Don't call until 4 days from arrival?

[risingsunmom]

I was planning on calling the front desk of the resort when we were just under 30 days out to confirm our building and floor request. I think I got this advice from "the unoffical guide" book.

I was just reading on allears that it is pointless to call until you are 4 days out from arrival or less, because the resorts don't have the reservations until then. Is this true? I read this under the telephone tips, supposedly from a disney switchboard employee.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

Not sure of the exact number of days, but that sounds about right. I was thinking 3 days for some reason, but either way it is less then a week/

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I believe it is 7 days

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I believe they would do your room location 5 days before you are to arrive, however even if you wanted to call your not acutally calling the resort your staying at. Your actually calling a call center that can handle any normal questions the guests might have, although not sure about room requests. I also read that they only transfer your call to the resort if it's something very important that the operator on the line is not able to do.

 

[risingsunmom]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Lynne M]

It's pointless to call the resort at all. The published resort numbers all go to a call center. They'll answer "Disney's Beach Club Resort", etc, but they're sitting at a call center, possibly not even in FL.

The call center people have access to the same reservation information that the 407-W-DISNEY people do. So all they're doing is reading back your reservation record.

If it makes you more comfortable to confirm that your request is still in the system, that's fine. But it's really not necessary, and there's no reason to worry that your requests would mysteriously disappear when the record is downloaded to the resort.

When you check in, the CM will show you the location of your room. If it doesn't meet your needs, let them know. If at all possible, they can re-arrange the room assignment to get you closer to the area you're looking for.

 

[maxiesmom]

Please remember that you can request things like building location and which floor you are on, but there is no guarantee you will get them. Disney will do their best to give you what you want, but there are only so many ground floor rooms in a specific building.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've stayed at WDW about 20+ times so far. I have yet to call or fax the resort to 'check on' my reservation requests. I give my requests at the time of booking, and then forget about it. They are, after all, just requests. The majority of the time, I have gotten rooms that meet, pretty much, what I had asked for.
As noted already, you are going to be calling a call center. They don't like to transfer calls to the resort directly...especially for room request calls.
And faxing?? Many resorts have stopped looking at those as well.
You will see posts from people saying that they call or fax the resort 5 days before they go, just to be sure their requests are met. And then when they get there, all the requests have been met. They attribute this to the fact that they called or faxed before arrival. So, why have I gotten my requests but never faxed or called? I think Disney room assigners do a terrific job of meeting as many room requests as possible...without being prodded by faxes and calls.
But, that's just my experience, after 20+ stays at WDW.

 

[Lynne M]

I
You will see posts from people saying that they call or fax the resort 5 days before they go, just to be sure their requests are met. And then when they get there, all the requests have been met. They attribute this to the fact that they called or faxed before arrival. So, why have I gotten my requests but never faxed or called? I think Disney room assigners do a terrific job of meeting as many room requests as possible...without being prodded by faxes and calls.
But, that's just my experience, after 20+ stays at WDW.

ITA. I never understood why people are so sure that it's the fax or call that got them their request. How do they know they wouldn't have gotten it anyway?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Ultimately, a call to the resort goes to a call center.

If you then ask for the room assignment desk ... you will reach a frazzled person who is at their wits end and doesn't have time to talk to you about your reservation which is four days away, because they're busy at the time of your call trying to find connecting rooms facing the lake but not the south end of the lake for a family of 7.

I've been about 10 times in the past 3 years and I make my requests at time of booking... So far, they've done a great job of meeting my requests whenever possible.

If something is completely unacceptable, then I ask for changes at the time of check in.



Hope this helps,

KNox

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

We make our request at the time of booking as well. I have never called to make sure that it is on my ressie. When I receive my confirmation, my request is on it. We have gone to Disney 20+ times as well and have been very lucky so far. So I won't be changing my game plan. I also look at it this way. The less I call the less there is chance of someone screwing something up on my ressie.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

We make our request at the time of booking as well. I have never called to make sure that it is on my ressie. When I receive my confirmation, my request is on it. We have gone to Disney 20+ times as well and have been very lucky so far. So I won't be changing my game plan. I also look at it this way. The less I call the less there is chance of someone screwing something up on my ressie.

so true!!

 

[Aubie881]

My 2 daughters went last May, made no requests at booking. Three days before arrival faxed their request and got exactly what they ask for. Our family is going April 28 to May 5 and are going to try the same thing. Request are only requests, we are just glad that we are going.

