Check in times and special requests

[DarthVader]

Here's my question with regards to special requests, does it matter when you check in (morning/noon/night)?

For instance, I'm staying at the contemporary and requested a higher floor.(to better view the park and fireworks) Would it be more likely to get a higher floor if I check in first thing in the morning (knowing the room may not be ready until the afternoon). Conversely would I lose out on a higher floor because we arrived late at night?

Finally one other twist, does checking in online help/hurt that as well or does that not even have an impact on special requests?

 

[Tuvalu]

Rooms are usually assigned several days before you check in. It helps to have your requests noted on your reservation, so call Disney and have the CM note your request. It is also helpful if you use online check in; a request for "higher floor" may be one of the options listed, so check that as well. (There won't be a way for you to add any request in writing; you can only pick from the options listed.) And it is better to check in first thing in the morning, even if your room isn't ready, since the CM can at least check if your room request was granted and if not, can possibly work some "magic" to have you moved to a room that meets your needs (since inventory will be greater in the morning than late at night.)

If the "direct to room" option is offered to you (where you skip front desk check in entirely), I would decline that since you would have no way in advance to know if the room is what you want.

 

[DarthVader]

Rooms are usually assigned several days before you check in. It helps to have your requests noted on your reservation, so call Disney and have the CM note your request.

Thanks, I already have that in there.

t is also helpful if you use online check in; a request for "higher floor" may be one of the options listed, so check that as wel

Great thanks, that will help as well.

I'm trying to plan my pre-disney arrval and we will be going to Lego Land, one option is to swing by LegoLand up from Tampa (visiting family down in the Point Charlotte area before our Orlando vacation starts). Do we hit legoland before Orlando and then dedicate the rest of the week for WDW stuff or do we duck out on a day during that time. The biggest issue with the thought process is possibly losing out on a higher floor.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks, I already have that in there.


Great thanks, that will help as well.

I'm trying to plan my pre-disney arrval and we will be going to Lego Land, one option is to swing by LegoLand up from Tampa (visiting family down in the Point Charlotte area before our Orlando vacation starts). Do we hit legoland before Orlando and then dedicate the rest of the week for WDW stuff or do we duck out on a day during that time. The biggest issue with the thought process is possibly losing out on a higher floor.

Wow, a logistics challenge! I am all for simplifying on vacation, so let me set your mind at ease...rooms in the tower begin on the fifth floor and go as high as floor 11 (floors 12 & 14 are club level.) We have stayed on both a low floor and a high floor facing the MK and did not have any noticeable difference in our firework viewing pleasure! Also, we did not hear/feel the monorail beneath us if that is a concern.

 

[MickeyMomV]

After our most recent vacation I'm a firm believer in checking in early/phoning and faxing in special requests. When we were there in February our flight came in about 10:30pm so by the time we checked in it was about 11:30 pm. We were staying at CSR and we ended up getting put in Rancho's 7A, our room was about as far away from the main building as you can get. It was about a 25-30 minute round trip walk to the main building. It could be that was our assigned room the whole time but a big part of me thinks it was because we came in late and that was the only room that would work for our 11 day stay. In the end it was our fault for not putting in any special requests. We didn't let it effect our tip but the resort mugs ended up being useless as the Dig site was closed and it wasn't worth the trip to the main. The coke machine outside our room received frequent trips.

This will be our lesson for next time, we will be doing all of the tips/tricks to get better room placement.

 

[HolleBolleGijs]

After our most recent vacation I'm a firm believer in checking in early/phoning and faxing in special requests.

The only thing more old school than faxing would be snail mail. I doubt many of the CMs who handle that are even old enough to know how to use a fax machine. Do the resorts even have fax machines?

 

[MickeyMomV]

The only thing more old school than faxing would be snail mail. I doubt many of the CMs who handle that are even old enough to know how to use a fax machine. Do the resorts even have fax machines?

I think they are still more common than you think, its just that people don't have the old school machines with the phone handset built in. Everything is now built into their multi function units, so yes all of the resorts still have fax machines.

