Thinking about splurging for Concierge Level.

[sandheichert]

But looking to see if anyone has ever gotten upgraded or somehow paid for the upgrade when checking in?

 

[WDWJenn]

Been thinking the same thing...

I, too, would love to hear what you guys have to say. We're gettng married in September.. and we're thinking of something extra special for our honeymoon. The All Stars are great on a budget... but... splurging is nice sometimes, too. We're wanting to stay at the AKL, and we're wondering if going from a basic savanna view to concierge level is worth the extra $$$.

 

[lilclerk]

Well I've never stayed concierge so I can't say if it's worth it or not (though if you can afford it, it's gotta be nice to experience at least once) but yes, you can pay to upgrade at check-in if there is room available. Disney will always take your money if they can :lol:
You may be offered a free upgrade, but it's very rare and there's not really a point in asking for it, IMHO. Just be happily surprised if you're the lucky one picked =)

 

[Christi22222]

I did some research on this a couple years back - for the very same reason as yourself, I want a good deal and maybe a splurge. Encouragingly, I had read a couple of places that a number of folks had gotten upgraded to concierge on site for some small fee like $50. However, my research was in 2005/2006 - right on the heels of the bad years and just prior to the current golden ones. When I checked in for my vacation in Jan 2006, I was given a ghastly upgrade rate that made me choke. I was then told that they are so busy these days, that they rarely can offer a good upgrade, and if you ask for one, it is ALWAYS policy to quote rack rates. I have read the same information confirmed on here for the last couple of years. I also gleaned some of this info at mousesavers and allearsnet. I am NOT the ever knowing Disney officianado that some folks are, but I do put some research into the topics that matter to me, and that's what I have come up with. Hope that it is helpful, if not exactly what you wanted to hear. Oh - I never went with concierge so I have no firsthand info on how good it is. Great reports over at allearsnet, though. Good luck and have fun.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

I, too, would love to hear what you guys have to say. We're gettng married in September.. and we're thinking of something extra special for our honeymoon. The All Stars are great on a budget... but... splurging is nice sometimes, too. We're wanting to stay at the AKL, and we're wondering if going from a basic savanna view to concierge level is worth the extra $$$.

Definitely DO NOT ask for an upgrade...it will not happen. They are offered sometimes however...but just like YOMD, if it happens, it's just part of the magic.

If you do go for your honeymoon, DO mention that when making your ressies and again when you check in. Also mention it when you make dinner ressies as well.

The "value" of concierge is up to how you vacation. If you are not in a hurry to get out to the parks, breakfast then afternoon/evening beverage and snack can be nice if you would be at the hotel during those times.

AKL probably has the best perk of any concierge, giving you access to the very nice morning or evening safari tour/meal packages.

 

[slappy magoo]

Pretty much what Christi25times said. WDW is not a stranger to offering people the occasional complimentary free or inexpensive upgrade, but it really depends on how slow things are at the time...giving a guest a treat when many of the concierge rooms are empty costs them little, and just might mean the next time those people return, they might upgrade anyway.

Flip side to that is, all those lucky ducks told their friends, who told THEIR friends, and now sooooo many people go to WDW thinking a good story and a hopeful look in their eyes will get them a free upgrade to Cinderella's Castle Suite and a family picture with Walt's frozen head. :lol: And lately it just hasn't been that slow, and bigger promotions like Free Dining, and bumping people up to OKW or SSR when the Values or mods are overbooked seems to be the extent of high-grade perks, with some perhaps very few exceptions you don't hear all that much of anymore.

As far as whether or not a concierge room or suite is "worth it," that's kinda trying to justify an intangible. Both a Hyundai & a Lexus will get you to market, but how do you want to roll? If you WANT to spoil yourself, and you're in a position where you can without denying your children braces or clothes that fit, then do so. If you decide after the fact that it's not worth it, well, at least you've done it once and you don't have to wonder.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Just don't go expecting anything and you might be surprised. But, if you are willing to pay and want to wait you can do that too. Make sure you are going at a slow enough time of year where you would have that option.

 

[PhiPackAttacka]

I actually got a free upgrade when the hotel was busy, but it was extremely lucky. We had booked a non-smoking room at WL but they gave us a smoking room by mistake. It was late on a Saturday when we checked in, so the place was full, and they upgraded us to concierge for the week. It was fantastic, even more so because I had absolutely no expectation they would do it!

 

[Gorjus]

I have stayed at concierge level in the Grand Floridian main building.

If you are the type of people that take time to enjoy your hotel during your stay, then concierge is a great thing.

