Upgrading to ASMu Suite - is it possible??

[gertiesquidge]

Hi,

We are booked to go to WDW in November 2011 with Virgin Holidays. We are staying at the All Star Music Resort. Virgin don't offer the suites as part of their holidays, but would it be possible to upgrade to one directly with Disney itself? And if so how would I do that?

Thanks for any help

Gertiesquidge

 

[orangetiggs]

have you asked virgin holidays, it might be something they can request from disney itself, I have had this before where they had no room that iw anted and it took around 48hrs for them to confirm it back to me

might be worth calling them and asking if they can contact disney to get one for you

 

[gertiesquidge]

Hi orangetiggs,

I've already tried that and Virgin said they can't help

Love
gertiesquidge

ps love the picture of your littlies

 

[orangetiggs]

i'm not too sure disney would touch the booking before you checked in as its a travel agent booking, it may be that you have to wait and try and upgrade at check in, which if they have the rooms i cant see it being a problem

 

[gertiesquidge]

Thanks again, we'll try doing it that way then

 

[2Tiggies]

i'm not too sure disney would touch the booking before you checked in as its a travel agent booking, it may be that you have to wait and try and upgrade at check in, which if they have the rooms i cant see it being a problem

Yes, if you didn't book directly through Disney you have to go through the agent with which you booked. And yes, as Orangetiggs stated, you can upgrade at check in. Just keep in mind that you will be paying the upgrade charges in US$ not in ££ and that it would be subject to availability of the requested room type.

To get an idea of what it will cost you, have a look at the disney.com website and run a mock booking to pull up a quote for the room you currently have on the dates you will be there, and then one for the family suite and work out the difference.

 

[gertiesquidge]

Hi 2tiggies,

What a great idea - I was wondering how to work out how much it would cost!!

I've just tried and got automatically redirected to the .co.uk site, and in GBP it would be almost £1500 to upgrade!! That puts it out of our budget - but at least I know now instead of finding out at check in, and having the kids all clamouring for the suite and the extra room!!

Thanks again

 

[mcarthur205]

If it makes you feel any better, I've read that those family suites are very popular so not very likely that any would be available to upgrade to on check in day anyway.

 

[gertiesquidge]

Thanks That does make me feel better And I have to remember I've been happy with our decision to stay at ASMu since we booked last year, and only started wondering when I read about the suites recently! We won't be in the room that much anyway, so what does it matter

If it makes you feel any better, I've read that those family suites are very popular so not very likely that any would be available to upgrade to on check in day anyway.

 

[2Tiggies]

There is quite a big price difference between a standard room and the suites. If you want to upgrade and there are no suites available, you could perhaps consider splurging (and it is MUCH cheaper) on a preferred room, which is closer to the amenites like the food court, laundry and bus stops. The All Stars are very spread out and although it is nowhere near as far as people make it out to be to walk from the furthest rooms to the foodcourt, you do feel it if you suddenly want something to drink in the evening and have to trek out there to get something.

But you have a good point: most folk don't spend that much time in the rooms anyway and it is a really fun resort. Lots of activites going on at the pool from about 10 am to 10 pm, including a movie at night at the pool which my DD really enjoyed when we stayed there. I think the only time we were in our room was to shower and to sleep. We never sat around in there doing anything so it really wasn't an issue. I jhad some reservations before we went about staying there as it was my DD's choice when she was 6 or 7. The only thing I missed was the fridge in the room but if we had really wanted to, we could have rented one for about $10 per day.

I think you'll enjoy it regardless of what room you end up in.

 

[gertiesquidge]

Thanks again 2Tiggies

The price difference to upgrade to a preferred room is a MUCH more reasonable £112 We'll definitely ask for this at check in, and I know exactly what you mean about it not being too far to walk to the non preferred sections, but it seeming like a trek if you just want to fill your refillable mug or grab a snack lol.

 

[2Tiggies]

but it seeming like a trek if you just want to fill your refillable mug or grab a snack lol.

..... or after circling the World Showcase 3 or 4 times Did you get your price quoted in ££'s or did you convert from $$?

 

[Dimplenose]

The family suites are expensive. They are basically 2 original rooms that have been converted into a suite and cost more than booking 2 interconnecting rooms.

We stayed at ASMu in 2009 and were at the furthest point from the food court. (ASMu is longer and narrower than the other 2 All Star resorts.) Although we were a 5 minute walk from the food court we were grateful to be that far away once the noisy pool games started at the main pool. (We had booked ASmu because we'd read it was the quieter of all of the All Star resorts.)

 

[gertiesquidge]

lol it does seem a long way when you are walking around the world doesn't it?

The price was quoted in ££s so I didn't have to faff around converting it

..... or after circling the World Showcase 3 or 4 times Did you get your price quoted in ££'s or did you convert from $$?

