Once you’ve decided on your Walt Disney World Resort hotel, it’s time to consider where you might want set up camp. My fellow DIStracted writer, Lisa, wrote an awesome article discussing WHY you might want make a room request. If you find that you fall into one of the categories discussed in her article or you simply want to secure a preferred location at your resort, you’ll want to place a room request prior to check-in.

All Resort Guests have the ability to submit preferences via the online check-in process. Members of TouringPlans have another option when requesting their “perfect room” location: TouringPlans Room Request Feature.  I’ve used this feature for my last two trips and plan to use it again for my trip this fall. In my case, I don’t have any special considerations when considering room location; frankly, I just like to play with any planning tool available and wanted to see how it worked! Let’s take a closer look at the TouringPlans Room Request Feature and how close my request came to the assigned room.

For my most recent trip, I stayed in a Business Class Room at the Coronado Springs Resort. By booking this room type, I automatically limited the choice of rooms as there is only one building with this room type. Check out my article on the Business Class rooms here!

DIStracted Tip: Be sure to search for the appropriate room type when doing your initial search in Touring Plans Room Finder. Making a request for a preferred room when you’ve booked a standard won’t do you any good!

The Business Class rooms are a 5-7 minute walk to El Centro. which is home to the lobby, dining and shopping. It’s also convenient to the Bus Stop #1.  Considering a room at this prime location, what were my concerns?

First off, I always request a room on the top floor of a resort. Why? To me, there’s nothing worse than having kids above running around or jumping on a bed while you’re trying to sleep!

Another consideration in selecting a room was the proximity to other amenities. Guests in the Business Class rooms have access to the Coconino Cove (check out my article here!). The lounge is open 7am-10am and 5pm-10pm. While this is a great perk, I was concerned with the noise. In looking at the floor plans on TouringPlans Room Picker, I was able to assess the location of the Coconino Cove. I made a point to request a room that was both convenient yet far enough away to avoid any noise from foot traffic.

Finally, we had a rental car to get to and from our conference at the Orange County Convention Center, so being close to the parking lot was a must.

Once I narrowed down my room location based on floor and proximity to amenities, I took a look at the views. Let’s be honest, between the time we planned to spend in the theme parks and the time at the conference, we weren’t going to spend much time in our room. However, it is nice to exit your room in the morning to a breathtaking view. After browsing through the rooms that met my criteria, I settled on Room #9654. Touring Plans would fax the room request five days prior to my check-in date. All I had to do was sit back, relax and count the days until our visit!

DIStracted Tip: Guests can opt to check-in online prior to arrival and, if desired, proceed directly to their rooms, bypassing the lines at the front desk. If you use the Touring Plans Room Request Fax Service, don’t worry about filling out room request preferences when completing the online check-in process. Check out this article which discusses my experience using direct-to-room check-in during a previous visit!

Upon arriving in Orlando, we received our room notification via text. It indicated that we’d been assigned Room #9640.  Like the requested room, our assigned room was a corner room; however, it was located on the opposite side of the building. While not the requested location, our room still offered a great view and it was just a short walk to Coconino Cove. Despite not getting my specific request, I was extremely pleased with the service and the location of the room assigned. In fact, I think it was better than what I had requested as it was away from the main walkways and associated noise.

While using the TouringPlans Room Request Fax Service was a fun experiment at Coronado Springs Resort, my room type made it a simple process. I look forward to using it again for our upcoming trip. We’ll be staying at Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort where I’ll have numerous factors to consider when deciding on my room request.

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