Surprise Upgrades?

[MusicalAstronaut]

Never, not even on our anniversary. But I think it really depends on the rooms they have available and not really on the occasion. You just have to get super lucky!

 

[nmrgrl55]

We were upgraded from a Standard room at All Star Music to a family suite. It was SO NICE to have all the extra room and an extra bathroom. We were 2A, 2C and a kiddo turning 3 during the trip, so it would have been a squeeze in a regular room

 

[DisHeels]

We added a day to our trip last Saturday at AK Jambo House after staying at POFQ for a week. I asked the CM at check in what our options were to get a savannah view. I truly meant how much would it cost to upgrade. My wife and I both thought the CM said they didn't have anything available and that we would have a partial view of the pool. You can imagine our surprise when our room door opened to a one bedroom savannah view. We had plans to go to Epcot our last (extra) night but the whole family agreed to enjoy the room and resort.

This was the first time we had some magic in upgrading our room. Also glad POFQ was all booked up that we had to look elsewhere if we wanted to stay another day.

 

[AlliGirls]

In February we checked into Contemporary w/ a bay view & we were upgraded to theme park view on club level. It was absolutely amazing!

 

[marthachick]

Now I want an upgrade for our fall trip for DHs 60th Birthday!

 

[rentayenta]

These stories are all amazing! Gives me a little hope for our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary trip this August!

 

[markb681]

Last May 2017 I booked a standard room at POR... got to our room and the floor was flooded from the AC unit leaking....turned right back around and walked back to the lobby....Told the lady who checked us in that the floor had a puddle in the carpet...probably at least 1/2 of the rooms carpet was soaked....she went and told the mgr on duty who then checked us into one of the Royal Guest Rooms with a River View....but it was only me and my GF so no small children....my daughter would have loved that when she was young! lol

 

[jettagirl]

We stayed at the Contemporary Resort last July where we'd booked a standard view garden wing room. When we checked in, we were given a little card that said "welcome back" or something like that and they told us we'd been upgraded to a tower room with a lake view. We were so excited - that was our first time staying in the tower which was really nice.

 

[MinnieMommyof2]

This thread has gotten me excited again about our November stay at AKL. Ever since we heard about the pool refurb I’ve lost some of my joy. We can’t afford to get a Savannah room but a surprise upgrade would be an amazing birthday gift for my 5 year old animal living daughter.

 

[married2mm]

The only upgrade we have ever received was at aoa from little mermaid room to lion king suite.
Dd really wanted Ariel but it was only one night so I convinced her!

We also have had a downgrade from 2 bed okw to studio for one night-it was the day we arrived following 9 hour flight and dmil was ready to collapse...
It was resolved the next day-but certainly not a magical arrival.


We have had trips including birthdays,graduations,anniversaries (and special ones!) & not received any upgrades whatsoever...
So those waiting with anticipation -don't hold your breath!!

 

[DisneyPandaBear]

3 years ago we had an upgrade at BWI from standard room to the cottages. That was our first after many stays and our only until recently a few months ago when we were upgraded from a studio to a 1bedroom at copper creek.

We have over 15 stays in the last 6 years.

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

Our best upgrade was at the Grand Floridian. We were checking into the villas for our first dvc stay and at around 5pm we still hadn't heard anything. So we went to the desk and said I know our room may not be ready yet but do you have an idea when it will be? The girl looked at us and the computer and said all the rooms have been turned over...oh you may be that room one minute please. My husband and I were super quiet and just looked at each other. Haha what did that room mean?! The manager came out and said hi I'm sorry we don't have your studio room. We have had a maintenance issue. What I do have is a one bedroom suite at the main hotel with access to both club levels. The room was a beautiful suite in Sago Cay with 3 balconies looking at the Magic Kingdom. It was magical! It was the Sanibel Suite. We will never top that and we know it!

 

[soccermom54]

We have had a few nice upgrades over our 25 years of visiting WDW. Probably the best was at the Contemporary. We had booked a standard view in the wing and were upgraded to club level MK view! I almost fainted with that one. We were upgraded at the Polynesian from garden view to theme park view....very nice. At the Yacht Club we were upgraded from garden view to water view and at French Quarter we were upgraded from standard view to river view. At the Wilderness Lodge were were upgraded from courtyard view to one of of the deluxe suite rooms at the end of the wing. This room had club level access but was not on the club floor. It was great anyway. Now as retired Florida residents we mostly do day trips but we still stay onsite during food and wine and at Christmas. Disney has been good to us over the years. Hopefully a little magic dust will land on all of you on your next trip.

 

[ksc37]

We've been lucky to receive a few surprise upgrades over the years, but the last was in late December, 2016 when we were upgraded from a standard room at the Poly to a Bungalow.

