Honeymoon Upgrades?

[Oct04BridetoBe]

HI! I am new to this site (never posted anything on a message board before actually!) I am getting married Oct 30 and we will be honeymooning at GF arriving Nov 2 staying 7 nights. When I made the reservation I was told I couldn't be guaranteed a king size, we may get 2 queens. I booked a standard gardenview room. We are stretching quite a bit just to stay at GF. But, it was always my dream. Anyway, does anyone have any tips on how to get a king bed room or maybe even a free upgrgade to a better room? And, ,what would I ask for that would be better then a standard? Never stayed at GF so not sure what to ask for.

Thanks!

 

[patsvette]

Well congrats on getting married in the next week,and youll love the gf my wife and i stayed there last time and loved it,if you pay for a king size bed you usually should get it.We asked for a water view also and got it on the 3rd floor over looking the magic kingdom.One night we just sat on the balcony and watched the fireworks from there.Did you tell them its for your honeymoon?Your paying alot of money to stay at gf it should be what you want.Good luck and congrats.

 

[mom2rb]

We had our honeymoon in '96 at CBR. They also told us that a king was not guaranteed. I think they have to say that. When we checked in the hotel clerk made sure we had one.

 

[sherry8253]

What CRO told you about 2 queens instead of a king is correct. Moderates allow you to reserve a king size but deluxes do not. I have no idea why. Did you ask CRO to note on your reservations that it is your honeymoon? The only hints I can give is arrive with a smile on your face and explain you really hope since it is your honeymoon that you can have a room with a kingsize bed and a nice view. Hopefully you will receive Disney magic. I think CM's usually do everything possible for guests, especially ones who are spending a special time such as a honeymoon there. I am sending pixie dust your way to make your honeymoon perfect.

 

[ducklite]

Please, please, please do not get your hopes up for an upgrade! At any given time there are hundreds of honeymooners at WDW, and no way to upgrade them all. Additionally, you are going during a very busy time, the food and wine festival is in full swing, and it's NJ week--and it looks like the GF is going to be sold out during your visit, so I wouldn't count on any upgrades at all.

Of course when you arrive, nicely mention that it's your honeymoon and you'd love a room with a king bed, but please don't be too upset if you don't get it, there are a very limited number of them.

Have a magical time!

Anne

 

[Oct04BridetoBe]

OH NO! I thought this was a good time to go..listed as a moderate attendance time. Now I'm nervous! What is NJ week?

 

[TammiMcMan]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. As other posters have mentioned, you can only request a king bed, it's not guaranteed.

A nice thing about the GF is that they will always try to upgrade your view. You mentioned having a garden reserved, so the upgrade would be to a lagoon view. After that, it would be a complete room upgrade from standard to tower. The tower rooms offer more space, plus they have a little sitting area. If you've seen pictures of the GF, they are rooms located in the octogonal shaped corners of the buildings.

Pricing levels at the GF go something like this, standard room ~ garden view; standard room ~ lagoon view; tower room; lodge concierge; main concierge standard; main concierge deluxe/honeymoon; suites. All the rooms there (with 4 honeymoon suite exceptions) have balconies. The dormer rooms, which are normally located on the top floors of the building, are slightly smaller, but have a vaulted ceiling. The balconies are private, but much smaller. Corner rooms are great because they are slightly bigger and offer 2 balconies.

I would definitely make sure that your reservation has been noted that it's your honeymoon.

Here's a great site for pictures, room layouts and general GF info

Tammi

 

[Misti]

Originally posted by ducklite
Please, please, please do not get your hopes up for an upgrade! At any given time there are hundreds of honeymooners at WDW, and no way to upgrade them all.
Anne

I agree with Anne. WDW is one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the United States. Also, the GF operates at high occupancy 365 days a year. So, there are not necessarily lots of open rooms to upgrade you to at any given time. That being said, you never know. I'm sending pixie dust your way! The next category up from Garden View is a Lagoon View room. So, that would be an upgrade. My advice is to expect nothing and you won't be disappointed.

I got married in WDW in November '97 (had my reception at the GF, too) and I didn't get an upgrade. I booked a Lagoon View room and a Lagoon View was what I got.

Good luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding!

 

[ducklite]

I just ran your dates through expedia and WDW's web sites, and the GF is sold out for then, so I would definitely not expect any kind of upgrade.

NJ week is the first week of November, there's a teachers convention and most schools are closed either all week or Wed-Fri, and it seems that most of the state takes off to WDW for the week. Between that and F&W, it's actually become a pretty busy time at WDW. Expect LOTS of kids.

Anne

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

It may also depend at what time you're checking-in as to what they still have avaliable. If they don't have a King-size on your first night ask about moving to one for the rest of your stay.

PIXIE DUST

 

[totalia]

Just ask when you check in.

Bed types aren't guaranteed.

 

[Mymatisse]

I think it will really depend on the resort and the CM you encounter. We split our Sept. honeymoon between the BC and Poly. We book for both resorts a standard/garden view and only requested that we have a non-smoking balcony room.

Upon arrival at the Beach Club the cast member saw it notated on our reservation that it was our honeymoon. She was SO nice and extended her congratulations. When we get to our room we discover we got a real upgrade. We had a huge king room with a view of SAB and it even had a little wet bar area. It was great!

The Poly was a different story completely. The CM was extremely rude. She also didn't mention anything about our special occasion. The room we got was okay, but it wasn't an upgrade or anything like that.

I think it's just the luck of the draw. Good luck.

 

[Oct04BridetoBe]

I was told we might want to request a "dormer" room. For a standard room at GF is this a good idea? Also, what are the best buildings to request for a standard garden view room? Is it best to be near the main building??

 

[TammiMcMan]

Bridetobe, the dormer GF rooms are very nice. They are alittle bit smaller than a standard room, but they do have vaulted ceilings. The other difference is with the balcony. It's private, but much smaller. Here is a site that has pictures of some various rooms, including a dormer ~ GF .

 

[Cris]

Originally posted by MAGICinMYHEART
It may also depend at what time you're checking-in as to what they still have avaliable. If they don't have a King-size on your first night ask about moving to one for the rest of your stay.

PIXIE DUST

this is very good advice, maybe they don't have it the day you are checking in but they can look to see if they have one come available during your stay. Remember the Grand Floridian has less than 20 kings size beds in the resort. Also upgrades at the resorts come from conventions overbooking catagories.

 

[Sammie]

Dormer rooms: some really like them, we don't.

We found them to be much darker, smaller and the balcony really small and did not like the closed in, in the roof way they are set up.

I would suggest looking at the photos of a dormer room vs. standard room and then decide if it would appeal to you. I like the traditional balcony, and larger window in the room.