If you are park commandos and use your hotel as a place to keep your stuff and sleep, concierge is not worth it.

We were there for the marathon weekend and actually didn't really go into the parks at all. We sat and enjoyed the food as it came out through the day. We definitely enjoyed the cocktail hour. It was a very relaxing weekend.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I actually got a free upgrade when the hotel was busy, but it was extremely lucky. We had booked a non-smoking room at WL but they gave us a smoking room by mistake. It was late on a Saturday when we checked in, so the place was full, and they upgraded us to concierge for the week. It was fantastic, even more so because I had absolutely no expectation they would do it!

We had the same issue there once. But we weren't lucky enough to get concierge...just a courtyard view.

 

[disneydudette]

Honestly... there is no harm in asking at check-in. I do think that it's "tacky" but what's the worst they can say... no? You are more then welcome to offer to pay for the upgrade, but as another poster mentioned, be prepared for a steap price; especially if you originally booked a discounted rate. We've never once asked but have recieved a few upgrades with past stays.

Upgrades aren't common, but its not to say they don't happen. I think some resorts tend to upgrade more than others, but it's all based on so many factors; everything from resort occupency and time of year to even the attitude of the CM checking you in!

From my readings and personal experiences, resorts like AKL, WL, and BC seem to lead the front for upgrades. Most of which are standard rooms upgraded to "pool/savanah", "wooded/courtyard", or "water" view rooms. I've read several accounts in which people were upgraded to concierge level at the YC, BC, and GF though. One thing I've learned with disney? NEVER expect anything and book exactly what you want and am comfortable with paying. Anything "extra" Disney decides to send our way, is that much more special to us.

I've never been big on the CL of a resort and frankly think that it's only "worth it" at a select few. The only advantage it poses to us is the snacks and drinks really, so unless we're planning on spending lots of time enjoying the resort, most of the CL services just end up going to waste!

Some resorts CLs are very tricky; for instance if you book at the Contemporary 12th floor, you can get either Bay Lake or MK view but neither can be gaurenteed. The same can be said at AKL, you can not gaurentee a Savanah view with CL; views will be either of the pool, sunset, or arusha savanah. There is a similar set up at the WL and BWI. To us, thats unacceptable and we don't like risking our view on "chance".. especially with that price tag!

 

[ConstanceIrene]

I have stayed at concierge level in the Grand Floridian main building.

If you are the type of people that take time to enjoy your hotel during your stay, then concierge is a great thing.

If you are park commandos and use your hotel as a place to keep your stuff and sleep, concierge is not worth it.

We were there for the marathon weekend and actually didn't really go into the parks at all. We sat and enjoyed the food as it came out through the day. We definitely enjoyed the cocktail hour. It was a very relaxing weekend.

I agree with Gorjus about why and when you should go "concierge". We've stayed at AKL and WL at the concierge level and loved everything about it.
Here's a website regarding the concierge level at WDW resorts. You can peruse and see if it offers enough to make it worth your extra $$$. Have a great time.

www.LuxuryDisneyGuide.com

 

[Blonde Princess]

I would stay in the conceirge in the following:
Poly, AKL, BC, GF, Contemporary, BW.
The Conceirge at WL is awful. It has absolutely no view. The rooms are actually a bit smaller that the rooms on other floors because of the dormers on the top floor of WL, and the balconies for those dormer rooms are smaller and have very little view. even on the courtyard side.

I have booked them ahead of time and upgraded at time of check in. You probably won't save much if you can upgrade.

 

[maryszhi]

my parents surprised me when i went with my best friends in 7th grade. it was amzing, worth it if u can afford it. but no matter where u stay, ull always have magic and memories
i also did it when my cousin got married. we got ready there and stayed there ( i was a bridesmaid and it was the grand)while the groom/ groomsmwn were at poly. it was amazing, and the wedding at the chapel at the grandfloridian was amazing, and the reception at the ballroom. i hope i can have my wedding there. Also i really enjoyed the free disney crusie she got us as a thank you. My parents did no tell me, andthen at the reception she told us she had a present for us, when we opened it i nearly had a heart attack. ive been on the disney cruise before quite a few times, but that was the greatest gift i got as a brides maids present.

also it IS NOT WORTH IT if you only sleep and put ur stuff in your room.
(just like a previous person stated)

 

[JustPlainBill]

We were automatically upgraded to concierge at the Poly this past summer. It didn't really work out well for us. We had just come off a week stay at the yacht club in a water view room (not concierge) and had a great experience, then we "resort hopped" over to the Poly. Our concierge stay at the Poly felt a bit like we received a downgrade in comparison. We had done concierge at the GF many years ago and it was great. Either concierge service has gone south over the years or we had isolated issues I don't know. After what we experienced at the Poly I wouldn't want to pay for the upgrade certainly. I know the rates and experiencing the level of service 1st hand I don't see the value, but we all have different opinions on what "value" for our dollar is, don't we? After our Poly concierge experience we regretted leaving our YC room. Without being too specific our problems had to do with poor room quality, housekeeping/maintenance, and service in general.

