Possibly Unpopular Opinion-Room requests (don't do it)

[WonderlandisReality]

First off, I 100% understand the appeal of room requests as your typical Disney Type A uberplanner. I am a proud extreme planner and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

I put in a room request for our first planned trip at AoA and that trip got COVID cancelled.
I haven't put in a room request since and whatever magic goes on at Disney in this department, I have always gotten beyond my wildest dreams. Therefore I won't put one in again. I have total trust in whatever wizardry goes on now. Our examples in the last 3 years:

Trip 1: Room type: standard Caribbean Beach resort. What I got: lake view, ground floor, Aruba 51 (right off the bridge).
Trip 2: Room type: Deluxe Savannah view Studio Villa Jambo House. What I got: Fantastic Savannah view but also view of Expedition Everest and Epcot fireworks every night!
Trip 3: Room type: Booked for my sister's family standard Pop Century. My sister wanted 80s and a close walk to the main building. What they got: Exactly that. plus no parking lot view. Just trees.
Trip 4: Room Type: Aulani, Island Garden View Studio. What I got: 16th floor sunrise view over the hills of Oahu and a side view of the Pacific.
Trip 5: Booked for my parents, Aulani Island Garden View Studio. Mom is deadly afraid of heights but also hates ground-floor rooms, Dad loves live shows. What they got: 2nd floor overlooking the Luau.

I've got 3 booked stays coming up within the next year and now really look forward to what I randomly get. Disney seems to choose better for us than I could imagine. I see a lot of people stress over room requests. I highly recommend not making any whatsoever.

 

[nw6675]

I agree. Plus I've never gotten my requests.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I put in a request for obstructed savannah and it was a better view than the actual savannah view we moved to later in the trip. I think the issue is people booking room types they know they would be unhappy in without getting the request.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I don’t think there’s any issue with someone putting in room requests but the issues come when that person doesn’t get their request and is upset or complains about the standard view that they paid for. I’ve even seen people want to be moved because of their standard view that they booked. We have always booked standard and if we get a parking lot or roof view we just roll with it since it’s what we booked and paid for. It has never ruined any of our trips.

I think this site gets people caught up in the room request hoopla. They want everything to be so perfect that even the exact location of the room has them a bit frantic. This site has a tendency to suck people in.

Last trip I requested casitas at CSR. We got Ranchos. I actually preferred Ranchos and had an amazing trip. It was a perfect location for us since we barely utilize the food court and this section is closer to the pool that we use much more. We were also a few steps from the bus stop and I preferred having this stop on the loop.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have been pleasantly surprised when requesting a nice view.

 

[georgina]

I only remember making one room request years ago when Pop was being renovated and there were only a couple of buildings with the murphy bed. Usually I don't bother. I think it's fine to make requests, as long as you know you may not get them. Personally I don't care that much about views or location within a resort.

 

[SkyGuy]

I agree. Plus I've never gotten my requests.

I haven’t either. I stopped requesting about 10 trips ago and have been perfectly happy as opposed to disappointed that I wasn’t even close to my requested area.

 

[Little E]

OP, this is an interesting perspective. My most recent trip, I booked a standard YC room and after hemming and hawing, I didn't make a room request. I really wanted a king room as I was traveling solo and I thought I'd like the extra floor space with just one king bed. Instead, while I got two queen beds, I got a beautiful water view, close to the end of YC right off the boardwalk. A most excellent room!

 

[R&RsMom]

Our recent trips have involved 3 rooms. Our only requests have been 2 that connect and the third nearby. We have gotten connecting every time, and adjacent two out of three times. I don’t ask for buildings any more.

 

[saraheliz]

I've got one for you. This past August we stayed at AoA? My daughter has been talking about wanting to stay in the Lion King rooms for 5 years, since we stayed there in 2018. I requested a Lion King room facing the lake on the top floor.
We got a Finding Nemo room in building 4, third floor, facing the cars buildings.
It was so incredibly hot the week we were there (so much hotter and sunnier than last August) that we were SO grateful to be in Nemo steps from the Skyline, pool, and main building. We commented several times how glad we were to have gotten Nemo! We talked all week about walking over to the Little Mermaid pool or to go check out the Lion King theming but it was so darn hot we didn't even make it over. I still would have liked being on the top floor but the people above us luckily were not loud.

On the contrary, I got everything I requested at AKV last year and loved that spot, as well.

