On-line check in....to do or not to do...?

[Pluto fan girl]

We will be staying at POR in September. This is our 6th stay on site (3rd at POR), however we have never used on-line check in. I read about complaints about check in time taking 30 minutes...whoopty doo in my opinion. I am not concerned about that, it is all part of the experience in my opinion, a stop and smell the roses theory, or in this case, check out the lobby and enjoy the sights of families eagerly awaiting their first moments at parks. We are extremely excited about the possibility of magic bands and the features and benefits they come with. We would also like to request a specific area, building and heck even room number if that works. I have looked all over the last several days and I am not finding much on the pros (and cons) for doing this. We are exactly 60 days out as of today. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Disneykidder]

Good question. I am curious of this, as well. We arrive in WDW in 30 days!!!!

 

[Bob]

We did on-line check-in the last two trips. First time it worked flawlessly, the second time it did not because the system did not get my CC info linked to our reservation. I plan on doing the on-line check-in once again this coming trip.

Don't get your hopes up too high in regards to magic bands and the whole + system being up in 60 days. Most of folks here on the forums tend to think that it won't be in place for everyone till the end of this year or into 2014. I am hoping that is working when we go in Dec but would not be surprised if it still was only in testing.

If you made your reservations directly through Disney you can call in a week or two before arrival and give them all of your room requests. They will attach the info to your reservation. They cannot guarantee that you will get any of your requests but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[wdisneyw2000]

i did my online check-in last year when we went to disney & as far as the one time experience. well i loved it in & out less then 15 minutes, so that was a plus for me. i would say use it & if it works for you the way it sounds no biggie & if it don't the way it sounds to you is you don't care lol. i plan on using it again before i arrive Aug 4th.

 

[PUSH]

Never done the online check-in, but we've gotten lucky with check-ins. We've never had a very long wait.

And with the room requests, you can request anything you want. If you made them directly through Disney, you can call anytime to add those, but they usually don't start assigning rooms until about a week out from arrival time. You also are not guaranteed anything, so don't be disappointed if you don't get your requests. Though they are usually helpful at arrival if you want them to check and see if there are any rooms available that you prefer better.

 

[Tuvalu]

Have done online check in when it was offered 10 days out and never had any issues. It is now offered at 60 days, and I did online check in at day 52. When I arrived at the online check in desk at POFQ, there was no packet for me, they did not have any of my information and the CM insisted I did not do online check in. I had to go to a different CM to check in.

Will I do online check in again? No.

 

[MadMax11]

I've done online check in my last two trips (AK on first trip; split between OKW and POFQ on second trip)...so three separate check-ins. Never an issue with any of them, and I avoided what would have been a killer wait at AKL in particular one morning.

 

[Mot]

We've done the online check-in on numerous occasions. Normally we do it at the 10 day mark and have been pleased. We can be on our way to the room in about 15 minutes or less. Packets are always ready and very little explanation is needed unless something new is available. The normal check-in doesn't take that much more time unless there is a crowd ahead of you. Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

 

[Bowler Hat Girl]

I've done online check-in almost every time I've gone since they began offering it. It's one of my "checkpoints" in trip planning. But, the times I didn't do it, I didn't have a very long wait to get checked in. The first time I stayed at POR last year, I deliberately didn't check in online because I wanted to have the opportunity to request a room in the Magnolia Bend section. (Yes, I did call and add the request to the reservation, but I thought just in case, maybe I could check on that request before our room was finalized at check in.) And the CM who checked us in really worked some magic granting our request. Two of the Magnolia Bend buildings were still under refurb at the time, and apparently there was a large group taking up most of Magnolia Terrace, but our CM managed to get us a room in Acadian House. I don't think that would have happened if I had gone through online check-in. There was virtually no line when we arrived, but it did take a few minutes to find us that room. I would definitely take waiting a few minutes at the chance of having a request granted over a quick (and less personal) check-in.

While I'm thinking about it, one more online check-in question. If anyone using online check-in has stayed club level==I know they take you to the club floor or area to check in CL guests, but is that still the case if you check in online? It's been a very long time since I stayed CL, and I don't need to hurry up and check in on my arrival day, and I especially don't want to miss out on the CL experience.

 

[Pluto fan girl]

thanks to everyone for you responses! I am not too concerned about special requests, or wait times. Pretty easy going here, although we would like the bayou for the murphy bed. No one wants to sleep with our 17 year old son and get beat up all night! . I will call about it and put the request in, as I am apparently going to need to call to request a frig now! yikes. 6 year old takes refrigerated meds 4 times a day...no worries though we will make do either way. Anyhow - thanks to everyone !

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We've done online check in our last 3 trips, but I'm mixed on the benefits. I know you're not overly concerned with a long wait to check in, but after a nearly 45 min wait to check into WL, I can say that you do hit a point where it goes from "I'm soaking in the atmosphere" to "I'm wasting my time." Of course, we did online check in for that trip and clearly it saved us no time. I even recall asking if anyone else could help us, but b/c we'd done online check in- they said they couldn't. On the opposite end of the spectrum...we did online check in for our last trip at YC and the process was so rapid and cold that it set a bad tone for the trip. The best mix was the Contemporary, but I attribute that to the CM that was assisting us...and not the online check in process.