The reason I said fax is that there are a lot of people who have posted that if you fax over a request 7 days before your arrival they will review it and try to grant it when assigning rooms. Is there truth to this??? Who knows, but its worth a shot.

 

[HolleBolleGijs]

I think they are still more common than you think, its just that people don't have the old school machines with the phone handset built in. Everything is now built into their multi function units, so yes all of the resorts still have fax machines.

The reason I said fax is that there are a lot of people who have posted that if you fax over a request 7 days before your arrival they will review it and try to grant it when assigning rooms. Is there truth to this??? Who knows, but its worth a shot.

I mean I'm a college student and I've only ever had to use a fax machine once or twice in my life. Even the company I work for now (which is pretty old school - we still have paper time cards that that get a time and date stamped on them) doesn't use a fax. Maybe they're more common in the tourism industry than I think, but I feel like calling in would be just as effective.

 

[MickeyMomV]

I mean I'm a college student and I've only ever had to use a fax machine once or twice in my life. Even the company I work for now (which is pretty old school - we still have paper time cards that that get a time and date stamped on them) doesn't use a fax. Maybe they're more common in the tourism industry than I think, but I feel like calling in would be just as effective.

But I don't believe there is any way to call a "scheduler". If you call the hotel to make a request they transfer you to Disney travel and maybe leaving a request with them carry's the same weight as a fax but I would rather cover all the bases. I have left requests with Disney travel before and they are anything but optimistic and have a 50/50 record on requests being approved.

 

[FrostyNaples]

The only thing more old school than faxing would be snail mail. I doubt many of the CMs who handle that are even old enough to know how to use a fax machine. Do the resorts even have fax machines?

You don't need to know how to use a fax machine (the CM), they will see the paper sitting there, so hopefully they can read. They are not sending a fax back..

 

[HolleBolleGijs]

You don't need to know how to use a fax machine (the CM), they will see the paper sitting there, so hopefully they can read. They are not sending a fax back..

Assuming the CM knows what it is, and that they should look at it. I can't imagine they get faxes too often, and tbh if I didn't know what a fax machine looked like, I would just think someone printed something and left it there...I could be overthinking this - I have a tendency to do that But this is just my experience as a millennial...

 

[FrostyNaples]

Assuming the CM knows what it is, and that they should look at it. I can't imagine they get faxes too often, and tbh if I didn't know what a fax machine looked like, I would just think someone printed something and left it there...I could be overthinking this - I have a tendency to do that But this is just my experience as a millennial...

One more assumption, they should be eFax by now. Meaning, if you fax something in, it hits an email address inbox.

There probably isn't a fax machine at all. And if there is, just for sending, its probably hooked up to one of those large XEROX machines.

Thats how we do in 2015.

 

[HolleBolleGijs]

One more assumption, they should be eFax by now. Meaning, if you fax something in, it hits an email address inbox.

There probably isn't a fax machine at all. And if there is, just for sending, its probably hooked up to one of those large XEROX machines.

Thats how we do in 2015.

I didn't even know eFax was a thing That's a little more plausible then!

 

[FrostyNaples]

I didn't even know eFax was a thing That's a little more plausible then!

Yea, i'm a millennial myself, however nearing the oldest of the considered age bracket....

At my company, we have individual fax lines just in case, and they are inbound eFax only - so they hit our outlook inboxes with attachments of the file.

We have to go the Xerox in order to send one out, on an extremely rare occasion.

 

[Tom 55]

I believe in earlier is better. That way if your request has not been honored you can ask to change room. I think that by being there earlier they can switch you with someone who has not checked in. It worked for us when we stay at POFQ. I also think it has to do with if the hotel is sold out. We go in September and they are never 100%. So there is room to make changes.

 

[SMS55]

Earlier check in won't guarantee your request. As a matter of fact they tell you, they'll try and honor your requests but can't guarantee them. Online check in won't have any bearing on that either. As a matter of fact, I would suggest not doing on line check in so you can ask about your request and plead your case. If you're a newbie don't do online check in. Your going to have questions. Only do online check in if you're a veteran. We go frequently so we just want to get there and hit the parks.