Direct-to-room

[MAO]

Well, all I can say is that I'm glad to see this change coming then.

 

[disneynutz]

Well, all I can say is that I'm glad to see this change coming then.

The way things were before if you requested a water view, at check in if you found out that they gave you a parking lot view, you had a good chance if changing the room.

Now it sounds like you will have little chance of changing.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The way things were before if you requested a water view, at check in if you found out that they gave you a parking lot view, you had a good chance if changing the room.

Now it sounds like you will have little chance of changing.

Bill

So for late arrivers this could be a very good thing although I must say that we have never felt we've been getting the leftovers when we check in late which is fairly often coming from the west coast. It will even things out where arrival time shouldn't have as much of an impact.

 

[gdrj]

Might be a death blow to being able to make a room request at check in.
If the rooms are pre-assigned and communicated to inbound guests, the pool of unassigned rooms will disappear.

Bill

I agree with Bill. There will be less chance for room shuffling at check-in.

I honestly don't see your point, disneynutz. I did online check-in last October and it seemed fairly obvious that my room had already been pulled from the system for some time before I got there. The only difference I see with this program is that they are going to *tell* you what room you're in before you physically get there. You said it yourself - front desk pulls a room from all rooms not checked in yet. Online check-in, by definition, means that you've checked in already. You seem to be saying that online check-in has never actually done anything in the past and this is somehow a new development, to actually check in people to the resort prior to their physical arrival.

Well, all I can say is that I'm glad to see this change coming then.

Just because you arrive later doesn't mean the early person is stealing your room or your request won't be honored. We've arrived early and like others have said they have switched us with a room that is ready. It could be a room 2 doors down, just that housekeeping has finished one sooner. To a certain point the room assignments are arbitrary (within their ability to honor requests). I've also arrived early and my requests have not been honored, I've had them say they can't honor the request, and other times they have been able to switch to honor my request, depending on the request I let them know I am willing to have to wait till later if it helps. Doesn't necessarily mean that they stole someones request. Not every guest requests something or the same thing. I personally at BWV don't mind walking far to my room to have poolside facing the clowns face (Morning Sun). Plenty of others want as close as possible to elevators ( I dont like the noise from everyone walking by). I've also arrived at midnight and had exactly what I want.

Beside the room request thing, I do miss the whole check-in procedure, where they would welcome you, give you a rundown of the resort, and kind of made you feel special.

 

[DenLo]

We did a split stay and moved from BWV to BLT last Thursday. As we were driving from BWV we received a text & an email telling us we would receive our room number later, when the room was ready, and wouldn't need to stop at the front desk. Shortly after that, before we reached BLT, we received messages with the room number.

The parking guard gave us our BLT parking pass when we got to the gate. Then a CM met us at the front door. He found our names on his tablet and confirmed that our room was ready but recommended stopping at the desk "just in case." Sure enough, since we had just left BWV, we weren't completely checked out there yet, so our MB wouldn't have unlocked the door. The CM at BLT took care of that and made sure both our bands were linked.

Overall it was easy and obviously would have been quicker if we'd made sure BWV checked us out before we left there. We liked it - could tell Bell Services when we arrived (at about 9:30 AM) that we wouldn't need to check our luggage with them. So we're looking forward to this process continuing - and being improved so that BWV will check us out by the time we get to the next resort!

Good to know about your experience. I wish somehow we could make a call to the front desk and tell them we are vacating the room now, please check us out, instead of having to go down stairs and physically check out, or have the second resort confirm the checkout.

 

[TinkerBrie]

I think I like the idea. I always have anxiety about our room until after we get our room assignment. Lol. Here is my question. What if I do the direct to room, and am not happy with my assignment? Would I call someone? Will they reassign?

 

[loveglobe]

I think I like the idea. I always have anxiety about our room until after we get our room assignment. Lol. Here is my question. What if I do the direct to room, and am not happy with my assignment? Would I call someone? Will they reassign?

Good question. I can't imagine that they wouldn't let you switch rooms, but it would just mean more of a hassle for you.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I think I like the idea. I always have anxiety about our room until after we get our room assignment. Lol. Here is my question. What if I do the direct to room, and am not happy with my assignment? Would I call someone? Will they reassign?

My assumption is that you would go to the front desk and see if a different room is available just like you do now. I doubt they are looking to add telephone calls because of the direct to room option.

 

[TinkerBrie]

But I'm wondering if they will reassign BEFORE arrival?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

But I'm wondering if they will reassign BEFORE arrival?

As I mentioned I really doubt they are looking for phone calls about this so my best assumption is no. However it is an assumption.

 

[DenLo]

I thought it was mentioned on this forum before that the rooms are assigned 10 days before arrival by a CM. Now we are being told the rooms were never assigned in advance even for online check in users?

 

[supersnoop]

I thought it was mentioned on this forum before that the rooms are assigned 10 days before arrival by a CM. Now we are being told the rooms were never assigned in advance even for online check in users?

Rooms were assigned, but not communicated until arrival so moving things around didn't have an impact on guests. This just makes it more difficult to swap rooms because other people have a claim on those rooms now.

 

[DenLo]

Rooms were assigned, but not communicated until arrival so moving things around didn't have an impact on guests. This just makes it more difficult to swap rooms because other people have a claim on those rooms now.

