is at 730 am, but I'm suppose to be there my 5:30. So by the time I get to MCO and then to CBR it will be noonish. If my room isn't ready, I plan on going to the parks and then come back later to claim my room. It's not like I'm staying offsite and have a 40 min van ride from the parks to my resort. It is only a 10 or 15 min ride from what I have been told.

 

[eeyore0062]

Before we lived here, we always took the 7 am flight, which meant that we had been up since 3 am, too... and often on only 2 or 3 hours sleep. Never bothered us! Even if we were tired, we were SO psyched to be there, we would check our luggage, grab something to eat and head to a park, taking the number given to us by the front desk to call and see if our room is ready. Then we would just make an early night of it and start fresh again the next morning. My parents, who often went when we did, are in their 60's and kept up with no problem whatsoever. It is amazing how we tend to think that once our parents hit their 60's they are too old to hang! Not true, in my case.... they have more stamina than all of us put together!

You will be surprised how that adrenaline will kick in once you drive through that welcome sign on World Drive!!!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

We have done the same thing just about every trip, not wanting to blow a park pass the first day, since being there is really overwhelming at first no matter how many times you've been there. Long, long ago, we would always change into our suits in the resort lobby and run and jump into the lake, but now thats prohibited, we pack our suits separately and go to the resorts pool, have a drink and just smell and hear Disney. The sound of the small Transportation boat horn, the buzz of the water mice and the smells of Disney lobbies brings back alot of memories. Heading to Downtown Disney for a walk through the shops to work out the kinks from traveling, quick lunch and after our room is ready, the traditional meal for the first evening is over at Fort Wilderness at Crocketts Tavern, pitchers of beer and just about the best pizza in the World, after 9pm and then the Water Pageant from shore and its back to the resort for a night time swim, some wine and the commaradrie of the folks with you kicking off another vacation to WDW.

 

[ErinInCT]

Since you are staying at OKW you may want to make a grocery trip. You can stock up your kitchen & kill some time. Maybe have lunch first & then go to the store. Your room should definately be ready by then!

 

[LindaBabe]

OKW has a GREAT lunch spot in Olivia's right there at Hospitality house. Then, a nice snooze by the pool, or wander around ro ride the internal bus around to see the different areas of the resort. or ride the boat to downtown. Or find a book in the library (just off of checkin) and curl up and read (especially good on a chilly day)

 

[Deb & Bill]

Olivia's is a great place for a nice lunch. Then if the weather is nice, take a short nap out by the pool. If the weather isn't the best, you can always sit down in Papa's Den and watch TV or even take a nap in a chair or on the couch. You'll also have kiddo's hanging around waiting for Mom & Dad to finish checking in. We have done this a few times.

 

[tae1218]

We usually head to DTD or go grab a bite to eat.

 

[Eeyore2003]

If you only have to wait a short time, Olivia's at OKW would be a wonderful relaxing lunch.

If you have a little longer, why not just take the boat to DTD and choose one of the restaurants there. Just make sure you get off at the pier near your restaurant to save walking.

I also would second the Grand Floridian Cafe. It would not be hard to take the bus to MK and then the monorail from there. The Grand Floridian Cafe would be an absolutely beautiful start to your vacation and their meals are positively delicious. Don't forget the Chocolate Fondue for dessert. Just had it last week and can't wait for our trip in April. YUM!!!

 

[Pixie_Dust]

We will be coming in around noonish to our resort. Since we will all have been up since 3:00 a.m. (we drive 2 hours to get to the airport) we will be tired. If our room is ready we will most likely relax and take a snooze. But if our room is not ready I was wondering what thoughts everyone had for us to do. We will not have a car. We really don’t want to head to a theme park because then we will push ourselves to exhaustion. The last time DH and I arrived we headed to a theme park by 4:00 p.m. we were both crabby and getting on each other's nerves. Since we are bringing my parents who are in their 60's we don’t want this to happen to them right off the bat. I have thought about this for days and have drawn a blank Any ideas??

We will have been up for over 24 hours as we have to take a redeye, so I can relate. The DVC condos aren't ready until after 4 p.m. to make matters worse. But because we are arriving on a Sunday, I hope we can go to the House of Blues gospel brunch! Looking at the resort decorations, downtown Disney, or some other destination dining are good choices, or doing some off-site grocery and souvenir shopping if you have a car.

 

[heather31]

We are in the same boat as you are and we plan on walking around the resort for a little while and taking in the view there. We will be working on only a couple of hours of sleep and dh needs his beauty sleep. As soon as we can get into the room, we will so we can rest. I don't know that me or the kids will sleep, but dh will for sure. We have reservations for Chef Mickey that night, so we just kind of hang out until that time.

However, I do like the idea of going to DTD. I wonder if I could sneak away from everyone for a couple of hours and go by myself!!!

 

[riu girl]

We are also planning on checking in around non and then hanging around the resort until our room is ready.
My ?s:
If your room is not ready , will the front desk still give you the room number so you can walk over and check out the location of it?

How often can you check at the check in desk to see if your room is ready?

When not leaving the resort (while waiting to get into your room) do you also have to call the # that is given to you to see if it is ready (opr can you just check at the fron desk)? If so, how often should you call to check?

Thank you
Suzy V

 

[Iggipolka]

We're flying a redeye from California to Orlando that leaves at 10:00pm PST and arrives at 7:00am EST, which is actually 4am PST! I think our bodies are going to be completely confused!

The suggestions to hang out by the pool until our rooms are ready sound good. We also made ADR's at Boma for breakfast around 10:00am. I'm thinking that a good breakfast and some strong coffee will help as well.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are also planning on checking in around non and then hanging around the resort until our room is ready.
My ?s:
If your room is not ready , will the front desk still give you the room number so you can walk over and check out the location of it?

How often can you check at the check in desk to see if your room is ready?

When not leaving the resort (while waiting to get into your room) do you also have to call the # that is given to you to see if it is ready (opr can you just check at the fron desk)? If so, how often should you call to check?

Thank you
Suzy V

They won't usually give you your room number. It could change before you get into the room. Plus they don't want you impeding the work of the staff getting all the rooms done.

When we call for the first time, we'll call about 3PM. If it's not ready by then, we call about 1/2 hour later. After we pass 4PM, we start calling every 15 minutes.

 

[DonnaL]

If you're going to be at OKW Olivia's is also a perfect place for a relaxing lunch. DH and I always try to have a lunch there one day during our stay.

 

[patsal]

Check in get room keys, check any luggage with bell services, head out to our favorite park--MK, call for room #, go back and move stuff (stored luggage, etc.), head back to the MK.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

When we take the kids, we usually drive through the night. Thus, no sleep for more than 36 hours for dh and me. Still, the kids are so excited upon arrival that we generally hit the parks. Last trip (Oct.), it was very hot; so we decided to go to a water park. Big mistake! The crowds kept it from being relaxing with our 3 children. We would have been better off sticking with tradition -- strolling through one of the parks and having a snack or meal. On that first day, we go with no intention of standing in line to ride anything. Personally, I love going to MK, picking up a fresh Tollhouse ice cream sandwich at either the Bakery or ice cream parlor (depending on the time), and eating it within view of the castle. Dh loves to stroll around Epcot. The kids enjoy checking out the latests at AK and grabbing a bite at Tusker House.