Contemporary - Upgrade To Tower at Check-In?

[becka]

I am considering 4-5 different resorts for our next stay and I am trying to figure out which one will be best for us. Having access to the monorail would be a great plus with two little ones so we are looking at the Contemporary. It has always been a dream of mine to one day stay in the Tower with a MK view but I have never stayed there before partly because I was always afraid that I would book a tower room and then end up with a view of Bay Lake. I am sure that would be fine but it would not be worth the money to me without the MK view.

I am considering booking a room in one of the garden wings. Would it be possible to see at check-in if we could upgrade to a tower room if we could get one with a MK view? I don't mind paying the extra $$$ if it is my dream view. This way I wouldn't be locked into all that money for a view I don't want. We would be going during the off-season (mid-December)...has anyone done something like this before?

Thanks!

 

[Ms. Belle]

I was at the WL last month and had booked a garden view (I think); it was the lowest priced room. I asked for an upgrade to Concierge at check-in and they said "sure, it is $150 extra/night" to which I nicely said "no." The CM did upgrade me to a woods view (whatever was above the lowest level) and we had a very nice room with great access to the pool, boat launch and lobby. Some Dis'er's have gotten lucky and been upgraded for free, unfortunately, I've never been one of them!

 

[sdlipton]

Becka,

My fiance and I when we were planning our honeymoon went through the very same thought process and got a lot of advice from folks here in DIS. The conclusion we came to was that we were ok with a Bay Lake or MK view as long as we were in the tower and wanted to ensure that. So we went ahead and reserved a tower room. Now we are hoping we get upgraded to the 12th or 14th floor depending on availability.

 

[Selket]

I can't see why they wouldn't let you upgrade to any available room if you are willing to pay the price. This wouldn't work perhaps if you were going on a discounted room - like an AP rate or general discount code. But at rack rates I'd think they'd be happy to upgrade you if the room you want is available.

 

[noopy]

We were upgraded recently to a Tower room facing Bay Lake. It was a dream of mine to stay in a Tower room facing the Magic Kingdom (an expense I can't afford). Well, when they first told me we had been upgraded to the Tower, my dd and I couldn't believe it! At that point, we didn't care what view we got! It had a Bay view, and when we went out on the balcony, I could have cried. It was so beautiful! Every day we saw the sun rise over the lake, and every night we watched the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony. My dd loved looking down over the pool, and we both loved looking down at the monorail and the excitement in the Grand Concourse below! We watched Wishes twice from the open staircase at the end of our floor. If I could ever afford a Tower room in the future, I would ask for the Bay view again! It made our trip truly magical (special thanks to Cissy at Small World Travel for her "magic")!

 

[becka]

Thanks for the info. It is good to know and I may attempt that on a future trip. This trip I think we have decided to go with AKL. The monorail access would be terrific but DS is just such an animal lover and gets so excited when he sees pics of AKL that I just had to go with it. We will probably spend as much time at AK as we will MK so either way we would be on the opposite side of the World from a park we will spend lots of time in.

 

[scootch]

Do stay at the monorail with little ones, it is soooo worth it. The only problem with waiting is no availability which happens frequently with the deluxe resorts as there are only three of them on the monorail.

 

[minijeanie]

we booked CR tower room in June for 3 nites...the 1st nite I booked 14th floor concierge.... as a surprise treat to my family..

wonder what my odds are of getting free upgrade for the additional 2 nites..

anyone else had this experience?

 

[Ladyhawke10]

There might be a problem w/ availability regarding an upgrade to a MK view. I don't know about the Contemporary, but when we've stayed in GF everytime the resort has been completely full when we've been there (all seasons). There was no maneuvering about views, etc. I actually wanted to downgrade once but everything was sold out. I've had the same thing at WL, when they only had concierge and I wanted to only have a woods view. All sold out (early December, low season). We ended up going for concierge and it was our favorite CL ever

 

[ToyStory]

The last week of August 2001 we were upgrade to a MK view for wing room. I booked the wing room with a code for $169.

We were on the lowest level near Chef Mickey's. Heard noice from Chef Mickey's but it was that bad. It was nice to see the castle change colors at night, but the balcony itself during the day was very hot. There were no fireworks that week at MK. I think attendence was low and we were able to get the upgrade we got for free.

I just remember my husband coming back to the car (our son 3 at the time was sound asleep after spending the day at Typhoon Lagoon) with the smile on his face and said we were upgraded. I didn't believe him and thought he paid for the upgrade.

Hopefully you will be lucky.

 

[SB in KY]

It happens, but not all that often...never hurts to ask nicely...all they can say is no....several years ago DH and I were on our 1stWDW trip without kids for our anniversary and got a complimentary upgrade from tower to 14th floor (didn't even ask) and once a couple of years ago we had booked 1 night in the wings in a standard view (parking lot) for an AP rate of $99 before we checked into OKW for the week and they upgraded us (again without asking) to a junior suite on the lake....it was very large and you felt like you were on the water, way at the end of the wing. My DSis and BIL met us once...we had made reservations for a tower room months in advance and they decided to come along at the last minute (like a week before the trip) and no tower rooms were available, so they booked a wing room...on check in they asked them if they had a room preference and my sister just said all they wanted was to be in the room closest to ours so the kids could visit back and forth and he smiles and says he will see what he can do....and they wound up in the room connecting to ours!! What a treat that was....all the cousins had a ball.

 

[dreamflight99]

Yes, it happens (upgrades), but it's not anything you should ever count upon.
We have received upgrades from regular suites, to grand/Prez suites. We have received upgrades to CL, and preferred views...just by mentioning we plan to reserve such rooms on our NEXT visit to the property. I guess the CM's decided they wished to offer us the chance to experience these things during our "current" visit, and offered us these comps. On occasion, I ASK specifically for a particular "view/room/desired upgrade" (if available). It NEVER, EVER, hurts to ask.

MAGIC does happen, mostly when you "least" expect it! I usually always reserve the suite/level we want when planning a leisure trip or vacation, to avoid disappointment, stress and unwanted surprises (of the negative kind!). But, on business trips and other...I have sometimes reserved a standard room with ZERO expectations. Therefore, when "anything" happens...I'm always pleasantly surprised! Most every one of these complimentary upgrades are based upon availability. Also, much of it depends upon very basic and simple dynamics (such as the personality/mood of the CM or front desk associate at check-in).

Although the room, view and amenities are wonderful assests to enjoy when visiting a resort, they are not the most important IMHO. Spending time together with family, is the true source of pleasure when traveling away from home. It's not so much WHERE we go, or WHAT we do....as long as we are TOGETHER (making memories, etc).

Enjoy your planning and dreaming, as a large part of the MAGIC is not only in the DESTINATION...it's IN THE JOURNEY!!

TTFN...DF99