Upgrades on the day

[macman123]

I tend to book 1BR.

I understand that if you book a studio you may be upgraded to a 1BR

But if I book a VGF standard, can I ask on the day to an upgrade to say Lake View and pay the difference in points (assuming available)

Or does it all have to be booked beforehand?

 

[sndral]

Even if possible, I’d be surprised if VGF had spare studios to move you to, @ least until BPK gets converted to DVC. IMO the lake views aren‘t worth the extra points but YMMV.

 

[CarolynFH]

I tend to book 1BR.

I understand that if you book a studio you may be upgraded to a 1BR

But if I book a VGF standard, can I ask on the day to an upgrade to say Lake View and pay the difference in points (assuming available)

Or does it all have to be booked beforehand?

I'd be very heistant to let front desk staff at any resort, DVC or not, mess with my points. They are not DVC employees and are not familiar with how points work. The upgrades from studio to 1 BR are almost always due to a studio being unusable for some unplanned issue, and even then the guests are moved to another studio if available.

When the resorts first reopened last year, there were many reports of people booking studios and being given 1 BR, but that was probably related to the resorts being nearly empty, so there were plenty of extra rooms available and the upgrade could be used as a marketing tool.

 

[kanerf]

I have been a DVC member for almost 20 years and I have never gotten an upgrade.

 

[CarolynFH]

I have been a DVC member for almost 20 years and I have never gotten an upgrade.

Neither have we - 24 years and counting. They are rare indeed!

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

15 years without an upgrade. Agree, they are rare.

 

[Sandisw]

I did get an upgrade this year but first time ever. It was a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom at VGF.

But I would be hesitant, as already mentioned to let them do it. I remember reading of someone who was moved and they ended up canceling the room and Booking the new one but ended up creating holding points and then borrowing.

It was a mess that did get fixed, but IMO not worth the hassle.

 

[Deb & Bill]

24 yrs as a DVC member and one upgrade. But that was a cash night in a studio before we moved into our one bedroom on points. They upgraded us to a one bedroom so we would stay in the same villa the entire time.

 

[CarolMN]

But I would be hesitant, as already mentioned to let them do it. I remember reading of someone who was moved and they ended up canceling the room and Booking the new one but ended up creating holding points and then borrowing.

It was a mess that did get fixed, but IMO not worth the hassle.

A version of this happened to me several years ago. It was an unsolicited, unwanted "upgrade" from a standard. view 1B to a P/G 1B at BWV. IMO, very few front desk CMs are experienced enough to do these transactions correctly. With current holding times at MS, most upgrades are not worth the risk.

We received another of these unsolicited, unwanted "upgrades" on our current visit. I was unable to refuse it, but the CM assured me the points remained the same. I have been checking my account frequently to be sure all is well. So far, so good.

 

[Wakey]

Some friends of ours who we used some of our points for last summer got an upgrade from studio to 1 bed at Wilderness Lodge BRV. There was a lot of upgrading going on then, simply because DVC wasnt full. Expect that to have now ceased, as it is now packed.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I would also guess that some of these upgrades were done to allow 24 hours or more between guests in the rooms with the pandemic.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

19 years here and I was upgraded to a 1 br from a studio exactly once (at SSR last year, there was covid and they were doing renovations). Did not ask for the upgrade.

 

[kboo]

We received another of these unsolicited, unwanted "upgrades" on our current visit. I was unable to refuse it, but the CM assured me the points remained the same. I have been checking my account frequently to be sure all is well. So far, so good.

I'm curious what you got?

DVC for almost 5 years (and what a 5 years it has been) - we've been upgraded once before becoming owners and once in Dec 2020:

1. BWV on cash (I knew nothing about DVC and thought this was part of the hotel), booked a "Standard studio" (ha) and asked to be near our friends who had booked a 1br std, they put us near each other in 1br P/G views. This got us thinking about DVC ... (so maybe wasn't a "free" upgrade after all)

2. Last Christmas (Dec 2020) we snagged BWV standard studio. We added on an extra night by buying OTU points, so we couldn't have paid more points anyway - we got a high floor village green/boardwalk studio (christmas tree view). But - as we all know, the resorts were very empty back then, and we regularly walked by lots of clearly unoccupied rooms with lesser views.

Otherwise, we've gotten exactly what we have booked, which is fine by us!

Note: I may be a glass half full person - one stay at VGF we asked for high floor and ended up on the ground floor, but we were super close to the exit by the pool, which was really quite handy. Also, no wait for the elevators.

 

[CarolMN]

I'm curious what you got?

Had a 1B SV. Rec'd 1B P/G.

 

[The Jackal]

During 2020 a lot got upgraded due to cash guests getting moved to DVC resorts and I agree that the DVC guest should be upgraded to a 1 bedroom before a cash guest who was staying at the All Stars and was moved to SSR should get the studio. We were upgraded once at VGF. We had a standard view 2 bedroom back in 2019, upgraded to lake view. We were shocked, this was during food and wine festival time too.

 

[davidl81]

Only upgrade we ever got was on a one night stay at BCV we got an upgrade from a studio to a 1BR. This was maybe 5 years ago. My guess is since it was a single night stay it may have been easier for Disney to put us in a 1BR as they maybe were over booked or some other issue on studios.

 

[sarah4770]

I’ve never been upgraded. I’ve been a member 15 years.

 

[peabody58]

I have been a DVC member for almost 20 years and I have never gotten an upgrade.

11+ years DVC. Have received 5 room view upgrades, but never a room size upgrade.

And yes, the 3 view upgrades at BWV during Covid reopening was a great marketing tool, as we just bought 100 pts for exclusive BWV booking.