Disney in a Minute: What is a Room Check?

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World hotel you may be subject to a room check. Also known as a “wellness check,” this is a quick visit into your room by hotel personnel.

Every day of your stay at a Disney resort hotel, someone from Disney staff will enter your room. If you have a standard hotel room with daily housekeeping and you’re spending your days out at the theme parks, you’ll likely have no idea that you’ve gotten a daily room check. However, if you’ve opted to decline housekeeping or if you’re staying in a Disney Vacation Club villa that only qualifies for cleaning every four days and you’re in your room during the day, you will almost certainly encounter a room check.

Room checks are usually no big deal – a staff member will knock on your door, you open the door, they take a lap inside your room (sometimes also emptying your trash or delivering towels, but not always), and then they leave. But there are some situations where a room check feels unwelcome or invasive. These might include times when you or a child is napping, when a minor is left alone in the room, when you’re undressed, or when you’re engaging in adult activities. Even if you have a “do not disturb” sign on your door and even if you ignore the room check knock, they will come in. My own most uncomfortable experiences with room checks happened when I didn’t hear the knock because I was in the shower (emerging into my room in a towel to find a housekeeper there) and when I was sick during vacation and completely zonked out in bed in a Nyquil-induced haze to find strangers standing in my room. If you are awake and alert when the room check folks show up to your door, you can can ask them to come back, but their return will typically be within about 15 minutes.

Your only recourse from having someone step into your room is to use your internal door latch. They may knock loudly and repeatedly, but you won’t be surprised if you’re undressed and the door is latched. If you have concerns about whether the party at your door really is hotel staff, you can call the hotel front desk to confirm this while your door is latched. Additionally, if you’re planning to leave a minor in your room, you should discuss what to do if they experience a room check when they’re alone.

While this all sounds like a lot, and not in a good way, there are solid reasons why Disney conducts room checks. The practice was started following the 2017 shooting in Las Vegas where a gunman was able to stockpile weapons in his hotel room. Hotels in tourist areas like Disney World have also been home to nefarious acts such as child trafficking. The wellness checks are in place to protect you and all guests from criminal acts like these, and this is a common practice in hotels that isn’t limited to Disney.