free upgrades

[Alice42]

Has anyone had any experiences with receiving free room upgrades (garden to lagoon, standard to concierge)? If so, did you ask for the upgrade or did a CM "give" you an upgrade? I have never had a free upgrade, but it sure would be nice! I would love to hear anyone's stories!
Thanks!

 

[Disneyolic]

We were upgraded from 2 queen bed room to a King bed room (I believe that is an upgrade). We did not ask for it. We were on our honeymoon and our reservation stated that so I think we were given the upgrade out of the kindness of a CM. It was nice.

 

[The Pluto People]

Alice: Several years ago we had three standard rooms booked at the YC (AP rate). When we checked in all three rooms had been upgraded to a waterview (which was beautiful!) for no extra charge! We were delighted!

 

[ChesireMeg]

Twice at the Y&BC we have gotten a free upgrade from a standard view to a lagoon view. We were fortunate because both times the CM gave it to us without us asking. It was really nice of them

 

[madcoco]

We have been upgraded from standard to waterview without asking at CBR and CS in the past.

 

[Meriweather]

We were upgraded to king bed and water view at POR.

 

[SUNFLOWER93]

Hi!
We were booked at the AKL standard romm over Spring Break and were upgraded to a Savanah view and we did not even ask. We thought it had to do with us e-mailing and complaining about early entry.
It was reallly cool we loved it.

 

[wdwnutze]

We were given an upgrade at the Poly last Aug. We were put in Tahiti, 1st floor lagoon view instead of the garden view. I think it had to do with the fact thast we transfered there from another resort because we weren't happy. We got 3 rooms with lagoon view. The problem with the upgrade is that now we only want to stay lagoon view!!

 

[antmaril]

We were upgraded last year from waterview to concierge at the Beach Club. There was a small mixup with our room and we were celebrating my 50th birthday. To our delight and surprise, they gave us a key to a room on the 5th floor (concierge). The next day there were balloons in our room with a signed picture from Mickey and Minnie for my birthday. It was big fun!!! Concierge was great! Saved a lot of money with that free upgrade.

 

[barbliny]

we were upgraded from AKL standard view to savannah view. We never asked for the upgrade -- it was a nice surprise -- and it was never mentioned by the desk clerk. I knew before we saw the room that it was a savannah room based on where she showed us it was on the resort map. The only room requests we had noted on the reservation were non-smoking room with bunk beds.

 

[MNT568]

This past March we had 2 standard rooms booked at CSR and when we checked in the CM said "you've been upgraded to junior suites", we didn't ask for a thing. It was great, they were right next door to each other and each suite had 2 rooms, one room with a king bed and the second room set up as a sitting room with a pull-down bed and 2 bathrooms! They were also waterview rooms. It was a very nice surprise.

 

[Tess]

Our 2nd trip we were booked LV Polynesian (back when they had something like six different room rates) and were called ahead of our arrival date and asked if we'd like to be upgraded to GF LV. That was a no brainer. . .I had always wanted to stay there but felt I wouldn't be willing to pay that kind of $$$ for a room. (Little did I know.! )

Several years back we were bumped to LV conc at Polynesian from GV conc. That same year (on an adults only trip) we were booked in a water view at BWI and received an upgrade to jr. suite, Boardwalk view, conc. Also on that adults only jaunt, we were booked pre-flight at an airport hotel. When we arrived we saw a sign in the lobby welcoming us and were informed that we had been selected as guests of honor for the day. We got a welcoming bottle of champagne AND an upgrade to a full suite for the night.

Last summer I had booked a standard room at BC for a two day end of vacation rest time. Just before the end of our stay at Polynesian conc I asked about changing the BC portion to a conc stay. There was availability and I was given the price difference (don't recall right now what that was). When we checked into BC we were informed at the front desk that we must feel special getting a complimentary upgrade to conc for two days! We were surprised since we fully expected to pay for the upgrade.

Guess you could say we've been pretty lucky that way.

 

[keithomas]

DW and I were celebrating our 5yr anniversary in '99. I had booked a studio (standard view) at the BWV using a great summer discount code. Three days before our trip I called both CRO and the front desk to inquire about upgrading to water view or a 1BR villa to surprise my wife. I didn't ask for complimentary, and CRO told me they didn't have anything available. The desk at the hotel said I'd have to go through CRO for that, or I could just ask at check-in. They wished me a safe arrival and said they hoped we'd have a wonderful anniversary trip.

