Questions About Online Check-In

[DisneyPrincess21]

I was wondering what are the benefits to doing online check-in VS regular check-in. I know that it is usually a shorter line, but do the online check-in people get the better rooms because they checked in online earlier than the people who are checking in when they arrive? How about the people that check in online exactly 10 days before they arrive, do they get a better room then the people who do online check only a couple days before they arrive?

Any feedback about your experience would be appreciated. Thanks! :wave:

[Strmchsr]

Rooms are generally assigned 3-4 days before arrival so, no, doing online check-in doesn't seem to correlate to a "better" room (and everyone has a different definition of what that is). The advantage of online check-in is that you don't have to give the CM at the front desk your credit card and personal info. It's all already in the computer and your folder is ready to go. That meant being at the front desk about 3 min as opposed to the usual 10. I didn't notice the actual waiting line to be any shorter though your line might move faster because (as I just noted) it doesn't take as long to go through the on-line process.

[magicofdisney]

For me, the verdict is still out because it's rather new. But this last trip, my wait time was no shorter than the standard line. :confused:

[mousetrapper]

It worked out well for us. I faxed my CBR building request four days prior to our trip, and used online checkin. When we arrived there were two online checkin attendants and one regular checkin attendant. There was a short line for regular and no line for either of the two online checkin lines.

My only squabble was that it wasn't immediately clear where I should go - I looked for the online checkin in logo but didn't see it right away. So when I first got there I got in the regular line before I saw the online checkin area.

When I got to the attendant/cast member, I just gave our name and she had the folder all ready to go with our room keys. I had the building I requested.

This was early - about 10 am! So to have everything ready (including our room) was great. We were in and out in less than five minutes.

I know it was unusual to have our room ready that early and it really didn't have anything to do with online checkin, but it was great.

We did have to give our credit card though because the online checkin wouldn't take any of our cards. I never found out why. I also didn't know if our credit card was connected to our room key/park ticket. The key said "not valid for charging" - even mine and my DH's - so my DH assumed we couldn't use it for charging in the shops, restaurants, etc. Not sure why they'd ask for our credit card then...

[wdwnutz]

We stayed at CBR last month and had the same problem with the credit card and finding the right line. The online checkin was on the far left with two lines. Everything was ready for us except my credit card never went through. Our cards also said no charging, so I asked and they issued us new cards with charging priveledges and I needed to give them my credit card info. She told us that the system was having problems that week but they didn't realize it until guests were checking in.

[BigRedDad]

I am keeping an eye out with online check-in. It is new and there are hiccups. I have no issues with that. The one reservation I have with it is room assignments. In many instances, if you do not like where you are assigned, you can ask to see if there is something else where you wanted to be. Can that still be done with online check-in line?

[wdwnutz]

You can request ground floor, but not specific building. I recently had knee surgery and needed ground floor but closer to a bus stop, which they had no problem accommadating when I gave them a call about 4 days before we left.

[Fangorn]

if you do not like where you are assigned, you can ask to see if there is something else where you wanted to be. Can that still be done with online check-in line?


Yes, you can still ask for a room assignment change. On our last trip to POR, we had requested a ground floor room close to a parking lot. This was for medical reasons. When we arrived, they had assigned us a room on the second floor looking out on the river - not very helpful in our case. I explained to the CM and after a bit of calling around, they found us a room that more closely fit our needs.

Of course, that holds up the on-line checkin line. In this case there was no one else in line so I didn't feel badly about it.

Steve