Is this less common for cash stays?
Probably, but not unheard of. Search trip advisor reviews for the word "knock" and you'l find reviews going back years where people report they had housekeeping checking to see if they had left.
Cash resorts have a lower average occupancy so the reality is they don't need every room, every day. They can keep housekeeping staff until 7-8:00 at night cleaning rooms which won't be needed until the following afternoon.
They’re struggling to hire an adequate amount of staff but still need to be professional. It’s not good hospitality to let it appear guests matter less in their last hours. Because that’s how it looks even if not intentional. Something’s not working right if people are getting inconveniently locked out in the last hours, or made to feel less than welcome before 11am check out.
Staffing may be an issue at times, but I'm not inclined to give Disney a pass anymore.
This is more about the housekeeping challenges which exist throughout the timeshare industry. In some timeshares, guests have to clean their own rooms. 10am check out time is becoming more and more common.
DVC currently has a 5 hour cleaning window: 11am to 4pm. Some percent of guests tend to arrive late, which pushes that end-of-day back to maybe 5pm. But it's still difficult to attend to all the rooms in that window. Forget about trying to hire a large housekeeping staff willing to work 11am - 5pm, a 30-hour work week.
Instead the day starts around 8am. They begin with rooms they know have been vacated and then attempt to locate rooms where the guests left early without reporting.
How would we react to a story where a guest gets forceful trying to check in at 2pm? If that’s wrong it should apply in both directions. Maybe the check out portion of the app should include notes like the checkin part. Then guests can put it right in the system that they’re leaving between 8-9am or sleeping in after a late night and plan to checkout just prior to 11am.
I think most people agree there are no grounds to demand a room at 2pm. That's a non-starter.
Disney has been rolling out a check-out notification feature on the parks app. I don't think it's available at all resorts, but it is expanding. It only works when people choose to use it. When they do, the incidences of door knocking should only decline.