What's with all these upgrades?

[kadesha]

We are a grand gathering booked for adjoining rooms at Pop. Is it impossible for us to even have the chance to be upgraded?

 

[liftn]

Ummmm.... surrounded by guests... It is actually a very small number of upgrades compared to the number of rooms. I also can't imagine the people who were upgraded hanging at the pool telling everyone they were upgraded. I know if it were me, I'd be too busy enjoying the pool!

Ok so we were not surrounded by guests, but...... I paid for a pool view at AKL, and when I checked in, I had a view of a tree. A big tree right in front of my room. Could not see much of the pool. When I asked to be changed, they said there were no other pool rooms available.

My daughter was playing at the pool with another little girl, who had a room on the floor above ours. I was talking to the father who was telling me how they were so excited to be upgraded from their value to AKL.

I was happy that they had gotten an upgrade, but at the same time, I was ticked off becuse I paid full price for a crappy room and could not move because there were no more pool rooms available.

They did however offer me a Savanna view, which was not good for me. My wife has skin cancer removed a couple months prior to our trip, and she did not want to hang around the pool much, so we decided that a pool view would work great because she could still see the girls swim. But that did not work out so great.

 

[praline3001]

Sorry, I don't buy the club level guest is suffering argument at all. Do you make the same argument when the club level is full and all paid rack rate? Disney knows how to staff properly based on bookings. If there are lots of rooms booked, there are lots of rooms booked-period.

You bet I make the same argument regardless of exactly how much each family pays. There is not enough services for the amount of rooms.. just the above tables I posted should show that there isn't near enough space for the amount of rooms. Each empty room is a benefit to those paid CL guest.

Example ~~ would you rather wait in line for SM for 5 minutes or 50 minutes? would you rather 5 guest in front of you or 500? The same principles apply...
Would you rather 5 guest in your CL building or 50?
Think of waiting for elevators, traffic in the halls, the food offerings in the lobby, the guest relations ... heck even the DVD library. Three times my DD tried to get her Favorite movie from the CL library to find out it had already been taken that evening
These are all little things that do add up.

 

[praline3001]

I see what you are saying. Makes sense.
On another topic, I just clicked on your trip report! We've never stayed at GF. It's on the list, one of these trips!
When I have a bit of time tomorrow, I'll be back. It's a really fun read!!

Which one were you reading? the Feb or June trip?

I LOVED LOVED LOVED our June trip
Don't get me wrong, Feb was great too but June was the first time I had EVER gotten to do just a mother/daughter bonding trip with my DD

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In fact, guests that pay full rack, or book CL with a discount code DO get more amenities than those who are upgraded upon check-in. Anyone who books CL has access to the Itinerary Planners to make their ADRs and special event reservations or to organize special touches such as Disney floral gifts etc...Those that are upgraded do not receive these services and therefore are getting "less" than the full CL experience and paying "less" for it as well.

That's a great observation.

 

[blissventure]

Which one were you reading? the Feb or June trip?

I LOVED LOVED LOVED our June trip
Don't get me wrong, Feb was great too but June was the first time I had EVER gotten to do just a mother/daughter bonding trip with my DD

The June one. Your DD looks so happy! I'm looking forward to reading more. Such fun!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Its simple, Here is a picture of the SL lounge in the morning for breakfast

Here is the kids area in SL

As you can see, there are only a few tables and chairs to sit at. For every family that gets an upgrade, it makes that small lobby that much more crowded. They have ..what 50 rooms in SL? As it stands now, Disney counts on only a small portion of those to use the lounge ever. There are 10 tables in the SL lounge and a small buffet table.
There isn't enough room for those who are paying full rate to sit in the lounge then to add upgrades to that number makes it even more crowded. I did not take that picture... it was on a thread here. When I was in SL this past June, at breakfast time ~ it was 3x as crowded

So how exactly do you know that those people were "upgraded" and not all paying CL guests? And there is NO way that Disney only counts on a small number of guests to use the lounge, if anything CL guests don't take full advantage of the Cast Members but definitely do use the lounges.

That's a great observation.

Thanks The way I see it, CL upgrades at check-in just save you the cost of breakfast and appetizers by way of the lounge. Whereas those that pay in advance get the more personalized special service.

 

[praline3001]

So how exactly do you know that those people were "upgraded" and not all paying CL guests? And there is NO way that Disney only counts on a small number of guests to use the lounge, if anything CL guests don't take full advantage of the Cast Members but definitely do use the lounges.



