Spinner...Ben 1 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 I noticed that I can check in online for my FW reservation even though I'm not arriving until 3/4. What does this mean? Do I get a site assignment? Do I still have to go thru the checkin line when I get to the Fort?Please help this guy out!!Spinner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 What it means is that they get your credit card information on file on how you want to pay off the rest of your site, then sometime overnight before you arrive, they charge your card to pay the bill, and go ahead and print your room keys and prepare your packet.In most resorts, there is a dedicated line for online checkin and supposedly that line is shorter.However, at the Fort checkin lanes, there is not a dedicated online checkin line, so your time in line is the same, but if you have no weirdness once you get to the checkin person, they hand you your checkin packet, give you your site number (or tell you it's not ready yet, and off you go). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Hmmm, that date seems a ways out, it used to be 10 days? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 With the new My Disney Experience it went to 60 days Carol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 With the new My Disney Experience it went to 60 days Carol.Wow!So you can pay Disney 60 days before your trip?Nice move on their part.And, to answer the original question, I have never found there to be any advantage to online check-in at the Fort. In fact, on several of my most recent trips, I was glad that I hadn't done on-line check in, as there were things wrong with my reservation, and I had to get them corrected. I'm not sure how that would have worked if a CM just handed me everything that had been pre-printed and told me good luck.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Wow!So you can pay Disney 60 days before your trip?Nice move on their part.TCDActually, I don't think they actually charge the card you list until overnight sometime before arrival when they set up your packet for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Starbuc71 162 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 I actually like the new Disney website even though it can be slow. Since I am one that has multiplie campground ressies and multiple dining ressies, the new site is easy to navigate and print your ressies. The problem I have is that work computer will pull the new site but my iPad and home computer will only pull the old site. Any info when they will merge to the new site or how do I pull the new site on my other computers? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spinner...Ben 1 Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks for all the great info! This place rocks. It's now on my short list of useful places on the interwebs. I think I will wait until closer to arrival, if not on arrival to check in. Spinner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 FWIW we've done online check-in the past 2 years and it seems to have sped up our check-in process a lot.Both times check-in took all of 5 minutes and both times we got one of our site requests.Don't know if we're just lucky, but I plan to do it again this year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
michelb 3 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks for the info - never knew you could even do that (last time we checked in at the Fort, it took a LONG time ...) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Family of Bears 98 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Ive talked to a few CMs about this at the fort. If you are selective at all about which site you are going to get, online check in can actually slow you down. They assign your number ahead of time but you wont find out what it is until you arrive, and if you dont like it, things have to be redone. If you don't care where you end up, then it may be a little time saver. I stay clear of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Ive talked to a few CMs about this at the fort. If you are selective at all about which site you are going to get, online check in can actually slow you down. They assign your number ahead of time but you wont find out what it is until you arrive, and if you dont like it, things have to be redone. If you don't care where you end up, then it may be a little time saver. I stay clear of it.Yup -that's why I stay away from it too.If they had a dedicated check-in lane just for on-line check in, it might work better. Sometimes, they do have a lane designated as the on-line check in lane. But, Castmembers still direct non on-line check in guests into that lane. So, if the guest in front of you has an issue, the on-line check in lane can actually take longer.If you send in a loop or site request, there's no way to find out if the request was granted until you check in. With on-line check in, you may be assigned to a site that you just don't want, but all your stuff has been prepared already. It's easier and quicker to deal with such an issue before all your check-in stuff has been printed.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 What I do is note my requests in my reservation, THEN send a fax about 5 days out with a list of my needs and suggestions of specific site numbers that will work, then 1 or 2 days before go ahead and do online check-in. The last two trips, that has gotten me one of the sites I requested. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 What I do is note my requests in my reservation, THEN send a fax about 5 days out with a list of my needs and suggestions of specific site numbers that will work, then 1 or 2 days before go ahead and do online check-in. The last two trips, that has gotten me one of the sites I requested.Same here, although I do online check in around the 10 day mark. We give them our top 3-5 site requests and why. We've gotten our top 1 or 2 request each of the last 4 years, the last 2 of which we also did online check in. That said we always book preferred pet - which puts us in 300 - and we're generally checking in during slower times of the year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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