why should I do on line check in?

[nkereina]

Well, on the flip side of this, I *didn't* do online checkin for our trip in 2011, and checkin for us at SSR was a *disaster*. The day we checked in, Disney was integrating the new Hawaiian offerings and the computer/reservations systems (apparently worldwide) were totally hosed up. The lines at check-in to SSR were five-plus deep in four different lines and people were sitting and waiting throughout the lobby. We had made special plans to drive into Orlando early and "steal" and extra half-day at DTD and catch an evening in one of the parks...but...

When we checked in, we had been given a "preliminary" room number that we were told to call back and confirm in about 30 mins (the clerk gave us a ph# to call to verify). We did; the person we spoke with had no clue what we were talking about. Then they told us they didn't have the room type we booked (2-BR villa, so they were moving us down to a 1BR studio. I explained to them that wasn't acceptable). Then they said our reservation was botched up in the computers, and had to rebuild it from scratch as I stood there.

About two hours later, they did finally assign a room..so we get our keycards, drive over, luggage in tow...we open the door, and the room was OCCUPIED!! Suitcases, food, and souvenir bags, the works.

I wasn't happy.

So we drive back to the carriage house, explain the situation...wait a half-hour, and they assigned us a different room...we drove over to it, and this time, the KEYS didn't work...so we drove back to the Carriage House, and after another half-hour, they cut us new keys, and we're finally in. It took us FOUR-PLUS hours to get into our room, and it wasted our first afternoon at Disney. We were so tired, frustrated, and hungry that all we ended up doing was drive ourselves over to Earl of Sandwich to grab something to eat, and called it a night. All that pivoted around the computers being screwed up (among other things).

Sooo, with that sad story in hand, this time, even if its nothing more than checking an electronic box in a database somewhere, I'm going to try online check-in this time around

What an awful story! But with all due respect, it sounded like it was a unique situation - something out of the ordinary. I wouldn't let it deter you from doing standard check-in in the future.

Just the other day, I was reading a post from a CM saying to do the online check-in because those are the first to be assigned regarding requests!

See, a CM is who told me that they are looked at secondary to rooms that will be ready at your arrival time. More proof we can't trust some of those CMs!

This used to be the case. With the new system, you can check a box that states something to the affect of "I would rather wait for my room to be ready in order to help my requests be met".

That's good news. I'm hesitant however because our last two trips when I've tried online check-in, I've gotten the exact opposite of what I have requested. Incidentally, it aligned with what I said in my OP - the rooms that they assigned us to which did not meet my requests were ready when we arrived. We opted to wait for a room that met our requests, which wasn't ready for another 3 hours.

So, IMO, there is no sense in doing online check-in if you are going to ask them to switch your room anyway (assuming it doesnt meet your requests).