not sure if this is possible but....

[jacobsmama]

is there anyway i can upgrade my hotel? we've already booked for february staying in the santa fe, although i'm more than happy to stay here i'm just wondering if it's possible to upgrade our hotel now? seem to have found some more money that could go towards the trip and am wondering if it would be a good surprise for DP?! if it is possible how would i do it? and would it be worth it? would probably upgrade to the SL if possible.

TIA xxx

 

[daiseyirl]

Yes you can just contact whoever you booked with, Disney or your travel agent. We dis a few times more recently in may. I had booked cheyenne and upgraded to the slowly. Were going nxt march and i actually down graded my booking from 4nights at the new York to 3nights no prob. In my view its def worth upgradeing hotel, where ever we go i always book the best hotel i can possibly afford.

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

You can do this. Only thing to consider is that if you booked when there was a special offer, you probably won't get the same discount applied to your upgrade.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

Iv stayed in both Santa Fe and Sequioa Lodge and can definately say the extra money is worth it!

Arriving at the Santa Fe I was quite smug thinking that I wasnt wasting our spends on a flash hotel however after being lucky enough to have a stay in Sequioa Lodge in July I was amazed at how much the hotel took my breath away. Instead of just a 'theme park break' it felt like a 'holiday'. We were happy to chill around the hotel.

The only disadvantage of staying at SL is that I can never even contemplate SF again lol!

 

[jacobsmama]

thank you! seems like i'll be taking a trip to the travel agent tomorrow then !

Probably a silly thing to say but i had a quick look on disneyland website and put in our dates at both hotels and the SL was coming up cheaper... surely this can't be right?! if that's the case how will i be charged for the 'upgrade' as in will i be charged an alteration fee or as the SL if viewed as an upgrade or generally more expensive holiday will I just pay the extra?

TIA xxx

 

[jillrobinson]

It might be worth waiting a little while to see if a better offer than the 1 you booked with comes out.

I've booked SL with the 40% discount but if a 50% flash sale comes along I'll check to see whether I can get HNY for not much more.

I'm pretty sure there are no extra charges providing you're upgrading and I even downgraded once from HNY to Cheyenne, when my sons were adamant they were not sharing a bed and didn't incur any penalty fees.

 

[jacobsmama]

i booked when it was on book 2 nights get 2 free so don't think a better deal is likely to come up how likely is it that a 50% flash sale will come up before february do you reckon?!

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

If its coming up cheaper, an option they may give you is to add a character meal or something to your booking, to bring it up to your original booking price. I did this once.

I would definitely go to your travel agent and see what disney offer you, you may even get money back if its cheaper, I think others have?

 

[jillrobinson]

We posted at the same time, it's not impossible that the price you are being quoted for SL at the moment is less than SF and definately worth a visit to the Travel Agents to check what you can do about it.
I've always booked direct with DLP so not sure, sorry.

 

[lush]

Not sure how it works if you've booked through a travel agent, I booked direct through Disney over the phone. I had originally booked the SL (which I love) but then there was a sale where I could book the HNY for the same price so I phoned Disney and they let me upgrade no problem. Fast forward to the recent 40% off and when I checked again the HNY for same dates was showing about £150 cheaper. I phoned the French Disney reservations number (as recommended by the lovely CarrieCat) and they let me add half board plus to my booking to bring up the cost.

I really love the Sequoia Lodge especially in winter so if you can do it I say go for it.

Hope it works out for you!

 

[DLPdaft]

i booked when it was on book 2 nights get 2 free so don't think a better deal is likely to come up how likely is it that a 50% flash sale will come up before february do you reckon?!

I'm booked for February under the same deal, and my fingers are most definitely crossed for a flash sale for my dates .

 

[TheTizardFamily:0)]

We recently downgraded our hotel from SL to Cheyenne (our boys were not impressed at the thought of sharing a bed and god forbid, NOT staying the 'the cowboy' hotel!), we were not charged for doing so they just amended the balance, although i did add a birthday cake on at the same time, not sure if that makes any difference

Its very easy to make changes, i just called the direct number (the French one) as i always find them more helpful than the other number listed on the website etc

 

[DLPDreams]

Just one thing to bear in mind, the UK phoneline tends to be nowhere near as helpful as the French once so make sure you call them.

