What happens if you refuse an 'upgrade'?

[Pixiedust34]

Originally Posted by sndral

We are 2 adults who each have our own bed (mom and adult child) a 1 br in SSR would put one person in the king bed in the bedroom and 1 person dealing w/ the pullout every night - right?
What a shock, to go from the smallest/cozy moderate - POFQ, to the huge sprawling biggest timeshare on property of SSR and be down to only one 'real bed' when you expected two.

That would be my issue. I'm not fond of sofa beds and that upgrade would mean using the sofa. I'd politely ask if we could be moved to a location/room with two queen beds. However, if it were just me on a solo trip or me and dh (one bed needed), I would be thrilled with a SSR studio room.

[tzeitel]

I worked rooms control at Y&B, if we were overbooked and offering upgrades it was pretty much non negotiable unless you raised enough of a stink (like screaming at an agent in the lobby). I would have moved people around but it would have taken me hours to figure it out - think of room control as playing Tetris, every block has to be filled.

You could always ask if a room would become available the next day. Bell services would take your luggage and transfer it back to your original resort while you were out in the parks.

As far as asking for a different resort - don't count on it, not even values. Actually sometimes values are more difficult to find an open room in than deluxes. The day before we knew we would be overbooked (or had an inkling we would be overbooked) I would call all the other resorts looking for open rooms. It depended on what they had and for how long. Sometimes I would find rooms available for just 1 night, then we had to move people twice

It is not an easy situation for anyone. FD agents get yelled at on a regular basis for the smallest things, on overbooked days it was a nightmare. There is only so much RC can do

[DisneyLover75]

There's a part of me that wishes Pop Century would be overbooked when I go (11/15 - 11/27) but so far it looks like there are rooms in every category available to book when I go onto the WDW website.

Part of me really wants to get that "upgrade" and part of me worries because we have friends traveling with us (they have their own reservation, but they want to stay at the same resort as us) and the worry part would come in when/if they decided to upgrade us and not them or vice versa.

[BlovesC]

Originally Posted by macnodos

With all due respect, there isn't a reason I would turn down a 1 BR suite at SSR for a value. Not even for a second. I may be a little biased as that is my home resort with DVC.

Naturally you're biased if you liked SSR well enough to buy there. Different strokes for different stokes. Like I said, we live so close to Disney I just don't see a point in spending money on a room that looks like any random apartment complex in town, where the nearest eatery requires either a 15 minute hike or getting into our car. It's just not for me.

Originally Posted by tzeitel

I worked rooms control at Y&B, if we were overbooked and offering upgrades it was pretty much non negotiable unless you raised enough of a stink (like screaming at an agent in the lobby). I would have moved people around but it would have taken me hours to figure it out - think of room control as playing Tetris, every block has to be filled.

I would never cause a riot like that, I know that things happen and screaming at anyone isn't going to help the situation! But when you book a resort and pay for a room you kind of expect to get what you paid for. I really hadn't ever thought about overbooking at Disney being a problem; do so many people really plunk down deposits and payments for a room and then simply not show up? Crazy.

As far as asking for a different resort - don't count on it, not even values. Actually sometimes values are more difficult to find an open room in than deluxes. The day before we knew we would be overbooked (or had an inkling we would be overbooked) I would call all the other resorts looking for open rooms. It depended on what they had and for how long. Sometimes I would find rooms available for just 1 night, then we had to move people twice

It's just kind of a pity that the resort that everyone gets shuffled to is SSR. When you have a resort that's never filled to capacity that kind of tells you something. Trying to fix your own overbooking error by selling your least popular resort as an 'upgrade' is kind of sneaky. I don't care what the rack rate is for a resort room; more money does NOT mean better for all people.

[Drnifer]

We had a similar situation a couple years ago when checking into POFQ, but were upgraded to BC. Before the sentence was even out of her mouth I was saying YES, since BC is my favorite resort! I love unexpected upgrades

[BlovesC]

Originally Posted by Drnifer

We had a similar situation a couple years ago when checking into POFQ, but were upgraded to BC. Before the sentence was even out of her mouth I was saying YES, since BC is my favorite resort! I love unexpected upgrades

Now THAT is truly an 'upgrade', not just a case of "we're putting you into rooms we can't sell and you'll have to like it". We love the BC, that's some awesome pixie dust, lucky you!!

[lynypixie]

That's kind of my fear. I booked LM room at art of animation. With the special, I could get a moderate for less. Yet I decided to stay at LM.

