Next month, I’m traveling with my two younger kids to Disney World. We’re staying on-site for one night before going to MVMCP (see this post–yep, YOLO!) On Friday night, I got a call from Disney World on my home land line. The cast member offered me a free pixie dust resort upgrade from a moderate resort to a deluxe resort. What?!?! Sure!
The Call
Most calls we get on our home line are advertisements, and we have a setting that screens them out. But the caller ID said “Lake Buena Vista”, so we answered.
A chipper voice said he was a Disney World cast member and that he was calling random people to spread some pixie dust before our next trip. He asked me if I would like to be upgraded from Caribbean Beach Resort (the moderate resort I booked) to Disney’s Beach Club Resort (a deluxe resort). He said I don’t have to accept the upgrade, and there is no fee.
I was trying to figure out what the catch was. Did I have to listen to a timeshare plug? No. I couldn’t figure it out. So, I hesitantly said yes.
The cast member said my reservation would be updated overnight in My Disney Experience. Sure enough, the next morning, it was there. Woohoo!!!
The Reason
Not to be skeptical, but I know that Disney World doesn’t hand out upgrades like this very often or even at all. There must be a good reason.
I figured that maybe Caribbean Beach Resort was oversold for my dates, or maybe there was a big group that needed more rooms. I debunked this myth when I looked online and saw that the resort is still accepting reservations for my dates.
Then, I figured that the move must somehow be related to the new Skyliners. The Skyliners had a major malfunction on October 5 and have been closed ever since. One of the reasons I booked CBR was to ride the Skyliners. Maybe Disney wanted to avoid guest complaints in anticipation of a lengthy closure of the Skyliners.
Then, I talked to a friend of mine who recently stayed at CBR. She said that she could hear construction noise on the nearby Riviera Resort before 6:00 a.m. People were complaining about the early noise. The resort is scheduled to open in December. If it is running behind, it wouldn’t shock me that construction must start earlier than planned. Thus, moving some folks out of nearby CBR buildings makes sense.
Are Pixie Dust Resort Upgrades Common at Disney World?
Next month will be my 12th time staying on-site at Disney World. We have never been offered an upgrade like this before.
One time, my family was moved from a two-bedroom villa at the Disney Institute (which is now Saratoga Springs) to two hotel rooms at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disney decided to close down some buildings at the Disney Institute due to low occupancy. We didn’t have a choice, and I didn’t consider it an upgrade.
But normally, upgrades are not common at Disney World on-site resorts. I recommend booking the resort and the view you will be happy with.
Have you ever gotten any pixie dust thrown your way on a Disney trip? I’d love to hear your stories.
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Nancy,
When I used to work at Disney’s Pop Century resort it was fairly common during busy season. Revenue Management office never stops selling rooms (the resorts have zero control/hotel managers can’t close inventory in the system). Its easier to upgrade someone than to downgrade someone. The GF for example never overbooks so they don’t have to deal with “walking the guest” to a cheaper hotel. DVC hotels also can’t play much because DVC members have top priority.
Value resorts bedrooms sell in a much larger volume so they rather keep selling. So at the end of the day the goal is to sell out the entire WDW property regardless of the rate.
I always got a kick to announce to the guest when they came to check in. We brought balloons, character cards and toys. We even drove them to the new hotel and they got welcome drinks and super vip treatment. It was so nice to see how happy people were. But the hardest part is to walk a family after a long flight. Sometimes families refused to go even to AK Lodge because they were exhausted.
Enjoy your pixie dust.
@Tania Thanks for the inside scoop! It makes sense from a revenue aspect. I wish I was more excited on that phone call instead of being so skeptical, LOL.
Wow, congratulations, that’s wonderful news! We have never been upgraded before….
Thanks, Joyce. You never know when random pixie dust will hit you!
I guarantee you it’s a business related reason (property refurbishment, maintenance, etc.) as you are already suspecting.
@Mr. Know It All (I love your name) Yep, I have a hard time believing there are full-time pixie dust fairies that give it out for no good reason.
Yay! We were once upgraded to the Contemporary from Wilderness Lodge due to construction noise! They gave me a few options. That, or Beach Club or AKL I think. Or $500 off, or a free Memory Maker package. Hahaha. The Contemporary was fantastic!
@Kacie Sounds like a good upgrade! It’s hard to beat a resort on the monorail.
From what I understand this is fairly new, but it’s revenue management. They will continue to sell rooms in lower tiered resorts if they project rooms will be available in higher tier resorts and ‘walk’, i.e. upgrade, some customers. Helps keep their rooms and parks full when those people wouldn’t have paid for the higher tier resort and may have stayed off site or not coma at all.
@Joey Interesting, that makes sense.
We had a stay booked about 10 years ago at the Pop and they called and moved us to Animal Kingdom lodge. I was told they had some refurbishments going on that were going a little longer than expected. We were obviously thrilled to get the upgrade.
The Beach Club is a really great resort and the pool is not to be missed if the weather cooperates and time permits.
Congrats on the good luck!
@Shaun That sounds like a great upgrade! I do hope the weather cooperates for us to try the pool area. I’ve been drooling over Stormalong Bay for years!