 

[HighGuard]

My wife and I were upgraded to the concierge level at the Contemporary on our honeymoon in August of 2006, which turned out as a surprise to us on the part of Disney. I had booked the tower with a view of Magic Kingdom, which was a special thing for us anyway (as it was our first time at a deluxe resort), but when we arrived we were told at check in that the resort had overbooked the type of room we had. Since we were there for our honeymoon, the management at the Contemporary had upgraded us to the concierge level (12th floor, I believe) at no additional cost. Needless to say, we were surprised, but the lady at check in simply told us "congratulations on your wedding and enjoy your stay". All part of the Disney magic...

 

[KnK]

We stay at WL every year and love it. This year we spluged an went Concierge. Now I only want to stay on the Concierge level!

Some mentioned that the room was smaller, but we noticed no difference at all. We still had a great room over looking the pool and the people were fabulous!

 

[MPitzen]

I, too, would love to hear what you guys have to say. We're gettng married in September.. and we're thinking of something extra special for our honeymoon. The All Stars are great on a budget... but... splurging is nice sometimes, too. We're wanting to stay at the AKL, and we're wondering if going from a basic savanna view to concierge level is worth the extra $$$.

We had our honeymoon in Sept. 07... I made sure to mention when making the reservations that we would be on our honeymoon. I also made sure that I was Extra friendly with everyone I talked to... this is a side note, because it was well deserved, but I actually asked if there was someone I could talk to to commend the person making my reservation for how wonderful they were (they somehow found tons of rooms available under a discount code that about 5 other CM's had not been able to find)... so back to the point... When we checked in I was still wearing my wedding dress (we got married on the beach in Florida) and they gave us a bouquet of roses, an upgrade to concierge, and had a bottle of champagne and plate of chocolate covered strawberries sent up to our room.

I would also recommend getting the pins that say that you're on your honeymoon. We were told to get in the fastpass line at a few places when they saw we were on our honeymoon. We were also given champagne at Le Cellier, The Brown Derby, and Coral Reef.

We ended up loving it so much that we bought into the disney vacation club as a wedding present to ourselves. We'll be at the AKL villas concierge from Sept. 5-13 for our first anniversary... hope to see you there!

 

[WDWJenn]

I wish...

We'll be at the AKL villas concierge from Sept. 5-13 for our first anniversary... hope to see you there!

I wish I could say that we'll see you there, but we're getting married the 13th and wont be checking in until the 14th. We're driving down from Memphis after the ceremony. I haven't decided whether i want to spent 14 hours in my wedding dress in the car or not... but.. i'm weird that way.. LOL

None the less, I hope you're anniversary trip is amazing...wait.. its WDW, of course it will be amazing!

 

[Philo]

I've been upgraded to a whole different hotel at DLP for no real reason in the past. I was just heading to check-in and a CM's called me over, asked for my name, looked on a list and said "How would you like to stay in the Disney Land Hotel?". I was there in a flash.

Back on topic. I'm staying at the AKL this April for my honeymoon. Virgin (our TA) have noted we are on our honeymoon, we are using Disney's honeymoon gift register and I have requested specific rooms that I know have a good view with a "As it's our honeymoon, do you think that you could put in a request to stay in one of the follong rooms" style e-mail. Hopefully that will give them enough reason to upgrade us if they feel the need but I honestly don't mind. In fact, if the view isn't great I would probably stick with our original reservations (although the sunrise safari does sound great). We're not the type of people to stay in the hotel for very long. We get to the parks as early as possible and leave as late as we can.

We figured one last way of hinting for an upgrade was to ask at the checking desk where we could get the honeymoon pins / wedding ears. I think I might feel a little blunt if I do that though.

I'm actually looking forward to the little treats around the parks that come with the honeymoon. I know it's unlikely but I've heard that some people get fastpasses / jumped to the front of the line, free deserts etc. Would be a nice touch but the general comments from CM's would still be very special.