I recently had to take my iPad 3 to my local Apple store to have it changed under Applecare+.
I bought it on the release date in NYC while I was working out there and the case that I wanted (Otterbox Defender) wasn't yet available, so I stuck it in a cheap case while it was on order).
I then dropped it (in it's cheap case) and it damaged the screen.
Anyway, I made an appointment at the Apple store and backed the ipad up to iCloud about an hour before I left.
Ironically, the Defender turned up just before I left for the Apple store, so I took it with me.
They of course swapped it out (for a brand spanking new one as it happened), so while I was still in store I connected to their wifi, logged in and restored my iCloud backup from earlier that morning!
While it was restoring, I put it the Defender and half an hour later I walked out with a brand new, protected, restored iPad.
