Paying To Upgrade Room at Check-In

[roryc]

Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to the Grand Floridian in February with my family (hubby and 2 kiddos), along with my in-laws.

So, I've booked 2 Main Building Royal Palm Concierge Rooms at $640/night/room +tax and I'm trying to decide if I should keep those. Or, if I should just reserve Magic Kingdom view rooms (so we could see fireworks and light pageant from our rooms) at $465/night/room. We're talking about a total of almost $400 total/night difference for the room category change.

I'd like the RPC more for the convenience of it being near restaurants and monorail. The concierge service is a plus, but not necessarily needed. My in-laws have never been to WDW and this would most likely be their first and last visit and they're used to nice resorts so the GF is a must.

So then I started thinking about what the possibilities might be upon check-in if I did the MK view rooms and inquired about upgrading to the RPC. Would the cost be any different? I'm wondering if they have availability upon check-n if maybe the cost might only be like $100/room/night rather than the $200/room/night.

I'd be content with my MK view rooms if there was no availability, or might still want to upgrade if there was availability but no discount.

I've been toying with trying to decide what would be the best room category for us for months and still can't decide.

What's been your experience with getting a paid upgrade upon check in at a Deluxe resort during Value Season? Is it cheaper than if you had originally paid for it. Was it not available and you wish you had just booked the higher class accomodations to begin with? Actual examples and costs associated would be awesome.

Just curious. Thanks for sharing!

 

[princessamie]

I'm not sure if I will have the answers to all your questions but I have stayed at the GF for my honeymoon four years ago. Since they knew it was our honeymoon they upgraded us to concierge. It was great being in the main building! There is a special key to get to the concierge level and when you get to your floor they have staff at desks to help you with anything. They also have breakfast pastries and treats in the morning, snacks in the afternoon, and the most decadent truffles in the evening available. We even took chocolate covered strawberries to our room one evening! Having those services made our trip extra special! We went in late May and they had the available upgrade and February would probably not be as busy as late May. I think I might wait and upgrade when I get there! Who knows, maybe they would do it free! (Just pretend it's your honeymoon! ) Either way the GF is a dream so you can't go wrong!

Going to WDW to get my baby's first hair cut in October!

 

[CastleLight]

I'm not sure if I will have the answers to all your questions but I have stayed at the GF for my honeymoon four years ago. Since they knew it was our honeymoon they upgraded us to concierge. It was great being in the main building! There is a special key to get to the concierge level and when you get to your floor they have staff at desks to help you with anything. They also have breakfast pastries and treats in the morning, snacks in the afternoon, and the most decadent truffles in the evening available. We even took chocolate covered strawberries to our room one evening! Having those services made our trip extra special! We went in late May and they had the available upgrade and February would probably not be as busy as late May. I think I might wait and upgrade when I get there! Who knows, maybe they would do it free! (Just pretend it's your honeymoon! ) Either way the GF is a dream so you can't go wrong!

Going to WDW to get my baby's first hair cut in October!

Just curious...I'm planning my honeymoon at the GF now. What floor were you on? Did you stay in a balcony room or the larger octagon room?

 

[princessamie]

Castlelight,
I believe we stayed on the fourth floor. We had a balcony room. You guys got me missing disney and I took out my video! Yes, I am a video camera nut and I even taped our room, bathroom, concierge buffet, and view from the interior balcony just down from our room. GF is a great place to stay for your honeymoon!