Kids not registered at WL - any probs?
Find a Conversation
| Sat, 01-06-2007 - 12:53pm |
Hi!
I'm new here and have a question. I'm taking my family on their first trip to Disney World and I feel like I don't know what I'm doing!
I booked a room at the Wilderness Lodge through a travel site. They gave us a standard room and put only my husband and I on the reservation, leaving out our children ages 9, 7, and 5 because they said kids under 18 don't need to be registered.
Since only the two of us are registered, I assume that the kids won't be getting room keys, which I heard you need if you use the extended hours or Magic Express. We probably won't use extended hours because our kids are just not hardy enough, and we are renting a car so we don't need the Magic Express.
My question is - what else do you need the room key for (other than getting into your room!)? Is it needed to use the shuttle buses, monorails, and water taxis to the parks? I know as guests of the hotel we should be able to use these transports for free but do we need to show something before climbing aboard? By the way, we didn't buy a package - only the hotel. I will be purchasing our park tickets separately from another site.
Thanks so much!
Nancy

Pages
What type of room did you book? You may have more problems than you know. Max capacity at the Wilderness Lodge is 4 in a room unless you booked a suite or are in a 1 bedrooom at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. (or the youngest is under 3 which doesn't apply to you)
Did you do this completely online? or did you talk to someone personally? Do you have anything in writing?
When are you going? If it's at a busy time you just might be asked for your room keys to do things like get on the monorail. Especially if you have early breakfast reservations.
Honestly the best thing for you to is to get on the phone to Disney reservations and ask them.
I booked a standard "Woods View" room. I called the agent and talked to a person to book it. I gave him the ages of all of our kids and he said because of their ages he didn't have to put them on the reservations. They emailed me the reservations, which just has mine and my husband's names on it. I called back two days later and spoke to another person about it. She put me on hold and called the Wilderness Lodge, then told me they said under 18 is free. She also said that we'd need room keys for all the kids if we are using the Magic Express service, but since we are renting a car at the airport we don't really need it. I didn't think at the time to ask if all os us need room key to use the transportation to the parks.
We will be at Disney from Sat, Feb 10 to Wed, Feb 14.
Thanks for your help!
I really hope I am over reacting, but I also don't want your vacation messed up. Disney reservation systems will NOT allow more than 4 people over the age of 3 in a standard room at the Wilderness Lodge.
PLEASE call them ASAP as Sonya said! I went to DW in Aug/September. There were 8 of us (MIL/FIL, BIL/SIL and their 3 kids, and Me (DH is in Afghanistan). My 8 year old nephew HAD to room with me because they DO NOT allow 5 people in a regular room. We did request connecting rooms but were not able to get them.
This will be a complete nightmare if you don't call to straighten it out as soon as you can.
Melissa
I totally agree with Sonya and Melissa. I would call Disney directly, if for nothing else than peace of mind.
Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations
Nancy,
Just wondering if you have called Disney? I have nervously been checking the board throughout the last few to see if you have posted an update. I just don't want any obstacles for ANYONE who travels to Disney.
Good luck!
Melissa
Disney has always asked me for the names and ages of EVERYONE in our party, even my ds who was under 3 at the time of our last trip.
I agree, please call and get it straightened out. You don't have to pay for underage children in your room, but they definitely have to be counted.
Even when they ask you how many in your party, they count the 10 lb baby as 1 person. Go figure. Even for the front of the monorail. Oh and dinner too. It is never 4 plus a baby it was always 5 for seating.
I hope she got it straightened out. I don't want her trip to be bad due to the person booking her trip.
Sarah
Hi All,
Thank you all for your replies. I do apologize for leaving you hanging. Things have been crazy lately and I could not devote any time to this matter.
I made some calls today and basically what I discovered was that if I make a reservation through Disney Reservations, they stick to published occupancy for their rooms. The person I talked to said if I did have 5 of us in a room, that the 5th person would not be issued a room key, but could not tell me what exactly I'd need the room key for. The person I talked to at the online booking agency put me on hold, called Wilderness Lodge, and said that it was not a problem. I hope they weren't lying.
My husband says when we get there, he's going to ask if we can have a room upgrade (there appears to be nothing available at the WL when I checked their site today, but maybe with cancellations or no shows). He's just giving the name of our two older kids. He pointed out that our youngest wouldn't be able to handle the extended hours anyway so it doesn't matter if she doesn't have a key. He also told me to stop stressing over this and he'd take care of it.
Anyway, I am still wondering - what exactly does the room key do for us, other than Magic Extended Hours and letting us in the room?
Thanks!
Nancy
The reason they stick to 'published' occupancy is for fire codes and things like that. The rooms are designed to hold only a certain # of people, and no more. Unfortunately, some people don't think the rules apply to them. I think if they find you have more people than allowed in the room, you could be made to leave or else upgrade and pay for a room that fits your family size. I have read about it on other boards, never experienced it.
As far as the room key, you need it for extra magic hours, but you already know that. I think they can ask to see it for transportation during extremely busy times, but I don't know that it happens.
Edited 1/11/2007 6:54 pm ET by bigbabyblues
Pages