Room Upgrades?

[izzy25]

Just curious, but how often do room upgrades happen? If you booked through a travel agent, could you still possibly get a room upgrade?

 

[wilkeliza]

Completely random. As long as your travel agent is booking through regular Disney you have the same chance as everyone else. If it is one of those amazing too good to be true bookings which are actually group bookings then your chances go down. Group bookings usually won't get moved unless there is an issue. Instead if it is overbooked they'll move someone not apart of the group to accommodate those on that booking.

 

[izzy25]

Completely random. As long as your travel agent is booking through regular Disney you have the same chance as everyone else. If it is one of those amazing too good to be true bookings which are actually group bookings then your chances go down. Group bookings usually won't get moved unless there is an issue. Instead if it is overbooked they'll move someone not apart of the group to accommodate those on that booking.

Thank you! We did get a better deal booking through the travel agent then with Disney (which the booking is still directly with Disney) but i wouldn't say it was an amazing too good to be true booking. We are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, so unless we were to get an upgrade to Beach Club or Poly, I think i'd stick with Caribbean Beach only because my daughter loved the pool.

 

[Gracie09]

Thank you! We did get a better deal booking through the travel agent then with Disney (which the booking is still directly with Disney) but i wouldn't say it was an amazing too good to be true booking. We are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, so unless we were to get an upgrade to Beach Club or Poly, I think i'd stick with Caribbean Beach only because my daughter loved the pool.

that upgrade is very unlikely unless a group comes and rents out all of CB. Most upgrade, when they do happen, are like standard view to water view not between resorts

 

[wilkeliza]

Thank you! We did get a better deal booking through the travel agent then with Disney (which the booking is still directly with Disney) but i wouldn't say it was an amazing too good to be true booking. We are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, so unless we were to get an upgrade to Beach Club or Poly, I think i'd stick with Caribbean Beach only because my daughter loved the pool.

Sorry I should have clarified the booking is usually always straight through Disney but some will book room blocks thus making it cheaper. If you got a deal that is different than what Disney is offering direct and the promo name is nowhere to be found on Disney's website then they are probably room blocks booked as a group that gives them a discount. There are a lot of travel agents doing this now. I would not hope for an upgrade from a moderate to 2 of the most sought after deluxes. They would move you to another moderate before that happens and would be a room issue not over booking etc.

 

[Lynne M]

Upgrades within a resort (say, from standard to club level) are not common. Upgrades to another category of resort are as rare as hen's teeth.

You may see the occasional story of such an upgrade here on the boards, usually because a resort has been overbooked, but you also have to remember that thousands of people check into Disney resorts every day. Thousands. Those kinds of upgrades happen to a fraction of a percent of those thousands of people.

Disney doesn't give out upgrades just because a room is open. They do it for specific operational reasons, such as overbooking, rooms being taken out of service for a refurb or maintenance reasons, needing to move people around to open up a room block.

 

[Babsy]

upgrades are rare. we have been going to WDW since 1971, with multiple times per year since 1984, and only were upgraded once. That time there was a problem with our room and they had no other room of its category available so they were forced to upgrade us.

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you! We did get a better deal booking through the travel agent then with Disney (which the booking is still directly with Disney) but i wouldn't say it was an amazing too good to be true booking. We are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, so unless we were to get an upgrade to Beach Club or Poly, I think i'd stick with Caribbean Beach only because my daughter loved the pool.

Upgrades do sometimes happen, but as the pp mentioned, they are totally random and don't happen as often as it seems. They are usually given due to overbooking, maintenance issues, etc and while upgrades to other resorts do happen, those are less likely (IMO) than a room view upgrade. With that said, getting a great deal through a TA doesn't lessen your chances of an upgrade as everyone has the same chance. Booking yourself through Disney at rack rate or at a cheaper discount than a TA doesn't make you more likely to receive an upgrade.

 

[KrazeeK120]

We always used to book through a travel agent to get the AAA diamond parking.

Once, we received an upgrade from a standard room to a club level cottage suite at Boardwalk.

So, it does happen, but it is rare. I was totally shocked and started crying when they told me about the upgrade. There's no way I'd ever be able to afford that room category, and not going to lie, it was an awesome trip.

 

[IrishNYC]

We got upgraded by category last stay because our requested room wasn't ready when we arrived, but not to a different resort. They gave us the option to wait for the room I'd requested, or take something that was available.

 

[DisBuckMan]

It's pretty rare for Disney.

I actually think the most important thing that would enhance your chances of getting an upgrade would be very short stays...one or two nights. It's sometimes necessary to upgrade some for one or two nights to accommodate longer stays for other guests.

DVC stay upgrades (either owners or renters) are even more rare. DVC units have a higher occupancy rate, near 100% most of the year, and the stays are booked farther out, therefore you generally get what you "pay" for. The only time I've ever been upgraded on a DVC stay was for a one night stay at AKL...from a studio to a 1br.

 

[addiln]

I have been once since we have been going to WDW. Last year we were stay at BWV since we are DVC members. They upgraded us from a studio to a 1 bedroom. It was for 7 night stay but they were refurbishing to rooms so that may have had something to do with it. Other than that we have never been upgraded. People think it happens more than it really does. They are really few and far between when you think about it. Also don't get your hopes up for a free upgrade because that could set you up for disappointment.

 

[ah10is]

I had booked a Standard View room at the YC last August through a travel agency and got upgraded to a CL Water view room! It was absolutely amazing!!! I didn't want to leave!

 

[tinkerbella16]

It happens, but as the pp's have said, it is pretty rare. I've always booked through a TA and the last 2 trips our room category was upgraded - garden view to pool view at POR and standard view to garden view at Beach Club. It was a nice surprise, but never expected.

 

[scjo68]

Out of all our stays, we have only received a few upgrades. Twice, we were upgraded when we had split-stay reservations where we had a better category/resort booked as a second reservation. Once we had 6 nights reserved at the Poly (had a great discount). We booked the first night at POFQ, however, because we couldn't get the discount for that night. When we checked in at POFQ, they said we had been moved to Poly for that night as well, at the POFQ rate. Similar thing happened (but smaller upgrade) at POP. We were upgraded from standard to preferred for the first half of our trip, because we had a preferred room booked for the second half. So we stayed in the preferred room for the whole week.