Anyone else ever switch resorts after you arrive??

[NHBelle]

It seems like everyone is struggling with where to stay, even me and I have been many times, but really I am not going to worry to much because if I really don't like the resort then I will just leave. This happened to us once before. We actually arrived at CBR and checked into our room and we just disliked the resort. We walked around, went to the pool, we just didn't feel that Disney magic. We were so disapointed and didn't know what to do. Changing rooms wouldn't have mattered. It was the whole resort we disliked. We decided to just go get dinner and try to live with it. We ended up at ALK. I had been dying to check it out. Anyway, from the minute we walked in we fell in love. After dinner we sat in the lobby and couldn't get motivated to go back to CBR. We decided to see if they had any rooms available and explained our situation and within 2 hours we were all settled into our new room (with a view) at AKL. It was like midnight, but we were so excited we went swimming in the pool. The AKL had sent us in a van to CBR to get all of our luggage. It was awesome. SO, if we really hate it, we'll move. I wonder if anyone else has ever done anything like this?????

 

[robinb]

No, I haven't but I have heard other stories. I am glad to hear that you were proactive enough to know when you would be happier to change resorts. I also hear stories of people who "stick it out" and are very unhappy. BTW, I love AKL so much we bought into the new DVC resort there .

 

[Dizz42]

We, too, have moved to another resort after we checked in. As a matter of fact, it is how we ended up buying DVC. We were at Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside). At that time, they did not have coffee pots in the room and the lobby was waaaaaaay far away. To make a long (and beautiful, I might add) story short, we had breakfast next morning at Spoodles on the Boardwalk. We ended up moving to a BW studio (which did have a coffee pot!) and by the end of our stay, we took the tour. Before we were on our way home, we purchased our first DVC contract. Since that time, we have stayed at many of the resorts on property from Value to Deluxes. If we are not happy, we move. We feel exactly as you stated - if you really don't like where you booked, look at another resort. It's your money and you are not obligated to stick it out if it's really not to you liking. We try to be polite and considerate about things and have always been treated likewise. And again, like you said, in some instances, Disney has gone above and beyond to accommodate us on our...er...well...our accommodations!

Glad you got that magical feeling. If you're like us, when you were in that pool that night, I bet you felt like a couple kids who just robbed a candy store. I know we did when we were sitting on the balcony of our Boardwalk view studio, sipping wine and watching the world go by. Ahhhhhhhh...magic!

 

[Kim1964]

I haven't done it, but my sister did. She and her DH pulled into the parking lot at CBR and knew right away that it wasn't the place for them. They didn't even go in....they used their cell phone and transferred their reservation to YC. I knew when they booked it that they'd never stay at CBR, so when she called me from the parking lot I answered the phone with, "Are you at the Yacht Club yet?".

 

[MELSMICE]

Never at a Disney resort, but there was one time when I thought it would be "OK" to stay off-site Not sure where my head was during that trip, but I called & was able to get a FW cabin for our party of 5.

Have always enjoyed trying all the Disney resorts & while I enjoy some more than others, I've always found something that I like about each of them.

 

[alyssa810]

We've done split stays pretty often, but our best switch was last month, when we were supposed to spend our last night at Pop! We went to check in in the afternoon, and after standing in line for quite some time, when we got to the counter they asked if we'd be willing to be upgraded to another resort. We were like- for real?!?!? of course! We were moved over to Port Orleans for the same cost as our Pop room (which in our opinion was a ridiculous price to pay for Pop, but not so bad for a moderate)! We were psyched!

 

[magicmouse2]

Yep at POP C. Got to the room, didnt like the room decor or the location. Had problems with smoke coming in, which after 4 night was intolerable. I went to the desk and asked to switch rooms, but by then I hated the resort so much I wanted to leave. They got us connecting rooms at CBR which I really loved and I felt the magic as soon as we got to the resort. Really loved it. Only bad Disney resort experience I have ever had.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Yes in 2004. We had stayed at the GF in 2003 and thought we would make 2004 a "budget" trip. We booked POR. Although the resort was nice we found that once we checked in we missed a lot of things about a deluxe. We thought we'd make the best of it and took the bus over to MK. Once we got off the bus and saw the ferry coming over from the GF and Poly DH decided to run over and see if he could switch our reservation. We were able to get the GF and we never looked back again.

