What happens if you refuse an 'upgrade'?

[BlovesC]

When we arrived at POFQ yesterday (we checked-in online, always do) we were told they had overbooked the resort and they gave us an 'upgrade' to a 1BR villa at SSR instead. I know this happens from time to time, but it's never happened to us. I didn't think of asking for other options at the time (we're not fans of SSR) and I know capacity is pretty full right now with the conference going on. But I'm just curious how this normally works. Could we have asked for a different resort (I would have moved to a value even), would a room at POFQ likely have opened up if we just stowed our bags and waited until late afternoon, or are you pretty much automatically stuck at SSR or OKW when they 'overbook'?

 

[Missytara]

This happened to me a few years ago, when I went a week later than normal to accommodate friends.

I go the week after Thanksgiving, but ended up the following week at POR smack in the middle of Pop Warner. They said I had already been moved to CSR.

Huh??? I was not aware of Pop Warner and the whole thing, so I insisted I stay where I had booked the year before and where I felt most comfortable.

They kept me there, but put me in a room facing the parking lot, and reimbursed me for my waterview room after much consternation.

By Tuesday, I was willing to move anywhere they had, but anyone who had moved to CSR moved already. They offered me a suite at SSR, but at a higher cost, so I opted to stay at POR. Actually as the week went on, the kids left and we really enjoyed our location.

So you can refuse an upgrade; the next person who comes along most likely will take it and it will just take longer finding a room and a location for you.

 

[scm200]

wow, i would love that upgrade, i actually like ssr, its my dvc home resort.

 

[kamik86]

wow, i would love that upgrade, i actually like ssr, its my dvc home resort.

My only problem with SSR is it looks too much like home to me... I live pretty close to Saratoga Springs NY. It feels less like being on vacation then the ones that look nothing like home. AKL is my favorite I have stayed in.

 

[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.

 

[twinboysmom]

Yes, you can refuse the upgrade like others have said unless they do NOT have a room. But I will say is, the pullouts at SSR are quite comfy and the one bedroom units have a washer and dryer, jacuzzi tub with separate shower, and a full kitchen. I would never refuse that but to each his own.

 

[married2mm]

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's funny, i thought the same thing-i would've requested a 2 bed villa or not moved at all

 

[sndral]

Yes, you can refuse the upgrade like others have said unless they do NOT have a room. But I will say is, the pullouts at SSR are quite comfy and the one bedroom units have a washer and dryer, jacuzzi tub with separate shower, and a full kitchen. I would never refuse that but to each his own.

Then the SSR pullouts must be much better than the ones in the 1 br AKV units.

 

[kaytieeldr]

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.

I've slept on the SSR sofa without opening it. It's wide enough for one person when you remove the back cushions, and it was comfortable.

 

[Simba's Girl]

I agree about the 1BR and beds thing.

I would have also refused SSR but gone anywhere else. I am just not a fan, particularly because of the location.

 

[goofy4tink]

I know that when they badly overbooked Pop one year, they were sending tons of people over to SSR..and there was a huge outcry. Many people complained that they wanted to move as well but were never offered the 'upgrade' while others said they didn't want to stay at SSR!
If I had booked a specific resort only to find that I was being moved to SSR I would be peeved. I book a resort because that's where I want to stay. I own DVC....so I get the whole one bedroom thing. But sometimes, we want to stay where we booked.

So, sure, you can probably refuse the 'upgrade' but you are going to have to suck it up if you find that you should have moved and didn't. There is a reason they offer those upgrades!!!

 

[Sue M]

I would politely ask if there was another resort option available and maybe name where you would be willing to move to. But I'd take SSR or OKW over a value any day.

 

[BlovesC]

Thanks for the input all. We checked out today. Now I know that if it happens again I can simply refuse and they will offer the "upgrade" to the next person attempting to check in. I was just kind of blindsided and when I heard "overbooked" it sounded like we had no choice, but I realize now that they likely would have had a room for us if we had stayed, but would have needed one of the next guests to accept the move to SSR.

SSR didn't "ruin" our vacation, but it did change it. We live so close to Disney that when we book a room (and we book rooms because we LOVE Disney resorts), we kind of WANT that "in your face" Disney feeling that others seem to hate. Staying in SSR is pretty much like driving from a local apartment complex. Everything is so spread out and far away, the theme non-existent, and the buildings are at such low capacity that we never, not once, saw anyone on the elevator or stairs or outside rooms in our entire building during our stay. It was such a weirdly remote, non-Disney experience.

Again, thanks for the input all.

 

[lanejudy]

Now I know that if it happens again I can simply refuse and they will offer the "upgrade" to the next person attempting to check in.

You can decline, but they may not be able to accommodate you at the booked resort. In this situation more so than a simple "upgrade" to a different building or room category at the same resort. If they truly were overbooked, they might not have been able to put you in the same room every night - meaning you might have to change rooms at least once or more to stay at your booked resort. The next person to check-in might be there for different dates and therefore might not be impacted in the same way your family was.

But if you don't like what is being offered, by all means decline and ask what other options are available. Glad to hear it didn't have an overall negative impact on your vacation!

 

[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.

 

[Pixiedust34]

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]

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.

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