On Line Check-In

[Rob1648]

Rookie Question - is there any advantage (or disadvantage ) to doing the check-in on" my Disney experience " - now, for a visit in April?

 

[LoveToDisney]

You don’t have to think about it or do it later.

 

[Marthasor]

I don't even contemplate doing online check-in until I'm on the ground, in Orlando. I usually don't do it at all. The biggest disadvantage is, if something happens day- of and you can't check in, they will "soft" check you in and trying to unravel it is incredibly time consuming. I also prefer checking in, in person especially if I have room requests. If the room I am assigned isn't ideal, the front desk CM can search to see if something else is available.

 

[CarolynFH]

I like online checkin and usually do it when I have a reasonably good idea of what time we expect to arrive (that’s not as important now that they don’t let you enter any time before checkin time). I like getting the text or MDE notification of our room number before we arrive so we can go straight to our room. A link to the resort map comes with the room number, so we can check the location and visit the front desk first if we have concerns.

 

[BillFromCT]

I know it’s been discussed many times here. It doesn’t matter if you do online check in or not. Your room will be assigned at least a week out by the room assigners for each resort. Online check in just gives you the ability to go straight to your room. Walking up to the desk when you get to the resort does not mean a specific room has not already been assigned to you. Nothing prevents you from doing online check in, seeing it’s a room you don’t like, and still stopping at the front desk to ask for a different room.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We do online check-in most of the times, but if you have a room request that is more than the basic, I would advise skipping that section inside the online check-in and calling in your requests. The online check-in requests are normally very limited in choices, but if you just want a certain floor or near elevator or do not even care, then go ahead and use it. If we get the notification and we do not like the room location, then I will head straight to the check-in desk when we arrive, and if we do like the room location then we just head to our room

 

[Sacahara]

I prefer to not do online check-in but that's only because I prefer to pay my remaining balance with cash/gc rather than the card on file.

 

[didilovesdisney]

In my many many Disney resort stays I have never used online check in. I know I may be in the minority here but I enjoy checking in at the front desk and chatting with the cast member. I always have a non connecting room request so this way I know if I need to ask about a room change. Besides I also prefer not having my credit card on file.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I do it because it allows me to start charging on my MB and I get a text when my room is ready so I don’t leave the park too early and end up sitting in a hotel lobby.

I like to drop off my luggage and hit a park so this saves spending any morning time at the front desk on arrival. Morning park hours are precious to me. I usually have a balance to pay with gift cards so when I come back for the late afternoon break I used to* swing by the desk to pay off my balance and have them refund the cc on file (when you have a cc on file they charge the balance at like 6am on check-in day) and I take the chance to check if any highly wanted room requests were honored. Sometimes the CMs are chatty and doing this all on return from the parks I feel I have a more leisurely time to interact with them.

*I have since learned you can call Disney and apply gift cards to the room balance ahead of time

 

[Chili327]

Even if you do online check-in you should go to front desk anyway. I learned the hard way and wasted hours in the lobby waiting for a “text” that never came.

 

[Simba's Mom]

In my many many Disney resort stays I have never used online check in. I know I may be in the minority here but I enjoy checking in at the front desk and chatting with the cast member. I always have a non connecting room request so this way I know if I need to ask about a room change.

In the past, this is why I haven't done on-line check-in at Hilton Head. However, since my last split stay.where I got NONE of my requests at either resort, I am considering checking in at the front desk from now on. Especially since at one resort, my only request was for upper floor, yet I got first floor. You mean the only available studio was on the first floor?

 

[elvispursley]

We do both. We generally are on a red eye from the west coast so we like to check to see if we can get a room earlier than 3pm. We also have to stop by to get my mom’s cc added to her MB (wish you could do this ahead of time.

 

[BethC]

Love the online check-in! It's so wonderful to bypass the front desk and go straight to your room.

 

[ExcitedForWDW]

Are the front desk staff typically accommodating should you need to change the room allocated to you when you online check-in? I'll be asking for a non-connecting room and like the thought of heading straight to the room, however if they end up giving me a connecting room are the staff members typically able to make the change without to much kafuffle?

 

[kylenne]

Are the front desk staff typically accommodating should you need to change the room allocated to you when you online check-in? I'll be asking for a non-connecting room and like the thought of heading straight to the room, however if they end up giving me a connecting room are the staff members typically able to make the change without to much kafuffle?

It doesn't matter if you do online check in or not, rooms are usually assigned a few days ahead of your check in date. Never day of. You can and should go to the front desk if you don't like the one you got regardless. Whether or not they can accommodate a move if you don't like your room depends on how booked up the resort is. They generally try to work with you, but if they're booked solid they won't be able to.

 

[SuzyQue]

I don't even contemplate doing online check-in until I'm on the ground, in Orlando. I usually don't do it at all. The biggest disadvantage is, if something happens day- of and you can't check in, they will "soft" check you in and trying to unravel it is incredibly time consuming. I also prefer checking in, in person especially if I have room requests. If the room I am assigned isn't ideal, the front desk CM can search to see if something else is available.

This is exactly why I worry about online check in. The last 2 times we requested rooms next to/near each other, what was chosen for us didn't come near it! One time we weren't even in the same building!

 

[3rd_time_the_charm]

We do a combo...always do it online, but if we get there with no text we go to the front. We did a 3 way split last trip and got our last two villas around noon by going to the front.

 

[_19disnA]

Not aware of any disadvantage and the fact you can go directly to your room instead of waiting in a long line at the front desk with everyone else arriving is a great advantage. Disney lets you 'check-in' weeks in advance, so their definition is a bit different from other places we have stayed. Many other places only let you 'check-in' when you actually arrive on the property.

I think there are some who still think they can shmooze with the front desk and get a free room upgrade, but doubt that happens very often.

 

[morganms22]

Rookie Question - is there any advantage (or disadvantage ) to doing the check-in on" my Disney experience " - now, for a visit in April?

I always used to check in early on the app. One time for some reason I did not and my daughter ended up getting very sick the night before we were set to arrive. I called to change everything and they said it was no problem, because we had not checked in, yet. So, now I check in when we are on our way. You just never know what can happen and really there is no advantage to checking in so far out.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

My sister was a third adult on our reservation and was unable to go with us because her husband became ill the night before our trip. I was able to change our reservation at the front desk to 2 adults saving me some money since I had not done on-line check in. I usually use it but wanted to apply a gift card.