WL: wrong room assigned? help!

[lowepg]

OK... we're suposed to be leaving in 4 days for our first trip EVER to Disney and I called the Wilderness Lodge to confirm our room, etc. I had called prior- but they said they don't get reservations loaded into their computer until 4-5 days prior when they were made with travel agents....

Anyways...

We had booked via the Fall/Winter Special a Courtyard View Room. The person i spoke to said they had me in a standard view room. I explained we had reserved an upgraded room, but was told:
1. They dont finalize the room assignment unitl the day of check-in
and
2. We'd have to take up our problem with our booking agent.

Arg.... Any suggestions? (already left multiple lessages for agent- no response yet).

I had also requested no-smoking room, bunk beds, inner courtyard and they said they couldn't guarantee any of those things. Any strategies for improving my chances for getting what we want?

Sorry if I sounds petty, but Im very excited about taking my 4yr old and 6yr old girls to Disney for the first time and want it to be perfect!

Thanks!

 

[Hippychickali]

I'm just curious. Did you fax a room request form?

Ali

 

[Sammie]

If you booked with a Travel Agent you are going to have to contact them to see what type of room they booked. At WL that could be Standard, Woods view or Courtyard.

As to requests such as bunk beds etc you can have them noted but no guarantees.

Good Luck with your travel agent.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

This is why most of us on these boards do not use a "regular" travel agent. Most know little or nothing about Disney. I would say we as a group know a whole lot more about WDW than most travel agents.
For the future either book yourself through Disney or use one of the Disney "specialists" you can read about on these boards. I believe Dreams Unlimited is a sponsor of these boards. This year we used WDWVacations.com that we found on mousesaver.com. They saved us about $800.00 over rack rates. They started us out with a AAA discount and then made two more changes as discounts were announced to save us a LOT. They even made our Priority Seating for us. These specialists know WDW and all the possible discounts available (if any). They keep working right up until your trip to get you the best deal. Best yet, its FREE!
I will never again do it myself and try to keep up with codes and various discounts. I don't need to waste my time doing it when someone else can....and can do a much better job of it too!

 

[CarolA]

You should have a confirmation that shows you have a Woods view. If your confirmation just says standard view then that is what was booked. Your agent also should have requested all these things for you. It is my understanding that the room assignors are discouraging the use of faxes. (Probably due to the overwhelming numbers they were receiving) As another poster pointed out the big benefit of using a TA that does a lot of Disney travel is that they know to help you with these things.

The view is the only thing you can "pay" for. All of your other items are requests. I am a little worried that if you don't get your requests you are setting yourself up for starting your trip off wrong. Your kids are going to react the way you do, so if you think things aren't "perfect" so will they. (When if they are like most kids that age none of the things you think must be perfect would be just fine. It's a hotel at Disney!)

One of the big risks on these boards is reading about people getting upgrades, perfect rooms etc and assuming that is the norm. It is not, most people don't get post when they get what they paid for.

 

[petchie]

I also don't think the resorts get your reservation until 4-5 days prior to arrival no matter how you made the reservation. I know that Wilderness Lodge was the first resort to stop the practice of faxing requests,(I could be wrong and if I am someone correct me).

I don't think I would have called for requests at that point for fear of them not wanting to be disturbed and not really then trying to meet my requests since I was bugging them.

As the others have said, you should have a confirmation that states your room view and the other wants are just requests that may or may not be filled.

 

[Penny12]

Correct - none of the resorts receive any of the reservations in to their system until 3-5 days prior. It's nothing to do with being booked by a travel agent and everything to do with the fact that there are like a zillion reservations in Disney's main system at any one time. Therefore they don't send anything to the resort until after the last cancellation deadline has passed.

Also, if you have room requests they must be added to your reservation notes for your best chance rather than faxing or calling - they are actively discouraging that practise as it was getting out of hand...now I think all it does is piss them off!

 

[GoldenOldie]

Wilderness Lodge was the first - and still only - non-DVC resort to officially no longer accept faxed room requests. Requests must be noted on the reservation for WL.

Resort room reservations have been downloaded to the resort's computers at the 10 day mark for quite a while now. But that doesn't mean that the resorts do anything with them prior to 3-4 days as they are still subject to change/cancellation/additions by WDTC.

The OP may not have gotten a copy of the actual Disney reservation confirmation. It's not unusual for TA's to use their own "confirmations" for the entire reservation which will bear their agency's cancellation and change policies, not Disney's.

I agree with Carol's assessment. The OP's 4 & 6 yo children will not know the difference. Ask again at check in to see if you can get a room that might more closely match what you seek (non smoking, bunk beds, etc).

 

[Hippychickali]

I agree that your trip is not going to be "perfect" no matter how hard you try. I think you have to be flexible. I didn't realize they were discouraging room requests. I asked about this when I booked our resort and the CSR told me that she would note my requests on my honeymoon reservation but to, by all means, fax in a room request later to All-Star Sports. I'm just wondering who was told that they don't want you to do this. I don't understand how this would piss them off. If they really didn't want to look at room requests, they would throw them all in the trash as they came in.

Ali

 

[safetymom]

Most of the resorts are ignoring the faxes. WL is one of the first to point out this fact. If it is in your reservation no need for them to match up a fax to a reservation.

They are requests so you can always ask at check in.

 

[lowepg]

This is why most of us on these boards do not use a "regular" travel agent. Most know little or nothing about Disney. !

Actually I was using a Disney "specialist" and she has since corrected the problems

Turns out she took a couple extra days to get back to me becuase she was AT WDW! But tracked me down yesterday and fixed everything!

Soory for the panicky message, I just freaked a little!

Thanks to all for all the help!

 

[Hippychickali]

I'm glad it all worked out for the best. Enjoy your time at WDW.

Ali