SSR location request. How concerned should I be?

[eeyoresmom]

Please allow me to ask the questions first, then defend myself Do people still fax or call the resort itself a few days before checking in to make requests? We are checking in very late on a Saturday night. I requested either CP or Springs, but will be OK if we end up in Paddock or Grandstand. In other words, we do not want Carousel at all cost. Here's why; DH and I are going for a quick 3 night trip to celebrate his 50th birthday. We are not doing parks at all.He chose SSR for the superior gym and grounds. We want to hang out at the pool all day, work out at the gym, grab lunch at a cs then dinner out. We also do not have a car. Springs would be so convenient for what we want, CP would be great too since we could easily access DTD for restaurants. We would be okay in the other two sections. A few years ago we got a room in Carousel, and it was so bad I wrote a letter of complaint and sold our SSR contract. To be fair, I was going to sell one anyway, but after that trip I decided I didn't want to risk being placed there again. Our room faced the guard shack, it was so far from everything and we really felt isolated there. We didnt even feel like we were at the resort. We spend a lot of time at the resort so this is fairly important to us. I have been to WDW over 50 times and this was truly the worse room I have ever had. This is not an indictment of the resort. SSR also has the best room I have been in, CP, DTD view, truly spectacular ! So that is my long explanation of why I want ANY other section of SSR. If this were a normal Disney trip where we were visiting the parks I wouldnt be as concerned. Is there anything I can do to improve our chances?

 

[erionm]

Do people still fax or call the resort itself a few days before checking in to make requests?

The resorts no longer accept requests if contacted directly by phone or fax.

Requests either need to be noted before hand with MS or can be done during on-line check-in.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Arriving late at night will be a factor, especially if the resort is fully booked. Face it, when someone goes to the desk and complains about a room, they're put into a room that was originally intended for someone else. Being the last to check in leaves you with less options. That doesn't mean you'll automatically get a bad room if you arrive late, but it doesn't help your chances of getting exactly what you asked for.

However, you're not asking for a lot. It sounds as if you'll be happy with anything except 2 of the 18 buildings at the resort. The resort's size and large number of rooms will work in your favor.

As the PP said, put your request in with MS now, then select it again when you do online check-in. Also ask MS to add your husband's birthday to the reservation as a celebration. That doesn't necessarily get you any special treatment (especially with room assignments), but it doesn't hurt to increase your chances of random pixie dust appearing.

Have a fun trip!

 

[erionm]

You can add special celebrations yourself by going to MyDisneyReservation.com and entering the reservation information in. There will be an option at the bottom of the page for celebrations. You can also use this link for on-line check-in beginning 60 days from arrival.

One word of caution, you can not be logged on to the member website when you use this link or it will redirect you to a room reservation website.

 

[eeyoresmom]

You can add special celebrations yourself by going to MyDisneyReservation.com and entering the reservation information in. There will be an option at the bottom of the page for celebrations. You can also use this link for on-line check-in beginning 60 days from arrival.

One word of caution, you can not be logged on to the member website when you use this link or it will redirect you to a room reservation website.

Thanks for this! Is that an error in their website because I could not figure it out yesterday? I must have been logged in to the member site. Our reservation is for 4/6- 4/9, so not a super busy time. Here's hoping.

 

[erionm]

Thanks for this! Is that an error in their website because I could not figure it out yesterday? I must have been logged in to the member site. Our reservation is for 4/6- 4/9, so not a super busy time. Here's hoping.

Sadly, most Disney sites don't interact well with each other. If you were to click the on-line check-in link from the member website, it will take you a page to book a reservation (and not a DVC reservation either). The on-line check-in link worked until the revamp of the member website.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks for this! Is that an error in their website because I could not figure it out yesterday? I must have been logged in to the member site. Our reservation is for 4/6- 4/9, so not a super busy time. Here's hoping.

All the WDW-related sites are messed up, so try, try again. If you can, go through the main wdw website, if you can get your reservation to be recognized there. (I had luck doing this, but that was before and this is now, and not everyone has been able to do that)

If the online checkin process is the same as when I was doing it for our Feb trip, they will have each area listed, and another request or two of various kinds. You can choose 2 requests, and then you can (if it's the same, and I hope it is because it was a good thing to have) choose to just have A room at checkin which would override your requests. Since that is NOT what you want, I would just click the choice you want and leave it at that.


I hope you have a lovely stay and that things go perfectly. Our Feb stay there was not perfect and we even had to move rooms (we were in a 2 bedroom dedicated, which I assume is not in your plans) because the first room was so atrociously mildewly all throughout. And then it took 2 hours, and ultimately a rebooking at the front desk, just to get charging added to our room.

But we were there right in the middle of some changes, and with any luck they will be done by April for you. It was a lovely place and we will return (we loved Paddock after being moved from the awful CP room), but wowza I hate going during times of computer upheaval!

 

[eeyoresmom]

Thank you. I was able to finally add my room requests. I hope your trip wasn't too badly affected by the hassles.