Ahh, I understand, because the other member knows that room, you can't just take it when you request a different room at the front desk.

 

[Sandisw]

I wonder if this also is to help cut down on the number of people who ask for a change of room when they get there because they didn't get the request they put in. I can see this being a good thing in that way because once people have been told a room number, then it will be harder to give it to someone else. I hope it makes the whole request thing work and run a little smoother. I'll just like knowing ahead of time that I might get my room number early as we typically split stay and this way I won't necessarily have to stop at the second resort before going to a park or DTD on that "change' day.

 

[DenLo]

The more I think about it, I like this idea. I have to admit I have been very embarrassed by the poor behavior of DVC members that didn't like their room assignments at the front desk. I always felt sorry for the CM that they took it out on. I still do not understand why it was okay because you arrived first that you could take someone else's assigned room. Hopefully the tantrums by DVC members will go away with this change.

 

[disneynutz]

The more I think about it, I like this idea. I have to admit I have been very embarrassed by the poor behavior of DVC members that didn't like their room assignments at the front desk. I always felt sorry for the CM that they took it out on. I still do not understand why it was okay because you arrived first that you could take someone else's assigned room. Hopefully the tantrums by DVC members will go away with this change.

The problem with the old process and the new is that you are depending on people to do their job. Your room request may be important to you but not the CM who is just putting in another 8 hours. In the past we would ask at check in if our request was honored, sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't, sometimes ignored.

The front desk CM's would often volunteer to look for a room better matching our request commenting that the room assigner(s) don't care where they put people or that the night shift screws everything up and the day shift gets stuck cleaning up the mess. Often there were rooms available matching our request but not assigned to us.

Online check in was designed to save Disney money by pre-assigning the rooms but it never really took off. Now it seems that Disney has decided to take it to the next step.

Bill

 

[crisi]

The way things were before if you requested a water view, at check in if you found out that they gave you a parking lot view, you had a good chance if changing the room.

Now it sounds like you will have little chance of changing.

Bill

Good.

Its a timeshare running at high occupancy. As members, every one of us will make dozens of trips. Once in a while, we should all get a crappy view by mere luck of the draw, because there are a few crappy views, and take it - because if we don't, another human being is going to end up in that room later and if its good enough for another person, it should be good enough for us. And once in a while you should look out your window and think "awesome!" That's the system I think we all bought into. One with a few crappy views that over the dozens of trips we will take, we might get once in a while.

 

[MAO]

The front desk CM's would often volunteer to look for a room better matching our request commenting that the room assigner(s) don't care where they put people or that the night shift screws everything up and the day shift gets stuck cleaning up the mess. Often there were rooms available matching our request but not assigned to us.

First of all, if you believe that the front desk CM's actually know everything about what goes on in the 'back office' I'm sure I could find a bridge for you to buy, somewhere.
Secondly, if there actually are rooms available that match your request, why would this change make any difference whatsoever? You get your room number, you go and decide it doesn't match what you want, you go to the front desk and say "hey, any rooms available that are x, y, and z?" and the front desk looks up any unassigned rooms and says "sure, let's take care of moving you." According to what I've been hearing on this thread it used to be "well, so-and-so has taken the time to check in (possibly because, like you, they planned ahead) but isn't here yet (possibly because they've got family duties to take care of before they could leave, so they're getting in maybe half an hour after you show up if they aren't the people in line immediately behind you) so we'll just take the room that they requested (possibly even before you got around to making your request) and give it to you since you're standing right in front of me, potentially ready to make (or possibly already making) a scene about how we don't take care of our members." I'm with crisi - a 'crappy' view every now and then just means that someone else gets a 'good' view every now and then. If anyone expects to always get what they want, I don't think a timeshare is their best means of getting it.

 

[Splashboat]

I would just like to note that not everyone who makes a room request bases it on a preferential view. People with disabilities (physical limitations, emotional, behavioral...) might make a room request based on a disability. Believe it or not, a child with autism might do better at the end of the BWV long halls because it can be quieter and less busy while others might have issues with the long walk.

I believe most people realize that a room request is just a request but I hope there is enough wiggle room for the CMs to have the discretion to move people.

 

[MAO]

I guess my concern about CMs having 'the discretion to move people' is still this: Person A shows up with a need for a room close to the elevators. Regardless of whether they requested it or not, they decide that the room they got is not as close as they want. So they go to the front desk to request a different room. Now, the CM does their best and decides that the room originally assigned to Person B, who hasn't physically arrived yet, is a better fit. So they change Person B's assignment and give that room to Person A. When Person B shows up, with a need for a room close to the elevators -- well, yay. Too bad, so sad, didn't know you needed it, you now have this room take it or leave it. Why does the fact that Person A physically showed up before Person B mean that they should get what they want, even if it means someone else's request is ignored? For all that any of us knows, Person A and Person B both described just why they needed to be close to the elevators and the room assigner decided that Person B's need was greater - and, perhaps, if Person A were given all the relevant information s/he would agree with that assessment. Who knows?

I hope this change is implemented as it's being promoted. I hope that the front desk CMs have the ability to give someone a different unassigned room if it's requested. And I hope that the front desk CMs do not have the ability to willy-nilly undo someone else's assignment just because there's a member standing in front of them crying about how they don't like the room they got. (I'm often too optimistic, I know. LOL!)