 

[gertiesquidge]

I never thought of that! We've stayed at All Star Movies and were in the Herbie section, and it seemed such a long drag to go and pick up a refill for our mugs or grab a snack, so I thought being in the preferred section would be better this time. I've read about the games/films at the ASMu pool, but didn't think about the added noise! Which wouldn't be great for getting our 2 year old to sleep!! Choices choices

The family suites are expensive. They are basically 2 original rooms that have been converted into a suite and cost more than booking 2 interconnecting rooms.

We stayed at ASMu in 2009 and were at the furthest point from the food court. (ASMu is longer and narrower than the other 2 All Star resorts.) Although we were a 5 minute walk from the food court we were grateful to be that far away once the noisy pool games started at the main pool. (We had booked ASmu because we'd read it was the quieter of all of the All Star resorts.)

 

[2Tiggies]

I never thought of that! We've stayed at All Star Movies and were in the Herbie section, and it seemed such a long drag to go and pick up a refill for our mugs or grab a snack, so I thought being in the preferred section would be better this time. I've read about the games/films at the ASMu pool, but didn't think about the added noise! Which wouldn't be great for getting our 2 year old to sleep!! Choices choices

Personally, I would go for the preferred section if we did it again. The only preferred rooms are in the Calypso buildings. When we stayed we asked not to be too close to the main pool because I was worried about noise from the main pool, but when I had a look at the layout you have two possible options to work around this, if you want to avoid being stuck in that back:

1. Pay for a preferred room and ask to be put in the back of the building, i.e. not the rooms facing or too near to the pool (you will themn be near the parking lot so a bit of a trade off).
2. Don't pay any extra and ask for one of the Jazz buildings which are right next to Calypso but not righ up against the pool.

 

[gertiesquidge]

Thanks 2Tiggies,

We aren't bothered about a "view" from our room, so being at the back facing the car park wouldn't bother us. Although do you think you get a lot of noise from the car park? I'm thinking its probably not as loud as the games/films at the pool though.

I'm off to see if I can find a map of the resort, so I can visualise it all better.

Love
gertiesquidge

Personally, I would go for the preferred section if we did it again. The only preferred rooms are in the Calypso buildings. When we stayed we asked not to be too close to the main pool because I was worried about noise from the main pool, but when I had a look at the layout you have two possible options to work around this, if you want to avoid being stuck in that back:

1. Pay for a preferred room and ask to be put in the back of the building, i.e. not the rooms facing or too near to the pool (you will themn be near the parking lot so a bit of a trade off).
2. Don't pay any extra and ask for one of the Jazz buildings which are right next to Calypso but not righ up against the pool.

 

[2Tiggies]

Honestly, no. The rooms at the values tend to have better soundproofing than those at the higher end resorts because of the external corridor. (This is based on the findings of the Unofficial Guide research team who apparently tested it). You are more likely to hear the toilets flushing from the rooms next door than to notice the noise from the car park. Unless you have your windows open, you will not hear much if anything from outside unless people make a noise right outside your door which can happen anywhere. If noise bothers you ask for a room not on the ground floor as the ground level rooms have far more foot traffic going by.

Map for ASMu

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmusicmap.htm

 

[gertiesquidge]

Wow thanks again 2Tiggies

I love that someone has actually sound tested the rooms lol.

I think I need to stop over thinking all of this too!! I've looked at the maps and I think we'll ask to be in the back end of the Calypso building or one in the Jazz building.

We prefer an upstairs room anyway, as our 8 year old loves being in charge of the lift buttons!! All the stuff there is to do at Disney and he remembers being in charge of the lift lol, I should just take him to a shop with a lift it would be cheaper!!

Anyway thanks for all your tips, you've been a huge help

gertiesquidge
x

Honestly, no. The rooms at the values tend to have better soundproofing than those at the higher end resorts because of the external corridor. (This is based on the findings of the Unofficial Guide research team who apparently tested it). You are more likely to hear the toilets flushing from the rooms next door than to notice the noise from the car park. Unless you have your windows open, you will not hear much if anything from outside unless people make a noise right outside your door which can happen anywhere. If noise bothers you ask for a room not on the ground floor as the ground level rooms have far more foot traffic going by.

Map for ASMu

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmusicmap.htm

 

[Dimplenose]

We've stayed at ASSp twice and ASMu once. We've always booked a package with Virgin and never paid for preferred rooms (I don't think they even existed on our first visit in 1998!)

Each time we were given rooms at the furthest point from the food court - I'm not sure if this was because we didn't ask for anything specific or because we checked in at about 5pm long after most other people had arrived or because those are the rooms blocked out to Virgin. (These rooms were quite handy for the small pools and one of the laundries).

On our first trip we were on the ground (1st! - I never got used to that and thought we'd been allocated an upstairs room! LOL!) floor and although it wasn't particularly noisy we did get people peering into our room as they walked from the car park.

The windows don't open but the air conditioning was efficient and fairly quiet.

I only occassionally noticed bathroom noise from other rooms and managed to lessen this even more by keeping the bathroom door closed at all times.

I really love the All Star resorts and hope you have a really good stay there.