I don't want them to send me to a moderate. No way! This would NOT be an upgrade for me. We chose this hotel for in-your-face Disney. I'd very gladly go with a lion king suite, but not another hotel unless it's on the monorail.

[KMcCP]

I have to agree with the previous posters... it's not an upgrade unless it's a better level of hotel, and a Disney themed hotel! I'm so looking forward to AoA LM rooms in Dec, but if they ever said something along the lines of the BC or something on the monorail I'd jump at it in a second! SSR, not so much.

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by macnodos

With all due respect, there isn't a reason I would turn down a 1 BR suite at SSR for a value. Not even for a second. I may be a little biased as that is my home resort with DVC.

And that works for you. If I booked Pop and found out they had overbooked and wanted to move me to either BWV or BLT, I would be thrilled. I own at those resorts because they are my favorite places to stay. But for me, SSR is way down on my list.
I'm staying there in Dec only because I couldn't get anything else. I'm looking forward to staying at a resort I've never stayed at before, but it certainly wasn't my first choice.
If I had booked a particular value resort, I booked it for a reason. There are times I really want that 'in your face' theming. I love Pop and am prepared to love AoA for my one night there prior to SSR. If I had booked a room at one of those resorts only to find that they had overbooked and I now had to move??? I wouldn't be a happy camper!!!

[macnodos]

I'll be honest with everyone, we like SSR very much but the deciding factor for our purchase was based on point cost. I would love BCV or pretty much any other DVC property but our reasons were pretty much fiscally driven. Enjoy your stay wherever you may land.

To the original poster, I didn't completely read your original post, apologies.

[mad madam mim78]

Honestly I love PoR. If they gave me an unexpected upgrade it would have to be a resort I like. I personally don't care if the room costs more than what I originally booked. If I don't like it I don't like it.

[shalom]

Originally Posted by BlovesC

Trying to fix your own overbooking error by selling your least popular resort as an 'upgrade' is kind of sneaky.

I don't think that SSR is the "least popular" resort in the sense of the fewest people like it -- I suspect it's "unpopularity" is just a reflection of the fact that it's the biggest DVC resort by far, nearly twice the size of the next runner up (OKW), so there's always availability there. So the fact that it's bigger than demand doesn't mean there isn't equivalent demand to the others.

That said, I wouldn't be happy getting moved to SSR studio or 1BR if I'd expected to sleep 4 people somewhere else. We prefer real beds, thanks.

[fla4fun]

I agree that you don't always have a choice. It depends on whether there are any rooms left. If you arrive after they have given out the very last open room at your booked resort, no amount of refusal will get you a room there.

I also agree that sometimes you are much better off just taking the change and rolling with it. I remember reading all the posts from people who got caught up in that Pop Warner mess, and there were a lot of people who regretted staying at their original resort. It depends on the circumstances.

But I also understand that the resort choice is a big part of the vacation. I booked a TPV at CR over July 4th, specifically to watch the fireworks from my room. I wasn't planning on going to the parks at all. I would have been very upset if I was moved to another resort (being a local, I probably would have demanded a refund and just gone home). There aren't a lot of rooms that would offer the same view that I could try to switch to.

I don't think there are a lot of overbooking situations at Disney, or we would hear about it a lot more. At least Disney has other hotels to move you to. At other hotels you can be sent anywhere - other brands, same brand but several miles away, it's not pleasant.

[nkereina]

Since you arrived early, they more than likely still had rooms left but were trying to cure the overbooking early so if someone did put up a big stink, they still had rooms left to accommodate them, rather than having every room occupied. If you arrived late at night, they more than likely would have been filled to capacity in which case you would have been walked to another resort. The good news is that the later you arrive and the fuller they are, the more bargaining power you have. When POR's renovations became delayed and rooms weren't going to be ready, people were phoned and offered upgrades. Some people were able to negotiate and get a resort they wanted, since Disney was in a jam.

[cocoachip]

Originally Posted by mad madam mim78

Honestly I love PoR. If they gave me an unexpected upgrade it would have to be a resort I like. I personally don't care if the room costs more than what I originally booked. If I don't like it I don't like it.

Completely agree! POR was overbooked in Aug at our check in about 5 years ago. I was beyond disappointed, even when the upgrade was for GF. We have experienced several of the deluxes, but GF was never on our radar. I had to convince them to look for a room at POFQ. The CM actually seemed a bit irritated, but we like what we like!