Direct-to-room

[Splashboat]

Has anyone tried this yet? It is interesting that they are going to give room numbers prior to arrival.

Disney is now in the process of rolling out a new 'Direct-to-Room' capability for guests arriving at Walt Disney World Resort hotels.

Using MyMagic+ MagicBands, guests will be able to arrive at their hotel and then choose to go either directly to their room without visiting the front desk, or enter the lobby for a traditional check-in with a Cast Member. The room number will have been communicated via email or text message prior to arrival, and the MagicBand will function as the key to the room. If on arrival, the room is not available, the guest will be notified and will be updated later once the room number is ready.

To take part in the Direct-to-Room service, guests must have completed the online check-in process before their arrival, which includes paying in full for the stay, or adding a credit card and pin number to their account. A phone number to receive text messages or an email address is also required as part of the process.

The service is currently being rolled-put on stages, with some hotels already participating as of mid February 2015.

• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village...............

 

[disneynutz]

Might be a death blow to being able to make a room request at check in.

If the rooms are pre-assigned and communicated to inbound guests, the pool of unassigned rooms will disappear.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

It looks like you have to do online check-in to participate. So if you really don't want them to just assign you a room you don't do online check-in.

 

[disneynutz]

It looks like you have to do online check-in to participate. So if you really don't want them to just assign you a room you don't do online check-in.

True but now Disney is committing the rooms to reservations. In the past if you requested a different room at check in, the front desk would pull a room from all of the rooms that had not checked in yet. Now it seems that they are going to assign rooms to all who check in online and those rooms will be removed from the available pool.

Bill

 

[MAO]

I honestly don't see your point, disneynutz. I did online check-in last October and it seemed fairly obvious that my room had already been pulled from the system for some time before I got there. The only difference I see with this program is that they are going to *tell* you what room you're in before you physically get there. You said it yourself - front desk pulls a room from all rooms not checked in yet. Online check-in, by definition, means that you've checked in already. You seem to be saying that online check-in has never actually done anything in the past and this is somehow a new development, to actually check in people to the resort prior to their physical arrival.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I suppose it just means that once they tell you, they won't boot you out of that room to give it to someone else who asked for a different room.

 

[disneynutz]

I honestly don't see your point, disneynutz. I did online check-in last October and it seemed fairly obvious that my room had already been pulled from the system for some time before I got there. The only difference I see with this program is that they are going to *tell* you what room you're in before you physically get there. You said it yourself - front desk pulls a room from all rooms not checked in yet. Online check-in, by definition, means that you've checked in already. You seem to be saying that online check-in has never actually done anything in the past and this is somehow a new development, to actually check in people to the resort prior to their physical arrival.

In the past, online check in didn't assign you a room. If you had not checked in at the resort, your room was up for grabs.

If I requested a room with a water view the front desk would scan the rooms with water views looking for rooms where the room had not been released. If MAO did online check in, the room had not been released and MAO had not physically checked in at the resort, I would get your room and you would get my room.

Bill

 

[disneynutz]

I suppose it just means that once they tell you, they won't boot you out of that room to give it to someone else who asked for a different room.

They won't boot you out if you are already in the room.
The online check in guest may not really care which room they get but because the room is now assigned, that room isn't available to someone who had requested it.

Bill

 

[MAO]

Well, to me, at least, it sounds like it's going to be working "as designed". Certainly I'd expect, if I'd checked in to an airline (that had pre-assigned seats) a few hours before I showed up at the airport, to not have the airline just decide to move me around because I'd not yet physically shown up. Nor if I'd confirmed a reservation earlier in the day than the reservation was for would I be happy to discover that my wait was going to be extended because someone showed up just prior to my reservation and took all the available tables before I physically got there. Maybe that's the way it 'used to work' but it definitely isn't how I'd expect it to work. The whole point of setting something up ahead of time is to either guarantee what you request or, at least, put your name at the top of the list for such time when requests are actually granted.

 

[jo-jo]

But what about the info packet they give you at checkin? About 1/2 the stuff I don't care about, but there are a few things like movie lists that's nice to know.

