Is there even a reason the app asks what time you’ll arrive to check in?

[RamblinWreck]

I had a stay at the VGF we just got back from.

I booked 2 villas. I arrived the morning of check in day around 8:00 AM.

Since I was dropping off bags anyway, I thought I’d check in for our room in person. I explained to the very nice guy at the desk that I had absolutely no expectation of the room being ready until 4:00, but my 2 little ones do much better if they’re able to get down for naps in the afternoon so I would be super grateful if there was any way the room could be one of the earlier ones cleaned.

I hoped that actually physically being present at 8:00 AM might help my chances.

The guy was very nice, and obviously made no promises, but said he would put in a note to try to get our room on some kind of priority.

I then checked in the other room from the app, and indicated that the guests in that room wouldn’t arrive until at least 5:00 PM.

Our room was a 1BR, the other a studio.

We get a text at about noon telling us the other room is ready.

Ours wasn’t ready until 5:30


I went down at 4:30 just to ask about it and there was a very upset older couple already giving them the business over their room so I just let it be. Fortunately we were able to use the other room for naps so it worked out for us… but I just wonder how this system actually works and what the point is.

Why even ask if you’re going to have some rooms ready way before people need them, and others way late?

 

[OKW Lover]

I've often wondered about the same thing.

FWIW, when I travel I often stay at Marriott and Hilton properties. They offer the same feature of letting them know when you'll arrive. And sometimes they even pay attention to it. But many times not. I think its just a hotel thing.

 

[Sandisw]

I know they changed it now that you can only choose before 4 pm or choose specific times later....but, I have also noticed that when doing online check in, that the time would change.

I can't say why it changed to 5 pm for you in the app, after you had arrived and the CM noted you wanted first available....we have usually had good luck with that....

But, I think that when they do see that someone isn't arriving until late, it gives them some leeway if they need to move people around that day to try to get people in to clean rooms as early as possible.

That is why they changed it to be before 4 pm, because they were probably getting a lot of complaints that someone checked arriving at 11 am, and expected room to be set.....now, all they know is you might be around before official check in time.

 

[jo-jo]

Several years ago, traveled with our DS’s family,two years in a row. Same plane, everything. Two studios. Both times they got their room hours before ours.

 

[ScubaCat]

it helps them with housekeeping and can help you with with regards to requests. If you want a specific area or floor and don't need it until later, they can assign other areas to people who prefer an earlier arrival time.

When I'm coming solo, non-DVC, I'll fly in late and stay at all star movies. If I request pool view/mighty ducks area (secret hack ) AND put a late arrival time, I always seem to get it. The one time I put 3pm check-in, I was way down at the end somewhere else.

As with everything, YMMV, but flexibility can pay off.

 

[sndral]

I had a stay at the VGF we just got back from.

I booked 2 villas. I arrived the morning of check in day around 8:00 AM.

Since I was dropping off bags anyway, I thought I’d check in for our room in person. I explained to the very nice guy at the desk that I had absolutely no expectation of the room being ready until 4:00, but my 2 little ones do much better if they’re able to get down for naps in the afternoon so I would be super grateful if there was any way the room could be one of the earlier ones cleaned.

I hoped that actually physically being present at 8:00 AM might help my chances.

The guy was very nice, and obviously made no promises, but said he would put in a note to try to get our room on some kind of priority.

I then checked in the other room from the app, and indicated that the guests in that room wouldn’t arrive until at least 5:00 PM.

Our room was a 1BR, the other a studio.

We get a text at about noon telling us the other room is ready.

Ours wasn’t ready until 5:30


I went down at 4:30 just to ask about it and there was a very upset older couple already giving them the business over their room…
Why even ask if you’re going to have some rooms ready way before people need them, and others way late?

