[B]Checking In Early at RPR [/B]

[katybugsmom]

Hey everyone!
Wanted to know if anyone has ever had trouble checking in early at RPR-we will be arriving early in the morning on December 27. We are Loew's First Members so I hope that will help. We are driving down from South Carolina on the 26th and plan to stay somewhere between Jacksonville and Orlando and get up early on the 27th and head on in so we can hit the parks that day.
Please let me know if you have any tips and special hints from RPR-all are welcome!
We will be traveling with a 7 year old and a 1 year old.
Thanks for any input! It's been 6 years since we've been to Universal! Loved it then and hope we will feel the same way now!!!
Thanks,
Katybugsmom

 

[E&B's Mom]

No problems checking in early, however the room may not be ready. It could be, but they don't guarantee it until 4pm. If it's not - no problem. They will hold your bags and give you your room key for FOTL until the room is ready.

 

[katybugsmom]

Thanks! That's what I had heard, but I didn't know if anyone had encountered any problems dispite the norm. I don't want to get there with two kids and something go wrong. I was burned a couple of years ago by Disney Group Sales with a church trip I had put together. I ended up missing Chef Mickey's with my daughter so I could stay at the hotel and try to straighten things out. Don't get me wrong, I love Disney and it's the only bad experience I have ever had. I pride myself on being a stickler for details and was promised one thing and when I showed up with a bus load of people at 6AM after driving all night I didn't get it. The group rep. showered me and my family with extras during our trip, but that didn't make up for what everyone went through that morning! I even wrote the head person at group sales and never heard a word. I'm sure this wouldn't happen again after all, we are talking about Disney!!!!!!

 

[robvia]

Try to pre-check in early, at 7am. If a room is ready, you may get it. But you're going during one of the most busy weeks of the year. If a room is not ready, then you may end up waiting until 4-6pm, because most people take advantage of the late check out and stay until 2pm. So by the time they leave and the maids clean the room, it's late in the afternoon. I hope that doesn't happen to you. Just go very early, plus the lines at the check in desk are short at this time.

Have your reservation with you, and call the hotel a week before going to make sure your reservation is still on file. That way you'll know if they accidentally lost it.

If your reservation is on file, then it's no problem to go there early and get your magic keys. What you can do is visit a park in the morning, go back to your car and get a change of cloths, eat food from your cooler, visit the pool, and by late afternoon your room should be ready. For those who are not driving, the hotel will hold your bags (for tips of course).

 

[t-and-a]

We checked in on a Friday around 9 AM and our room was ready! We are also Loews First members, and had booked with an APH rate.