Free Room Upgrades?

[swade95]

We got really lucky in our stay 3 weeks ago at Saratoga Springs. We booked a studio and we were pixie-dusted into a 3 BR Grand villa. It is only 3 of us so it was a little overkill but it was an awesome experience.

 

[VdoesDisney]

Jambo or Kidani and what was the studio type?

Jambo standard view studio, got upgraded to a 1 bedroom at kidani (very end of the hallway though) with a partial savannah view, honestly the view was amazing, it was the narrow part of the Savannah and you could see the tractor route but we had animals around 24/7.

 

[Candlelady]

Checked into our home resort BCV Friday 4/30. Reserved a 1 bedroom and were upgraded to a dedicated 2 bedroom for a 7 night stay. Woo hoo! It was absolutely wonderful! We are now officially spoiled. BCV seemed deserted for the entire week.

 

[PackPride]

We got really lucky in our stay 3 weeks ago at Saratoga Springs. We booked a studio and we were pixie-dusted into a 3 BR Grand villa. It is only 3 of us so it was a little overkill but it was an awesome experience.

Wow, that's amazing! We went last November to SSR, just me and my wife, and we were upgraded to a 1-bedroom from a studio, and it was at The Springs; so we were thrilled about that. But a 3-Bedroom upgrade is even better!

 

[DisneyMomof4_86]

Has anyone ever gotten upgraded at Riviera ? We are a family of 6 ( 2 adults 3 children and 1 “infant” she’s almost 2) we have a split stay 3 nights in studio and 4 nights in a 1 bedroom (for point purposes) I would love an upgrade but I doubt that would happen , boy would I have a heart attack !! Even in just a 2 bedroom. We are used to small spaces though . That would be a pleasant surprise !

on another note , when our little one turns 2 can we still rent the 1 bedroom and studio ? Or do we have to then stick to regular Disney cash guidelines and move to a 2 bedroom ? Our little one could technically sleep in the king bed with us , while the 3 boys sleep in the other 2 beds . How does that work ?

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

This coming Saturday we check in at AKL JH for a "split stay" 3 nights in a value studio (stalking the availability tool really pays off sometimes!) and 2 nights in a standard studio. What do you think the chances are of them upgrading us to a standard or something else so we are no longer doing a "split stay"? Don't care either way but just curious.

 

[Sharene0724]

We are on the zero upgrades ever team over here lol. We do online check in, usually a week stay and usually a 1 bedroom apparently = 0 upgrades :-D

 

[CarolynFH]

Has anyone ever gotten upgraded at Riviera ? We are a family of 6 ( 2 adults 3 children and 1 “infant” she’s almost 2) we have a split stay 3 nights in studio and 4 nights in a 1 bedroom (for point purposes) I would love an upgrade but I doubt that would happen , boy would I have a heart attack !! Even in just a 2 bedroom. We are used to small spaces though . That would be a pleasant surprise !

on another note , when our little one turns 2 can we still rent the 1 bedroom and studio ? Or do we have to then stick to regular Disney cash guidelines and move to a 2 bedroom ? Our little one could technically sleep in the king bed with us , while the 3 boys sleep in the other 2 beds . How does that work ?

When your youngest turns 3, she’ll make you a family of 6, so as far as DVC is concerned you’ll have to book 2 BR or larger. Sorry!

 

[supersnoop]

I've never had an upgrade, per se, but I have been downgraded a time or two. I had to clarify with the front desk that my room was the lower category and get points refunded. It happened at BWV where I was given a standard view when I had reserved a pool/garden, and again at BLT when I was assigned a standard view instead of the reserved lake view.

 

[Skicks35]

Here's my experience for an additional data point: Wife and I did a 9 night split stay in Aug 2020 (5 night standard studio at BCV and 4 night standard studio at VGF). Was surprisingly upgraded to a 1 BR villa at BCV, but not at VGF. They didn't even tell us either - we did check-in with someone at the front with an ipad that greeted us as we walked in; no mention of the upgrade and were pleasantly surprised when we walked into the room (had to double check my reservation to make sure I didn't book one by mistake..) Didn't do anything special or make any requests. This was our first time using our points for a DVC vacation, so maybe that had something to do with it? Unfortunately no way to know for sure. It was also about a month after they had re-opened, so it was obviously pretty empty. As others have pointed out, I'm sure it's all random and based on availability (from a once in a lifetime pandemic) and unfortunately there is nothing you can do to predict/assume this, so no real point of stressing over it.