In fact, the only consistent pro I've seen in our 3x trying it...our room was ready right at check in...even when we checked in just after 7am. For the heck of it (and b/c I've seen so many issues with it lately), I'm going to skip online check in this trip and see how it goes.

 

[Pluto fan girl]

We've done online check in our last 3 trips, but I'm mixed on the benefits. I know you're not overly concerned with a long wait to check in, but after a nearly 45 min wait to check into WL, I can say that you do hit a point where it goes from "I'm soaking in the atmosphere" to "I'm wasting my time." Of course, we did online check in for that trip and clearly it saved us no time. I even recall asking if anyone else could help us, but b/c we'd done online check in- they said they couldn't. On the opposite end of the spectrum...we did online check in for our last trip at YC and the process was so rapid and cold that it set a bad tone for the trip. The best mix was the Contemporary, but I attribute that to the CM that was assisting us...and not the online check in process.

In fact, the only consistent pro I've seen in our 3x trying it...our room was ready right at check in...even when we checked in just after 7am. For the heck of it (and b/c I've seen so many issues with it lately), I'm going to skip online check in this trip and see how it goes.

Do you think time of day and/or day of the week has been a factor at all? We usually drive, and arrive at least a day early staying outside the world to "recoup". When we go over to check in, it is usually around 10ish. I usually set it up so we arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday too.

I completely understand the "wasting time" feeling though. DH and I went to POR for the 1st time in 2010. Flew down, and when we left, our home airport was shut down, so we were stuck. We were already at the airport for 3 hours. I called WD and we had to go to ASM due to no budget for an extra night. What a nightmare! It was quite the wait, screaming children, screaming parents...it was a bit overwhelming. I felt bad that so many people were starting their trip like that. The CMs were fantastic though. We had gone to Epcot that morning, and MK had EMH so they changed our tickets to PH so we could enjoy some more Magic time. It was already 7:30 at night, but we were ecstatic!

 

[Master Yoda]

This might help.

http://www.kingdomkonsultantblog.com/2012/06/online-check-in-survival-guide.html

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Do you think time of day and/or day of the week has been a factor at all? We usually drive, and arrive at least a day early staying outside the world to "recoup". When we go over to check in, it is usually around 10ish. I usually set it up so we arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday too.

I completely understand the "wasting time" feeling though. DH and I went to POR for the 1st time in 2010. Flew down, and when we left, our home airport was shut down, so we were stuck. We were already at the airport for 3 hours. I called WD and we had to go to ASM due to no budget for an extra night. What a nightmare! It was quite the wait, screaming children, screaming parents...it was a bit overwhelming. I felt bad that so many people were starting their trip like that. The CMs were fantastic though. We had gone to Epcot that morning, and MK had EMH so they changed our tickets to PH so we could enjoy some more Magic time. It was already 7:30 at night, but we were ecstatic!

I'm not really sure if time or day was a factor. The WL situation was on a Tuesday...around noon, the YC check in was a Thursday around 3:30, and the Contemporary was a Sunday just after 7am. In all cases, we were still super excited to be there, I just think we're going to skip the advance check in this time and see how it goes.

 

[jw24]

I've had experiences with both regular and online check in and haven't had problems with either one. I do agree that if you have a bunch of requests, then you're better off with onsite check in.

 

[fbp]

We usually do online check in and everything goes well. Last time we didn't and things didn't go well (they didn't give us any of the fun check in booklets/stickers/information and we didn't get any of our requests). This might not actually be related to our check in decisions, but for us it is.

We'll always do online check in from here on out.

 

[Pluto fan girl]

This might help.

http://www.kingdomkonsultantblog.com/2012/06/online-check-in-survival-guide.html

I knew I had seen something somewhere! Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! I still appreciate all of the other information too!

 

[luv]

Online check-in can be a shorter line, but it can be a longer line, too. But you said you didn't care about lines and were pleased as punch to stand in the lobby, right? You're just loving the whole Disney experience.

Do the regular one. They go over more stuff with you and do the whole happy, peppy, "Welcome to Disney!" thing there...a little more than the online line.

 

[G8rchamps]

We checked in at AOA for a week in June, much shorter line and no issue at all. Very fast- and they got me a room at 10:30 in the morning. I was impressed.

 

[twinfo3728]

We have done both. I like the online check in but it seems any request get ignored. While online seems easy I actually prefer the conventional. I like the interaction with the CM. We have been lucky ever time we visited and did not have a long line to wait at either check in. I don't know if this matters or not but we use FL tours for our transfer instead of the Magic Express. The two times we used ME seems to fill the check area quickly with people. So one of use would get our bags while the other headed to check in to avoid the crazy rush. Just a thought