Upgrades at Resorts

[10East75South]

Checking in soon, and have heard/seen that sometimes "upgrades" are offered, possibly at check-in.

Is there any rhyme or reason to an upgrade? I figure it definitely won't happen unless its asked for - what would/should be the best approach?

P.S. Going for 4th time in 5 years, going for anniversary this time.

 

[abug'saunt]

Have received an upgrade twice (once ASMu, once POR). When checking in, we were informed that we had been given a room upgrade. At ASMu, the CM told us that we were upgraded to rooms on ground level, in the Calypso building (5 people in our party). At POR, we were told we were upgraded to ground level, connecting rooms (6 people in party). We didn't do or ask for anything special, we were just told.

Don't know if this matters but ASMu was X-mas time 2005. Was final night of trip after staying at the Contemporary for 8 nights. POR was anniversary trip May 2007. Don't remember mentioning it at time of booking either. Also, we booked both trips thru AAA. Just our experiences.

DH and I leave in 3 days for 10 days at POR. This trip we did mention it was our anniversary. Congrats on your anniversary, by the way.

 

[disneygirl76]

Checking in soon, and have heard/seen that sometimes "upgrades" are offered, possibly at check-in.

Is there any rhyme or reason to an upgrade? I figure it definitely won't happen unless its asked for - what would/should be the best approach?

P.S. Going for 4th time in 5 years, going for anniversary this time.

There has been much discussion on the boards on how to get an upgrade. It is my feeling that you definitely do not ask for one. My husband and I have been fortunate and upgraded twice in the 5 years we've been going together to WDW. And we go each year. We didn't get them b/c we asked. All we do is book where we want to stay, in the type of room we want, and we tell the CM's when we are making the ressie what we are celebrating. We also request a particular style of room - for example - king bed, not on first floor - or something like that. But we know those are just requests - not guarentees. As for the upgrade - if an upgrade happens, it happens. If not, I've planned our perfect trip just the way it is.

 

[Lynne M]

The sense I get from reading post by CMs is that asking for a free upgrade is the best way to guarantee that you won't get one....it seems to really turn the CMs off.

Most upgrades are given for the resort's operational reasons, and assigned before you arrive - they need to take a room out of service for maintenance, or free up a block of rooms for a group or event. In other words, it's purely the luck of the draw.

Occasionally, the CMs have the opportunity to do a 'pixie-dust' upgrade....just a nice little surprise for a guest.

Upgrades are far less common than they appear to be from reading Disney message boards. Remember that people post about the unusual. No one bothers to post that they got the room they paid for, and that's by far the most common occurrence.

In terms of asking, about the only thing you can do is say 'what would it cost to upgrade to concierge', or whatever level you're interested in. They will occasionally offer the upgrade for a reduced rate.

 

[tigsmom]

Feel free to ask for an upgrade upon check in, but be prepared to pay for it.
There are few free upgrades given anymore.

 

[Mystic]

We've been upgraded for free twice and we never once asked for it. The first was on our first trip, we were upgraded from standard view to woods view at the WL and the second time was on our second trip from woods view to courtyard view again at the WL. Again we never asked for the upgrade.

 

[minniemomto3]

We were upgraded in 2007 at Contemporary......we were simply told at check-in that our room was in the Tower when we booked a Garden Wing room....fantastic surprise!!! But we didn't ask for it....I agree, you can ask..but be prepared to pay for it!:sohappy:

 

[DisneyWall-E]

DW and I were upgraded once at POP to a king size bed for our honeymoon.

 

[Darth Guinness]

We were upgraded this weekend. My wife and I were checking in at Port Orleans French Quarter when we were informed that we had been upgraded to the Boardwalk due to overbooking. Not a bad upgrade. This is the first time in almost 20 visits over the last five years that we have been upgraded. It's funny how Disney overbooked and yet we were excited about the new hotel. We had never stayed at the Boardwalk before and, despite the rain, really had a great time.

 

[gardenia]

I have received several amazing upgrades (including one to a $1500/night suite at the CR) that I did NOT ask for.

I asked for an upgrade ONE time, intending to pay for it, to a bunk bed room at AKL. And I did end up paying for it.