DH took ds and made all the arrangements while I stayed at MK with the girls. I didn't say anything to them in case we weren't able to switch. DH was on a mission - his plan was to try GF, then the Poly, then CR then WL until he found something. Its funny but I honestly believe that's the time when the pixie dust hit DH full force. He's been a dedicated Disney fan ever since!

 

[GoofItUp]

These stories crack me up! I've never switched, but if I really didn't like a place, I would. For me, though, I can't imagine getting to a resort and not liking it. With all the research and anticipation before a trip, I'm usually DYING to try the resort by the time I get there!

 

[GoofItUp]

One question for those of you that have switched: Do you pay rack rate or get the discount applied from when you booked your original room? I think that would be a deterrant to me switching -- if I had to pay full price for the room! Too much effort goes into getting those discounts for me!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We were able to still keep our AP discount at the GF when we switched from POR.

 

[kelscross]

One of our xmas trips we stayed at Pop for two nights and missed the poly so much we called up and made the switch!

 

[PolyAddict]

One question for those of you that have switched: Do you pay rack rate or get the discount applied from when you booked your original room? I think that would be a deterrant to me switching -- if I had to pay full price for the room! Too much effort goes into getting those discounts for me!

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I was thinking if I dislike AKL so much, we could switch to the Poly but not w/o my AAA discount.

 

[LilGMom]

We switched once. We have always enjoyed staying at POR but our favorite is WL. On one trip we were going to stay at POR again for a chaneg of scenery even though dh was wanting to stay at WL. We checked into our "waterview" POR room and were immediately less than thrilled. Our waterview room consisted of our side of the building facing a quiet pool but we couldn't even see the pool from our room - not worth the extra charge. Then our fridge wasn't working and the a/c was very noisy. Called to get a new fridge, went to parks, got a new fridge still didn't appear to be working. Woke up the next morning with the fridge still not keeping things cool and a wee bit cranky from not sleeping well due to the noisy a/c. We headed to WL for breakfast, checked availability, cancelled our POR ressies, made new ones at WL (unfortunately without a huge savings because we had just entered regular season whereas the day before it was value), packed up at POR and checked into WL. We ended up wasting about half the day doing that but the rest of our lodging experience was wonderful. We still like POR and know that we just got a bad room but for us changing rooms wouldn't have been enough so we changed resorts.

 

[Keokagal]

Once at WDW left ASSports for the Dolphin.
Once w a friend, tried to do a "thrify" chick week in St. Pete Beach Ran from Travelodge and a million bikers w tattoos and muscles (no flamin me big guys, 2 girls alone in a hotel w a million of you! too scary!) to a deluxe in No. Reddington.
Now that it has happened to me, I would not hesitate to move and not let it ruin my vacation. There's someplace for everyone. I'm planning a tent trip to St. John, if I hate it I think there's some really sweet deluxe's right nearby!
Go easy, have fun, let it all slide, and just smile man.

 

[lynr]

In 1997 we had a very bad experience at the RPC at the GF so I called the concierge at the Polynesian and we switched over there after just one night.

Lyn

 

[bigmoonmullen]

Hi:

We have switched before, POP to BC, it went flawlessly. On the morning of checkout we got up early... Checked out early... Took a Cab (we thought it would be quicker - took around 5-10 minutes)... Checked it early, we were lucky since our rooms, four, were already ready... put everything into the room and headed to the park. If they would not have been ready we would have still headed to the park.

This Nov/Dec we will be doing the same... AKL to WL and once again using a cab.

You get to see two resorts and sort of have two vacations all tied around the WDW magic... I don't think you can beat it.

Have a Great Trip,

Mark