How do they determine free mega upgrades?

[focusondisney]

My DH & I received 2 very magical upgrades in Dec 2015. We had a king standard rom booked in the Tower Club at the Contemporary resort for 3 nights. Upon checking in, the CM said she wanted to walk us to our room. We were upgraded to. 2 bedroom suite! It was a beautiful room & we were very surprised. The only disadvantage was it had a Bay Lake view & I had truly been looking forward to the MK view from the king room. But we expressed our appreciation & enjoyed our unexpected good luck.

We checked out after the 3 nights & went on to our 4 night garden view club level stay at the YC. We have stayed club level there for more than 15 years, often 2 or 3 times a year. As we were being escorted to the 5th floor for our check in, the CM was excited to tell us we were upgraded to a suite! We thought she meant our upgrade at the Contemporary that we had just checked out of & said yes, it was great. She was confused & then so were we! We asked what she meant, by this time we were at the check in. The CM there said we were upgraded to the Admiral's Deck suite, the largest suite at the YC!!! We were stunned! The CM laughed & said she wanted to vacation with us from now on.


I have my own theory on why we received so much pixie dust that trip. Both rooms were booked on a bounceback offer in Jan 2015. The CM I spoke to when I called was so nice & friendly. As usual, she she asked if we would be celebrating anything in December. I said yes, my DH would be turning 60 three weeks after the trip. That was the year Disneyland was celebrating their 60th anniversary also. So I told her we were going to Disneyland to celebrate that in September & then we'd come back to WDW in December to begin celebrating DH's 60th. Told her that we were going to follow Disney's example of celebrating for the whole year. She was very sweet & said she was going to note his birthday on both reservations because " you never know what magic & pixie dust might happen". She said that about 3 different times as she was booking everything. Of course, I just thought she was about the usual birthday buttons, champagne or maybe the Mickey signed card that we have received for anniversaries in the past. I had no expectations of anything more.

We were in shock to receive 2 such unexpected & wonderful upgrades. Our family joked we got the upgrades because we have spent so much money on past trips. I know that hotels usually give upgrades for their own needs & that short stays are more likely to get upgraded. But I really believe the CM that booked our reservations had something to do with it. I think she somehow placed a request for an upgrade which both hotels were able to grant. I will be eternally grateful as it was something we will never forget & will never be matched. I only wish I had a way to thank her!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

But they do have power. My parents' last two trips, when they've checked in, the front desk has asked them "What floor would you like?"

The room assignors had already slated the upgrade. The front desk person presented it and had the "what room "power.

Last December, we booked a 7 night hotel and ticket package with Disney for POFQ. Around February, I received an email with a unique upgrade offer and pin saying I was selected to upgrade to AK for only $44 extra per night! I never get deals like this so I was beyond excited! When I called to switch, she booked me in a bunk bed savannah view! I have two kids so this upgrade was incredible. She said we were randomly selected by the Disney marketing team for an upgrade.

And for me that wouldn't have been an upgrade. We have had our worst stays at Jambo and kidani, to the point where it's a downgrade from Port Orleans. Especially if I have to pay for it. So one persons upgrade is another persons "no way!"

I witnessed some folks checking in at POR get an upgrade. Very sweet little family who was obviously exhausted despite it being about 10am. The mother was so polite as she tried to gather her things and balance all of her papers and travel bags. Dad was entertaining 2 young girls (who were being quite good despite their obvious fatigue). I heard snippets of their conversation--car trouble, road construction, unexpected delays... I don't know if the CM was impressed with their class under pressure or the fates just smiled down on them, but suddenly they found themselves going to one of the Royal rooms for their stay. It was so sweet. The momma got tears and everything. That's pixie dust to me--and totally deserved.

We had our room upgraded to a Royal room without any exhaustion or sob story. Room assignor did it ahead of time.

The thought of getting in and out of the ship frame after a marathon was the issue.

That was our very first room and I found there to be no issue with the frame fwiw. The issue could be that the mattress is really a mattress topper, but then I do like a relatively firm mattress.