Couldn't Even Pay for an Upgrade

[MomOTwins]

Being there 8 nights probably made it tricky too: with a shorter stay, there is probably more flexibility in what rooms might be open for the duration of your stay.

 

[The13thLetter]

Agreed the 8 nights probably did not help, and I suppose we could have checked back a few days into it to see if something opened up but it seemed like more of a hassle to move little man and all our stuff to a new room so we just sucked it up. He ended up staying out pretty late each night so it really didn't cause too much trouble, but I was mostly starting this thread to see if there is anything else I could have done or may have missed but it sounds like I just had the perfect storm of resort stay length/dates/hotel choice that it was not in the cards.

 

[Dave006]

I was mostly starting this thread to see if there is anything else I could have done or may have missed but it sounds like I just had the perfect storm of resort stay length/dates/hotel choice that it was not in the cards.

The most likely issue was your stay started on a Friday. Thus limiting the available open rooms. We have always had better luck starting earlier in the week: Sun-Mon.

Dave

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Just to mention, booking a special rate/deal for one room type and then being assigned a better one is not the same thing as getting assigned what was booked and then asking for a paid (or otherwise) upgrade. Their doing it by their choice in the first case and their doing it by yours in the second. I can see how one happens but not the other.

It's not allowed. But not hard to find on your own either.

Yes, this. Every time we were given a GV instead of a SV I assumed it was to suit the hotel's inventory needs. We never asked for it.

OP, I don't think there is anything else you could have done and I think switching rooms is a pain as well. In our 50+ onsite stays, I've only asked to switch once and that was at CCV in a 1-bedroom where I could hear the electric water pageant 3 times in an evening (WL's, Ft. W's and CR's). I thought I was going to lose my mind, LOL! We were staying there the week before Christmas and that front desk staff worked pretty darn hard to find me a quieter room, which wasn't easy given our travel time period. I lost out on the great balcony I had and view of the high MK fireworks, but they did find us a quieter room Rule of thumb now is I try really, really hard to book a room category that can almost assure me what I'm looking for in a room. I also pack ear plugs! BC is a tough resort to fit the bill when so many things - room view, location, balcony, day bed, etc. - are not bookable and only attained by chance if the room assignor can fill the requests.

 

[focusondisney]

I was mostly starting this thread to see if there is anything else I could have done or may have missed but it sounds like I just had the perfect storm of resort stay length/dates/hotel choice that it was not in the cards.

One thing I noticed was you put in 3 requests. Might not seem like a lot, but it is. In the future, figure out what is absolutely most important & just request that 1 thing. And know what is likely in your category of room. For example, at Beach Club, most ground floor rooms are garden view, not standard. So by requesting something that is very limited in your category, you are decreasing your odds of getting what you really want.

Your dates were very popular too, especially for Epcot resorts. What rooms were available went very quickly once AP previews for GE were announced.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I think technically it was a group rate since I booked it through an agency with special discounts, so I guess that could have been it. I just thought no matter how it got booked they would 100% be willing to take more of my money haha.

This could have been why they wouldn't let you pay to upgrade - usually those rates don't allow. BUT Disney can assign a room with the requests you had if it was available.

 

[vinotinto]

One thing I noticed was you put in 3 requests. Might not seem like a lot, but it is. In the future, figure out what is absolutely most important & just request that 1 thing. And know what is likely in your category of room. For example, at Beach Club, most ground floor rooms are garden view, not standard. So by requesting something that is very limited in your category, you are decreasing your odds of getting what you really want.

Your dates were very popular too, especially for Epcot resorts. What rooms were available went very quickly once AP previews for GE were announced.

This is excellent advice. While not perfect, TouringPlans should provide a good idea of where the different room categories may be located. Looking at Beach Club, there are *zero* Standard View Rooms that are on the first floor. Looking at floors 2-4, there are *zero* Standard View Rooms that are on the Epcot side. Looking at where the SV rooms are, they are on floors 2-4 and they are over the rooftops (away from Epcot) and facing the parking lot (again, away from Epcot. So, those two requests were wasted requests. I agree that it's best to focus on the ONE request that is possible within your room category.

P.S. - I booked a deal through this agency at YC in 2014 and we had a parking lot view. It was perfectly acceptable for the considerable savings.

 

[Denise W]

One thing I noticed was you put in 3 requests. Might not seem like a lot, but it is. In the future, figure out what is absolutely most important & just request that 1 thing. And know what is likely in your category of room. For example, at Beach Club, most ground floor rooms are garden view, not standard. So by requesting something that is very limited in your category, you are decreasing your odds of getting what you really want.

Your dates were very popular too, especially for Epcot resorts. What rooms were available went very quickly once AP previews for GE were announced.

Also, you requested ground floor and full balcony. No ground floor rooms have balconies, they have patios. That may have thrown off the room assignor as well.
Denise

 

[jaiminee krikit]

That is the issue. They literally book a "block" of rooms in a specific area of the hotel for thoss rates. You will never get the premium room locations on those types of bookings.

As others have mentioned, this is not true. We've booked through the same agency multiple times, and actually been upgraded almost every trip. Our last trip, I had requested building 7 at POFQ, but at 430 it still wasn't ready so they moved me to a room in building 5, quite an awesome room, too, and upgraded from standard to garden.

 

[Lacoccinelle]

We were there that week at BWI and WL. We have found that requests through the TA go further than online check in requests and are always granted those. We stayed at BC that same week two years ago and asked to maybe as we were also on the fourth floor closest to yacht club and they had a hard time. We had to wait a night.

 

[Lynne M]

Reminding everyone that promoting a business that has been banned from the DIS by "hinting" at the name is not permitted. Asking for someone to hint at the name or PM the name of a banned business is also not permitted.