ETA - just realised you booked through a TA.... not so sure on that - only ever book with Disney.

Most people do manage to do upgrades especially if they have a little bit more to pay, but it does depend on when you are going (if it's before the 60 day limit for cancellations). Also, please be aware that booking now on an offer and hoping a better one comes along is risky - earlier this year when there was a flash sale there were a few people who tried this and Disney wouldn't budge and change their bookings ..... From what I can gather, they said that they do not have to change them by rights, if you wish to cancel (pay the 10% or whatever it is) and then rebook on another offer that is fine.... So, I guess the rule of thumb is be happy with what you are booking, just in case you can't change.

Hopefully though, this won't be an issue but I'd hate anyone reading advice on here to book and then upgrade and think it's a matter of course as it does depend on which CM you get on the phone sometimes (which is silly I know)!

We recently managed to change our booking offer (via the French line) which meant our balance reduced by almost £300 (2 x rooms at the DLH). We were lucky though as we were just outside the 60 day period and had not yet paid the balance due to this - the CM said that because the balance had not been paid, we were within our rights to change to a cheaper offer eventhough we weren't upgrading or anything....

Good luck!

 

[jacobsmama]

ok just been to my travel agent who called disney on my behalf and they quoted me £233 to upgrade to SL and upgrade our half board from standard to plus
any thoughts is it worth doing it now? or shall i just hold on and see if a better offer comes up before we go?!

 

[jillrobinson]

The half board upgrade is £5/night per adult and £1/night/child so it doesn't sound like your being offered the deal you've seen where SL is working out cheaper than SF.
but, the Montana rooms tend to be about £80 - £90 dearer/room/stay than the lodge rooms and I notice that the website which usually allocates a Montana room at booking is now allocating a lodge room during this promotion, clever little ploy to make it look like a bigger saving if you haven't noticed what they've done, but that might account for some of the difference in the pricing, if they are assuming you want a room inside the main building.

Having said that if the price is within what you're happy to spend, go for it, at SL you have the swimming pool, jacuzzi etc., and HB plus certainly opens up more dining options for you including Cafe Mickey, Blue Lagoon and Walts. 3 of the best restaurants IMO and the restaurants at HNY and NPB as well as SL.

If however you have a Cars mad youngster, you can't go wrong with SF, my nephew was totally in awe of the Lightning McQueen bedspread and Cars pictures on the walls, don't think he'd have quite so excited about Bambi and the beautiful new colour scheme of SL.

 

[DLPDreams]

ok just been to my travel agent who called disney on my behalf and they quoted me £233 to upgrade to SL and upgrade our half board from standard to plus
any thoughts is it worth doing it now? or shall i just hold on and see if a better offer comes up before we go?!

Oh, I thought this might be the case when you said that you had booked via a TA....

Don't know what you've paid already for the 2 nights (2 nights free). As Jill says, it seems more than the current deal Disney are offering though so could it just be a standard (ish) price for the upgrade?

Just a thought, would it be worth cancelling and paying the 10% cancellation free (as you are outside 60 days) and then rebooking direct with Disney? Seems a lot of hassle but if you are saying SL is cheaper than SF than the money you lose might not be that much compared to what you save??

You know, when I said we managed to save that money on the new offer. The CM did tell me it was because we hadn't paid the balance yet! We have (until this trip) always paid in full. Makes me think that had we paid in full when we booked, that we might not have been so lucky! Just goes to show sometimes you can't win!

I hope you can make a decision. I know if it's me and I get an idea in my head, if I don't follow it through then I keep thinking 'I wonder/what if'. Did this in June as had originally booked HNY and ended upgrading to the DLH as we'd only ever stayed there and I just decided that's where we wanted to stay again (as a surprise for my DH).