I remember checking in very early in the morning and being told we'd probably be in Samoa. We'd stayed there before and liked the location, so I was happy to be in Samoa again. When I got the text our room was ready, it said we were in Bora Bora. I wasn't familiar with that "building", and had to check the resort map, only to find out it was a bungalow!

We'd had a really bad year and it was a nice, symbolic way to "turn the corner" to start the new year.

 

[paradesintherain]

Never received any sort of upgrade, it amazing to me what people have received! Maybe someday

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Would love to hear from anyone who has had a surprise upgrade when checking in at your WDW Resort. I had one a few years ago where I was upgraded from a standard pool view room to a Savannah room at AKL. We arrived super late at night and we didn't even realize until we opened the curtains the next morning and saw animals only a few feet away, LOL.

In all our many trips, and I have been going since 1976 we have never gotten an upgrade. Maybe our trip in September will be the charm. We are staying in a 2 bedroom OKW.

 

[Tulles]

*bumping* to hear more magically stories

 

[PrincessDaisyDuck]

We had a reservation at All Star Sports in February 2014. We arrived on Super Bowl Sunday in the evening after 2 days in the car with our 2 year old and 4 month old. The front desk cast member said that they were overbooked and would we be interested in a free upgrade - of course we said yes! He got on the phone for a few minutes then got out a map and showed us how to get to Saratoga Springs resort!

Even better,when we arrived at SSR the check in cast member got on the phone for a long time then gave us our room number. When we got there we realized it was a one bedroom unit! We couldn't believe it, that is definitely the biggest dose of Disney magic we had ever received!

 

[SarahC97]

So, I had a pretty awesome surprise upgrade last week.

We booked a last minute trip and just went with the most inexpensive hotel, so we booked at All Star Movies. We had an issue with the room and I asked if we could switch resorts to Coronado Springs after our first night. I told them I was more than willing to pay the difference, but I wanted to switch if there was availability. Not only did they upgrade us to Coronado Springs to a preferred room for free, they also gave me a cab voucher for a free ride over there. It was totally unexpected and quite a nice surprise. I've never had anything like that happen while staying on property.

 

[focusondisney]

We have been going to WDW for about 25 years, often 2 or 3 times per year. We have been staying at YC Waterview Club Level for over 15 years, so there isn’t much room for upgrading from there. However, we had the mother of all upgrades in December of 2015. We were booked on a bounce back split stay: 3 nights Contemporary Tower Club Level with a king standard room followed by 4 nights at YC waterview club level. When I booked them the previous December, I had the friendliest Cast Member & we chatted as she booked everything. Of course, she asked if we would be celebrating anything. I told her yes, my DH’s 60the birthday was 3 weeks after the trip. And that we were going to Disneyland in September for their 60th anniversary. That since Disney celebrates everything for a year, we were gonna make the WDW bounceback trip the kickoff to celebrating DH’s 60th birthday yearlong celebration. She said at least 3 times she was going to note the birthday, since “you never know what magic might happen”. She was so nice but I forgot the conversation soon after.

So December comes & we arrive at the CR. The CM taking us to our room accidently took us to an Atrium Club room & then realized we were on the Tower Club, so up we went. She walked us to the lake side, which kind of confused me, because I knew the king standard rooms were on the other side of the building. Open the door to find we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite! It was a beautiful room & something we did not expect, especially all that room for just the 2 of us. The suite has 2 bedrooms with 2 queen beds each, a kitchenette, dining room, living room with huge HD tv & 3 (!) full baths. Oh, since it was December, there was a Christmas tree in the living room too.

We moved to the YC 3 days later. The CM escorting us to the 5th floor for check in made a comment about being excited for our upgrade to the 2 bedroom suite. I started to answer that yes, it was great, then wondered how she would know we were upgraded at CR. So I expressed my confusion & asked what she meant. She said “ you are being upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite”. My DH & I were stunned. We told her about the CR upgrade just as we got to the check in area. The CM checking us in told us it wasn’t just any 2 bedroom suite, but the Captain’s Deck suite, which is the largest suite at the YC! The CMs were wonderful & so happy for us. They laughed & said they wanted to vacation with us because we were so lucky! This suite is on the first floor & has a master bedroom with canopied king bed plus a separate room with 2 queen beds. There is a marble foyer, kitchenette, dining room that had a table to seat 10, living room, office area with half bath, a large room separating the dining & living rooms, walk in closet, small room with a seated vanity area, jacuzzi tub, separate walk in marble shower & double sink area with a tv. The patio area spanned the length of the whole thing. We were in shock for the rest of the trip.

We truly never expected anything like these upgrades to ever happen to us. I have no idea why we recieved these wonderful gifts, but in my heart I believe the bounceback CM who booked the rooms for us had something to do with it. I usually always write the name of the CM down & of course, that was the one time I did not. I really wish I did so I could express our sincere thanks.