 

[chris springer]

We received an upgrade from a studio to a one bedroom at BWV. Although it was not "free" because we had to use points to make up the difference in the upgrade.

 

[Dug720]

wonder if you could have declined the upgrade??

I did when they did that to me on Marathon Weekend a few years ago. I politely asked if I could be "downgraded" to what I had reserved and let a family who would appreciate it have the pixie dust. They were able to accommodate it. (Granted, I was there about 9am, so early.)

 

[CarolynFH]

We received an upgrade from a studio to a one bedroom at BWV. Although it was not "free" because we had to use points to make up the difference in the upgrade.

Did they upgrade you or did you request it? You shouldn’t have had to pay the difference if you didn’t request it or accept an optional upgrade.

 

[elgerber]

We were upgraded once, in 2015. 2nd half of our split stay. It was just dd and I, member services called me while at AK, and asked me to call back about our BWV stay. I panicked, found a quiet enough spot to call, and they told me due to an issue, they were moving us from our studio to a 1br. Way more space than we needed, but hey, who's going to complain. Funny, when we checked in, they tried to charge us $3700 LOL, and I had to tell them it was on points, and upgraded. They got it fixed, but wow that was quite a price tag.

 

[Kstatefan]

In 2015 we booked a night in a “Nemo” room at Art of Animation following a Disney Cruise on the Dream. When we arrived to check-in, they informed us the rooms were overbooked. The cast member then asked if we would be okay moving to the Polynesian (of course!). They arranged for private transportation for my family of 5 and our luggage. When we arrived at Poly we were greeted by a cast member with an iPad at the front entry who proceeded to walk us to the Tonga building where we were given one of the huge Ambassador Suites! It was insane! Definitely the most pixie dust we’ve ever experienced.

 

[TinkB278]

I got upgraded from a standard view studio to preferred at riviera this week. We were only staying one night so I’m sure that’s why we were given the upgrade.

 

[DisneyMomof4_86]

I got upgraded from a standard view studio to preferred at riviera this week. We were only staying one night so I’m sure that’s why we were given the upgrade.

How was the resort ? Crowded ? Our first time there was last summer -literally the weeks the parks reopened and it was amazing ! Hardly anyone was there we loved it ! We ended up buying DVC specifically for Riviera, we go again June 27th, I imagine it’s going to be crowded again .

 

[TinkB278]

How was the resort ? Crowded ? Our first time there was last summer -literally the weeks the parks reopened and it was amazing ! Hardly anyone was there we loved it ! We ended up buying DVC specifically for Riviera, we go again June 27th, I imagine it’s going to be crowded again .

The resort didn’t feel crowded to me at all! It was absolutely amazing. The parks were a different story and I wish we would’ve done a resort only trip.

 

[DisneyMomof4_86]

oh that’s awesome ! We have park tickets but we really want to just enjoy the resort this time . We did the parks during the initial re-opening and it was amazing like no one there ! I feel like I’m gonna be really disappointed with the crowds in the parks when we go in June but my children really loved the pool at Riviera and my little one really enjoyed the splash pad so we are looking forward to that.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Has anyone ever gotten upgraded at Riviera ? We are a family of 6 ( 2 adults 3 children and 1 “infant” she’s almost 2) we have a split stay 3 nights in studio and 4 nights in a 1 bedroom (for point purposes) I would love an upgrade but I doubt that would happen , boy would I have a heart attack !! Even in just a 2 bedroom. We are used to small spaces though . That would be a pleasant surprise !

on another note , when our little one turns 2 can we still rent the 1 bedroom and studio ? Or do we have to then stick to regular Disney cash guidelines and move to a 2 bedroom ? Our little one could technically sleep in the king bed with us , while the 3 boys sleep in the other 2 beds . How does that work ?

We were upgraded in April from a standard studio to a standard one bedroom at Riviera.