There are a LOT of reasons why we love staying at Disney World hotels, but we have to say this one policy has shocked us.
While we would love for everything to go smoothly during your Disney World vacation, that just doesn’t always happen. We feel it’s our job to warn you of these things so you’re well prepared on your Disney vacation. We can’t believe more guests don’t know about this one thing that could ruin your checkout day!
When we first heard about the Reddit thread that this story is from, we’ll admit, we didn’t believe it. Honestly, it sounded a little too outrageous to us, but then we read the countless replies and talked with the team, and as it turns out, we believe this truly is something to beware of.
Regular checkout time for Disney World Hotels is 11 AM. While you can request a late checkout, it’s not always guaranteed. Thanks to the My Disney Experience app, you can check in and check out from the app and skip going to the front desk at all. This can save you a ton of time, but as it turns out, on your checkout day, it could also cause a major issue.
In the main Reddit thread story, this family left Pop Century Resort for a dining reservation at Chef Mickey’s, located at Disney’s Contemporary Resort (this is important!). When they returned, their app worked to open their room, but what they found was a shock — all of their stuff was GONE, and the room had been entirely cleaned and prepared for the next group of guests.
There was a Cast Member actually IN their room, and when they asked them what happened, they were told they were shown as checked out in the system. When the guest checked their app, sure enough, it had checked them out ON ITS OWN! They had left suitcases open, things in the bathroom — clear signs that they had, indeed, not checked out.
The Cast Member had to call their manager, and after half an hour, the manager arrived with their suitcases. But it gets worse — according to the guest, items were MISSING from their suitcases, totaling somewhere between $100-$150 in retail value. When they inquired with the manager, they were told that they would notify lost and found and to check in with a different manager later in the day.
So they did just that — a little while later, they headed down to the front desk and found that their other items hadn’t been found. Instead, they would get compensation for the items lost, but more shockingly? The manager informed the poster that the app checks people out when they stray too far from their resort on check-out day.
WHAT?! Yes, that COULD mean that just like the poster, if you have an early dining reservation and plan to pack up fully after getting back, you could be checked out, and your things could be removed from your room.
Many other commenters shared similar experiences, but some were luckier and had put most of their belongings in the car before leaving the resort, and that is 100% what we recommend to you if you plan to leave your resort before 11 AM and you drove to the parks. If you’re flying, ask the hotel to hold your bags at Bell Services and essentially be ready to check out of your hotel room EARLY.
We don’t want anyone’s things taken, so until we can figure out whether there’s a way to turn this setting off or we hear something official from Disney, we suggest being extra cautious. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on this as we hear more, so stay tuned to AllEars.
This Controversial Trend Is Taking Over Disney World Hotels, and We’re Not Sure How to Feel
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Has something like this ever happened to you? Tell us in the comments!
Would it be so hard for Disney to let guests know this could happen? And why didn’t someone at Disney anticipate this and put something in the room like a sign on the wall or something? No that would be too easy.
DVC guest below said they got 1 day’s points back for a late check in. How about Disney picking up the tab on the breakfast in addition to any lost items?
Get guests angry at you (even guests not affected who see this as unfair of Disney), that is the better way for Disney, I guess.
Another example of why I , A DVC member, will not renew when the time comes, why I would not become a DVC member today, and why I would not recommend DVC to others today. I used to tell people asking about DVC that “Disney is not cheap, but Disney knows how to take care of guests when things don’t go right”. All I hear now is example after example of that no longer being true.
We were traveling with a group and had 2 rooms. On checkout day, Room 1 left items for room 2 to pick up and left for the airport without checking out yet so room 2 could use our washer and dryer and pick up items before they left. However, when they went to retrieve the items, a full housekeeping crew was in the room and the items were gone. I had to call housekeeping from MCO to get them to find and return the items. This was all well before the 11 am checkout time. Pretty ridiculous considering the price you pay per night and the fact that often you can’t access your room until after the posted check in times but yet they are in your room hours before the posted checkout time.
I’m assuming they’re tracking the guests by their wristbands? If that’s the case, I would think if at least one person left their wristband in the room, the app wouldn’t automatically check them out?
You could also disable location services in the app to prevent it from tracking your location.
I suspect doing that would trigger the checkout anyway.
I was beyond upset when I read this weeks ago.
I would have lost if with the Disney managers if this happened to me.
On the other hand.. as a DVC member who goes to Disney twice a year, it has been a long time since I EVER had a room ready by 4pm. Once I got all my DVC points refunded for my first night because the room was not ready until after 8pm.
I’m going to guess this was a poor management’s decision to try to speed up room turnover, especially on weekends when there’s more check in/outs.
Covid did no favors with losing a lot of housekeeping during the shutdown… if anyone remembers trips when Disney reopened after housekeeping was an absolute mess, and still has not recovered fully.
No excuse tho. None. I never make breakfast reservations on the last day, but if I had to leave early and return for something, I would stop by the concierge to let them know I will be returning and make it clear I better not be *auto* checked out.
That is a new low for a company that’s already nickel and diming its guests to death.