Surprise Upgrades?

gulliesmom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
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.
 
We were recently upgraded from pool view to savannah view at AKL. I also thought it was weird they did not mention it at check in, but I'm not complaining!!

I looked at map while I was there and my sense is that AKL has MUCH more of the savannah room category than any of the other categories, and so is more likely to overbook the cheaper rooms and have to upgrade others to Savannah. I do think their Savannah rooms are a bit of a steep upcharge considering you can see the savannah from lots of other locations in the resort, so it makes sense that there is a lot of demand for the standard and pool view rooms.
 
A few years ago we were upgraded from Pop to AKL Arusha Savannah view with bunkbeds. We checked in in the late afternoon/early evening in February, and when I checked in at Pop she took our info, turned to another CM in the area and asked him if they were still walking guests, made a call, and asked me if we wanted to stay at the AKL. Stupidly it took me a minute to decide - I guess I was taken by surprise so I had to think about it! Thankfully I came to my senses and said yes, assuming we would get a standard view room at the AKL. I was shocked to see what we did get, and it was great. I don't dislike Pop at all, but the AKL is light years better to us and the kids loved seeing the animals from the balcony in their PJs.

Our only other upgrades over many trips have been to standard to water view at POR, preferred room instead of standard on anther Pop trip, garden view CL instead of SV CL at the YC and TPV CL instead of LV CL at the Poly. Nothing like the jump from Value to Deluxe we had that one trip! Oh, I forgot - when I was still traveling with my parents and WL was new, we were called ahead of time and offered WL instead of POR (then DL), which we took and loved.

ETA the AKL upgrade was for 8 nights and the WL upgrade was for 7 or 8 nights, which made them even better and more amazing!
 
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I've only had one upgrade and it was a during a one night stay at the BC. We booked GV and got WV. It was amazing even if only for a night. We were a party of 5 so had the extra bed and a full balcony. Don't know if that had anything to do with the view upgrade.

Last time I was at All Star Movies, the family checking in next to us was upgraded from their to the Poly for the week! I can't even imagine that level of Pixie Dust!
 
We were just at WDW for Star Wars Marathon Weekend, and had planned to stay in a garden view room at the Yacht Club. When we checked in we waited in line a bit, chatting with a manager. He found someone to help us because he thought we'd been waiting too long -- and the next thing we knew we were upgraded to the Regatta Club! We had groceries because we had not expected to have access to the Club and all their free food and alcohol offerings. We took advantage of everything and had an amazing time! It was a real treat, we even had a lovely balcony view of Stormalong Bay, Crescent Lake and the Boardwalk. This was amazing, and definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event for us!

Maria :upsidedow
 
We had stayed on property at least 16 times and had never gotten an upgrade until last year at 4th of July, upgraded from garden view to lagoon view at Poly CL. We could see the castle from part of our patio and had an amazing view of the 4th of July fireworks. That was a special celebration trip for our family after a rough year (though I had not given any indication of that to any castmember). It felt like the magic had been saved until the time when it would have the most impact and be most appreciated.
 


We experienced a tiny upgrade a few years back. We had booked a standard room at All Star Music for 5 nights. They didn't have a room ready/available when we arrived, so they bumped us up to a preferred room at All Star Movies.
 
in 2009-2010 for New Years my sister and I booked Port Orleans French Quarter for our 5-night stay and I received an email about 2 months prior mentioning that we were picked for a Deluxe Resort upgrade. I called immediately and all they had left was Wilderness Lodge wood view. It was perfect taking the first boat over to the Magic Kingdom for 18+ hours of rides and fun for New Years Eve! Hands down the best New Years Eve I have ever had!
 
Love to hear about all of your stories! DH has never been to WDW. We’re going in September for our anniversary. Oh how I would love some pixie dust for us. :)
 
I always book standard rooms for our trips mainly for the savings and in our last 2 trips at French Quarter we were upgraded to a garden view room and on the last one they 1st offered me a river/water view but I had to decline because of mobility issues the my daughters aunt had and they then cheerfully gave us a garden view closer to the front of the hotel. Even thou we are staying at AKL this time FQ is still my favorite resort.
 
We arrived last month to check in to our regular Garden View room at BWI to find out they'd upgraded us to a Cottage, with Club Level access. This was our anniversary

A few years ago we checked in at WL and had booked Standard and had a Courtyard View. No special occasion
 
We arrived last month to check in to our regular Garden View room at BWI to find out they'd upgraded us to a Cottage, with Club Level access. This was our anniversary

A few years ago we checked in at WL and had booked Standard and had a Courtyard View. No special occasion
Wow, fun upgrade! How are the cottages - do you feel disconnected from the rest of the Inn? I would love to stay in one someday - they are so cute!


My upgrade story happened a few years ago at the Poly. We booked garden view club level and were surprised when we walked in our room with a view of the castle. :cloud9:
 
Wow, fun upgrade! How are the cottages - do you feel disconnected from the rest of the Inn? I would love to stay in one someday - they are so cute!


My upgrade story happened a few years ago at the Poly. We booked garden view club level and were surprised when we walked in our room with a view of the castle. :cloud9:
We loved the cottage. We didn't feel disconnected at all. It's perfect for anniversary/honeymoon couples. I mean, there's a reason only couples can stay in them, or pairs at least. A little privacy is really nice but you are still right there by Epcot and it's a very easy walk to the lounge. They even provide an umbrella in case of rain (we never needed it during our week)
 
We have been upgraded from standard view to garden/woods view at BC, and from standard to lagoon view at YC.
 
We were upgraded from standard view to water/boardwalk view at BWI a few years ago. We’ve also been upgraded from woods view to courtyard view a couple times at WL.
 
We had a 1 night stay at Beach Club and were upgraded from a standard to a water view. It was wonderful to have a perfect view of the fireworks from our room!
 

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