Upgrading Rooms @ GCH?

[Escape2Disney]

My daughter and I will be staying at GCH for the first time in September. I don't know if we'll be able to do this again, so I want to do what I can to make it a memorable experience for her.

I've seen that people have asked for free upgrades in the past. I'd love for her to be able to see the fireworks from the room, since loud noises really bother her. Are there any hints you might have? Is there a time of day asking for an upgrade is most successful?

Thanks!

 

[toni1227]

Well, I will tell you my experience as I have asked the same questions and have tried different things. I had booked a standard room and was going to ask for an upgrade. I called about 4 times and talked to the hotel directly and Disney reservations directly. When I would ask Reservations they said I need to ask the hotel on the day of. Then I tried calling the hotel (to ask other questions and to throw in the upgrade thing) and I was told they do not do that and another time I was told I need to talk to reservations and they forwarded me to them..so it was a run around back and forth.

So for me since I REALLY wanted to get a fireworks view I just decided to upgrade and pay for it. Even then though you are not guaranteed a fireworks view (even if you pay) BUT reservations did add the fireworks view on my request in my reservation. I could not get them to do that until I paid for the upgrade. I know others had success just getting an upgrade by suprise or just by asking when you get there but I really worry too much and just wanted to make sure I got what I wanted. See if you can call reservations and tell them it is a special trip and if they could put your request in (even if you do not pay upgrade--you never know). I also think it depends on who you talk to. I have only had 1 person that was fantastic the rest were honestly quite rude or they were obviously new employees.
The last CM I talked to when I tried to upgrade told me there are no fireworks view rooms from GCH and that since i got a good rate on the room (not really IMO) that they could not upgrade me at all even if I paid. That made no sense whatsoever!!! She obviously did not know what she was talking about and had to get her supervisor involved and I finally got to upgrade to DTD view. On top of all this I was on hold forever twice during this call.

Other things you can do that are special are call the hotel and ask for Vacation Planning services. Tell them to email you a list of baskets, treats etc that you can pay to have delivererd to the room to suprise your daughter.
Then call them back and tell them what you would like to order. They add it to your hotel bill. I ordered some balloons, mickey rice crispy treats, and a wine and cheese basket for the day we arrive. Then choc covered strawberries one night and mickey cookies one night. They have a lot of options.

We are leaving tomorrow so I will come back and post about our trip.

 

[Escape2Disney]

Thank you for letting me know your experience! I've had similar experiences when calling to ask questions....who you talk to seems to make all of the difference!

Unfortunately I can't really afford to pay for an upgrade. I'll be happy if we end up in a standard room, but thought I'd check to see if I can give her the added bonus of watching fireworks

I'll look into the baskets - thanks for the suggestion! It would be a bit of extra magic for her!!

I look forward to hearing about your trip.

 

[avalon451]

We were able to get a free upgrade last year. I read about it in the Unoffical Guide, and it worked, although of course there's no guarantee. Here's what I did: I called the hotel directly about 2 weeks ahead of our trip (which is about when they block out the rooms) and asked for guest services. I would NOT recommend calling Disney vacation planning for this, because frequently they really don't know the answers for the day-to-day workings of the hotel reservations system.

I told the nice CM at guest services how excited we were for our trip, since it was our first trip to any Disney resort, and that it was a special once-in-a-lifetimes splurge for us to be staying at GCH. Then I asked her very politely if it would be possible to request a free room upgrade. She nicely told me that they couldn't guarantee it, but that she could make a note of my request in the computer, and they would consider it when they blocked out the rooms, and would try to accomodate if possible. In our case, an upgrade meant a nicer view from the "standard" that we would have gotten. So while we didn't have a DTD room, we were in a wonderful room on the fourth floor just two doors down from the main lobby elevators. We were overlooking the courtyard, facing north, and the monorail ran (almost silently) right past our balcony. The nicest thing, though, was that we were able to see the high fireworks over the roof of the wing opposite, which had the DTD view rooms. I think that was room 4122. We loved it!

I hope you can get a great room for your trip!

 

[Escape2Disney]

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try what you did. We've been to DL quite a few times - do you think it is worth it to still pick up the Unofficial Guide?

 

[toni1227]

You know I never asked for Guest Services so that is what I should have tried. Oh well.

Too bad we cannot just request a specific room number.

Also on the baskets they are kind of pricey but you can also order just cookies or rice crispy treats or choc. covered strawberries a la cart so it is not as expensive.

 

[Escape2Disney]

I called Vacation Planning Services, and was told I needed to wait until 60 days before the trip to be emailed a list of baskets, etc. They change their offerings frequently, so they don't like to send it so far in advance.

I'll be calling in 122 days ;-)