Check in - anyone ever have this happen

[ctlau 0]

Wasn't sure where to post this so I'll attempt it here. So anyway, we had our first tent camping experience a couple weeks ago and had a very unusual experience at check in and wondering if anyone else ever had this happen and if there is anything that could have been done if they didn't "find us a site". Here goes - we were only tent camping but booked a full hook up site because that was all that was available and I've seen others tent campers in this section before. My husband gets to the campground at 1:30 (email and disney website says check in for campsites is at 1) He proceeds to check in and the woman tells him check in is at 3 and she has nothing available right now in the loops we requested (I requested 1700 or 1800 near comfort station). So he calls me, who hadn't left yet and I said it didn't matter I was just going by suggestions on here so take whatever was available. She tells him nothing is available in any of the full hook up loops until 3 PM or he can pay to upgrade (never in my life at disney or any place for that matter have I been told I needed to pay to upgrade especially when it was their issue). So he said I don't think we can because we only have a tent and there is no sand pad on the premium lots. She makes a few calls and says no you can't upgrade with only a tent then proceeds to tell him she can downgrade us to partial (which is what we really wanted but it wasn't available when we booked it!) So he says do we get a refund of the difference and she said not sure, he said you were just going to charge me to upgrade but won't give me money back to downgrade, she makes a few more calls and we did get the difference back and he was able to go in at that point which was more like 2 PM. Is this normal, has anyone ever had this happen that they are told check in is at 3 and there is nothing available? I"m concerned because we have the same set up  for November but its more important to get in and set up on time because we are headed over to Mickey's Merry Christmas and I know they let you in early so we didn't want to wait until 7.  I'm scared to bother requesting anything this time! Was there something else we could have done if they insist they have "nothing" available" which I still found very hard to believe there wasn't one empty slab in the place at 1:30! All in all in worked out for the best because we got what we really wanted but I didn't like the way the cast member went about it etc. Unless she was new I have no idea! Thanks for your time!

 

 

 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I don't know whether you'd experience this again, but I can say that one check in experience in no way is indicative of how the next will go.  Some of those CM's are definitely working to their own music, if you know what I mean.  I don't think I'd worry too much about it.  

[disneyfam 0]

That does not seem to be the norm. We went the weekend of September 26 and we checked in at 10am without a problem. We ushally always get there early in the morning and do not have a problem getting a site. Hope you have better luck next time.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

It really depends on availability of cleaned sites. Some people seem to have trouble vacating the site by 11. They werent saying you couldnt have the site you paid for just that it wasnt ready yet. You could have parked your car in the over flow and gone to the pool or a park till it was ready. The CM definitely sound like she hadnt had to deal with issues like this yet and hopefully learned some of the answers for next time. 

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

Somebody must have been very, very new. Check-out is 11:00 check-in is 1:00, cabins are 3:00. They will on occasion extend check-out to 1:00, but only during non busy periods. I would have asked for a management CM and if it happens again definitely ask for a management CM.

[djsamuel 322]

That is definitely not normal. Check-in does start at 1PM. We've stays at the fort many tomes and never had that issue. We are here right now and check in was normal, checking in at 12:45.

[oft013 23]

Over the years we have had some really great check in experiences and some more interesting experiences.  From the good being able to check in at 7:00 AM to more interesting when we stayed in cabins one time. Where we kept seeing people checking in for cabins and everytime we went up we kept getting told ours wasn't ready.  We have also checked in a full day early when the campground we had a reservation for didn't have a site for us.  My wife tried to call to see if we could extend our reservation coming in a day early.  While she was on hold waiting to talk to someone we drove the 15 minutes from where we were going to stay to the fort, she hung up and the CM at the fort booth was more than accommodating and created a new reservation for the extra day and set it up so we didn't have to move sites at all.  That trip we were there 16 or 17 days.  Like most things in life it all depends who you talk to, I think what happened to you was more the exception than the rule.  Enjoy your trip

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Somebody must have been very, very new. Check-out is 11:00 check-in is 1:00, cabins are 3:00. They will on occasion extend check-out to 1:00, but only during non busy periods. I would have asked for a management CM and if it happens again definitely ask for a management CM.

