By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

Available on Amazon here.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)





New Disney World Online Check-in Forms Allow You to Request “Connecting Rooms (guaranteed)” Even When They Don’t Exist



By Dave Shute

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in Procedures and Options from yourfirstvisit.netDisney World recently released a new approach to making room requests via its online check-in process.

I’ll get to the process in a minute, but will first some note some of the new options…and some problems with them.

In most cases new options have been added, including “Adjoining Rooms (no connecting door),” “Connecting Rooms” and “Connecting Rooms (guaranteed).”

See, for example, the new form for Family Suites at Art of Animation:

Family Suites at Disney's Art of Animation Resort Online Check-in from yourfirstvisit.net

I’ve spent my spare time the last few days (I do have a real job, after all) taking screenshots of the new options, pasting them to PowerPoint, cropping and recombining the new options, and putting them in my Disney World resort reviews.

This was kind of a pain, and has resulted in a 128 page PowerPoint document and a cluttered Pinterest feed (page down on Pinterest to find all the new online forms, or see this board for the values forms, this for the moderates, this for the deluxes, and this for DVC; while there, follow me on Pinterest!)

And I’m hoping I have to do this all over again, as there are some goofy features to the option sets. For example, there ARE no connecting rooms in the Family suites, so a family clicking “Connecting Rooms (guaranteed)” is both wasting a request and also setting themselves up for disappointment.

There’s basically three problems.

One is not having separate forms for clearly distinguishable room types, and that’s the issue with Art of Animation, where both Little Mermaid Standard rooms (where you can get connecting rooms) and Family Suites (where you can’t) are both covered by the same form.

You’ll find the same problem at many other resorts with very different rooms or areas, for example

  • The Contemporary (where both Garden Wing and Tower rooms use the same form, meaning some Tower guests will be clicking for non-existent ground floor rooms)
  • Saratoga Springs (The Treehouses and the main resort use the same form, good luck getting that “Downtown Disney view” from your Treehouse)
  • Port Orleans Riverside (five person Alligator Bayou rooms, four Person Magnolia Bend Royal Rooms, and four person Magnolia Bend standard rooms all use the same form–if you reserve a room for five people three and older, a “Mansions area” request is wasted)

The second problem is some unclear or incomplete options. Many (but not all!—one that needs it the most, Caribbean Beach, does not) moderates and deluxes now show the option of “2 Queen Size Beds” and, elsewhere on the list “King Size Bed.”

These queen bed options should be expanded at those deluxes and moderates that hold five so that they include the ability to select the third sleeping spot. The “King Size Bed” should be relabeled for clarity and completeness as “1 King Size Bed” and/or “1 King Size Bed plus daybed” as appropriate.

The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort Online Check-in from yourfirstvisit.net

The third problem is a purer form of goofiness, perhaps best illustrated by the form for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. At these cute stand-alone Cabins, we see the same option for non-existing connecting rooms, and even more goofiness:

  • There are no elevators, no upper floors and no lower floors, so why on earth are they in the form?
  • You can’t put tents on Cabin sites, so why the option to rent as many as five of them?

These forms need several different types of changes:

  • Corrections so that only actually possible options are shown for a purchased room type, even if this means even more distinct forms, and I have to redo all my screenshots…
  • Expansions so that the full array of major sleeping options is selectable
  • Grouping of like topics, so that all the view options are grouped together, all the bed options grouped together, etc. There’s some of this in the forms, but they need more.

I’d gladly spend a couple of days helping Disney with this, since at least based on the usability of these forms I seem to know more about its resorts and their rooms than it does itself.

DSC00423

I do know a bit about these rooms…having stayed in 129 different rooms, suites, studios, villas, cabins and campsites…as attested to by my MagicBand Lamp…and my book.

I’d even donate my time for free—if Disney flew me down and back, put me up in a renovated Bay Lake Tower two-bedroom lock-off (I need updated photographs of one), and threw in the Deluxe Dining Plan.

HOW TO DO ONLINE CHECK IN AFTER THESE CHANGES

You can do online check-in starting 60 days from your arrival date. Go to My Disney Experience, click “My Reservations and Tickets” in the drop down on the right, wait for your reservation to load, and click the online check-in option.

Alternatively just go here.

If you book your room within the 60 day window, your final booking screen will give you the option to do online check right away:

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in from yourfirstvisit.net

If you have more than one room booked, then you will click the radio button of the room you want to check in to:

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in 2 from yourfirstvisit.net

A screen will open. Look for the area that says “These Details Are on File”–even though they aren’t, yet–and click “Show Details”

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in 3 from yourfirstvisit.net

Then click “edit” on the next screen across from “Room Location Requests”:

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in 4 from yourfirstvisit.net

This screen, where you actually make your selections (up to two), will then open:

New Disney World Resort Online Check-in 5 from yourfirstvisit.net

The two drop down menus are the same–you make one selection from one, and another from the other.