 

[disneynutz]

But what about the info packet they give you at checkin? About 1/2 the stuff I don't care about, but there are a few things like movie lists that's nice to know.

Reported that the info will be in the room or available in a self serve rack.

Bill

 

[MakiraMarlena]

There could also be a cast member who meets you when you get off the DME bus to hand you the packet, if you've used DME. Once you check in with DME, the system knows which bus you are on.

 

[com_op_2000]

This direct-to-room thing does me no good. I still have to go to the resort and get my parking pass before going to a park, so that I do not have to pay for parking. Unless they are adding scanners at the parking lots to read MBs.

 

[disneynutz]

This direct-to-room thing does me no good. I still have to go to the resort and get my parking pass before going to a park, so that I do not have to pay for parking. Unless they are adding scanners at the parking lots to read MBs.

Several times we were given our parking pass by resort security as we entered the parking lot.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

A lot of the information in the packet is now on the TV. But com_op_2000 has a point about the parking pass. We drive to WDW so we would need to go the resort to get that.

 

[com_op_2000]

Several times we were given our parking pass by resort security as we entered the parking lot.

Bill

Sometimes we are given our passes by the guard and sometimes we get them at the front desk. Either way, we have to go to the resort before venturing out.

 

[mort1331]

And remember this is only for guest that can get their MB in advance. Meaning just the US. Us from Canada,UK,Aust, and from afar that cant have MBs shipped to us, still have to go to the desk for our room. Even if we do advance check-in.

 

[CarolynFH]

We did a split stay and moved from BWV to BLT last Thursday. As we were driving from BWV we received a text & an email telling us we would receive our room number later, when the room was ready, and wouldn't need to stop at the front desk. Shortly after that, before we reached BLT, we received messages with the room number.

The parking guard gave us our BLT parking pass when we got to the gate. Then a CM met us at the front door. He found our names on his tablet and confirmed that our room was ready but recommended stopping at the desk "just in case." Sure enough, since we had just left BWV, we weren't completely checked out there yet, so our MB wouldn't have unlocked the door. The CM at BLT took care of that and made sure both our bands were linked.

Overall it was easy and obviously would have been quicker if we'd made sure BWV checked us out before we left there. We liked it - could tell Bell Services when we arrived (at about 9:30 AM) that we wouldn't need to check our luggage with them. So we're looking forward to this process continuing - and being improved so that BWV will check us out by the time we get to the next resort!

 

[loveglobe]

In the past, online check in didn't assign you a room. If you had not checked in at the resort, your room was up for grabs.

Just want to confirm what Bill is saying is still correct as of January. I called from my home airport the morning of our arrival to BWV last month to ask about this, because we had forgotten all about online check in until we were sitting at our gate waiting to board. The CM told me it's not like Southwest where doing online check in as soon as you're able to puts you in a spot on the priority queue for seating (or in our case, room requests, because we wanted something close to the elevator). She said specific room assignments are not made until you check in at the resort regardless of when you do online check in, and that it is really just to streamline their internal processes etc. In the end, DME dropped us off at BWV around 7:30pm, and after talking with the front desk we were able to get a room near the elevator like we wanted (though it had some serious noise issues as I've discussed on another thread here!).

 

[bumbershoot]

I honestly don't see your point, disneynutz. I did online check-in last October and it seemed fairly obvious that my room had already been pulled from the system for some time before I got there. The only difference I see with this program is that they are going to *tell* you what room you're in before you physically get there. You said it yourself - front desk pulls a room from all rooms not checked in yet. Online check-in, by definition, means that you've checked in already. You seem to be saying that online check-in has never actually done anything in the past and this is somehow a new development, to actually check in people to the resort prior to their physical arrival.

It might have been pulled from the system, but anyone coming up before you actually got there could have gotten that room from you.

We checked into OKW (and had done online checkin) and she checked our info. Said that "our" room wasn't ready yet, but since we were there she would get a room that WAS ready. Pulled out some other person's pack of stuff and insisted that that guest wouldn't be there for hours, and gave us their room. We didn't ask, she just did it.