Best Tips for DVC Room Requests

When looking for ways to make your next Disney Vacation Club stay as magical as possible, many members put in room requests. What does it mean to make a room request? Simply put, you contact Disney in some form and make a request of where you want to be based on the room you booked. It can be as specific as an exact room number or as general as wanting to be on the ground floor or near the lobby.

There are a variety of ways to make room requests as well as ways to make it more likely your request is granted. We thought it might be helpful to share our best tips with you.

Before we go on, I do want to emphasize that while Disney does their best, sometimes requests just don’t pan out. Paul and I are about 8/10 on room requests, and before we started using the tips below, we were closer to 2/10. However, as the saying goes, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so it never hurts to ask. With that in mind, here are a few easy ways you can make a room request, as well as our room request tips for your upcoming DVC stay.

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How to Put in Room Request:

Call or Chat with Member Services:

My number one suggestion will always be to put in your room request directly with Member Services. I find this to be the most consistent way to ensure it is completed. We usually use the chat feature, but you can call as well. I am sure to ask them to attach a room request to an existing reservation. I provide the reservation number, tell them my request, and then acknowledge that I understand there is a chance it’s not met, and that’s okay. This just saves the cast member the time of having to explain that part to you.

Call or Chat with Disney:

Your mileage may vary here, but in the past, I’ve always been able to talk with Disney using the chat function on My Disney Experience (MDE) or by calling, provided the room was already linked on MDE. While this may be an option if Member Services is down or busy, I recommend Member Services as the first and best option.

Fax:

Some guests prefer to fax their requests or use a subscription service that faxes the request for them. This is a valid option, but in our personal experience, we have never had a room request successfully granted this way. However, I have seen others have success with it, so it is an option. If you prefer to fax yourself, I’ve provided the fax numbers for Walt Disney World resorts below:

• Animal Kingdom Villas-Jambo House: (407)938-4799

• Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani Village: (407)938-7474

• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort: (407)824-3539

• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge: (407)824-3232

• Copper Creek Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge: (407)824-3232

• Beach Club Villas: (407)934-3850

• Boardwalk Villas: (407)939-5150

• Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa: (407)824-3186

• Old Key West Resort: (407)827-1192

• Polynesian Villas & Bungalows: (407)824-3174

• Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa: (407)827-4444

• Riviera Resort: (407)560-1689

Email:

Another option is to email your requests to member services. There are many who like this route, and it does save time. However, in my personal experience, it can be hit or miss if you receive a response back to know the request has been added. But many members swear by this method. To email, you will want to login to your membership, visit Help & Contact, and then choose Email Us.

Use the Drop Down Menus at Check-in:

This is one I used to recommend as one of the best options and, more recently, has become one of the worst. Previously, you could use the online check-in drop-down menus and choose from a variety of popular room requests. They have since taken away most options, so unless you want “near lobby” or one of the very few other options, I would skip this method. There is one request this avenue is good for, and that is if you want to check the box that says to prioritize your room being done early over any room requests. If you choose to check this box, I recommend making no other requests, as the goal is to get whatever room is first available.

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Our Tips for Requests:

Try to Stick to One:

In our experience, we have found that less is more when it comes to making a room request, and the times we have had a request granted were when we made only one. The times we have made two (we have never done more than two), we usually find that we either don’t get either or we get the second one when we would rather have had the first. So now, we decide what we value most and stick to one request, and it seems to work for us most of the time.

Be as General As Possible:

Over the years, I have also found more luck in making generic, generalized requests over very specific ones simply because the more specific you are, the more difficult for them to meet the requests. They don’t have time to see what else might be close to your request. If they can’t give you the room number you asked for or match exactly what you want, you usually end up with something else. I try and stick with general requests such as highest floor possible or near the lobby. What I ask for depends on the resort, but I also try to be basic, which makes it easier.

Manage Expectations and Keep an Open Mind:

It’s important to remember not all room requests can be met. If your request is granted, I would view it as some added Pixie Dust to your stay. If it’s not, it may be an opportunity to find enjoyment in a room you didn’t realize you would like. We were pleasantly surprised by how well we liked the rooms overlooking the parking lot in Polynesian’s Pago Pago longhouse because it offered views of beautiful foliage and the monorail. Or how much we enjoyed being on the second floor on top the covered path at Riviera because it was so quiet and peaceful.

Some of our Favorite Things to Request:

What we request really depends on the resort. For example, at a resort as large as Old Key West and Saratoga Springs, we keep our requests focused on which area we like to be in since location is important here. For Old Key West, we usually ask for the Peninsular Road area and at Saratoga, The Paddock. At a resort like Grand Floridian, Beach Club, Boulder Ridge, Polynesian, Riviera, and Vero Beach where most views in a booking category are similar, we found we prefer asking for higher floors to elevate the view and provide more privacy.

For BoardWalk, we always ask to be overlooking Village Green (pool/garden views) as it’s one of our favorite spots in all of Disney World. At somewhere like Jambo House and Kidani where the hallways stretch for miles, we will usually ask to be near the lobby. For Grand Californian, we find the theme park view rooms to be some of the best. If booking a lake view room at Bay Lake, it matters if you want to be inside the horseshoe or outside. Outside can sometimes mean a fireworks view, and inside offers some of the best views of Bay Lake.

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We are interested to know your thoughts on making a room request. Leave your comments below!

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