Hey Howdy Hey Leah and welcome to planDisney!
We are so excited to welcome you to the Most Magical Place on Earth real soon! I will be happy to give you a little more insight into the check-in process for your upcoming trip.
Depending on your hotel accommodations check-in times are 3:00 PM EST for Disney Resort hotels and 4:00 PM EST for Disney Deluxe Villas. If the Disney housekeeping Cast Members can get to your room early, you may be able to check-in early on the day of your arrival with no extra charge. You will only be charged extra in the event you arrive on a day before your reservation which is also dependent on availability.
Before you leave for your trip, I would highly recommend you check-in online using the
Direct-to-Room Service. With this option, you can check-in online through your
My Disney Experience account. During this process, you will be asked a few questions, one of them being your expected time of arrival on the day of your reservation. If you select a time before the standard check-in time, Disney will try their best to have your room ready around the time of your arrival. The best part is, that you will be notified on the day of your arrival of the real-time status of your room situation. You will also be given a notification when your room is ready and your room number magically appears in your app! It is super easy to use and very convenient. Just keep in mind, that Disney does their best to accommodate all requests and there is no guarantee your room will be ready before official check-in time.
Best of luck as you continue to plan for your upcoming trip and please feel free to stop back if you have any other questions, we are always happy to help!
Have a Magical day,
Nick