Resort Change at Check-in?

Scott MC

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
2,107
Hi! :wave2:

Just curious here.

Have any of you pulled up on ME to your resort and not ended up staying there? I'd love to hear stories.

This could mean that you got there, looked around, thought "This isn't for me." and requested a move.

This could also mean that you got there and were told that for whatever reason, the room you booked wasn't available and you were being moved (sometimes a lateral move, sometimes a downgrade, sometimes an upgrade).

I'm just curious, as we're scheduled to land in Orlando at about midnight on our first night, and thus won't arrive at the resort we've chosen until 1:30 A.M. or so. Of course, nervous-nelly me ( :scared: ) is afraid that our room/room category will already be filled, and then of course, the world would end. :rotfl2:

Just curious as to people's experiences.....
 
It happened to us at the BC. We went to check in, and this was probably in the afternoon, and they told us that the BC was overbooked and we had been moved to the YC. We tried to stop them because we really wanted the BC, but there was nothing we could do. It was a lateral move from a garden view to a garden view. That was probably ten years ago. If it happens again, though, we will insist on an upgrade.
 
Hmmm....If I were booked at BC and had to move laterally to YC, I wouldn't be overly upset. I mean, you still get to use the pool!

Similarly, we're booked this time at POR and if they had to put us in the same category room at POFQ, I wouldn't think much of it.
 
Yea I guess moving to a sister resort wouldn't be so bad. Right now we are booked YC (after 5x at BC) and I would be a little disappointed if we were moved to BC just bc I'm looking forward to trying the other resort. However, if it was an upgrade I would be pretty darn ok with the move haha. I do love BC though, so I'm sure the disappointment would be short lived lol.
We have never had to move resorts before.
 

Happened to me in January. Was booked in a king bed room at POR, and when we arrived shortly after noon, we were told they moved us to POFQ. He did say, if we wanted to stay at POR, we would have to downgrade to a standard room. We opted to move and keep the king bed and moved to POFQ. It was our first time at POFQ. It was fine, but I think I like POR better.
 
It happened to us at the BC. We went to check in, and this was probably in the afternoon, and they told us that the BC was overbooked and we had been moved to the YC. We tried to stop them because we really wanted the BC, but there was nothing we could do. It was a lateral move from a garden view to a garden view. That was probably ten years ago. If it happens again, though, we will insist on an upgrade.

The same thing happened to my parents in that they got to the BC, was told that there was no room for them there and they were escorted over to the YC. However, the "rest of the story" is that they'd been upgraded to the YC concierge to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Dad passed away about a year later, but Mom will always have those priceless memories.
 
I used to work in the hotel industry and its not uncommon to walk late arrival guests when the hotel is oversold. OP, what time of year are you traveling to Disney? I wouldn't say it happens regularly, but it can happen from time to time. I doubt it's the same at Disney but in the "real world" the hotel that is walking you will cover your costs for the night at the hotel they are transferring you, so it actually works out well for a lot of people. However, if you are staying for more than one night, a lot of hotels will make you come back to theirs for the second night. I don't think Disney works like this but if you put up enough of a stink, they will probably upgrade you if they can.
 
A friend of mine works at a moderate resort and she has had guests who have checked out the size of the rooms/locations and have decided to switch to a Deluxe Resort. So it does happen!!!!
 
Hi! :wave2:

Just curious here.

Have any of you pulled up on ME to your resort and not ended up staying there? I'd love to hear stories.

This could mean that you got there, looked around, thought "This isn't for me." and requested a move.

This could also mean that you got there and were told that for whatever reason, the room you booked wasn't available and you were being moved (sometimes a lateral move, sometimes a downgrade, sometimes an upgrade).

I'm just curious, as we're scheduled to land in Orlando at about midnight on our first night, and thus won't arrive at the resort we've chosen until 1:30 A.M. or so. Of course, nervous-nelly me ( :scared: ) is afraid that our room/room category will already be filled, and then of course, the world would end. :rotfl2:

Just curious as to people's experiences.....
If you arrived at your resort and thought "this isn't for me" and requested a move - you would more than likely have to pay for any difference in resort category (i.e, Value to Mod or Mod to Deluxe) if a room at the resort you requested to be moved to were available. Also, more than likely you would be paying rack rate at the new resort.

Most (if not all) room assignments are done a few days in advance of guests arriving, so your arrival time should really have no bearing on whether your room or room category would already be filled.

We actually have arrived late night/early morning on a number of trips to the world and our room/room category was always honored.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but free upgrades at Disney are few and far between. If you are looking to upgrade, you're going to have to pay for it.
 
Scott MC said:
I'm just curious, as we're scheduled to land in Orlando at about midnight on our first night, and thus won't arrive at the resort we've chosen until 1:30 A.M. or so. Of course, nervous-nelly me ( :scared: ) is afraid that our room/room category will already be filled, and then of course, the world would end. :rotfl2:

.

I am worried about the same thing. We are checking in to POR about 7:00 on a busy summer Saturday.. We have paid for river view, and I am worried we will get stuck in a far out building. My husband says I am being silly. I hope he is right. I don't think they can switch us to another mod, as we are a family of 5. But if they wanted to upgrade us, I wouldn't complain. ;-)
 
I changed my hotel when I was not happy and didn't have to pay rack rate to change, they honored my ap discount and I just paid the difference.
 
Cdn Friends of Pooh said:
Most (if not all) room assignments are done a few days in advance of guests arriving, so your arrival time should really have no bearing on whether your room or room category would already be filled.

This is reassuring. Hopefully we won't have issues. :-)

Cdn Friends of Pooh said:
Sorry to burst your bubble, but free upgrades at Disney are few and far between. If you are looking to upgrade, you're going to have to pay for it.

