Getting Your Room Requests at Disney World – 6 Things You Must Do

Everyone has their own idea of what makes the perfect room at a Disney Resort. Some people want a room that is on the ground floor, while others prefer to be on the top floor. Some guests may want to be near the bus stop while others want to be closer to the pool. Whatever your idea of the perfect room is, you have the opportunity to make room requests for your resort stay. While these requests are not guaranteed, the resort Cast Members will do their best to try to accommodate you. To get your perfect room here are six

1 – Make Sure You Book the Category You Want

Most Disney resorts have several categories of rooms. Some common examples would be a Standard View overlooking the parking lot, a Garden or Courtyard view, overlooking a garden Pool View, or Water or River View. Other resorts have a Preferred room category that will provide you with a room close to restaurants and a lobby area. Additionally, at some resorts, a King Bed is its own category and needs to be booked specifically; it cannot be requested. Pay close attention to what you are booking. If you want a water or river view, be sure that you are booking that category. If you book a Standard view and ask for a River view, you will likely not be accommodated.

Also, if you require to be near the lobby due to medical issues and your resort has preferred rooms, you will want to book the preferred category. Otherwise, Cast Members will do their best to get you as close as they can in another category, but requests are not guaranteed.

2 – Give Room Requests at the Time of Booking

Give room requests at the time of booking if you are making the reservation over the phone. If you book online, call reservations with your confirmation number to add the requests to your reservation. This is the time to make requests such as a floor or building location, corner rooms, wanting to be near the elevator or even specific themed areas of the resort. Keep in mind that some themed areas, such as Royal Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans, are a specific category that need to be booked and cannot be requested. You can also make requests if traveling with another party and wanting to be close to them.

Be aware there is a difference between connecting and adjoining rooms. Connecting rooms are rooms that have a connecting door. This may not be available at all resorts or room types. Adjoining rooms means that the rooms are side by side and do not have a connecting door. All requests are not guaranteed.

3 – Call the Resort One Week Prior with Your Room Requests

You may call your resort about one week before your check-in date. Share your room requests and explain which are most important to you. For example, if you want a ground floor, corner room that’s near the bus stop and in building 3, detail what is most important to you. Maybe it is essential that you have a ground floor room, which is your top priority, or perhaps you need that corner room. The room assignor will do their best to accommodate your requests. By detailing what is most important to you, they can try to best match your needs. Maybe they don’t have a room that will meet all your requests, but they have a ground floor room near the bus stop but not in building 3. You may be just as happy in that room because what was really important was the floor and being close to the bus stop.

4 – Arrive at the Resort Early and Be Polite

You have a significantly better chance of getting your room requests if you check into the resort earlier in the day. You can check into your resort as early as 7 am; however, rooms are not typically ready until after 3 pm. Earlier in the day, the resort can move guests around that have not yet checked in and may be able to find a room meeting your requests. If you arrive at 7 pm at night, nearly all of the guests will have already checked in for that day, and you will have fewer options to try and move rooms around.

At check-in, you can tell the host or hostess that you had made some room requests and wanted to see if they had been accommodated. If they have not met your requests, they may offer you another solution or explain that they were able to meet some of your requests but not all of them. If none of the requests have been met, they can try to see if there is another room available.

Remember that requests are not guaranteed and the Cast Member really does want to help you. Being polite will go a lot further than screaming at the person behind the desk. Yes, you may have made your requests six months ago, but perhaps the night before a guest needed to be checked into that room or that area of the building you wanted is closed for refurbishment, and now it is not available. The Cast Members will do their best to find another room to meet your requests as close as possible.

5 – Be Prepared to Wait for a Room Meeting Your Requests

Because most rooms will not be ready until after 3 pm, you may need to wait for a room meeting your requests. The front desk Cast Members are trained to try to find you a room that is ready when you arrive. If you have room requests that have been met, be sure to tell the Cast Member that you are willing to wait for the room to meet your requests. Additionally, if the room requests were not met, the Cast Member can try to find you a room that meets requests but may not be ready. If you are not willing to wait, you may need to sacrifice some of your requests in order to get an available room.  Remember that Bell Services will hold all your luggage until your room is ready, so you can hang out around the resort or even head to the theme parks while you wait.

6 – See If a Room Change Might Be an Option

If a room is not available that meets your requests and you are staying for several nights, you may be able to see if a room meeting your requests will be open on a subsequent day. If available, this will require you to pack your luggage and store it at Bell Services in the morning before you head to the park. Then, when you return to the resort in the afternoon or evening, your new room will be ready for you to move into. This option may not be for everyone and may not even be available. But if you are open to switching rooms during your stay, you may still be able to get those room requests.

The resort Cast Members will always do their best to get you a room meeting your requests. Follow these strategies to better your chances of getting your requests. Just remember that even if you do not get all your requests, you are still at Walt Disney World, and you will have a great vacation regardless!

Photo Credit: Disney