I’m sorry to see the unnecessary problems with these new forms, but hope that the drop down layout is easy to edit, and that Disney fixes the problems here. As noted above, I’m glad to help!

The 2017 easy Guide

Kelly B Can Help You Book Your Trip

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

RELATED STUFF

17 comments

1 Kelly B - Destinations In Florida { 08.13.16 at 10:09 am }

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this. It can be quite tricky, especially when the forms are incorrect. I’m Kelly, the designated Destinations in Florida Travel Agent for YourFirstVisit.net. Remember when you book with me, all of my services are FREE. I’ll help you book your vacation, plan your dining and FastPass+ and figure out the tricky parts like room requests. Oh and don’t forget – book a qualifying and you’ll get the latest edition of Dave’s “Easy Guide” as my gift to you. Contact me today at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or call 980-429-4499

2 Beth { 08.14.16 at 8:02 am }

As someone who is obsessive about details and frustrated when others are careless, I feel so angry on your behalf (and on behalf of the many guests who will be duped here)! How I wish Disney would take you up on your offer! You are perhaps the most qualified person out there to get this right.

3 Lisa { 08.15.16 at 6:25 am }

Thank you for this! When I checked in for our cabin I saw that room requests were “on file” so I didn’t edit that part. I was able to go back and request the loop and view we’re hoping for… and skipped the nonsensical “tent rental” and “guaranteed connecting room” options!

4 Dave { 08.15.16 at 8:22 am }

🙂 Lisa!!

5 Heidi { 08.15.16 at 5:00 pm }

Is it possible in a Little Mermaid room at AoA to be given both connecting rooms (guaranteed) AND closest to transportation (I’m looking at buildings 7 or 9)? I have looked and cannot find which rooms exactly are connecting. Thanks for all this great information!

6 Dave { 08.16.16 at 9:14 am }

Heidi, yes, all the buildings have connecting rooms!

7 Jane { 08.17.16 at 3:13 pm }

I like your magic band lamp!

8 Dave { 08.18.16 at 12:13 pm }

🙂 Jane

9 john { 10.01.16 at 11:16 am }

Dave, Thanks for taking all the time you do to help us all, your research is greatly appreciated!

I just went to do online check-in for our November stay at FW Cabins and the drop down has gotten significantly worse since your post. Now it only offers “Upper Floor, Lower Floor, Near Elevator, Near Pool, Near Transportation”. WOW, Really? They must have had problems with people requesting cabin loops for their campsite reservations or something like that because now the request drop-down is virtually useless, I wanted to request Loop 2600 or 2400 but I guess that is out. Any insight into whats going on with the FW dropdown? Also off topic but I can’t find the answer anywhere, do you know when the Haunted Mansion tarp/scrim will be removed if it hasn’t already. I would think they would want that done for Halloween Parties.

Thanks,
John

10 Dave { 10.01.16 at 11:55 am }

John, yes the forms have gotten even goofier. Your best bet is to call in your loop request at 407-939-7675 (have your reservation number).

Disney had planned to have the scrims down by the first party day, but as of a couple of days ago they are still up on the lower walls, with no official “down-by” dates.

11 Marissa { 10.11.16 at 2:11 am }

I’m glad I came across this website. For the Grand Floridian, are they not allowing guests to pick the building they want to stay in? Or are the forms just not working correctly?

12 Dave { 10.12.16 at 7:46 am }

Marissa, the forms are indeed a bit of a mess. You can call in your building request at 407-939-7675

13 Natalie { 10.14.16 at 11:59 am }

How close to arrival date should you call. Thanks Dave

14 Dave { 10.14.16 at 2:52 pm }

Natalie, now and repeat about 5 days before arrival.

15 Natalie { 10.15.16 at 7:17 am }

Thank You so much. What a great site. We are leaving in 18 days.

16 Monica { 03.03.17 at 5:24 pm }

HI I did online check in for polynesian resort but it now doesnt give me building choices. I chose near lobby. Will this kind of guarantee raratonga, samoa, niue for a standard view? i would really like one of these buildings but only option is near transporation or near lobby. didnt know what to choose. Please help!

17 Dave { 03.04.17 at 10:06 am }

Monica, the online check in forms went goofy in the summer or 2016, and then even goofier in the fall. Your best bet is to call in your request–407-939-7675

Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem

My response to questions and comments will be on the same page as the original comment, likely within 24-36 hours . . . I reserve the right to edit and delete comments as I choose . . . All rights reserved. Copyright 2008-2024 . . . Unless otherwise noted, all photos are by me--even the ones in focus--except for half a dozen from my niecelets . . . This site is entirely unofficial and not authorized by any organizations written about in it . . . All references to Disney and other copyrighted characters, trademarks, marks, etc., are made solely for editorial purposes. The author makes no commercial claim to their use . . . Nobody's perfect, so follow any advice here at your own risk.