Room Assignment

[mebucko]

Hello, All!
It used to be advised that it would be a wise thing to e-mail your WDW Resort about 24 hours before arrival, to very nicely (please, please, if possible!) remind those doing room assignments of any preferences you have for a room assignment, even though you added it to your reservation previously. We have done this, and always got our request - not sure the reminder was the reason?
We know requests are "noted, but not guaranteed", but wonder if it is still a good thing to do? We plan to do online check-in 60 days out, in any case.
Whatcha think?
Cheers,
Bill

 

[Master Yoda]

My problem is that the school busses stop on the road right at the end if my property.

We live on a very large retention pond which attracts enough kids on its own. Since my neighbor will not put up a fence and the HA will not allow me to extend mine into the water, My yard has become a cut through. It does not help that I have about 10 cubic yards of rock bordering said pond. At this point I just need to put out motion activated audio of me yelling "Don't throw the rocks in the water!".

 

[disneygirl1]

Best thing to do is make sure your requests are noted on your reservation at booked. I used to call and fax the room assigner in the past to to verify my request and I was told a few times that there is no longer a room assigner at the resorts, it is now hubbed so faxing requests to the resort is no longer an option nor is calling them. And the more general you are with your requests the more likely you are to have them granted.

 

[mebucko]

Actually, reservations get sent to the resort from the main reservations system about 4 days before guests arrive, room assignment begins about 3 days before, but can change at any point due to other guests requesting changes, maintenance issues, guests staying longer, cutting their visit short, etc.

I have also asked my friends who are past and current Disney resort CM's, at least 1 spent many years behind a resort front desk as well as working with the room assignment team - faxes are not looked at, they are tossed. Make the request on your reservation, and ask again when you check in. If they haven't already accommodated your request, if they can, they will try.

Thanks, DisneyJoe - much appreciated!
Gotta be careful of the goat option - don't want to offend PETA!
Our requests are simple, and are on the reservation. We have a Bay Lake View at the Contemp, but added to be at the end closest to the Bay Lake Tower (North?) and a floor between 7 and 9.
I'll put it on the online check-in also.
Thanks again, All!
Bill
Cheers,
Bill

 

[mebucko]

Best thing to do is make sure your requests are noted on your reservation at booked. I used to call and fax the room assigner in the past to to verify my request and I was told a few times that there is no longer a room assigner at the resorts, it is now hubbed so faxing requests to the resort is no longer an option nor is calling them. And the more general you are with your requests the more likely you are to have them granted.

Thank you, Disneygirl11!
Makes sense - my info is definitely dated!
Cheers,
Bill

 

[Master Yoda]

Thanks, DisneyJoe - much appreciated!
Gotta be careful of the goat option - don't want to offend PETA!
Our requests are simple, and are on the reservation. We have a Bay Lake View at the Contemp, but added to be at the end closest to the Bay Lake Tower (North?) and a floor between 7 and 9.
I'll put it on the online check-in also.
Thanks again, All!
Bill
Cheers,
Bill

Sounds good! As a rule you want to keep requests general in nature just like you have done. "Ground floor", "Near Elevator", etc. If you get too specific such as just giving them a room number the person assigning rooms will not know what to do if that particular room is occupied. They might think that you wanted room 2184 because it was near the stairs, when you really liked it because it was next to the bus stop.

The Contemporary is a great resort. You are going to have a blast!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Our requests are simple, and are on the reservation. We have a Bay Lake View at the Contemp, but added to be at the end closest to the Bay Lake Tower (North?) and a floor between 7 and 9.

Just like Master Yoda said - keep them simple - as well as in the order of importance that you want them. You have paid for the Contemporary Bay Lake view, but have 2 requests

- North end
- between 7 and 9th floor

Which is more important? because they will work in order to satisfy them (after trying to see if they can do both). If they can't do North End on 7-9 floor, but can do north end on the 5th floor, that is what you will get. If it is more important for you to be on 7-9, then put that first.

 

[mebucko]

Sounds good! As a rule you want to keep requests general in nature just like you have done. "Ground floor", "Near Elevator", etc. If you get too specific such as just giving them a room number the person assigning rooms will not know what to do if that particular room is occupied. They might think that you wanted room 2184 because it was near the stairs, when you really liked it because it was next to the bus stop.

The Contemporary is a great resort. You are going to have a blast!

Thanks, Master Yoda.
We started out there in the 70's, had a 10th floor MK view room once, but changed to the Poly, until this time. Our daughter was a CM in Guest Relations at the Contemp while going to college.
BLAST it will be! Love it!
Thanks for your input and the best wishes!
Cheers,
Bill

 

[mebucko]

Just like Master Yoda said - keep them simple - as well as in the order of importance that you want them. You have paid for the Contemporary Bay Lake view, but have 2 requests

- North end
- between 7 and 9th floor

Which is more important? because they will work in order to satisfy them (after trying to see if they can do both). If they can't do North End on 7-9 floor, but can do north end on the 5th floor, that is what you will get. If it is more important for you to be on 7-9, then put that first.

Thanks!
Great advice! I should have known that.One time we requested 3rd floor, Fiji. It was Fiji we wanted, and they assigned us a 3rd floor at another longhouse, thinking that the floor was more important than the longhouse. Got into Fiji, but you are absolutely right!
Thanks again!
Cheers,
Bill

 

[agorna]

My wife has always noted it on the phone when booking (or has even called later to add room requests like specific numbers, etc.), and then we also try during online check-in, though you're more limited to generic requests there. We were given the option to pick 2 out of 4 "room requests" at online check-in - large balcony, ground floor, woods view, and one other...can't recall. There was also a section called "amenities requests" that wasn't applicable for our resort.

what resort did you do online check in for??

I've never used online check In and am wondering if its worth it... what exactly is the process?

 

[RedDad]

what resort did you do online check in for??

I've never used online check In and am wondering if its worth it... what exactly is the process?

We were checking in at Beach Club Villas. The only thing that online check-in does is allow the front desk to have your welcome packet printed and ready before you arrive. It doesn't change how rooms are assigned or alter your chances for the elusive free upgrade - at least in our experience. If you're a relative WDW veteran and don't need things like room keys, tickets, dining plan explained to you then its probably worth doing. Depending on the time of year and resort it may or may not actually speed things up. For someone new to wdw its probably not a good idea.

 

[RedDad]

As far as the process - its pretty simple. You can check in online at 60 days as long as you're paid in full. You'll give them an estimated time for both check-in and out, and you'll add a credit card for room charges if you want. Then select your room and amenities requests. You can log back in later to make changes to the above up to a certain point before arrival.