They must have noted my interest/request because when we arrived the CM smiled and said happy anniversary, I see here you've been upgraded to a 1BR water view room, you'll really love the quiet room!

We had a water view room on the 5th floor overlooking the quiet pool and canal to MGM. It was the last room on the hall and VERY quiet.

We're going in less than 2 weeks with our kids, but still celebrating our anniversary, so I'm hoping for some pixie dust at checkin at the WL....maybe a deluxe room or concierge??? LOL

 

[kimmar067]

...upgraded only once, and that was at the Dolphin. (had a std view - which means basically, the parking lot, and they upgraded us to 5th floor lakeview - facing BW and Epcot!!! It was AWESOME and the view was phenomenal!!!)

(Hope to get upgraded again in July.... )

 

[pugdog]

we have been upgraded everytime we have gone down,10 times and counting. While checking in one time I asked a CM about upgrades and she said they will always upgrade when you check in if there are rooms available. So if the nicer rooms are full you might not get one but if you go value season ,like we do all the time, cances are good for the upgrade.

 

[tampafan]

We were upgraded from a standard view to a garden view at the Contemporary wing in January. The cast member just volunteered the upgrade.

 

[EmptyNester]

We booked a 7 night stay (king bed) at POR beginning February 2nd this year. When we checked in the CM informed us that they had overbooked and there were NO King rooms available! After seeing our unhappy faces, she spoke with a supervisor and said they could put us in a handicap room - king bed, but no tub, just a roll in shower - and would give us a credit for for the difference in cost. We agreed.

When we arrived at our room there was a HUGE blower in the middle of the room, blowing air at the rug! The CM who brought us over checked out the rug - it was soaked!! By this time, DH and I were beginning to get concerned...

The CM was great, called the front desk, explained the situation - they wanted to put us in a regular (double-bedded) room. We politely declined (we always pay for King rooms when we vacation). We chatted with the CM while the front desk called around to other resorts to find out if they had any available King-bedded rooms.

Well, in about five minutes the phone rang and they wanted to know if we would accept OKW for the same price that we had paid for POR. We were not familar with OKW, but the CM gave us a thumbs up and we said OK. Turns out, they put us in a one bedroom villa! (because of the king bed, I guess) We were blown away by the size of the unit, the balcony, jacuzzi tub, kitchen, great view of the golf course. It ended up being one of our best vacations ever!

We've been lucky enough to receive complimently upgrades at other hotels/resorts also, but this definitely topped them all... (In fact, we like it there so much, we bought an OKW resale when we came home!)

 

[hmp2z]

We were staying at Coronado Springs resort, for our wedding planning trip in April. It was during the peak season (Spring Break), so we didn't really expect anything, but before we left, we sent a fax to the hotel to tell them that we were staying there to plan our Fairytale Wedding, and that we would be very appreciative of an upgrade to a room that would otherwise go unused. Very un-pushy... They gave us a king bedroom, facing the Casitas quiet pool, so I guess this counts as a water view
It never hurts to ask, as long as you do so politely and treat it as a privilege, not a right.
Cheers!
Heather P

 

[Debi]

I've been to WDW 15+ times, and have only received an upgrade twice:

August 2001: I paid for a standard room at POR (with an AP discount), and was upgraded for free to a water view. There was no explaination as to why I was upgraded (I had no specific requests other than non-smoking), but it was still a plesant surprise!

April 2002: I had a standard-view room reserved at the Dolphin, and when I checked in at 10:00AM, the room wasn't ready. However, when I returned at about 6PM that night, I wasn't told about my upgrade - he just handed me my key and gave me my room assignment. The doors onpened on the 12th floor, and welcomed me to Club Level (the Dolphin has "talking" elevators). I was very surprised to go from standard to Club!

 

[Alice42]

I love to hear about these stories! I am leaving for the Poly in 3 days and can only hope to have the luck that you guys had!
Thanks for sharing!


____________
4/88 offsite
5/93 BC
5/98 CBR
10/98 offsite (marched in MK parade with Northern Illinois University dance team)
5/00 PO-FQ
7/01 BC
5/02 Poly