 

[TCRAIG]

I’m DVC - the only request I ever add to the ressie is Top Floor - in our 40+ trips the last 10 years - we’ve NEVER stayed in the top floor

 

[RuntheMouse]

I whole heartedly agree. We never put in room requests and have been pixie dusted too many time to count.
Just this year:
- Booked a studio at BRV, upgraded to 1 bed.
- Booked standard view at WL, upgraded to a fireworks view.
- At BWV received a third floor village green room with the huge balcony.

 

[bnf0522]

I've tried to make the opposite request of most people. My mom and I take mother-daughter trips every 2 years or so and we always try to request a higher floor & close to the stairs. It kind of keeps us from rooms close to elevators or on the ground floor so (hopefully) people with kids & strollers or people with mobility issues can have these rooms.

I don't know that it helps but we normally end up close to the stairs.....but we'll gladly take whatever room we're given because, in the end, we're still in the Disney bubble

 

[bluezy]

I think some of it might have to do with which resort you're booked in. Our first few family trips (with kids) we stayed at Pop Century. I never made room requests (other than connecting rooms) and on our first trip we got a pixie dust upgrade to preferred rooms in the 60's buildings. That was nice. I didn't make any requests for the next trip (again, other than connecting rooms) and we ended up in building 2 which felt very far away from everything (bus stops, food court). Trip 3, I still didn't make requests and when we checked in we were assigned to bldg. 2 again so I asked if there was anything else available and got moved to bldg 9 which worked much better for us. We've stayed in a suite at AoA for the last several trips (basically since the resort opened). Our first stay there, we didn't make any requests and when we arrived were were in Cars Bldg. 2 in the last room before walking out the back door to the parking lot. Literally the furthest room from the food court and bus stops. I asked if they had something closer to those things and we were moved to LK bldg. 10. Much better location. After those 3 trips and getting rooms that were in bad locations (for us), I decided to start making requests -- fully knowing that we still weren't guaranteed to get those requests. I would make identical requests through Touring Plans and have our TA add it to our reservation. Our next 4 trips we got the exact room I requested or the one right next to it. I already have a request in for our trip next summer.

I will say that if we were staying at a resort where there were lots of upgrade possibilities, I wouldn't put in a request. But at AoA the only upgrades available are LM room upgrade to a suite; or LK/Cars suite upgrade to a Nemo suite. We don't really care if putting in a room request precludes us from being upgraded to a Nemo suite. But I totally understand why some people prefer to just let things to chance.

 

[SaintsManiac-vol.2]

My upcoming trip in November will be the first time I don’t do a room request. I’m excited to go in with zero expectations.

 

[kiford]

We frequently make room requests largely dependent on what we expect to be doing on that trip. On our recent BWV trip I wanted a room that was close to the quiet pool and an exit where it would cut off a lot of time walking to/from HS.

We have made a request at BWI in previous times where we got booked into the same room we'd had years before which was close to the quiet pool (on BWI side) and was a King room.

We've made requests at AKL for a room close to the elevators and lobby because we wanted to be close to the pools and restaurants.

We requested a room at the corner rear of BC once so that we'd get a King room close to an exit that was near BCV where our friends were staying. We once requested a room there at the corner near the volleyball court as it was a King room and close to an exit that was closer to Epcot without having to go to the lobby.

It's not that we don't necessarily like a room we get without making a request, but if I know where we plan to spend our time, I will definitely make a request if I think it will be most convenient for us. IMO it's not an upgrade if it's counter to our plans even if it's technically a higher grade room.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's not that we don't necessarily like a room we get without making a request, but if I know where we plan to spend our time, I will definitely make a request if I think it will be most convenient for us.

Exactly. We spend up to two weeks at our resort. I’m always going to make a request.

IMO it's not an upgrade if it's counter to our plans even if it's technically a higher grade room.

Yes! I book the room category I want. I’m generally not interested in an upgrade. We’ve turned down upgrades before presented as pixie dust.

 

[japanese maple]

We booked a resort view at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I've read about the room request, but we've decided not to make any except no ground floor.

A game of chance - parking lot, partial savannah, who knows what we will get.

 

[ncc1701]

The only thing we have ever put was first available in our category. Followed by a Corner room. The extra window at POFQ makes it seem brigther.

 

[Jennasis]

Room roulette is fun! We play it often.