Anyone ever just walk in off the street to get a room at Disney?

[Lynn J Mc]

We are going to DW this weekend for 4 nights at the GF and we are going to arrive a night early. We are thinking about trying to stay at one of the value resorts but I don't want to book it because we might be late getting there and the last time we stayed there for one night it took us over an hour to check in and get to our rooms. I am wondering if we could just wait till we get there. Maybe central reservations when we are about an hour out? Any suggestions?

[Scott C]

It has been about 10 years or so, but we arrived a day early and we stopped first at the old AAA Disney welcome center in ocala(no longer there) and were able to get that night at POR. This time of year I would think that you should be able to get a value room -- yes, I would call reservations -- I think that your chance would be good.

Thanks
Scott C

[ILoveLegos]

A coupla times when we were leaving the parks, heading back to my house some 70 miles away from Disney, while still on Disney property heading toward I-4 we'd see a sign on the side of the road saying something about, don't leave all the magic, stay tonight at WDW and we'd usually all jokingly say let's call that number, but we always drove right by it and went home.

My guess is if they have a sign up like that they are prepared to get more than a few takers even at the end of a long park day by the locals or even people disatisfied with their off property accomodations. In your case, this time of year calling central reservations an hour out is worth a try, go for it! Once a member of my family got "bad belly" (sick) after the drive out to Disney, not wanting to ruin everyone's fun she checked hereself into an off property time share place for the day, no problems at all, but it was mid January and the place was kind of empty. We called her to check on her periodically & picked her up at the end of the day and all was well.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

My cousin and her family just showed up at Disney a couple of years back and had no problems....it was off season of course, they stayed at a deluxe, I think it was either GF or the Poly.....

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Most of the time, they have a certain number of rooms set aside for that reason.

That goes back to 100% booked isn't always 100%.

[eeyoremom]

We often get to the orlando area (or the beach) a day before our reservation. Driving from Michigan in the winter, we allow some extra time. A couple of years ago, we decided to walk in at POP. I even asked about AAA rates. The CM behind the counter said they can only give you rack rate, but she dialed reservations and handed me the phone. We actually had a pin attached to our name, that we did not know we had. I made the reservation on the phone, and then the CM checked us in. They were very slow the week we were there. Our first nite was the cheapest nite of the whole trip. We could not change the rest of our reservation. Always, ask for any special available.

[MickeyMousse]

My ex boss did that quite a few years ago. If I remember correctly, he just drove up to Dixie Landings with his family of 5 and got a room for a few days.
That had to be circa 1998 or so.....

[diz_girl]

Back during our 2005 trip we didn't make reservations until a couple of hours before we got there. I had the reservation number programmed into my cell phone, so when we were getting close, I just made the call.

[mouseketeer mom]

When we were there in August, I saw those Mickey head signs on the road that said Rooms Available with the phone number to call.

[Orlando Resident]

Most of the time, they have a certain number of rooms set aside for that reason.

That goes back to 100% booked isn't always 100%.

Believe it or not rooms are not set aside for that reason. Sometimes maybe 1 or 2 unsold rooms are placed on a "manager hold" for inhouse problems with room changes on a sold out night but not for new guests. 100% often means 100% as they wouldnt turn away your business if a room was actually available. I know this as I have worked for several hotels including Disney, ive never understood where guests get this wierd information that for some reason make them think we are "liars" if we say its sold out. Sold out to a guest means SOLD OUT!! Its that easy..

[rookie]

Sold out = Sold out? Not to cause trouble but recently on a non-disney related business trip 2 of us were trying to book rooms at a major chain. We were both told they were sold out. When I told them of my "status" they found a room. The other party didn't get a room. So I called back and was able to book 2 rooms becuase of my status. So sold out does not always mean sold out from my personal experience.

[Checkers]

A couple years ago my DH & I were staying at the BWVs and the day before we checked out I got a stomach virus of some sort. We were supposed to meet my DS & BIL in Jupiter the next day and there was no way I could make the drive. Well, the concierge at the BWVs got us a room at POR and we stayed there for 2 nights. It was in Jan. so was not as busy but it can and does happen. As suggested, I would call CRO on the road. Good luck!

[pianobabe]

Last July DH and I were driving to Savannah, GA, but decided to go to WDW instead. I called Central Reservations to see what was available. They didn't have any Values, but they did have a couple of Moderates. We called about 4 o'clock and were checking in at 10 o'clock on the same day.