Thanks The way I see it, CL upgrades at check-in just save you the cost of breakfast and appetizers by way of the lounge. Whereas those that pay in advance get the more personalized special service.

I am guessing you did NOT read my post, you just looked at the photos and responded
You missed my entire point I was making~~~
I said I don't know how much those peeps paid or didnt pay~~ they could ALL very well be full rate CL guest. I was trying to show how small the CL lounges are and how few cm's actually work there for the amount of rooms available.

 

[catne]

So how exactly do you know that those people were "upgraded" and not all paying CL guests? And there is NO way that Disney only counts on a small number of guests to use the lounge, if anything CL guests don't take full advantage of the Cast Members but definitely do use the lounges.

Thanks The way I see it, CL upgrades at check-in just save you the cost of breakfast and appetizers by way of the lounge. Whereas those that pay in advance get the more personalized special service.[/QUOTE]

Upgrades to CL at check-in don't even necessarily save that -- when DH & I were upgraded to CL at the Contemporary in January, we already had the DxDDP and had breakfast, lunch & dinner booked for our entire stay. We didn't need the reservations service because we had all our ADRs already. And with all those meals booked, we didn't use any of the breakfast foods in the lounge either. We also didn't use the snacks during the day, other than to grab a coke one day. Actually, the only thing we did use was the cordials in the evening...loved the Grand Marnier & the Bailey's!
And we ate the chocolates on the pillow with the turn-down service

 

[mcompton]

Suddenly I am pretty happy with my Value Resort choice!
I don't think I want an upgrade to stay in CL. I would hate to have to deal with 50 people while eating my free breakfast. And there is no way I would tolerate having to carry my donuts back to the room and eat on my balcony! And if must wait in line for five minutes to get my needs met I might as well be swimming with the peasant masses during the ASMu Pool Movie!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

To the people who don't like waiting for a table in the lounge I guess the only way avoid that is getting there early enough so you don't wait for one, because that's what my family and I do. Also usually when they are low on specific foods it's replaced within minutes before it's gone and when it comes to waiting in line for food, we never had a problem where the lounge was to busy that it caused a line. Finally When it comes to waiting to see a Cast Member about something usually at the Contemporary there are always two Cast Members working at their desk and sometimes if they are not there then they are helping out with the foods in the longe.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I am curious how come disney does not portion out the upgrades more evenly? How thrilled would you be if you booked a value and got a mod. A person getting a mod or lower category deluxe to a higher one just seems to be more logical.

Don't get me wrong I think upgrades are great but take the DCL for an example. From my understanding they will only upgrade you 3 categories

Resorts are different. There are, technically, only three 'levels': Value, Moderate, and Deluxe.

It's easier overall to upgrade one party two levels, than to upgrade one party from Value to Moderate and one party from Moderate to Deluxe. Many times, when Disney has been doing 'bulk' upgrades, there were posts like, "Well, we were staying at Pop but Disney called and said it's overbooked and they wanted to move us to a studio at SSR; but that's not good enough so I told them no but if they give us a two-bedroom unit, or a room at the Contemporary...".

Now imagine that twice (Moderate > Deluxe / Value > Moderate), then multiply it by potentially hundreds of Guests needing to be contacted...

Why do CL guests have a key that only allows CL guests to use CL facilities? Why not let everyone use it? And, in a sense, aren't we, the CL payer, subsidizing the stays of those who didn't book a CL stay, but end up there anyway

You are never paying for, or subsidizing, someone else's vacation; respectfully, until/unless YOU own the property, who stays where has no effect on any other Guest.

Each empty room is a benefit to those paid CL guest.

But each empty room is a LOSS to the hotel owner. Their goal IS to fill every room.

Do you even know for sure that every room was full (highly unusual, except at really really peak times)? You may well have hit the Lounge at, coincidentally, the same time as a number of other parties. You say the area is very small; it's entirely possible there are MANY more rooms - and so, Guests - than there are tables.

But thats the problem with the entire system ~~ by the way in NO means am I complaining about the people who get these upgrades~~~ I am complaining about how the system works. They don't have enough staff, food, tables or customer service when the building is filled with the booked guest.

But if the resort, or in this case a section of the resort, is filled with booked guests - chances are negligible that anybody is going to be upgraded to that section/level of service.

heck even the DVD library. Three times my DD tried to get her Favorite movie from the CL library to find out it had already been taken that evening

Well, but each CL Guest is equally entitled to use all CL amenities; it's possible various other people wanting the same movie got there first, or got there at times it was available; it's also possible one Guest was holding onto it.