My experience is that you shouldn't ask for it. That's not how upgrades generally work at WDW.

 

[SchultzFamily]

We have NEVER asked for an upgrade, but we've received several. The first time staying on property we were at the CR and paid for a garden view. We were upgraded to a tower room with a view of the castle. In our seven stays at the CSR, we've paid for a water view once. Four out of the other six stays, we were upgraded to a water view and on our last trip this past September (when celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary), we were upgraded to a junior suite/water view at the CSR.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

I wonder if they upgrade based on how many stays you've had. I was just thinking that in the many times I've stayed there were about 7 booked under my dad's name, 3 booked under my Mom's name, 1 booked under my boyfriends, 1 booked under my Step-dads and 1 booked under my sisters.

Maybe I'm missing out on being recognized as a return guest, but hopefully since they put everyone's name on the res they can tell. I know other hotel chains will upgrade their "preferred" guests so maybe the more you stay the luckier you get. :shrug:

Although...maybe it's all just a crapshoot. I figure as long as I'm the sweet-as-sugar guest that I usually am it can't hurt when they're handing out free upgrades :lol:

 

[TURKEY]

Nope. Most of the time you get upgraded, it's just for a situation like Darth above.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Nope. Most of the time you get upgraded, it's just for a situation like Darth above.

I know that upgrades generally happen due to overbooking but like Darth said they had 20 plus visits so I wonder if they got upgraded instead of someone who only visited once or twice because they are frequest Disney guests

 

[Master Yoda]

Lynne M got it right. By policy you will only be given a free upgrade due to operational needs of the resort or for a guest recovery situation. If you ask for an upgrade and it is available you will be charged for it. In the past, especially in the years following 9/11, resort upgrades were pretty common due to low occupancy rates. With resort occupancy rates now consistently in the up 90 percentile range free upgrades are becoming as rare as hen's teeth. The most sure fire way not to get a free upgrade is to ask for one. The best tactic I know of is to be nice to the CM checking you in and hope for the best.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Booked a garden room @ CR on our last stay. Our room wasn't ready when we checked in (around 10AM). Went to the parks, returned to the resort around 5PM, stopped at the desk to get our room number, and found we'd been upgraded to a MK view tower room. I did the happy dance right there in the lobby!

 

[Mystic]

We were upgraded this weekend. My wife and I were checking in at Port Orleans French Quarter when we were informed that we had been upgraded to the Boardwalk due to overbooking. Not a bad upgrade. This is the first time in almost 20 visits over the last five years that we have been upgraded. It's funny how Disney overbooked and yet we were excited about the new hotel. We had never stayed at the Boardwalk before and, despite the rain, really had a great time.

We're heading to POFQ this weekend, we've never stayed there before. What if they offer us an upgrade and we really don't want it (ie. we don't like/want the hotel they're offering). Can we refuse? :veryconfu

 

[mickey7879]

Don't know if this is an upgrade or not, but once we stayed at BCV and the cm told us he was able to get us a view of Epcot. You could watch some of Illuminations from our balcony. We had swapped our timeshare to stay there, so we really didn't think they'd give us a good view since we didn't pay out of pocket, but were pleasantly surprised!

Another time we stayed at BWV with another timeshare swap. We weren't expecting an upgrade and didn't get one. BUT, were pleasantly surprised our room was one of the closest rooms to the lobby you could get. So awesome since I was pregnant. So, not exactly an upgrade, but to me it was better than one!

 

[Lucky]

We were upgraded to a VIP Suite at Coronado last summer, a few days into our 8 day stay. There was some sort of maintenance issue, so they had to move us. I'd have been happy enough with a 1-night comp and being moved from one regular room to another. But either the regular rooms were all booked, or they preferred keeping our money and upgrading us to a suite that otherwise would have been empty anyway.

 

[TURKEY]

I know that upgrades generally happen due to overbooking but like Darth said they had 20 plus visits so I wonder if they got upgraded instead of someone who only visited once or twice because they are frequest Disney guests

Right now, there really isn't a way for the front desk to tell how many times you've been there.