 

[Lynne M]

My 2 daughters went last May, made no requests at booking. Three days before arrival faxed their request and got exactly what they ask for. Our family is going April 28 to May 5 and are going to try the same thing. Request are only requests, we are just glad that we are going.

Your daughters got very lucky, and had a room controller who had time, and was inclined, to look at faxes. Not all room assigners do that, many faxes end up in the trash. Some resorts (DVC, particularly), explicitly state that they won't accept faxes.

The key thing is to have your requests on your reservation, that's the only way to guarantee that the room assigner will see your requests. It doesn't have to be done at the time of booking, you can call and add them at any time after that. Then, if you feel that you need to send a fax to reiterate your requests, go ahead, it won't do any harm.

But I'd never trust my requests to only a fax. It's a separate piece of paper that has to be matched up with a computer reservation, and you hope it doesn't fall on the floor and accidentally get kicked under a desk.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Not only do phone calls to your resort go to a call center, that also happens when you call the front desk from your resort room.

 

[skier_pete]

My experience - first trip to POFQ we requested a room in Building 4 or 5. We arrived late (because of flight delays) and we were stuck in one of the farthest rooms in the resort. (Building 7, 3rd floor, far end of the building, the LAST room out.) We were told because of our late arrival that was all that was available. Because we had DD3 at the time, we did not want to have to trudge that far each morning for breakfast or later for the pool. The next day we requested a move, and they moved us over to Building 2.

Second trip, requested building 4 or 5, got building 5, but again 3rd floor, but overall nothing to complain about.

Third trip to POFQ, I was having foot problems (heel spur) and had requested Building 4 or 5 again. (This was not a lie, I was in serious pain just a few weeks before our trip. I had cortisone shots and treatments leading up to it, and by the time we got there it was pretty bearable. But, I would never lie about this to get a good room.) I called again the day before we were to arrive, as well as the morning of, to the hotels direct number. (Still programmed in my cell phone.) I described my issue, and asked them to please see what they could do. (Again, wasn't trying to be picky, just a central building.) The last call, they told me that they had my room request and would try to accomodate. Well, we arrived late in the evening again (about 8 PM), and got our room. We were given a GREAT location. Building 5, 1st floor, literally about 35 feet from the entrance to the food court on the corner of Building 5, about 100 feet to the pool, and not far to the bus stop either. I couldn't stop commenting to DW the whole week about our great room location. I still imagine we will never have it that good again.

So, my advice would be, make the request on your ressie, then check that the request is there some other time leading up to your stay. If you arriving early in the day, you should have no issue. If you arrive late in the day, call the resort that morning, and try to confirm your accomidation.

SkierPete

 

[TillyMarigold]

Not only do phone calls to your resort go to a call center, that also happens when you call the front desk from your resort room.

Is that new? When I last was a CM, my roommate worked the front desk at CSR night shift, and used to tell me stories of all the calls she got. So I know that 10 years ago at CSR, when you called the front desk, you got someone who was physically located at the front desk.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Is that new? When I last was a CM, my roommate worked the front desk at CSR night shift, and used to tell me stories of all the calls she got. So I know that 10 years ago at CSR, when you called the front desk, you got someone who was physically located at the front desk.

I don't know when that started however I just read what others have said about that.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

If you already called and put in your requests before, I personally don't call to confirm. If something's wrong when they assign us a room, we ask for another one if possible. If you prefer to confirm it, I would think 3 or 4 days is about right.

In all our trips, we've gotten all but one room location request. We always request away from the lobby at WL and have gotten it. At mods, we request to be away from the pools, and we've gotten a room away from them all but once. That one time we didn't was at POFQ. We had also requested a first floor room, or at the least, one near an elevator, because I was having terrible back issues that year and couldn't walk too far at a time and definitely couldn't do steps. Honestly I don't even know how I made it to WDW. It was awful. In spite of them knowing that, we ended up with a third floor room as far from the parking lots and an elevator as they could put us, and right by the main pool. We were only there two nights and I did okay thankfully, because they couldn't move us due to no other rooms being available. When we changed to CBR for the rest of our trip (we did a split stay), they put us away from the pools, on the first floor, and near a parking lot. So, in one trip we had both total luck and total non-luck. Just never know. Best of luck to y'all!

 

[goofy4tink]

Is that new? When I last was a CM, my roommate worked the front desk at CSR night shift, and used to tell me stories of all the calls she got. So I know that 10 years ago at CSR, when you called the front desk, you got someone who was physically located at the front desk.

Yes, that's the situation now. It's been that way for a number of years.