 

^THIS^

 

Definitely not normal and I doubt very much that your site request had anything to do with it.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

The more I read the original post, it sounds like the CM said they didn't have your "request" available until 3pm.

 

So it sounds like they had a site in mind that met your requests, but for some reason there was a delay in getting it ready. (Previous guest taking too long to check out, delay in cleaning, maintenance issue, etc.)

 

My recommendation would be if they say your site won't be ready till later, either drive or bus to the appropriate loops (in your case 1600-1900) and see what IS empty. If there is a site empty that will meet your needs, call the front desk from a comfort station house phone or go back up there, and see if they will assign you the empty site.

 

Also, setting up a tent on a premium site is ALLOWED, just not easy because no sand pad. Many folks stick a tent on the back corner and stake it down on 3 sides.

[Memphis 105]

We almost always check in early and get to go to the site about 1/2 the time. One time we did not get our site until 1:30 and I was PO about that.  If they told me up front it would be after 3:00 I would come unglued.

 

I am of the opinion  that the check-in CMs at the fort are only allowed to stay until they fully understand their job at which time they are immediately moved  mid shift to another position.  

 

This is the only reason I see why it takes so long to check in at the fort.  I have a paid in full reservation, I do online check-in, I have already set up a charge card, and it still takes longer to check-in than it does at a cheapo motel that I just show up and ask for a room.  

[ctlau 0]

Thanks everyone - I'm hoping it was a one time thing. We've stayed in the cabins many times which have the 3PM checkin and have gotten in many times at 11 so a 1 PM check in for a slab and told come back at 3 I was a bit annoyed! It wasn't my request that wasn't going to be available till 3 it was all full hook up that's what blew my mind - mid-Sept at 1:30 nothing in full hook up was available I just found that hard to believe and my husband wasn't going to argue like I would have if I was there. Well can only hope for the best next time - we love fort wilderness and have used the cabins for the past 8 years so was just a little surprised I guess by what happened our first attempt at the campsites!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

We almost always check in early and get to go to the site about 1/2 the time. One time we did not get our site until 1:30 and I was PO about that.  If they told me up front it would be after 3:00 I would come unglued.

 

One time at New Years, it was 4pm and I still had not gotten the text that my site was ready. I went to the office and they gave me the site number (also there were some mitigating circumstances, and I really wasn't ready to set up until then, but it was a bad day all the way around).

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

Check in doesn't always make sense.  I had a guest coming in yesterday. Was told the site wasn't ready in the morning.  A couple of hours later was told it wasn't even assigned yet.  How can it not be ready if they didn't even assign it yet?  Next time I called was an hour later and was told it's not ready.  5 seconds after hanging up with the front office, the guest called and said I am standing in our site and it's ready, when are you coming to set it up?  Hmmmmm. I was certainly confused.  Evertything is totally dependent on who you speak with in the office.  Sometimes I think they forget that the one who get's mad is the guest.  Talk to a manager if you are unhappy about something.

[caveat lector 181]

Not normal, but anything is possible. I once showed up to my lot and guy was sitting in a lawn chair outside his class c smoking a cigar. He explained that he had to vacate his lot, so it could be cleaned. I explained he was now in my lot, and he said he needed to finish his cigar, cause his wife won't let him smoke inside. I explained to him that it was 3pm, I had driven 17 hours, and it would be difficult to smoke a cigar after he had his jaw wired shut. I've removed the expletives for the sake of more gentle readers. He realized the urgency and left immediately. Moral to the story: yes checkin can occasionally be a bit unusual. It's the fun you have in the following days that makes it all worthwhile.