Ok so we were not surrounded by guests, but...... I paid for a pool view at AKL, and when I checked in, I had a view of a tree. A big tree right in front of my room. Could not see much of the pool. When I asked to be changed, they said there were no other pool rooms available.

My daughter was playing at the pool with another little girl, who had a room on the floor above ours. I was talking to the father who was telling me how they were so excited to be upgraded from their value to AKL.

But it's entirely possible that family checked in on a different day, or even at a different time on the same day, that you did. When they checked in, there was a pool-view room with an unblocked view available; when you checked in, there wasn't.

It's too late for that trip - but next time, if there's nothing available, check again the next day. More than once, I've changed rooms then because the first one wasn't 'right' but there wasn't any other option the night before.

 

[Tara922c]

Reading this makes me almost want to cancel our upcoming first-time CL stays.

So "good for them" and bad for those who paid to stay CL. I should feel great paying CL prices knowing that some of the people staying CL were upgraded for free and had no intention of staying CL when they booked their vacation? Why do CL guests have a key that only allows CL guests to use CL facilities? Why not let everyone use it? And, in a sense, aren't we, the CL payer, subsidizing the stays of those who didn't book a CL stay, but end up there anyway. If I hadn't paid CL prices, how could Disney continue to rationalize operating CL floors? Free upgrades are not going to fund CL floors.

I have nothing against upgrades, within reason: same resort, better view/location. But upgrading those who paid for Values to Deluxes at 4 times the cost and upgrading standard rooms to CL is really sticking it to those who reserved in advance and paid for Deluxe or CL.

My step dad always told me to ask for an upgrade, it never hurts, but don't expect one. Disney is a business, and even though it is supposed to be this magical place, it's main purpose is to make the most money possible. They are always going to over book the least expensive rooms first because more people can afford, or choose the less expensive rooms. They rather a person pay 150 a night, and move them to a 600 dollar a night room, than for the room to sit empty. Disney also wants to make guest happy because they want the guest to return. Having a guest move to a more expensive hotel, or get a better view makes that guest happy. Say Disney over booked standard POLY rooms by 5 guest rooms, and there are 5 CL rooms available. Disney has two options, they can move the 5 over booked rooms to CL, those guest are happy, excited, and want to return to Disney. Or, they can move the 5 over booked guest to a different hotel, and they are pissed because they had their heart set on the POLY. Now Disney has to give those 5 over booked rooms a credit, they lose money, the guest is so pissed they don't come back, and Disney loses more money. All because someone would be mad if they knew they paid full price for CL, and another guest paid much less. Well, the way I look at it, you wanted CL, you paid for CL, and you received CL. It does stink, but that is the way it is. Even if the room next to you in CL wasn't upgraded, they still may have paid much less. They could have gotten a special code. They could be a cast memeber, and staying for 50% off. They could be friend or family of someone who works for ESPN, and receiving 40%. My good friend works in the Disney reservatation department, and was able to book her parents a week at AKL for 39.99 a night. It is almost like some people think that the people who were upgraded are not good enough to be staying there.

 

[macraven]

I never realized all the upgrading that Disney does until I read this thread. I go to the motherland on solo trips and have never paid that much attention to hotel upgrades.

I stay at the value resorts and if I can get a ground floor room, that makes my stay great.

I think that is wonderful that some of the posters had their stay made magical with the free upgrade!

I am very excited for them!
I love hearing the happy stories of others having their trip made special.

To me, that is one of the wonderful things about Disney.

 

[cspowell]

LOL

I didn't know this thread I started was gonna get SO much attention. I am perfectly content with POR but if they offer something better I am sure to grab it

 

[taycreekcropper]

I have been advised to ask for a free upgarde, I don't know if it happens lots but it has happened to people I know. As a first timer (who is already discussing the next trip) it would put me in a magical moood.

 

[fairyemma4321]

Hmmmm.....seems to me that as the family who paid for the room at the lodge that I got exactly what I paid for, so no quarrel. Of course, it seems to me that in the little black book that I read fairly regularly there is a little "story" that is similar....something about workers coming late getting the same pay....so for me, I look at it as why should I have a problem if WDW wants to be generous with someone else? It costs me nothing, and I am getting exactly the deal that I agreed to.

I LOVE your analogy That is exactly right...if we are only just happy with what we are blessed with, whether an upgrade or exactly what we paid for.

 

[Alexander]

Ha--this is all just a ploy by Disney. Once you stay in a deluxe resort you won't want to go back to a value resort! They're hoping that they'll get you for more money next time! It worked for us! We went from values to moderates to DVC with no intentions of going back to the values ever.