When you are referring to a travel agency or any other business on the DIS, you must use the full URL of the business.

Please review this sticky thread for more information.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...travel-agencies-and-other-businesses.3551156/

 

[The13thLetter]

One thing I noticed was you put in 3 requests. Might not seem like a lot, but it is. In the future, figure out what is absolutely most important & just request that 1 thing. And know what is likely in your category of room. For example, at Beach Club, most ground floor rooms are garden view, not standard. So by requesting something that is very limited in your category, you are decreasing your odds of getting what you really want.

Your dates were very popular too, especially for Epcot resorts. What rooms were available went very quickly once AP previews for GE were announced.

As far as I know the requests were put in priority like 1st request, but if you cant do 1st then 2nd, and if you cant do 2nd then 3rd but I guess that could be possible too.

 

[nkereina]

Is that normal for there to be no paid upgrades available?

Yes. Its based on availability so everyone will have a different experience. Disney resorts operate at a high occupancy rate. Taking that into account coupled with a multi-night stay and the higher levels of room types than what you're currently booked at, it really narrows the pool of options at your resort.

 

[vinotinto]

Just musing on the "paid" upgrade part of this post... I would like to hear more about success rates in getting paid upgrades. I don't hear much about paid upgrades, but I wonder how the front desk could even determine how much more to charge you if you didn't book directly through Disney. They do not know how much you paid to an external vendor (thinking mostly on those cases where you have to pay in full to the vendor prior to arrival).

And if you booked through Disney, are the paid upgrades always to rack rate, or would, let's say, you were booked under a 20% public offer, would they have the discretion to apply 20% off?

 

[Karebear]

Agreed the 8 nights probably did not help, and I suppose we could have checked back a few days into it to see if something opened up but it seemed like more of a hassle to move little man and all our stuff to a new room so we just sucked it up. He ended up staying out pretty late each night so it really didn't cause too much trouble, but I was mostly starting this thread to see if there is anything else I could have done or may have missed but it sounds like I just had the perfect storm of resort stay length/dates/hotel choice that it was not in the cards.

Last time we stayed at the BC we arrived late, midnight. We were there for 9 nights and had requested a balcony. We didn’t receive one. We asked and they told us that they could move us in the morning to a room with a full balcony. We just unpacked the bare minimum that night and then it wasn’t so bad switching the next morning. Just something to think about to see if that works for you the next time

 

[Nancyg56]

Just musing on the "paid" upgrade part of this post... I would like to hear more about success rates in getting paid upgrades. I don't hear much about paid upgrades, but I wonder how the front desk could even determine how much more to charge you if you didn't book directly through Disney. They do not know how much you paid to an external vendor (thinking mostly on those cases where you have to pay in full to the vendor prior to arrival).

And if you booked through Disney, are the paid upgrades always to rack rate, or would, let's say, you were booked under a 20% public offer, would they have the discretion to apply 20% off?

I had no success. I booked CSR when they had the club level, however my cheap self did not book it. Within a day I tried to book it and no luck, it was gone. I tried again off and on until we arrived onsite, and still tried to book it then. Bottom line is that you cannot book what is not available, even if you want to pay for it.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Just musing on the "paid" upgrade part of this post... I would like to hear more about success rates in getting paid upgrades. I don't hear much about paid upgrades, but I wonder how the front desk could even determine how much more to charge you if you didn't book directly through Disney. They do not know how much you paid to an external vendor (thinking mostly on those cases where you have to pay in full to the vendor prior to arrival).

And if you booked through Disney, are the paid upgrades always to rack rate, or would, let's say, you were booked under a 20% public offer, would they have the discretion to apply 20% off?

The rates being discussed here are actually booked directly through the WDW groups dept. The agency is not processing any payments, they are simply giving the guest's payment info to WDW groups to process. The TA is just a go-between, so to speak. That being said, yeah, the resorts don't want to mess around with paid upgrades on these contracted rates. Plus, the rate difference between a group rate and an on-the-spot, rack rack is going to be enormous. Completely negates the reason for booking a group rate. If someone really wants a different category of room than the ones offered through these rates, they are better off simply booking that category to begin with. If a guest goes in thinking they are going to be able to apply that group discount to an upgraded room upon check-in, they will be sorely disappointed.

 

[AngiTN]

The rates being discussed here are actually booked directly through the WDW groups dept. The agency is not processing any payments, they are simply giving the guest's payment info to WDW groups to process. The TA is just a go-between, so to speak. That being said, yeah, the resorts don't want to mess around with paid upgrades on these contracted rates. Plus, the rate difference between a group rate and an on-the-spot, rack rack is going to be enormous. Completely negates the reason for booking a group rate. If someone really wants a different category of room than the ones offered through these rates, they are better off simply booking that category to begin with. If a guest goes in thinking they are going to be able to apply that group discount to an upgraded room upon check-in, they will be sorely disappointed.

But the TA still owns the reservation, no different than any other TA. I think that's what op means

 

[Brett Wyman]

Length of stay as A LOT to do it. The longer your stay, and 8 nights is fairly long, the harder it is to grant high demand requests.

Also its best to focus on a single request instead of 3. If they can't fill all requests they tend to give up and just place you anywhere open.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

But the TA still owns the reservation, no different than any other TA. I think that's what op means

Yes, that is correct. The PP had stated "They do not know how much you paid to an external vendor (thinking mostly on those cases where you have to pay in full to the vendor prior to arrival)." I just wanted him/her to understand that WDW knows full well what a guest paid for a room as they are the ones who are actually setting the price and processing the payment, not the agency. The agency is literally acting as an agent between the guest and WDW. Agencies aren't vendors. It's just semantics, I suppose.