Sounds like they were short housekeepers on the day you checked in & based on the complaining couple maybe had some other issues going on, still no excuse for the villa to not be ready by check in time. 1 br.s take longer to clean than studios, but they shouldn’t take that much longer!
W/ what you’ve described I wonder if the check in guy made a mistake when you spoke to him at 8 a.m. & noted ASAP on the studio reservation rather than the 1 br. reservation.
I am curious why you didn’t save some points & just book a 2 br. lock off, although as it played out probably best that you at least had access to the studio early.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

There are several factors that go into this:
1) What times are new guests arriving?
2) What rooms are the incoming guests assigned to? This depends on several factors, including room requests, the rooms being vacated, etc. These assignments are made before arrival day. These assignments will generally not change once they are made, because of a cascade effect of causing others to miss their room requests.
3) What times are the former guests departing? (Some will leave at 8AM. Some will take a pool day and stay until 11am checkout. This is an unknown until your arrival day.
3) In what condition is the room? Some people trash the room. Some people leave it pretty clean. Some people have had vomit or other accidents that take extra cleaning. A messy 2BR can take several hours to clean.
4) There is an extra level of disinfecting with the covid protocols.

I learned all this talking to a very friendly supervisor in the lobby of VGF, having arrived early and waiting for a 2BR. They would say things like “your room is your room, no one can take it from you.“. “We can ask the maid to expedite the cleaning, but Do you really want that?” (No I did not. I wanted a spotless room.). All the while they kept smiling, as if I had received pixie dust.

I later found out why. We got the most amazing room assignment. We had one of a handful of standard view rooms at VGF that have a direct view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It was a great experience for the grandkids, who got to stay up, watch the fireworks, and immediately go to bed. My only request was “upper floor”.

 

[HashberryOTG]

I've found I usually have to make it clear I'm willing to prioritize an earlier room over anything else. Otherwise it seems to just get randomly tossed in as a request.

 

[RamblinWreck]

Sounds like they were short housekeepers on the day you checked in & based on the complaining couple maybe had some other issues going on, still no excuse for the villa to not be ready by check in time. 1 br.s take longer to clean than studios, but they shouldn’t take that much longer!
W/ what you’ve described I wonder if the check in guy made a mistake when you spoke to him at 8 a.m. & noted ASAP on the studio reservation rather than the 1 br. reservation.
I am curious why you didn’t save some points & just book a 2 br. lock off, although as it played out probably best that you at least had access to the studio early.

I was wondering if someone was going to ask about the lock off!

The reservations were made at different times, when we weren’t sure who all would be coming.

By the time the last res was made we didn’t want to risk canceling and rebooking.

 

[RamblinWreck]

There are several factors that go into this:
1) What times are new guests arriving?
2) What rooms are the incoming guests assigned to? This depends on several factors, including room requests, the rooms being vacated, etc. These assignments are made before arrival day. These assignments will generally not change once they are made, because of a cascade effect of causing others to miss their room requests.
3) What times are the former guests departing? (Some will leave at 8AM. Some will take a pool day and stay until 11am checkout. This is an unknown until your arrival day.
3) In what condition is the room? Some people trash the room. Some people leave it pretty clean. Some people have had vomit or other accidents that take extra cleaning. A messy 2BR can take several hours to clean.
4) There is an extra level of disinfecting with the covid protocols.

I learned all this talking to a very friendly supervisor in the lobby of VGF, having arrived early and waiting for a 2BR. They would say things like “your room is your room, no one can take it from you.“. “We can ask the maid to expedite the cleaning, but Do you really want that?” (No I did not. I wanted a spotless room.). All the while they kept smiling, as if I had received pixie dust.

I later found out why. We got the most amazing room assignment. We had one of a handful of standard view rooms at VGF that have a direct view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It was a great experience for the grandkids, who got to stay up, watch the fireworks, and immediately go to bed. My only request was “upper floor”.

Love it!

Last year we had a “standard view” 1 BR at Bay Lake Tower.

The view was essentially a 50/50 split between a lake view and a theme park view, and we were on the same floor as the walkway to the monorail.

My 4 year old and 2 year old absolutely loved watching the fireworks in their pajamas before tucking into bed.

If I could guarantee myself that room I’d stay there every single time.