Free room upgrades?

[Mave110]

did all of you getting the upgrades checked in very late, so that there have been no other rooms available?

 

[TandLMommy28]

did all of you getting the upgrades checked in very late, so that there have been no other rooms available?

Our upgrade was fairly minor but we checked in at 9am (we were offsite the night before).

 

[rcraw45425]

did all of you getting the upgrades checked in very late, so that there have been no other rooms available?

we've checked in both early (8AM) and mid day (3PM) so no rhyme nor reason.

 

[DebbieB]

Wow. How exciting for all of you. Do any of you mention that you want to upgrade and they just surprise you that it's free or do they just randomly put you in a better room?

In most cases, if you ask for an upgrade, they will quote you the price difference.

 

[ginerjenny]

We stayed at the wilderness lodge for our first and only trip so far. we were upgraded to a courtyard view that overlooked the pool area. It was beautiful. We also were upgraded to to the bunkbeds that my kids really wanted but i refused to pay for.

 

[TJA]

How many of you have ever had a room upgrade? What time of year was it? What resort was it and what was you upgraded to. I am just curious how often it happens.

Also if you have got an upgrade when did you first hear about it. Did you get asked before you arrived or surprised on arrival?

This past Easter we got upgraded at both resorts we stayed at because the CM's said the resorts were "dead." Most likely due to lack of discounts is my guess. First at WL, we paid for a standard view room (cheapest) and got upgraded to a courtyard bunkbed. We did not ask for an upgrade and we were told at check-in what room we were getting. Next resort was BC CL. I had booked a standard view and we got upgraded to lagoon view. Again, I did not ask for an upgrade and was told at check-in. CM again said the resort was very quiet and had lots of availability.

 

[Polydweller]

How many of you have ever had a room upgrade? What time of year was it? What resort was it and what was you upgraded to. I am just curious how often it happens.

Also if you have got an upgrade when did you first hear about it. Did you get asked before you arrived or surprised on arrival?

The stories in this thread are nice and it's great that many people got them but if you really are interested in how often it's done here's a bit of perspective from my hotelier background. The first things to understand are that upgrades are always given for the business reasons of the hotel, and they are not as frequent as it may seem and all hotels have a target percentage of upgrades. Upgrades for goodwill purposes are only a subset of upgrades.

A hotel's actual percentage of upgrades is based on many things and I'll use a conservative 2%. If Disney used that percentage they would have about 197,000 upgrade room nights per year. Even at a conservative percentage that means there are lots of people getting them and reporting them here and making them sound common. However, based on the last estimated room figures I saw, Disney has approximately 9,855,000 room nights per year. So there are 9,657,900 room nights per year not upgraded.

I don't know their precise figure but the point is upgrades at Disney are not as common as threads like this make them seem. Sorry to be a bit of a downer but if you want to know how often they happen, well that is the reality in the industry.

Now, it is always ok to ask for one when you check in. But don't ask for a free one, most hotels won't give you an upgrade if you ask for a free one. However, asking for a paid upgrade can lead to a free one. So do ask and maybe you will be fortunate.

 

[Polydweller]

Again, I did not ask for an upgrade and was told at check-in. CM again said the resort was very quiet and had lots of availability.

Not really surprised by that. If a resort or hotel is undersold one of the upgrade criteria that kicks in at many hotels is room consolidation. If the hotel can consolidate sold rooms into one wing, floor etc, then they can leave an area closed with no need to call in the housekeeping staff to keep partial floors/wings open. This can be a significant cost savings which can be larger than the revenue difference of the upgrades. So, the upgrades actually represent net income (or reduced loss) for the hotel. And that's the business reason for the hotel to upgrade and upgrades are always for business reasons.

 

[ppony]

Only upgraded once since 1994, but it was a LV GF room to the RPC! YUM! Total surprise.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

17 trips - 4 upgrades

2007 - booked Poly gv upgraded to Poly TPV
2008 - the most spectactular upgrade. We booked (and paid for) 4 BC gv rooms for our Grand Gathering. It was our treat to our kids, grandkids and my mom. We paid for everything. We were upgraded (all 4 rooms) to BC CL!!!!!2008 - We booked YC GV and were upgraded to YC CL
2011- We booked GF SL and were upgraded to RPC

Never, ever asked and we were always thrilled with the surprise upgrades!