Huh?!
 
I was upgraded and changed hotels at Disney.

Booked POR and arrived late late one night and took over an hour and finally the lady just gave me keys and said come back in morning, the computers were down. We had a room in the back of the P. mansion, nothing wrong with the room or anything, next morning everything was ready when we checked back down. But that night it was raining hard, I'm blind and had my preemie granddaughter with me, my two teenagers took off and I could not find a way to get a carriage up the stairs and get to the room. After a long time and soaked someone walked me to the front desk, they changed my room to what I now know is a preferred room in building 14 for the next 8 nights, never charging me.

Another time we went to dlr, as a family we always stay in same hotel but we are divorced and we stay in different sections usually. So at dlh we booked magic tower and dream tower. I got there first and was enjoying a drink at gc, when they called an hour before check in to tell me that every room in magic tower was being evacuated because there would be no electricity for 8 hours that night. He could have us both in dream tower or could move one of us to the grand. We do not prefer the grand, so I asked about wonder tower and he said it was booked. So he put one of us in concierges and one on 6th floor, we asked the next day to move again off concierges and they moved us down to the 4th floor, we just don't use those services and couldn't see using the upgrade for 7 days when it was just one nights problem. We did however ask to both stay in dream tower and they did find us both a room there, one on 6th and one on 4th.

I don't know if Disney does this a lot, but to me it seems they do, but I feel I get a lot of upgrades, although others say it does not happen a lot. Maybe because when I they see me blind they upgrade me, or maybe it is the service dog. But to me, I never book anything but standard, I can't see the pool or the garden so it does not matter if I look at a brick wall, but I have to say, almost always in Disney I do seem to be close to the front, have a great balcony and have a great time. I do know at other hotels we are upgraded all the time, but I never ask, at Christmas we went to a marriot in seattle, I booked a military rate and paid only $100 a night for a studio room with two queen beds. This time I know it was the dog because the staff was going crazy about her, but when we got to our room, it not only was a suite with two bedrooms, but it had three balconies and a lot more amenities. I went down and told them they gave us the wrong room, he said no we upgraded you, the room we got was listed at $459 a night and we paid just $98.
 
I've never asked at check-in for an upgrade, nor did i receive any unti two years ago early July checked into BCV (studio res booked on ponts) late after a cruise due to flight issues. We were upgraded to a 1 BR for our 3 nights stay. What a treat! I was told on the boards here that it is very rare for that to happen...guess i used up my pixie dust allotment on that trip.;)

I'd like to think if there's availability within class booked for value (AS to AS) or moderate (CBR to CSR or between the POR resorts) that they'd permit a switch if guests decided a resort just wasn't right for them. Specifically, if available, a standard room switch to remedy a room that might be a bit further from bus stops, etc. or issue with stairs up to 2nd floor room w/o an elevator that the guest could handle.:confused3
 
We were booked at All Star Sports to be near my daughter and her dance team knowing we would probably not love it but nothing prepared us for the chanting, singing and standing on tables from the Brazilian teens in the food court. Plus the adjoining rooms we had were in pretty bad shape with visibly sunken in mattresses and a foul smell. So I very nicely went to the front desk and explained what we had encountered thus far and asked if there were any other options for us, perhaps rooms at Pop Century but there was no availability so they ended up moving us to a 2 bedroom villa at Kidani Village with no additional charges in fact, we had free QS dining and got keep that! They were wonderful to us and went above and beyond anything we were expecting. it was even better because 2 people that were in our party were first time visitors and needless to say, they were wowed! It was a smart move on Disney's part because I don't think I will ever be happy at a value resort again!!
 
I originally booked POFQ and then switched to Wilderness Lodge this December. Would love an upgrade to Club Level or The Poly. It is our 28th anniversary.
 
If you arrived at your resort and thought "this isn't for me" and requested a move - you would more than likely have to pay for any difference in resort category (i.e, Value to Mod or Mod to Deluxe) if a room at the resort you requested to be moved to were available. Also, more than likely you would be paying rack rate at the new resort.

Most (if not all) room assignments are done a few days in advance of guests arriving, so your arrival time should really have no bearing on whether your room or room category would already be filled.

We actually have arrived late night/early morning on a number of trips to the world and our room/room category was always honored.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but free upgrades at Disney are few and far between. If you are looking to upgrade, you're going to have to pay for it.

No bubble burst. You misread or misunderstood my post. I'm not expecting, or looking for anything in the way of a free upgrade. Shhesh. People are so quick to assume that around here.
 
Didn't switch at check in, but did the next day. We spent one night at POR last year and then switched to AKL for a stretch and then switched to the YC for the last three nights. We paid the difference in price. I had major foot surgery last year and was rocking a scooter so after a day of pouring rain, we decided that a hotel with interior hallways would make life much easier. We switch from AKL to YC because my husband is allergic to bees and the pool at AKL had so many, it made it impossible for him to enjoy the pool.

A couple of years ago we were staying at the BC. When we got to the room it was not ready for new quests; it was partially cleaned. The person with our bags apologized and said they’d straighten it out. I remarked as long as the new room had electricity and running water, I didn’t care; we just left our home state the day after a hurricane had hit and had no electricity. We had gotten ready for the trip by candle light and were very lucky to be able to fly out. So, much to our surprise and delight our new room was club level. We had been so stressed out/lack of sleep from the hurricane it really was a “magical” moment. It was a very sweet for the Bell Services person to do and we will forever be grateful for the special treat.
 
Don't worry about the late check-in. Our worst (flight delay) had DH, DM, DD 2yo, and me checking into the YC at 2:30 in the morning. Our room was ready :rotfl: and they had honored our requests as well. I was concerned they would think we were a no-show, but we didn't have any problems. :goodvibes
 


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