Best Chance of Pixie Dust

[sammysmom]

Love hearing all the stories of pixie dust out there and it made me start to think, is there one resort that has a better chance of pixie dust being sprinkled over the others? We are planning now for our September trip which coincides with my 40th birthday Just wondering and wanted to have some fun dreaming while planning!!

 

[minnie mum]

I think the best chance of receiving Pixie Dust is to not go looking for it. It's like snipe hunting- as soon as you start searching it just disappears.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Honestly there is no WDW Resort that gives you a better of chance of getting upgrades or anything else for celebrating special occasions. Yes you might read of some guests getting those things at one specifc resort, however those reports came from Disboards members. However not everyone who visits WDW is a Disboards members and you won't know if they got any Pixie Dust, although I would say the odds of that is not great.

So if you are wanting a free upgrade it's best to make a reservation for the exact room category you want. This way you won't be disappointed if you never got a free upgrade at check-in.

Now if you are celebrating something go ahead and have it listed on your reservation, however there is no guarantee the resort will give you anything in advance and I am sure a lot of other guests are also celebrating something. The reason is they can't give surprises for all the guests celebrating their birthdays, anniversary, graduation and etc.

 

[MNDisneyChick]

I have been going to Disney World my entire life and have never received "pixie dust." In fact, I didn't even know what it was until I came to Disboards.

Every trip for me is pixie dust, because I'm lucky enough to be able to take a vacation. I'm just thankful for my good fortune to even be able to go. When I want to stay in an upgraded room, I book it and pay for it myself.

 

[Lynne M]

It really has nothing to do with the specific resort, or even with you, personally. It's just a matter of some circumstance happening that causes the resort to need to move a guest out of the room they would have been assigned to, on the dates you happen to be staying. Whether it's overbooking, or a maintenance problem affecting a particular room, or any number of things, it's not going to be something the guest has any control over. It's simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

I know that all the mentions of 'pixie dust' on the boards makes upgrades sound really common; they're not. Only a very tiny percentage of the thousands of guests checking into Disney resorts on any given day will get an upgrade.

So please don't feel like you're missing out on something everyone else is getting.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

i agree with pp in that it is best not to look for pixie dust. Book what will make you happy and if you get something extra SUPER if not then you will still have the vacation that you dream of

I also think it depends on what will make you happy whether you notice the pixie dust or not. We had a GREAT last trip and while there were no balloons or whatever to shout pixie dust we got a super room that was up front and close to the lobby which made my whole family happy. My mom was comped a meal and drink because our room was booked by WDW incorrectly so she had to wait while they reassigned. She was tickled by the free meal. The new computer system split purchases to cards incorrectly and then accounting while fixing it took away all our remaining QS meals in trying to fix it (10!) so they just restored them for us so we could eat. We were happy with that! so anyways my point is it may not be a gigantic upgrade that we got but we were happy with the great customer service in fixing any bumps. We DID NOT experience that on our first trip so we were just thrilled that they were so awesome this last trip.

 

[Polydweller]

Have to agree with Lynne M, there just aren't that many given out to get excited about it. If Disney averages pixie dust in just 3% of its 24-25,000 rooms per day that would be about 263,000 room nights per year. That's why you hear about them. But that means about 8,500,000 room nights didn't get pixie dust. You are best to book what you want to make your 40th special.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Unfortunately there is no specifc resort that has extra pixie dust.
Just like there is no specific resort that has the "best transportation to the Parks".

Which may be a good thing because that resort would be harder to book than Ohana.

ps - I spent my 40th birthday at WDW...my dream was to ride Splash Mountain on my 40th birthday and it came true. It was a good day!

 

[ironz]

Just wanted to chime in, having just spent my birthday at WDW last week.
Stayed at CSR (not that it matters)...I thought I had noted my bday on the resort reservation, but the CM said nothing...everything at check-in was matter of fact. (She didn't even notice the date on my i.d. when I presented it at checkin...no big deal...I wasn't about to make a big deal of it.)

So...we got our standard room, just as reserved. And it was just fine.
I did get a bday button at Guest Services when we went to MK that evening before my dinner at CRT. I got so many "Happy Birthday" wishes from CMs and characters...and since this was my birthday treat, I was genuinely tickled with each one. Nothing else special that day or the next...I figured I could go ahead and wear the bday button for each park. We did the Tusker House character breakfast on our 2nd full day and that waitress CM did bring me a cupcake and bday card. So cute!

But other than lots of "happy birthdays" that was the extent of it. And I was happy with that. If I had wanted extra cakes or whatever, I could have ordered them. I felt no need...just being there with my own Prince Charming was enough.

So, my suggestion, like many others will tell you here. Expect nothing extra. Then, if you get a little pixie dust, it's a bonus.

 

[sammysmom]

Thanks for all the replies I know not to expect pixie dust but I love hearing all the stories and was just curious if it seems to happen more places than others. Still trying to figure out where to stay this year which is fun in of itself!!

 

[Missytara]

Pixie dust has to do with overbooking at resorts, maintenance issues, guests not checking out on time, guests who need to stay an extra day due to weather issues back home, refurbishments that take multiple rooms out of inventory, or groups that book more rooms than expected in a certain category, etc.

They are all things that you have absolutely no control over and shouldn't expect to.....I always say I never expect it, but if you do get it, it is just icing on the cake.

 

[staceymarie]

I received pixie dust on my first trip in 2009 to the CR. We had booked garden wing and they gave us MKV!!! Didn't get any pixie dust on next two trips but then went to WL last August and got more pixie dust with a room overlooking the lobby and with view of the courtyard. They were going to put us down one of those long halls but the desk clerk decided to make it better when my daughter expressed she was afraid of the long halls(think The Shining)!
This trip--I booked for CR again--BLV. I called to add Dining plan and the rep said I needed some pixie dust and gave us free dining!!! (I wonder if this doesn't mean that they may be offering it in August anyways just not saying yet(?)).
So--I got it 3 times!
Feel like I'm bragging but just wanted to show that it does happen-sometimes more than once!!!

 

[kapoof]

Pixie dust for us at bc, booked a standard got cl....the dolphin booked a standard and got a resort view...the poly booked a standard got cl, akl booked a standard got a pool view.

 

[sammysmom]

Well congrats on all that pixie dust I am not that lucky apparently-- but would love to experience club level once!!

 

[kapoof]

We love disney world and truly appriecate our upgrades. We have however never received a pin.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I've had 16 trips to Disney and we've had "pixie dust" three times.

1. Booked a gv room at the Polynesian and we were upgraded to TPV.
2. Booked a waterview room at BC and we were upgraded to CL.
3. Booked a gv room at YC and we were upgraded to CL.

It can happen but I never count on it. Of course after we got upgraded to CL we started booking CL almost all the time, so Disney knew what they were doing!