 

[diddldonna]

Thanks for sharing xx

 

[goofy4prez]

Four trips and one upgrade. Our upgrade came on our first trip to WDW when we booked a standard view and received a standard view CL instead.

 

[disneydee6]

This thread is making me jealous. Been 6x, and never had an upgrade!

 

[Cadyrose]

3 trips, 1 upgrade

Last year was our 10th anniversary... booked woods view w/ bunk.....at check in, the CM congratulated us on our anniversary and upgraded us to courtyard view w/ bunks...it was great!

 

[lylone]

Been 5 times since 2007 and no upgrades here either. I guess we are unlucky.

 

[RookieLady]

Been 9 times as an adult and upgraded twice. Once during May from a garden view wing at the Contemporary to a tower lake view. Second time at New Years where we booked an Allstar resort and received a pin to get a standard room at the wilderness lodge for the same price. Both awesome upgrades. I attribute it to my oldest child, who has never been to Disney that some magic pixie dust isn't dumped in ridiculous quantities on him by some wonderful cast member. I am happy for him, but a little jealous, too. At least these times, I benefited directly, too.

 

[moniqueand2]

Silly question, but I am reading this thread on free upgrades with great interest, hope, and enthusiasm.

For those who were upgraded to a whole different resort do you think it made any difference if you had your own car and luggage ready to go to the new resort. So, if you take ME and are waiting for luggage to catch up with you, which would then have to be rerouted does that lessen your chance of CM making such an offer? Does the hotel CM have any idea how you traveled.

Or does check in time affect this at all?

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Missytara]

Silly question, but I am reading this thread on free upgrades with great interest, hope, and enthusiasm.

For those who were upgraded to a whole different resort do you think it made any difference if you had your own car and luggage ready to go to the new resort. So, if you take ME and are waiting for luggage to catch up with you, which would then have to be rerouted does that lessen your chance of CM making such an offer? Does the hotel CM have any idea how you traveled.

Or does check in time affect this at all?

Thanks for your opinions.

Upgrades occur because of an issue at the resort. You have no control over it.

Book what you want and be happy you are at DISNEY.

 

[Lynne M]

Silly question, but I am reading this thread on free upgrades with great interest, hope, and enthusiasm.

For those who were upgraded to a whole different resort do you think it made any difference if you had your own car and luggage ready to go to the new resort. So, if you take ME and are waiting for luggage to catch up with you, which would then have to be rerouted does that lessen your chance of CM making such an offer? Does the hotel CM have any idea how you traveled.

Or does check in time affect this at all?

Thanks for your opinions.

No, that wouldn't affect your chances of an upgrade at all. Most are assigned in advance of your arrival, 'behind the scenes'.

At Disney, upgrades are usually done for the resort's operational reasons. It's presented to the guest as if it's a gift, but it's really done because they need the room that you would otherwise have been given and they need to put you someplace else.

There's really nothing that you can do to increase your chances of getting a complimentary upgrade. It's not about how your traveled, or how much you paid, or how you booked.....it's that you happen to have booked a certain room type for a certain range of dates. Pure luck.

The other important thing to keep in mind is, complimentary upgrades are not common, no matter how much they seem to be discussed on message boards. Thousands of guests check into Disney resorts every day, and only a very small percentage will be upgraded at no charge. And that's upgrades to a better room at the same resort. The kind of upgrade you mentioned - to a different resort - is extremely unusual. The odds of your getting that kind of an upgrade are very slim.

Not to be a downer, but I'd hate for you to start your vacation with a disappointment because you had your heart set on a resort upgrade.

 

[Scott MC]

So far...

GF= Upgraded from standard, garden view room to LV, RPC

BC= Upgraded from CL, LV to....*drumroll*....The Vice Presidential Suite!


I nearly died.